8. 4 “I WILL HEAL THEIR WAYWARDNESS
AND LOVE THEM FREELY,
FOR MY ANGER HAS TURNED AWAY FROM THEM.
5 I WILL BE LIKE THE DEW TO ISRAEL;
HE WILL BLOSSOM LIKE A LILY.
HOSEA 14
9. LIKE A CEDAR OF
LEBANON
HE WILL SEND DOWN
HIS ROOTS;
6 HIS YOUNG SHOOTS
WILL GROW.
HIS SPLENDOR WILL BE
LIKE AN OLIVE TREE,
HIS FRAGRANCE LIKE A
CEDAR OF LEBANON.
7 MEN WILL DWELL AGAIN
HOSEA 14 IN HIS SHADE.
10. HE WILL FLOURISH LIKE THE GRAIN.
HE WILL BLOSSOM LIKE A VINE,
AND HIS FAME WILL BE LIKE THE WINE
FROM LEBANON.
8 O EPHRAIM, WHAT MORE HAVE I TO DO
WITH IDOLS?
I WILL ANSWER HIM AND CARE FOR HIM.
I AM LIKE A GREEN PINE TREE;
YOUR FRUITFULNESS COMES FROM ME.”
HOSEA 14
11. 1Peter 1 3 Praise be to the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he
has given us new birth into a living hope
through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from
the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that can
never perish, spoil or fade.
15. Am I good Have I repented
enough yet? enough yet?
never enough.
16. Am I good Have I repented Have I served
enough yet? enough yet? enough yet?
never enough.
17. Am I good Have I repented Have I served Have I sacrificed
enough yet? enough yet? enough yet? enough yet?
never enough.
18. Am I good Have I repented Have I served Have I sacrificed
enough yet? enough yet? enough yet? enough yet?
Have I suffered
enough yet?
never enough.
19. Am I good Have I repented Have I served Have I sacrificed
enough yet? enough yet? enough yet? enough yet?
Have I suffered Have I read the
enough yet? Bible enough yet?
never enough.
20. Am I good Have I repented Have I served Have I sacrificed
enough yet? enough yet? enough yet? enough yet?
Have I suffered Have I read the Have I witnessed
enough yet? Bible enough yet? enough yet?
never enough.
21. Am I good Have I repented Have I served Have I sacrificed
enough yet? enough yet? enough yet? enough yet?
Have I suffered Have I read the Have I witnessed Have I loved the
enough yet? Bible enough yet? enough yet? poor enough yet?
never enough.
22. 25 HUSBANDS, LOVE YOUR WIVES, JUST AS CHRIST LOVED THE
CHURCH AND GAVE HIMSELF UP FOR HER
26 TO MAKE HER HOLY, CLEANSING HER BY THE WASHING
WITH WATER THROUGH THE WORD,
27 AND TO PRESENT HER TO HIMSELF AS A RADIANT CHURCH,
WITHOUT STAIN OR WRINKLE OR ANY OTHER BLEMISH, BUT
HOLY AND BLAMELESS.
EPHESIANS 5
23. "God’s love does not find, but
creates, that which is lovable to it."
m a r t i n l u t h e r
24. 28 IN THIS SAME WAY, HUSBANDS
OUGHT TO LOVE THEIR WIVES AS
THEIR OWN BODIES.
HE WHO LOVES HIS WIFE LOVES
HIMSELF. 29 AFTER ALL, NO ONE
EVER HATED THEIR OWN BODY,
BUT THEY FEED AND CARE FOR
THEIR BODY, JUST AS CHRIST DOES
THE CHURCH—
30 FOR WE ARE MEMBERS OF HIS
BODY.
EPHESIANS 5
25. GOD LOVES
WHAT IS SINFUL,
BAD, FOOLISH,
WEAK AND
HATEFUL, IN
ORDER TO MAKE
IT BEAUTIFUL
AND GOOD AND
WISE AND
RIGHTEOUS. martin luther
26. FOR SINNERS
ARE BEAUTIFUL
BECAUSE THEY
ARE LOVED; THEY
ARE NOT LOVED
BECAUSE THEY
martin luther ARE BEAUTIFUL.
There was a time when most little girls dreamed about one day becoming a bride. My sister never lost sight of that dream.\nCan still remember, even as a toddler, how my big sister Melinda would make-believe that she was some lucky guy’s bride.\nUsed to put a baby blanket over her head and eyes, pretending it was her veil. Then she would stutter-step down our long, dark hallway as if she were going to meet her groom.\nShe must have been no more than 4 one night when Dad called her to take a bath. With the baby blanket still over her head and eyes, Melinda stutter-stepped her way towards the bathroom where Dad was waiting.\nShe grabbed what she thought was the knob to the bathroom door, but it was the wrong door. Blinded by the blanket, she’d opened the door to the basement-chasm, 15 feet below her little feet.\nSince my father hadn’t yet installed the stairs, that door was supposed to be nailed shut. But that fateful night, all it took was a little girl’s hand to turn the knob and the forbidden door swung silently open.\nMy sister hit head first on the unfinished concrete floor below before she screamed. Her fractured skull was bleeding profusely as both my parents rushed outside to get downstairs to their little girl. Ambulance took my big sister away and she didn’t come home for weeks. Her skull healed and her brain seemed unharmed. But I’m not sure that my parents’ marriage was ever the same. Yet even after such a traumatic and painful event, it wasn’t long before Melinda was playing “Here Comes the Bride” again. Years later, after marrying Emery, the love of her life, and then seeing cancer steal him at age 32, my sister still wasn’t done with being a bride. Several years later, she met another wonderful man. She was definitely older and scarred by years of hurt and hardship. But knowing that someone “hesed” loved her, she was still eager to be a RADIANT BRIDE once more.\n
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My sister’s second marriage was tested again by CANCER, but this time the cancer attacked her. In spite of all the prayers and the combined efforts of her medical team, my sister finally died before turning 50. But when the resurrected Jesus came to take her in his arms to heaven, he came to her, dressed as her GROOM. Lovingly clothed her a white wedding gown and welcomed her home as his BRIDE.\nExcept this time, she didn’t have to worry about making herself beautiful. Didn’t need to resolve her anguish over leaving her husband and three children behind. Didn’t need to iron out the complicated relational history she had with Mom. Didn’t have and, this time, didn’t need all kinds of time to make her groom think she was perfect. All she needed was to let her Holy Groom lavish her with His love and mercy and to receive His love by loving him back. \n
