The Many Blessings

Hosea 2:8
She doesn't realize that it was I who
gave her everything she has-the grain,
the wine, the olive oil. Even the gold
and silver she used in worshipping the god Baal
were gifts from me!

Isn't that amazing?! Even the things we use to worship other gods are given to us by the One and only God. He knew we would use them incorrectly. He knew we would offer them elsewhere and not offer them to Him, and yet He gives them to us anyway.

What kind of a god would do that? What kind of a god would still be generous to his people knowing good and well that they would turn from him and worship elsewhere? What kind of faithfulness would that take on anyone's part, let alone a God who knows in advance that we will be unfaithful to Him?

We give to our children because we love them, because we want the very best for them, and we hope and pray that as they grow they will learn to appreciate all that we have done for them. Not so that they can repay us, but so that they will realize how very much we love them. Oh sure, we kid with them about taking care of us in our old age, and they kid back about what kind of "home" they will put us in when the time comes. But truly, all we want is to love them and to have them love us in return.

Does our Father God want anything more than that?
In John 6:28-29, the people in Capernaum asked Jesus, "What does God want us to do?" Jesus told them, "This is what God wants you to do: Believe in the one he has sent."

Our Father wants us to accept his Son for who He really is. He wants us to love the One and only Son he sent to this earth to save us from our sins. He wants us to worship Him alone, and be thankful for all the many blessings that come from believing in Jesus Christ, the Savior. The blessings of peace and mercy and eternal life.

And all we want to do is our own thing...to worship the things of this world, as we want, and to cling to all the rights and privileges that we believe are owed to us.

Owed to us?...Because why?
Because we live here?
Because we were born here?
Because we deserve it?
Who says?

If a child is born in a home, they feel that what is in that home belongs to them. It reminds me of a funny line about a child claiming to be rich, and the dad replied, "No, I'm the one who is rich. You are poor. You own nothing."

"She doesn't realize that it was I who gave her everything she has-" Hosea 2:8
Everything that we touch, see, taste, feel, enjoy is a gift to us. It has been given to us undeserved, and it does not belong to us. It belongs to our "Rich Father" who owns all, who created all, and who showers us with His blessings only because He loves us that much.

When a child leaves home, what they take with them seems to belong to them. It may even have their name on it, but unless they have a job and have earned the money to buy those things, it is not really theirs. It goes with them as a gift from their parents or whoever else gave them these gifts throughout the years. It feels like theirs, it seems that they have a right to it, but if others had not been generous, they would have nothing.

If God were not generous to us, what would we have? We, a stubborn lot of people who want to do our own thing, and go our own way and not listen to a word God might have to say? We would have everything, I suspect, because we do. Because, even when we are unfaithful to God, He remains faithful to us.

If we are unfaithful,
he remains faithful,
for he cannot deny himself.
2 Timothy 2:13

In reading through the book of Hosea, this is what God is trying to teach us through the life of Hosea. He asks Hosea to marry a woman who will not be faithful to him, and yet to remain faithful to her. To love her and to take her back home with him, even when she does not deserve it. God uses this example to show His people that He loves them even when they are unfaithful to Him. There is judgment, because God is a just God and there are times when a Father must discipline his children, but through it all, God loves us and wants us with Him.

I will return her vineyards to her and
transform the Valley of Trouble into
a gateway of hope.
Hosea 2:15

I love the sounds of that..."a gateway of hope." When hope is lost, all seems to be lost. There seems to be nowhere to turn, no one to talk to, no bright future to look forward to. Hope is a small word that carries the weight of the world on its four letters. It is what Jesus came to give us by His death on the cross. It is the ultimate gift that we truly don't deserve, but our Father God gave to us anyway.

Imagine there is a family, perhaps they live next door or down the street. Now this family is everything you detest. They have wild parties; they honk their horns and play loud music late into the night. Their children are dirty and undisciplined and the parents have no desire to work outside of their home or even to tend to the home they live in. The yard is a mess, the dogs and cats seem to be multiplying as we speak--and wander around their yard, and the roof looks like it's about to cave in from lack of repair. There are cars on blocks in the front yard waiting for work to be done that never will be completed, and then their relatives pull into town in an old run-down RV and park there for months, blocking the traffic on that side of the street. I think you get the picture.

