Restoration Joel 2:18–27 I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten. Joel 2:25 A blessing that God says will follow genuine heart repentance is restoration of the lost years. This is a special blessing. Many of us have run from God and have wasted many years. It is only by…

Repentance That Does Count Hosea 14:1–9 Take words with you and return to the Lord. Say to him: “Forgive all our sins.” Hosea 14:2 (NIV) There are three things that make this confession a true one, things lacking in the false repentance of chapter 6. First, there is an awareness of sin and that in…

Repentance That Does Not Count Hosea 6:1–3 Come, let us return to the Lord. Hosea 6:1 The essential elements of a true confession are missing in Hosea 6:1–3. First, there is no reference to sin. There is acknowledgment of the consequences of Israel’s sin: injury and the absence of God himself. But there is no…

Admitting Guilt Hosea 5:13–15 I will return again to my place, until they acknowledge their guilt. Hosea 5:15 What happens when we do not turn to God even after he sends trouble to get our attention? In that case, says God, he reluctantly pours out on us the greatest judgment of all: He leaves us….

The Greatest Love Story Hosea 3:1–3 Love . . . as the Lord loves. Hosea 3:1 After Gomer left Hosea, she sank lower and lower in the social scale of the day until she became a slave and was sold in the capital city of Samaria. When the time came for her to be sold on an…

A Door of Hope Hosea 2:14–23 Therefore, behold, I will allure her. Hosea 2:14 Chapter two of Hosea presents a series of “therefores” in which the hand of God’s judgment has been pressed down ever more firmly on Hosea’s rebellious and errant wife. But just as we are expecting further trouble, God opens the hand…

Spiritual Adultery Hosea 1:1–11 Go, take to yourself a wife of whoredom. Hosea 1:2 You may not have sunk so low as Gomer, Hosea’s wife. You may not have been so unfaithful as to deny God and seek other gods, committing spiritual adultery with them. But you have certainly flirted with other gods. You have…

The Way of the Righteous Daniel 12:1–3 Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above. Daniel 12:3 This combination of ideas—purification, refinement, spotless living, and shining with the brightness of the heavens—speaks of the actual personal righteousness of God’s elect people, which by the blessing of God inevitably leads others…

The Practice of God’s Presence Daniel 6:1–10 Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before. Daniel 6:10 (NIV) I like those last words: “just as he had done before.” This was a pattern with Daniel. The outside world may have…

Faith in the Furnace Daniel 3:1–30 If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace. Daniel 3:17 There were three things that gave Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego the strength to stand firm in this great test of their commitment. 1. They knew that God was…