Participants:
Series Code: WHO
Program Code: WHO210038S
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00:26 Hello, friends, I'm Jill Morikone.
00:28 And I'm so glad 00:29 that you have tuned in today for 3ABN's Worship Hour. 00:32 You know, I love this time that we have together, 00:34 this time to open up the Word of God, 00:37 to learn from Him 00:38 and to sit as it were at the feet of Jesus. 00:42 Has God called you into a relationship with Him? 00:46 Do you desire to serve and to follow Him? 00:48 If your answer is yes to those questions, 00:50 then this message is for you. 00:53 Maybe you feel like you've wandered far from God. 00:56 You want to come home to Him, you want to come back to Him, 01:00 but you feel like you've gone too far or done too much. 01:04 If you feel you are in that category, 01:06 this message is for you. 01:09 Maybe you want a fresh start, 01:10 you want a renewed relationship 01:12 with Jesus, 01:13 you want that renewed love relationship, 01:16 that first love experience with Him. 01:18 If you feel you're in that category, 01:20 this message is for you. 01:22 Our title is "Restored Relationship." 01:25 We're going to begin with the calling 01:28 that God has on each one of our hearts 01:30 and on our lives. 01:31 We're going to continue with the wandering. 01:35 Many times the calling happens 01:37 and then we might wander from Him. 01:40 But I love that it never ends there, 01:42 that we have the renewing, 01:45 the calling, the wandering 01:47 and then the renewing of our walk 01:49 and our relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. 01:53 Before we go to the Lord in prayer, 01:54 let's read our opening scripture. 01:55 We're in John Chapter 15. 01:57 I love this passage. 01:58 John Chapter 15, 02:00 Jesus talking to His disciples 02:02 right before He went to the cross. 02:03 John 15:16, "You did not choose Me, 02:08 but I chose you and ordained you 02:13 that you should go and bear fruit 02:16 and that your fruit should remain." 02:18 Let's pray. 02:20 Heavenly Father, we come before You 02:21 in the name of Jesus. 02:23 This is Your time. 02:25 We are Your people. 02:27 And we ask just now, 02:29 I ask just now 02:30 that You would hide me behind the cross, 02:33 that Your Word would come alive 02:35 and that Jesus would be lifted up 02:38 and we thank You in Jesus' name. 02:40 Amen. 02:42 Probably 13 years ago, I was walking on a gravel road. 02:46 Greg and I lived in the country. 02:48 I love the fact that 3ABN is in the country. 02:50 And we live on this gravel road, 02:52 and I was walking maybe half a mile, 02:55 three quarters mile from our house 02:57 and there's a little country church 02:58 down the road. 02:59 And I'm just talking to God and walking 03:02 and having a great time. 03:03 And all of a sudden I hear this little scuffle 03:05 and rustling in the bushes 03:07 and I thought maybe it's a squirrel, 03:09 maybe it's a chipmunk. 03:10 I don't know what's going on. So I looked over there. 03:13 And there was an itty-bitty cat. 03:16 She was probably six inches long 03:19 from the tip of her pink nose to the end of her tail. 03:22 And she had a very long tail. 03:24 But what caught my attention was how scrawny she looked. 03:28 How tiny she looked. 03:29 How pitiful she looked. 03:31 How hungry she looked. 03:34 And she definitely looked flea infested 03:36 and worm infested. 03:39 And I remember walking home and thinking, 03:42 maybe we should adopt this cat 03:44 and she looked so very precious. 03:46 And maybe I'd like to have her. 03:48 But she followed me home. 03:50 And I'd never met her before and she walked home, 03:53 and I remember going in the house 03:54 and telling Greg, "Okay, sweetheart, 03:56 we really need this cat." 03:57 Why? 03:59 Because I love her already, and because I chose her. 04:03 And Greg always says, we've had her, 04:04 we named her Pebbles 04:06 because she looks like a little gray pebble. 04:08 And Greg always says to her, he says, 04:13 "Your mom chose You, " 04:14 meaning I made the choice 13 years ago 04:17 when I saw her scrawny 04:18 and flea infested and worm ridden, 04:20 and just pitiful and so hungry. 04:23 I said, "I want You. 04:25 I want You." 04:27 That's what the Lord Jesus does to us. 04:29 I already told you the message is divided into three parts. 04:31 We have the calling, part one, the wandering, 04:36 and then the renewing. 04:37 Let's look at the calling. 04:38 This is the covenant that God makes the commitment 04:42 that He makes to you and I as His people. 04:45 Turn with me to the Book of Deuteronomy. 04:47 We're going to start there Deuteronomy Chapter 7, 04:49 as we look at the children of Israel 04:52 as God's chosen people, 04:54 and then we look at the correlation 04:56 between you and I today as spiritual Israel. 04:59 So we're in Deuteronomy 7:6. 05:03 Why did God choose Israel? 05:06 The Bible says, "For you are a holy people 05:09 to the Lord your God, 05:10 the Lord your God has chosen you 05:13 to be a people for Himself, 05:14 a special treasure above all the peoples 05:17 on the face of the earth." 05:19 So why was Israel chosen? 05:20 Why were they to be special above all the people 05:23 on the face of the earth? 05:25 Were they stronger than the other nations 05:27 around them? 05:28 Were they richer than the other nations? 05:30 Maybe they were more good looking 05:33 or more intellectual? 05:35 Maybe they were somehow more gifted or more talented? 05:40 Maybe they ran in better social circles? 05:42 Do You think the answer 05:44 to any of those questions is yes, 05:45 You know, when I think about as a child, 05:48 when you're playing games, and your classmates say, 05:50 they're choosing, 05:52 they have captains of each team, 05:53 and they're choosing people 05:54 and what what's the qualifications? 05:57 We choose kids? 05:58 Why did they choose them? 06:00 Because they're athletic, 06:01 because they're gifted in a certain sport, 06:03 or because they're intellectual, 06:05 or maybe they have experience. 06:08 Why do we choose people in business clubs 06:10 and in social circles? 06:11 Because we think they can give us something 06:14 or they're somehow rich. 06:16 We choose people for different reasons 06:19 than God chooses us. 06:22 Was Israel chosen because they obeyed better? 06:24 Clearly not. 06:26 Because if you study their history, 06:27 you're going to see that there's a great deal 06:28 of disobedience. 06:30 Why were they chosen? 06:31 The next verse tells us. 06:33 We're in Deuteronomy 7:7, 06:34 "The Lord did not set His love on you 06:36 nor choose you 06:38 because you were more in number 06:39 than any other people, 06:41 for you were the least of all peoples." 