Good morning, Lord Jesus. Lead me deeper, lift me higher, draw me nearer - more and more every day. ...
"When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called My son. The more I called them, the more they went from Me; they kept sacrificing to the Baals, and offering incense to idols. Yet it was I Who taught Ephraim to walk, I took them up in My arms; but they did not know that I healed them. I led them with cords of human kindness, with bands of love. I was to them like those who lift infants to their cheeks. I bent down to them and fed them" (Hosea 11:1-4).
O Lord, You are my Father. You always have been. And though there were so many times when I, like Israel and Ephraim, took Your love for granted and turned my love to things that dishonored You, You never stopped loving me, never stopped reaching out to me, never stopped bending down to me, never stopped lifting me up into Your arms and calling me close to Your side. That's the kind of God You are.
And though I failed to see that the cords of human kindness and the bands of human love that I thought I found for myself in this world along the way were from my own desires or the desires of others, all along it was You. You have been the Source of everything that was truly kind and truly loving that I've ever encountered or experienced in my journey through this broken and fallen world. "Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change" (James 1:17). A father loves to give good things to his children, and so do You - even more than we'll ever deserve and even when we deserve it the least (Luke 11:13). That's the kind of God You are.
As with Israel and Ephraim, the examples You've chosen to teach us about You, despite all our sins and idolatries, all our fears and failures, all our insecurities and insensitivities, "(Your) compassion grows warm and tender" (Hosea 11:8). And in Your time and in response to Your love, we will return to the arms of the One Who loves us so (Hosea 11:10-11). And You'll be there, just as You have always been, ready to embrace us and welcome us home. That's the kind of God You are. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.
Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays
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