NIPTO, Day 245

Hey all!
There's a post coming about yesterday, don't worry! I feel like I need to do this before that :) And that post might come tomorrow. I don't know if I can write coherently tonight haha

Today was church. Sunday school and church. Those were good. Mom and I ate lunch and then drove up to Peninsula to see Dad/pick him up. He finished a marathon ladies and gentlemen!
I drove home annnd then I put up pictures from homecoming on facebook... annd went down to Kayt's for a bit to talk to her and then I came home and ate dinner and went back down to her house and we went to youth group.

Youth group was interesting. I can't really say it was all good. Because parts of it were good. Other parts were slightly terrible.
Let's just say that things (drrrama) happened and I got some good advice. And I'm stickin' to it. So that's good. And we had a good discussion about having an "eternal mindset."
Good stuff.
And I apparently look like I'm mixed. Like, half black. True story. I have 3 people who will tell you that. I then told them the story of how I'm "adopted" from Guadalajara. Fun times at youth group...

And now I'm home. I've had my ice cream and am watching The Amazing Race... I don't have my stuff  together for school tomorrow, but I'll get that in the morning. I just have to get up a little earlier tomorrow morning.

Sooo noww NIPTOOO =P
Hosea 2:1-13

¹ "Say of your brothers, 'My people,' and of your sisters, 'My loved one.'

I feel like this is slightly random and should go at the end of yesterday's post... but I wasn't paying attention at 2:30 in the morning... slightly understandable.

Here's a brief recap: God told Hosea to marry a prostitute. So he did. And they had kids. And now God is giving Hosea a message. (A message from the LORD! =P)

Israel Punished and Restored

 ² "Rebuke your mother, rebuke her, 
       for she is not my wife, 
       and I am not her husband. 
       Let her remove the adulterous look from her face 
       and the unfaithfulness from between her breasts.

 ³ Otherwise I will strip her naked
       and make her as bare as on the day she was born;
       I will make her like a desert,
       turn her into a parched land,
       and slay her with thirst.

The message God is giving Hosea reflects Hosea's life. Kind of. It's a parallel. Israel is unfaithful, and Gomer, Hosea's wife, is unfaithful.

 ⁴ I will not show my love to her children,
       because they are the children of adultery.

 ⁵ Their mother has been unfaithful
       and has conceived them in disgrace.
       She said, 'I will go after my lovers,
       who give me my food and my water,
       my wool and my linen, my oil and my drink.'

God is basically saying that, because Israel is an adulterous country, he won't show love to the people. They've been unfaithful and have gone after other things.

 ⁶ Therefore I will block her path with thornbushes;
       I will wall her in so that she cannot find her way.

 ⁷ She will chase after her lovers but not catch them;
       she will look for them but not find them.
       Then she will say,
       'I will go back to my husband as at first,
       for then I was better off than now.'

God said he was going to block Israel's path with thornbushes. He was going to block them. They would be lost. Israel would chase after what they wanted but they wouldn't get it. Then Israel would return to its first love.

 ⁸ She has not acknowledged that I was the one
       who gave her the grain, the new wine and oil,
       who lavished on her the silver and gold—
       which they used for Baal.

Israel didn't acknowledge that God was the one who gave them the grain that they sacrificed to Baal. Ridiculous.

 ⁹ "Therefore I will take away my grain when it ripens,
       and my new wine when it is ready.
       I will take back my wool and my linen,
       intended to cover her nakedness.

God decided to take back what he had given Israel. He had blessed them and they had turned away. So he would take his blessings back.

 ¹⁰ So now I will expose her lewdness
       before the eyes of her lovers;
       no one will take her out of my hands.

He would expose Israel for what they were in front of their gods, and no one would save them.

 ¹¹ I will stop all her celebrations:
       her yearly festivals, her New Moons,
       her Sabbath days—all her appointed feasts.

 ¹² I will ruin her vines and her fig trees,
       which she said were her pay from her lovers;
       I will make them a thicket,
       and wild animals will devour them.

 ¹³ I will punish her for the days
       she burned incense to the Baals;
       she decked herself with rings and jewelry,
       and went after her lovers,
       but me she forgot,"
       declares the LORD.

He would stop their celebrations, ruin their crops, and punish them for their worship to the Baals. Israel dressed themselves up and went after the things that looked pretty and forgot about God.

God doesn't always look pretty. Sometimes God looks very unappealing. But God is always the best choice. If you turn away from him, you won't have his blessings anymore. If you genuinely repent, he'll be there to you and pick you up. That's the great thing about God. Even if you turn away, he'll always be there waiting with open arms to welcome you back. Love love love.

And now I am going to go to bed. Because it's way late and a school night. Oops. Hah.

G'night!

P.S. Happy 10/10/10 =P