Welcome to this Daily PBJ devotional. Read 1 Kings 3, Hosea 7, and Titus 1. This devotional is about Hosea 7. When I heal Israel, the iniquity of Ephraim will be exposed, as well as the crimes of Samaria. For they practice deceit, and thieves break in. Bandits raid in the streets. But they fail to consider in their hearts that I remember all their evil. Now their deeds are all around them. They are before my face. They delight the king with their evil, and the princes with their lies. They are all adulterers, like an oven heated by a baker, who needs not stoke the fire, from the kneading to the rising of the dough. The princes are inflamed with wine, on the day of our king, so he joins hands with those who mock him, for they prepare their heart like an oven while they lie in wait. All night their anger smolders, in the morning it blazes like a flaming fire. All of them are hot as an oven, and they devour their rulers. All their kings fall, not one of them calls upon me. Ephraim mixes with the nations. Ephraim is an unturned cake. Foreigners consume his strength, but he does not notice. Even his hair is streaked with grey, but he does not know. Israel's arrogance testifies against them, yet they do not return to the Lord their God. Despite all this, they do not seek Him. So Ephraim has become like a silly, senseless dove, calling out to Egypt, then turning to Assyria. As they go, I will spread my net over them. I will bring them down like birds of the air. I will chastise them when I hear them flocking together. Woe to them, for they have strayed from me. Destruction to them, for they have rebelled against me. Though I would redeem them, they speak lies against me. They do not cry out to me from their hearts, when they wail upon their beds. They slash themselves for grain and new wine, but turn away from me. Although I trained and strengthened their arms, they plot evil against me. They turn, but not to the Most High. They are like a faulty bow. Their leaders will fall by the sword for the cursing of their tongue. For this they will be ridiculed in the land of Egypt." This is God's Word. And again, Hosea 7, verse 13e through verse 14 in the NIV this time says this, I long to redeem them, but they speak about me falsely. They do not cry out to me from their hearts, but wail on their beds. They slash themselves, appealing to their gods for grain and new wine, but they turn away from me. The entire book of Hosea describes God in a specific way that is emotionally understandable to us humans. God in Hosea is described as a jilted spouse who is totally devoted to his bride, but she is unfaithful to him despite his promises and goodness to her. That description shows us how our sins are a breach of faith with God and how God is wounded by our unbelief and disobedience. This verse and a half in Hosea 7, 13 and 14 shows us the heart of God. He said, I long to redeem them. And that shows how personally and deeply God desires to be reconciled to humanity. but the remainder of verse 13 and verses 14 and 15 describes why we are not reconciled to God. Our estrangement from God is due to the fact that people speak about me falsely, as verse 13e says. And that's a reference to the way that people blame God for our self-inflicted problems. These problems are described earlier in the chapter. Verse 1D says they practice deceit. Verse 3, A and B says they delight the king with their wickedness, the princes with their lies. Verse 4A says they are all adulterers and so on. When we sin against God and then blame God for our crappy lives, we speak about him falsely, as verse 13e indicates. Furthermore, instead of turning to God in our misery, people do not cry out to me, the Lord says, from their hearts, but wail on their beds. They slash themselves, appealing to their gods for grain and new wine, but they turn away from me. And again, that's in verse 14 from the NIV. This explains why the world is so damaged and distorted. It explains why people are so unhappy and why there is so much unbelief. The result is that, at the end of history, God will judge humanity for all of these sins. Jesus has provided an escape, however. from that judgment. Jesus loved us beyond what a jilted husband or wife would naturally love. He gave himself, even though we turn away from him, as verse 14e says. Jesus redeemed us from the slave market of sin that we sold ourselves into. And by grace alone, he changed our hearts so that we desire his love and see his goodness. As Christians, we need to be reminded of these things, because the dominant narrative of our times is that the problems of this world prove either that God cannot exist, or that if he does exist, he cannot be good. And these are the same lies that God condemned when he said, they speak about me falsely, in verse 13f. The truth is that God is more loving and more good than we can possibly imagine. His goodness is the only reason there is anything good in life at all. And there are many good things about life, even for unbelievers. God's love is the only reason that anyone believes in Him at all, not because He's hard to believe in, but because our hearts are hardened so thoroughly by sin. Take some time to think about where your life would be if God had not redeemed you in Christ. Then give some thanks to the Lord for all that we have in Christ. and then look for a chance to speak to others about him when they wail about their problems and appeal to other gods, as verse 14 says. God longs to redeem, and he is redeeming people all over the world. Let's be agents of that redemption. If you found this devotional helpful, go to my website, dailypbj.com slash subscribe, and enter your email address to get a free subscription to these devotionals. That way you can be in God's Word, and I can help you apply God's Word every day. Again, this is completely free. You can always unsubscribe. So give it a try. Go to dailypbj.com slash subscribe. And please support me financially if you have the means to do so, so I can keep making more content like this. Go to dailypbj.com support. Please share this with someone who might be helped to understand the ways of God better. And I'll see you next time. May God bless you. Hope you have a great day today.