Now, your job is to clean up this mess, to save these people from certain disaster in their lives. To help them have some hope, some future that looks brighter than anything they could ever imagine. Your job is to love these people no matter what, and the way you have been called to do this is to send your only child, your one and only son over to that house to give them that hope. He must enter into their world and live there for as long as it takes to shed some light on their situation. He must become one of them, while never forgetting where He has come from, a virtual heaven at your house. A place where he is loved and cared for and so very important to your family.

This son of yours must leave you, for this family, and live amongst them. He must be there to show them that there is a better way of being in this world. What he has to offer them is everything they could ever want or need or desire...all they have to do is accept him and love him as one of their own. All they have to do is realize that he has everything they could ever need or want, and truly believe this.

Jesus told them, "This is what God wants you to do:
Believe in the one he has sent."
John 6:29

But they may say, they know this boy's parents; you live right down the street. How can this child help in anyway? They know the city he was born in, they know what his father does for a living, and he has nothing to offer them. He may think he is some sort of a god, but is he? Why should they even listen to him?

Because he is the "gateway of hope." But, they won't know that until they turn to him and talk to him and ask him for the things they need. They won't know all that he has to offer them if don't give him the time of day. They won't know anything about him if they go on living in the mess they're living in and don't give him a chance. They will have no idea of all that his father owns and the ways he can help them if they don't get to know the son.

The father (you) is not going over there. You have your own job to do. You live in the Big House and you constructed the entire city you live in. You have sent your son to help out because you know your son can handle the job.

The son does nothing that his father doesn't help him do. He has all the rights and privileges of his father, and he knows what the father looks like, but they're not going to see the father just yet. He is asking them to trust the son he has sent.

Will they? Many won't. Many won't trust what has been offered to them through the son. They won't believe in him, and they will continue to live in the mess of their lives, in the "Valley of Trouble," never having their lives transformed into the "gateway of hope."

But our Father God still loves these people. That is why He sent his son over there to help them...to help us. What He has to offer us through his Son is so great, and He longs to give it to us, if we will only ask the Son for it. Some still have no clue as to what is being offered to them, sort of like what's behind "door number three," on The Price is Right! The producers know what's back there. The hired help (angels perhaps?) know what's hiding there, but the contestants don't know. They have to choose it to find out.

That is what we have to do. We have to choose to believe in the Son God sent! We have to pick Him, and go with Him to where He leads us, and then we will see all the wonderful gifts that He longs to give to us. But, we offer our gifts to other gods in this world. We offer our gift of time to a job that may take us no where, we offer our hearts to those that may not even want them, we offer our energy to making our lives all that we think they should be, when God alone knows what's best for us.

For the Lord still loves Israel even though
the people have turned to other gods, offering
them choice gifts.
Hosea 3:1

The Lord still loves us, even when we offer everything we have to everything besides Him. He still waits for us to turn to Him, and accept His gift, and in return offer what He has given us back to Him.

"Alcohol and prostitution have
robbed my people of their brains.
They are asking a piece of wood
to tell them what to do. They think
a stick can tell them the future!
Longing after idols has made them foolish."
Hosea 4:11

We, the children of this world, long after things that make us foolish. We create "idols" with our jobs, our homes, our possessions, and so many others things that we bow down to, missing what our Father offers to us free through his Son that He sent to us.

Yes, the boy has gone over to the neighbors, to see what he can do to help them, but they are busy doing this and that. The ballgame is on, the dogs are barking, the relatives that just pulled into town in their RV are hungry and looking through the fridge for something to eat. The commotion is too much and the son that has been sent sits quietly by, watching as things unfold in chaos around him. He sees the needs, he knows he can help, but no one turns to ask him for anything. He knows of his father's wealth and his connections. He knows that if they are tired, there are helpers he can call on. He knows that if they are hungry, there is plenty of food in his father's house for them. He knows that if they are hurting or ill or just plain depressed, there is healing and joy in his father's storehouses. He has seen all that belongs to his father, and he longs to give them what they need, if they would only realize he is there for them...

