The Results of Repentance

Wait Upon the Lord

When we think about waiting in general, it normally does not seem like the coolest thing in the world to do. I mean, honestly, I hate waiting for stuff. I hate when you have to wait in line or wait in traffic or even for good things to come. The phrase “to wait upon the Lord” is shown throughout the Bible as something we need to do. It is interesting that we are called to wait on the Lord as waiting is sometimes the hardest thing as a believer to do. In Hosea 12:6  it says, “Hold fast to love and justice, and wait continually for your God.” As Hosea was showing God’s patience towards Judah and what they need to do but does not always does it.

To wait upon the Lord means to rest completely on him. Just like when you sit in a chair, you place all your weight on that chair. You do not go to the chair and question if it can hold you or if the chair will decide to give up and let you fall. No, we just go and plop down on a church and sit. We are called to rest and wait upon the Lord, then that means we completely rest on God for his provision, his guidance, his timing, his everything. Just like Proverbs 3:5-6 says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding but in all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight.”

What are some ways that you do not wait on the Lord? Some ways I know I do not is by making decisions without going to God first . Another way I do not always wait on the Lord is by ignoring what the Bible says to do and not to do. We see in the story of Elijah (1 King 17) that he went to King Ahab and told him that there was going to be a drought. In verse 7 we see that Elijah not only was going through the drought as well but was told to wait on the Lord. It says, “And after a while the brook dried up, because there was no rain in the land.” Elijah was going through the drought too, but he was told to wait at the brook until God told him to move. To wait on the Lord means sometimes staying put or sometimes it is moving when he says go but you are putting all your trust in the Lord.

You Can not be A  Strong Christian When Your Young

I am now going on 10 years of working in youth ministry and there is one misconception that I hear often. This misconception is not only mentioned by teens themselves but even by adults. Some people think that a youth can’t comprehend the meaning of grace or salvation. The result of this misconception is an adolescent who will not hunger and thirst after righteousness as well as adults who will not desire to reach a generation that needs to be reached. I put this as misconception #1 because this is a lie from the enemy used to stop the growth, power, and change of the Holy Spirit in the lives of the youth today.

In J. C. Ryle’s Thoughts for Young Men, he  says,

“Think for a moment what you were sent into the world for. Not merely to eat and drink, and indulge the desires of the flesh-not merely to dress out your body, and follow its lusts whithersoever they may lead you-not merely to work, and sleep, and laugh, and talk, and enjoy yourselves, and think of nothing but time. No! you were meant for something higher and better than this. You were placed here to train for eternity.”

I truly believe that a tween, teen, young person, young adult, adolescent, or whatever you want to call them can not only  be a Christian, I believe they can be used greatly for God’s glory. Look at David in the Bible who was a youth and was used to kill a giant, lead a nation, and be a man after God’s own heart. Look at Daniel who was a youth, taken to a foreign country and was able to not compromise on believing in God and became a leader and example to a nation that needed to see one of the Living God.

No matter what age sin is sin, you can be an elderly person and sin just as much as an adolescent. So if the same is true of sin, why not salvation? You can be a young man or a young woman and live for the Lord. There is no excuse about waiting until you are older. Now is the day for salvation (2 Corinthians 6:2). I am excited to know that God can use a teen for his glory just like he did in with those teens in the Bible. At this age, you do not have to be the normal statistic and waste away your responsibility as a teen but why not be different and be used by the Lord.  Did you know that you were created to train for eternity?

How the Lord Loves

We see a change in Hosea’s writing to focus in on the love of the Lord compared to what the other chapters have been about. In chapter 1 of Hosea, God told Hosea to marry a prostitute. Hosea would symbolize God’s faithfulness to Israel and she would symbolize Israel’s unfaithfulness to God. From chapter 1 to 10 we see Israel’s sin towards God but in this chapter we see God being committed and faithful with his love towards Israel.

Even though Israel was going further from the Lord we see he still loves. Even though they were rejecting him, he remained faithful. In verse 8 it says, “My heart recoils within me; my compassion grows warm and tender.” God was compassionate, faithful, steadfast in his love for Israel and the same is for us today. Just think that God still loves you at your worst, is faithful towards you, and is steadfast for you. That blows my mind that God is like that with his love for you and me. I am so glad that God is patient with me as I do not deserve it.

In this video I am just reminded how much God loves me despite of me and who I am. See Romans 8:35-39

Prospering Does not Always Mean Closeness with God

In Hosea chapter 10 we see God talking to Hosea about the condition of Israel. He compared Israel to a vine that produces a lot of fruit and then says in verse 1, “The more his fruit increased the more altars they built.” We see the example Hosea was giving was that Israel was prosperous nation but pushed harder and harder away from the Lord. The truth is, many people may have the same mind set when it comes to their relationship with God.

You know, they may think, “If I only I had this thing or money and then I would follow after you, God.” It may be more subtle than this but do you think if you were prosperous with things or money than you can get closer to God?  Do not be like Israel in their thinking. What happened was even though they were prosperous they grew further and further from God. Having things and being wealthy isn’t necessarily bad but it also isn’t good. Think about it, if you had everything that you always wanted all the time, how can you be dependent upon God for his provisions? Sometimes we need to be in a place of restlessness and need to depend on Christ. Hebrews 13:5-6 says, “Keep your life free from the love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’ So we can confidently say, ‘The Lord is my helper, I will not fear; what can man do to me’?” See it is not about stuff, but about the heart. If you have a lot or a little what matters is the heart. May we allow the Lord control over our stuff, money, everything as he cares about our heart being given over to him.