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Hosea 9:12
Wondrous Grace
"Though they bring up their children, yet will I bereave
them, that there shall not be a man left: yea, woe also to them when I depart
from them!" (Hosea 9:12)
Thank God for His amazing grace! If we still lived
under the law, we would be in dire straits as Ephraim was in this passage. That
last line ought to scare anyone with a little sense to death! "woe also to them
when I depart from them!" Thank The Lord, mightily that He will "never leave
you nor forsake you" (Heb. 13:5c), for woe, yea, great woe would be unto us
if He should. The promise is to the New Testament church, you and I. It is so
comforting to know that we are eternally secure in Him. Yea, there is nothing
that can separate us from the love of God in Christ, (Rom 8:35, 38-39), and
we can greatly rejoice in His promises.
The Father forsook the Son on Calvary because of the weight of the world upon
Him, but then, God cannot look upon sin, He is too holy to even consider it.
The only way we could ever escape His judgment, is through Christ, and Calvary.
If we were to answer for our own sin, God could not even deal with us directly,
but through a Mediator He can. Thank God for Calvary. The Father will never
forsake us now, because we are made holy in Christ, and as far as He knows,
we have no sin! We have the righteousness of Christ. Along with the promise
of life everlasting, we have many varied blessings, of which we also can be
very thankful for. For this reason we, as Christians, will stand before Christ
for judgment, and not before God. Even then, we are to answer for our "deeds"
and not necessarily for our sin. (See chapter 8 devotion).
Yes, we have eternal life in Christ Jesus. We can never be lost again, and why
should we want to? Though God dealt differently with the Israelites, we can
rejoice that we have a better relationship with Him than they did, but only
because of Jesus. The means that God uses to deal with mankind is called a "dispensation"
and we are in the dispensation of grace. He dealt under law in the Old testament,
and under grace in the New, and so, as His means of doing things changed, so
did the relationship with man and God. He will never turn His back on us again,
that is the big difference, and oh, what a difference it is. Again, thank God
for His amazing grace.
God Thinks about Us
Many, O LORD my God, are thy wonderful works which thou hast done, and thy thoughts
which are to us-ward: they cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee: if I would
declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered. (Psalms 40:5)
One morning I got up early and rode by bike to Lake Michigan to watch the sun
rise. I saw many of God's wonderful works: the sky, the clouds, the sun, the
crashing waves, and the green grass. God's creation makes my thoughts turn in
praise to Him. God thinks about us as well. His thoughts toward us can not be
numbered. Sometimes we think no one cares about us. God does. He thinks about
us all the time. Since He is thinking about us, we don't need to worry. Casting
all your care upon Him; for He cares for you (I Pet. 5:7).
--Marty Dunn
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