Beats From Your Pastor’s Heart:

Deuteronomy 7:7-8, “The LORD did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people: But because the LORD loved you.”

To speak of God’s unconditional love is to utter a wonderful fact about God’s nature.

He loves because He chooses to love and for no other reason.

His love is not dependent upon finding something in us that merits His love.

His love is without conditions–it is unconditional.

It is this kind of love that is expressed to Israel in the above verses.

In other words, God loves because He chooses to love, not because of a reason found outside of Himself.

God’s unconditional love is revealed throughout the Old and New Testaments, but the most detailed description of His love is found in the book of Hosea.

When we touch this book that unveils the nature of God’s love, we are treading ground that we have never trod before.

We see God’s unconditional love coming to the least likely object of love.

Gomer, the name of the woman Hosea was to take as a wife, reveals the depths of the nature of God’s unconditional love.

Gomer is derived from a Hebrew word (gamar) that means “cease, come to an end, and fail.”

In other words, God was telling Hosea, “Go take failure to be your wife,” or “Go take that which has come to an end to be your wife.”

This illustrates the nature of God’s love to us.

He loves us when we have no potential, no victory, when we have come to an end–when we are nothing but failure.

Gomer not only means failure, but it also has the meaning of “completion” or “perfection.”

So this woman was complete or perfected in her failure.

She was a harlot.

She filled up the measure of harlotry to the uttermost.

She committed not merely one transgression but a thousand transgressions.

She reached a state of completion and is ironically spoken of as being perfected in harlotry.

She was that low, that base.

She was perfected in her harlotry because she was fully experienced in sinning and in rebellion.

She was fully developed, perfected, and completed in the realm of failure.

She was not partially a failure, but she was a total failure.

Yet God tells Hosea to take this “wife of harlotry” to be his wife (Hosea 1:2).

Later, God tells him to love her.

This demonstrates the Lord’s love toward us.

He takes us and then lavishes His love on us, despite our failed condition.

Until Tomorrow,

With A Shepherd’s Love

Pastor

 TODAY’S PRAYER LIST

Amy Garner’s Mom & Dad

Brandon’s Dad

Dan Haines  

Dan Wohey

Daniel Ford

Darlene Thaxton – Radiation  

Denise Hulsey – Jordan’s G’Mother

Dr. Don Davis

Easton Fielder

Ellen Boyd

Freddie May’s Mom & Friend 

George/Linda Alexander

James Burnette

Jim Mabe – Chemo

Joan Cronan’s Sister

John McClain

Linda Hodges’ Sister 

Michael Stanley

Ricky Gipson – Ashley’s Brother

Ronnie Palmer  

Rusty Turner

Scott Nix

Tom Witcher

Tony Breedlove

James Garner’s Friend 

Kim McClain’s Mother

Lonzo Christian             

Ashley Burn’s Sisters

Colby/Connor – Allison’s G’sons 

Larry Barker  

Linda Breedlove’s Sister – Sarah

Mary Sims  

Marynell Ford

Pastor & Mrs. Driskell 

Ricky Stubbs  

Roseleigh Osborn  

Scott Lanier – Linda’s Son 

Shaelyn – Jill’s Friend

Sheila Simmon’s Cousin

Tammy Shellnut’s Mother/Dad