All right, I do hope everyone
got my text and I do hope you did what I asked you to do. That
is read Hosea. Now if I don't get to preach
anymore from the book of Hosea, I pray that God use this message
this morning to bless your soul. Hosea, the book of Hosea, it's
right after Daniel. What's it right before? I have
no idea. It's right before Joel, so it's
somewhere in that area there. Hosea chapter one. Let me just
read verse one to begin with. The word of the Lord that came
unto Hosea, the son of Bera, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham,
Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. Remember, the kingdom
of Israel was split now. The southern kingdom, northern
kingdom. Southern kingdom was called Judah, northern kingdom
called Israel. So he mentions one, two, three,
four, what, four kings of Judah. And he says, and in the days
of Jeroboam, the son of Joash, the king of Israel. Hosea was
a contemporary with Isaiah and Amos. He lived during the same
time they did. Hosea ministered mainly to the
Northern Kingdom. It's fall was coming close. It's
fall was coming. Samaria was about to fall. That
was kind of the utmost spot in the Northern Kingdom of Israel.
It was about ready to fall. Now he does mention Judah as
well and warns Judah as well. It was a great time of backsliding.
That's the word God uses. A great time of backsliding,
a great time of mixed worship. They weren't denying Jehovah
God. They were mixing the worship
of God with everything else. Especially by the worship of
Balaam. It was a great time of backsliding, mixed worship, and
some outright apostasy. And Hosea starts his inspired
writing this way. Verse two, the beginning of the
word of the Lord And you look at this, by Hosea. Not to Hosea, though that certainly
was true, but it's by Hosea. Let me reiterate this. People
say, well, I won't have to listen to a man to be saved. You have
to listen to this book. You have to listen to this book,
and guess who wrote all of this book? Me, indeed. Men did, so
if you're gonna escape God's means, you're wet behind the
ears. You're a fool. You're a fool. You're not holding
to the truth. God will conquer men's hearts
by his word. Now it takes the spirit of God,
yes, but he doesn't do it without the word. The beginning of the
word of the Lord by Hosea. And then note the immediate odd
turn. The beginning of the word of
the Lord by Hosea. I will get no further than this
thought this morning. Now we'll deal with chapter one,
chapter two, chapter three. Look at it. And the Lord said
to Hosea, go, take unto thee a wife of whoredoms and children
of whoredoms. For the land hath committed great
whoredom. And then it doesn't say, and
they departed from the Lord, no. Departing, here's their great
whoredom. Departing from the Lord. Or as you'd read, the land hath
committed great whoredom from the Lord. Do you see it? From
the Lord. Can you imagine? Can you imagine
having to do that? There are people that when they
read that, they're shocked at that. It lets you see, causes
you to wonder, do they even really know the gospel? Because God Almighty has joined
himself to a bunch of whores. Do you hear me this morning,
sinners? He's joined himself to a bunch
of whores. I don't care how chaste you are
physically, We are in Adam full of not just one whoredom. We are whoredoms. We're plural
whores. Do you hear me this morning?
Now you getting tired of me talking like that? You getting tired
of me talking to you as a sinner? Anybody on this TV getting tired
of hearing Walter talk about sinners? Well here I'm gonna
tell you, you're a whoredom sinner. You're a sinner that's a whore,
and you're a plural whore. That's what we are by nature. But think about it. God, the
Lord, told Hosea, go marry a woman that's a whore, that's full of
whoredoms. And he said he went and took.
See in verse three? So he went and took Gomer. Somebody
said, well, wasn't she willing? Go read the book. She was willing
for a lot of guys. Now you think about, some people
think that we're teaching that man, even depraved, fallen man
doesn't have a will. No, we're teaching he has a will,
but his will's depraved. And those who are teaching the
truth are not even teaching that man in his depraved will, we're
not teaching, they can't even see the doctrine. They may see
the doctrine, they may will to believe the doctrine, but they
will to believe everything else as well. You see that? Gomer's problem wasn't she wasn't
willing, she was too willing. She's willing to go with anybody
and be with anybody. And this is the literal case.
