The resources God has given us to live a thriving life are His Word, Spirit, and People.
Read God’s Word:
Hosea 1-5
Act 2: God’s Covenant People
Scene 6:Kings and Prophets: God divides the kingdom people.
Background Information: Hosea 1-5
Hosea is a tragic prophet who is called to illustrate his prophecy with his own life. His core message is that God loves his people, but they have sinned so grievously and persistently that he must punish them. Yet, in spite of their sin, God loves them and will one day restore them to relationship with him. Hosea’s life illustrates this message in his marriage to chronically unfaithful Gomer. In chapter three, though he has biblical grounds for divorce, God commands Hosea to “go show love” to his wife, who is living in open adultery. He is not commanded to feel love, but to demonstrate it. He does this by not only taking her back into his home, but also by literally purchasing her from her sin. Perhaps she has become a temple prostitute, since this terrible practice was a key part of Baal and Ashera worship. Hosea is a prophet in the Northern Kingdom, and he was a contemporary of Amos. His books contain a record of decades of his preaching and writing, most of it in poetic form. The book gives us a glimpse into God’s “dilemma” as it goes back and forth between judgment and hope. Of course ,there is no true dilemma for God, but this back and forth is the common use of human emotions and struggles applied to God in order to help us get our minds around his will for us and his ways among us. For God, there is no tension; he is perfect in his righteous judgment and in his merciful forgiveness. We, however, wrestle with these twin realities as a tension. On the one hand, we must not presume on God’s mercy and believe that we will escape his judgment because we are special. On the other hand, we must not lose sight of God’s mercy and believe that our sin has forever condemned us. We are to live in this tension by continually repenting of our sins and rejoicing in God’s mercy when he forgives our sins.
“Israel, return to the Lord your God, for you have stumbled in your iniquity.
Take words of repentance with you and return to the Lord.”
Hosea 14:1
Pray:
Praise God for…
Thank God for…
Confess your sins to God
Ask God to heal Dave Haynes knee. Pray that he would be released from the hospital soon. Pray for Wendy Paige. Ask God to heal her body. Pray for Bruce Brown. Ask God to heal him and pray that he would experience God’s nearness.
Ask God for… (what else concerns you?)
Reflect:
Write down one passage of scripture that stood out to you today.
Write down why this passage stood out to you.
Engage Community:
Text or call someone now and tell them…
– What you are praying for.
– What stood out from God’s word today.