This is our God.

Isaiah 25:6-9. The strength of this passage is in its beauty, its generosity, its assurance,and its unwavering hope. This is our God. Read it slowly. Read it imaginatively. Read it as the future reaching back into the present. Read it in hope.


The LORD of hosts will prepare a lavish banquet for all people on this mountain;
A banquet of aged wine, choice pieces with marrow,
And refined, aged wine.
And on this mountain He will swallow up the covering which is over all peoples,
Even the veil which is stretched over all nations.
He will swallow up death for all time,
And the Lord GOD will wipe tears away from all faces,
And He will remove the reproach of His people from all the earth;
For the Lord has spoken.
And it will be said on that day,
"Behold, this is our God for whom we have waited that He might save us.
This is the LORD for whom we have waited;
Let us rejoice and be glad in His salvation."


So be it.

~lg

Hosea 6

The clouds are heavy with the knowledge of the LORD. A storm is brewing over the plain, and those who are not afraid of the weight of glory are bidden to return. He has torn us, but He will heal us. Our lack of knowledge has destroyed us, driven us to the desert, to death. This flood will be our salvation. Come if you will, but come trembling, for the LORD's goodness is fierce and holy. Two days more, and He will revive us. He will raise us up on the third day. Hurry, let us press on toward the dawn, toward our spring.

Leave behind your meaningless sacrifices; He is not there. Run to the plain of mercy. He will meet us on the third day, on the third day, we will live. On the third day, we will know Him.


~lg

Hosea 1

Hosea - Would I offer my life, my heartbreak as willingly as you? Would I align my heart with God's through suffering? Would I accept the names He gives? Would I hear the promise through cries of betrayal?

~lg

seeking

I will seek you . . . till I know that what is unknown is meant to be a mystery.
I will seek you . . . till I know your heart, not just your will.
I will seek you . . . till trust permeates fear, uncertainty and aimlessness.
I will seek you . . . till the lost is found only in you.

~lg

the way in

The way into Christ is through a sacred door of body and blood, broken open by the Spirit’s breath.
Hear him whisper from the cross, through his pain and through his loss, “come up here.” Through his broken hands and side we may find a place to hide; plunge your soul in blood and water, sinners become sons and daughters. The only way up is in, into the sacrifice, into scarlet love, crawling into Christ’s heart through his brokenness. You are in him and he is in you when you eat and drink, by faith entering the narrow path through Calvary’s splinters. Here is intimacy, here is love.


~lg