Hosea 1
Introduction of the prophet Hosea verse 1
The word of the LORD that came unto Hosea – the son of Beeri
in the days of Uzziah- Jotham – Ahaz
Hezekiah – kings of Judah
and in the days of Jeroboam
the son of Joash – king of Israel
Hosea ordered to marry verse 2
The beginning of the word of the LORD
by Hosea
AND the LORD said to Hosea – Go
Take to you a wife of whoredoms
and children of whoredoms
for the land has committed
great whoredom
DEPARTING from the LORD
Gomer pregnant with Jezreel verse 3- 5
SO he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim
which conceived – and bare him a son
AND the LORD
said unto him
Call his name Jezreel – for yet a little while
and I will avenge the blood of Jezreel
upon the house of Jehu
and will cause to cease
the kingdom of the house of Israel
AND it shall come to pass at that day
that I will break the bow of Israel
in the valley of Jezreel
Gomer pregnant with Lo-ruhamah verse 6- 7
AND she conceived again
and bare a daughter
AND God said to him – Call her name Lo-ruhamah
for I will no more have mercy upon the house of Israel
BUT I will utterly take them away
BUT I will have mercy upon the house of Judah
and will save them by the LORD their God
and will not save them by
bow – sword – battle – horses – horsemen
Gomer pregnant with Lo-ammi verse 8- 9
NOW when she had weaned Loruhamah
she conceived – and bare a son
THEN said God – Call his name Lo-ammi
for you are not MY people
and I will not be your God
Israel still had a future blessing coming from the LORD verse 10- 11
YET the number of the children of Israel
shall be as the sand of the sea
which cannot be measured nor numbered
And it shall come to pass
that in the place where it was said unto them
You are not MY people
there it shall be said to them
You are the sons of the living God
THEN shall the children of Judah and the children of Israel
be gathered together and appoint themselves one head
and they shall come up out of the land
for great shall be the day of Jezreel
COMMENTARY:
DAILY SPIRITUAL BREAKFAST: Young Believers
: 2 The beginning of the word of the LORD by Hosea, And the LORD said to Hosea, Go take to you’re a wife of whoredoms, for the land has committed great whoredom, departing from the LORD. (2183 “whoredoms” [zanuum] means adultery, fornications, prostitution, idolatry, commerce, or the figurative extension of an illicit relationship to a pagan deity)
DEVOTION: We are told to share our toys with others. We are told that we need to give to others. These are lessons we need to learn early in life. God wants us to share our possessions with those who are less fortunate.
God doesn’t like to share one thing WORSHIP. HE wants to be the only one HIS people worship. The children of Israel or the ten tribes set up two golden calves to worship because Jeroboam didn’t want the people of the ten tribes to go to Jerusalem to worship the LORD. He thought if he gave a substitute to worship the people would stay home. And he was right. They not only worshiped the calves but also the other false gods of the land.
HE was married to Israel and they were not faithful. God wants us to be faithful to our spouse and to HIM. Unfaithfulness robs us of blessing. It robbed Israel of blessing and brought judgment because they continued in it for years.
We can confess our sin of wanting to share worship with other things. What do we worship? Right now it could be football, baseball, or any other sport. We worship some of our possessions as we look at them as more important than God. HE knows who and what we worship and HE will at times take it from us to show us that HE wants us to totally worship HIM alone.
CHALLENGE: How close are you to the LORD today? Does HE have our undivided attention?
DAILY SPIRITUAL LUNCH: Transitional Believers
: 4 And the LORD said unto him, Call his name Jezreel; for yet a little while, and I will avenge the blood of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu, and will cause to cease the kingdom of the house of Israel. (6485 “avenge” [paqad] means attend to, visit, appoint, make a search, take up the cause of, call to account, assign, or punish.)
DEVOTION: Memory of the LORD is good. HE doesn’t work in our time but in HIS time. HE gives many warnings to the children of Israel of coming judgment because of their worship of false gods.
Here HE remembers the blood that Ahab spilt to obtain the land of Jezreel. His wife ordered the killing of the owner of the land because Ahab wanted it for a garden.
