my people perish for lack of understanding while they could be crowned with a garland of grace.....

When I think upon the verse that speaks of how the Lord’s people perish or are destroyed for lack of knowledge… lack of kindness… lack of faithfulness… I tangibly touch it... I can so easily see where for lack of knowing the Lord or the ways of His heart I have perished.... In Hosea it is also spelled out about that which there is abundance of ….

In Hosea 4 we read (NASB)
There is swearing, deception, murder, stealing and adultery.
They employ violence, so that bloodshed follows bloodshed.
Therefore the land mourns,
And everyone who lives in it languishes
Along with the beasts of the field and the birds of the sky,
And also the fish of the sea disappear.

Just a side note… isn’t it interesting in light of this verse about that which had happened with the birds of the air and fish in sea….

I admit… I recognize where for lack of knowledge I have perished… I have perished when I didn’t realize nor did I understand nor did I allow myself room to grasp the intense passion… incredible faithfulness… immeasurable kindness…. Abundant grace…. Extravagant love of God. I perished under the lies and systems of the world…. I watch and see now how so many are languishing because of the lack of understanding and the abundance of all that Hosea 4 spells out...... I see others who are also languishing under the oppressive lies of this world and the enemy of our souls and it breaks my heart as I watch... as I pray.. as I yearn for a turning of hearts....

As I have grown in knowledge and understanding… as I have been linked in life with amazing teachers and guides who know the truth of God in an incredible life giving way… as I have moved away from lack and learned wisdom… gained knowledge… experienced kindness and faithfulness I have thrived….

I love proverbs… they are beautiful and practical…. Proverbs 4 states…
Keep my commandments and live;
Acquire wisdom! Acquire understanding!
Do not forget nor turn away from the words of my mouth.
“Do not forsake her, and she will guard you;
Love her, and she will watch over you.
“The beginning of wisdom is: Acquire wisdom;
And with all your acquiring, get understanding.
“Prize her, and she will exalt you;
She will honor you if you embrace her.
“She will place on your head a garland of grace;
She will present you with a crown of beauty.”

The promises of the Lord for life.. real and abundant life are profoundly simple and yet extremely exacting….. there are real choices that must be made… a life to choose… a life to forsake… but in forsaking the life that the world has to offer I truly have never been disappointed… and yet in forsaking the life that the Lord holds out freely well I have only perished when I have done that….

One might think that their story is different and that in tasting success in the world that its ways have only profited them… and I have only one answer what does it profit a man to gain the whole world but forfeit their soul… I am grateful that the Lord in all His grace has brought me to where He has…. To lean upon Him … to be guided by Him… To unabashedly… unashamedly look to Him and watch Him and place my livelihood in His hands…… to taste and see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living... to be crowned with a garland of grace... and presented with a crown of beauty... to trust in the Lord with all my heart and not lean on my own understanding but in all my ways acknowledge Him and have my paths directed.....

I have seen where because of strongholds or you can call them false belief systems I have perished in areas of my life…. And yet God’s grace has brought the dearest of brothers and sisters into my life to help me confront those lacks and bring forth understanding…… and find life.. and love and hope and peace and victory in areas that had only at one time known a state of perishing and death and sorrow....

I find myself regarding myself as rich and strong… not as the world would measure but as my Father would….. I understand the words of the song where let the poor say I am rich and let the weak say I am strong…… I have perished because of lack of understanding… but my Father would not allow that to be the case and He brought forth understanding in a very real and practical way and I am very humbled and extremely grateful…..

Because He cares for me … He would not let me perish… not eternally and not within the framework of time and life upon the earth…. He cares for me that He brings me from strength to strength and understanding to understanding…. He cares for me daily and deliberately…. He came so that not only would I not perish but that I would have life… abundant life… eternal life…. Life that is so full of joy and delight and strength and grace….. Because He cares for me not only do I not perish but I thrive….

I have stepped further and further in and have purposefully become more like a child... more simple... more readily able to just take Him at His word and believe and trust and know.... I love Him more and more... and I know His love for me in new and delightful ways.... I was certainly never even close to being like Paul the apostle... I am not a theologian.... but I forget all else... to be found Him... to be simply found Him.... to believe like a child and live within the confines of childlike faith.... in this place I have found the most abundant life I could ever want..... I'm not wise in my own eyes... in my own eyes I have seen Him and in Him wisdom has found a name and the understanding has been fully manifested... in learning love ... in knowing His heart I have come to life in a way that I never even dared to imagine....