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Pride, arrogance, and humility…. (devo reflection)

Hosea 5:4 “Their deeds do not permit them to return to their God. A spirit of prostitution is in their heart; they do not acknowledge the Lord.

Matthew 6:24 comes to mind as I read Hosea 5 today: “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other….” Israel is arrogant, prideful. They have a spirit of prostitution, of using their talents in unworthy or corrupt ways. They are so full of themselves that they have turned from God toward man and idols.

Hosea 5:5 Israel’s arrogance testifies against them; the Israelites, even Ephraim, stumble in their sin; Judah also stumbles with them.

Jeremiah 29:13 also comes to mind: “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” The Israelites are so full of themselves that their attempts to seek God are halfhearted. They aren’t really looking for Him. They want to look good. God doesn’t care about appearances. He wants our hearts. He has no use for pride and arrogance. He cannot be found with apathy.

Hosea 5:6 When they go with their flocks and herds to seek the Lord, they will not find him; he has withdrawn himself from them.

Lord, I stand before You humbled this morning. I have been arrogant and prideful. I have used my God-given talents in unworthy ways. I have called out to You for appearance sake. Forgive me. Renew me. Cleanse me. Empty me of myself so that I can be filled with Your love, compassion, mercy, and grace. Help me, Lord. Amen.

Hosea 5:15 Then I will return to my lair until they have borne their guilt and seek my face—in their misery they will earnestly seek me.”

Have a blessed day.

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Reverence…. (devo reflection)

Hosea 4:1 Hear the word of the Lord, you Israelites, because the Lord has a charge to bring against you who live in the land: “There is no faithfulness, no love, no acknowledgment of God in the land.”

Proverbs 1:7 comes to mind as I read this chapter: “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.” I’ve long struggled with this idea of “fear of the LORD,” but I have come to equate it with reverence—understanding the LORD’s place in our lives—as opposed to terror of the LORD.

Hosea 4:6 “My people are being destroyed because they don’t know me….”

In this chapter, Israel seems to have no fear, no reverence for God and His place in our lives. That lack of understanding, lack of knowledge is directly responsible for their destruction. God wants to protect them like a shepherd guards his sheep, but the Israelites act like stubborn heifers instead.

Hosea 4:14 “…O foolish people! You refuse to understand, so you will be destroyed.”

Lord, Thank You for the ability to sit with You each morning, to study Your word, to draw closer to You. Thank You that my thirst to know You more grows stronger every day. Help me, Lord, to always understand Your place in my life, to reverence You, to glorify You, to know You more. Draw me closer. Amen.

Hosea 4:16 The Israelites are stubborn, like a stubborn heifer. How then can the Lord pasture them like lambs in a meadow?

Have a blessed day.

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Restoring relationship…. (devo reflection)

Hosea 3:1 The Lord said to me, “Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another man and is an adulteress. Love her as the Lord loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods and love the sacred raisin cakes.”

Love is not always easy. In the early days of a relationship, sure, but time and habit can make the most endearing quirks become nails-on-chalkboard annoyance. That can be hard enough, but today’s chapter takes it to another level entirely.

Hosea 3:2-3 So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and about a homer and a lethek of barley. Then I told her, “You are to live with me many days; you must not be a prostitute or be intimate with any man, and I will behave the same way toward you.”

Gomer is still actively involved with others. She is actively betraying her marriage vows. But God’s purpose here is for Hosea and Gomer to be a living example of God’s unfathomable love for us, of His desire for relationship with us and our ultimate redemption in Him. This lesson goes far beyond adultery into any form of betrayal.

Hosea 3:4 For the Israelites will live many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred stones, without ephod or household gods.

Lord, Thank You for this day and this scripture. What You are asking of us is incredibly difficult—to restore relationship that has been intentionally violated, to forgive and welcome back those who have betrayed our trust, those who are still actively betraying us. We encounter these relationships daily in a variety of ways. Give us the strength, the humility, the wisdom to love and forgive others in the same unfathomable way You love and forgive us. Amen.

Hosea 3:5 Afterward the Israelites will return and seek the Lord their God and David their king. They will come trembling to the Lord and to his blessings in the last days.

Have a blessed day.

