Show us Your unfailing love, O LORD…

Love and faithfulness meet together;

Righteousness and peace kiss each other.

 

 

Yesterday was incredibly charming.

 

First of all, it was almost 70 degrees.  In January.  I had a walking date at the Y and taught a class.  Then little one and I rode scooters up and down our street.  I had to take off my sweatshirt, friends!

 

After school pick up we raced home so big one could put on shorts and I popped popcorn and threw it in a brown paper bag.  We gathered up Nerf guns and met our friends at the park by the school.

 

Two things:

1.  We are never bringing Nerf guns to the park again.

2.  We are never bringing Nerf guns to the park again.

 

The sun was just barely starting to set at 5:15.  We headed home to chicken in the crock pot.  We watched Kid Snippets with Dad and went to bed at a decent time.  (Well, I fell asleep on the couch with my contacts in, but whatever.)

 

I know winter will come back.  But I’m grateful for days like yesterday to soak up the sun.

 

What are you grateful for?

 

https://www.intentionalkingdomliving.com/1347/

Well, this feels odd.  I am going to share some things and I have no idea who will read this. The truth is, some of my sweet friends who believe differently than I may take a gander.

 

But I have learned so much about loving those who may not believe exactly what I do.  And I really want to share my heart on this.

First of all, when I began to seriously desire to walk with Jesus, I thought I had to have my life all together.  Especially in front of those who didn’t know Him.  I thought the only way to draw people to Him was to show them how great I was.

Basically?  I came across as a weirdo.

I was much more focused on performing for people than loving them.

 

And people know when you love them.

 

One of my favorite quotes on this topic I heard second-hand a long time ago.  A Christ follower was asked by a friend,

 

“Are you my friend so I will believe in Jesus…or do you want me to believe in Jesus because I’m your friend?”

 

That has always stuck with me.

 

I know I don’t want to be a project to someone.  I want people to walk beside me and love me.

 

Know what?  I’m pretty sure that’s what everyone wants.

 

What are you thinking?  Has anyone ever loved you like this?  Do you struggle with thinking things have to be perfect if others are going to be drawn to Him?

 

The LORD said to me,

“Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another and is an adulteress.  Love her as the LORD loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods and love the sacred raisin cakes.”

Wanna try to get inside Hosea’s brain now?

So.  You obey God and marry a woman of unfaithfulness.  He has already told you she will break your heart.  You courageously love her anyway.  You make a life together and she has your children.

Then she runs away.

Back to her lovers.  Back to all she thought would give her freedom.

What must have been going through his mind?  Do you think, like us, he struggled with whether or not he’d heard God correctly?  Think he wanted to just leave her gone?  Let her suffer?

Wonder if he talked to others about it?  What must his family have said?  Think anyone said I told you so?

What must he have thought looking at Jezreel, Lo-Ruhamah and Lo-Ammi?  Perhaps then he most felt the full force of the meaning of their names.  It is easy to feel not loved and abandoned when your heart is broken.

I wonder if he held his little girl and wept?  What did he tell her when she asked when mommy would be home?

How about the boys?  How do you think he felt in front of them?

With no judgment (I have no room to pass any!), I was wondering…how about you?  What do you run back to?  When things are hard or when they’re good, in what ways do you run away?

How does that affect those you love?

So here he is.  Hosea is alone and obviously long enough for his wife to be loved by another.  And what does he hear?

“Go, show your love to your wife again…”

Was he relieved?  Do you think he had been wanting to go after her, but wasn’t sure of God’s plan? Or was he angry and hurt and obeyed completely for obedience sake?

“So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and about a homer and a lethek of barley.”

Did you notice?  He had to buy her back.  We don’t know if she was another man’s personal, legal property at this point or serving as a temple prostitute.  Either way, she was a slave.

Our idols do not love us.

They cannot.  They weren’t created to fulfill us and they certainly aren’t worthy of our worship.

Idols steal our dignity.

Jesus always restores it.

In my college days I got to read a great book about the difference between training and trying.

 

It’s called The Life You’ve Always Wanted.

 

But the subtitle is the best part: Spiritual Disciplines for Ordinary People.

