Hosea 10:12

i was reading last night and a scripture jumped out at me. i read it over and over and immediately felt like this should be posted for everyone here at sermonindex. i hope it blesses some people here.

Hosea 10:12

"12 Sow for yourselves righteousness;
Reap in mercy;
Break up your fallow ground,
For it is time to seek the LORD,
Till He comes and rains righteousness on you.

i hope that the Lord may speak this verse to your heart as well.

phil

I really like this verse a lot. What you sow so shall ye reap. Sow righteousness and watch the Lord rain down righteousness upon you.

Oh how the church needs to break up its fallow ground and sow righteousness. We have not pushed people to break up their fallow ground because we have not pushed them to repentance. Instead the church has invited them to pitch their tents on the fallow ground and develope a false sense of security.

The church must start to sow righteousness again. This is one of the reasons I so enjoy sermonindex...it encourages people to holiness and righteous living.

Thank you all for encouraging the bride of Christ to be ready and spotless for His return.

May the lamb that was slain receive His just reward.

In His service,
Steve

Sorry, I know I replied once but I had to add this:

Hosea 10:12 Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain righteousness upon you.

It is time for the church to seek the Lord once more and to repent of her sin and of her repression of holiness. It is time for her to Seek God with all her heart and turn up the ground and turn from her worldliness and wickedness. It is time for her to crucify herself to the world and have no more desire for it. It is time to seek God’s face and desire the rains of righteousness to flow from Him, to our undeserving, parched souls.

Oh how we need God to water and fill our thirst; but, may our thirst be unsatiable and may we continue to hunger after the very words of God and thirst after His righteousness. Might we crave it in our souls like our bodies shout out for food and drink. May our hunger for holiness never be filled until we reach the shores of sweet Beulah land. Let us live holy lives but may be never be content...always striving and hungering more and more after the holiness of God!
Wanting always to drink from the pure rains of His Righteousness.

Oh may God come down and fill us.
Might we see His mighty working hand.
Might we be harvested and in turn go out into the harvest and bring others to heavens gates...
for His glory!
Not for our own personal glory or the church's glory but only for the glory of God!!!

May the lamb that was slain receive His just reward.
It is not what can we get out of God
but it is what God can get out of us.
It is time!

When it comes to the church and those who are part of the church...
I am tired of academics...I want action!!!!
I am tired of repression...I want repentance!!!
I am tired of helplessness ... I want holiness!!!
I am tired of the stuffing down of the old man... I want sanctification!!!
I am tired of man striving for his own gain and glory... I want God glorified in EVERYTHING!!!

Oh how we need to break up that fallow ground and say with Paul, “But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.” Galatians 6:14

May God help us see the error of our ways and may we repent from them and turn completely to Him with humble hearts and may His will be done in our lives even as it is so perfectly done in heaven.

In His service,

Steve

Phil,

The Lord led me back to that scripture on Sunday morning. I included it in an exhortation I read to the church on that day.

There is a text sermon by Charles Finney called "Breaking Up the Fallow Ground" on here. Highly recommend it.

Murray

Phil,

I was reading the scriptures just after posting and the Lord confirmed His word to us by leading me to Joel. In chapter 1:17, it says "the seeds are shriveled beneath the clods." Clods is another name for fallowed ground. Soil that was once tilled and productive but now lies waste and hardened.

This scripture is in a chapter which is titled a call to repentance in my bible.

In chapter 3 of Joel it says there are multitudes in the valley of decision. People that must decide whether to go on with God or stay and die.

Last week God showed me a scripture in Ezekiel which said "the sound of a carefree multitude was with her."

It is humbling to realize that the Creator of the universe speaks to us all over the world, having patience with us, to lead us to repentance.

