Bud-and-Flourish

Hosea 4:12 My people consult a wooden idol,     and a diviner’s rod speaks to them. A spirit of prostitution leads them astray;     they are unfaithful to their God. When we give our lives to Jesus Christ we enter into a holy matrimony with God through Jesus.  We are the bride of Christ.  What we must understand is, God's love is unconditional but it's not without standards.  He commands us to be fully devoted and faithful to Him and not have any other god's before Him. Exodus 20:1-6 Though there are those who believe in open marriages, and practice polygamy, there is no such thing as an open marriage with the LORD.   Idoaltry is likened to spiritual adultery.  The children of Israel were no strangers of chasing and worshipping false gods and steeped in various forms of idolatry as many of us are today.  Enticed by the nations around them, the children of Israel became captive to a spirit of prostitution.  The diving rod was ju...

Jeremiah 1:1-31 NKJV  “Run to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem; See now and know; And seek in her open places If you can find a man, If there is anyone who executes [a]judgment, Who seeks the truth, And I will pardon her. 2 Though they say, ‘As the Lord lives,’ Surely they swear falsely.” 3 O Lord, are not Your eyes on the truth? You have stricken them, But they have not grieved; You have consumed them, But they have refused to receive correction. They have made their faces harder than rock; They have refused to return. 4 Therefore I said, “Surely these are poor. They are foolish; For they do not know the way of the Lord, The judgment of their God. 5 I will go to the great men and speak to them, For they have known the way of the Lord, The judgment of their God.” But these have altogether broken the yoke And burst the bonds. 6 Therefore a lion from the forest shall slay them, A wolf of the deserts shall destroy them; A leopard will watch over their cities. Everyone who goes...

  Woke Society-  (Isaiah 5:20   Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!) Psalm 36 1 I have a message from God in my heart     concerning the sinfulness of the wicked: There is no fear of God     before their eyes. 2 In their own eyes they flatter themselves     too much to detect or hate their sin. 3 The words of their mouths are wicked and deceitful;     they fail to act wisely or do good. 4 Even on their beds they plot evil;     they commit themselves to a sinful course     and do not reject what is wrong. 5 Your love, Lord, reaches to the heavens,     your faithfulness to the skies. 6 Your righteousness is like the highest mountains,     your justice like the great deep.     You, Lord, preserve both people and animals. 7 How priceless is your unfailing love, O God! ...

  The Discipline Of Spiritual Tenacity- Oswald Chambers Be still, and know that I am God. —  Psalm 46:10 Tenacity is more than endurance; it’s endurance combined with the absolute certainty that what we expect to happen is going to happen. Tenacity isn’t simply hanging on. Hanging on can be a weakness, a sign that we’re too afraid to let go. Tenacity is the supreme effort of refusing to believe that our hero is going to be defeated. As disciples, our greatest fear isn’t that we will be damned. It’s that Jesus Christ will be defeated, and that the things he stood for—love and justice and forgiveness and kindness—won’t win out in the end. God calls us to the discipline of spiritual tenacity. He asks us to do more than simply hang on. He asks us to work deliberately for him in the certainty that he’s not going to be defeated. If we are disappointed and losing hope just now, it means that we are being purified. There is nothing noble the human mind has ever hoped for or dream...

Deuteronomy  32: 3-4 NKJV 3 For I proclaim the name of the  Lord : Ascribe greatness to our God. 4 He is   the Rock,   His work   is   perfect; For all His ways  are  justice, A God of truth and without injustice; Righteous and upright  is  He. God is both Righteous and Just.  You can't have righteousness without justice.  They go hand in hand. (Psalm 89:14NKJV  Righteousness and justice   are   the foundation of Your throne; ) There is no lawlessness in God and His actions are carried out perfectly.  His standards of what's right and wrong have been defined for us through the word of God.  A law can be changed as an attempt to redefine right and wrong but, that has no bearing on the truth as revealed to us in the word of God.  Isaiah 5:20   20 Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet ...

Jeremiah 3:22 NKJV 22 “Return, you backsliding children, And I will heal your backslidings.” Perhaps you're struggling today.  Maybe you feel overwhelmed with the guilt and shame of sin or feel like you're beyond help.   There is no sin greater than the power of God, no situation He cannot handle, no person beyond His reach.  God has the power to drive sin that keeps us in bondage out, the power to help us overcome. Sin is a disease which requires Jesus our Great Physician.  It’s not in the strength of man that we overcome but, it is the Lord who strengthens us  ( Philippians 4:13  I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.)   so whether you're sick with sin or sick of sin cry out to the Lord.  Draw near to Him today.  Resuscitation Ezekiel 37:7-10 7  So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and suddenly a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to bone.  8...

Jeremiah 2:1-3 Moreover the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 2 “Go and cry in the hearing of Jerusalem, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord: “I remember you, The kindness of your youth, The love of your betrothal, When you went after Me in the wilderness, In a land not sown.  3 Israel was holiness to the Lord, The firstfruits of His increase. All that devour him will offend; Disaster will come upon them,” says the Lord.’ ” Hear how God tenderly calls His people unto Himself, pleading for them to remember h ow they once pursued Him and were led by Him.  God was good to Israel and they were set apart for Him.  There was no provision that they lacked, no protection that they did not have, no love that they failed to receive from the Holy One.  Israel had fallen away and God was calling them to repent and return back to Him. Do you remember? Do you remember when you first accepted Christ as Lord and Savior?  Do you remember the passion, zeal, joy and excitement you...