Lent almost over

So, Lent is more than halfway over and how am I doing on what I gave up...erhhhhhhh....
much better than I thought!  I gave up for Lent bashing Mark.

I have to laugh...It just hit me the other night...I don't have to because God is doing it for me!!!

Scripture we've been studying in Disciple class has been very explicit about adultery and unfaithfulness...as we study the prophets and their condemnation of the Israel people for doing both.  As we studied Hosea and his unfaithful wife Gomer.  This week we are studying Isaiah who talks about the sin the chosen people are committing...Adultery is high on all of the lists.  The prophets talk about how evil folks are that do these things...of which I yell...YES! There are comments about how the people excuse their own behavior, they reason it out to be OK and try to convince others it is OK to do these things! 

So I haven't had to say anything...God speaks loudly for us both...

Yea God! You go!

Wait...God also talks in all of these instances about forgiveness and redemption....shucks...I guess there is more to the story.

harlots, adulterers

So, I promised to tell you about my disciple class again this week.  This week was the story of Hosea and his unfaithful, adulterous wife Gomer.  My first visit to my counselor following my discovery of Mark's affair, he told me to read this story.  Probably because it ends with redemption, forgiveness and pure love. I didn't see it or get it then...I thought what an idiot Hosea is...now I get it!!

I've never heard the word harlot or adultery used so much in one book of the bible, with a little whoring thrown in now and then...Sounds like one of my outbursts!  Here is what our workbook said:

Notice how God relates the punishment to the crime..."You played the whore" therefore everything is polluted, adulterated (Hosea 9:1)
The security of home has been violated..(Hosea 9:14)
You wanted to wander like a wild ass (8:9) So be it! You will "become a wanderer among nations" (9:17)
Cause and effect is how God explains it...You plow wickedness; you reap injustice (10:13)  You break the bonds of marriage... you end up in slavery.

Sounds like one of my rampages I get on....was he talking about Gomer or the people he loved, Isreal?
It was both...That's what I love about bible study...we think it is this oh so boring book of the bible...when it is so much more...my youth would love this story because of all of the sexing and whoring...they would love to just be able to say those words!! And to think it is right there in the bible...and they think it is just Jonah and the whale.

And after all of this ranting and raving about the Isrealites...God still can't punish his people because he loves them too much...He talks a good one but talks himself out of it if they repent of their ways...just like Hosea will do if Gomer repents...and like Kim would have done if Mark would have repented.  It talked about how the prophet, Hosea could prophesy on this topic because he knew how God felt when he was betrayed he understood God's pain ...because he too had been so betrayed and heart broken...I understand too, God...I've been there with you...and I pray I never forget the pain, sorrow and that oh so sick feeling,
God responds to all the betrayal by saying....It is I (God) who answers and looks after you. (Hosea 14:8)
You know what this means?  He also knows exactly I feel and felt...wow!

Sort of goes with that song last night...God's grace...you can never get too far from it...you can never do anything so bad that God gives up on you...God's love is unconditional and forever.

I need to learn a few lessons.

Thank goodness it is.

what does the lord require of you?

The scripture from Micah 6:8 has been popping up everywhere lately...when that happens I stop and take note...there is a message here...sometimes God has to slap me up 'side the head to listen!! I don't get it the first time around.

You know I am notorious for negotiating with God..as my mother-in-law used to say tit for tat and butter for fat...quid pro quo...you do for me...I'll do for you...God sure is patient with me...I can't count the number of times I've made promises...only to break them....I think God knows better...he's been around us humans long enough to know we go back on our word.  We aren't very trustworthy.

There is no negotiating with God...he is in charge no matter how much I think I am!  It is probably a good thing he is charge because I can make a mess of things. 

So what does the Lord require of us?  To seek justice...how many times do we just sit still when there are things going on around us we don't believe in or we know to be wrong...we sit there and don't say a word...we are mum...Greg preached a sermon recently about how doing nothing is as bad as doing the wrong thing...APATHY...So stand up for what you believe in and what God says is right...

I think that is why I've been so disappointed in my family-in-law...these good Christian people going along with the adultery of their son and brother and never taking a stand...never saying "That is wrong"...his soul is in jeopardy and they don't want to offend him.  Or maybe they feel adultery is okay?   I am so disappointed in them...now I know how God feels when we don't stand up for justice.  His disappointment in us.  But unlike me he doesn't turn away...he keeps on loving us...oh my, I should be listening!

OOOOps then comes the next line...love kindness...or mercy...depending on which version you read...so I guess I should forget the former paragraph and forgive those in-laws...shucks...I don't want to...But God requires this of me...to love kindness...I will work on that one.

The final requirement is to walk humbly...it would be so hard to walk humbly with God...I would be bragging..telling everyone "I am here walking with God"..."be jealous...look at me"in human nature those two things just don't go together do they??

Wow!  I don't fit any of those God requirements...that must be why God keeps hitting me with that scripture...  Will I ever get this God stuff right?  Thank goodness he never gives up on me...that is my requirement of him!