 

Of course, there are no other people but ordinary ones.  Fortunately God can use our imperfect selves.

 

The author likened the difference in training and trying to running a marathon.  Imagine you are sitting on your couch and the Olympic committee knocks on your door and tells you you’ve been selected to run a marathon for your country.  You get super excited and then realize: You can’t run a marathon.  Even if you tried really, really hard.

 

The only way to run a marathon is to train for one.

 

Spiritual disciplines are how to train.  The author, John Ortberg, defines a spiritual discipline as “any activity that can help me gain power to live life as Jesus taught and modeled it.”  (pg. 52)  And the goal – a disciple of Jesus – is “someone who can do the right thing at the right time in the right way with the right spirit.” (pg. 54)

 

Just typing that is ridiculously convicting.

 

I love, love, love the author makes sure to say these are not just a few activities done at special times of the day. Rather, every moment of our lives is “an opportunity to learn from God how to live like Jesus, how to live in the kingdom of God.” (pg. 24)

 

Okay, now you.  Ever thought of the difference between training and trying?  Struggle, like me, to want to try really hard?  Do you think of every moment of your life as a chance to train?

 

I really want to know.

 

We give thanks to You, O God,

We give thanks, for Your Name is near…

 

 

 

The LORD said to me,

“Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another and is an adulteress.  Love her as the LORD loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods and love the sacred raisin cakes.”

I’m actually glad to get back to Hosea and Gomer’s story.  I’ve been thinking about them. Remember, all this was actually being played out in their lives.

So imagine with me.  When do you think she left?  What feelings might she have been having?

How do you think she felt about Jezreel, her first son?  He was at least 8 or 9 based on weaning ages and the spacing of their children.  Do you think she loved him?  Think he was all boy?  Ornery?  Or more serious?  Protective?  Think he loved his mama?

What about their daughter, Lo-Ruhamah (Not Loved)?  Was that still her name?  At the end of chapter two God talks about a future time when God’s people – ‘Not my loved one’ – will be shown love.  We know that was future prophecy, but what about Hosea and Gomer’s sweet girl?  Did God allow them to change her name?

No matter her name, do you think Gomer ever held her as she slept and marveled at her face? Do you think she traced her finger over her features and could hardly imagine why Hosea had said they had to name her Not Loved?  Do you think some of the hardness of her heart softened in those moments?

How about her baby boy, Lo-Ammi (Not My People).  How do you think Gomer felt about her youngest?  Think she ever felt like her heart would burst looking at him?  I wonder if she both loved and feared the tender feelings.

I wonder if that’s when she ran away.  Maybe she weaned her youngest and headed out. Think she wondered if they even needed her?

Or was she overwhelmed?  Feeling burdened with responsibilities and wanting to retreat?

Maybe it wasn’t anything like this.  Maybe she was purely selfish and cruel and bitter.  But, remember, God told Hosea to marry a woman of unfaithfulness.  A prostitute.  I cannot think of a single healthy little girl who would willingly choose that profession.  Who dreams of growing up and being used.

I like taking a speculative peek behind motives.  But no matter motives, we cannot ignore sin. The story of Hosea and Gomer is an allegory for Israel.  We know they sinned.  And God never lets any of us off the hook for our sin.

We come to the cross as complete, desperate beggars.  All of us.  None of us can come near a pure, holy God.  All of our hands are filthy.  Our hearts are deceitful.  Our souls betray Him over and over.

He had to come for us.  We could never get to Him on our own.  He had to live the perfect life we never could and die as a sacrifice we could never make.

So, no, we don’t know the why behind Gomer’s sin.

But we know she left.

We know God had Hosea go and show her love again.

We know how that feels.

None of us who belong to Him have been perfectly faithful to our Bridegroom.  We know how it feels to walk away.  To break His heart. To scorn His blessings and seek out other things.

How we need Him to keep showing us His love.

And He always, always does.

Last night at group my friend prayed for me.

 

She asked God to help me live in my weaknesses.

 

Have you ever been here?

 

At a women’s rally a couple months ago, a wise lady shared about her current stage of life being not in her comfort zone.  Ever.

