Archive for category: GAMEtime Sharing

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Hosea 12:1-14. Let’s go!

To appreciate God’s message to the Israelites (and to us) in Hosea 12, you need to know something about Jacob, one of Israel’s forefathers and the man after whom the nation of Israel was named. Jacob’s life forms the backdrop to a lot of what Hosea 12 is talking about.

You see, Jacob lived much of his life thinking he had to scratch, claw and fight for everything he had. His approach toward all of life was “transactional”. Like a merchant, he was constantly striking deals with people, including when it came to finding a wife (v12), and even with God: “I’ll give you this, if you give me that.” As part of this, Jacob would often lie to get ahead, pretending to be someone that he was not. In this way Jacob lived up to his name, which means “deceiver”.

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Hosea 10:1-15. Let’s go!

Hosea 10:12-14 (NIV)
12 Sow for yourselves righteousness, reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unplowed ground; for it is time to seek the LORD, until he comes and showers righteousness on you.
13 But you have planted wickedness, you have reaped evil, you have eaten the fruit of deception. Because you have depended on your own strength and on your many warriors,
14 the roar of battle will rise against your people, so that all your fortresses will be devastated– as Shalman devastated Beth Arbel on the day of battle, when mothers were dashed to the ground with their children.

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Hosea 8:1-14.  Let’s go!

Hosea 8:7 (NIV) 
7 “They sow the wind and reap the whirlwind…”

What does it mean when verse 7 says, “They sow the wind and reap the whirlwind”?  In this case “the wind” represents vain pursuits,  anything that doesn’t have any eternal value.  When I sow the wind, it means I’m chasing after vain things that don’t last.  Are you sowing the wind?

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Hosea 6:1-11.  Let’s go!

Hosea 6:1-2 (NIV) 
1 “Come, let us return to the LORD. He has torn us to pieces but he will heal us; he has injured us but he will bind up our wounds.
2 After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will restore us, that we may live in his presence.

On verses 1-2:  For the rest of our lives on earth, we can be sure that whenever God allows us to go through difficulties or defeats, it’s not because He is cruel or indifferent.  It’s because His ultimate purpose is to revive us, to restore us, to make us stronger than we were before, and to know Him more intimately, “that we may live in His presence” (v2).

Hosea 4:1-2 (NIV)
1 Hear the word of the LORD, you Israelites, because the LORD has a charge to bring against you who live in the land: “There is no faithfulness, no love, no acknowledgment of God in the land. 2 There is only cursing, lying and murder, stealing and adultery; they break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed.

Here in Hosea 4 Joel describes the way God saw the people of Israel and their priests — as nothing but sinners (v1-2), given to unfaithfulness and idolatry (v12-13, v17), hurt and hurting one another, lovers of evil (v18), unsatisfied (v10), stubborn (v16), stumbling (v5), rejected by God (v6), and wasting away (v3). Let this chapter be a reminder that until Jesus Christ came and reversed our fortunes, Hosea 4 was our destiny too. If it were not for Jesus, Hosea 4 is a perfect description of how God would see us today.