This is the way it is with us spiritually by nature. Tired
of hearing about that preacher, that's tough. Then go somewhere
else. Turn the TV off then if you don't like it. Because that
is what you will hear from this podium, the truth of God. And the Lord said to Hosea, go,
take unto thee a wife of whoredoms. Can you imagine? Yes, I can. Because God Almighty was pleased
to join himself to a bunch of whores like us. Man is as shocked when they read
this. as they are when they truly hear
the gospel preached for the first time. That's what the gospel
is. God Almighty's joined himself
to a bunch of corrupt sinners, a bunch of people who are spiritual
whores against God, whose whoredom is departing from the living
God. Men think they can kind of ease
the truth of God in all men and women. It don't happen. We're
in rebellion against God, and God Almighty must bring us down. Joe talked about being backed
into the corner. That's what God Almighty does. He backs you
into the corner and will not let you go, and you best hope
to God that he does do that to you. Can you imagine? I know there are people who hear
this. God told Hosea to go marry a whore? Yeah, and a bad one.
I mean a bad whore. And we're not talking about just
the young woman that made the mistake with a young love. That's
not what we're talking about. Did you read the book of Hosea?
Did you read about Gomer? Did you see your face in there
when you read about Gomer? Or did you see somebody else's
face when you read in there about Gomer? Well, maybe you didn't
even read about it. This account is gospel illustration
through and through. You cannot get away from the
gospel in Hosea chapter one, chapter two, and chapter three.
The only way you can do it is to shut up your eyes and shut
up your ears and say, I will not hear God on this matter. Hosea and Gomer equal God and
his shocking I'm gonna start using that word a little more
now after reading this. His shocking, matchless, incomprehensible,
electing love. Hosea loved Gomer. He didn't go just take her. Do
you hear what I'm saying? Hosea loved her. My brothers
and sisters, God Almighty loved us from all eternity. And he
loved us in Christ even when he knew what we would be when
we came into this world after the fall of our daddy Adam. And
he still loved us. Electing love, we see his providential
love here. This book of Hosea is about the
love of God. And even when you read about the judgments God
said will come against Israel, and even some against Judah,
and especially when Hosea uses that word, Ephraim, to describe
Israel. And judgment will come, but it's
always because of God's love for his people. You read through Hosea, did you
ever notice he's talking about Israel's gonna fall. And he never
talks about being loose with that Babylonian captivity. Did
you notice that when you read the book of Hosea? Isaiah talks
about it over and over. Others talk about it over and
over. Jeremiah prophesied that it was going to take 70 years.
Hosea never even mentions it. Why? Because he's talking about
something far greater than being loose from Babylonian bondage.
He's talking about being loose from that bondage that's right
down in here. And Hosea is kind of like that
little spurt, spit in the wind gospel preacher, but that's all
he hammers on. Just the gospel, the gospel, the gospel, the gospel.
And look at his book and how long it is compared to Isaiah's.
Huh? And yet Isaiah never touches
the love as defined and explained and experienced as taught here
in Hosea. I'm not saying he's talking about
different love. You don't see Isaiah having to do stuff like
this, do you? Oh, not only that, not only that
it talks about his shocking. You know, God's grace is shocking,
folks. Especially when you're pretty
refined. You read chapter one, verse two, doesn't that give
you just a little bit of heebie-jeebies? Huh? Go marry a wife of whoredoms. But that's what God does. That's
what he has done, what he is doing. Oh God, and thank God
for it. Thank God for his providential
love, his redeeming love, and his conquering, converting love
for his people. Oh, to be a Gomer. Do you hear
me this morning? Oh, to be a Gomer. Because Gomer had a Hosea. You
hear what I'm saying to you this morning? Oh, to be a gomer. No other woman in Israel was
blessed like this woman was. She had a Hosea. And what did Paul say to the
Roman, the people at Rome rather? Romans chapter six verse 17.
Go back and read it sometime and notice how he says it. The
first thing he says, but God be thanked that you were the
servants of sin. And I've read that and I thought,
well, why didn't he say, you were the servants of sin, but
God be thanked that you have from the heart obeyed that for
him. He didn't say it that way. He said, but God be thanked that
you were the servants of sin, but you have obeyed from the
heart. So he thanks God for what? Both parts. Do you hear what
I'm saying? The angels that fail have no
idea of this kind of love. They fail without love. They
fail without mercy. They fail without compassion.
And there are beings that can suffer just like you and I can.
The angels that didn't fall, Joe, they don't know what it's
like to fall. But they know what it's like to be spared from falling.
They see their brothers, we might can say, their brother spirit,
so they see them bound in this darkness when they fell, and
yet they see God Almighty becoming flesh and joining himself to
a bunch of spiritual whores like us. No wonder they stand in awe. Stand in awe. Oh, to be a Gomer. Because every real Gomer has
their Hosea. Do you hear what I'm saying?
