Hosea 1 Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

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Max Lucado Daily: Kick the Bully in the Pants

With all the cockiness of a neighborhood bully, the thought swaggers up to the door and says. . .“You’re a loser.  All your life you’ve been a loser.  You might as well write the word bum on your resume, for that’s what you are.” The average person would throw open the door and let the thought in.  “You’re right.  I’m a bum.  Come on in.”

But as a Christian, you aren’t your average person.  You’re led by the Spirit of God. So rather than let the thought in, you take it captive; you present the thought before the judgment seat of Christ.  How do you know if Jesus agrees or disagrees?  You open your Bible.  Romans 8:1 is a good place to check. “There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

So, give the bully a firm kick in the pants—and watch him run!

from Just Like Jesus

Hosea 1

New International Version (NIV)
1 The word of the Lord that came to Hosea son of Beeri during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and during the reign of Jeroboam son of Jehoash[a] king of Israel:

Hosea’s Wife and Children

2 When the Lord began to speak through Hosea, the Lord said to him, “Go, marry a promiscuous woman and have children with her, for like an adulterous wife this land is guilty of unfaithfulness to the Lord.” 3 So he married Gomer daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son.

4 Then the Lord said to Hosea, “Call him Jezreel, because I will soon punish the house of Jehu for the massacre at Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of Israel. 5 In that day I will break Israel’s bow in the Valley of Jezreel.”

6 Gomer conceived again and gave birth to a daughter. Then the Lord said to Hosea, “Call her Lo-Ruhamah (which means “not loved”), for I will no longer show love to Israel, that I should at all forgive them. 7 Yet I will show love to Judah; and I will save them—not by bow, sword or battle, or by horses and horsemen, but I, the Lord their God, will save them.”

8 After she had weaned Lo-Ruhamah, Gomer had another son. 9 Then the Lord said, “Call him Lo-Ammi (which means “not my people”), for you are not my people, and I am not your God.[b]

10 “Yet the Israelites will be like the sand on the seashore, which cannot be measured or counted. In the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’ they will be called ‘children of the living God.’ 11 The people of Judah and the people of Israel will come together; they will appoint one leader and will come up out of the land, for great will be the day of Jezreel.[c]


Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Read: Exodus 14:19-25

New International Version (NIV)
19 Then the angel of God, who had been traveling in front of Israel’s army, withdrew and went behind them. The pillar of cloud also moved from in front and stood behind them, 20 coming between the armies of Egypt and Israel. Throughout the night the cloud brought darkness to the one side and light to the other side; so neither went near the other all night long.

21 Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the Lord drove the sea back with a strong east wind and turned it into dry land. The waters were divided, 22 and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left.

23 The Egyptians pursued them, and all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots and horsemen followed them into the sea. 24 During the last watch of the night the Lord looked down from the pillar of fire and cloud at the Egyptian army and threw it into confusion. 25 He jammed[a] the wheels of their chariots so that they had difficulty driving. And the Egyptians said, “Let’s get away from the Israelites! The Lord is fighting for them against Egypt.”

“Don’t Worry, Dad!”

May 9, 2013 — by Cindy Hess Kasper

The glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. —Isaiah 58:8

Last summer, my husband and I hosted a concert and fundraiser for childhood cancer research. We planned to have the event in our backyard, but weather forecasts were dismal. A few hours before the event, we began calling our 100+ guests to inform them of a change in venue. As our friends and family began feverishly toting food, decorations, and equipment from our house to our church gym, our daughter Rosie took a moment to give her dad a hug and remind him on behalf of the kids and grandkids that they were there for him: “Don’t worry, Dad! We’ve got your back.”

Hearing that expression is comforting because it reminds us that we’re not on our own. Someone is saying, “I’m here. I’ll take care of whatever you might miss. I’ll be a second set of eyes and hands for you.”

As the Israelites were escaping a life of slavery, Pharaoh sent his army of chariots and horsemen to give chase (Ex. 14:17). But “the Angel of God . . . and the pillar of cloud went from before them and stood behind them” (v.19). In this way, God hid and protected them throughout the night. The next day, He parted the Red Sea so they could safely cross over.

God tells us “Don’t worry” as well. “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Rom. 8:31).

God’s hand that holds the ocean’s depths
Can hold my small affairs;
His hand that guides the universe
Can carry all my cares. —Anon.
Our work is to cast care; God’s work is to take care!


