Death and Resurrection
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Hosea 13:1-16, Exodus 20:2, Acts 4:11-12, 1 Corinthians 15:54-56
BY Bailey T. Hurley
I have had many mountain-top moments of faith through the years. God has delivered in some big ways. My response to these moments is always a string of renewed promises: I will pray more often, I will worship God more vulnerably, I will feast on the Word of God daily without fail. But hours turn to days, weeks, and suddenly I realize I’ve already forgotten the promises I have made to God. In Hosea 13, we are told how the people of God experienced the ups and downs of their forgotten promises to God.
After God’s people were rescued from Egypt, they promised to worship no other god except the Lord. But as you might guess, it wasn’t long before they began to fashion idols for themselves and give credit where credit was not due. Their punishment for breaking their covenant with God was to wander in the desert for forty years, with none of the adult generation to see the Promised Land! The peoples’ time of wandering is marked by many times of complaining against God, hunger, and thirst, but all the while God remembered them and provided for them again and again. Each time, the people would praise the Lord, and rededicate themselves to serving Him again. But along the way, they would forget of His great deeds, grow unfaithful and proud, and neglect God’s provision (Hosea 13:5–6).
I often remark on how ungrateful Israel’s response was to God’s loving-kindness. It is seemingly impossible for these people to be faithful to their promises, yet the more I reflect on my own spiritual habits, I realize I act much the same way. Just like Israel, I give credit to myself, forgetting all the victories God has won. I trade God’s invitation to come and be with Him for a cheap imitation of intimacy with my phone on the couch. I overlook the amazing thing God has done for me, what feels like seconds after His blessing has manifested.
But how does God respond to this ungratefulness? Well, I really have no reason to fault Him if His response is to “be like a lion,” but remarkably He chooses to “redeem them from death” (vv.7,14). Though He is rejected by His people, He still chooses to rescue them.
There truly is no one like our God. His forgiveness is not dependent on our ability to follow the law, “for no one alive is righteous in [God’s] sight” (Psalm 143:2). Instead, God’s forgiveness is dependent on the death and life of Jesus paying the debt of our sin. The God who rescued the Israelites from Egypt is the same God rescuing us today. Despite our failed promises to Him, God will keep us from death. Despite our unfaithfulness, God is mighty to save.
50 thoughts on "Death and Resurrection"
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I truthfully have found the podcasts for Hosea to be super enlightening! All of these ideas and perspectives that I just could not see myself. I’m not a researching person, so I just read what’s in front of me without thinking further. But listening to the podcast at the beginning of the week has helped me see more into the readings and take more notes!
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” O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself, but in me is thine help.”
Im sitting in awe right now, at how the God of the universe, the same one who made the stars, wants to save us from ourselves. Wants to save us from committing sins, and falling in a pit of despair. And He really does help. Even if we have made many mistakes in life, we find freedom in God. We can find forgiveness and truth. He takes my breath away. We are so lucky to worship a God who loves us even more than we could imagine,
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I pray that I would spend as much time with God in the good times as I do in the bad times.
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WOW!! WOW!! Bailey’s words really came through and made me really think and think hard! Am I really worshipping God and Christ the way I should be? Am I putting Them first in my life?
I decided to read some of the surrounding verses in the Acts scripture in a new Bible I just purchased — Thrive: A Journaling Devotional Bible for Women (NLT) — and the devotion next to the Acts verses had this comment that I highlighted; “Some may be able to save a life, but only Jesus can save a soul!” That also WOWed me today.
So sisters maybe we need to step back and take a good look at ourselves and ask “Am I really worshipping God and Christ the way I should be? Am I letting the Holy Spirit shine through? Am I putting God, Christ and the Holy Spirit first in my life? I know my answer; it’s no, not entirely not like I could and should.
Be blessed and let the Holy Spirit shine through you today sisters. -
I have a follow up praise report. I went for a follow up visit with the retina specialist and he said that my retina is stable. Thanking God for his healing power and for all who remembered me in prayer. So thankful for God’s faithfulness to me! Also so thankful for this community where the scriptures can be explained and requests can be shared and prayed over. I thank God for the authenticity of those here. It helps to know that you are not the only one struggling with the issues of life.
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Searching, thank you from the bottom of my heart for your prayers! Thank you to all who are praying for me and the little one.
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Maura wow! Praise God for your housing fund! And thank you for your insight on worry. I have been a worrier my entire life and sometimes it gets so out of hand that I look to other things to distract me from it as Mari V mentioned. It has been getting better with a renewed understanding of prayer, but it is still there. I will pray for you and for me and for anyone else who struggles with worry that God will help us to let it go.
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