The Overwhelming Importance of Christians Acquiring True Knowledge of God and Actioning It in Their Lives!

Hosea 4:6a.         My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee,

Yes mih bredrin, it’s our lazy-day Saturday! The day we can do whatever we want without too much hassle …well, except from our spouses and our children. But here’s a great idea; get them to laze around with you too, so the whole family can enjoy a peaceful, restful, relaxing, lazy-day together! Hope you have success achieving that. (smile) But before all the laziness creeps in, let’s offer up our Lazy-Day Saturday Prayer in all sincerity and truth.

As one strong voice: ‘Lord, I want to be with You now. Please slow my thoughts and quiet my soul. Let my muscles relax, my breath deepen. You are here with me – Your peace and LOVE are present. I marvel to think You can’t be contained, that Your LOVE both surrounds and fills me. Thank You for this tenderness, Lord. I praise You for Your unceasing nearness. Increase my awareness of You today, that I may know You all the more. Amen!’ 

And now, that peace and calm we’ve been seeking is slowly filtering into our souls, bodies and minds, as the Lord grants us our wish of greater intimacy with Him, for that’s one thing He will never refuse, since that was of the purposes for which He created us – to LOVE and be LOVED in return!  And, as is so often the case, I have no idea of what we ought to talk about today. So, as always, (smile) let’s open the Bible and see what the Lord has in mind.

And the Good Library opened at an interesting aspect as declared by the prophet Hosea. ‘My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no more priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.’ (Hos. 4:6)  Now that’s a heavy indictment from the Lord. And as the scholars explain: ‘The cause of man’s problems is lack of knowledge. It does not stem from a shortage of information, but rather from rejection of information.’

And you know what friends, we are faced with the very same problem today, for there’s oodles of information concerning God and His kingdom out there, information like never before, but unfortunately too many of us are refusing to acquire that information. Thus Hosea continues: ‘As they were increased, so they sinned against me: therefore will I change their glory into shame. They eat up the sin of my people, and they set their heart (desires) on their iniquity.

And there shall be, like people, like priest: and I will punish them for their ways, and reward (repay) them their doings (deeds). For they shall eat, and not have enough: they shall commit whoredom (harlotry), and shall not increase: because they have left off to take heed to the Lord (ceased obeying the Lord). Whoredom and wine and new wine take away the heart.’ (Hos. 4:7-11)

Wow! What a poignant, potent and true statemen is that last verse! Lasciviousness mixed with alcohol do turn one’s heart from the Lord God Jehovah. And according to the scholars: ‘They are the problem; that is the priesthood. They have not helped the people face their sin and deal with it. Rather they have gloried and taken pleasure in the sin of the people. Therefore, Like people, like priest: The priest of God is corrupted, and made like the sinning people, not vice versa.’

And that’s the same problem that exists in today’s society. The priests, instead of seriously preaching the gospel, of getting the people to deal with their sin in true repentance and forsakenness, have merely been watering down the message, turning it into a feel good situation, so that the people are no longer truly concerned about their disobedience towards God and the necessity for sincere repentance and forgiveness.

We’ve come to a time where there’s no longer one truth, that of Almighty God, but of several truths, and idols are rampant in our society. And remember that idols don’t have to be actual physical images, but anything that takes away first place from God in our life is an idol. That means we place more importance on whatever that is, rather than on God. And it seems we have forgotten the first words of the Ten Commandments in which the Lord gave as our basic moral compass.

‘Thou shalt have no other gods beside me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them (worship them), nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting (punishing) the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that LOVE me, and keep my commandments.’ (Ex. 20:3-6)

What’s so difficult to understand in the Lord’s position eh my people? It’s as clear as day. But then we wonder why our society, our world is in such a dreadful mess. It’s very simple; we have turned away from the God of our forefathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. That’s why Isaiah commented thus when talking about woe to those who follow strong drink. ‘Therefore my people have gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge: and their honourable men are famished, and their multitude dried up with thirst. Therefore hell hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure: and their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp, and he that rejoiceth, shall descend into it.’ (Is. 5:13-14)  

And there’s absolutely no doubt that in these most evil and ungodly times that hell has greedily opened her mouth and is daily engorging herself with a multitude of unrepentant sinners. Ah friends, our world is certainly going to hell in a handbasket, and most of us are doing nothing to try and stop it. Why is that eh? Can you imagine the chaos and destruction that will be left for out children to bear, if this drunken charge into hell fire and damnation is not stopped, or at least slowed down considerably?

I believe that is a good situation for us to ponder on, this lazy-day Saturday, and hopefully come up with some ways and means to at least slow it down, the best being a return to worshipping the One True God Jehovah! Much LOVE!

…ONLY obedience to God’s will…can turn our evil and ungodly world around…

Hear our podcast at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/randy-obrien

Today’s Scrip-Bit 7 December 2015 Hosea 4:6

Hosea 4:6.   My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.

