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If you're keeping up with your reading, and you're reading along with us as we go through the book of Hosea,

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you'll notice that it seems to be that God is speaking to three different groups of people.

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At times he references Ephraim, at times Judah, at times Israel.

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This is because that during this time in Israel's history, they'd been split into two kingdoms.

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The northern kingdom was known as Israel, or in this text it's sometimes referenced as Ephraim,

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and the southern kingdom was known as Judah.

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Now Ephraim was the strongest and the largest of the tribes in the northern kingdom.

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In a lot of ways what happened in Ephraim filtered out into the rest of the ten tribes that made up the northern kingdom.

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It's like I tell my kids often, you are older, right? You are stronger.

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You have influence. Your younger brothers are looking up to you. They're following your example.

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This is the essence of what is happening in this text.

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Ephraim exuded their influence, and many times the other smaller tribes would follow their example,

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or succumb to that influence. This is why we see God calling out Ephraim so often.

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It's the same reason that God held accountable Adam for the actions of Eve.

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It's why we can make assumptions about parents by watching their kids, right?

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This is why leadership is so important.

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When I was growing up, my favorite basketball player was Charles Barkley.

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I liked how he played in the paint. I liked how you never had to wonder what he was thinking.

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I liked how he always stood up for himself.

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Every game I watched, he seemed to always be in foul trouble.

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He threw elbows. He always had the most rebounds on his team,

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and he seemed pretty good at talking trash, which at the time was important to me.

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He did an interview and eventually a commercial where he stated that he was not a role model.

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He said he was played to play basketball, not to raise kids.

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It was a controversial statement at the time.

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The reality, though, is that he was a role model. I mimicked how I played basketball after him.

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I didn't let people push me around. No one was getting a rebound over me, even if it cost me a foul.

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So therefore, I spent a lot of time on the bench because I was always in foul trouble.

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I learned to make sure that no one was ever wondering what I was thinking on the court.

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If a ref made a bad call, I let them know it.

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If a player on the other team was playing dirty, I played dirty.

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He might not have wanted to be a role model, but he was.

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Ephraim might not want to be called out by God, but because of their position, they were.

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That's why there's an old saying, it starts at the top, right?

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If you are in a position of authority and power, you have a responsibility whether you like it or not.

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So many times throughout the book, Ephraim is being held accountable for the actions of the northern kingdom.

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But this particular chapter, chapter 12, God also mentions Jacob.

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Now, we get the 12 tribes from Jacob. They are his children.

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Jacob is the one who unites the northern and southern kingdom, who unites Israel and Judah.

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So this morning, we're going to look at the story a little bit of Jacob and see what God is trying to communicate to the Israelites during this time.

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But also, what is God trying to communicate to us as we read this text?

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In verse 3, it says, God said, in the womb, he took his brother by the heel, and in his manhood, he strove with God.

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So the name Jacob means heel grabber. It comes with the idea of one who grabs the heel of another in order to get ahead.

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It's this idea of using deception to get ahead of the person in front of you.

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We saw that throughout Jacob's life.

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He stole the birthright from his brother Esau by using deception. He wanted to get ahead.

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We learned from Jacob that Jacob wanted God's best, but he didn't want to do it God's way.

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He thought that deception would help him get ahead.

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Now, at times, we want God's best, right? But we don't always want to do it God's way, do we?

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We try to manufacture what others are doing.

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We begin to view success as the world defines it, so we start doing what the world does.

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This is why at times, at this time in the text, there are two kingdoms.

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It's why it says in verse 1, Ephraim frees on the wind and pursues the east wind all day long.

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The reality is though, you can never catch the wind.

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It's meaningless to try to pursue it, but we try anyway, don't we?

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We try anyway. They wanted power. They wanted wealth. They wanted fulfillment.

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But it was going to be on their terms. They so quickly forgot what God had done for them to get them to this point.

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A few generations before this, all they had to do was to go on a walk around a city and scream loud enough,

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and cities would fall down before them.

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Before all this, all they would have to do is step into the water and the sea would split,

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and they would walk on dry ground. Now look at where they are.

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Bad leadership, after bad leadership, failing to acknowledge that God was in their midst,

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forgetting how they got to be a nation in the first place, and here they are on the brink of being back into exile.

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They're trying to keep the peace with neighboring kingdoms by worshiping false idols.

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They're continuing to fail, failing to acknowledge all that God has done for them.

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And so God is reminding the people of Jacob, a story they were very, very, very familiar with.

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Some of the most generous people out there are the ones who don't have very much.

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When you are in need, when you have a need and you're constantly in need,

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you are more in tune with the needs of those around you.

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When you are constantly relying on God to provide for everything that you need,

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you see Him more often, and you notice the needs in others as well.

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When you look at all that you have, when you look at all that you've obtained,

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we are less likely to release it, because that cost me that amount of money,

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because I had to put that much work into it.

