New Heights Baptist Church

06/18/2026

Day 169 - Psalm 51:17 highlights that God values inward repentance over outward rituals. True sacrifices to God are a broken spirit and a contrite heart, which He will not despise.
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What God Actually Wants From You | Hosea 6:6

For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice,
the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings. — Hosea 6:6

This verse, and others like it, is one of the clearest answers in all of Scripture about what God wants from His people.

In this text, God is not rejecting worship. He is exposing counterfeit repentance and hypocritical worship.

Sacrifice and burnt offerings were not pagan practices. They were part of the worship God Himself had established under the covenant. Burnt offerings in the temple involved placing an animal on the altar as a whole offering to God. It symbolized surrender, atonement, devotion, and the need for a substitute because sin deserves judgment.

But the problem was not the system; it was the people.

They were bringing sacrifices and leaving with their lives unchanged. They were performing rituals while living in rebellion. They wanted the appearance of devotion without the reality of a relationship.

And God says no. God says He desires two things here.

First, love.

“I desire steadfast love…”

The Hebrew word here is hesed. It means loyal covenant love—faithfulness rooted in relationship. Not passing emotion. Not occasional interest.

Second, He desires knowledge.

“the knowledge of God…”

Intimate relational knowledge. To know God is to trust Him, obey Him, walk with Him, and live in responsive fellowship with Him.

The point is that God is after covenant love and intimate fellowship with Him, which produces ongoing change in our lives.

That is why Jesus quotes this verse when confronting religious leaders (Matthew 9:13; 12:7). They had plenty of activity, but without mercy, love, or God.

You see, you can attend church, serve, give, sing, read, and still keep God at a distance. You can do things for God without living with God.

So assess your heart honestly. Is your faith built on activity… or intimacy? Because God does not need your performance. He wants all of you. Stop hiding behind spiritual routines. Come close to God Himself. Because what God actually wants from you is not fake or less worship. It is more worship with all of you.

DO THIS:
Take one spiritual routine you normally do quickly and slow it down today. Turn it from a task into real time with God.

ASK THIS:
Have I replaced relationship with routine?
Do I know facts about God more than I know fellowship with God?
What would surrendered worship look like in my life right now?

PRAY THIS:
God, forgive me for the times I have gone through motions without giving You my heart. Teach me to love You, know You, and worship You in truth. Amen.

06/17/2026

Wednesday Prayer 06-17-26

06/17/2026

Spiritual transformation! Growing together enjoying the trip getting use to the family we will spend eternity with learning to love how easy it is getting use to the family of God!

06/17/2026

Day 168 - The fruit of a great awakening continues today through the summer in the revived church!  God‘s provision of grace is extended to all, covering all sins by the power of the cross and the resurrection!  
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Why Your Repentance Doesn’t Last | Hosea 6:4-5

What shall I do with you, O Ephraim?
What shall I do with you, O Judah?
Your love is like a morning cloud,
like the dew that goes early away.
Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets;
I have slain them by the words of my mouth,
and my judgment goes forth as the light. — Hosea 6:4-5

Here's the question behind this text. Why doesn’t your repentance last?

You can hear God grieve His people: “What shall I do with you?” Honestly, this sounds like the father, or parent, who is exhausted by a beligerent child, doesn't it? "What am I going to do with you Vincent Lee Miller?"

This is the language of heartbreak over a people who keep repeating the same cycle.

They promise change. But they never really change. So God names the real issue:

“Your love is like a morning cloud, like the dew that goes early away.”

In other words, their repentance was not real repentance. It was counterfeit repentance. It was emotion, without endurance. It was language, but no lasting loyalty.

I think too many believers mistake intensity for transformation. We have a powerful moment in prayer, feel stirred in worship, or make promises in a hard season—and still never take the steps to build a life of obedient change and that's repentance.

A tear is not repentance.
A feeling is not repentance.
A promise is not repentance.

Real repentance is revealed by the action we take when the sentiment fades.

And be warned if you don't, for God says, “I have hewn them by the prophets… I have slain them by the words of My mouth.”

This may sound severe, but it is mercy. God uses truth like a surgeon’s blade. He cuts through counterfeit repentance. He exposes fake obedience.

Why?

Because He loves you too much to leave you unchanged.

If your repentance only lasts from one emotional moment to the next, don’t look for or ask for another emotional experience. Stop chasing spiritual highs and start building holy habits. Open the Word when you don’t feel like it. Obey when it costs you something. Stay faithful when no one sees it.

Because counterfeit repentance rises fast and dies fast.

Real repentance grows slowly—and lasts for the rest of your life.

DO THIS:
Choose one daily act of obedience you will practice consistently this week, even if you do not feel inspired.

