Reading: Jeremiah 31
My Verse: "There is a hope for your future,
declares the LORD, . . .
Is Ephraim my dear son?
Is he my darling child?
For as often as I speak against him,
I do remember him still.
"Therefore my heart yearns for him;
I will surely have mercy on him,
declares the LORD" (Jeremiah 31:17, 20).
How wonderful is this!? Thank You, LORD God, for your continual assurance of how much You love me and want an intimate relationship with me. Your mercy is beyond my human ability to fully comprehend. And that is okay. I simply need to believe that You, LORD God, give me hope for a future.
I love, LORD God, that You refer to us as Your children and You as our loving father. You do what any loving parent would do when we engage in wrong behavior - You discipline us. You do all that is needed to cause us to realize we are wrong and need to be corrected and healed. You may even seem to turn Your back on us for a time, but that does not mean You have forgotten us! No, You "remember him still." Thank You for that.
Not only do You remember us still, You yearn for us! You yearn for us to come back to You.
"Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, "He yearns jealously over the spirit that He has made to dwell in us"? (James 4:5).
Hosea 11 is a most beautiful depiction of this yearning by You, Oh LORD God.
"When Israel was a youth I loved him,
And out of Egypt I called My son,
. . .
Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk,
I took them in My arms;
but they did not know that I healed them.
I led them with cords of a man, with bonds of love,
And I became to them as one who lifted the yoke from their jaws;
And I bent down and fed them.
. . .
How can I give you up, O Ephraim?
How can I surrender you, O Israel?
How can I make you like Admah?
How can I treat you like Zebolim?
My heart is turned over within Me,
All my compassions are kindled.
I will not execute my fierce anger;
I will not destroy Ephraim again.
For I am God and not man, the Holy one in your midst,
And I will not come in wrath.
They will walk after the LORD,
He will roar like a lion;
Indeed he will roar
And His sons will come trembling from the west.
they will come trembling like birds from Egypt
And like doves from the land of Assyria;
And I will settle them in their houses, declares the LORD" -Hosea 11:1-11
There are so many things in our lives that are our "Egypts." I came across this wonderful writer, Heather David Nelson, who has dedicated herself to serving as a Godly counselor to the many hurting in this world. She just wrote a book entitled, Unashamed. She addresses "shame" and all the ways that it keeps us from looking forward with hope and love. In an article she wrote for Crossway she pointed out 10 things we should know about shame. One of them stood out as it is one I often experience.
"Shame can feel like a vague sense of unworthiness and insecurity that isn't rooted in either past or present sin.
-Shame can be another term for unbelief in God's love for you in Christ. It's one thing to believe that your sin has been removed from you; it's quite another to believe that there is a divine love that can env er be removed from you.
Shame acts like a barrier that keeps love from getting through-either God's love or anyone else's love. It sounds like the recurring doubt, "That may be true for others, but not true for me.""
You only, LORD God, can be our HOPE! On that I must believe - not believing forfeits hope! Love this song by Jenny and Tyler - "My Dear One"
"And now, O LORD, for what do I wait?
My hope is in you" (Psalm 39:7).
Ditat Deus - God Enriches!
My Verse: "There is a hope for your future,
declares the LORD, . . .
Is Ephraim my dear son?
Is he my darling child?
For as often as I speak against him,
I do remember him still.
"Therefore my heart yearns for him;
I will surely have mercy on him,
declares the LORD" (Jeremiah 31:17, 20).
How wonderful is this!? Thank You, LORD God, for your continual assurance of how much You love me and want an intimate relationship with me. Your mercy is beyond my human ability to fully comprehend. And that is okay. I simply need to believe that You, LORD God, give me hope for a future.
I love, LORD God, that You refer to us as Your children and You as our loving father. You do what any loving parent would do when we engage in wrong behavior - You discipline us. You do all that is needed to cause us to realize we are wrong and need to be corrected and healed. You may even seem to turn Your back on us for a time, but that does not mean You have forgotten us! No, You "remember him still." Thank You for that.
Not only do You remember us still, You yearn for us! You yearn for us to come back to You.
"Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, "He yearns jealously over the spirit that He has made to dwell in us"? (James 4:5).
Hosea 11 is a most beautiful depiction of this yearning by You, Oh LORD God.
"When Israel was a youth I loved him,
And out of Egypt I called My son,
. . .
Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk,
I took them in My arms;
but they did not know that I healed them.
I led them with cords of a man, with bonds of love,
And I became to them as one who lifted the yoke from their jaws;
And I bent down and fed them.
. . .
How can I give you up, O Ephraim?
How can I surrender you, O Israel?
How can I make you like Admah?
How can I treat you like Zebolim?
My heart is turned over within Me,
All my compassions are kindled.
I will not execute my fierce anger;
I will not destroy Ephraim again.
For I am God and not man, the Holy one in your midst,
And I will not come in wrath.
They will walk after the LORD,
He will roar like a lion;
Indeed he will roar
And His sons will come trembling from the west.
they will come trembling like birds from Egypt
And like doves from the land of Assyria;
And I will settle them in their houses, declares the LORD" -Hosea 11:1-11
There are so many things in our lives that are our "Egypts." I came across this wonderful writer, Heather David Nelson, who has dedicated herself to serving as a Godly counselor to the many hurting in this world. She just wrote a book entitled, Unashamed. She addresses "shame" and all the ways that it keeps us from looking forward with hope and love. In an article she wrote for Crossway she pointed out 10 things we should know about shame. One of them stood out as it is one I often experience.
"Shame can feel like a vague sense of unworthiness and insecurity that isn't rooted in either past or present sin.
-Shame can be another term for unbelief in God's love for you in Christ. It's one thing to believe that your sin has been removed from you; it's quite another to believe that there is a divine love that can env er be removed from you.
Shame acts like a barrier that keeps love from getting through-either God's love or anyone else's love. It sounds like the recurring doubt, "That may be true for others, but not true for me.""
You only, LORD God, can be our HOPE! On that I must believe - not believing forfeits hope! Love this song by Jenny and Tyler - "My Dear One"
"And now, O LORD, for what do I wait?
My hope is in you" (Psalm 39:7).
Ditat Deus - God Enriches!
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