Grieving for the Church

I was reading Hosea tonight and became suddenly grieved as I discovered similarities between Israel and the church today. Let me state my purpose in this blog clearly - this is NOT to depress you or condemn the church, or anything to that degree. This is to share my heart with you and exhort you to pray for the church more fervently. I was so driven to prayer after being pressed to the point of weeping as these comparisons were made evident to me. I am in unspeakable anguish even now, as I write this.

Hosea 6:4 ~ What shall I do with you, O Ephraim? What shall I do with you, O Judah? For your loyalty is like a morning cloud and the dew which goes away early.
This passage is pretty straightforward. The church is unfaithful. She does not keep her commitments. Her heart is not devoted entirely to her Beloved. I think you know what her distractions are without thinking about it too hard.

Hosea 6:6 ~ For I delight in loyalty rather than sacrifice, and in the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.
We are so consumed by our "burnt offerings", i.e. missions trips, campus ministries, bible studies, etc. Yet we do not even know Him as we ought! How can we say we are serving Him purely out of our passionate love for Him when we do not even make the time due Him every day? When His name barely ever crosses our lips? When He is the last person that we even think of talking to??? Our burnt offerings cannot please Him, when we do not pursue the knowledge of Him first and foremost.

Hosea 7:2a ~ And they do not consider in their hearts that I remember all their wickedness.
How many times have we done something, thinking that no one will ever know? How many times have we failed to consider that we always have a witness, even when we are alone? And that our witness is our Master and our Judge.

Hosea 7:9a ~ Strangers devour his strength, yet he does not know it.
We often do not even know what weakens us. That is how overtaken the church has become by the world. We are desensitized to the very things that are an abomination to our Lord, and do not even feel the rift widening in our relationship with Him as we blindly allow ourselves to be led deeper into darkness.

Hosea 7:10 ~ Though the pride of Israel testifies against him, yet they have neither returned to the Lord their God, nor have they sought Him, for all this.
We know that what we do is wrong, that He is right and what we do only leads to destruction without Him, yet we do not return to Him, and we do not seek Him, in spite of our pain and aimlessness.

Hosea 7:14 ~ And they do not cry to Me from their heart when they wail on their beds.
Even in our deepest, heart-rending pain and grief, we do not cry out to Him. Why??? We have this extraordinary relationship with Him! We are the only ones with this relationship, and yet we act like there is no solution, no comfort, no hope.

Hosea 8:1-3 ~ Put the trumpet to your lips! Like an eagle the enemy comes against the house of the Lord, because they have transgressed My covenant and rebelled against My law. They cry out to Me, "My God, we of Israel know you!" Israel has rejected the good; the enemy will pursue Him.
The church has demeaned holiness. The lists of vile things that Lord hates that are found all over the new testament are also found in the church. The church has ceased to pursue holiness, but Satan pursues the church even more eagerly, to hinder God's work from being done, to try to stifle the glory due Him.

Hosea 8:5b ~ How long will they be incapable of innocence?
Have you heard the things that come out of our mouths? The jokes that we laugh at? The innuendos that we choose to see? It disgusts me, especially when I find it in myself. Imagine how much more it must disgust the Lord who died for our holiness!

Hosea 9:4b ~ Their bread will be like mourners' bread; all who eat of it will be defiled, for their bread will be for them alone; it will not enter the house of the Lord.
All the work that we do, the profits we strive for, is defiled and full of sorrow, because it was not given over to the Lord, but was for our own gain. So congratulations! so many people in the church have just spent their whole lives gaining mourners' bread!

Hosea 9:10b ~ they devoted themselves to shame, and they became as detestable as that which they loved.
The church has devoted herself to shame! If she is not devoted to God, then this is the only thing she can be devoted to! That which she loved has made it like herself! What do we love? How is it changing us? I think this is easily answered by recognizing what our sins are, because the more evident and abundant they are, the easier it is to trace the cause.

Hosea 13:6 ~ As they had their pasture, they became satisfied, and being satisfied, their heart became proud, therefore they forgot Me.
He has blessed us so much, yet we are content to live comfortable lives, and convinced that He wants nothing more from us than that! How can we think this way? How can any believer be satisfied with getting a good-paying job, having a nice house, raising a family, going to church every Sunday, and dying??? That is not the purpose He has called us to! He sent ALL the disciples out! He didn't tell any of them to settle down and have a nice, peaceful (by the world's standards) life! Why then, do we think that this way of life is normal? Why are we content with any less than what He has promised us?

Here, however, are some passages of encouragement and hope:

Hosea 6:1-3 ~ Come, let us return to the Lord. For He has torn us, but He will heal us; He has wounded us, but He will bandage us. He will revive us after two days; He will raise us up on the third day, that we may live before Him. So let us know, let us press on to know the Lord. His going forth is as certain as the dawn; and He will come to us like the rain, like the spring rain watering the earth.

Hosea 10:12 ~ Sow with a view to righteousness, reap in accordance with kindness; break up your fallow ground, for it is time to seek the Lord until He comes to rain righteousness on you.

Hosea 11:8a-9 ~ How can I give you up, O Ephraim? How can I surrender you, O Israel? My heart is turned over within Me, all My compassions are kindled. I will not execute my fierce anger; I will not destroy Ephraim again. For I am God and not man, the Holy One in your midst, and I will not come in wrath.

Hosea 12:6 ~ Therefore, return to your God, observe kindness and justice, and wait for your God continually.

Hosea 14:4 ~ I will heal their apostasy, I will love them freely, for My anger has turned away from them.

Please pray with me, in urgency, in love, in faith, that there will be a revival in the church. Pray Hosea 2:23 ~ I will sow her for Myself in the land. I will also have compassion on her who had not obtained compassion, and I will say to those who were not My people, "You are My people!" and they will say, "You are my God!"

In Whatever Circumstances

"Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need." ~ Philippians 4:11-12

I truly feel that this is what Christ is teaching me right now. With "humble means", compared to my huge ambitions, with a semester coming up in which I am anticipating enormous amounts of stress, in a world full of scarcity, crime and worry, I am at rest and my joy is complete in Christ. I am tempted to worry about the future, and have done so, but not anymore. Doubt (lack of faith) has been a big problem for me, but in this same passage, that is as addressed. The very next verse after speaking of learning to be content in whatever circumstances is more famous than any other verse in this whole book: "I can do all things through Him who strengthens me." I think it's strange how we disconnect this verse from the previous verses. They definitely need to go together to make a complete thought. Why can I be content? Why can I have abundance in the midst of suffering? Why can I be filled while going hungry? Because I have the ultimate entrepreneur on my side! I have limitless resources in my Father who owns the cattle on a thousand hills! He fills me spiritually, so that I need nothing. My joy is complete in Him! And if He wants me somewhere, He will make it happen! If I am acting in obedience to Him, He will not leave me alone to fight my battles and push through impossible circumstances. I have every reason to overflowing with joy and contentment!