Personal Devotions
Notes from Mark's personal Bible reading and meditation
With a goal to apply one truth from each day's reading to my life that day
Jul 9, 2024, 7:11 AM
Passage Read: Hosea 12 - Joel 1
Meditation Verses: Hosea 14:1-4
Thought
This is what repentance looks like: Turning away from our own wisdom and ways, and coming back to the Lord; coming to the Lord and asking for cleansing from sin and that He would receive us, so that we could bring to Him what He deserves, the fruit of our lips, not just words but actions consistent with what we say; confessing that it is the Lord alone that saves, that no other power that we once turned to can deliver us or show mercy to us like the Lord can.
Jul 8, 2024, 7:13 AM
Passage Read: Hosea 8-11
Meditation Verses: 11:1-5
Thought
This hits home. I am not the first father to experience this, nor will I be the last. Even God has endured the rejection of His sons. When they were young, He loved them and called them out of Egypt, out of the world. He taught them to walk, trained them, provided for them, carried them in His arms, healed them, but they didn't know it, they forgot it, it didn't register with them.
Jul 7, 2024, 7:14 AM
Passage Read: Hosea 4-7
Meditation Verses: 7:13-14
Thought
Ephraim is destroyed for lack of knowledge. When God desires to heal them, their sin is uncovered. To them, it is all like a game: Say the magic words when things get tough, offer the right sacrifices when trouble comes, and God will fix things, God will restore blessing. Ephraim would like God to bless them, but they speak lies against Him.
Jul 6, 2024, 7:16 AM
Passage Read: Daniel 12 - Hosea 3
Meditation Verses: Hosea 2:8-15
Thought
Those whom the Lord loves, He rebukes and disciplines. He loves Israel but Israel keeps going after other gods, ignoring His commands and His ways, and pursuing those who grant her every wish and fulfill her every want. She thinks it is her lovers who provide all her riches and wealth and comfort, but it is the Lord, her Husband and Maker.