SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/12/2015
9:15 PM
My Worship Time
Focus: God’s Love Demonstrated in the Wilderness
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Hosea 11:3-4
Message of the
verses: “3 Yet it is I who taught
Ephraim to walk, I took them in My arms; But they did not know that I healed
them. 4 I led them with cords of a man, with bonds of love, And I became to
them as one who lifts the yoke from their jaws; And I bent down and fed them.”
Hosea speaks of when the Lord took Israel into the
wilderness and this is where He taught them things that they would never learn
in any other place. God taught them how
to walk and He did this tenderly. In the
32nd Psalm and verses 8-9 the Palmist speaks of how one leads a mule
as he states: “8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way
which you should go; I will counsel you with My eye upon you. 9 Do not be as the horse or as the
mule which have no understanding, Whose trappings include bit and bridle to
hold them in check, Otherwise they will not come near to you.” The Lord did not use this approach with
Israel when they were a young nation, but taught them more gently like a father
of mother would help their children to walk.
The problem is that Israel did not respond to God’s good
treatment the way they should have for they loved to have His gifts that He
gave them but wanted little to do with the Giver of the gifts. There is not much difference with most of the
church people in today’s society.
Dr. Wiersbe concludes his commentary by writing “Throughout
history, whether Jewish or Gentile, human nature is pretty much the same, and
all of us are prone to do what Israel did: enjoy God’s blessings, but take God
for granted. ‘My people are determined
to turn from me’ (Hosea 1:7 NIV). ‘Also,
sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a brood of evildoers, children who
are corrupters!’ (Isa. 1:4 NKJV) God set them free and guided them to their
inheritance, but within one generation after the death of Joshua, a nation
turned to idolatry and forsook the Lord (Jud. 2:7ff).”
I mentioned that people can learn a lot from a wilderness
experience and Michael Card wrote a song that speaks of this experience, a song
entitled “In the Wilderness.”
(Chorus:)
In the wilderness
In the wilderness
He calls his sons and daughters
To the wilderness
And he gives grace sufficient
To survive any test
And that's the faithful purpose of the wilderness
In the wilderness we wander
In the wilderness we weep
The wasteland of our wanting
Where the darkness seems so deep
We search for the beginning, for an exodus to hold
We find that those who follow him, must often walk alone
(Chorus)
In the wilderness we're wandering
For a way to understand
In the wilderness there's not a way
For the way to become a man
And become the exodus, the way to holy ground
But wandering in the wilderness is the best way to be found
(Chorus)
Groaning and growing amidst the desert days
The windy winter wilderness can blow the self away
(Chorus)
And that's the faithful promise of the wilderness
In the wilderness
In the wilderness
He calls his sons and daughters
To the wilderness
And he gives grace sufficient
To survive any test
And that's the faithful purpose of the wilderness
In the wilderness we wander
In the wilderness we weep
The wasteland of our wanting
Where the darkness seems so deep
We search for the beginning, for an exodus to hold
We find that those who follow him, must often walk alone
(Chorus)
In the wilderness we're wandering
For a way to understand
In the wilderness there's not a way
For the way to become a man
And become the exodus, the way to holy ground
But wandering in the wilderness is the best way to be found
(Chorus)
Groaning and growing amidst the desert days
The windy winter wilderness can blow the self away
(Chorus)
And that's the faithful promise of the wilderness
7/12/2015 9:44 PM
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