ASK THIS:
Do I confuse emotion with transformation?
What spiritual pattern starts strong but fades quickly?
What habit would help my repentance become lasting obedience?

PRAY THIS:
God, forgive me for shallow patterns that fade quickly. Root my life in truth and build in me a repentance that lasts. Amen.

06/16/2026

Day 167 - “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” Matthew 6:33-34

06/15/2026

God is so good! Oh the goodness of the Lord, looking forward to growing closer to the Lord and our church family together!

06/15/2026

Day 166 - Despite facing severe persecution and deep emotional distress (Jeremiah is often known as the "weeping prophet"), he bursts into sudden praise, acknowledging God’s faithfulness in saving the oppressed. Jeremiah 20:13 "Sing to the Lord! Praise the Lord! For He has rescued the life of the needy one from the hand of evildoers."
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You Must Die To Heal | Hosea 6:2
What if the reason you’re not changing is because you haven’t died yet?
Listen to Hosea 6:2:
After two days he will revive us;
on the third day he will raise us up,
that we may live before him. — Hosea 6:2

Israel wants revival. They want revival again. They want to be restored and to stand before God as if nothing ever happened.

But there’s a problem. They want resurrection without death. They want a new life without letting go of the old one.

And that’s not how revival works.

Real repentance always involves death. Not physical death, but something in you has to die. Your pride. Your control. Your attachment to the very sin that created the problem. Because God isn't an improvement of your old life.

He wants to replace it. That’s the driving issue behind this moment, and it echoes all the way into the gospel. Resurrection only comes after death. New life only comes after surrender.

But Israel skips that step. All the way through the chapter.

They speak confidently about being raised up, but they never deal with what needs to be put down.

We, too, want God to fix things, restore things, renew things, but we resist the one thing that makes it possible. We don’t want to let go. We try to manage sin rather than kill it. We try to adjust behavior instead of surrendering the heart. We want God to add something new without taking anything away.

But real repentance doesn’t work like that. You cannot hold onto the old life and step into the new one at the same time.

What in your life needs to die?

Because until that happens, you’re not stuck—you’re resisting.

Fake repentance talks about change.

Real repentance kills what stands in the way of it. So kill that sin today. And if you don't know what it is, ask God and I promise He will let you know.

DO THIS:
Identify one thing you’ve been holding onto—an attitude, habit, or sin—and make a decisive move today to remove it.

ASK THIS:
What am I trying to keep that God is asking me to release?
Where am I resisting full surrender?
What would it look like for me to fully die to this area?

PRAY THIS:
God, show me what in me needs to die. Give me the strength to surrender it so I can walk in the life You want for me. Amen.

06/14/2026

Sunday Time Worship Service

06/14/2026

Day 165 - Bring back your Baby Bottle Boomerang offering by Father's Day! Returning a "Baby Bottle Boomerang" is easy! Simply pick up and return your filled baby bottle—stuffed with spare change, cash, or a check—back to the church. This gift and offering supports the Crisis Pregnancy Center of Southwest MS, the official deadline to return your bottle is Father's Day (Sunday, June 21).
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When Repentance Sounds Right But Isn’t | Hosea 6:1

Have you ever said the right thing, but then changed nothing?

That’s the fake repentance that Hosea exposes in Hosea 6:1:

Come, let us return to the Lord;
for He has torn us, that He may heal us;
He has struck us down, and He will bind us up. — Hosea 6:1

“Come, let us return to the Lord…” sounds right. It sounds spiritual. It even sounds hopeful. But when you read closely, something is missing. There is no confession, no ownership, no naming of sin—just a general desire for things to get better.

Israel acknowledges that God has ripped them apart, but they never acknowledge why. Now they want healing, but they avoid the root issue. They want restoration, but not repentance.

And that’s the danger.

Because repentance that sounds right can still be wrong.

This is what "fake" repentance looks like. It uses spiritual language without deep surrender. It asks God to fix the outcome, the situation, the circumstance, without ever asking Him to change our heart.

And if we’re honest, we do the same thing.

We pray, “God, help me.” We say, “God, forgive me.” We promise, “God, I’ll do better.” But underneath those words, the same patterns stay the same. We continue the same habits. We continue the same sin, abusing the grace extended to us.

Why?

Because nothing actually changed.

Real repentance is not just saying "I repent"—it is accompanied by a change in direction. It is not returning to God for relief; it is turning away from the very thing that caused the distance in the first place.

That’s what Israel refused to do. And it’s what you have to face.

Where in your life are you saying the right things but avoiding the real change? Where have your prayers become words instead of surrender?

Fake repentance sounds right, but it costs you nothing when it costs God His Son, and it costs Jesus His life.

Real repentance will cost you something. It will cost your pride, your habits, and your excuses. But it is the only kind that leads to healing.