God used Jehu to call to account the household of Ahab. They were all killed but Jehu went too far in his killing of those he didn’t like. He killed people the LORD didn’t order him to kill. There was going to be a judgment even if it took a while. The children of Israel were going into captivity because of their unfaithfulness to the LORD.
The nation of Israel or the ten tribes would be no longer. When they returned from captivity it was a blend of Israel and Judah that returned to rebuilt Jerusalem.
The LORD is long suffering but HE is just. HE is being longsuffering with us as a nation but also with us as a church. We are not as faithful to our responsibilities as HE would like us to be. Our first assignment was to go into all the nations with the gospel of salvation. We seem to have lost our drive to serve the LORD in that way. All believers are to be witnesses for the LORD.
The book of Revelation lists seven churches. Only one is praised. It was the missionary minded church that was reaching its neighbors for the LORD. Our church needs to be doing this today or the longsuffering of the LORD might end in America.
CHALLENGE: Are we attending a Biblical church that is faithful to the LORD on a regular basis?
DAILY SPIRITUAL SUPPER: Mature Believers
: 7 But I will have mercy upon the house of Judah, and will save them by the LORD their God, and will not save them by bow, nor by sword, nor by battle, by horses, nor by horsemen. (3467 “save” [yasha] means be delivered, help, preserved, rescue, to be liberated, or be victorious.)
DEVOTION: Hosea is given a message to the nation of Israel before they are taken into captivity. Israel made up the Northern ten tribes of the children of Israel. The Northern tribes had revolted against the son of Solomon. They had set up the golden calves to worship instead of worshipping in Jerusalem.
Hosea is commanded to marry a woman who would in the future not be faithful to him. They would have children with names that show the present relationship between the LORD and Israel. Israel had departed from the LORD and was worshipping idols on a regular basis. They were unfaithful to the LORD.
Judah was presently held in the hand of the LORD in mercy. The LORD promises to save Judah from their enemies, but not by any normal means. Remember the fight is always the LORD. We read that the LORD delivered Judah from Assyria by killing 185,000 soldiers in one night. It was HIS way of helping Judah.
After Hosea and Gomer had three children that have negative names there is a promise of a future restoration. This future restoration will take place after a time of captivity. They would seek HIM again. They would be called the sons of the LIVING God.
HE has promised that whatever situation we find ourselves in HE is with us. HE has promised never to leave us or forsake us. HE is the one who gives us daily strength.
Who are we? It is all those who have chosen to follow Jesus. Isn’t it great to know that we have a LIVING GOD we can trust in for our daily needs? Hosea believed in a living God. How alive is our God in our daily walk with HIM?
Our nation is departing from the LORD. It is evident in the laws that are being passed in our courts. It is evident in our homes and schools. In spite of it all we need to realize the LORD is with those who are faithful.
CHALLENGE: Dependence on the LORD is the key to understanding the Bible. Israel didn’t and Judah did at this time. Our time is now. We need to depend on the LORD fully in the coming months. HE knows what is happening in our nation.
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:10 “Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured or numbered. And it shall come to pass that in the place where it was said to them, You are not MY people, there it shall be said to them, You are sons of the living God.’ (2416 “living” [chay] means alive, perhaps with respect to the God of Israel as having absolute being, life, vigorous, flourishing, prosperous, exist, or fresh.)
DEVOTION: Hosea is a book of God’s judgment on Israel. He is telling the two tribes of Judah about what is going to happen to Israel (the ten tribes) because of her worship of false gods. It is a warning to Judah that they too will go into captivity if they continue to worship other gods.
However, this first chapter ends with a promise of hope in the future. The children of Israel will return from captivity as one nation again. They will be forgiven and renamed the “sons of the living God.”
Our God is a forgiving God. HE is not waiting for us to fail so that HE can judge us for all the wrongs we are doing. HE wants us to serve HIM and if we don’t HE will send chastening.
After the chastening has turned us back to serving HIM, HE will bless us. Here is a promise to Israel that they will return in great numbers. They will have one head. This could be the time period when the Messiah will reign as king during the Millennium.
