By Pastor Josiah Kehinde
“Israel is an empty vine, he bringeth forth fruit unto himself: according to the multitude of his fruit he had increased the altars; according to the goodness of his land they have made goodly images. Their heart is divided; now shall they be found faulty: he shall break down their altars, he shall spoil their images.
“For now they shall say, We have no king, because we feared not the LORD; what then should a king do to us? They have spoken words, swearing falsely in making a covenant: thus judgment springeth up as hemlock in the furrows of the field. The inhabitants of Samaria shall fear because of the calves of Bethaven: for the people thereof shall mourn over it, and the priests thereof that rejoiced on it, for the glory thereof, because it is departed from it. It shall also be carried unto Assyria for a present to the king Jareb; Ephraim shall receive shame, and Israel shall be ashamed of his own counsel.
“As for Samaria, her king is cut off as the foam upon the water. The high places also of Aven, the sin of Israel, shall be destroyed: the thorn and the thistle shall come up on their altars; and they shall say to the mountains, Cover us, and to the hills, Fall on us. O Israel though has sinned for the days of Gibeah: there they stood: the battle in Gibeah against the children of iniquity did not overtake them.
“It is my desire that I should chastise them, and the people shall be gathered against them, when they shall bind themselves in their two furrows. And Ephraim is an heifer that is taught, and loveth to tread out the corn; but I passed over upon her fair neck: I will make Ephraim to ride: Judah shall plow, and Jacob break his clods. Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain righteousness upon you.”
Hosea 10:1-12 KJV
My dearly beloved of God, as believers, we all probably spend some time seeking the Lord, but to be truly successful, we must learn to adjust our focus.
The reason focus is important is that what we behold, we become. If we fix our attention on the sensual and materialistic, it will not be long before we ourselves start leaning in that direction. Try reducing your activities on social media for a couple of weeks, and see how it impacts your mind. While you might not notice its influence, it actually has a subtle but gripping effect on you and alters the way you think.
Brethren, on the other hand, if you focus your love and attention on Jesus, you will become like Him. It is almost like osmosis, we absorb His characteristics as He pours Himself into us. We can fix our mind on Him when we pray, when we study the Scriptures, and when we meditate on God’s truths.
But more than that is involved. We must go deeper, to the point that we are listening and sharing our hearts with Him. If we are open and transparent before Him, He will speak and fill us with Himself.
When we learn to receive from Him in this way, we will find that our hunger and thirst for everything else begins to diminish. It is not that our desires will disappear, but instead, they become redirected to Him and praise of His name.
Beloved, you will discover you have a growing hunger for the Lord and a longing to know Him in a warm and personal way. And you will notice your joy bubbling up and overflowing so that it cannot be stopped or stifled. Why? Because once you have begun to seek the Lord, you will recognize Him as your eternal reward, and your all in all. Shalom.
I pray that the Lord will mercifully grant you the grace to do His will with ease in Jesus name Amen.
I pray that every power contending with the Holy Spirit in your life be crushed by the consuming fire in Jesus name Amen.
•Pastor Josiah KGS. GPPM
+234-805-551-6088
pastorjosiahkehinde@gmail.com