Now, you know, to find a good old corrupt, down-home, drunken,
whoremonging sinner nowadays just don't exist. We're all pretty
refined nowadays, ain't we? And sometimes we like to think,
well, the only problem is false doctrine. It's all a problem,
whether it's unrighteous immorality or whether it's doctrinal unrighteousness. It's all departing from the living
God. and the heresy of free willism
will damn you just as much as drunkenness and drunkenness will
damn you just as much as the heresy of free willism because
it's all sin. It's all whoredom from the living
God. I have four things to give you
this morning and I gotta move along. Does anybody here relate
to Gomer? Can you relate to Gomer? Does
anybody here relate to Gomer? whoredoms, plural, plural. It don't tell us, but I figure,
oh, Gomer, once Hosea began to show her, we know that's true
as it came along, as things happened, she realized this man Hosea,
he's unlike any other man I've been with, and she'd been with
a lot. And I know there are people who
say, well, this really didn't happen. This is just a story.
That's the same way they believe about the gospel. It really didn't
happen. It don't happen like that. God don't really love people
like that. Oh yeah, we're all sinners. We
messed up a little. But God really is saving good people. No, God's
saving whores. Do you get it? He's saving whores. He's saving sinners. He's saving
the corrupt. And if you're not there, if you're
not a gomer, he's not saving you. He's not joining himself
to you, because he said, the beginning of the word of the
Lord by Hosea, and the Lord said to me, go take you a whore. Isn't that what he said? Can you relate to this? Out of
the heart proceeds evil. Thoughts. Thoughts. I don't have just a couple bad
ones, David, right? Outside of Jesus Christ, every
thought I have is self-centered and shot full of hail. Out of
the heart, out of the heart proceeds evil thoughts, murders, adulteries,
fornications, thefts, plural, all of it, false witness, and
in the Greek it means plural. Blasphemies. And this is what
affects us. It's not what we put in here.
It's what's coming out of here. It's what's coming out of here.
Now, can you relate to those things? I can. And I'm not bragging
about that, but God be thanked. But God be thanked that you were
the servants of sin, but Mmm. These are the objects of
God's choice. Did he not say that God's chose
to despise them? Do you think old Gober was an
upstanding gal in the community? Only with the guys down there
in Skid Row that wanted to give her $20. I'm sure she was very
popular with them. Don't you think? Huh? Mmm. Yeah. Yeah, that's the kind
God chooses. Look back at 1 Corinthians 1,
27, 28, 29, right? The despised, the weak things. That's what God's chosen. That's
the kind of people God chooses. You know what, I thank God for
that. People get mad about election. When God opens your eyes, you
thank God for it. Of course, he chose gomers. He
chose gomers. Anyone here a gomer? I'm a Gomer. That's what I am. And let me tell you folks, by
nature, I'm still a Gomer. Oh, but thank God Hosea still
loves me. And you know who I'm talking
about when I say Hosea now, don't you? God Almighty. Anyone here a Gomer? See how
God loves his Gomers. Here's the other three points.
See how God loves his Gomers. See God's providential love for
his Gomers. Let's look at it. Now turn to
chapter two, you're right there. Now think about this. Read it,
look at it, read it for yourself in verse five. Look at what it
says, read it for a moment. Just read it there. Look what it says,
I'm not reading it to you. Look what it says. Look at what
she did, you see it? Look at the middle of it there.
I will do what, look at what she says she's gonna do. Look
at what she says. This is the way Gomer was conducting
herself after Hosea joined himself to her. Do you see it? She's giving credit to her lovers
for everything. All my lovers. Now she married
Hosea. She's still down there on Skid
Row. Evidently David Wright got her little house fixed up down
there. Every morning she'd wake up and there'd be a bag of groceries
on the front porch. There'd be some clothes. some
wine, some oil, and what'd she say? Oh, my lovers, lovers, not
Hosea, my lovers did this for me. Oh, they're so great. And
she'd go and worship Balaam with them all the time, giving them
credit for all those groceries that appeared on her porch that
morning. And you know who it was all along that was bringing
them groceries and bringing that clothes and bringing that wine
and bringing that oil? That was old Hosea. Sneaking up there in the middle
of the night while she's in bed with her lovers and he's putting
groceries on the porch. That's what he was doing for
you. That's what he was doing for you. That's what he was doing
for me when I was still Dancing with my lovers and laying with
my lovers and I don't care if it's false religion or immorality
And yet God was supplying all my need Keeping me safe Giving
me food and raven and a roof over my head and I was accredited
to everything in this world that I loved and it was my God that
was doing that for me When I was right in the midst of rebellion
against God, he still loved me. Give him my groceries, Joe, I
need it. Even with my tongue, I was giving it credit to someone
or something else. Do you see it? Now let me read
it. For their mother hath played the harlot. She that conceived
them hath done shamefully. For she said, I will go after
my lovers that give me my bread, and my water, and my wool, and
my flax, mine oil, and my drink. You see that? But oh, Hosea then
says, remember who this is really talking about, God. Therefore,
behold, I will hedge up her way. We're going to change this matter.
