August 8, 2021 | Hosea 4:1–3 DEVOTIONS This Month’s Issue Isn’t it fascinating to watch skilled prosecutors argue a case? They clearly articulate the charges brought against the suspect. Then they support those allegations with evidence, logic, and witness testimony. In today’s passage, Hosea called the Israelites into God’s courtroom because God Himself had a […]
August 7, 2021 | Hosea 3:1–5 DEVOTIONS This Month’s Issue I believe that love is primarily a decision, a choice, an action we take. Hosea 3 reinforces this understanding. In this short and summarized chapter, we return to the story of Hosea and Gomer. From the first-person point of view, Hosea relays a key conversation […]
August 6, 2021 | Hosea 2:16–23 DEVOTIONS This Month’s Issue I recently read a story by a woman who calls herself “The Restored Wife.” She and her husband endured years of bitter arguments, bankruptcy, an affair, and even divorce. She was planning to take her own life when God broke through and led her to […]
August 5, 2021 | Hosea 2:6–15 DEVOTIONS This Month’s Issue In the movie Fireproof, firefighter Caleb Holt fights to save his failing marriage by following advice found in The Love Dare. The book challenges spouses to make one concrete overture of love each day for 40 days. Ultimately, Fireproof is a story of hope, and […]
August 4, 2021 | Hosea 2:2–5 DEVOTIONS Read Passage This Month’s Issue Christianity has never existed in a cultural vacuum. For centuries, believers around the world have lived out their faith within that era’s language, customs, artistic expressions, and politics. In the book of Acts, for example, the Apostle Paul put his sermons into context […]
August 3, 2021 | Hosea 1:10, 2:1 DEVOTIONS This Month’s Issue Have you ever heard a salvation story so shocking it dropped your jaw? For the past several years, Christianity Today has compiled the Top Ten Testimonies of the year. Titles include: “How a French Atheist Became a Theologian” and, “I Thought God Could Never […]
August 2, 2021 | Hosea 1:4–9 DEVOTIONS This Month’s Issue Many prospective parents comb through lists of baby names, considering the meaning of each possibility. They know that names matter. In today’s passage, Gomer gave birth to her first child, a baby belonging to Hosea, and God named the child Jezreel. This name was full […]
August 1, 2021 | Hosea 1:1–3 DEVOTIONS This Month’s Issue Is there any concept as misunderstood as “love”? In romantic movies, love is shown as that euphoric feeling when someone catches our eye. In the news, we hear how love drives both heroic feats and horrific acts of revenge. On social media, the click of […]
July 30, 2021 | Revelation 22:1–5 DEVOTIONS This Month’s Issue In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, anxiety and depression ramped up among people of all ages. The isolated and unstable conditions, constant news reports, and conflicting information increased our feelings of helplessness and hopelessness. People struggled not just with the threat of illness but […]
July 29, 2021 | Isaiah 11:1–9 DEVOTIONS This Month’s Issue A beautiful portion of Bach’s Cantata No. 208 is titled “Sheep May Safely Graze.” Sheep and shepherd imagery is used to explain how people benefit when they have good leaders: “Sheep may safely graze and pasture/In a watchful shepherd’s sight. /Those who rule, with wisdom […]