Good morning, all!

Father, we know that Your heart is for us, and Your love can not be measured. We pray, Lord, that we would experience that love today, that we would know what it means to us as we live this life. Strengthen our hearts Lord so that nothing in this world can move us and only the power of Your love and Your spirit direct us, Amen.

Hosea 14

4 I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for mine anger is turned away from him.
God will change us, so we only look to Him and not look away, He’s NOT upset with us…His love is FREE and has NO conditions.
5 I will be as the dew unto Israel: he shall grow as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon
He will refresh our soul; He will cause us to grow with beauty and by His strength we will not be moved.
6 His branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the olive tree, and his smell as Lebanon.
We will spread out and share the beauty of His gospel and His anointing and it will produce the smell of righteousness.
7 They that dwell under his shadow shall return; they shall revive [as] the corn, and grow as the vine: the scent thereof [shall be] as the wine of Lebanon.
And we will return and live under the protection of heaven, and He will increase our harvest and the vine will explode with growth; and it will produce a new wine that the world has not known.

Bottom line

Have you ever felt like you have backslidden? Growing up I backslid every week and then come Sunday I would try and get right again, you feel me? According to God’s word we like sheep ALL go astray…we ALL backslide…but there is hope, God does the healing NOT us. The word backslide means to turn away, which is to say we trust in ourselves instead of God in certain moments of life. What’s really cool is there is so many promises from God in this little passage. And I hope you can see this one, the backslider is rotten? Evil? On their way to hell? NO…God said He is going to HEAL us. We need a healing…heal the way we think about our life and how God views us. And right after the healing what does He tell us? He loves us FREELY. Right after He finds us in this backslidden state, His first words to us I LOVE YOU!!! Does that sound like He’s mad? Angry? Going to reject us? Of course not, that is NOT the nature and character of God.

[Jhn 6:37 NIV] All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. God will NEVER reject us, He said WHOEVER comes He will love and protect. How many does that include? Who does that qualify? Whoever is ALL!!! And right after God heals us and tells us He loves us, what next? He says let me remind you of how beautiful you are, let me remind you of how strong you are. Now if you’re like me, after I backslide, I figure I’m lucky He’s even looking at me, so I have to work to get back in His good grace, right? But His words say something completely different, it tells us that God alone will refresh us and let us know we never left His grace in the first place it was only in our mind. And as though that were not enough, when we return, He gives us gifts. God gives us a harvest and new wine. He gives us the very best of heaven…mercy and righteousness. If you thought you were backslidden before you read this, I pray God has healed your thinking so you know how much you are loved and how beautiful you are.

Point to Ponder

How do we return? [Luk 15:20 NIV] So he got up and went to his father. “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. Just get up and God will do the rest…true love.

Let’s all return, In Him Phil

Faith – Family – Friends