Tag: Steadfast Love

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Donut Day

Daily Reading

Psalm 86-89

Daily Thought

I am writing this on a Saturday. It’s Donut Day, and always has been. When we were little, my brother and I went with Dad to help him choose the right donuts. Later, the teen years, we preferred sleeping in. Still, Dad disappeared each Saturday, before we or the sun arose, and came home with a pink box. I liked the maple bar and there was always a maple bar. I could count on it. Now I am Dad and Saturdays are Donut Day, and as soon as I finish writing this, I am off to get donuts. 

Psalm 89 proclaims the steadfast love of the Lord, forever. Steadfast, firmly fixed, does not change, a love you can count on. God’s love is bonded to his faithfulness, “Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; steadfast love and faithfulness go before you” (Psalm 89:14). Even when we were in trouble, and we often were, Saturday was Donut Day. Ethan, the writer of Psalm 89, says of God, “If his children forsake my law and do not walk according to my rules, if they violate my statutes and do not keep my commandments, I will not remove from him my steadfast love or be false to my faithfulness” (Psalm 89:30-31, 33). Ethan knows what Israel has done, that they are in trouble, but he looks to the heavens, to the sun and the moon, “a faithful witness in the skies” (Psalm 89:37), and knows that God is forever faithful, even when Israel is not. 

To be honest, this is a bit of silliness and not a perfect illustration, but still it speaks of family and faithfulness. Today is Saturday and there are donuts on the counter and I know I am in the right house.

Daily Prayer

Heavenly Father, You are faithful and true, and I am not. I am so glad that Your love depends on You, not me. I know I let You down, I blow it, and mess up, yet You are always there, forever true. Thank You. I don’t deserve it, but that is the way of grace.

As I draw closer to You, my God, I pick up Your ways. I learn Your love, Your faithfulness, Your grace. Draw me close, then, that I might reflect Your goodness to this world around me, so that people will know Your steadfast love and faithfulness, and that heaven is home.

Amen

Daily Question

Who would describe your love for them as steadfast? 

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The Lady Is a Tramp

Daily Reading

Hosea 1-7

Daily Thought

Hear the exasperation of God in the words of his prophet Hosea:

What shall I do with you, O Ephraim?
What shall I do with you, O Judah?
Your love is like a morning cloud,
like the dew that goes early away. ~Hosea 6:4

This, however, is not despair, but hope, for Israel is not the subject in this question, but the object, and God is the subject. It is he who will act and answer.

Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets;
I have slain them by the words of my mouth,
and my judgment goes forth as the light. ~Hosea 6:5

A prophet need not speak to be heard, and the Lord commanded Hosea to act out the love of God toward an unfaithful Israel; “Go, take to yourself a wife of whoredom and have children of whoredom, for the land commits great whoredom by forsaking the Lord” (Hosea 1:2). A word is repeated for emphasis, but certain words need no repetition to stand out. God called Israel a whore. Three times. If Israel knows nothing of love, God does and he will show her.

For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice,
the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings. ~Hosea 6:6

Hosea was commanded to “go again, love a woman who is loved by another man and is an adulteress, even as the Lord loves the children of Israel, though they turn to other gods” (Hosea 3:1). The lady is a tramp, yet the story is not about the morning cloud of Israel’s faithlessness, but the sun that shines forth when the mist burns away. God is faithful even while we are faithless. Our sin is less about the whore we become, but the God we betray. Fortunately for us, God’s love does not depend on who we are, but who he is.

God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. ~Romans 5:8

Daily Prayer

Wonderful God, You are my Creator, but how often I love the world you created rather than You. All the while, You pay attention to me. You humbled Yourself in love for my sake. You sought me and saved me with amazing grace and mercy, and the more I know You, the better I love You.

May I be not only an object of Your love, but a giver, as well. of grace and mercy to others. May I take this good news of Your steadfast love to a world that needs Your salvation.

Amen