Pastor Bob DuPar
December 6, 2008

Journal Entry



Scripture

Hosea 4:1-5:15; 2 John 1:1-13; Psalm 125:1-5; Proverbs 29:9-11

Observation

“My people are being destroyed because they don’t know Me. Since you priests refuse to know Me, I refuse to recognize you as my priests. …(you) have exchanged the glory of God for the shame of idols. When the people bring their sin offerings, the priests (you) get fed. So (you) are glad when the people sin!” Hosea 4:6-8

“Wine has robbed my people of their understanding. They ask a piece of wood for advice! They think a stick can tell them the future! Longing after idols has made them foolish. They have played the prostitute, serving other gods and deserting their God.” Hosea 4:11-12

“Love means doing what God has commanded us…” 2 John 1:6

“Anyone who wanders away from this teaching has no relationship with God. But anyone who remains in the teaching of Christ has a relationship with both the Father and the Son.” 2 John 1:9

Application

Hosea 4:6-8 is the fulfillment of “Where there is no vision the people perish.” (Proverbs 29:18) When priests/pastors don’t know the Lord, their people don’t as well. And, when we don’t know our Creator it leads to destruction.

The simplest, most practical way I can express my love to God is to obey His Word/commandments.

Prayer

“Lord, help me to know You more deeply with each passing day. May I never forget that faith means having a relationship with You. Help me to love You with my life and actions, and not merely pay lip service to You.”

Pastor Bob DuPar
December 5, 2008

Journal Entry



Scripture

Hosea 1:1-3:5; 1 John 5:1-21; Psalm 124:1-8; Proverbs 29:5-8

Observation

Hosea 2:7-8a sounds a lot like the parable of the prodigal son:

“When she runs after her lovers, she won’t be able to catch them. She will search for them, but not find them. Then she will think, ‘I might as well return to my husband, for I was better off with him than I am now.’ She doesn’t realize it was I who gave her everything she has…”

“Loving God means keeping His commandments, and His commandments are not burdensome.” 1 John 5:3

“All who believe in the Son of God know in their hearts that this testimony is true. Those who don’t believe this are actually calling God a liar because they don’t believe what God has testified about His Son. And this is what God has testified: He has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have God’s Son does not have life.” 1 John 5:10-12

“All wicked actions are sin, but not every sin leads to death.” 1 John 5:17

“And we know that the Son of God has come, and He has given understanding so that we can know the true God. And now we live in fellowship with the true God because we live in fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ. He is the only true God, and He is eternal life.

Application

It’s one thing for me to obey God and keep His commandments. It’s another to do this without a reluctant spirit or a bad attitude. And, John says that this demonstrates the depth of my love for the Lord.

How often I forget that everything I have is from God. Every good and perfect gift is from above… (James 1:17)

It’s impossible to be in fellowship with God the Father unless we are in fellowship with God the Son.

Prayer

“Lord, thank You for Your relentless, compassionate love. Thank You for never giving up on me. Thank You for pursuing me when I wander, for loving me in the midst of my sin. Help me to live in Your presence, and never lose fellowship with You.”

Pastor Bob DuPar
December 4, 2008

Journal Entry



Scripture

Daniel 11:36-12:13; 1 John 4:1-21; Psalm 123:1-4; Proverbs 29:2-4

Observation

“God showed us how much He loved us by sending His one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through Him. This is real love – not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other. No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and His love is brought to full expression in us.” 1 John 4:9-12

“And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the Day of Judgment, but we can face Him with confidence because we live like Jesus here in this world. Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels fear. …We love each other because He loved us first.

Application

What a thought: “When we love each other, God lives in us, and His love is brought to full expression in us!” Bring on the love! Not self-serving, conditional love, but God’s love. God is the model. He loved us first and demonstrated what love is all about. I just need to follow His example in Scripture, and allow Him to be fully seen in my life.

Prayer

“Lord, cause Your love to be perfected in me. May I stand before You one day with confidence because I’m “dressed in His righteousness alone, faultless to stand before the throne.”