06:43 So they weren't chosen because they were popular. 06:45 They weren't chosen because they were intelligent, 06:47 or gifted or rich, or any of those things. 06:51 They were chosen. 06:53 Why? 06:54 But because the Lord loves you. 06:57 They were chosen because God loved them. 07:01 Not just that, 07:03 they weren't just chosen because they were loved. 07:05 They were chosen 07:06 because God always keeps His word. 07:09 Let's keep reading 07:11 the very next part of that verse, 07:12 we're in verse 8. 07:14 "They were chosen because the Lord loves you, 07:16 and because He would keep the oath 07:19 which He swore to your fathers, 07:21 the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand, 07:24 and redeemed you from the house of bondage, 07:27 from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt." 07:29 So they were chosen, number one, 07:30 because they were loved, 07:32 because the Lord chose them and set His love upon them. 07:35 But they were also chosen 07:36 because He remembered the oath, 07:38 the covenant that He had made with Abraham, 07:42 Isaac and Jacob. 07:43 Remember that covenant? He said what? 07:45 I'm going to make of you a great nation. 07:48 And then He promised 07:50 that they might go down into Egypt, 07:52 but that He would bring them out again 07:56 by a mighty hand. 07:57 There was a lady who worked at 3ABN, 07:59 this is several years ago. 08:00 She worked in our call center, 08:02 and she was one of the most honest, 08:05 ethical people 08:06 that I think I've ever met. 08:08 If she said something, 08:10 her word was as good as a signed contract. 08:14 Her word is golden. 08:16 I remember, 08:18 she would leave the office some days 08:19 and she might bring a paperclip. 08:20 You know, sometimes you're desking 08:22 and you pick something up from your desking, 08:23 you forget and you bring it home, 08:25 or maybe a pen, 08:26 and I can remember her turning around, 08:30 leaving her home, 08:31 driving back to work to return that paperclip. 08:36 Now I'm just being honest, if it were me, 08:38 I'd be like, well, I'll bring it in the morning, 08:39 and I'd leave it on the stove, 08:41 and I'd say it's right here in the pile to go to work 08:43 in the morning. 08:44 But her word meant so much to her 08:46 that she would turn around 08:48 and drive all the way back to 3ABN 08:51 to bring back a pen or bring back a paperclip. 08:54 Her word was always solid and it carried, 08:56 whatever she said, she always fulfilled. 09:00 Numbers 23:19, says, 09:03 "God is not a man, that He should lie, 09:05 nor a son of man, that He should repent. 09:08 Has He said, and is He not going to do it? 09:11 Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?" 09:16 Reminds me of Joshua 24:45, 09:18 "Not one word failed of any good thing 09:21 which the Lord had spoken to the house of Israel, 09:24 all came to pass." 09:27 So why was Israel chosen? Because God loved them. 09:30 Number two, Israel was chosen because God keeps His word. 09:34 And when He promises something to you and to me, 09:37 we know with assurance that that is going to happen. 09:41 Number three, Israel was chosen 09:43 because God delights 09:45 in taking what other people have cast aside. 09:49 Turn with me to Ezekiel. 09:51 We're gonna look at Ezekiel 16:3, 09:56 and we're gonna see this is analogy of Israel 10:00 being like a baby, 10:01 that's just newborn and that nobody else want him. 10:05 God delights in taking 10:07 what other people have cast aside. 10:10 Verse 3, 10:11 "Thus says the Lord God to Jerusalem: 10:13 'Your birth and your nativity are from the land of Canaan, 10:16 your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite." 10:19 Verse 4, "As for your nativity, 10:23 on the day you were born your navel cord, 10:25 it was not cut, 10:27 nor were you washed in water to cleanse you, 10:30 you were not rubbed with salt 10:32 nor wrapped in swaddling clothes. 10:35 No eye pitied you, 10:37 to do any of these things for you, 10:38 to have compassion on you, 10:40 but you were thrown out into the open field, 10:44 when you yourself were loathed 10:46 on the day you were born." 10:48 Now that word loathed in Hebrew 10:51 denote something hated because it is unclean. 10:56 So what's the Word of God saying here? 10:58 Saying that Israel was not a wanted child. 11:03 None of the usual birthing rights 11:05 were observed, 11:07 the umbilical cord was not cut. 11:08 The baby was not washed with water, 11:10 as you always would do with a newborn baby 11:12 for cleansing. 11:14 The baby was not rubbed with salt, 11:15 nor wrapped in any type of garment 11:18 or any type of cloth. 11:20 It was not pity. 11:21 Nobody looked on it with compassion. 11:23 And, in fact, it was tossed aside, 11:25 it was thrown out into the open field. 11:30 In the ancient Near East, 11:32 sometimes female babies would be abandoned. 11:34 And when they would abandon them, 11:36 they would toss them out into the open field. 11:41 God delights in taking 11:43 what other people have cast aside. 11:46 So this newborn baby, representative of Israel 11:49 that nobody wanted, that everybody hated, 11:52 that had been tossed aside into the open field. 11:56 What does God do? 11:57 Verse 6, "And when I passed by you and saw you, 12:00 this new born baby that nobody wanted, 12:03 struggling in your own blood, 12:06 I said to you in your, 'Live!' 12:08 Yes, I said to you, 'Live!' " 12:12 Have you felt like nobody wanted you? 12:14 Have you felt like nobody cared for you? 12:17 Have you felt like no matter what you have done, 12:20 that you were cast aside, 12:22 that you were thrown out into the open field, 12:24 that nobody looked at you with compassion, 12:26 that nobody pitied you? 12:28 God looks at you struggling right now. 12:31 And He says, "Live, my child, I want you to live." 12:36 But it doesn't stop there. 12:37 God chose to marry this baby when it grew up. 12:41 God chose to marry Israel, 12:44 meaning He wanted to enter 12:46 into a covenant relationship with this child 12:50 because this child belonged to Him. 12:53 Next verse, verse 7. 12:55 It says, "I made you thrive like a plant in the field, 12:59 and you grew, matured, and became very beautiful." 13:02 So Israel, the unwanted child that God wanted, grew up. 13:08 And then we see in verse 8, 13:09 "When I passed by you again and looked upon you, 13:11 indeed your time was the time of love, 13:13 so I spread My wing over you and covered your nakedness. 13:19 Yes, I swore an oath to you 13:21 and entered into covenant with you, 13:23 and you became Mine,' says the Lord God.'" 13:27 So that, that word I spread My wing over you 13:31 is symbolic of a marriage proposal. 