Archive for category: GAMEtime Sharing

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Hosea 7:1-16.  Let’s go!

Hosea 7:1-2 (NIV)
1  “Whenever I would restore the fortunes of my people, whenever I would heal Israel, the sins of Ephraim are exposed and the crimes of Samaria revealed. They practice deceit, thieves break into houses, bandits rob in the streets;
2  but they do not realize that I remember all their evil deeds. Their sins engulf them; they are always before me.
 
On verses 1-2: These verses describe how every time God would restore and heal Israel, Israel (also known as Ephraim) would take God’s mercy for granted and go back to its same old sins again.  Examples of those sins include deceit, thievery, robbery (v1), lying (v3), adultery (v4), and one more sin we will describe below.   

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Hosea 5:1-15.  Let’s go!

Hosea 5:1-7 (NIV)
1  “Hear this, you priests! Pay attention, you Israelites! Listen, O royal house! This judgment is against you: You have been a snare at Mizpah, a net spread out on Tabor.
2  The rebels are deep in slaughter. I will discipline all of them.
3  I know all about Ephraim; Israel is not hidden from me. Ephraim, you have now turned to prostitution; Israel is corrupt.
4  “Their deeds do not permit them to return to their God. A spirit of prostitution is in their heart; they do not acknowledge the LORD.

On verses 1-7:  Hosea brings a message from the LORD to the priests and all of Israel (v1).  Calling Israel by the nickname Ephraim, the message is that Israel’s sins and corruption are not hidden from God (v3).  Because of their deeds and their failure to acknowledge God, Israel cannot return to God (v4).  The Israelites have in them “a spirit of prostitution” (v4), the LORD says. 

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Hosea 3:1-5.  Let’s go!

In this passage the LORD tells Hosea to reach out to his unfaithful wife, in effect not only forgiving her but restoring her as his bride.  These verses teach us some powerful truths about who God is and what His love for us is like.

Hosea 3:1 (NIV)
1  The LORD said to me, “Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another and is an adulteress. Love her as the LORD loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods and love the sacred raisin cakes.”
 
On verse 1: Here we learn that God’s love for you is unconditional.  We see God’s unconditional love when verse 1 says “the Lord loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods and love the sacred raisin cakes” (v1). 
 
God tells the prophet Hosea to love his wife, though she had cheated on him, with that same unconditional love: “Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another man and is an adulteress.  Love her as the Lord loves the Israelites” (v1).  Though we don’t always love God, God always loves us.  That’s the incredible, unconditional love of God for us.

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Hosea 2:1-13.  Let’s go!
 
Hosea 2:1 (NIV)
1 “Say of your brothers, ‘My people,’ and of your sisters, ‘My loved one.’ 
 
Verse 1:  This verse fits in more with the contents of chapter 1 than with chapter 2.  At the end of chapter 1 Hosea describes how God will show His people amazing grace and mercy and restore them after they have cheated on Him.  Verse 1 here is part of that restoration.  Hosea’s message is that, just like the names of Hosea’s daughter and second son, God should have called the Israelites “not my people” (“Lo-Ruhamah”) and “not my loved one” (Lo-Ammi) because of their unfaithfulness.  But because of God’s grace and mercy, the Israelites once again became “My people” and “My loved one” in God’s eyes.  
 
Similarly, as sinners we had no right to be called God’s people or God’s beloved.  Yet that is what we are now, all because of the mercy and grace God showed us through Jesus Christ.
 

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Joel 2:18-32.  Let’s go!

Joel 2:18-32 (NIV)
18  Then the LORD will be jealous for his land and take pity on his people.
19  The LORD will reply to them: ‘I am sending you grain, new wine and oil, enough to satisfy you fully; never again will I make you an object of scorn to the nations.
20  ‘I will drive the northern army far from you, pushing it into a parched and barren land, with its front columns going into the eastern sea and those in the rear into the western sea. And its stench will go up; its smell will rise.’ Surely he has done great things.

On verses 18-32:  God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble (Proverbs 3:34; 1 Peter 5:5; James 4:6).  We see that here in these verses.  After urging his people to humble themselves through repentance, fasting and praying together (v12-17), Joel now describes what God will do for His people when they humble themselves that way:

– He will have pity on his people (v18)
– He will send them new grain, wine and oil that fully satisfies (v19, v24)
– He will drive out and defeat their enemies (v20)