Isn’t it great to move from being judged for sin to a position of being called the “sons of the living God?” Wow, we serve a forgiving God. HE knows we will never be perfect but HE does expect change as we mature in HIM.
Those who are New Testament believers will know Jesus Christ as their personal Savior and will have a desire to serve HIM for the rest of their life. If there is a time when we sin and need correcting HE will sent it to bring us back to HIM. If this fails HE will cause us to die because of our unrepentant spirit. HE wants to bless but HE will not bless us if we continue to sin without confession.
CHALLENGE: We serve a living God who watches over us through the ministry of the Holy Spirit. We are not to grieve the Holy Spirit’s work in our life.
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DISCIPLINES OF THE FAITH:
BODY
Chastity (Purity in living)
Fasting (Time alone with LORD without eating or drinking)
Sacrifice (Giving up something we want to serve the LORD)
Submission (Willing to listen to others and LORD)
Solitude (Going to a quiet place without anyone)
SOUL
Fellowship (Gathering together around the Word of God)
Frugality (wise use of resources)
Journalizing (Writing down what you have learned from the LORD)
Study and Meditation (Thinking through your study in the Word)
Secrecy (Doing your good deeds without others knowing but God)
SPIRIT
Celebration (Gathering around a special occasion to worship LORD)
Confession (Tell the LORD we are sorry for our sins on a daily basis)
Prayer (Conversation with God on a personal level)
Silence (Letting the LORD deal with some problems and needs)
Worship (Time to praise the LORD alone or in a group)
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DOCTRINES OF THE FAITH:
Scripture (66 inerrant books of the Bible)
Word of the LORD verse 1, 2
God the Father (First person of the Godhead)
LORD – Jehovah (Covenant keeping, Personal) verse 1, 2, 4, 7
I will avenge the blood of Jezreel verse 4
I will cause to cease the kingdom of the house
of Israel verse 4
I will break the bow of Israel in the
valley of Jezreel verse 4
God – Elohim (Creator, Sovereign, Plural name) verse 6, 7, 9, 10
I will no more have mercy on the house of Israel verse 6
I will utterly take them away verse 6
I will have mercy upon the house of Judah verse 7
I will save the house of Judah verse 7
LORD their God verse 7
I will not save by bow, sword, nor by battle
by horses or by horsemen verse 7
Living God verse 10
God the Son (Second person of the Godhead –God/man, Messiah)
God the Holy Spirit (Third person of the Godhead – our comforter)
Trinity (Three persons of the Godhead who are co-equal = ONE God)
Angels (Created before the foundation of the world – Good and Evil)
Man (Created on the sixth twenty-four hour period of creation)
House of Jehu verse 4
Sin (Missing the mark set by God on man and angels)
Whoredom verse 2
Departing from the LORD verse 2
Worshiping false gods verse 2
Departing from the LORD verse 2
Salvation (Provided by Christ’s death on the cross for our sins)
Mercy verse 6, 7
Save verse 7
Sons of the living God verse 10
Israel (Old Testament people of God)
Hosea – song of Beeri verse 1, 2
LORD told him to take a
wife of whoredoms
Uzziah – king of Judah verse 1
Jotham – king of Judah verse 1
Ahaz – king of Judah verse 1
Hezekiah – king of Judah verse 1
Jeroboam – son of Joash – king of Israel verse 1
Israel verse 1, 4- 6, 11
Gomer – wife of Hosea – wife of whoredom verse 3
Bare Hosea a son: Jezreel
Diblaim – father of Gomer verse 3
Jezreel – son of Hosea verse 4, 11
House of Jehu verse 4
Kingdom of the house of Israel – cease verse 4
Valley of Jezreel verse 5
Loruhamah – daughter of Hosea verse 6, 8
weaned
Lo-ammi – son of Hosea verse 9
means: you are not MY people
I will not be your God
Children of Israel shall be numbered as
the sand of the sea verse 10
You are the sons of the living God verse 10
Children of Judah verse 11
Children of Israel verse 11
Day of Jezeel verse 11
Church (New Testament people of God)
Last Things (Future Events)
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QUOTES regarding passage
The phrase “sons of the living God” is important for three reasons. First, it obviously asserts that they have regained their status and are now acknowledged by God as his own. Second, the title “living God” often appears in a context of military conflict between Israel and the nations. In this “living God” virtually means the “true God” who is able to give victory, in contrast to dead idols (see Deut 5:26; Josh 3:10; 1 Sam 17:26; 2 Kgs 19:4; Jer 10:10–11; Dan 6:26). Third, “living God” also means that he is Lord of life and able to give life, as in Pss 42:2; 84:2). As giver of victory and life, Yahweh will cast out the usurper, Baal, and regain his family (see 2:5–8). (Garrett, D. A. (1997). Hosea, Joel (Vol. 19A, p. 72). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.)
