DON'T LOOSE YOUR TASTE
Hosea 9:10
The Lord says, “O Israel, when I first found you, it was like finding fresh grapes in the desert.
When I saw your ancestors, it was like seeing the first ripe figs of the season.
But then they deserted me for Baal-peor, giving themselves to that shameful idol.
Soon they became vile, as vile as the god they worshiped.
The reasons why marriages crash include, a misconceived notion and a loss of taste.
One had a wrong notion of the personality or character of their partner, or that the person ceases to display that beauty or character that brought about the relationship
(by the way, we are not looking at marriage issues in this message, however, we can relate marriage with man's relationship with God):
Hosea 2:2a
“But now bring charges against Israel—your mother— for she is no longer my wife, and I am no longer her husband.
Tell her to remove the prostitute’s makeup from her face and the clothing that exposes her breasts. (wives be careful!)
See our relationship with Christ:
Ephesians 5:31-32
As the Scriptures say, “A man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.”
This is a great mystery, but it is an illustration of the way Christ and the church are one.
When a man encounters Christ the experience is awesome, the desire and zeal is heightened just as a bride is excited, however when the challenges of marriage arises, the tendency to loose taste sets in.
Jesus explained this in the parable of the sower:
Luke 8:6-7,13-14
Other seed fell among rocks. It began to grow, but the plant soon wilted and died for lack of moisture.
Other seed fell among thorns that grew up with it and choked out the tender plants.
The seeds on the rocky soil represent those who hear the message and receive it with joy. But since they don’t have deep roots, they believe for a while, then they fall away when they face temptation.
The seeds that fell among the thorns represent those who hear the message, but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the cares and riches and pleasures of this life. And so they never grow into maturity.
The message is not just to be received with excitement but also with a transformed mind, and a continual living in His presence, living by His Spirit. "walk in the Spirit". This is why proper teaching and discipleship must follow conversion.
Yes, the work has been done by Christ, but the walk he cannot do for us. We do the walking.
Just like in marriage, the union has been done, you have to walk the journey of the marriage (this is why you invest more in the marriage and not the wedding!)
So, we cannot afford to loose our taste:
Luke 14:34-35
“Salt is good for seasoning. But if it loses its flavor, how do you make it salty again?
Flavorless salt is good neither for the soil nor for the manure pile. It is thrown away. Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand!”
2 Peter 1:3,5-9
By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence.
In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God’s promises. Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness,
and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone.
The more you grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
But those who fail to develop in this way are shortsighted or blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their old sins.
For Christ has finished the work, but we must do the walk. Help us Dear Lord.
We will not loose our taste, we remain the seasoning the Lord uses to season the earth. We do the work of an Evangelist.
2 Corinthians 5:19-21
For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation.
So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!”
For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.
We cannot afford to loose our taste, we keep seasoning. Glory to God.
He calls us blessed.
Love
@the watcher
The Lord says, “O Israel, when I first found you, it was like finding fresh grapes in the desert.
When I saw your ancestors, it was like seeing the first ripe figs of the season.
But then they deserted me for Baal-peor, giving themselves to that shameful idol.
Soon they became vile, as vile as the god they worshiped.
The reasons why marriages crash include, a misconceived notion and a loss of taste.
One had a wrong notion of the personality or character of their partner, or that the person ceases to display that beauty or character that brought about the relationship
(by the way, we are not looking at marriage issues in this message, however, we can relate marriage with man's relationship with God):
Hosea 2:2a
“But now bring charges against Israel—your mother— for she is no longer my wife, and I am no longer her husband.
Tell her to remove the prostitute’s makeup from her face and the clothing that exposes her breasts. (wives be careful!)
See our relationship with Christ:
Ephesians 5:31-32
As the Scriptures say, “A man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.”
This is a great mystery, but it is an illustration of the way Christ and the church are one.
When a man encounters Christ the experience is awesome, the desire and zeal is heightened just as a bride is excited, however when the challenges of marriage arises, the tendency to loose taste sets in.
Jesus explained this in the parable of the sower:
Luke 8:6-7,13-14
Other seed fell among rocks. It began to grow, but the plant soon wilted and died for lack of moisture.
Other seed fell among thorns that grew up with it and choked out the tender plants.
The seeds on the rocky soil represent those who hear the message and receive it with joy. But since they don’t have deep roots, they believe for a while, then they fall away when they face temptation.
The seeds that fell among the thorns represent those who hear the message, but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the cares and riches and pleasures of this life. And so they never grow into maturity.
The message is not just to be received with excitement but also with a transformed mind, and a continual living in His presence, living by His Spirit. "walk in the Spirit". This is why proper teaching and discipleship must follow conversion.
Yes, the work has been done by Christ, but the walk he cannot do for us. We do the walking.
Just like in marriage, the union has been done, you have to walk the journey of the marriage (this is why you invest more in the marriage and not the wedding!)
So, we cannot afford to loose our taste:
Luke 14:34-35
“Salt is good for seasoning. But if it loses its flavor, how do you make it salty again?
Flavorless salt is good neither for the soil nor for the manure pile. It is thrown away. Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand!”
2 Peter 1:3,5-9
By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence.
In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God’s promises. Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness,
and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone.
The more you grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
But those who fail to develop in this way are shortsighted or blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their old sins.
For Christ has finished the work, but we must do the walk. Help us Dear Lord.
We will not loose our taste, we remain the seasoning the Lord uses to season the earth. We do the work of an Evangelist.
2 Corinthians 5:19-21
For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation.
So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!”
For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.
We cannot afford to loose our taste, we keep seasoning. Glory to God.
He calls us blessed.
Love
@the watcher
May God continue to enrich us to main good position in His sight
ReplyDelete