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This is what happened to Israel, and that is the point of this book.

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They forgot their need, and we're looking at all they had accomplished.

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They're looking at all their own power, and they were failing to recognize what God had done.

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So let's go back to Jacob.

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Once he steals the birthright from Esau by using deception, he leaves his land and he goes and finds a wife.

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He got the best, right? He got the birthright, just not in the way that was customary for the time.

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He had to use deception to get what he wanted.

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He failed to trust that God's best was better than anything that he could obtain.

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He didn't recognize it, so things eventually will go badly for him.

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On his journey, he stops at this place called Luz.

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He gets tired from his journey, so he sets up a rock and uses it as a pillow,

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which are now known as Tempurpedic, and he goes to sleep.

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As he sleeps, the Lord appears to him in a dream, and he reminds Jacob of the promise that he had made to his father,

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the promise that he had made to his grandfather.

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So think about that. Think about that text right there.

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Jacob doesn't do things God's way, but he does them in his own power, and the Lord is still faithful.

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The Lord is still with him. He doesn't throw in the towel on Jacob.

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He doesn't give up, but he reminds him that his presence will always be with him.

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When Jacob awakes, he says in Genesis 28, 16, it says,

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Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.

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When we suppress God in our life, we're not aware of his presence.

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Jacob had been so focused on himself, and what he wanted, that the fact that God was with him,

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never even entered into his radar.

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How many times have we been working, taking the kids to all their activities,

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binging TV shows, scrolling through our phones, and the next thing you know,

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it's been weeks before the Lord has even crossed our mind.

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You haven't had any needs because you can meet those needs yourself.

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You can work hard and often meet them.

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You haven't spent time in the scriptures because you're too worn out from the day.

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You can't slow down because your kids want to go to college.

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You can't slow down because retirement is right around the corner,

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and God becomes this piece of your life that you don't give much thought to,

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except every once in a while.

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We come to God when we have a need, but that's about it.

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Jacob, at this point in his life, doesn't have a need.

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He's been able to accomplish what he can with his own creativity,

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with his own abilities, with his own deception.

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How do you suppress God in your life?

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How have you failed to acknowledge Him?

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For me, it's usually in the day-to-day routine of life.

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There have been seasons in my life where I have been so in tune with Him

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that everything I saw and everything I heard reminded me of Him,

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reminded me of His presence.

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My journey here to Iowa for the year and a half before we got here

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was one of those moments that I just knew God was leading us to leave Texas.

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I saw Him in every single detail.

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But the one that came to mind when I was preparing was a time several years ago.

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Sina and I had just gotten back from a mission trip to Indonesia.

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We were surrounded by idolatry, surrounded by people who were welcoming these evil spirits into their life,

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welcoming these spirits into their homes.

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They were worshiping all these gods just in case they upset one of them.

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I don't know how else to describe it except to say that you could feel the spiritual warfare in that place.

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When we got back, there was a crisis at our church.

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And so I went over to the house of a lady who was a member of our church.

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I pulled onto her street, and as soon as I pulled onto the street,

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I immediately could feel the evil that I was about to deal with.

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So I'm praying the whole time.

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I'm driving down that road.

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I'm praying the whole time, and I am begging God in my mind to protect me,

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to give me the words to say.

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And I could feel in that moment, I could feel His presence.

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I was there about 30 minutes, and I could hear God say to me,

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as loudly and as clearly as if I was wearing headphones,

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and I was the only one who could hear it,

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He told me to get home now and go pray over your home.

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So I leave to head home.

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As soon as I pull off their streets, I could feel the peace of the Lord.

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I get home and I tell Sina, we have to pray now.

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And so we go room by room praying for God to protect our home,

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asking for Him to fill it with His presence.

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We get into our boys' rooms and we begin praying over them.

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As we were praying for River, who is dead asleep,

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he sits up in bed and he lets out this nasty sounding cough,

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the sound that I've never, ever heard before.

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He then lays down and that was it.

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You will never be able to convince me otherwise

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that we didn't cause a demon to shudder and flee

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when we prayed in the name of Jesus.

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That might sound weird to some of you,

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but that was a season in my life that I wasn't distracted by anything else.

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My focus and attention were solely on Him,

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but I can't say that about this week.

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We need to be aware when we are suppressing the presence of God.

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That was the rebuke against the people in Hosea.

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They were living their lives.

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They were working.

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They were earning.

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They were building.

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And they were completely unaware of God's presence in their homes,

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completely unaware of what God was doing around them.

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So after Jacob has this dream,

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he renames this place where he had it, Bethel.

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And he anoints his temp-repeated pillow with oil.

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Then he says in Genesis 28, verse 20,

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he says,

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Did you hear what he said?

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If God does this, then he will be my God.

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Jacob is trusting God when it's convenient for him.