13:34 It reminds me of Ruth and Boaz. 13:35 And remember, she said, 13:37 spread your skirt 13:38 or the end of your garment over me, 13:41 meaning, would you marry me. 13:43 So God here in essence is saying, 13:46 this child that nobody wanted, 13:49 you have grown up and I want to be your husband. 13:53 I want to marry you. 13:54 I want to enter 13:56 into covenant relationship with you. 13:59 Now this is, of course, we're talking about Israel, 14:01 but by extension, 14:03 it's referencing you and I today. 14:05 We see this in the Book of Galatians. 14:07 Paul has this analogy 14:09 between spiritual Israel and physical Israel. 14:12 We see this, Galatians 3:26-29, 14:16 "For you are all sons, 14:18 we could say and daughters 14:20 of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 14:23 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ 14:26 have put on Christ. 14:29 There is neither Jew nor Greek, 14:31 there is neither slave nor free, 14:33 there is neither male nor female, 14:35 for all are one in Christ Jesus." 14:38 So he said, it doesn't matter your nationality, 14:40 it doesn't matter your race, it doesn't matter your gender, 14:43 we are all one in Christ. 14:47 Verse 29, "And if you are Christ's, 14:49 then you are Abraham's seed, 14:52 and heirs according to the promise." 14:55 That means that the church you and I today, 14:58 the promise is given to Israel, 15:00 They are extended to you and I today, 15:03 the covenant that's given to Israel 15:05 that is extended to you and I today. 15:09 The marriage that was given to Israel, 15:11 the unwanted child who grew up, 15:14 that is extended to you and I today. 15:18 You and I are His people, the sheep of His pasture. 15:23 1 John 3, I love that, it says what? 15:26 "Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, 15:30 that you and I, we can be called 15:32 the children of God." 15:34 So does God call us today because we're special, 15:36 or because we're strong, or rich, or good looking, 15:38 or intellectual, or gifted, or famous, or obedient? 15:42 No. 15:44 He calls you and I, 15:45 first of all, because He loves us. 15:47 John 3:16, "For God so loved the world, 15:50 that He gave His only begotten Son, 15:53 that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, 15:56 but have everlasting life." 15:59 God calls us because He keeps His word 16:01 and He stands back of His word. 16:04 2 Peter 3:9, "God is not willing 16:06 that any should perish, 16:08 but that all 16:10 that we should come to repentance." 16:13 And He called us 16:14 because He delights 16:15 in taking what other people have cast aside. 16:19 Are you thrown out, or unwanted, or unloved, 16:22 or unredeemable, or unreachable, 16:26 He looks at you and me and says to us, 16:30 in our filthiness, in our junk, 16:31 He says, "Live." 16:33 But He doesn't just leave us there. 16:36 He equips and prepares those whom He has chosen. 16:41 Let's turn back to the Book of Ezekiel. 16:42 We're gonna finish this passage about Israel, 16:44 the unwanted child that grew up 16:48 and entered into marriage 16:50 or into covenant relationship with God. 16:52 We see here, 16:54 what God does to prepare the bride that He has chosen. 16:58 Now, remember that bride as you and I as His children. 17:02 We're in Ezekiel 16:9, 17:05 "Then I, that's God, washed you in water." 17:09 Now remember, in Ephesians 5, what does Ephesians 5:26 say? 17:14 You and I are washed with the water of the Word. 17:18 So God says what? I gave you My word. 17:20 You grew up and I loved you, and I want you to be mine. 17:24 I'm going to give you My word, but He doesn't stop there. 17:28 It says, "I washed you in water. 17:31 I thoroughly washed off your blood, 17:32 I anointed you with oil." 17:35 Remember, when David was anointed king, 17:38 Samuel the Prophet coming to him 17:40 and pouring over his head what? 17:43 Oil, and what does the Word of God say? 17:45 The Spirit of the Lord came upon David, 17:48 from that moment forward. 17:50 So God says, "I give you My word. 17:53 I will anoint you with My Holy Spirit." 17:57 But it doesn't stop there. 17:59 Verse 10, "I clothed you in embroidered cloth 18:02 and gave you sandals of badger skin, 18:05 I clothed you in fine linen and covered you with silk." 18:11 It reminds me of the fine linen, 18:13 the righteousness of Christ. 18:15 So when you and I accept Jesus, 18:18 when we hear Him, this is the calling, 18:20 when we hear Him calling to our heart. 18:22 And He says what? 18:23 I made you, I see you in your blood thrown out 18:28 in the open field, and I want to marry you. 18:31 I want to enter into relationship with you. 18:34 I will give you My word. 18:36 I will anoint you with My Holy Spirit. 18:39 I will cover you with my perfect righteousness, 18:43 that righteousness of Christ. 18:47 Verse 13, 18:49 "You were exceedingly beautiful, 18:53 and succeeded to royalty." 18:55 Not only does God give us His word, 18:57 not only does He anoint us with His Spirit, 18:59 not only does He clothe us with His righteous white robe, 19:04 His perfect, spotless character, 19:07 He calls us royalty. 19:08 1 Peter 2:9-10, 19:11 "But you are a chosen generation, " 19:12 what's that word? 19:13 "A royal priesthood, a holy nation, 19:17 God's own special people or a peculiar people, 19:21 that you show forth the praises of Him 19:23 who called you out of darkness into this marvelous light, 19:29 who once were not a people but are now the people of God, 19:33 who had not obtained mercy 19:36 but now you and I have obtained mercy." 19:39 So we become royalty. 19:41 Verse 14, "Your fame went out among the nations 19:46 because of your beauty, 19:48 for it was perfect through my splendor, 19:52 which I had bestowed on you, says the Lord God." 19:55 So Israel became famous because of anything they did? 19:57 Absolutely not. 19:59 It's because God had bestowed on them His favor. 20:05 You know, there's a story, 20:07 I'm sure you've heard about a man 20:08 by the name of Johnny 20:10 who lived in the South Pacific Islands. 20:12 And he saw one woman in the village 20:14 that he decided he wanted as his wife. 20:17 Now, the practice in the village 20:18 was that they would give a certain number of cows 20:21 for the dowry, 20:23 for their future bride. 20:26 So the most any villager had any paid for any woman 20:31 for the dairy was five or six cows, 20:34 which was incredible. 20:36 And the woman that he chose was not so pretty. 20:40 She was kind of playing. 20:41 She was kind of socially awkward, 20:43 and the villagers thought, 20:45 I wonder how many cows he's going to give for her. 20:48 Maybe she's a one cow woman. 20:49 I don't even know if she's worth a cow, 20:51 because she's not very pretty. 