Loving Me Like No Other Can part 2
Hosea 3:1-3 (Amplified Bible)
1THEN SAID the Lord to me, Go again, love [the same] woman [Gomer] who is beloved of a paramour and is an adulteress, even as the Lord loves the children of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love cakes of raisins [used in the sacrificial feasts in idol worship].
2So I bought her for [a]fifteen pieces of silver and a homer and a half of barley [the price of a slave].
3And I said to her, You shall be [betrothed] to me for many days; you shall not play the harlot and you shall not belong to another man. So will I also be to you [until you have proved your loyalty to me and our marital relations may be resumed].
I remember a few years ago I was watching Praise the Lord and there was a woman that was giving her testimony about how her husband was a pastor and he began to have an affair with a woman from work. As the affair progressed, he eventually left the ministry and his family, but she said that the Lord told her not to give up on Him, not to ever deny him access to their home or her and not to deny Him physical intimacy. I thought to myself it couldn’t be me. She said she held fast to what God told her to do and prayed diligently for her spouse, and eventually he was restored to her as a true husband and friend in every way and he eventual returned to the ministry as well after counseling and time to reconcile himself with God. Whew, I sat there thinking this woman had to either crazy or just desperate. When I turned off the television and prepared for bed I could hear deep down in my spirit the words, she loved him like I loved you and the rest of the people in this world which are my creations. I was humbled.
How many of us could face betrayal, and public humiliation and still continue to profess our love and commitment for a spouse that is in an adulterous affair with another person and acts without remorse? Probably none of us if we are being honest or at least not many of us. Most of us would probably want to mount up and kill somebody or at least hurt somebody really bad. But consider for one moment, when God created us, He created us for “His” Good pleasure. We were and are “His” workmanship, His prize possession. But for many of us our backs were turned on God and we became a lover of another. We at one time and even now are lovers of sin, we chose to do wrong even when we know what is right and we chose to serve another instead of the Almighty, but yet, God still loves us with an everlasting love, He still pursues us as man pursues the woman that has captured his heart. God loves us with unshakable, unstoppable love. His love has gone to the auction block to buy us back; His love that has bore our sins and carried our grief. God loves us hard and strong, for even in our rebellion He will pursue us and if necessary break our leg and place us over His shoulder and bring us back to the fold. God’s loves gives us His most precious gifts and gives us eternity in His presence.
When you think about the love that people have for you, do not think for one minute that is how God loves you. His love has staying power. His loves endures the worst of us to get us to the best in Him. His love cleans us out of our dirtiest messes and our smelliest of circumstances. It frees us from being enslaved to sin and shame. His love turns our test into a testimony, and gives us beauty for our ashes. It bottles up every tear and gives us joy in its place. It soothes ever fear and calms every storm. It strengthens us and restores us even when human hands cannot. God’s love knows NO Bounds!
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