that how can I tell if somebody is walking with the Lord? Well, the first thing that you're gonna be able to recognize is as a way of life, they seek the Lord. They want to know what God says about a thing and everything they do in life. What is God doing in this? Where is God involved in this? How is God working in this? They seek Him. And everything God does in our life is to put us in position to seek Him. Remember we talked about if you confuse, what do you need to do? Seek the Lord. If you're frustrated, what do you need to do? Seek the Lord. If you're walking in the joys of the Lord, what do you need to do? Seek the Lord. You seek the Lord in everything you do. Jesus threw it out there as the principle of priority. Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. That is his ways. You seek him, his reign, His rule, His guidance over your life in all of His ways. That's how we live. That's how the believer lives, seeking Him. James says some of these things, doesn't he? Yeah. James kind of relates to a lot of this that's happening with Hosea. He does. He refers to them as adulterers as well. And he's talking to the tribes spread out. So he's talking to kind of the same kind of people that he's dead. That God promises one day he's bringing back. Yeah. Yeah. So it's kind of interesting to see that this is kind of almost full circle here. Yeah. He does. Is it James 4 or James 5 where he says that? Go look at James real quick. Because he does. Matter of fact, I've been noting James as well as I've been walking through between this and Ecclesiastes. If you take what you're reading in Hosea and you take some of the things in Ecclesiastes, they are gonna be very similar, very similar. Look in chapter four, James four. See what was happening in, because sin is sin, and there's always gonna be similarities with it. What you see in chapter four of Hosea, about there was no mercy in the land, no truth in the land, there was no knowledge of God in the land, and what were people doing? They were stealing, lying, and murdering. That is, they were just taking advantages of one another. They were warring among one another. He said to the point where you can't trust one another. You can't take one another's word. Why? Because what had God done? He had pulled himself away. Why did God pull himself away? Who does God resist? The proud. And notice what James 4 says, verse one. Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for what? Pleasure. That is what was happening with the people. They had forsaken God for their own pleasures. That war and your members. You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war yet you do not have because You do not ask. And when you do ask, you don't receive it because you ask with the wrong motive. You ask amiss. That you may what? Consume it upon you. It's all about who? So what is the then call them? Verse number four. Adulterers and adulteresses. Do you not know? Friendship, being fond of a world without God is what? Enmity with God. That word friendship with the world, he's saying you like a world that doesn't seek God as a way of living every day of their life. And that's exactly the issue that you're dealing with in Hosea. They didn't seek the Lord. That's always, we've talked about this throughout the years, how can I tell if somebody is walking with the Lord? Well, the first thing that you're gonna be able to recognize is as a way of life, they seek the Lord. They wanna know what God says about a thing and everything they do in life. What is God doing in this? Where is God involved in this? How is God working in this? They seek Him. And everything God does in our life is to put us in position to seek Him. Remember we talked about if you confuse, what do you need to do? Seek the Lord. If you're frustrated, what do you need to do? Seek the Lord. If you're walking in the joys of the Lord, what do you need to do? Seek the Lord. You seek the Lord in everything you do. Jesus threw it out there as the principle of priority. Seek first. Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. That is his ways. You seek him. His reign, His rule, His guidance over your life and all of His ways. That's how we live. That's how the believer lives, seeking Him. Psalm 119 verse 155 tells us that you can always pick out the wicked. How? The wicked doesn't have anything associated with them that is connected with the saving work of God. You can't see there's nothing of God's tender work of, of redeeming work. It's not connected. It's not associated with them. You can't see it. And he says this, why they do not seek the statutes or the ways of God as a way of life. That's number one. And why will a person not seek the Lord and all the ways of the Lord because of what what's in their heart. Pride is driving them. And pride says, I got a better way than God's way. And pride is a wicked evil thing. It's wicked. So that's what we're dealing with in Hosea, is pride. And he even tells them, your pride has testified to your face, but you can't even see it. You don't recognize it, you can't discern it, but it's been slapping you in the face again and again and again. Matter of fact, he tells them even in other places that your own iniquities are rebuking you. He tells us in Jeremiah. In Jeremiah 20, he reminds us as a later group, but the same spirit of this group in Hosea, he says, you're gonna be a terror to yourself. and everybody connected to you, you will be a terror to them. You're gonna be your own worst enemy. It ain't them out there that's the problem. You're your own worst enemy and you'll be a terror to yourself, why? because your own iniquities are starting to rebuke you. Why? Because what did God do? He pulled his hand off. So James tells us in verse number five, four, with that idea about being friends with the world, that is saying whoever makes himself a friend with the world makes himself what? An enemy of God. And what does the world not do? The world does not seek God as a way of life. in any system, any thinking, any facet of this world that doesn't consider God's point of view. is what we would refer to as a worldly system. And God says, if that is what you're fond of, you make yourself, what? An