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He isn't acting like Job in this moment, is he?

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The Lord gives, the Lord takes away, blessed be the name of the Lord.

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He isn't acting like Habakkuk in this moment where he says,

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Though the fig tree does not bud,

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although there's no grapes on the vines,

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when there's no cattle in the stalls,

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I will be joyful and rejoice in God my Savior.

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That's not the attitude of Jacob.

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Here, Jacob has a relationship of convenience.

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If God provides, if God lets me return to my land,

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then he will be my God.

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He still isn't aware, and he still isn't desperate enough.

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Does that speak to you?

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Does that speak to any of you in your situation?

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Because it does to me.

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I've prayed those prayers.

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God, if you help me get through college,

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God, if you help me find a spouse,

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God, if you help me get this job,

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if you get me out of this situation,

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if you help me overcome this sin,

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and I begin to treat God like a genie,

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Jacob is about to get a taste of his own medicine in this text.

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He makes it to Laban's house,

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and he finds himself a wife, Rachel.

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I mean, she has a great personality.

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She's nice to look at.

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He takes her on a long camel ride

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to make sure that he can stand her

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and make sure she can pass the test, right?

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Laban agrees to give Rachel to Jacob,

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but Jacob's going to have to work for seven years to earn her.

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No problem, right? She's worth it.

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I'll take seven years of work for her.

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He puts in his time with Laban,

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and then he gets a fast one pulled on him.

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The deceiver has now been deceived.

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He doesn't get Rachel,

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but instead he gets Leah.

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He has children.

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He has to work another seven years,

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and he finally gets Rachel.

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Once Rachel has Joseph, Jacob asks Laban

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to go back to his home country.

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He says, go back to my land. Let me go back to my father's house.

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He gathered his wealth, and he flees Laban to go back home.

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As he gets closer to home, he begins to think about his past.

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He begins to remember what he's coming home to,

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and he begins to fear Esau.

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Still not trusting.

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Still not trusting the Lord.

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He begins to think that maybe he can bribe Esau with some of his wealth.

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Let's just throw some money at the problem.

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So he sends goats.

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Not enough. Not enough.

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He sends cows. Not enough.

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Donkeys. Not enough. Bulls. All these things.

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Once he sends everything that he has, what does he do next?

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He sends his family.

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Maybe my wife and children will be enough.

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I'll just stay back here and see how that goes.

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Right? This is what Jacob is doing.

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Jacob then has an encounter with a messenger of God,

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and in Genesis 32, he enters the octagon,

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and he begins to wrestle, and the fight lasts all night long.

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Jacob has nothing left to offer.

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So in desperation, he fights with everything he has in him.

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And in verse 26 of chapter 32, after he gets his leg messed up,

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he says, I will not let you go unless you bless me.

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In that moment, Jacob comes to a place of submission.

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In that moment.

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Sometimes it takes moments like this for us to become spiritually

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and physically exhausted before we are desperate enough for God.

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Jacob has no one left to deceive.

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He's done everything that he can.

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If he is going to find favor with his brother Esau who wants to kill him,

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it's going to be an act of the Lord.

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He has nothing left to do.

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He has nothing left but to cling onto a leg

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and not let go until he gets God's best.

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Or any of us that desperate for God.

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Where we finally throw our hands up in submission

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because we don't know what else to do except to cling to the leg

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of our Father who can help us in our situation.

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The Israelites and Hosea weren't there yet.

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They were still chasing the wind.

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They were still dealing in bad business practices.

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God is trying to get their attention by sending the prophets,

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but they aren't desperate enough yet.

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They aren't ready to submit yet.

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They still think that they can overcome their situation by sheer grit and determination.

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Does that sound familiar to any of us?

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How long have you wrestled with the same sin for years unable to overcome it?

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A good friend of mine back in La Mesa struggled for years with smoking.

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He didn't like that he had an addiction.

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I'm not calling smoking a sin.

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I'm calling the addiction a sin.

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But for over 40 years he smoked a pack of cigarettes every single day.

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It was affecting his life.

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He wouldn't travel long distances because he couldn't go that long without a smoke.

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My daughter when she was younger would shame him for it.

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We had to talk about it. It's fine.

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People wouldn't let him ride in their car.

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I always reminded him, think about how much money you would save

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if you weren't buying packs of cigarettes every single day.

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None of that mattered.

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He wasn't desperate enough.

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Then God got his attention.

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And it was like overnight, every time he would smoke,

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it'd send his blood pressure through the roof to the point where he had to be hospitalized.

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Then he would quit for a few days and then he would begin to test the limits.

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Smoke one here, smoke one there,

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but every time he smoked, blood pressure through the roof, God would be hospitalized.

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His wife would lecture him better than any lecture I've ever heard.

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He finally came to the realization that he couldn't touch another cigarette

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if he wanted to stay married and if he wanted to continue to live.