Pastor Bob DuPar
December 3, 2008

Journal Entry



Scripture

Daniel 11:2-35; 1 John 3:7-24; Psalm 122:1-9; Proverbs 29:1

Observation

“…but the people who know their God will display strength and take action.” Daniel 11:32b

“We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love abides in death.” 1 John 3:14

“But whoever has the world’s goods, and beholds his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him? Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth.”
1 John 3:17-18

Application

In the last days, the people who know their God will not be deceived. They will display strength and take action. How do we know God except through His Word? This is why daily time in the Bible is so important. One person wrote, “Someday we will see face-to-face the One whom we have know heart-to-heart.” Knowing God is more than emotions. It also involves knowledge about Him which only comes through the Word.

Love is a verb. Love means taking action, meeting needs, demonstrating our faith through our actions.

Prayer

“Lord, help me to take action in Your name, to meet needs, to love as You would love, and to recognize deception when I see it.”

Pastor Bob DuPar
December 2, 2008

Journal Entry



Scripture

Daniel 9:1-11:1; 1 John 2:18-3:6; Psalm 121:1-8; Proverbs 28:27-28

Observation

“We do not make requests of You because we are righteous, but because of Your great mercy. O Lord, listen! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, hear and act! For Your sake O my God, do not delay, because Your city and Your people bear Your name.” Daniel 9:18-19

“As soon as I began to pray, an answer was given…” Daniel 9:23

“Then he continued, ‘Do not be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them.”
Daniel 10:12

“And now, dear children, continue in Him, so that when He appears we may be confident and unashamed before Him at His coming. …How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! …Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when He appears, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. Everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.” 1 John 2:28, 3:1-3

“No one who lives in Him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen Him or known Him.” 1 John 3:6

“The Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.” Psalm 121:8

“He who gives to the poor will lack nothing, but he who closes his eyes to them receives many curses.” Proverbs 28:27

Application

We never know the impact our prayers have. Daniel’s prayers were answered the minute he began to seek God. It’s interesting that Daniel 10 says that when Daniel set his mind to gain understanding and when he humbled himself, that’s when his words were heard. God desires that I be committed/resolved (surrendered) to His will.

1 John 3:6 is convicting. Sin and a true knowledge of God, a true relationship with Him, are incompatible. Sin should not be my normal practice. The longer I know God, the longer I walk with Him, the less sin should rule my behavior.

Prayer

“Lord, I love Daniel’s prayer in Daniel 9, and I echo it. Because of Your great mercy, please listen O Lord! O Lord, please forgive! O Lord, hear and act! For Your sake O my God, do not delay.”

Pastor Bob DuPar
December 1, 2008

Journal Entry



Scripture

Daniel 8:1-27; 1 John 2:1-17; Psalm 120:1-7; Proverbs 28:25-26

Observation

“I, Daniel, was exhausted and lay ill for several days. Then I got up and went about the king’s business. I was appalled by the vision; it was beyond understanding.” Daniel 8:27

“But if anyone obeys His Word, God’s love is truly made complete in Him. This is how we know we are in Him: Whoever claims to live in Him must walk as Jesus did.” 1 John 2:5-6

“I write to you, young men because you are strong, and the Word of God lives in you, and you have overcome the evil one.” 1 John 2:14

“The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.” 1 John 2:17

Application

What a thought that when we obey God’s Word, His love is made complete in us. The evidence of God’s love in my life is a mark of ownership, a sign that I am His. John continues in verse 14 to also connect “God’s Word living in us” with “overcoming the evil one.”

Prayer

“Lord, help me to live for things eternal – things that will last and endure. May I see Your love perfected in my life as I follow You.”

Pastor Bob DuPar
November 30, 2008

Journal Entry



Scripture

Daniel 7:1-28; 1 John 1:1-10; Psalm 119:153-176; Proverbs 28:23-24

Observation

“But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, His Son, purifies us from all sin.”
1 John 1:7

“I have strayed like a lost sheep. Seek your servant, for I have not forgotten your commands.” Psalm 119:176

Application

Walking in the light means walking in obedience to God’s truth. When I walk in the light, I have fellowship with others and cleansing from my sin. It’s hard to feel clean if I stay in the mud/darkness.

Prayer

“Lord, thank You for forgiveness. Help me to walk in the light more and more. Thank You for Your Word. Help me to listen to it and obey it.”