Beats From Your Pastor’s Heart
Hosea 11:8, “How shall I give thee up, Ephraim? how shall I deliver thee, Israel? how shall I make thee as Admah? how shall I set thee as Zeboim? mine heart is turned within me, my repentings are kindled together.”
Here we see the intrinsic revelation of God’s love.
His very being is expressed in His speaking: “How can I give you up, Ephraim?”
This is like God speaking to you.
Maybe you feel like you have been joined to idols.
You have spoiled God’s discipline in your life.
You have resisted Him.
You feel like a cake unturned.
You have even taken the devil’s categorizing that you are just a spoiled piece of humanity, that you have sinned yourself to ruin.
Maybe all of this is how you feel.
But over and above your feeling is God’s revelation of His love to you.
And He is saying, “How can I give you up?”
In other words, God’s love goes beyond Ephraim’s being joined to idols, being a cake unturned, rejecting the Word of God, and being full of lies and deceit.
When the Lord says, “My heart churns within Me; My sympathy is stirred,” God’s love is revealed as something intrinsic to His very being.
You cannot take it out of Him.
This is His churning love.
On the one hand, Ephraim deserves every kind of judgment for his absolute, willful rebellion against God.
His awful record merits his being cast off completely.
Yet, when God’s judgment comes to the foreground, mercy prevails and love overcomes Him.
Far more than the consideration of any kind of judgment, love and mercy prevail.
“My heart churns within Me” means that there is a turning in God Himself.
This turning is also exemplified in Genesis 18:16-32 when Abraham prayed for Sodom: “Suppose there were fifty righteous within the city? . . . Suppose there should be forty righteous found there? . . . Suppose ten righteous should be found there? . . .”
Abraham appealed to the Lord in this way when He was about to destroy Sodom.
Abraham’s prayer could actually turn God and remind Him of His mercy and His love; and that is what prevailed–His churning heart of love.
Until Tomorrow
With A Shepherd’s Love,
Pastor Jackson
WEDNESDAY’S PRAYER REQUESTS
Joanie Bruce
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Pastor Jackson
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