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10 In the Hebrew, this verse begins chapter 2. It relates closely, however, to v.9; and the same is true in respect to the section of the chapter it begins. A contrast is intended. Though in Hosea’s day God was disclaiming the Israelites as his people, in a day to come God will make their number “like the sand on the seashore.” God had a message of hope for his people along with a message of warning. God will still carry out his promise of an innumerable posterity for Abraham, in spite of the unfaithfulness of the people, which called for severe punishment.
The identification of “the place” is of little importance. Some have suggested Palestine; others Mesopotamia, the place of the coming captivity. The point is that, wherever the place, the contrasting declarations would cancel each other. Whereas in Hosea’s day God would not call them his people, in the day to come they would be called “sons of the living God” (cf. Rom 9:26) (Wood, L. J. (1986). Hosea. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Daniel and the Minor Prophets (Vol. 7, p. 173). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.)
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It would seem that on one occasion, no doubt early in his life, God came to Hosea to ask him to do a very difficult thing. God said, “Hosea, I want you to marry a woman who is going to prove unfaithful to you but to whom you are nevertheless going to be faithful. You will love her, but she will disgrace your love. I am asking you to do this because we are to present a pageant to Israel by your marriage. It is going to be symbolic, an object lesson. You are going to play the part of God. The woman is going to play the part of my people. The reason she is going to run away and be unfaithful is that this is the way my people act in the spiritual marriage that I have established with them. You are going to be faithful, because I am faithful to Israel even though she dishonors my name.” ….
Hosea, whose name means “salvation,” lived at the same time as Isaiah (who prophesied to Judah in the south) and Amos (who visited the northern kingdom of Israel from the rural area of Tekoa). It is from these three prophets then that we learn what the characteristics of this age were. We might say, as Dickens did of eighteenth-century Europe: it was “the best of times” as well as “the worst of times.” To many the period must have appeared to be a good one indeed. It was an age of luxurious materialism, apparent religious devotion and activity, freedom, and even an apparent national security in which politics, law, and religion all seemed to play into the favored people’s hands. Amos is particularly clear in diagnosing this spirit. Yet, as Isaiah, Amos, and Hosea also show, it was the worst of times, because the hearts of the people were empty, religion was shallow, and corruption was rampant on every hand.
Let us put this down as a great principle: God sometimes leads his children to do things that afterward involve them in great distress. But because God does not think as we think or act as we act, it is often in these situations that he accomplishes his greatest victories and brings the greatest blessing to his name. …..
Hosea’s story cannot be real (because “God could not ask a man to marry an unfaithful woman”), then neither is the story of salvation real, because that is precisely what Christ has done for us. He has purchased us for himself to be a bride “without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless” (Eph. 5:27), and he has done this even though he knew in advance that we would often prove faithless. (Boice, J. M. (2002). The Minor Prophets: an expositional commentary (p. 14- 17). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books.)