What are you saying you'll change, that you have not changed? Change it. That's repentance.

DO THIS:
Stop offering vague prayers. Name one specific sin today, confess it clearly, and take one concrete step to turn from it.

ASK THIS:
Where am I saying the right things but not actually changing?
What sin have I avoided naming directly?
What would real repentance look like in my life right now?

PRAY THIS:
God, help me move beyond empty words. Show me where I need to truly repent and give me the courage to turn. Amen.

06/13/2026

Day 164 - We start today with the Daily Devotional and then this post includes the Weekly Chapter Summary (Chapter 5): Let's spend sometime studying God's Word. "You Can’t Fix a Spiritual Problem with a Worldly Solution" | Hosea 5:8-15

Our text today:
Blow the horn in Gibeah,
the trumpet in Ramah.
Sound the alarm at Beth-aven;
we follow you, O Benjamin!
Ephraim shall become a desolation
in the day of punishment;
among the tribes of Israel
I make known what is sure.
The princes of Judah have become
like those who move the landmark;
upon them I will pour out
my wrath like water.
Ephraim is oppressed, crushed in judgment,
because he was determined to go after filth.
But I am like a moth to Ephraim,
and like dry rot to the house of Judah.

When Ephraim saw his sickness,
and Judah his wound,
then Ephraim went to Assyria,
and sent to the great king.
But he is not able to cure you
or heal your wound.
For I will be like a lion to Ephraim,
and like a young lion to the house of Judah.
I, even I, will tear and go away;
I will carry off, and no one shall rescue.

I will return again to My place,
until they acknowledge their guilt and seek My face,
and in their distress earnestly seek Me. — Hosea 5:8-15

Because we have a long text today, I want to focus on verse 13. The point being, you cannot fix a spiritual problem with a worldly solution.

That’s the mistake Israel makes—and it’s the same mistake we still make.

Israel finally realizes the damage. The nation is sick, and they can’t ignore it anymore. So they act. But they don’t turn to God. They go to Assyria. The nation that is going to destroy them. They look for power, protection, and a solution they can see and control. They reach for something political, strategic, and immediate.

And God says plainly: “[Assyria] is not able to cure you.”

Why? Because their problem wasn’t external. It wasn’t about enemies, resources, or positioning. It was about their relationship with God.

No worldly solution can repair a spiritual issue.

And this attempt shows up in our lives the same way. We chase success to fix insecurity. We look to relationships to fill emptiness. We distract ourselves to avoid conviction. We try to manage behavior instead of surrendering our heart. We keep applying worldly solutions to spiritual problems.

And they never work.

They may numb it. They may delay the consequence. But they never heal what’s actually broken. Because only God can do that.

What are you turning to right now that cannot actually fix you? Because until you bring a spiritual problem back to God, it will remain. Stop reaching for what looks strong but cannot save. Turn to God. He’s not just a better option. He’s the only option.

DO THIS:
Bring one area of your life to God today that you’ve been trying to fix on your own. Be honest about it and surrender it to Him.

ASK THIS:
What worldly solution am I relying on instead of God?
What deeper issue am I trying to manage instead of surrender?
Where do I need God—not just improvement?

PRAY THIS:
God, forgive me for turning to other things instead of You. Help me trust You to heal what I cannot fix on my own. Amen.
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Why God Abandons You | Hosea 5 Summary

What if God’s silence in your life isn’t accidental—but intentional?

Summary
Hosea 5 answers a hard question most people avoid: why does God withdraw from His people? After repeated warnings, ignored truth, and persistent rebellion, God steps back—not out of indifference, but as a response to ongoing rejection. The chapter outlines clear reasons—ignored warnings, hidden sin, pride, false repentance, misplaced trust, and refusal to return. Yet even in withdrawal, God’s goal is restoration, waiting for His people to recognize their need and come back to Him.

Reflection & Small Group Discussion Questions
1. Why does God sometimes move from warning to withdrawal instead of continued correction?
2. What does it mean to “ignore God’s repeated warnings” in a practical, modern sense?
3. How can someone know about God but still not truly know Him (Hosea 5:3)?
4. Why do repeated sinful actions make it harder for someone to return to God (Hosea 5:4)?
5. How does pride prevent genuine repentance and a relationship with God?
6. What is the difference between true repentance and performative religion (Hosea 5:6)?
7. Why do people often turn to other solutions instead of God when problems arise (Hosea 5:13)?
8. What does it mean that God “withdraws until we return” (Hosea 5:15)?
9. How does the story of the Prodigal Son help us understand God’s posture in Hosea 5?
10. In what area of your life might God be calling you to stop resisting and start returning?

What if God’s silence in your life isn’t accidental—but intentional...