20:52 I don't know if I'd even give a cow for her 20:55 because she doesn't have very good social graces. 20:57 He paid eight cows for a woman who was playing, 21:01 a woman that nobody else wanted, 21:04 a woman that was seemingly cast out 21:08 into the open field. 21:11 He took her to his village some time went by. 21:14 And as the story goes, 21:16 people went to that village, and they went to visit Johnny. 21:20 And they walked in the door. 21:21 I don't know if he had a hut. They walked in the door. 21:23 And there was a beautiful woman who came 21:26 and she was gracious, and she was kind, 21:29 and she was hospitable, and she served them. 21:31 And they said, 21:33 "Whatever happened to your a cow wife, 21:34 because this woman certainly isn't her?" 21:37 And he said, "No, this is the very same woman." 21:41 Why did she become so stunningly beautiful? 21:43 Why did she become so gracious? 21:45 Because of the value that was placed on her. 21:50 Somebody said, "You're worth eight cows, 21:51 you're worth more than anybody else." 21:54 And that's what the Lord Jesus has done 21:56 to you and to me. 21:58 He looks at us and says, 22:00 nobody else might have wanted you. 22:03 You might be thrown out in the open field, 22:06 but I want you 22:08 and I will pay everything in order to have you again. 22:14 That is the first section, the calling. 22:17 Let's look at the middle section 22:19 of our message called the wandering. 22:23 We see this in the very next verse. 22:24 Unfortunately, we're still in Ezekiel of 16. 22:27 That Israel, they walked away from God. 22:29 Okay, so get this picture. This is where they came from. 22:32 No umbilical cord was cut, they were dirty, 22:35 they were filthy, they were unclothed, 22:37 they were thrown in the open field. 22:38 And God looked at them and said, 22:40 "Please live in." 22:41 He covered them, gave them His Word, 22:44 His Spirit and His righteousness and said, 22:47 "You are beautiful." 22:48 And all the nations around looked at them and said, 22:50 "Wow!" 22:52 Look at what God has done in the very next verse. 22:56 Verse 15, 22:58 "You trusted in your own beauty..." 23:00 They forgot that their value came from God, 23:02 they forgot that who they were was because of God. 23:06 "You trusted in your own beauty. 23:08 You played the harlot because of your fame, 23:11 and poured out your harlotry on everyone 23:14 passing by who would have it." 23:16 Why did they walk away from God? 23:18 He had given them everything. 23:20 Not only that, He had taken them from nothing. 23:23 And He had given them everything. 23:26 They became proud in who they were. 23:28 They trusted in their own beauty, 23:31 not realizing it was God who made them that way. 23:35 They became proud in what God had given to them 23:39 or the fame that they began to have 23:42 with the surrounding nations. 23:44 And they forgot that God gave the beauty, 23:45 that God gave the fame, 23:47 that the purpose of both of those 23:49 was to point the world to God. 23:51 That's why they were made a special people. 23:54 That's why they were chosen 23:55 that other people could look and say, "Wow! 23:58 Who is your God? 23:59 I want to know more about your God." 24:03 As an aside here, I just want to say 24:05 never, never think that we are special, 24:10 because we somehow have the truth. 24:13 That truth is extended to everyone. 24:17 Never think we are somehow special 24:20 because we were chosen by God, 24:22 because that call to be His child, 24:25 that was extended to everyone. 24:27 Never think that we were somehow wanted 24:31 because God wants everyone. 24:35 So let's turn to the Book of Hosea. 24:37 When I think of the wandering and Israel wandering from God, 24:42 the Book of Hosea pops into my mind instantly. 24:46 Hosea can be a hard book to find. 24:47 It is the first of the Minor Prophets. 24:50 If you find Daniel is the next book, 24:51 just look for Daniel and then you'll find Hosea. 24:54 Hosea was a prophet of God 24:57 for the northern kingdom of Israel. 25:00 And he was the last prophet 25:03 for the northern kingdom of Israel 25:05 before the people were taken into captivity. 25:09 The Assyrians would come in 25:10 and would destroy the northern kingdom of Israel 25:12 and they would take them. 25:14 Before this happened, 25:16 God sent the Prophet Hosea 25:18 as this object lesson 25:20 and to make a last divine appeal 25:22 to the northern kingdom of Israel. 25:26 It was a time of spiritual bankruptcy. 25:28 Idol worship was prevalent among the people. 25:32 It started with Jeroboam. 25:34 And it continued, they worshipped Baal, 25:36 they worshipped Astaroth, 25:37 they were involved in child sacrifice. 25:40 These people, the chosen people of God, 25:43 the people that God had set His love on, 25:46 put them high above anyone else, what happened? 25:49 They were involved in child sacrifice, 25:51 and growth sensuality 25:54 in these pagan ritualistic ceremonies. 25:57 Injustice and oppression were common. 25:59 In fact, no commandment of God 26:01 even seemed to be kept by the people. 26:03 God's covenant, His marriage with the people, 26:06 His relationship, it had been broken. 26:09 The unwanted child that God wanted. 26:12 Remember that unwanted child that was thrown out 26:14 in the open field. 26:15 The unwanted child that God wanted. 26:17 They no longer wanted their God. 26:21 They had turned their back and said, 26:22 "We're not following You. 26:24 We're going to do our own thing." 26:27 I believe the theme of the entire Book of Hosea 26:31 is the anguish of steadfast love. 26:36 You see, if love is temporary and fickle, 26:39 it doesn't hurt that much. 26:41 Unreturned love or rejection is no issue, 26:45 because weak love 26:47 will simply find another person to love 26:49 or another object to love. 26:52 If, however, love is steadfast, 26:55 rejection and unfaithfulness, it causes great anguish. 27:00 Love continues to go on, 27:03 even when the object of that love no longer cares, 27:07 tremendous suffering results. 27:10 Israel's unfaithfulness to their God, 27:14 it caused unspeakable anguish to the heart of God. 27:19 Hosea's broken family 27:21 is an example of God's broken relationship 27:25 with Israel. 27:26 We find this in Hosea 1:2, 27:28 this is the analogy of Hosea's family. 27:31 Hosea 1:2, we see Hosea's marriage. 27:34 "When the Lord began to speak by Hosea, 27:36 the Lord said to Hosea, 27:37 'Go take yourself a wife of harlotry, 27:40 or a wife of unfaithfulness, 27:43 and children of harlotry, 27:46 for the land has committed great harlotry 27:48 by departing from the Lord." 27:50 So I don't know about you, 27:52 but if I were Hosea, I'd be like, 27:53 "Okay, God, I don't think I heard you. 27:55 I don't think I'm gonna do that." 27:56 You said, "I'm supposed to take a prostitute. 