Ah mih Friends, that much dreaded, but should be much LOVED day is here again. (smile) It’s Monday my people! Rise and shine and give some thanks and praise and glory to our heavenly Father for bringing us safely through the dark night into the blazing light of the Son, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! 

And please don’t waste too much time grumbling and complaining, because He is eagerly waiting for us to join Him at the forefront of the battle. Like all good leaders, He is showing the way, getting right into the heat of battle with us. So please don’t procrastinate, for time is of the essence.  

Yes friends, time is certainly important; we’ve only been granted so much, so we can’t afford to waste it by lazing around and indulging in selfish lusts. And as always, to help us get up and over the Monday morning hump, let’s sing our Monday Morning Battle hymn with much jump and joy nuh. 

As one earthly, but heavenly sounding choir now, let’s sing. ‘Oh Lord God Almighty, Creator of the universe and all therein! We, your humble servants, praise your Holy Name and thank you that this Monday morning we have jobs to go to; jobs we don’t like, jobs that are unfair, difficult and even dangerous, but which serve a useful purpose here on earth; keeping lives and families together. 

We also thank you Father for the renewed vitality and enthusiasm you’ve wrought in our weary souls over the last two days. It’s that rejuvenation of Spirit which allows us now to sally forth with confidence into the evil, ungodly world that surrounds us, to begin a new week of work, constantly buffeted and bombarded by the enemy’s wicked taunts, wiles and lies. 

But heavenly Father, we’re not afraid, for we know we’re invincible, sure conquerors, once we’re wearing your powerful, protective spiritual armour. We surrender our all to you, and humbly ask that you let your incredible aura of LOVE, the Holy Spirit, lead and guide all your servants as we go out to meet the enemy in battle. 

Fill us with steadfast faith, so that we can make worthwhile inroads into the enemy’s ranks, and thereby further your glorious kingdom. We pray this in the Holy Name of your Son, and our Saviour, Jesus Christ. AMEN!’ 

Oh what an awesome rendition my brethren! Jesus was jumping and jiving with us as He swung His conductor’s baton with that light and airy touch that He alone possesses! Wow! All of heaven was also singing along, including the Father! Mama Mia! 

So with that adrenalin coursing through our bodies now, let’s get ourselves together and head into the evil world and show them, what it truly means to be a Christian, a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ! Oh glory to God! 

Ah mih people, much to my surprise, the ole fella is really enthused this morning. I am being carried away by own rhetoric! (smile) Hope it rubs off on you too. But that’s what is possible when you put your faith, hope, belief and trust in Jesus! Your spirit is lifted and you are able to do incredible things in His name. 

And what we desperately need to do today is get out into the world and begin changing the Lord’s opinion of us in the Bit. For remember it applies to our current society even more than it did to the Israelites. 

‘My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.‘  

Oh how sad that that’s the Lord’s impression of our society! And we have no one to blame but ourselves. So without further ado, let’s get into some scripture that verify our Bit. Listen to the great prophet Isaiah as he talks about the woes promised to and pronounced on the faithless. 

‘Therefore my people are gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge: and their honourable men are famished, and their multitude dried up with thirst. Therefore hell (Sheol) hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure: and their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp, and he that rejoiceth, shall descend into it. 

And the mean man (people) shall be brought down, and the mighty man (each man) shall be humbled, and the eyes of the lofty shall be humbled. But the Lord of hosts shall be exalted in judgement, and God that is holy shall be sanctified in righteousness (hallowed).’( Is.5:13-16)  

Yes Friends, we can see that happening already. Honourable people are having a hard time existing in this sinful society, and there is a lot of hunger, poverty, inhumanity and starvation. But have no fear, the Lord and His people WILL win out in the end! 

Now let’s go home with some more encouraging words from Peter, as he talks about growing in grace. ‘And beside this (but also for this very reason), giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; And to knowledge temperance (self-control); and to temperance patience (perseverance); and to patience godliness; And to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness charity (LOVE). 

For if these things be in you (are yours), and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren (useless) nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off (is short-sighted), and hath forgotten that he was purged (cleansed) from his old sins. Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure; for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall (stumble).’ (2 Pet.1:5-10) 

And the scholars offer these explanations: ‘1:5-7. In this section Peter urges his readers to grow to spiritual maturity. Add to your faith indicates the areas of growth that follow after salvation. Virtue is moral excellence. Knowledge is spiritual truth. Temperance is self-control. Patience is endurance. Godliness is God-likeness. Brotherly kindness (Gr. philadelphian) is brotherly LOVE. Charity (Gr. agapen) is volitional LOVE. This process is a lifelong cycle of spiritual growth for all believers.’  