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1:10. Despite the demise of the Northern Kingdom (vv. 4–5), the Israelites will again be like the sand on the seashore in fulfillment of the Lord’s irrevocable promise to Abraham (Gen. 22:17; 32:12). In the same place where Israel heard the words not My people (cf. Hosea 1:9) they will be called sons of the living God. The sonship reference points to restoration of the covenant relationship, pictured under the figure of a family setting (cf. 2:1–5). The divine title “living God” was used in Joshua 3:10 in reference to the Lord’s mighty presence with Israel during the Conquest of the land. In the future Israel will again experience the benefits of a relationship with the living God as they reoccupy the Promised Land. (Chisholm, R. B., Jr. (1985). Hosea. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 1, p. 1381). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.)
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“The beginning of the word of the Lord by Hosea” was a command for the prophet himself, bidding him do what would be obnoxious to mere nature, and which must have tested the heart of Jehovah’s servant in a very marked way. As in the case of Isaiah, he and his were to be for signs in Israel; so he is told to unite himself in marriage to a woman devoid of character—a harlot; thus signifying the wretched condition of unfaithful Israel, who nevertheless remained the object of Jehovah’s love, despite their iniquity, and the filthiness that was in them. What more wonderful picture could we have of grace, not only to the undeserving, but to those who had deserved the very opposite? It is important to remember that grace is not merely unmerited favor, but it is favor spite of merited judgment. (Ironside, H. A. (1909). Notes on the Minor Prophets. (pp. 8–9). Neptune, NJ: Loizeaux Brothers.)
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Ver. 10. Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered, &c.] Though called Lo-ammi, and rejected from being the people of God; yet there is a time when their number, according to the promise made to Abraham, shall be as the sand of the sea, and the stars of heaven; which, as the one cannot be measured, the other cannot be numbered; which was to be not at the return of the Jews from the Babylonish captivity, when some of the ten tribes of Israel returned with them, as Theodoret and others think; for they were but few that then returned: but rather at the first times of the Gospel, when multitudes that came from several parts of the world were converted at the day of Pentecost, and greater numbers, who were met with in the ministry of the word, in the several parts of the world, where they were dispersed, and the Gospel came, to whom Peter and James wrote their epistles; and not these only are meant, but the vast numbers of Gentiles, who were effectually called by grace everywhere, and were true Israelites, the spiritual seed of Abraham; and to whom the Apostle Paul applies these words, producing them as a testimony of the election and calling, not of the Jews only, but of the Gentiles also, Rom. 9:24, 25, 26 and which will have a further accomplishment in the latter day, when the fulness of the Gentiles will be brought in, the Jews will be converted, and all Israel saved, Rom. 11:25, 26. then the numbers of the Israel of God, both of Jews and Gentiles, will be as the sand of the sea indeed! and it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, ye are not my people, there it shall be said unto them, ye are the sons of the living God; that is, in such places where it used to be said, here live Pagans, Turks, or Jews, who worship not the true God, or at least not aright, nor believe in Christ, and profess his name; there it shall be said to them, by the Lord himself, by his Spirit witnessing their relation to them, and by all good men, and even by the world in general; not only that they are the people of God, but have a superior privilege, a greater character, and a higher relation, the sons of the living God; the sons of God, not by nature, as Christ; nor by creation, as angels; nor by office, as civil magistrates; or by profession merely, as nominal Christians; but by adopting grace; which exceeds all other blessings, even of sanctification and justification; makes men honorable, is attended with various privileges, and always continues. The epithet of the living God is not without cause put; it stands in opposition to dead idols before worshipped by some who will now be the children of God; and who, as he has life in himself, gives it to others; to all natural life and breath, and to his children spiritual and eternal life; and, as he lives forever, so shall they his sons likewise. The Targum is, “and it shall be in the place where they have been carried captive, when they transgressed the law; and it was said to them, ye are not my people; there they shall be converted and increased (or made great); and it shall be said to them, O ye people of the living God.” (Gill, J. (1810). An Exposition of the Old Testament (Vol. 6, pp. 379–380). London: Mathews and Leigh.)
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FROM MY READING:
1 Chronicles 29
Just before his death, David blesses Israel and gives his blessing to Solomon.