27:59 I'm supposed to take a woman who's unfaithful, 28:02 a woman who just cast it to anyone. 28:04 Why would I want to do that?" 28:06 God said, "Go marry this woman." 28:09 I don't know about you, 28:10 but that would have been a tough order. 28:12 Go marry her. 28:14 So Hosea, he marries Gomer. 28:16 It was supposed to be an analogy 28:19 of Israel's unfaithfulness to God. 28:21 And you see, Israel, they had turned to other idols, 28:24 they had worshipped other gods instead of the Lord. 28:29 Because of God's steadfast love, 28:32 He doesn't possess weak love. 28:33 He could have simply said, 28:35 "I'll seek another object for My love. 28:36 I'm done with Israel. 28:38 Okay, I'll seek another object, 28:40 and I'll just make another special people, 28:41 I'm done with these people." 28:43 But no, because He loved them, 28:46 He was not willing to give them up. 28:49 So Hosea's wife begins to have children, 28:52 the first son's name we find in verse 4. 28:55 "Then the Lord said to him: 'Call his name Jezreel,'" 28:58 which literally means God scatters. 29:01 It was an analogy of the coming scattering 29:04 when the Assyrians were going to come in 29:06 and destroy the people. 29:07 The second child was born in verse 6, 29:10 and this is a daughter. 29:11 "She conceived and bore a daughter. 29:13 Then God said to him: 29:14 'Call her name Lo-Ruhamah, 29:17 for I will no longer have mercy on the house of Israel, 29:21 but I will utterly take them away." 29:24 Lo-Ruhamah literally means no mercy. 29:29 So the first child means God scatters, 29:31 meaning, the people will be taken captive. 29:34 The next child's name means no mercy. 29:37 The third child we see in verse 8 and 9, 29:40 "Now when she had weaned the daughter, Lo-Ruhamah, 29:43 she conceived and bore a son. 29:45 Then God said: 'Call his name Lo-Ammi, 29:48 for you are not My people, 29:51 and I will not be your God.'" 29:55 His name literally means not my people. 29:59 We see Gomer's unfaithfulness to Hosea in Chapter 2. 30:03 We're in Hosea 2, start with verse 2, 30:06 "Bring charges against your mother, 30:08 bring charges, for she is not My wife, 30:12 nor am I her Husband! 30:14 Let her put away her harlotries from her sight, 30:17 and her adulteries from between her breasts. 30:20 Let's jump down to verse 4, 30:22 'I will not have mercy on her children, 30:25 for they are the children of harlotry." 30:26 In verse 5, 30:28 "For their mother, she has played the harlot, 30:30 she who conceived them has behaved shamefully. 30:33 For she said, 30:34 'I will go after my lovers, 30:36 who give me my bread and water, my wool, my linen, 30:40 my oil and my drink.'" 30:41 Now, to me, that's reminiscent of Ezekiel Chapter 16. 30:44 Remember what God gave to Israel. 30:46 This was the unwanted child 30:48 who was thrown out in the open field 30:50 that God chose, 30:51 and God decided to marry 30:52 and God decided to equip and prepare. 30:55 What did He give to her? He gave her water. 30:57 Remember, He washed her with water, 30:59 He anointed her with oil, 31:01 He covered her with linen 31:03 with His righteous white robe of His righteousness. 31:07 And yet Gomer says, 31:10 "Hosea didn't give me any of those things. 31:11 I'm going after these other people, 31:13 because they gave me water, they gave me linen, 31:16 they gave me oil." 31:18 You see, the Israelites had followed other idols. 31:21 And you and I might be saying today, 31:23 "Well, that's great, 31:24 but I don't have any images in my house. 31:26 And I don't bow down to any idol in my house." 31:29 An idol is anything 31:31 that you and I place ahead of God. 31:34 If that is the case, 31:35 if anything that you and I desire more than God. 31:40 If that's the case, I'd say, 31:43 if we were honest with ourselves, 31:45 we probably all have an idol somewhere 31:48 that is taking precedence over God. 31:53 I remember when I was late teens, 31:56 18, 19, 20, even early 20s. 31:58 I remember praying, talking to God and saying, 32:01 "I'll give You everything, I'll surrender my life to You. 32:04 God, I want to follow You. God, I want to serve You. 32:08 But do not ask me to give You my love life." 32:13 Okay, what type of surrender is that? 32:14 I would say, I will give everything to you, God. 32:18 But I don't know if God, 32:19 You're going to pick a good spouse for me. 32:21 And I don't know if I can trust You 32:24 with that part of my life. 32:26 What was I doing? 32:28 Making an idol in my heart out of marriage. 32:32 Maybe you've made an idol out of children. 32:35 Rachel surely did, 32:37 remember what she said to Jacob? 32:38 Give me children or I die. 32:40 Seriously. 32:43 Sometimes the want for a child 32:47 and her case 32:48 comes between us and God and we say, I want that more. 32:51 God, I can't even look at You or anything else. 32:54 All I see is that. 32:56 Sometimes it could be a child 32:58 that you have that you put in place above God. 33:02 Sometimes it's our friends, sometimes it's money, or work, 33:08 or even your church, or music, or entertainment. 33:13 Idols take many forms and many fashions. 33:17 All it is, is something that is in our heart in life 33:22 that is taking precedence over God. 33:26 Hosea 2:8, 33:28 for she did not know, remember, Gomer said, 33:30 "I'm going after these other men 33:31 because they're the ones who gave me oil and wine, 33:33 and presents and all the nice things. 33:35 Verse 8, 33:36 "She did not know that 33:38 I'm the one who gave her grain, 33:39 I'm the one who gave her new wine, 33:41 I'm the one who gave her oil 33:43 and multiplied her silver and gold 33:45 which they prepared for Baal." 33:46 So everything God had given to Israel, 33:49 they threw in His face 33:50 and they offered it instead to Baal. 33:55 God's steadfast love is amazing to me 33:58 in the Book of Hosea. 33:59 He could have left them alone and without hope. 34:01 He could have left them 34:02 with their other lovers and said, 34:04 "Go find warmth and find food and comfort with your idols 34:07 that you've chosen to worship." 34:09 Remember, if love is temporary and fickle, 34:12 it doesn't hurt them much, 34:13 because unreturned love or rejection is no issue. 34:17 That weak love will simply seek another object 34:20 for its affection. 34:22 If however, love is steadfast, and that's God's love, 34:26 if it is deep, rejection and unfaithfulness, 34:30 it causes great anguish to the heart of God, 34:34 because that love, that love is going to go on 34:38 even when the object of that love no longer cares, 34:42 and tremendous suffering results. 