Lena's LONGGGGG Journalin' to short Hosea 10....A not have to read, again :-), really

Remember how Jesus spoke to people in parables and the disciples would later on ask Jesus to tell them the meanings or to please interpret the words He’d spoken in parables to the crowds? Since they were inquiring, Jesus would tell the disciples the meanings of the symbolic stories He’d told others.
Not every believer is a disciple. Disciples are known by those who are being brave enough to risk the spirit of pride and ask, because they really want to learn the hidden meanings. These are the ones who would stay around awhile, after everyone else had sat long enough listening and had heard enough and went home to tend to what they feel is important in life. The ones who hang out afterwards to get more understanding of what they heard, these are disciples.
Disciples are the ones who want to have things brought into a clearer focus. They want accountability for what they hear, so they ask questions like, “Did I hear you say….?” This way, as they plan to do the word, they know they understood it in order to do it with the greatest effect and without a whole lot of mistakes. They are concerned they could understand it the way they understand things, naturally speaking. They want spiritual insight rather than mere human understanding. So they ask, ask, ask, not for debate or contention, but to learn for application-sake.
This is why we are here (on this website today). This is why we study to show ourselves approved unto God, workers of His kingdom who don’t need to be ashamed (by trials and errors, and continual trying or guesswork), they rightly divide the words of truth.
The Bible speaks symbolically. In order to understand it one must get to know its symbolisms. Once one knows the symbolisms, he can begin to hear the voice of God speaking in his heart personally, rather than just mental ascension of what was read.
If we do not seek to understand the word, we’ll forget what it is we read and we’ll be like the crowds of people who came out to be entertained by Jesus, but were not really interested in the true life change to really apply to their hearts and family lives.
People spend years reading the Bible form cover to cover, never studying its contents for understanding and application-sake. This is a tragedy and the enemy loves to deceive, especially Christians into thinking they are doing their God-duty by cracking open His book.
Let’s ask the Holy Spirit to “crack open” His book to our spiritual eyes today, let’s purpose to place ourselves in the word, then do something today to apply it, that’ we’d remember it, and watch it become the Living Word to us today!

So, who is Israel?
Symbolically Israel is the people who are called out of the world’s ways by the Lord and they are those who believe in God and Jesus and maybe have even received the Holy Spirit. It is God’s church in the earth. It is not unsaved people. Yet we find God speak to them harshly, why? They disobey Him.
So, what is a “god-in-their-own-image”? This is serious. Today in my life, what is a “god-in-my-image”? Notice the little “g”.
It is truly anything I do or live for, or spend time or money on, that is not within the hot pursuit of God’s will in the earth. I can be the god (little “g”) of my own life. You do now realize this is the daily challenge of our faith, right? Who rules, who has the #1 say so, who gets to tell me what to think, how to act and where to live, work, and go. Whoever that is, that is who my god (or God).
One can tell whenever someone in Israel is worshiping other gods. It is easy to see, we see it by watching lifestyle choices, which are called fruits.
Example for learning-sake:
Does a person work when they could be in the House of the Lord? I mean they can work 6 days or 6 nights out of a 7 day week, and give God at least one morning and one night, but on that morning or on that night, they choose to work instead of regularly gathering with the people of God, that God meant for us to regularly rub shoulders with.
Here it speaks of money. They got ahead in life. When they got ahead, they began to really enjoy life and the blessings of it, they decided for all their work, (which was what brought them the enjoyment and comforts others don’t necessarily have), they should rest from all their labors, as much as possible. They seek rest in other places and don’t see God as being their place of rest. They are tired form their own labors, not from a hard day’s work as a Kingdom ambassador who continually practices the will of Their Father on purpose.
They have been led to think should be entertained, they should play and have fun. The enemy told them life is about enjoyment, happiness, and fun. So, now even if they don’t work on ”the Lord’s day”, they are tired from working things out themselves, enough to spend it on the enjoyment times and the debts they owe for doing things the way they see it. So they go have “fun” rather than assembling with the body of Christ, Christ’s body, in which we are all being made one with, because when we came to Him, we asked Him to be our husbandman, and He showed us that being one with and in His family, is found in being an integral part of His body.
So, we are doing what we think is right, spending our lives on what we want. The big “G” has now become a little “g” to us.
Our dependencies are not so much on Him. We’ve made our own way pretty well, we aren’t as needy of His Divine help, so we don’t seek it.
That is evidence that my faith was not ever yet developed into what He wanted from me, but it was about what I got from Him.
When one serves God (Big “G”), they serve God His way, and give Him whatever it is He needs from them. They can do whatever that is by His strength in them. It’s not as much about what He can or will do for me, it’s progressed and grown into finding out what can we do for and with Him. Sacrifices have to be made, human sacrifices (no, not physically shedding blood). What is important to Him, becomes first priority to me. I change priorities. I change views. I change focuses. I change activities.
There are human sacrifices made everyday. We just haven’t seen our lives lived this way. Some people sacrifice other people to help make their own dreams come true. That’s what dictators and control freaks do.
To include God in one’s life is saying, “I am the ruler, I am my own god”. There is only One I AM ultimately, may as well become a subject of His now. To have Him rule your life, is to get off the Throne and let God arise. It brings radical changes to who you were, what you are living for, and alters everything about how you think and behave. (which is why we study the Bible)
You don’t just automatically live like your natural fathers did, especially following their lead if they were their own gods, whether they lived in or out of “Israel”.
You follow your Father-God, no matter how others did it. Always growing, always moving forward, and always eternally progressing.
I die daily, is the only way to live this way.
If you live first, He doesn’t. If it’s always your way, He’s as good as dead to you.
Who needs a king? I’m my own and I reign just fine. It doesn’t matter what others think, or how I treat others, I can error thinking I must rule my household well, my way.
BUT, love never, ever, insists on its own ways. It always prefers the thoughts and feelings of others. It dies to its own agendas, and offers them up in the melting pot of a family or church body. It brings its opinions up only as considerations, that could or could not be used, for the sake of unity, it could care less if they are ever considered. It is not personal, it is about being a part of the incense being offered God.
This is a lifestyle, this kingdom citizen behavior starts at home, with the king and queen of the house submitting to one another, laying down opinions for one another, compromising in continual practice sessions that the children will learn to yield and others will be shown honor in life.
This type of behavior displayed by authorities takes captive fears and tears down walls in other’s lives. Self exaltation and self preservation are not bred in this atmosphere. Children learn more about growing in spiritual things than how to get past their own flesh nature when they grow up. A true holy foundation is laid in the home of The King!