Murray

When it comes to the church and those who are part of the church...
I am tired of academics...I want action!!!!
I am tired of repression...I want repentance!!!
I am tired of helplessness ... I want holiness!!!
I am tired of the stuffing down of the old man... I want sanctification!!!
I am tired of man striving for his own gain and glory... I want God glorified in EVERYTHING!!!

thank you brothers steve and murdog. the Lord is definitely leading the church to repentance and humility. thank you brother steve for expounding on the verse. we definitely need true godly repentance today.

brother murdog, i just read joel yesterday and was in ezekiel the day before. i remember the verses you were writing about.. how He longs for His people to humble themselves before Him and love Him wholeheartedly.

anyways, thank you guys for your responses. i appreciate them.

phil

Isaiah 66:1 - 2 (NKJV) 1Thus says the LORD: “Heaven is My throne, And earth is My footstool. Where is the house that you will build Me? And where is the place of My rest? 2 For all those things My hand has made, And all those things exist,” Says the LORD. “But on this one will I look: On him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, And who trembles at My word.

Psalms 34:18 (KJV) 18 The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.

Malachi 3:16 - 17 (NKJV) 16 Then those who feared the Lord spoke to one another, And the Lord listened and heard them; So a book of remembrance was written before Him For those who fear the Lord And who meditate on His name. 17 “They shall be Mine,” says the Lord of hosts, “On the day that I make them My jewels. And I will spare them As a man spares his own son who serves him.”

There is no doubt that God is breaking up some fallow ground in places all around the world, the fallow ground of our own hearts... that hungering and thirsting for holiness and revival and reality.

God bless all of you/us as we sigh and groan with unutterable longing for God's glory in us.

Clint

Steve, I see a progression in your thoughts - from polemic words directed to a mass of people “out there”:

I am tired of academics...I want action!!!!
I am tired of repression...I want repentance!!!
I am tired of helplessness ... I want holiness!!!
I am tired of the stuffing down of the old man... I want sanctification!!!
I am tired of man striving for his own gain and glory... I want God glorified in EVERYTHING!!!

to words that point inward:

“But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.” Galatians 6:14

That reminds me that really the one and only person we are accountable for is ourselves. We can’t make people “out there” change just because we tell them they should. Hey, there’s a lot about myself that I can’t even change, even when I know I need to. I am exasperated with myself, never mind the people “out there”. So, how can I demand that they change when they don’t even see the need or know how to go about it if they don't have the where-with-all to discern truth from non-truth?

I am reminded of Ralph Sutera’s sermon called “Revival is God’s Finger Pointing at You” As we ourselves are transformed and more and more reflect God’s glory, than we are more qualified to be used by God - likely not to change the masses, as in mass production, but to touch one dear soul at a time – beginning with “our neighbour” – that is, those in our lives.

Your next statement takes on a sharper punch if the “we” is replaced with “me” – that is, my own name!

May God help us (ME) see the error of our (MY) ways and may we (I) repent from them and turn completely to Him with humble hearts and may His will be done in our lives (MY LIFE) even as it is so perfectly done in heaven.”

Broclint highlights this idea:

There is no doubt that God is breaking up some fallow ground in places all around the world, the fallow ground of our own hearts... that hungering and thirsting for holiness and revival and reality.

God bless all of you/us as we sigh and groan with unutterable longing for God's glory in us.

Diane

There is no doubt that God is breaking up some fallow ground in places all around the world, the fallow ground of our own hearts... that hungering and thirsting for holiness and revival and reality.

God bless all of you/us as we sigh and groan with unutterable longing for God's glory in us.

I am reminded of Ralph Sutera’s sermon called “Revival is God’s Finger Pointing at You” As we ourselves are transformed and more and more reflect God’s glory, than we are more qualified to be used by God - likely not to change the masses, as in mass production, but to touch one dear soul at a time – beginning with “our neighbour” – that is, those in our lives.

thank you guys for your posts. i have been so blessed reading the different scriptures and insights..