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Sometimes we will wrestle with God over the sin in our lives

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until he brings us to the point of submission,

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until we get busted, until we are broken.

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He's about to do that to Israel.

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But not before all the warning signs come.

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Even through all of their sin, God is still gracious and loving.

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Even through all of their sin, He's still sending warnings.

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So after he's broken and humbled, Jacob goes to meet Esau.

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And it goes pretty well.

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And we get to chapter 35 of Genesis, we see that Jacob returns to Bethel.

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He returns to the place where God reminded him throughout all of Jacob's sin

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that God would never leave him.

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It says, starting in verse 1, in chapter 35 of Genesis,

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God said to Jacob, arise, go up to Bethel and dwell there.

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Make an altar there to the God who appeared to you where you fled from your brother Esau.

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So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him,

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put away the foreign gods that are among you and purify yourselves and change your garments.

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Then let us arise and go up to Bethel so that I may make there an altar to the God

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who answers me in the day of my distress and has been with me wherever I have gone.

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Do you see the change of heart from the first time he was in that place?

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It went from a, if God does this mentality to get rid of everything that isn't of God

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and let's worship him because he has been with me every step of the way.

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In good times and bad times, wherever I go, let's set aside everything that isn't of him

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and let's go build an altar and worship.

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He returned to Bethel, the place where he initially was unaware of God's presence in his life.

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To now a place where he is always aware of God's presence in his life.

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Where are you in the story of Jacob?

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Are you at a place in your life where you want his best?

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You just don't want to do it his way.

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Are you even aware of his presence in your life?

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Is your relationship with God a matter of convenience that makes you look good?

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Because you're rubbing elbows with people in the church.

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Or are you ready to return to Bethel because you are physically and spiritually broken?

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Isaiah has some words that might help us in chapter 6, verse 6.

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He says, so you, by the help of your God, return, hold fast to love and justice

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and wait continually for your God.

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This is another good reminder that we can't do it on our own.

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We cannot do it on our own. We can't even return on our own.

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We need God's help to return. We need God's help to love.

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We need God's help to wait.

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Did you catch that?

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Maybe this morning you need to finally ask God for some help.

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Maybe in your mind's eye you need to cling to him and not let go until he blesses you.

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This is a warning. He will get your attention eventually.

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Maybe it will be in a hospital bed. Maybe it will be after an all night wrestling match.

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Maybe it will be in the moment of desperation where you have nothing left to offer.

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Or maybe you are in exile now and you are just ready to come home.

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Now we know how this is going to end for the Israelites, right?

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We know the story. They are going to be led into exile.

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They are going to be conquered by the Assyrian army.

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They are going to cry out for a deliverer once they are being oppressed by the Romans.

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They will soon realize that their own abilities are not enough to protect them forever.

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That does not have to be your story.

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We can learn from them and take into consideration the words of Hosea and ask God to return.

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We can ask God to help us hold fast to love.

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To hold fast to justice.

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We can ask God to give us the patience to wait on Him and He will be faithful.

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So where are you in the story of Hosea?

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Are you ready to return?

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Are you desperate enough to hold on to His leg and ask Him to bless you?

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Or are you still trying to do it your own way?

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See, not just saying a song, right?

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Like, are you even aware of His presence?

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He is not going to fail you.

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He won't.

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But are you trusting in that?

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Are you trusting, nope, I can get myself out of this desperate situation.

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I can work hard enough and get that thing paid off.

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I can use whatever clever deception I have to get me through this.

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Or you finally just willing to throw up your hands and submit to Him and say,

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I am not letting you go until I get your best.

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So wherever you are on that journey, wherever you are in the story,

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my plea to you from Hosea is to return.

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Return to His presence.

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Be aware of who He is around you.

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So I am going to pray for us and we will have time to respond and sing a song.

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If you want to just sing a song and go about your day and call it good,

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that is your prerogative. But maybe this moment,

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you take time to just respond to what He is saying to you.

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If you are in exile right now and so many of us are,

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so many of us may be walking through the wilderness.

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This is your call to return home.

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This is your call for a new start.

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Don't be like the Israelites calling out for a deliverer,

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and then completely miss Him.

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This is the time. Let's return to Bethel. Let's pray.

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Father God, I pray that you speak to our hearts.

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I pray God for those in this room that are just suppressing you

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and are completely unaware that you were there, that you were in their midst.

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God, I pray that your voice will be heard loudly.

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I pray that you will speak.

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God, I pray for those of us that just kind of treat you like the side piece of our lives.

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And we give attention to you on Sunday, but no other time.

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I pray God that you will bring us to submission.

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Bring us to the point where we can understand that we can't do anything without you.

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And I pray God that you will just speak to our hearts.

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I pray that you will welcome us back as we return to Bethel.

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Father, I pray that you speak.