Hosea 14
Motivated to be in Right Relationships!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Tuesday,
Are you motivated to be in right relationships? Are you committed to do the hard work necessary to get there? Those are two key questions I must ask a person, or a couple, before I can help them successfully. I’ve learned the hard way, with much sacrifice of my own time and energy over the last two decades of doing this kind of work, that there is one thing I simply cannot do and that is want the relationship for the couple more than they want it for themselves. If either individual is unmotivated or uncommitted to the relationship, then there is no way forward except to pray and fast for God to change their hearts. The key ingredients to success in a right relationship are personal motivation and a wholehearted commitment to make it work with the other person. With this knowledge in mind, the prophet concluded his work with a final invitation for wayward Israel to return to their God in Hosea 14:1-3:
Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God, for you have stumbled because of your iniquity. Take words with you and return to the Lord. Say to Him, “Take away all iniquity and receive us graciously, that we may present the fruit of our lips. Assyria will not save us, we will not ride on horses; nor will we say again, ‘Our god,’ to the work of our hands; for in You the orphan finds mercy.”
Seize the moment and commit yourself wholeheartedly to the God who loves you (John 3:16). He has kept His vow to you, now return to Him in repentance, motivated to be with Him and committed to do the hard work necessary to be in a right relationship. Getting right with Jesus enables you to take the next step of getting right with other people because you can’t give to another what you haven’t received first yourself.
God bless you!
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YOUTUBE:
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