And it's not up to her to do it. She won't change. She's having
a big time. She got a Hosea uptown and a
bunch more downtown. Right? Do you got a little bit
of free grace uptown and a little bit of free will downtown? Huh? You see what I'm getting at?
Do you got a little bit of this uptown and a little bit of that
downtown? That's the way we are by nature,
ain't it? I would give lip service to God, but our lovers are who
we really credit for everything. Hmm. But then look at what he
said. Verse eight, for she did not know that I gave her corn,
and wine, and oil, and multiplied her silver and gold, which they
prepared, turned right around and used it for the worship of
Baal. Yet God Almighty sustained you
in all that. Do you see that? Oh Joe, that's
grace. Anybody on this TV, you hear
this TV broadcast that upsets you, well that's just the kind
of people God saves. And that's the way he does it.
And until you find yourself being a gomer, you got no idea what
redemption's all about. Nothing, nothing. You see God's
providential care for his own? See gomers twisted mind and depravity? That's mine. That's yours. See who she honored? That's the
way we did. That's why he did it. But you've seen the reality.
Who was doing all this for us? Who was keeping us, sustaining
us? Even though we used it to fulfill our filthy lusts, it
was our God. Our God was taking care. He should
have killed me years before he ever converted me, Joe, and sent
me on to hell. And when I was down there in
that house with all my lovers, he was still taking care of me.
Now you talk about grace, bless God, that's grace. That's grace. Now, people today talk about
grace, God'll do this for you if you come up out of Skid Row.
Well, he's gotta go down to Skid Row and get a hold of you first.
And let me tell you something, even when you're down there and
you don't care about coming back, if you're one of his, he's taking
care of you and loving you right down there on Skid Row. I like
that kind of grace, don't you? Because I need that kind of grace.
Because no other grace will suffice on this old gomer. This old gomer
got too many lovers. I've got too many lovers. Hosea was caring for her, even
then. Even then. What a God of patience. Can I say that? What a God of
long suffering. Can I say that? Yeah. What a
God of love, even then. Now folks, if that don't charge
up your battery, you ain't got a battery. If that don't make
your bell ding-a-ling-a-ling, you ain't got the ling-a-linger
in it. It just don't exist, it's got the holes, all you got. You're
just shaking wind. If that don't get you riled up,
my God, you need something to rile you up. Huh? Oh man, what a God of patience
and long-suffering. And this conduct on Gomer's part,
where did it put her? Look at chapter three, it ended
up putting her on the auction block because even the things
that Gozaiah gave her, she squandered it for the worship of Baal with
her lovers. And look at chapter three, it don't tell you she's
on the auction block, but he had to go buy her back, therefore
he lets you know where was she. She's on the auction block. She's on the, that's where I
was. Mac had done sold myself out to everything. Squandered,
you remember the prodigal son? The father gave him his inheritance,
why did he go out and squander it? Squander it, squander it! And yet God Almighty, was still
preparing everything for, he had a, there was a fatted, Mason,
that fatted calf had been fattening for a while. Because that father's
waiting on the return of the prodigal son. And he said, well,
how do you know he's coming? Because the father we're talking
about is God. And he said his son down is the
shepherd and the woman with the coin, and he gonna look and gonna
sweep till he finds what was lost. I think Gomer ain't gonna
stay on the auction block. Now we see, here's the third
thing, we see God's redeeming love, do we not? Then, chapter
three, then said the Lord unto me, go, yet love a woman beloved
of her friend, yet an adulteress. Let us know this was after she
was already married to Hosea, right? Because now she's not
just a whore, she's an adulteress. You see it? According to the
love of the Lord toward the children of Israel. who look to other gods and love
flagons of wine. So I bought her to me. I want you to see that phrase
if you see nothing else. Oh, God help us. I bought her
to me. He didn't just say I went down
and put a price down on her. He paid the price that it would
took. Nobody else would touch this price. And if it wasn't
that old used up whore, probably wouldn't have give you a couple
pieces of silver for her. They could have got her for less than
that. up the street, right? When she was doing business,
they're probably cheaper, a whole lot cheaper than that, Joe. Here's old Jose, and what's that?
