Digging Deep in God's Word

This is the second year that I have been a part of the "Digging Deep in God's Word" Bible study.  It originated from a lesson Sis. Cindy Colley did at Polishing the Pulpit and has grown into a rather large Facebook group of ladies who study a specific book of the Bible/topic that concludes with a podcast each month.  There are literally ladies from all over the world who are participating in this study.  Isn't that amazing? Some ladies from our congregation have been meeting each month to discuss the study amongst ourselves as well.  I will admit that I did really great to begin with.....then not so great....then great again...and then I had a baby and I fell off the wagon for a month or two.  BUT, now I'm trying to hop back on and develop better study habits for myself so I can grow as a Christian and encourage my church family and my home family as well.  If you aren't a part of this study already, please click on one of the links above and join us!  If you have questions, please let me know!
Now, on to what I was going to actually say. :)  In the month of April, we studied the book of Hosea.  I have never actually studied this book before, and it was good for me to really understand better the process that God has gone about to allow us the opportunity of salvation.  The book of Hosea is all about God's people (Israel) being given an opportunity to return to God before being put into captivity.  Hosea represents God and Gomer (his harlot wife) represents the church.  Hosea gets to experience some of the pain God feels because he takes on a harlot as his wife (by God's instruction) only to have her leave him to be a harlot again.  God then instructs Hosea to buy her back!  Can you imagine having your spouse leave you to do something as horrible as harlotry and then BUYING him back?  That's just what God has done with Israel and us.  He allowed Israel the opportunity to be saved by following him and then purchased them/us back with the death of His Son.  If you would like to hear a great lesson about Hosea that explains this all way better than I just did, click here.  :)

Some things that popped out at me from this study:
~Israel had a whole list of sins that hurt God. One was in Hosea 7:3-they pleased the king with wickedness and lies.  There are people in this world that we do NOT want to please.  There are influential people in our government who would be very pleased if I agreed with them on their views about homosexual marriage or abortion or many other topics.  They are not who I need to try to please.  Acts 5:29 "We ought to obey God rather than men."  John 12:43 "For they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God."
~Ephraim also exalted himself in Israel (Hosea 13:1) It is important for me to be cautious in how I word things that I may say to ensure that others do not think that I am exalting myself.  It is important that I choose to do without some things if I feel I am putting more emphasis on them than I am on God.  My desires do not come first.  God's plan for my life is not for me to "be happy." I do not have to have everything I want!
~Idolatry was a huge part of Israel's problem.  Idolatry is anything that gets in the way of my devotion or dedication to God.  Some examples that were given in the podcast were: sports, money, careers, exercise, hobbies, entertainment, family, friends, anything that we place before God.  This really hit home for me.  How devoted am I to God? How much time in my day to I devote solely to Him? Do I spend time doing things that I enjoy instead of spending time studying His Word or spending time teaching my children about Him?  Sometimes I can look around at others in the world or even in the church and think, "I'm doing a better job than them because.....," but that isn't the point and really shouldn't be something I even think!  Am I spending more time on Facebook than I am studying?  Am I (or my children) spending more time studying for worldly degrees or education than I am studying the Word of God or working on assignments for Bible class? Am I spending more time doing "fun" things in the world than I am spending in Bible study, church activities, or fellowship with my brethren?  Many of you may know that we do not have a television in our home.  I am thankful that that distraction and many forms of ungodly entertainment have been removed from our home, but I still need to do better with how I spend my time.....i.e. Facebook or just wasting time on the internet....OUCH! 
~Ephraim became "mixed" among the people Hosea 7:8--How much time am I spending with my Christian family? How much time am I spending with people of the world?  It is important for us to remain in the world and be a light (Matthew 5:16), but who should my closest friends be? With whom should I spend the majority of my free time?  I am not saying that we shouldn't have friends who are not Christians, but my friendships and the way I chose to spend my time should be helping my family get to Heaven.  One of my good friends shared her notes from this study with me and I highlighted this: "The company we keep will affect our eternal destiny. 1 Corinthians 15:33 "Do not be deceived: Evil company corrupts good habits." I vividly remember another good friend several years ago who told me that she was going to quit a sport that she really enjoyed. She had studied this verse and had come to the conclusion that nothing good would come from her being involved with her teammates (who were very worldly).  The sport was something that was harmless in itself and she really enjoyed it. (Aren't all of those idol examples listed above things that are harmless just by themselves?) She chose to give that up and not spend a large portion of her time with people who had the potential to discourage her spiritually and pull her away from God.  It encourages me to be around my brethren.  It makes me sad when I see some of my brethren who choose to spend the majority of their time with people who are outside of Christ and participate in worldly things with them.

I feel like I may have rambled a bit, but these are the things that jumped out at me the most from last month's study.  This month, we are studying Sanctification in Matthew. I hope you will join us!