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| Last Day of TRAC Studio Tour |
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"Choose and
cut your own Christmas Tree on a North Carolina Tree Farm. Growing and selling
Christmas trees is a major industry in the North Carolina mountains. 1,600
growers produce an estimated 50 million Fraser fir Christmas trees on over 25,000 acres in North
Carolina. The NC Christmas Tree business is ranked second in the nation in
number of trees harvested annually." We have a grower in Mt. Celo Church, just off of State Scenic Highway 80 S on the beautiful Seven Mile Ridge.
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My Meditations on Today's Readings
(Ellipses are mine and are used for contemplation.)
Key Words/Phrases:
iniquity, wickedness, fraud, lies, adultery, inflamed with wine, lie in wait,
have fallen, derisive, treacherous, aliens have devoured them and swallowed
them up, rebel against, lie against, transgressed against Me, fled from Me,
rejected the good, made idols for themselves, they sow the wind and reap the
whirlwind; where can I go or flee from Your presence; truth, love, look to
yourselves
Sowing Wickedness / Reaping Evil
– Hosea 7 and 8 – (Facts: What It
Says – Summarized) The Pattern of Life
Without God: We have followed the beloved, Chosen People of God since their exodus from Egypt, and we have seen
the same pattern – Holy God seeking a relationship with an elect people, and
those same people rejecting God over and over.
The words describing their lives are familiar: iniquity,
wickedness, fraud, lies, adultery, inflamed with wine, lying in wait, have
fallen, derisive, treacherous, devoured and swallowed by aliens whom they chose
over God, rebelling, lying, and transgressing against God, fleeing from God,
rejecting the good, making idols for themselves. God’s Decrees
Against the Chosen People: “They do
not consider in their hearts…that…I remember…all…their wickedness. None among them…calls on or cries unto Me…nor
returns to Me…nor seeks Me. They rebel
against Me, devise evil against Me, have transgressed My covenant, rebelled
against My law. Israel has rejected the
good. They sow the wind and reap the
whirlwind. I will bring them down…chastise them…for…Israel has forgotten…his
Maker.” Principle: The Chosen
People are still under the Mosaic Covenant of blessings and curses. Yet they choose – by their pattern of
behavior – the curses. Unbelief in God –
or in what God says – lies at the bottom of this rebellion generation after
generation. Charles
Stanley, Life Principles Daily Bible – pg. 1486. “Affliction is an invitation to repentance,
not repentance itself. A cry of anguish
is not the same as a cry for mercy." How
do we handle our affliction? Charles Stanley
(Ibid.) on “sowing the wind,
reaping the whirlwind." (Hosea 7:14): Rarely
do we immediately suffer the consequences of our foolish actions. But we do reap what we sow – much more than
we sow, and later than we sow.
Sowing Truth and Love / Reaping the Kingdom of God – John 2 – (Facts: What It Says – Summarized) The Seeds Sown: truth and love Source of Seeds:
Christ and the Father - I rejoiced greatly
that I have found some of your children walking in truth as we received
commandment from the Father. A New Commandment: that we love one another This
is love, that we walk according to His commandments. A Caution:
Beware of Deceivers. For many deceivers have gone out into the world who do not
confess Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh.
This is a deceiver and an antichrist.
An Admonition: “Look to yourselves…that…we do not lose those things we worked for, but
that we may receive a full reward.” Believers and Unbelievers: Whoever
transgresses…and does not abide in…the doctrine of Christ does not have
God. He who abides in the doctrine of
Christ has both the Father and the Son.
(Note: “The elect lady and her
children”, to whom the letter is written, are unknown. Most scholars believe this is either a
particular woman, or possibly the church of Ephesus, or perhaps a “code” word for the churches since codes were used during
the times of severe persecutions.) Principle: Throughout our year
of study through the Bible, we have been reminded repeatedly that our love for
God is evidenced by our walk in obedience to His Word. Note the walk of disobedience (lives filled
with deceit and wickedness) and the harvest from that in the OT reading for
today. Then note the walk of obedience
that sows seeds of truth and love and is a manifestation of the believers’ love
of God. Whichever lifestyle we choose to
sow, we can be sure that we will ultimately reap the corresponding harvest of
consequences.
My Lessons and
Applications: Look to
myself. I have spent another year
meditating on God’s Word – on His truth, His prophecies and revelations, the
lessons of the saints and the sinners, the saved and unsaved. Now as the year draws to a close, I am told to
look to myself. John says this truth we have learned, we now know,
and it abides in us and will be with us forever. His following words are: Grace…mercy…and peace…will be with you…from God the Father…and from the
Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in…truth and love. I have, as John says, “worked for” these things this year – searching the Scriptures
carefully, thoughtfully, prayerfully.
John warns me to watch myself “that
I won’t lose them…that I will receive a full reward.” Now that I have and know the truth, I
must walk in it – working out what has been worked in – through a life of
obedience to Him, to His honor and glory. NOTE: I think it is important to note that negative consequences may come to our lives as a result of the ungodly sowing of others (especially those around us) - not just what we have sown. There are Biblical precepts in regard to this as well.
A Praise Song Based
on Today’s Psalm – Psalm 139:7-10 – Where
can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can
I flee from Your presence? If I ascend
into heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in hell, behold You are
there. If I take the wings of the
morning, and dwell in the uttermost part of the sea, even there Your hand shall
lead me, and Your right hand shall hold me.
Emmanuel, I know you know my all
Emmanuel, O I have nothing but you
I’m standing here; I need you to be right here with me.
Emmanuel, may my heart be with you.
If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
Lord, you’re there for me.
If I go up to the heavens,
Lord, you’re there for me.
Where can I go from You?
Your hand will hold me fast.
Emmanuel, when I awake I’m
still with you.
Video Below: The Mariah Carey of
Korea - So hyang At Onnuri Church, Seobinggo, Seoul, Korea
“South Korea
currently provides the world's second largest number of Christian missionaries,
surpassed by the United States. GSM, the
missionary body of the "Hapdong" General Assembly of Presbyterian Church
of Korea, is the single largest missionary organization in South
Korea. South Korean missionaries are especially prevalent in 10/40 Window nations that
are hostile to Westerners. Seoul contains 11 of the world's 12 largest
Christian congregations.”
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