He forks out what? 15 pieces of silver, an omer
of barley, and a half omer of barley. Now a whole lot wiser
gospel preacher than me may be able to give you some of these
things here and deal with this, but I could give you this. Silver
one, let's be known as redemption. And that's by blood. But it's
also here meal. which is bread, which lets me
know, what did Christ say? Blood and body. Do you see it? In other words, Hosea paid the
price that would guarantee he'd get her back. That's the whole
point here. He paid the price that guaranteed
he'd get Gomer back. Our Lord said, I come to seek
and to save that which was lost. God had joined us to himself
in his son in eternity. In the fall, we fell from him. And he sent his son into this
world, and Joe, he paid the silver and the bargain. He paid the
price it took to buy me back to my son. The price was blood,
and the transaction was binding, so much so that the saints in
Revelation 5, 9 says, thou hast bought us to God. He didn't just
put out a price in hopes it'll work. No, thou hast bought us
to God by thy blood out of all of these nations, all of these
tongues, all of these kindreds, and all of these people. Aren't
you glad Hosea paid the price for you when he was on the auction
block? I'd almost figure, Mason, she
may have been standing there just completely naked. I don't
know. They wanted every top dollar they could get out of her, whoever
that was that had her. But Hosea walks along and says, here's
15 pieces of silver and an omer of barley and a half omer of
barley. And I bet you everybody else said, I ain't touching that.
No, sir. But why did Hosea do it? Because
he wanted gold. He wanted Gomer. Aren't you glad
he wants his Gomer? Huh? Because he paid the price
it took to buy you to himself. This redemption price paid guarantees
a change. Look at verse three of chapter
three. And I said unto her, I said unto her, thou shalt abide for
me. Notice not just with me, not
with me, yeah, but for me. for me many days. Thou shalt
not play the harlot, and thou shalt not be for another man,
so will I also be for thee. Now God is the only one who can
truly do that in a wretched whore like me. He paid the price and
he said, my price will stick. I'm gonna have you for mine and
you'll be mine and mine only. See God's converting love now?
Look at it now. Go back and you'll see why chapter
two. Go back and look through it. I'm not gonna read it, don't
have time. Let's move through it. See God's converting love,
his conquering, converting love. Read chapter two, verse one,
you will see this. It never happens apart from gospel proclamation. Say unto your brethren, not lo
Ammi, not lo Ruhamah, say to Ammi and Ruhamah, speak. Isn't that what it says? Say.
Speak. Preach the gospel. Because if
you look at it, chapter one, there's a low Ammi and a low
Rahama. Now he's talking about what?
The gospel now. In the very place it was said unto them, you're
not my people. That right there is the very
place where God said, you are my people. Most people think,
I can't understand it. I know you can't. All you can
do is experience it. All you can do is experience
it. You can't get a hold of God's grace. I can't understand why
Homer really want to go marry a whore. Who did I say, Homer? Did I say Homer? Hosea would
want to go marry Gomer. Would you? Huh? But folks, this is what God Almighty
has done in his son for us whores. Look what it says, see God's
converting, conquering, converting love, it never happens apart
from gospel proclamation, chapter two, verse one. It never happens
apart from gospel warning, chapter two, verses two through five.
He warns her, now all along Hosea knew he will take care of her.
