Welcome to this Daily PBJ devotional. Read 2 Samuel 23, Hosea 1, and 1 Timothy 5. This devotional is about Hosea 1. This is the word of the Lord that came to Hosea son of Beri in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah kings of Judah, and of Jeroboam son of Jehoash king of Israel. When the Lord first spoke through Hosea, he told him, Go, take a prostitute as your wife and have children of adultery, because this land is flagrantly prostituting itself by departing from the Lord. So Hosea went and married Gomer, daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son. Then the Lord said to Hosea, Name him Jezreel, for soon I will bring the bloodshed of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu, and I will put an end to the kingdom of Israel, and on that day I will break the bow of Israel in the valley of Jezreel. Gomer again conceived and gave birth to a daughter, and the Lord said to Hosea, Name her Lo-Ruhemah, for I will no longer have compassion on the house of Israel, that I should ever forgive them. Yet I will have compassion on the house of Judah, and I will save them, not by bow or sword or war, not by horses and cavalry, but by the Lord their God. After she had weaned Lo-Ruhamah, Gomer conceived and gave birth to a son. And the Lord said, Name him Lo-Ami, for you are not my people, and I am not your God. Yet the number of the Israelites will be like the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured or counted. and it will happen that in the very place where it was said to them, You are not my people, they will be called sons of the living God. Then the people of Judah and of Israel will be gathered together, and they will appoint for themselves one leader, and it will go up out of the land, for great will be the day of Jezreel. This is God's word. The Lord told some of his prophets to do difficult things. He allowed others to experience difficult things as a result of their prophecies. The ministry he called Hosea to do has to have been among the most difficult. Hosea's marriage was to serve as a metaphor for the Lord's relationship to Israel. As we saw in today's reading, God commanded him to marry a woman and told him in advance that she would be unfaithful to him. Then, when she bore children, each child was given a difficult name. His firstborn son Jezreel was named after a valley. That's verse 5. But it was a valley where Jehu was killed, and where Israel would suffer a great defeat. Hosea's daughter was named Not-Loved, and his final son was named Not-My-People. Imagine the jeering his children took from other kids because of their names. Imagine how difficult everything about Hosea's family life must have been. Despite this difficult object lesson of judgment, however, chapter one ends with words of hope. It says, in the place where it was said to them, you are not my people, they will be called children of the living God. That's in verse 10, according to the NIV. Although Israel was unfaithful to God through their idol worship, and that unfaithfulness would cause separation in their relationship with God, the separation would be temporary. True to his word, God reaffirmed his commitment to Israel and promised again that he would complete the promises of his covenant. Let this encourage you if you are feeling defeated by sin and wondering if God will forgive you. God's nature is to be faithful and loving, and that means he is forgiving to those who claim his promises by faith. So claim his promise. and turn to him for forgiveness. If you thought this devotional was helpful, let me encourage you to sign up to receive it every day in your email. Go to dailypbj.com slash subscribe and subscribe via email there. It's completely free and you can always unsubscribe. Give it a try. I think it'll help you be consistent in your daily walk with God. Please also consider supporting me financially if you're able to. So I can keep going and serving you in this way, go to dailypbj.com slash support for more information about that. And please share this with someone else. And I'll see you next time. May God bless you. Hope you have a great day today.