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I will respond…. (devo reflection)

Hosea 2:21 “In that day I will respond,” declares the Lord— “I will respond to the skies, and they will respond to the earth;

Isaiah 55:8 comes strongly to mind as I read this chapter: “My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the LORD. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.” What would I do in this situation?

Hosea 2:22 …and the earth will respond to the grain, the new wine and the olive oil, and they will respond to Jezreel.

An adulterous wife who goes so far as to take the provisions I give her as I see how her paramour is mistreating her and uses those provisions as a feast for said paramour? I think I would just cut my losses and walk away. But God’s ways are far beyond anything I could imagine. He seeks relationship and redemption. He knows the plans He has for us.

Hosea 2:23a I will plant her for myself in the land; I will show my love to the one I called ‘Not my loved one.’…

Lord, Thank You for Your love and compassion. Help me, in those times where I am ready to turn my back and walk away, to respond as You respond—with unparalleled love, compassion, and grace. Your ways are not my ways, Lord, but help me to strive to become more like You every day. Amen.

Hosea 2:23b …I will say to those called ‘Not my people,’ ‘You are my people’; and they will say, ‘You are my God.’ ”

Have a blessed day.

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Asking the impossible…. (devo reflection)

Hosea 1:2 When the Lord began to speak through Hosea, the Lord said to him, “Go, marry a promiscuous woman and have children with her, for like an adulterous wife this land is guilty of unfaithfulness to the Lord.”

I recently wrote a devo reflection for my church based on Luke 9:15, and today’s chapter reminds me of it. In that reflection, I talk about the story of the loaves and fish, of feeding the 5000, of the grumbling at Jesus’s impossible ask and the fact that when the disciples did as asked, Jesus worked a miracle.

Hosea 1:3 So he married Gomer daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son.

In Hosea 1, God again seems to ask the impossible—marry a prostitute (who will be unfaithful), have children, name them really difficult names (Jezreel, “Not Loved,” “Not My People,”) live the story of Israel so that through your story I can show the power of redemption. Hosea obeys without hesitation.

Hosea 1:4 Then the Lord said to Hosea, “Call him Jezreel, because I will soon punish the house of Jehu for the massacre at Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of Israel.

Lord, Forgive me when I balk and grumble and drag my feet when You call me to act in ways that make no sense to me. Help me to get over myself, to obey like Hosea—without grumbling or needless questioning. Lord, Help me to humble myself in You so that I can shine Your light for all. Amen.

Hosea 1:6 Gomer conceived again and gave birth to a daughter. Then the Lord said to Hosea, “Call her Lo-Ruhamah (which means “not loved”), for I will no longer show love to Israel, that I should at all forgive them

Have a blessed day.

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Sacrifices and offerings…. (devo reflection)

Ezekiel 46:12 “‘When the prince provides a freewill offering to the Lord—whether a burnt offering or fellowship offerings—the gate facing east is to be opened for him. He shall offer his burnt offering or his fellowship offerings as he does on the Sabbath day. Then he shall go out, and after he has gone out, the gate will be shut.

There is much mention in this chapter of sacrifices and offerings. I find the timing interesting as Lent started yesterday, a time where many give up something they enjoy as a sacrifice to God. But there are so many scriptures that reiterate the need to go beyond sacrifice.

Ezekiel 46:13 “‘Every day you are to provide a year-old lamb without defect for a burnt offering to the Lord; morning by morning you shall provide it.

Proverbs 21:3 “To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice.” Hosea 6:6 “For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.” Hebrews 13:16 “Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.”

Ezekiel 46:14 You are also to provide with it morning by morning a grain offering, consisting of a sixth of an ephah with a third of a hin of oil to moisten the flour. The presenting of this grain offering to the Lord is a lasting ordinance.

Lord, In this season of Lent, where so many are actively tuned to sacrifice for You, help us to tune in to the sacrifices that really matter to You—sacrificing our pride to do for others (even those we deem unworthy of our time, especially those), sacrificing our comfort to seek justice, sacrificing our complacency to love others with Your love. Help us, Lord. Amen.

Ezekiel 46:15 So the lamb and the grain offering and the oil shall be provided morning by morning for a regular burnt offering.

Have a blessed day.