But he's still warning her, yes or no? Read it, yes or no? Well, we're just trying to slip
the truth in the back door. You remember Earl told you, you
can't do that. Don't try slipping the truth in the back door, just
crash the front door down and say, here it is! Here's what
you are, here's who God is. Now deal with that. Deal with
that. It never happens apart from gospel
warning, chapter two, verses two through five. Thirdly, see
eternal love invade time. Look at chapter two, verses six
through 13. Therefore, behold, I will hedge up her way with
thorns. I gotta read this. And make a wall that she shall
not find her paths. Isn't that glorious? And she
shall not follow after her lovers, but she shall not overtake them,
and she shall seek them, but shall not find them. Why? Because
God's gonna hem her in. I'm gonna stick you in a spot
where only thing you can see is Hosea. I'm gonna stick you
in a spot where you're getting tired of your lovers and you
want that one lover of your soul. That's what he's saying. And
look, then shall she say, I will go and return to my first husband,
for then was it better with me than now. That's the prodigal
son, isn't it? That's you and I by nature, isn't
it? And when God Almighty hymns us in and shows us grace, then
finally, finally, Joe, we say, I will arise and go to my father. For she did not know I was doing
all this. See it, verse eight? Therefore will I return. I'll
take away my corn for a time. You see that? I'm gonna put her
in a hard spot. I'm gonna put her on an auction
block. Huh? To wear it honorably, she's mined
by covenant design and union. She's mined by purchase price.
You see it? Go ahead and read the rest of
it. See the eternal love invade time, invade Gomer's life, invade
Gomer's heart. Chapter two, verses six through
three. And then fourthly, see eternal love conquer the person.
Chapter two, verses 14 through 18. And let me read. Therefore,
behold, I will allure her. Don't you like that? I will allure
her and bring her into the wilderness. Why? Why the wilderness? Because
in the city, she's got all her lovers around. We'll take her
away from all that junk. You see it? Yeah, distractions.
Look. And, oh, look at this. Remember,
this ain't just about Jose and Gomer. It's about God and you
and me. And speak comfortably unto her. Oh, thank God. Thank God. And you go on and
read Isha as compared to Bela. What's the, you know, actually
the two words mean the same thing. But here's the difference. One
speaks of this compassionate love of God for his people. The
other one is just the religious love. Folks, we're talking about
free will versus free grace right here. We're talking about God
loves everybody and all kinds and this and that. There's nobody
in the world that God doesn't love and he's just doing his
best. That's Beli. Esha is God's God of people,
and God loves that one people, and he's doing everything to
bring that people unto himself. So let's conclude with this,
chapter two, verses 19 through 23. And this will be my conclusion. I'll just read it, make a couple
statements, and we'll shut this thing down. And I will betroth thee
unto me. Now here's the thing, forever.
Yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment,
and in loving kindness, and in mercies. And I, I will even betroth
thee unto me in what? Faithfulness. And thou shalt
know the Lord. and it shall come to pass in
that day that I will hear, that day I will hear, saith the Lord,
I will hear the heavens, and they shall hear the earth, and
the earth shall hear the corn, and the wine, and the oil, and
they shall say, what? Jezreel! God will sow. Now think about it. He's already
said Jezreel in chapter one with the sense of God will sow judgment. After God sows judgment, God
sows mercy. That's what he's talking about.
Mason, he don't ever sow mercy where he ain't first judged sin.
That's the whole point here. First Jezreel's warning. Warnings
against, what was it? Who is it? Jehu. Go back and read that story.
They're right there in the very valley of Jezreel. is where God
Almighty's gonna bring all these blessings. You see it? Where
God judged sin, that's the very place where God calls us his
people. In his son. Look. And I will sow her unto
me in the earth. And I will have mercy upon her
that had not obtained mercy. And I will say to them which
were not my people, thou art my people. And they shall say,
thou art my God. Folks, that's what grace does
to ya. That's what it does for ya. in spite of you. And when it does, there'll come
a time, let me put it this, there'll come a time you'll be glad for
it. Because God will what? He will
allure. Just like that bass swimming
around, could care less about you, he don't want around you.
You put that little bait down in there and you jiggle that
thing around, Mason. What's that bass do after a while, especially
when he starts getting what, hungry? Hungry, snatch that thing up
and guess what, you got him. You got him, that's what God
does. He puts what you need in front of you, then gives you
a hunger and a thirst for you, and you bite onto it, and he
reels you right in. And then he has you for lunch. Ha ha,
huh? Yeah, he has you for lunch. Aren't
you glad God feasts on us? It says Jesus Christ, and I will
sing praises unto God in the midst of the church. You know? Ellen, that boggles my mind.
And the angels are sitting back thinking, Oh my, what mercy. What compassion. What love. And folks, we know something
about that, don't we? And the angels sat back and had
no idea. Just marvel. Father, oh God,
keep this truth in the forefront of our hearts and minds when
we become distracted We'll begin to look within at ourselves and
become discouraged and even depressed, Lord. Oh, God, help us to see
your love for us in Christ. I thank you in Christ's name.
Amen.