For today, One Year Bible Online links here.
People sometimes believe flattery and make mistakes as a result. So be careful about flattering your friends. You do not want to be the reason they think they are more capable than they really are. If you wish to be godly, care about the rights of the poor. It is only the wicked who fail to care.
I will remember that my life would be much different, and much worse, if God had not stood at my side and protected me. I know that He will continue to stand by my side. I will praise His name for what He has done for me.
Anyone who believes that Jesus is the Chosen One of God has become a child of God. If you love the Father, you will love His children. The corollary being that if you do not love His children (every one of them) you do not love Him. Of course it works the other way as well. If love God’s children we will love God. If you do not love God, you do not love His children. God has testified that Jesus is His Son. Therefore if you do not believe that Jesus is the Son of God, you are calling God a liar. You cannot simultaneous call God a liar and claim to trust Him for your salvation. Only those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God can win the battle we are waging against the world.
Every time I read Hosea I feel bad for his children, receiving such names. Hosea prophesied that Israel would be treated by God as if He did not love them, as if they were not His people. Despite this their numbers would increase and God would once more take them back, show them His love, and call them His people. For the most part this passage is about Israel as a group of people, but there is also a lesson here for us as individuals.
We can learn a lesson from how Hosea dealt with his wife. He married her despite her reputation as a prostitute/immoral woman. When she was unfaithful to him, he put her aside. Yet, after a time, while she was still unfaithful to him, he bought her back. This reflects our relationship with God. We are like Gomer, Hosea’s wife. God brought us to Him despite our deserved reputation for unfaithfulness. He treated us well, but when we refused to be faithful He sent us away. Yet, God will still redeem us and give us a chance to turn to Him and give up our worship of things other than Him.