34:45 We see that unspeakable anguish to the heart of God 34:49 when His people spurned Him and turned aside 34:54 everything that He had given, 34:56 but I'm so glad that story doesn't end there. 34:58 God calls us and sometimes like Gomer, 35:01 we wander from God. 35:03 Sometimes we go our own way. 35:05 Sometimes we forget that 35:08 He was the one who gave us all this in the first place. 35:11 And we turn our sights on something else that we think 35:15 is more powerful, or more mighty, 35:17 or somehow is gonna love us better 35:19 than the Lord Jesus Himself. 35:22 But God never leaves us in our wandering. 35:25 The last part of the message is the renewing. 35:27 And this is where God brings you and I back to Himself. 35:33 Hosea is called to buy Gomer back, 35:37 which is amazing. 35:38 So he married her, she's got these kids. 35:40 She left him, she went after other people. 35:43 And then God calls Hosea in Hosea 3:1, 35:46 "The Lord said go again," 35:48 He's called to go back to Gomer, 35:51 "love a woman who is loved by a lover 35:53 and is committing adultery, 35:55 just like the love of the Lord." 35:56 It's the symbolism 35:58 of what God was doing for Israel. 36:00 Verse 2, 36:01 "So I bought her for me, for myself 36:04 for 15 shekels of silver." 36:06 Now the price of a slave was 30 shekels, 36:07 so she was not considered that worthy on the market, 36:11 I guess if it was only 15 shekels of silver 36:14 and one and a half homers and barley. 36:15 "And I said to her, 36:17 ' You will stay with me many days, 36:18 you will not play the harlot, nor shall you have a man, 36:21 so too will I be toward you.'" 36:24 So Hosea says, 36:25 "Don't play the harlot, I loved you once." 36:27 And this is what God says to you and I. 36:29 I loved you once, I called you in the beginning. 36:31 I love you still, 36:32 even though you have wandered away from Me, 36:35 even though you turned your back on Me, 36:37 and I will buy you back, 36:39 so that you will be Mine forever. 36:43 That's what God does, Hosea 2:16, 36:46 "And it shall be, in that day, says the Lord, 36:48 'That you will call Me 'My Husband,' 36:50 you would no longer call Me 'My Master, ' 36:53 I will take from your mouth the names of the Baals." 36:57 Those idols that you worship, 36:59 those things that you have put above Me, 37:02 I'm going to take that from your mouth. 37:05 Verse 18, 37:06 "In that day I will make a covenant for them 37:09 with the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, 37:11 the creeping things of the ground. 37:13 Bow and sword of battle I will shatter from the earth, 37:15 to make them lie down safely." 37:17 Verse 19, 37:18 "I will betroth you, 37:19 I will marry you to Me forever. 37:23 Yes, I will betroth you to Me in righteousness and justice, 37:27 In loving-kindness and mercy, 37:29 I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness, 37:32 and you shall know the Lord." 37:35 You see when God looks at us, He calls us back to Himself. 37:41 He buys us as it were 37:44 back from the land of the enemy. 37:46 We're really twice his, 37:47 He made us in the very beginning, 37:49 He created us. 37:50 And then He looks at us 37:52 and we wandered and we did our own thing 37:53 and we went our own way. 37:55 And we followed after other gods. 37:56 And he says, 37:58 " I'm gonna buy you back from the land of the enemy." 38:01 And He buys us back 38:02 with the precious blood of Jesus. 38:04 1 Peter 1:18-19, 38:06 "Knowing that you were not redeemed 38:09 with corruptible things, like silver or gold, 38:13 from your aimless conduct 38:14 received by tradition from your fathers." 38:17 But verse 19, 38:18 "But you were redeemed 38:20 with the precious blood of Christ, 38:22 as of a lamb without blemish, and without spot." 38:26 We were redeemed with the blood of Jesus. 38:30 So as we look at this renewing, 38:32 and these promises 38:33 that God makes to you and to me as His people. 38:37 I want to give you in closing 38:39 seven promises that He makes to us 38:42 as He renews you and I 38:44 in covenant relationship with Him, 38:46 as He brings our broken relationship 38:50 back into right standing with Himself. 38:53 The first promise that He makes to us 38:56 is to grant us repentance and cleansing from sin. 39:01 Let's look at Ezekiel. 39:03 Ezekiel 18:30, second half of the verse. 39:07 Verse 30, 39:08 "Repent and turn from all your transgressions, 39:11 so that iniquity it will not be your ruin." 39:14 Verse 31, 39:16 "Cast away from you all the transgressions 39:18 which you have committed, 39:19 and get yourself the new heart and new spirit. 39:22 For why should you die, O, House of Israel." 39:25 What's God saying? He's calling to them. 39:27 Why do you want to serve those other gods? 39:28 Why do you want to walk in your own way? 39:30 Why do you want to do your own thing? 39:32 Come back to Me, return to Me repent. 39:36 And you see, repentance even in itself is a gift. 39:38 You and I can't conjure up repentance. 39:41 We can't say, okay, 39:42 I'm going to be sorry for what I did. 39:44 I remember as a little kid, my mom... 39:46 When my sister and I would have an argument, 39:48 she would say, tell me, "Apologize to Lynn." 39:51 That's my sister's name, 39:53 and I would go, 39:54 "Sorry." 39:56 Is that repentance? 39:57 Absolutely not. 39:59 That is an outward word, but it is not repentance. 40:03 You see, we cannot repent from our idol worship, 40:06 we cannot repent 40:07 from our own faithfulness to God, 40:09 we cannot repent from anything that we have done against Him. 40:14 Repentance is a gift from God. 40:17 Romans 2:4, 40:20 "Do you not know 40:22 that the goodness of God leads to repentance." 40:27 You see, even that repentance is a gift. 40:28 That's why it's a promise. 40:30 The first promise God gives to us 40:32 when He renews our relationship with Him, 40:35 is to grant you and I the gift of repentance. 40:40 I don't know if you ever felt guilty 40:42 for something that you did. 40:44 I know, I certainly have. 40:45 Our cat at home, she knows when she's been bad. 40:47 And I just do this, snap my fingers, 40:50 stamp your foot and she goes, 40:51 because she knows she did something wrong. 40:55 A child knows 40:56 when their hands caught in the cookie jar. 40:57 Oops! 40:59 Sorry, I wasn't supposed to do that. 41:00 And you can see it written all over their face 41:01 when they have done something wrong. 41:04 As an adult, 41:06 we clearly know when we have sinned 41:08 or done something wrong. 