 

She’s an introvert who doesn’t love meeting tons of new people.  She is currently serving God in a capacity that demands she rely on Him to do just that.

 

She brought up Moses to us.  When he told God to find someone else to do the job of going to Pharaoh, God didn’t give him a pep talk, listing all his good qualities.  He also didn’t blast him for doubting.

 

He said, “I will be with you.”

 

My comfort zone looks different.  I am an extrovert, but more importantly, not super structured.  Living in my weaknesses means doing things daily that, frankly, feel stifling.

 

I’m doing grown-up stuff like setting small, daily goals.  Because that’s what you do when your husband prefers structure to chaos.

 

I’m taking vitamins and working out when I’d rather just go hang out with my friends.  Because people are no longer paying me to get exercise and that’s what adults do.

 

I’m writing when I don’t feel inspired.  Because you can always edit bad writing.  You can’t edit an empty page.

 

I’m making sure the kitchen is clean at night.  Because that sets the next day up for success.

 

Now, this is not without issues.  I’m intentionally relying on Him as I take these small steps of obedience.  But it all still takes a lot of concentration for me.

 

For example, last week I was especially productive on Wednesday and Thursday.  By Friday, it’s like my brain was done.  On the way out the door for school, I realized oldest’s coat was still sopping wet in the washer.  It was 20 degrees out.

 

Later I couldn’t find my wedding ring.

 

Later still, at school pick up, I locked my keys in the car.

 

My school friends were all, That sounds about right.

 

I called Dan and he just chuckled.  (Well, he acted a bit put off, but he loves to be my knight in shining armor.  He has lots of practice.)

 

So I’ve not become superwoman over night.  I’m not even aiming for that.  Just trying to rely on Him in my weaknesses.

 

Because He promises I will be with You.

 

 

 

 

https://www.intentionalkingdomliving.com/1272/

 

My mouth will tell of your righteousness,

Of your salvation all day long,

Though I know not its measure.

I will come and proclaim your mighty acts,

O Sovereign LORD;

I will proclaim your righteousness,

Yours alone.

Since my youth, O God, you have taught me,

And to this day I declare Your marvelous deeds.

Even when I am old and gray,

Do not forsake me, O God,

Till I declare your power to the next generation,

Your might to all who are to come.

 

Your righteousness reaches

To the skies, O God,

You Who have done great things.

Who, O God, is like you?

 

 

 

Prayer seems to keep coming back to me as the first topic I’d love to chat about.

 

So.  We know prayer is a conversation with God.  Just talking with Him.  If you’re not talking to Him throughout the day, it’s hard to feel close to Him.  Chatting is good.  Praying without ceasing is our command.

 

But have you ever wanted to be more organized about it?  To remember not only your family or friends, but neighbors, friends you don’t always see, those serving in other countries, other ministries?

 

 

If so, I have a tip for you.  It is not mine, I learned it from a Training Center we were a part of at one time.  I take no credit!

 

Anyway, this particular prayer organization is from when Jesus taught His disciples how to pray in Matthew 6.  We typically call this The Lord’s Prayer.  Since most don’t think He was giving us a formula or something to memorize, but rather showing us the heart behind addressing our Father, this tip helps explore that heart.

 

The cool thing is it aligns really well with our church’s heart attitudes.  The following is an example spreadsheet using Jesus’ prayer from Matthew 6:9-13:

 

Download (XLSX, 11KB)

 

In all those blank spaces, put in names!  Ministries, co-workers, extended family, the persecuted church, those struggling, children’s teachers, pastors & their families, own church & leadership, other churches, your school board, local & national government.

 

I don’t actually use a spreadsheet, I use this prayer journal (although tweaked from what the author suggests!).  I like this because I can stick people’s hard copy newsletters in there to help remember current needs they have.

 

Now.  Do I use this every day to pray?  Nope.  Do I think everyone should use this particular method of organization to pray?  Uh uh.

 

But if your mind tends to wander and you want a place to start organizing your prayers, have at it!

 

Okay, now you.  What are your biggest struggles in consistent prayer?  Do you have any tips for organizing your prayer life?

 

I really want to know.