enemy of God. Why? Because this is how the world works. Verse five, or do you not think that the scripture speaks in vanity and emptiness? How? That the spirit who dwells in us yearns what? Jealousy. What does he yearn for? All of us. The spirit yearns for every ounce. But God gives more grace, therefore he says, God resists the who? But gives grace to the humble. And the humble is always gonna seek him. The humble is for who Jesus came to preach the good news to. The humble, humility and faith work hand in hand with one another. You remove humility, it is gonna be replaced with pride. And pride and faith don't work together. They clash with one another. Because faith is somebody who humbly says, I trust what God said. I need what God said. I wanna know what God said. I gotta have what God says. I can't take the next step without what God says. But pride says, oh, I got this on my own. I don't need him. I don't need his people. I don't need his ways. I'll get this done, what? By myself. And that word resist means to oppose. God always opposes the proud. What's the answer for us? Therefore, Submit, come under orders to God, resist, oppose the devil because the devil's behind the pride and the devil will what? Flee from you. Then the next verse, draw near to God and he will what? Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Lament, and mourn, and weep, and let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to gloom. Humble yourself in the sight of the Lord, and He will what? Lift you up. You can see James drawing from these things that are in Hosea and Amos and other places. Go to Ecclesiastes. Go look in Ecclesiastes and let's see if we can get this idea, because James talks about it. In the same, same, I've been waiting to share this with y'all. Lord, open the door tonight, right? Ecclesiastes, I think it's four or five. Ecclesiastes four or five. Let me see. Yeah, because that's what happens when you write new notes down and one, you got to go to it, right? Chapter 5, I'm sorry. Chapter 5. I'm looking at the top of mine. It's got Ecclesiastes 4. But chapter 5, verse 1. Look what he says. Walk prudently. And the idea of prudently means what? Circumspectly, it means to walk wisely. To be prudent, it is wisdom at work. Walk wisely when you go where? To the house of God and draw near to what? To hear rather than to give the sacrifice of fools for they do not know that they do what? Evil do not be rash with your what? Okay, James has been talking about that when you read James. He says draw near to God and heal what? James also said be careful to what cover your mouth up slow to speak, but what? Quick to hear and he also says don't make a vibe It's almost like when James is writing this letter he's reading Ecclesiastes and Chapter four and pulling from these thoughts of then then Expanding on them about drawing it what the draw near to God. What does that mean? You submitting unto him you resisting the devil opposing him and you draw and near to God to what to hear from him? You got to hear from God to see You can't see what God's doing unless you hear him where to hear you got to submit to him That's what he's saying when you come to the house of God when you come to hear You come wisely and be cautious about talking and put yourself in position to hear from Him because God's going to speak to you. Because if he's not speaking to you and you offering him things, you don't even know what you're doing when you offer him this offering because you ain't heard from him. You're not operating in faith. You are specializing in the offering and not actually in what? Being submissive to the Lord. Hosea dealt with it. What does God desire? He desires mercy and the knowledge of God over sacrifices. You see, God's mercy is always connected to hearing from the Lord. that God's mercies is always lined up with what God's doing, what God's saying, how God's working, why God's working, and those that fear God hope in His mercy. They're expecting to hear from God. So notice that again, notice verse two. Because James said, let your yeses be yeses. and your nose knows, don't make vows. Be careful about making a vow, he said. Do not be rash with your mouth and let not your heart utter anything too quickly before God, hastily. For God is in heaven and you are on the earth, therefore let your words be what? Few. For a dream comes through much activity and a fool's voice is known by as many words. So he's saying, you're better off acting on what you hear than just talking and speaking a thing that you're not gonna actually walk out and do. You gotta be obedient to it. So verse five, verse four, when you make a vow to God, do not delay, what do you do? For he who has, for he has no pleasure in fools. Pay what you have vowed, better not to vow than to vow and not what? That's James right there. That's what James is telling us. Three chapters of James are in these five verses right here. The principles. The principles are right there. Well, the same thing's going on in Hosea, why? Because sin is so common And it's all rooted in pride. And God opposes the proud, but he gives more grace to the humble. But he knew what was in their hearts. He knows what's in our heart as well. And you can speak it all day long, but he's looking for himself to live it out of us, amen? Man, these things are good. So we've looked at a couple places and I, where all we look, James, Genesis, Ecclesiastes, Psalms, talked about it, that's right huh Carolyn. Well to God be the glory, amen, amen. Father, we bless you, we thank you, ask you to help us, Lord, we don't wanna be those kind of people who just say it because it sounds good. We wanna be those that draw near to you to hear from you and that we submit to you, that we humbly come before you and that we stand opposed to the things of darkness and the enemy, and we let your light shine through our lives. So help us. We need your help. We need your help tonight more than ever, and we're going to praise you for it. We don't want to be a terror to ourselves or others. We don't want our iniquities to rebuke us. We want to look to you and see your favor upon our lives. In Jesus' name, amen. Love y'all. Y'all have a good night.