What’s “a golden calf-god”? It is a god I’ve made for myself. It is me being right in every thought I have. I stand non-correctable. It is my life spent on earthly treasure. It is me given over to natural stuff. It is wrong thoughts, ideas and opinions exalted above God’s. It’s whenever I choose to behave contrary to God’s word, and then enabling myself to justify myself in my self led behaviors and attitudes.
Such an example could be illustrated in something like, being unkind. God says one of the fruits of the spirit is kindness, but I see that “so and so” is unkind to me, so in my mind, if I allow my soul to rule me, and have its own way; I can now be unkind too. I’ve tried to be kind to them, but they push my irritable buttons a lot, they cross lines with me, and do what they know I don’t like, so I justify myself, as my own god and say to myself, who is taking God’s place, that I can do what is against God’s word. I am deceived to think He’s excused me from His word. I’ve exalted my own opinions against God’s, so in His eyes, I’m living and choosing as though I am my own god.
God’s word said, “love enemies and pray for the unkind, then be kind still, no matter what”. If with you there’s a way out from obedience to His words, then He is not your God. (Big “G”). His commandment never ever change no matter if someone beats you, spits on you, calls you names, or kills you.
Being kind is a command! If He’s your God, you obey His commands. If you love Him, you obey His commands.
A wife may say. “I’d lay my life down for my husband if he’d lay his down for me”.
That’s nice and it does make sense to human reasonable thinking patterns, and God will absolutely hold the man responsible to have laid his whole life down, specifically, for His wife; but if he chooses not to and always insists on his own way and never lays anything he wants down for her, she is still commanded by God, to yield to Him.
Marriage is not a reciprocal contract, it is a covenant she has become one with God in. She is accountable before God to love to the end. It is a command, there is not one excuse. Yes, she and her husband may not have a good relationship, because the compromise of commands given them as one, are not being played out equally, but there is still no excuse – IF God is her God.
The husband must obey the commands of God and if he never obeys the commands of God, the wife must always obey the commands of God, anyway.
It is before God we stand in all things. We stand individually, before God. He’s going to ask us, who was your god (or God)? It will be played back, shown and known, by how we behaved and what commands we obeyed. God can be her God, even if her husband acts as his own god and visa versa.
There is a root inside of being one’s own god and needing to have one’s own way. There is an element of control displayed. Deep in the root system the original seed was fear. Left undealt with, through purposeful submissive and giving behavior, it became like vultures soaring above dead flesh. Spirits have hovered, spirits of fear, can then rule us, for we’ve allowed it.
Repentance from that spiritual influence and the breaking of that specific stronghold would be acted out within complete surrender and the continual death of your way and opinions. It is the only way away from spirits of manipulation, fear and control. The knees must bow for the victory to be had there.
I know I’ve rambled on a bit, just digging to uproot a vile deceptive system of thinking. Let the truth be known.
If one does not surrender to God (Big “G”) here and now, they will be brought to later on. He will ultimately have His way. If/when we choose our own way here, we will be severely punished then. Whatever we don’t understand or pursue understanding of here now, we will clearly understand then and will be accountable to it. This day of revelation, Day of recognizing (Day of reckoning) will either be a joyful or a horrid day, for each individual. Those happy then will be those who willingly surrendered their crown of god-ship now. They risked all self life to let Him live.
Those who seek to save their own opinions and ways here now, will lose all in life eternal. Think about that, long and hard. What is so worth you ruling over yours and others lives around you as god? It is so time to get off of His throne, let God arise, and every enemy who has entangled your souls, making you think you are right (now), be scattered and flee away.
Who makes them flee away?
I do, you do.
There is no one else who can.
I have to be willing to see me as god of my own life and violently overturn that table of sin. I have to defeat sin in me.
Only love that gives of life will conquer over the deceptive motivation to control, that comes from a spirit of fear.
He who overcomes will sit with Him in life everlasting. What do they overcome? The opportunities to sit on His throne here and now.