Hosea 6:6-7
For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings, like Adam they have broken covenant- they were unfaithful to me there.






We were created for noble purposes. Foremost, to love and serve an incredible faithful God! We were not made in the image of this God to be less than powerfully creative and full of His love. I am convinced that our potential is beyond our human thinking, but that’s just it! We need to be thinking and acting upon the thoughts of God! I believe we are seated positionally in Heavenly places. Christ bought this position for us on the cross. Lets begin walking in our greatest potential possible here on earth.

The conflict arises as we walk here on earth. We are in a human body but we house a supernatural God, who is continually at work in us. People who do not acknowledge our God surround us everyday of our lives. Unholy media everywhere bombards us. Hence, the conflict I spoke of in the beginning of this paragraph. A supernatural, holy God housed in a human body living on earth. Wow!

How do we stay faithful to God? God was telling them how through the prophet, but
I wonder if the children of Israel ever really listened to his Father’s heart. They certainly were having issues with being faithful. I would like to look at some of the dialogue out of Hosea. It is so apropos for this generation.

Hosea 4:1 Hear the word of the LORD, you Israelites, because the LORD has a charge against you who live in the land; there is no faithfulness, no love, no acknowledgement of God in the land.

Hosea continues with the account of the Israelites wrong doings, their unfaithful deeds. He then says in verse 6 that my people are destroyed from lack of knowledge. Now lets keep in mind that this is Father God speaking his heart through the prophet Hosea. Do you hear the Father’s concern for as He puts it “my people”.

There is much more dialogue of God’s rejection of the priests and the judgments against Israel. I believe that even through these judgments God was acting in love. He cannot go against His nature. He is love. Comparatively we discipline our children for their good and well-being, God had to bring a stop to the chaos that was going on in that day. A spirit of prostitution was leading them astray; they were unfaithful to their God. A people without understanding will come to ruin and God loved them and us too much to allow this to continue.

When you continue to read on in Hosea you will see again and again the Father’s heart of love. He is so relational that He calls us over and over to come back to our first love. This love is beautiful, holy, perfect and fulfills us completely. We were not created to prostitute ourselves and carry the shame of unfaithfulness!


Hosea 6:1-3
Come, let us return to the LORD.
He has torn us to pieces but he will heal us; He has injured us but he will bind up our wounds. After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will restore us that we may live in his presence.
Let us acknowledge the LORD; let us press on to acknowledge him. As surely as the sun rises, he will appear; he will come to us like the winter rains, like the spring rains that water the earth.

His plea to unfaithful man is simply to return to Him. He will then bind up our wounds that we received through joining ourselves with the enemy. You see the enemy of our souls leads us astray. The enemy lures us into situations, habits, and relationships that appear harmless on the surface. This could be a slightly unethical business deal or just spending too much time on the computer. Anything that distracts, preoccupies you and takes away your interests in the lover of your soul has the potential to become spiritual adultery. We are left feeling empty and discontent. Our Father who created us in His image knows exactly how to restore us and bind up our wounds.

God loves us so much and this book (Hosea) beautifully portrays His heart for us. He speaks of fathering Israel and Ephraim. He says that He took Ephraim by the arms and taught them to walk. He says I healed them. I led them with cords of human kindness, with ties of love. I lifted the yoke from their necks and bent down to feed them.

Hosea 11:8
How can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I hand you over Israel? My heart is changed within me; all my compassion is aroused.

He is faithful Father! He will not give up on his children!

In the beginning of this dissertation I wrote that Israel had broken covenant like Adam. I say not just Israel, but mankind has broken covenant with God. We were in need of a mediator who would go before God and plead our case. This came through the shed blood of Jesus Christ. This brought us into fellowship once again with God and into a new and better covenant.

Hebrews 9:15
For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance- now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant.

So, the invitation is the same under the old or new covenant.
Return to the LORD!

James 1:17
Every good and perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness neither shadow of turning.



LOVE is the greatest gift!

It cannot be extinguished when once given by the Father of lights. He gives perfect gifts. The love of the Father once experienced cannot be satisfied from any other source fully. His love is complete. It is completely good! It fills every crevice of your heart and soul. It leaves you feeling very satisfied, but also desiring more of His encounters.

In my humanity I do my best to love my husband, children, grandchildren, parents and friends, but I guarantee you I fall short. Why? My love is imperfect apart from Christ mingling his love with mine.

I struggle to love unconditionally. I believe knowing how to love is a learned behavior. Our parents modeled for us how to give and receive love. This may have been a good model or a poor one. Unfortunately we cannot choose who parents us. This is where problems arise especially in a marriage relationship. One person may come from a very loving and giving home whereas the other one may have been raised with little or no outward affection. I am not a psychologist, but I can sure see where that would cause issues.

When we come into the Kingdom of Love, we have a new model to follow. It is a perfect one. We learn how to love by reading about Jesus’ relationship with his Father. We also observe his interaction with his disciples and with sinners as a guide. He always operated from the position of complete and perfect love.

When we were children we modeled our parents love. Now as children of God we model our Father’s and our Savior’s love. So, how do we do this? Simply stated, we practice what we see happening in the word of God. Also, we have the Holy Spirit living in us giving us divine help. We are not alone.

John 16:7
Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send him to you.

John 16:13
However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth, for He will not speak on His own (authority) but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.

Jesus does not leave us alone with only his good example to follow. We have the very spirit of Jesus living inside of us. So, how do we utilize this power of the Holy Spirit?
I believe the very first step is to completely surrender to Him. We do this upon our conversion, but it is an ongoing process.

Lets look at these examples. I might say:

“I cannot do this on my own anymore, I need your help Holy Spirit. I surrender my will to your beautiful plan for me.”

“I cannot love my co-worker because she is constantly nit-picking and badgering me. I surrender this to you and ask for your divine intervention.”

“I cannot love my husband because he is constantly doubting me and questioning my ability to run our household. I surrender my bad feelings towards him, and I ask Holy Spirit for you to give me your heart for my husband.”

We need the Father’s way of loving people. The Father’s love is perfect and His love strengthens those who encounter it. This love is never fake or dishonest. It is true, right, and always good. It will change you as you surrender your will to His. My prayer for many years has been to be perfected in His love. I ask for this, because I am so deficient in perfect love. There is an amazing thing that happens as we begin to surrender, and also as we pray for that person we are struggling to love. Father begins to show us this person through His eyes of complete and perfect love. It changes your heart. Father may give you insight into why this person is so hard to love. When you experience this kind of encounter you go away a little more perfected in His love.

This is such a beautiful process of exchanging our humanity with his divine nature!

I said earlier that it is not a fake expression of love. Why? Because we have been supernaturally touched and our heart is made more tender towards the one who has offended us. Something truly has changed and we know it deep inside. If only the whole world could love this way, how different things would be. The love of the Father satisfies us deep within. As we are continually filled with his love our strivings cease. I am no longer demanding selfishly. I no longer desire things that I cannot have.

The bible makes a clear distinction between the acts of the flesh and the fruit of the Spirit.

Galatians 5:19-21
The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity, and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like.

Galatians 5:22-23
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control

I would very much prefer the fruit of the Spirit operating in and through me. This is not a pie in the sky doctrine or dream. This can be your life surrendered to Jesus. He wants to meet you and fill you completely with His love!