41:10 God says, if we feel that way, that's God drawing our heart, 41:13 that's the work of the Holy Spirit, 41:16 bringing conviction of sin. 41:18 1 John 1:9, 41:19 "If you and I confess our sins, 41:21 He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, 41:25 and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." 41:29 It's a two part, the forgiveness, 41:31 that justification 41:32 that coming back into righteousness, 41:35 right relationship with Christ, 41:37 and the cleansing act, which is sanctification, 41:42 Him growing me in grace. 41:45 Sometimes if we don't feel forgiven, 41:48 we might say, I might not be forgiven, 41:51 but nothing is further from the truth. 41:53 We are not Christians based on how we feel. 41:56 We are Christians 41:57 because of what the Word of God says about us. 42:01 Feelings are easily changed and they're fickle, 42:03 but God's Word, God's Word never changes. 42:07 Christ's forgiveness is instantaneous. 42:10 Christ's forgiveness is complete. 42:13 Christ's forgiveness requires no goodness on our behalf. 42:18 Yet, His forgiveness is dependent on you and I 42:23 asking for it, 42:25 because if it wasn't, 42:26 everybody in the world would be forgiven. 42:28 And we know that's not true. 42:29 We need to ask Him for that forgiveness. 42:32 The second promise God gives to His renewed people 42:35 is to write His Word in our hearts. 42:40 Hebrews 8:10, 42:43 "For this is the covenant that I will make 42:45 with the house of Israel 42:47 after those days, says the Lord: 42:49 I will put My laws in their mind 42:52 and write them in their hearts, I will be their God, 42:56 and they shall be My people." 42:59 God wants to write His law in our hearts and in our minds. 43:05 The third promise that He makes to us 43:08 when He renews us 43:09 back into that covenant relationship with Him, 43:14 is to cleanse us from sin and idol worship. 43:17 Turn with me to Ezekiel, 43:19 we're going to spend a little time here. 43:20 Ezekiel Chapter 36, 43:22 we're picking it up in verse 25. 43:25 You see the children of Israel, their issue, their mistake, 43:29 when they turned away from God was what? 43:31 It was all about idol worship. 43:34 They served other gods. 43:36 Our issue is idol worship as well, 43:39 maybe not in the same sense 43:40 of looking at those graven images. 43:43 Our issue with putting something else in our heart, 43:46 in our relationship that takes precedence over God. 43:51 Ezekiel 36:25. 43:54 The third promise God gives is to cleanse you and from sin, 43:57 and from idol worship. 43:58 He says, 44:00 "Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, 44:02 and you shall be clean. 44:04 I will cleanse you from all your filthiness 44:07 and from all your idols." 44:09 He promises to give us the gift of repentance. 44:12 He promises to write His word in our hearts, 44:15 He promises to cleanse you and I from sin 44:18 and from idol worship. 44:19 He promises, promise number four, 44:21 to give us a new heart and a new spirit. 44:25 The next verse, Ezekiel 36:25. 44:29 "I will give you a new heart 44:30 and put a new spirit within you. 44:33 I would take the heart of stone out of your flesh 44:36 and give you a heart of flesh." 44:38 Do you feel like your heart is hard? 44:39 Do you feel like you are struggling and saying, 44:42 "God, I'm not even sure I want Your way." 44:44 He will take out that hard heart. 44:47 He would take out the animosity that you have against Him. 44:50 He would take out the bitterness. 44:51 He would take all of that 44:53 and give you have a heart of flesh. 44:56 That is that experience of justification. 44:59 He doesn't stop there. Promise number five. 45:02 He promises to give us His Spirit 45:05 and enable us to walk in obedience. 45:10 The next verse, Ezekiel 36:27, 45:13 "I will put My Spirit within you 45:17 and cause you to walk in My statutes, 45:19 and you shall keep My judgments and do them." 45:23 He promises to give us His Spirit 45:25 and enable us 45:26 you and I to keep His judgments. 45:28 We clearly cannot walk in His statutes. 45:30 We cannot walk in His ways of our own strength, 45:34 but He promises 45:35 by the power of Christ living in us 45:38 the hope of glory, to change us, 45:42 transform us into the image of Jesus. 45:44 Promise number six. He promises to be our God. 45:48 Next verse, verse 28, 45:50 "Then you shall dwell in the land 45:51 that I gave to your fathers, 45:53 you shall be My people, He says, 45:56 and I'm going to be your God." 46:00 Finally, promise number seven. 46:02 He promises to vindicate His name before the world. 46:07 We see this in Ezekiel 36:23, Ezekiel 36, 46:11 jump back a couple of verses to verse 23. 46:14 "I will sanctify My great name, 46:17 which has been profaned among the nations." 46:19 Why was it profaned? 46:20 Because they worshipped other idols, 46:22 because they did their own thing, 46:23 because they turned their back on God. 46:26 "It has been profaned in their midst, 46:28 and the nations shall know that I am the Lord, ' 46:32 says the Lord God, 46:33 'When I am hallowed in you before their eyes.'" 46:36 What is he saying? 46:37 When they accept Him, when they allow Him 46:40 to give them the gift of repentance, 46:43 when they allow Him to write His word in their heart 46:45 and in their life. 46:47 When they allow Him to cleanse them 46:49 and take away that idol worship 46:50 and give them a new heart and a new spirit 46:53 and allow Him to give them His Spirit, 46:56 so they walk in obedience. 46:58 What happens? 47:00 His name is vindicated, because people look and say, 47:02 "Who is so and so?" 47:03 I didn't know they were... 47:05 Oh, wow, they're different. 47:07 They're not the same person that they used to be. 47:10 They're different. Why is that? 47:12 Because they have renewed that commitment to God, 47:16 that covenant relationship with Him. 47:23 We'd had our little kitty cat for just a couple years. 47:26 Greg and I came home from a trip. 47:29 And she wasn't there. 47:30 She always came run and to meet us 47:32 right out front of the house. 47:34 I was always excited. 47:35 Oh, here she comes, 47:36 because she'd hear the car pulling in the driveway. 47:40 And yet, we came home and she wasn't there. 47:41 And so we called in Pebbles. 47:43 She wasn't anywhere. 47:45 Pebbles, she wasn't anywhere. 47:46 We called again, she wasn't there. 47:48 And so I told Greg, "We need to find her." 47:49 And he said, 47:51 "It's dark and would never find her, 47:52 let's go to bed." 47:54 We can trust God with her life. 47:55 And so we went to bed 47:56 and we prayed over our little cat. 47:58 You can tell, we like our little cat. 47:59 Maybe it's because we don't have kids. 48:01 And so, we went to bed and the next morning, 48:04 I got up at 5 o'clock in the morning 48:06 and I ran to the door and I throw it open 48:07 and I called Pebbles, 48:09 and it's still dark and she's not there. 