Thursday 6 June 2024
Proverbs 3:1-12
English Standard Version
Trust in the Lord with All Your Heart
1 My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments,
2 for length of days and years of life and peace they will add to you.
3 Let not steadfast love and faithfulness forsake you; bind them around your neck; write them on the tablet of your heart.
4 So you will find favor and good success[a] in the sight of God and man.
5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.
6 In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.
7 Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, and turn away from evil.
8 It will be healing to your flesh[b] and refreshment[c] to your bones.
9 Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the first fruits of all your produce;
10 then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine.
11 My son, do not despise the Lord's discipline or be weary of his reproof,
12 for the Lord reproves him whom he loves, as a father the son in whom he delights.
Hosea 2
The Lord's Mercy on Israel
14 “Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak tenderly to her.
15 And there I will give her her vineyards and make the Valley of Achor[b] a door of hope. And there she shall answer as in the days of her youth, as at the time when she came out of the land of Egypt.
16 “And in that day, declares the Lord, you will call me ‘My Husband,’ and no longer will you call me ‘My Baal.’ 17 For I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth, and they shall be remembered by name no more. 18 And I will make for them a covenant on that day with the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens, and the creeping things of the ground. And I will abolish[c] the bow, the sword, and war from the land, and I will make you lie down in safety. 19 And I will betroth you to me forever. I will betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love and in mercy. 20 I will betroth you to me in faithfulness. And you shall know the Lord.
21 “And in that day I will answer, declares the Lord, I will answer the heavens, and they shall answer the earth, 22 and the earth shall answer the grain, the wine, and the oil, and they shall answer Jezreel,[d]23 and I will sow her for myself in the land.And I will have mercy on No Mercy,[e] and I will say to Not My People,[f] ‘You are my people’; and he shall say, ‘You are my God.’”
Observation
In the book of Proverbs GOD's speaks to HIS people here as a loving Father to a Son/Daughter. I love the wisdom of Solomon because he knew exactly why GOD has chosen him as King, he was obedient to his parents, GOD has been teaching him and he not only learned wisdom from GOD, he wrote it down for it to be known and shared to those who are seeking wisdom. Solomon started out a very good son.
This chapter in Hosea speaks about GOD's mercy and faithfulness to HIS wayward children. Most of the time, people are rebellious to the ways of GOD because man is naturally sinful in their being because of the fall of man through Adam, but despite and inspite of, GOD has a day of mercy towards us all. In this book GOD compares His love for Israel like a loving Husband to an unfaithful wife, and Israel today can be likened to the Church.
Application
The verbs that echoes to me in this specific Proverbs are:
Be steadfast in Love, Be faithful, Trust GOD, Acknowledge GOD,
Honor GOD (do not be wise on your own)
As a husband who loves a wife, GOD's jealous love to HIS people can be applied to an individual who is in a relationship with GOD and it can be corporate as a group like the Church. In this specific verse which says “And in that day, declares the Lord, you will call me ‘My Husband,’ and no longer will you call me ‘My Baal.’ you can really sense the intensity of HIS feelings toward any man or woman or group of people that HE would intent for them to call HIM My Husband. Husband speaks of the masculine leader of Marriage, the Provider, the Priest, the Protector of a woman, his wife. A wife is to be submissive, and they are naturally loving to their husband - this is the kind of devotion GOD requires from HIS people because HIS devotion to us is already intense. I somehow have an idea what it's like to be wife for the fact that I have been desiring a husband for a long time. It's not something new, out of the blue or unnatural but it has been written long past that the first wife Eve was created specifically to be a helpmate for her Adam and that she was born with a desire to love her Adam. Call this a curse or a blessing, I chose to live in the truth of the fact that I have been desiring a husband just as GOD has created in me a desire to love HIM since I was a little child. It's not a bad thing, it's a natural human thing that GOD alone can fulfill such desires in HIS perfect time. But for the mean time that I do not yet have a human husband, I have a husband in GOD, but my relationship with HIM is far from perfect yet HIS love for me is forever steadfast, forever faithful, forever True - this is the way HE wants us to love HIM too.
Prayers
Dear AVI,
Blessed are YOU O LORD My GOD King of the Universe! HOLY is YOUR Name YESHUA. Father, I have loved YOU for so long, and loving YOU has led me also to loving my husband. Help me to be submissive to him, by submitting myself first to YOU and to the authorities YOU put above me. It's hard O GOD to live this life with contrary desires to the will YOU have for me. I am always tempted to escape the hardship of this life, and live out my life my way, but I cannot because I want to honor YOU My first Husband, I want to be faithfully following YOU, faithfully loving YOU. I pray that YOU will soon reveal to me who really is the man YOU have handpicked for me to marry. I continue to pray for Stephen, that YOU will call him to be YOUR own, and that he will grow in YOU - loving YOU, serving YOU. I pray for Randy that YOU help him to endure the troubles in his family and help him to continue loving. I pray for my Dad and Mom, that YOU will not allow them to be selfish but teach them to love. I pray to be a most loving wife devoted to YOU and to the human husband YOU have put in my heart to love. Let him love me first just as YOU first loved me KING JESUS. Bring us together this year, I pray O GOD, I want to be married already, for the longest time now, have YOU not made me ready yet??? Am I still lacking so many things??? Help me to keep trusting YOU as I continue to wait because waiting has become painful to me. Please send a man who can take care of me. Send me this man who loves YOU too. Please GOD why this mystery for such a long time??? Why???? I am thankful that I am almost over with Stephen, thank YOU for removing those feelings and I pray that I will finally move past him already because it is useless, it is vanity to feel for someone who is not mean to be YOURS. Do not let me in this wilderness O GOD, bring me out into YOUR promise for me. I pray for Mosab, continue to protect him and bring salvation to his family because YOU are faithful, bring salvation to all our family living in this household, let them see YOUR goodness O GOD and kindness. I pray help me to always be faithful in all things O GOD, and that my love will always be steadfast for YOU deserve all my praise, my efforts, my worship my utmost and highest devotion - YOU, ONLY YOU!
In the name of YESHUA, Amen!
Comments
Post a Comment