My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
May 9, 2013

Reaching Beyond Our Grasp

Where there is no revelation [or prophetic vision], the people cast off restraint . . . —Proverbs 29:18

There is a difference between holding on to a principle and having a vision. A principle does not come from moral inspiration, but a vision does. People who are totally consumed with idealistic principles rarely do anything. A person’s own idea of God and His attributes may actually be used to justify and rationalize his deliberate neglect of his duty. Jonah tried to excuse his disobedience by saying to God, “. . . I know that You are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, One who relents from doing harm” (Jonah 4:2). I too may have the right idea of God and His attributes, but that may be the very reason why I do not do my duty. But wherever there is vision, there is also a life of honesty and integrity, because the vision gives me the moral incentive.

Our own idealistic principles may actually lull us into ruin. Examine yourself spiritually to see if you have vision, or only principles.

Ah, but a man’s reach should exceed his grasp, Or what’s a heaven for?

“Where there is no revelation [or prophetic vision]. . . .” Once we lose sight of God, we begin to be reckless. We cast off certain restraints from activities we know are wrong. We set prayer aside as well and cease having God’s vision in the little things of life. We simply begin to act on our own initiative. If we are eating only out of our own hand, and doing things solely on our own initiative without expecting God to come in, we are on a downward path. We have lost the vision. Is our attitude today an attitude that flows from our vision of God? Are we expecting God to do greater things than He has ever done before? Is there a freshness and a vitality in our spiritual outlook?


A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Walking Too Fast to Talk - #6869

Thursday, May 9, 2013

If you're into fitness, you'll be happy to know that at times my wife and I have been walking together several times a week. Now, we lived in a place where it was three and a half miles around our local lake, and that was really good. For two reasons: First of all, that walk improved our physical condition-and I know that's something you'd be happy about. But it also gave us time to talk.

Now, there's a problem. I like to walk faster. I think I was doing those three and a half miles in about forty-two minutes, which is a pretty good pace. But I've learned that walking and talking can get in each other's way, especially if you walk too fast and I have a tendency to do that. When we chug up and down our local hills at my hyper pace, my wife would often voice a very legitimate complaint. She'd say, "Ron, you're walking too fast to talk!" I was doing that long before we started our little hikes.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Walking Too Fast to Talk."

Our word for today from the Word of God; some of my favorite verses I love to return to - Ephesians chapter 5, and I'm going to begin reading at verse 25. This is that marriage passage, you know, about how husbands should treat wives and wives treat their husbands. I call it elbow verses. You ever notice in church when the pastor speaks on this how couples start to elbow each other when it gets to that part that's supposed to apply to your partner? Yeah, elbow verses, "Hey, you better listen to this, Honey."

We're going to look at the man's part today. "Husbands love your wives just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her." Verse 28 says, "Husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself." Verse 29, "After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church."

Now, there are some practical things here, because we're told that the biblical way for a husband to treat his wife is to love her as Christ loved the church. And then it says a couple of practical things that deal with feeding her and caring for her. That's a lot more than material, because a woman is more than anything an emotional, spiritual person. She needs to be spiritually fed and spiritually cared for. And apparently, love means sacrifice. Because it says, "As Christ laid down His life."

Now, a woman's greatest need, I think, is to know she's heard by her man. She needs to be loved, she sure needs to be valued, and being heard by him is how she knows she's loved and valued maybe more than any other way. In other words, a woman needs focused time. And guess what a man has the hardest time giving? Time...time to listen.

Frankly, our wives feel neglected and demoted because we're walking too fast to talk. "If she can catch me, she can talk to me. If she can keep it to three minutes, well then she can have my attention." That's not love. That's not like Jesus. Time limit? Do you have to chase Him to get His attention? "Husbands love your wives as Christ loves us."

If you're married or if you're in love, the woman you love needs time to be heard. When a woman isn't heard, she starts to talk louder, and longer, and more often. And she nags because she's not been heard. That time with her needs to be a deliberate choice you make, a sacrificial choice, "I'm all yours, Honey, and I'm yours for a while." That kind of love will create a home that is a caring place, safe place for the man who lives there.

Remember what I've learned about walking with my wife. You have to slow down in order to talk, and her language of love is your willingness to listen.