12-02-2007, 10:07 PM
Good evening all ... :D
The Scripture text for the day is Hos. 14:2 ...
May you pardon error; and accept what is good, and we will offer in return the young bulls of our lips.
Watchtower comments ...
''The expression ''the young bulls of our lips'' refers to sacrifices of sincere praise. Paul alluded to this prophesy when he urged Christians to ''offer to God a sacrifice of praise, that is, the fruit of lips which make public declaration to his name.'' (Heb. 13:15) Israelites who abandoned their wayward course and turned back to God offered him ''the young bulls of their lips.'' They thus experienced spiritual restoration, even as God had promised. (Hos. 14: 4-7) Repentant Israelites would again enjoy God's love. Jehovah would become like refreshing dew to them in that he would bless them abundantly. His restored people would have dignity 'like that of the olive tree,' and they would walk in God's ways. What a privilege it is to walk with God and offer such sacrifices! w 11/15/06 19-22b
My thought ...
Here we see the Israelites had once again fallen away from pure worship and turned their back on their God.
And once we see them repenting and returning and promising to Jehovah to act in accord to his will ...
Yes, a repentant prayer is a good thing ... and to CONTINUE to act in accord to that prayer is indeed a beautiful thing to our God ...
And again we see the LOVE that our God had for His people in his willingness to accept that prayer of repentance and then accept the sacrifice of praise ... the continued faithful course of this repentant people ...
What comfort this can bring to us today ...
For whenever we may fall into sin or a wayward course ... and something happens to remind us how far we may have strayed or someone kindly shows us the way back to repentance ... then we can rest assured that our God will respond the same way today as he did back then at our heartfelt repentance ...
Hos. 14:4 ...
(BBE) I will put right their errors; freely will my love be given to them, for my wrath is turned away from him.
(CEV) Israel, you have rejected me, but my anger is gone; I will heal you and love you without limit.
(GNB) The LORD says, "I will bring my people back to me. I will love them with all my heart; no longer am I angry with them.
(GW) The LORD says, "I will cure them of their unfaithfulness. I will love them freely. I will no longer be angry with them.
(ESV) I will heal their apostasy; I will love them freely, for my anger has turned from them.
WHY is our God so willing to do this ... in spite of some very wicked acts that his people have done ...?
2Pet. 3:9 ...
(ALT) The Lord is not slow concerning His promise, as some regard slowness, _but_ He is waiting patiently towards us, not wanting any to be lost2 _but_ [for] all to make room for repentance.
(BBE) The Lord is not slow in keeping his word, as he seems to some, but he is waiting in mercy for you, not desiring the destruction of any, but that all may be turned from their evil ways.
(CEV) The Lord isn't slow about keeping his promises, as some people think he is. In fact, God is patient, because he wants everyone to turn from sin and no one to be lost.
(GNB) The Lord is not slow to do what he has promised, as some think. Instead, he is patient with you, because he does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants all to turn away from their sins.
We can see how this much this Scripture applied to the natural Jews or Israelites ... Jehovah didn't act quickly to reject them ... but was patient and merciful for a long long time ... and is so even down to today ...
This should give us comfort and hope that when we fall ... as long as we try to get up our God and his Son is there with us and for us ...
They will never leave us nor let us down ... for they carry us much more than we know I am sure ...
So, let our lips PRAISE this loving and forgiving God of ours ... let us use our lips to tell others about God and his Son and the salvation and hope they hold out to mankind ...
And let us also use our lips to bring praise and honor to our fellowman speaking good about others, being comforting instead of tearing down, being encouraging instead of negative, be understanding instead of difficult, biting our tongues when we need to instead of letting them run rampant with hurtful or sarcastic things, and so on and so on ...
Our mouths are a beautiful creation of God ... :rose: let us use them as wisely as we know how!!:hug::cheekkiss::heartbeat:
Love to all ... BR :sheepy: :bouncyhearts:
The Scripture text for the day is Hos. 14:2 ...
May you pardon error; and accept what is good, and we will offer in return the young bulls of our lips.
Watchtower comments ...
''The expression ''the young bulls of our lips'' refers to sacrifices of sincere praise. Paul alluded to this prophesy when he urged Christians to ''offer to God a sacrifice of praise, that is, the fruit of lips which make public declaration to his name.'' (Heb. 13:15) Israelites who abandoned their wayward course and turned back to God offered him ''the young bulls of their lips.'' They thus experienced spiritual restoration, even as God had promised. (Hos. 14: 4-7) Repentant Israelites would again enjoy God's love. Jehovah would become like refreshing dew to them in that he would bless them abundantly. His restored people would have dignity 'like that of the olive tree,' and they would walk in God's ways. What a privilege it is to walk with God and offer such sacrifices! w 11/15/06 19-22b
My thought ...
Here we see the Israelites had once again fallen away from pure worship and turned their back on their God.
And once we see them repenting and returning and promising to Jehovah to act in accord to his will ...
Yes, a repentant prayer is a good thing ... and to CONTINUE to act in accord to that prayer is indeed a beautiful thing to our God ...
And again we see the LOVE that our God had for His people in his willingness to accept that prayer of repentance and then accept the sacrifice of praise ... the continued faithful course of this repentant people ...
What comfort this can bring to us today ...
For whenever we may fall into sin or a wayward course ... and something happens to remind us how far we may have strayed or someone kindly shows us the way back to repentance ... then we can rest assured that our God will respond the same way today as he did back then at our heartfelt repentance ...
Hos. 14:4 ...
(BBE) I will put right their errors; freely will my love be given to them, for my wrath is turned away from him.
(CEV) Israel, you have rejected me, but my anger is gone; I will heal you and love you without limit.
(GNB) The LORD says, "I will bring my people back to me. I will love them with all my heart; no longer am I angry with them.
(GW) The LORD says, "I will cure them of their unfaithfulness. I will love them freely. I will no longer be angry with them.
(ESV) I will heal their apostasy; I will love them freely, for my anger has turned from them.
WHY is our God so willing to do this ... in spite of some very wicked acts that his people have done ...?
2Pet. 3:9 ...
(ALT) The Lord is not slow concerning His promise, as some regard slowness, _but_ He is waiting patiently towards us, not wanting any to be lost2 _but_ [for] all to make room for repentance.
(BBE) The Lord is not slow in keeping his word, as he seems to some, but he is waiting in mercy for you, not desiring the destruction of any, but that all may be turned from their evil ways.
(CEV) The Lord isn't slow about keeping his promises, as some people think he is. In fact, God is patient, because he wants everyone to turn from sin and no one to be lost.
(GNB) The Lord is not slow to do what he has promised, as some think. Instead, he is patient with you, because he does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants all to turn away from their sins.
We can see how this much this Scripture applied to the natural Jews or Israelites ... Jehovah didn't act quickly to reject them ... but was patient and merciful for a long long time ... and is so even down to today ...
This should give us comfort and hope that when we fall ... as long as we try to get up our God and his Son is there with us and for us ...
They will never leave us nor let us down ... for they carry us much more than we know I am sure ...
So, let our lips PRAISE this loving and forgiving God of ours ... let us use our lips to tell others about God and his Son and the salvation and hope they hold out to mankind ...
And let us also use our lips to bring praise and honor to our fellowman speaking good about others, being comforting instead of tearing down, being encouraging instead of negative, be understanding instead of difficult, biting our tongues when we need to instead of letting them run rampant with hurtful or sarcastic things, and so on and so on ...
Our mouths are a beautiful creation of God ... :rose: let us use them as wisely as we know how!!:hug::cheekkiss::heartbeat:
Love to all ... BR :sheepy: :bouncyhearts: