Category: Hosea

Return. It’s a Call for Repentance. Thoughts on Hosea.

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Read through the Bible in 2 Years: Hosea 13-14.

Return, O Israel, to the LORD your God, for you have stumbled because of your iniquity.

Take with you words and return to the LORD; say to him, “Take away all iniquity; accept what is good, and we will pay with bulls the vows of our lips. Assyria shall not save us; we will not ride on horses; and we will say no more, ‘Our God,’ to the work of our hands. In you the orphan finds mercy.”

I will heal their apostasy; I will love them freely, for my anger has turned from them.

Hosea 14:1-4 ESV

Return. Return. Return. It’s the call of God to His bride, Israel. It’s a call for repentance, doing an about-face, a 180, forsaking idols in favor of Yahweh, the Almighty One.

Israel will return to the Lord when she finally sees her sin for what it is, and so will we. We must recognize our rebellion against God and return to Him. The next step, as we see here, is to confess our sin to God and ask for His forgiveness. And then immediately we will commit to changing our behavior. Like Israel, “We will say no more, ‘Our God,’ to the work of our hands.”

True repentance looks like this.

True repentance is more than just feeling sorry or saying you’re sorry. True repentance is more than grieving the consequences of our sin. True repentance is a change of heart leading to a change in action. If your life doesn’t begin shifting away from your sin and back towards God, then you haven’t actually repented.

Heavenly Father, Bring us back to You. Turn us back to You. Heal us and bind up our wounds that we might worship You again. Wash us thoroughly. Cleanse us of our sin. Make us ready for the return of Your Son. He is coming soon, Father. We want to be ready. In the Name of Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.

Teshuvah. Return to Me.

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet went to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.

Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions.

Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin!

For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.

Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment.

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.

Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me.

Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.

O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise.

For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering.

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

Psalm 51:1-4, 10-12, 15-17
Create in Me a Clean Heart

The Father Heart of God. Thoughts from Hosea.

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Read Through the Bible in 2 years: Hosea 11-12

Have you ever had those days when you want to say to your growing children, “But, honey, it was me who changed your diaper. It was me who got up with you in the middle of the night. It was me who bathed you and dressed you. It was me who sang to you and rocked you to sleep. It was me who washed your skinned knees when you fell down in the driveway. It was me who brushed the knots out of your hair. It was me who taught you to sing the ABCs and count to ten. You should listen to me.”

God has those days with us, too.

When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son. The more they were called, the more they went away; they kept sacrificing to the Baals and burning offerings to idols.

Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk; I took them up by their arms, but they did not know that I healed them. I led them with cords of kindness, with the bands of love, and I became to them as one who eases the yoke on their jaws, and I bent down to them and fed them.

Hosea 11:1-4

God hasn’t given up hope for His children, and we shouldn’t either.

Heavenly Father, please, draw our hearts back to You. Discipline us with Your rod of kindness and woo us with Your love. Lead us with the cords of kindness and hold us fast with Your bands of love. And Father, please, draw our children back to You. Discipline them, too, with Your rod of kindness and woo them with Your love. Lead them with the cords of kindness and hold them fast with Your bands of love. Teach us how to parent them with love and grace and humility and gentleness and courage and firmness and truth. Make us parents after You. Teach us how to be godly mommies because You are the perfect daddy. In the Name of Jesus Christ, Our Perfect Example of all things we pray. Amen.

As God Adds to Our Blessings, What Do We Do With Them? Thoughts from Hosea.

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Read Through the Bible in 2 Years: Hosea 9-10

Israel is a luxuriant vine that yields its fruit.

The more his fruit increased, the more altars he built;

as his country improved, he improved his pillars.

Hosea 10:1 ESV

God has given us every good gift to enjoy. He has blessed us with heat and sunshine and air to breathe. He has given us homes to live in and children to fill them. He has blessed us with abundant food and wealth. He has given us eyes to see, ears to hear, and minds to comprehend. Yet, what do we do with all of these gifts?

Do we enjoy them or neglect them? Do we praise Him or take credit for them?

When was the last time you thanked God for the children sitting around your table or clinging to your legs?

When was the last time you took a leisurely walk outside and thanked God for the blue sky and warm sun?

It seems that the more full our homes and lives become, the less interested we become in the Lord. Why is that?

Why would the Lord bless us with more if it will just turn our hearts away from Him? It is His mercy that keeps us begging for our daily bread. It is His mercy that makes us hunger for the gift of a child. It is His mercy that keeps us dependent on Him for a roof over our head and money in our bank account.

My word for 2024 is “Enough.” Is the Lord enough? YES! He is! Has He given me enough? YES! Yes, He has! My cup overflows with His love and grace and goodness.

Heavenly Father, Help me to be faithful in the little things that You might entrust to me more things. Help me to be thankful for every single little gift, the birds that sing before the sun rises, the wind that blows gently through the trees, the sound of trickling water. Thank You for giving me eyes that see and ears that hear. Thank You for giving me a mind and heart that know You. Thank You. You are enough. You are more than I need. In the Name of Jesus Christ who redeemed and delivered me. Amen.

All Things Wise and Wonderful

Loving the Unlovely. Brussel Sprouts, Ice Cream, Jesus, and Me. Thoughts from the Book of Hosea.

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Read through the Bible in 2 Years: Hosea 3-4

If I asked a class of third grade students, “Raise your hand if you love ice cream.” I bet every hand would shoot up. 🙋🏿‍♀️🙋🏻🙋🏽‍♂️🙋🏼‍♀️🙋🙋🏾‍♂️

But if I then said, “Raise your hand if you love Brussel sprouts,” I’m quite sure I’d get a very different response. Even if I followed it up with words like, “They are really good for you! They’re high in fiber, vitamins, and antioxidants.” Still, it’s a no. 🙅🏽‍♂️🙅🏼‍♀️🙅🏻🙅🏿‍♂️🙅🏻‍♀️🙅

It is only logical to love ice cream. It’s sweet and creamy and delicious.🍦😋 But Brussel sprouts … They are more of an acquired taste, suited for a more refined palate. 🥬 😝

I’m afraid that I sometimes think I’m naturally easy to love. I’m afraid sometimes I forget about all my prickly, hard to love spots. I’m afraid I see myself as ice cream, rather than Brussel sprouts.

When God tells the prophet Hosea to go love Gomer, a woman who chases after other men, refusing to remain faithful to her husband, I’m afraid that we all think we’re Hosea, not realizing that we’re actually Gomer. We are that adulteress, that whore, that woman who abandons her true love to pursue idols, and God is Hosea, the faithful One who again and again chases after His bride, pulling her out of the pig slop. 🥴🐖

In this is love,
not that we have loved God
but that He loved us and sent His Son
to be the propitiation for our sins.

1 John 4:10 ESV

Love covers a multitude of sins.

Love is not irritable or resentful or rude.

Love keeps no record of wrongs.

Love forgives.

Love never ends.

Love is steadfast and patient and faithful.

God loved us while we were sinners, and He calls us to go and do likewise.

Heavenly Father, Thank You for Your steadfast, patient, faithful love toward me. Thank You for pursuing me, though I didn’t deserve it, though I don’t deserve it still. I’m not worthy, but You are. You deserve better. You deserve chocolate, chocolate chip ice cream with whipped cream and sprinkles and a cherry on top. And yet You have demonstrated Your love by sending Your own Son to be the propitiation, the atoning sacrifice, the substitutionary offering, for my sin. Praise Your Name forevermore. Amen.

O Love That Will Not Let Me Go

Marriage is Exclusive, and So Is Our Relationship with God: Hosea 1-2

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Read through the Bible in 2 Years: Hosea 1-2

  • How had the Israelites forsaken the Lord?
  • Had they stopped making sacrifices and offerings?
  • Had they stopped observing the feasts and Sabbaths?

They had forsaken Him by making Him one god on a buffet of gods. They had forsaken Him by worshipping both Him and Baal. They had forsaken Him by offering themselves to other lovers in addition to the Lord God.

Friends, we can have a dozen coworkers, a dozen children, and a dozen friends, but we can only have ONE husband and he can only have ONE bride.

A good husband refuses to share
his bride with other men,
and our good God refuses to share
His bride with other gods.

It is not enough for us to make God the biggest god in our life, or the most valuable idol that we have. He can’t be our “favorite” husband. He wants to be our ONLY husband. He wants ALL of our heart, soul, mind, and strength. He wants to be our everything. He is either Lord of all or He’s not Lord at all.

God despises adultery of all forms, especially adultery toward Him. God wants our whole heart. He is a jealous God. He will not share His glory with another.

  • Exodus 34:14 ESV — (for you shall worship no other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God),
  • Deuteronomy 4:24 ESV — For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.
  • Isaiah 42:8 ESV — I am the LORD; that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols.

Heavenly Father, You are a good husband who loves His bride and refuses to share her with another. I pray that we would be a loving bride, rejecting all other things who vie for our attention. I pray that You would be the apple of our eye, the center of our attention, the singular focus of our lives. In the Name of Jesus Christ, our redeemer, Amen.