- Ambition is a great follower but a terrible leader.
- It’s meant to stay in the passenger’s seat, not the driver’s seat.
- But it will always vie for position!
- Israel was in constant pursuit of its own thing - ruled by ambition.
- God delivered a message through Hosea.
- Read Hosea 12:1-5.
- vs 1a - “Ephraim feeds on the wind; he pursues the east wind all day…”
- The phrase “chasing the wind” is about unbridled ambition that gets you nowhere.
- Mark 14:50 - “What does it profit a man…”
- vs 1b - “…and multiplies lies and violence…”
- Blind ambition blunts empathy and logic.
- You end up hurting people to get what you want.
- vs 1c - “…He makes a treaty with Assyria and sends olive oil to Egypt.”
- Blind ambition leads to bad partnerships.
- You’ll look to others for help that should not be in your life.
- vs 2 - “The Lord has a charge to bring against Judah; He will punish Jacob according to his ways and repay him according to his deeds.”
- Ambition makes God your opponent, not your partner.
- Like a good parent, God wants to bless, not punish.
- vs 3a - “In the womb he grasped his brother’s heel…”
- Jacob was born with an ambitious temperament.
- But we aren’t to operate according to personality or temperament.
- We are to operate by the leading of the Spirit.
- Faith is “living without scheming.”
- vs 3b - “…as a man he struggled with God.”
- Jacob’s struggles with others revealed his struggle with God.
- He had a God problem.
- He needed an encounter with the Lord.
- vs 4a - “He struggled with the angel and overcame him; he wept and begged for his favor…”
- Many people want the blessings of God more than God Himself.
- vs 4b-5 - “…He found (God) at Bethel and talked with Him there - the Lord God Almighty, the Lord is His name.”
- Bethel = sacred place, sanctuary, holy place, hallowed spot.
- Once he met God, truly met Him and experienced His presence, he ceased striving!
- He stopped fighting.
- He fully surrendered.
- God did two things:
- He convicted him - “What is your name?”
- He touched him - Jacob was never the same, he led with a limp.
- Where was your Bethel?
- A place where you met God?
- Do you have a current Bethel?
- A sacred place to meet with God?
- https://www.dropbox.com/home/Podcasts%20-%202024?di=left_nav_browse&preview=7.10.24+Hosea+12+-+Striving.mp3
Hosea 13:6 - Remember to Reconnect
- God wants us to stay connected to Him and others.
- The way to do that is through gratitude.
- If we don’t show gratitude it causes a relational break.
- Israel shows us what this looks like.
- Hosea delivered the message from God:
- vs 6 - “When I fed them, they were satisfied; when they were satisfied, they became proud; then they forgot me.”
- They had a need and God met it.
- But they did not thank God for meeting these needs.
- They got what they wanted and no longer needed Him.
- They became proud, which led to them forgetting God.
- So how did God respond?
- He turned from partner to opponent.
- vs 7-8 - “So I will be like a lion to them, like a leopard I will lurk by the path. Like a bear robbed of her cubs, I will attack them and rip them open; like a lion I will devour them— a wild animal will tear them apart.”
- What God becomes to us is up to us.
- He can be a God of grace and mercy or a God of wrath.
- Hosea prophesied just after Solomon reigned.
- He watched how Israel was at its height of power during Solomon's time as king, but the devastation that resulted when he forgot God.
- So God tore the kingdom into two and they ended up losing everything.
- The same is true with us.
- Ingratitude pulls us away from those we were meant to be close to.
- It robs us of our memory - we forget those who were instrumental in getting us to where we are.
- Romans 1:21 - “For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.”
- The path to destruction begins with ingratitude that leads to pride.
- When we forget God we disconnect from Him.
- To remember is to reconnect.
- If my finger gets dismembered from my hand, I have to “re-member” it.
- So remembering what God has done is the secret to staying connected to Him (and others).