Word of Encouragement for Every New Day ~ 1 Aug 07

In Hosea 6:6 our Father states this, “For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgement of God rather than burnt offerings.” Today’s word of encouragement comes from this verse, and the fact is we all need a “self check”. Sometimes we get caught up with the frills of Christianity where we become more in love with religion rather than in love with God.

The word God keeps saying to me is simple, “BE REAL”. In the world we are always trying to impress people, and sometimes we over exaggerate ourselves, the best example of this is our CV, especially applying for a job. We write whatever we can just to impress the person reading it so that we may get that job we want.

God looks deep into our hearts and He see’s who we really are inside. We can’t fool God, and what He desires is our Character, how much we are willing to change and grow that character. Sometimes we get caught up on the religion than the relationship we have with our Father. We start becoming spiritually proud, self-righteous because we are more “pure” than others. We act more “godly” around our old friends just to show how we have changed from our old ways. Or sometimes we feel like we have to put on a show in front of other Christians to prove how “spiritual” we are. Sometimes we act humble by serving others when really we are doing it to gain attention. The list keeps going on and on.

God states it simply in Hosea 6:6. God desires mercy, not the act of sacrifice. He wants our full hearts, lives, and complete surrender to God, walking in obedience to Him and Him alone. He wants us to acknowledge that He is our father, rather than burning offerings, which to me simply means showing to others how we are so “godly” by what we say, how we act, how pure we are, etc.
Let us today strive to be real! Our identity is in Christ, not in man. May we turn our eyes to our Father today and seek His forgiveness, and pray our hearts out that God will begin a work in us, and reveal areas in our lives where we have been blinded.
-- By: Shaun Lee