God bless you brothers and sister.
phil

Diane,
What I say is not to a mass of people "out there", for I am also a part of the Church. But regardless, we are called to reflect light into the darkness. I don't believe we/I should allow someone who is heading toward a cliff head over it without doing my best to stop them. The church of Jesus' day thought they were fine, but there came one shouting as a voice in the wilderness. Repent! (I am not comparing myself to John the Baptist)

Perhaps the church is in the condition it is now because too many were too quiet for too long. I do realize that I cannot change anyone but myself (and even then only God's grace does the changing) but if I want to see my Lord Jesus reign and be Lord in the church and in the lives of those who call themselves Christians, then I have a responsibility, out of love, to show, in love, that:
Academics (talking about it) is not enough... I/they must start acting on it not just talking about it.
that:
Repression of sin is not enough...I/they must truly repent of sin (That is what the cross crucifying us to the world is about...we/I no longer have a desire for the world and the things it has to offer but our desire is for Christ and Him alone.
that:
helplessness is not an option. I/they cannot say, but I am only human or I cannot help myself. But because Christ reigns in me Holiness is not only posible but required of God..no excuses. God calls us ALL to be holy for He is holy. Of course myself included...but not just me. Jesus said, "Be ye therefore perfect..."
that:
there is a better way for all of us. The church need not have to keep stuffing down the old man...God desires for us/me to be sanctified. This is for the church whom He has set apart as the Bride of Christ for His dear only begotten Son...as well as for myself (as part of that Bride :-) )
that:
there is too much of the church trying to get glory for herself, too many pastors trying to grab glory, too many laypeople trying to get glory...there are times I am not careful enough and try to share in the glory...but it is not about us/me...it is about God! I desire to see Him get glory in EVERYTHING. And that should be the goal of the church as well. He sits on His throne in eternity and all majesty, glory and honour MUST be ascribed unto Him.

And, my dear sister, as for the "sharper punch" in the last of your post. Believe me, I put my name there everyday. I humble my heart before Him and pray and desire and strive to allow His will to be done in my life. It takes a conscious effort (for ME) to stay off the throne of my heart and allow God Almighty to reign every minute of every day.

Seeing as it is impossible for you to know the tone of this response by only the words I used, please believe me when I say that I was not offended by your response (I do not believe it was meant to be offensive nor correcting). I believe you wrote to my benefit. Thank you. I only write again to be more clearly understood.

What I say to others...always gets said to me first. How else can God use me? Take care.

In His service,
Steve

i read this scripture and felt it pertained to this discussion.

zephaniah 2:3
3 Seek the LORD, all you meek of the earth,
Who have upheld His justice.
Seek righteousness, seek humility.
It may be that you will be hidden
In the day of the LORD’s anger.

i understand the context is the LORD and judah, but does it not seem as if He is saying these words to His Church today?

just a scripture that caught my attention.
phil

here's a couple more scriptures..

micah 6:8
8 He has shown you, O man, what is good;
And what does the LORD require of you
But to do justly,
To love mercy,
And to walk humbly with your God?

zechariah 7:9,10
9 “Thus says the LORD of hosts:
‘ Execute true justice,
Show mercy and compassion
Everyone to his brother.
10 Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless,
The alien or the poor.
Let none of you plan evil in his heart
Against his brother.’

phil

What I say to others...always gets said to me first.

Still, isn’t there just a wee bit of secret longing within us that we be the prophet who stands on the hill top and shouts to all: “Hey, everybody, you are on the wrong path, turn around!” And then we wake from our dream, only to realize that we are utterly impotent in the face of this stubborn “giant”. We cannot steer people in the direction we want them to go in. Alas, we are not the great prophet.

I am reading the book, ‘The Suicide of Christian Theology” by John Montgomery. Though written in 1970, it describes what has led to our present situation. It begins by describing a picture in which two men are on a teeter-totter poised at the edge of a cliff. The man on the end of the board which extends over the abyss is firing a fatal shot at his companion who stands on the safe end of the board. The result of the shot is, of course, the destruction not only of the one who receives the bullet but also of the one who fires it.

That would describe the suicide of theology. In trying to shoot down what is viewed as no longer theologically relevant, the church has been left to fall over the edge into the abyss.

This idea gets carried into the present by Dr. David Wells in his series “The Disappearance of Theology” found [url=http://psalm305.blogspot.com/2007/03/dr-david-f-wells-mp3-sermons.html]here [/url]

Diane