Fearlessly Courageous
Desk of Dennis Piller
9/21/2021
Jesus purchased us out of prostitution.
Jesus purchased us out of prostitution.
I want to talk again about the story of Hosea and his wife Gomer and the representation of this marriage and how it related to the idolatry of Israel at the time and how it related today. This picture is not just about sex and unfaithfulness in a marriage that probably doesn’t apply to any of you. But more from a spiritual sense. As we mature, we settle down. We mellow out and are not as cantankerous and bullheaded as we once were. But in that settling comes a comfort level for ourselves. We settle into who we are. We get comfortable with life physically and spiritually. If we are not careful we can walk into this state of lukewarmness that will leave us dry and empty and devoid of much of the joy a child of God should live for in their life. When was the last time that joy was overflowing in your relationship with Jesus?
Marriage is hard. You can either do it all right. Or go through the Valley of Achor which means “trouble,” “affliction,” or “taboo” and implies a severe kind of trouble. If you are married long enough you may well know this valley but regardless of circumstances. Regardless of whose fault it was or is. Regardless of how you have messed up, it always turns back to our relationship with God. Because when we are right with God, when we abide in him, we walk, talk, and respond like him and stay out of the darkness of taking offense from others. But regardless of those failures, God has mercy.
God’s Mercy to Israel
Hosea 2; 14“Therefore, behold, I will allure her and lead her to the wilderness, and speak to her tenderly. 15There I will give back her vineyards and make the Valley of Achor into a gateway of hope. There she will respond as she did in the days of her youth, as in the day she came up out of Egypt. 16In that day,” declares the LORD, “you will call Me ‘my Husband,’ and no longer call Me ‘my Master.’…
What does that mean? Repentance, humility for the sins of deceit, anger, selfishness, idolatry, porn, doubt, covetousness…. Etc. etc. etc…God will prune us. He will cut the dead branches from the tree of life. He will walk with you through the valley of betrayal. He said he will make your valley of deceit and death into a door of hope. He promises, in this story of Gomer and Hosea that he will always be unrelenting to win you back, forgive you and give you a new way. His way! Hosea 3:1 How is that possible as we too often and openly refuse him and reject his goodness? “With His Love” It cannot come from us…we cannot attain this in the power of the flesh, this is a supernational,
Holy Spirit, kind of everlasting love.
Let me be clear, although we may not be able to control the outcome of our spouse in a fiery marriage. God says to pray for them, believe with God for them, but it doesn’t mean being a doormat and being abused or let them just walk over you. You do what is right. Trust God. And that may well include getting some professional help.
But I do want you to see the heart of this heartbreaking story. Hosea goes out and purchases his wife out of prostitution, just like Christ did for us! He loved her enough to purchase her out of her sin. That is what Jesus did. What must that hurt look like for him? What agony must he go through as he watches us in our idolatry? He died and purchased you and me out of our sin because his love would not let us go. What does that mean to you?
When communion with the Lord is restored, there is hope for the future. The troubles of the past are reversed and replaced with blessings: “Sharon will become a pasture for flocks, and the Valley of Achor a resting place for herds, for my people who seek me” (Isaiah 65:10).
Casting Crowns Who Am I
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBcqria2wmg
