The Demise Chapter (Hosea ch. 4)

Four causes of personal or national demise:

• Lack of the knowledge of God led to rejection (Hos. 4:4-6).  Verse 6 sounds similar to the end of 1 Sam. 15:23.
• Stubbornness resulted from continued misdirection of desire (Hos. 4:7-10).   Priests and leaders (Hos. 4:10) were stubborn and so were the people (Hos. 4:16).
• Lack of understanding (Hos. 4:11-14).  What the people pursued (Hos. 4:11) dulled their senses and conscience.
• Addiction to shame (Hos. 4:15-19).  They felt the shame but wouldn't depart from it.

Do you see any of these in your life?  In your nation?  The time to repent is now.

Losing Jesus (Lu 2:41-50)

1. Jesus wasn't really lost. His parents just didn't know where He was. They lost track of Him. Today, there are people in our churches who just don't know where to find Jesus. They've lost track of Him.
2. It is not difficult to lose Jesus. Religious people lose Jesus all the time! How? You can lose Jesus because of your custom or tradition. If you do the same thing long enough, you get comfortable. You're on auto-pilot. Conscious awareness is replaced by nostalgia. You can lose Jesus because of your routine. Every year Joseph, Mary and Jesus went the same route, stayed with the same relatives (or in the same hotel), enjoyed the same ritual, and came home the same way. It sounds a bit boring, right? Amidst our religious routine, things can get boring. It's easy to take your eyes off Jesus. You can lose Jesus because of your assumptions. Joseph and Mary assumed Jesus was in the traveling party. They didn't verify His presence up front. You can lose Jesus because you aren't looking for Him. That means you've gone substantial time without significant contact with Him.
3. When you lose Jesus, it is not His fault. Joseph and Mary found Jesus four days after they first noticed His absence. When they found Him, they (at least Mary) blamed Him for the separation. Who, exactly, walked way from whom?
4. Jesus positions Himself to be found. He doesn't play a vicious game of hide and seek. You can walk away from Jesus, but He will not walk away from you.
5. The journey to finding Jesus begins with the realization He is missing in your life.