48:11 And so Greg went into work. 48:13 And I put on his old jeans 48:15 and an old flannel shirt of his. 48:18 And I started out in search of our little cat. 48:22 Remember, I had chosen her. 48:24 But yet, she had run away. 48:26 She was missing. She was gone. 48:29 And so, I wandered up and down the gravel road. 48:32 No cat, calling again. No cat, calling again. 48:36 And then I thought 48:38 maybe she's in the brambles and thickets 48:40 right across from our house. 48:42 And so I went there, 48:44 and instantly those brambles and those thickets 48:47 and all of that stuff forced me to my knees, 48:50 and I'm crawling through the brush, 48:52 dodging deer droppings, 48:53 and Poison ivy and paws into yank my shirt 48:56 because it would catch on those brambles in the spines. 49:01 I searched an hour crawling on hands and knees, 49:03 no kitty cat. 49:05 And then on an impulse, I went a different direction. 49:09 And all of a sudden, 49:11 I heard the faintest little meow... 49:14 Oh, Pebbles, are you here? 49:16 And so I ran over there. 49:17 And there she was way off in the woods, 49:22 long ways from home. 49:24 And so I knew that she didn't like to be carried. 49:27 She was a little afraid of me, 49:29 because she'd been abused before we got her. 49:31 And I thought she's never gonna let me carry her home. 49:34 But she's so tired and so worn out. 49:36 And so I thought, come on, let's go home. 49:38 And I started for home and she just looked at me. 49:40 So I reached back, 49:42 and I reached down and I picked her up. 49:45 And she didn't fight. She had no struggle left. 49:48 She just knew that I loved her. 49:52 And she wanted to come home. 49:54 Across the field we went, a dirty scratched up woman, 49:59 tired, and an itty-bitty little cat. 50:04 And as we walked, my mind traveled 50:07 to the many times my Father the shepherd, 50:10 had looked for me and called me. 50:13 The times He braved the brambles and thistles, 50:17 the miles that He had walked in my pursuit. 50:22 Sometimes I think I purposely hidden, 50:25 afraid of the holy God, 50:27 somehow seeing the idols that were still in my life, 50:30 seeing the sin that had trapped itself in there, 50:34 afraid that he would look 50:35 and he would cast me out into the open field. 50:40 Other times I got lost 50:41 and couldn't seem to find the way back home. 50:45 Other times I was just so worn out with the fight. 50:48 So tired, I didn't even think I could take another step. 50:53 Those were the times He would bend down. 50:56 Gently pick me up and carry me home, 51:00 close to his heart, close against His chest. 51:06 I don't know where you are in your journey with Jesus. 51:10 You might feel that He's called your heart 51:13 and you're not sure you want to make that commitment. 51:16 You might be in that wandering stage 51:19 where other idols, other lovers, other things 51:23 have attracted your attention from God. 51:27 Know that your shame, your shame can't separate. 51:32 Your guilt can't separate your past. 51:36 It can't separate. Why? 51:38 Because you and I, you and I are His forever. 51:43 He made us, He redeemed us, He bought us back. 51:47 And He is the God who stays. 51:51 Listen, as Tim ministers. 51:58 If I were You 52:00 I would've given up on me By now 52:04 I would've labeled me A lost cause 52:08 'Cause I feel just like A lost cause 52:13 If I were You 52:16 I would've turned around And walked away 52:19 I would've labeled me Beyond repair 52:23 'Cause I feel like I'm beyond repair 52:28 But somehow You don't see me like I do 52:32 Somehow You're still here 52:37 You're the God who stays 52:41 You're the God who stays 52:44 You're the one who runs In my direction 52:49 When the whole world Walks away 52:51 You're the God who stands 52:55 With wide open arms 52:58 And You tell me Nothing I have ever done 53:03 Can separate my heart 53:05 From the God who stays 53:10 I used to hide 53:12 Every time I thought I let You down 53:15 I always thought I had to earn my way 53:19 But I'm learning You don't work that way 53:23 'Cause somehow You don't see me like I do 53:27 Somehow You're still here 53:31 You're the God who stays 53:34 You're the God who stays 53:38 You're the one who runs In my direction 53:42 When the whole world Walks away 53:45 You're the God who stands 53:48 With wide open arms 53:51 And You tell me Nothing I have ever done 53:56 Can separate my heart From the God who stays 54:02 My shame can't separate My guilt can't separate 54:09 My past can't separate 54:12 I'm Yours forever 54:15 My sin can't separate 54:18 My scars can't separate 54:21 My failures, They can't separate 54:24 I'm Yours forever 54:28 My enemy can't separate 54:31 No power of hell Can take away 54:34 Your love for me Will never change 54:37 I'm Yours forever 54:43 'Cause you're the God who stays 54:47 You're the God who stays 54:50 You're the one Who runs in my direction 54:55 When the whole world Walks away 54:58 You're the God who stands 55:01 With wide open arms 55:05 And You tell me Nothing I have ever done 55:09 Could separate my heart 55:12 No, nothing I've ever done 55:17 Can separate my heart 55:22 From the God who stays 55:36 Thank you, Tim. 55:38 Are you grateful today that He's the God who stays, 55:42 that He's the one who runs in our direction 55:45 when other people go a different direction, 55:48 when the people that you have walked with 55:51 in this land of idols, 55:53 in this land of wandering far from Him, 55:56 and they turn away when you reach the bottom. 56:00 God says, 56:02 "I'm running in your direction. I want you as My child. 56:07 I love you. 56:09 I died for you. 56:11 Would you come back to Me? 56:14 Do you want the gift of repentance in your life? 56:18 I do. 56:19 Do you want the gift of having His word 56:22 written in your heart? 56:25 I do. 56:26 Do you want the gift of cleansing from sin 56:30 and being pulled away 56:32 from those idols that you used to worship? 56:36 I do. 56:37 Do you want the gift of a new heart, 56:41 a heart of flesh, a heart that's open 56:45 to the working and leading of the Holy Spirit? 56:48 I do. 56:50 Do you want the gift of His Spirit 56:52 that enables you and I to walk in obedience? 56:58 I do. 56:59 Do you want to call Him Abba, Daddy, 57:02 and know that you are His for ever? 57:06 And that nothing can separate you from Him? 57:10 I do. 57:11 Do you want to be part of a people 57:13 that vindicate His name and His character 57:17 before the world? 57:18 I do. Let's pray. 57:20 Father, we are Your people now, 57:23 and we thank You for that. 57:25 In Jesus' name, amen. |
Revised 2021-03-04