INSIGHT
How we spend our money is a powerful reflection of our value system. If we have strong spiritual values, we give our money generously to spiritual things. If we have primarily temporal values, we resist—and perhaps even resent—giving to spiritual things. After completing the temple, the Israelites rejoiced, “for they had given freely and wholeheartedly to the LORD” (v. 9). Where are your values? (Quiet Walk)
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WHAT HAPPENS IN REVIVAL? PART 1
And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. Acts 2:1-2
Consciousness of a power and of a presence is sometimes physical, as it was here in the “sound…of a rushing mighty wind.” But what believers are always conscious of is the sudden awareness of a glorious presence in their midst, such as they have never known before—a sense of power and a sense of glory. Sometimes this sense of power and glory is so great that people are prostrated to the ground by reason of it. As you hear of people literally fainting when they suddenly get a piece of good news that they have not expected, so when men and women experience this glorious presence, sometimes it is too much for their physical frame. We must not stay with these things, but they do emphasize the sense of God, the presence and the presidency of the Holy Ghost.
In any record of great men of the church who have given an account of how they have passed through times of revival, you will always find that what they experience is that they no longer merely have a belief in God—God has become a reality to them. God has come down, as it were, into their midst. In revivals the meeting is sometimes taken out of the hands of whoever may have been in charge, and the Holy Ghost begins to preside and to take charge, and everybody is aware of His presence and His glory and His power. That is what happened on the Day of Pentecost. That is what happens, in some measure and to some extent, in every revival that the church has ever known.
A Thought to Ponder: They no longer merely have a belief in God—God has become a reality to them. (From Revival, p. 204, by Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones)
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Paul at the Finish Line
“Do thy diligence to come before winter. Eubulus greeteth thee, and Pudens, and Linus, and Claudia, and all the brethren. The Lord Jesus Christ be with thy spirit. Grace be with you. Amen.” (2 Timothy 4:21-22)
These are the final words of the apostle Paul, written shortly before he was beheaded. Despite his faithfulness and fruitfulness in the Lord’s service, he was now penniless, lonely, and cold. Yet he was not complaining. “I am now ready to be offered. . I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith” (vv. 6-7).
He did yearn to see Timothy, his beloved son in the faith, before he died. “Do thy diligence to come shortly unto me” (v. 9). “Without ceasing I have remembrance of thee in my prayers night and day; Greatly desiring to see thee, being mindful of thy tears, that I may be filled with joy” (1:3-4).
Paul made one especially touching request of Timothy. “The cloke that I left at Troas with Carpus, when thou comest, bring with thee, and the books, but especially the parchments” (v. 13). Paul didn’t even have a coat in the cold prison, and winter was approaching. Yet, even under such miserable circumstances, he still desired to keep reading and studying, preparing himself better for any future service the Lord might still have for him.
What a contrast there would be between his present circumstances—abused by his enemies and forsaken even by most of his friends—and the glorious reception awaiting him in the near future! “Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day” (v. 8).
Paul has left us a worthy example. He had kept the faith, had gladly suffered the loss of all things for Christ (Philippians 3:8), and was still studying, witnessing, teaching, encouraging, and exhorting, even to the day of his death. (HMM, The Institute for Creation Research)
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If all that you can see is the Devil in your injustice or abuse, you will never be free from the power of your past. (p. 127)
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Unfortunately, we all have such enormous potential to short-circuit what God wants to do if we are determined to hang on to our bitterness. (p. 128)
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Thanksgiving for God’s faithfulness in our pain is the indisputable proof that we believe God is a part of our pain. (p. 128)
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He could have sent them home – forgiven – but cursed to survive on their own in the middle of a severe famine. He did not. He chose to bless them rather than curse them. (p. 128)
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Forgiveness is both an act and a process. We choose to forgive, and when the bitterness returns we forgive again. At all costs, we must forgive or we are the losers. “Bitterness,” someone has said, “is like swallowing poison and expecting your enemy to die.” If you are bitter, you will die a slow death which will make your enemy happy! Forgiveness is an act of self-healing, when we forgive, we do ourselves a favor. (p. 130)
WHEN YOUR’VE BEEN WRONGED by Erwin W. Lutzer
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