There you have it Friends and neighbours, the wisdom of heaven! So let’s go out and practice it nuh, so that we can never fall, never fail in our Christian living. Much LOVE!

…he that hath ears to hear…let him hear…for disobedience will be catastrophic…

 

 

 

 

Today’s Scrip-Bit 6 December 2015 Hosea 4:6

Hosea 4:6.  My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.’ 

‘What the world needs now is love, sweet love, It’s the only thing that there’s just too little of. What the world needs now is love, sweet love, No, not just for some but for everyone.’ 

Oh Friends, the haunting words of that old Burt Bacharach song made popular by Dionne Warwick, are possibly more relevant today than when they were first written and sung some forty odd years ago! I don’t know if our world has ever been shrouded in such ghastly darkness, evil, hatred and strife, dissipation, licentiousness and sinful lusts of the flesh as it is now. 

But I do know that it is terribly lacking in that wonderful emotion called LOVE! And unless we raise the level of LOVE in it, very soon too, our once beautiful world will continue to crumble and finally disintegrate into the mire of hell and its surroundings. What a sad and ghastly day that would be! 

But my people our world is spinning out of control so fast that it might happen much sooner than we expect. And the only antidote for the wars and rumours of wars and all the other negativity and frightful atrocities taking place in our world is LOVE; the LOVE of Jesus Christ as promoted in His LOVE Revolution! 

That’s the ONLY Revolution we need in our world right now! So won’t you please join with me to promulgate it? We urgently need to turn things around to where godliness reigns supreme instead of the evil that now rules the roost. You know that our current society is just like the one Hosea describes in Chapter 4, re the Lord’s controversy with Israel. 

‘Hear the word of the Lord, ye children of Israel: for the Lord hath a controversy with (a charge against) the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land. By swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery, they break out (break all restraints), and blood toucheth blood (bloodshed follows bloodshed).’ (Hos.4:1-2) 

Now doesn’t that sound just like what’s happening in our current world where evil and ungodliness are running rampant? It surely does! And you know what will happen if we continue down this foolish and unwise path?  We will feel the Lord’s wrath; He will destroy and/or punish us just like He did Israel back then. And all because of foolish pride and the wantonness of our sinful souls! 

Listen as our Bit declares the Lord’s contention. ‘My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.’ 

Oh friends, please remember that our God and His law do not change, so if it applied to Israel, then it will also apply to us. Now here is an interesting explanation from the scholars. ‘4:6. The cause of man’s problem is lack of knowledge. It does not stem from a shortage of information, but rather from rejection of information.’ 

Yes my people, our irreverence and ungodliness don’t stem from a shortage of information because we are living in the Information Age; where information is so readily available and widespread as never before in man’s earthly sojourn. So we can’t say that we don’t have the relevant and necessary info about God and His law; it’s simply that we refuse to accept it. 

More Bibles and books based on it are in circulation than ever before, so there’s no excuse to say we didn’t know about it. And even then, as they say; ‘ignorance is no defense.’ So what are we going to do about this very serious problem eh my people? 

The Lord also blamed His priests for being corrupt. ‘And there shall be, like people, like priest: and I will punish them for their ways, and reward (repay) them their doings (deeds). For they shall eat, and not have enough: they shall commit whoredom (harlotry), and shall not increase: because they have left off to take heed to the Lord (ceased obeying the Lord).’ (Hos.4:9-10) 

Yes Friends, we do have many false and corrupt priests today, but I don’t think they hold as much sway as the priests back in the days of Hosea. Our biggest culprits today are our leaders, our politicians, our captains of industry and our economic czars. Most of them no longer hold the Lord God Almighty in any kind of reverence. Instead they are trying their level best to have Him removed completely from our society. 

But we simply cannot allow that to happen my fellow believers. We need to stand up strong to the greedy, irreverent, corrupt, iconoclastic and devil- worshipping people who are currently leading us. 

The first step is to drum them out office and replace them with God-fearing leaders. That means encouraging those people to run for office and then electing them, else things will only get worse. And these people will also need to have a lot of manly parts, because the wicked leaders we have now will not go quietly into the sunset. 

As believers, we too also need to have a lot of belly and backbone to stand up to all the nonsense that’s going on, and stop allowing them to take God out of our schools and public places. The Ten Commandments should once again be our hallmark for living, because nothing is wrong with them. Every successful society needs to not have its inhabitants, lie, steal commit murder and adultery and covetousness and the many lustful things that pass for being right today. 

Anyway, today is Sunday, our day set aside for praise and worship and thanksgiving, so please let’s get ourselves to church and offer our sacrifices of praise, as well as ask for strength and wisdom to stand strong in the face of the enemy and be able to make a positive difference in our world, and thus return it to a state of godliness. For that’s the wisdom of the ages! Much LOVE!

…LOVE is all we need…all we ever need is LOVE…