The resources God has given us to live a thriving life are His Word, Spirit, and People.
Read God’s Word:
Hosea 10-14
Act 2: God’s Covenant People
Scene 6:Kings and Prophets: God divides the kingdom people.
Background Information: Hosea 10-14
Hosea ends with a proverb, a timeless invitation to learn from what happened to Israel:
“Let whoever is wise understand these things, and whoever is insightful recognize them.
For the ways of the Lord are right, and the righteous walk in them, but the rebellious stumble in them.”
Hosea 14:9
What insights have you gained as you read the Word of God revealed through Hosea? Have you seen the mercy of God as, over and over, he took back his unfaithful bride? Have you seen the justice of God as Israel’s sin required judgment? Have you seen the promise of the New Covenant, where God’s mercy and justice came together in Christ? Hosea’s love for Gomer was costly, and God’s love for us is even more so. Jesus demonstrated perfect justice and covenant mercy in his death on the cross. His death and resurrection have purchased us from our idolatrous slavery to sin. Hosea wrote of terrible judgment:
“Death, where are your barbs? Sheol, where is your sting? Compassion is hidden from my eyes.”
Hosea 14:14
Here, death and hell are mortal threats because God has turned his compassion away. God has turned away from his people because they have turned away from him. But Hosea does not end in judgment; rather, it ends in a New Covenant promise. The last chapter is a call to repentance and the promise of future restoration. Now go to the New Testament and see where Paul, on the New Covenant side of history, turns Hosea’s curse of judgment into the promise of victory. Death, which has taunted mankind since the fall of Adam, is now taunted by the victory of the second Adam, Christ.
“Where, death, is your victory? Where, death, is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ! “
1 Corinthians 15:55-57
Pray:
Praise God for…
Thank God for…
Confess your sins to God
Pray for Youth Horizons. A staff member at the ranch died unexpectedly and the staff and residents are grieving. Ask God to provide comfort to the staff and residents.
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.