They think it will cost them something if they turn to the son, perhaps. Maybe they will have to share what they have, maybe he will require something of them, but what they do not know is that he came to give to them!

"I don't want your sacrifices. I want
you to know God; that's more important
than burnt offerings."
Hosea 6:6

God's Son did not come to this world to take from us what we think we own. He came to give us everything we could ever need. But we turn elsewhere:

They do not cry out to me with sincere hearts.
Instead, they sit on their couches and wail.
They cut themselves, begging foreign gods
for crops and prosperity.
Hosea 7:14

There the son sits, in the home with the neighbors, watching and waiting for them to turn to him, for he has everything to give to them that his father owns, and his father's wealth is beyond counting. His father's power is beyond words, and his love knows no limits, and yet:

They look everywhere except to heaven,
to the Most High.
Hosea 7:16

We may not see God, face to face, as we long to, but He did send his One and only Son to this earth to help us, to offer us His gifts and to be our Savior. We do not need to live in chaos, poor of spirit and putting our hope in the "idols" we have created to help us get by in this world. They are of no help to us. God alone is our refuge and our strength. He alone has everything we need for each day we live. And He has given us what is most precious, His Son. His Son came on over to our house to live with us for a while, to show us that there is a better way, to show us to the "gateway of hope."

Our Father in Heaven says:

"Oh, how can I give you up, Isreal?
How can I let you go? How can I destroy
you like Admah and Zeboiim? My heart
is torn within me, and my compassion overflows.
Hosea 11:8

The son's father is waiting for the neighbors to realize what a wonderful gift he has sent their way. He does not want to have to torch their house, to destroy this family, these people. He does not want them to live in "Hell." He longs for them to ask his son for all the gifts that he has come to give to them free of charge. God is waiting, and watching what we will do with this Son he has sent to us...what will we do?

Bring your petitions, and return to the Lord.
Say to him, "Forgive all our sins and graciously
receive us, so that we may offer you the sacrifice of praise.
Assyria cannot save us, nor can our strength in battle.
Never again will we call the idols we have made 'our gods.'
No, in you alone do the orphans finds mercy."
Hosea 14:2-3

Until we turn to the Son, and ask for His help and forgiveness, we will be orphans. We will be without our Father's help, we will not be in God's family and we will find no mercy in this world. Our Father in Heaven says:

"O Israel, stay away from idols!
I am the one who looks after you and cares for you.
I am like a tree that is always green, giving my fruit
to you all through the year."
Hosea 14:8

Don't let your lawns dry up and let your weeds be overgrown. Don't let your house be chaotic and your children run wild. Don't live in the mess of your lives without the help of the Son that has been sent to you bearing gifts full of hope and mercy! The Son that brings everything you will ever need to live the life that God has called you to.
Let those who are wise understand these things.
Let those who are discerning listen carefully.
The paths of the Lord are true and right,
and righteous people live by walking in them.
But sinners stumble and fall along the way.
Hosea 14:9

God sent his One and only Son to our "house" to live with us for a while. He came so that we might truly live while we are on this earth. He came to offer us the gift of eternity also, so that when our time in this "house" is finished, we can move into His Father's house and enjoy all that is waiting there for us.

Our job is to not get so caught up in the chaos in our own "homes," as to miss out on our true home in heaven, which is being prepared for our arrival. This world will always draw us toward worthless idols that must be resisted while we are here. Sometimes we don't even realize what a mess we are living in, until we step outside and take a breather...stop and talk to the Son who has been sent and see just what He has to say about our situation. That's what He's waiting for!

The Lord says, "Then I will heal you of your
idolatry and faithlessness, and my love will
know no bounds, for my anger will be gone forever!"
Hosea 14:4

Yes, heaven awaits. When we arrive there, we will be truly delivered from all the things that vie for our attention here on earth. We will live in the Father's house, and all the trials and the suffering and the confusion will be things of the past. We will have followed the Son back to His Holy House and we will live with Him forever and ever, if we will only turn to Him now, while there is still time. Amen!

Living in His peace and joy,
Diane