Everyday Truth with Kurt Skelly Kurt Skelly

Hosea 4:1-8
It is not a knowledge about God that prevents the destruction of a life or an institution; it is a knowledge of God that secures us. The people of Israel had rejected their relationship with God, refusing to know Him in any real and relational way. Without a knowledge of God, the people acted in the most selfish ways with a total lack of regard for their fellow man. God placed a special accountability on the priests because they were not teaching the Word of God. Instead, they were imitating and benefiting from the sinful behaviors of the people. What a mess!

Hosea 3:1-5
What if the wife you loved walked out on you? What if she cheated on you in the most hurtful way? What if she did this over and over again? Divorce, right? Vengeance, perhaps? But God’s command was entirely different! Love her. Go get her. Pay whatever price to secure her. Restore her. Be faithful to her. Astounding! (And that’s the way that God loves us.)

Hosea 2:18-23
Through the years, God’s covenant people have not had the best testimony. In the Old Testament, many of the individuals who were among the elect nation made the unfortunate, individual choice to reject God. Does that mean that God has abrogated His covenant with His people. Can hardened people ever come back to God? Is there hope for those who do not currently enjoy a relationship with God?

Hosea 2:10-17
When people stubbornly pursue satisfaction in their sinful choices, trite temptations, and empty idols, God uses various means to get their attention. At times, he removes physical blessings. Other times, he takes the joy of sinful pleasure away. At the extreme, He allows a place of utter emptiness and desertion. But it’s in that place that His presence, His love, and His offer of hope greatly abound.

Hosea 2:6-9
Two ways that God gets our attention when we persistently pursue our temptations: (1) He makes them less accessible and satisfying. Our efforts to pursue them increase, but our achieving them and being satisfied by them decreases. (2) He removes His own blessings of protection and provision so that we can learn how truly fruitless life is without His involvement.

Nehemiah 4
from the series "When God Interrupts Your Life"