Return

"Return, Israel, to the Lord your God. Your sins have been your downfall! 2 Take words with you and return to the Lord." Hosea 14:1-2a (NIV)

I am sorry for all my readers for my abrupt absence. Recently I increased the number of responsibilities I have and have been neglecting posting anything up. It is not an excuse, but I will do a better job of sticking to my Monday postings (I know it is Tuesday).

I recently preached on the passage above and I thought I would share some of my sermon notes to sort of ease myself back into the flow of blogging weekly devotionals. This verse is an important call for both the Israelites and us in modern times. We need to return to the Lord. In fact, if that is not a word for all mankind, I do not know what is. When you look around at all that that is going on in around the world, and even locally here in Houston (Bing "Annice Parker Subpoenas churches") I believe that this is a word that is necessary even more.

Hosea tells the people of Israel to take words with them, words of repentance and sorrow in addition to their act of returning to the Lord. I am reminded that not only are we to confess our sins (1 John 1:9) but we are to keep His commandments. Jesus said it quite clearly in John 14:15 that if we say we love Him, then we are to keep His commandments. A repentant heart is always followed by a change. Repentance is not merely feeling bad about what we have done, but a turning away from sin.
 
If you have let pride take hold of you, run from your self and return to the Lord. If you have fallen into sexual immorality or evil deeds, run from the desire of the flesh and return to the Lord. If you have let wealth and materialism become your god, run from the desire of your eyes and return to the Lord. If you have let fame, success, status, and social standing become your desire, run from the pride of life and return to the Lord. If you think you are so far gone that you can never be restored, take heart in His Word.

Psalm 139
7Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
10 even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.
11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,”
12 even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you

Romans 8
38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,[k] neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

John 16
33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

WOD:
Let's ease you into it:
Pushup Pyramid: 3-6-9-12-15-18-15-12-9-6-3
In between sets do 10 Mountain climbers

Every time you break do 10 Crunches

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