Hosea 1:6-7

Only through through the sacrifice of Jesus and in the  ongoing work of Holy Spirit can sanctification and transformation happen in those who believe. It is nothing to do with us but everything to do with  JESUS.

Through the tribe of Judah came the promise of Messiah… Jesus King of kings and Lord of lords.

Jesus now sits at the right hand of the Father until the world is made His footstool. It is finished. Joy in the Lord is our strength.

Karl Barth, “Joy is the simplest form of gratitude.”

This proclamation of freedom is echoed in Isaiah 61, which declared God's deliverance of Isaiah's generation while simultaneously prophesying of the Messiah, who would come and accomplish the ultimate end of human captivity to sin and death.

Isaiah 61 “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, Because the Lord has anointed Me To preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives, And the opening of the prison to those who are bound; 2 To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, And the day of vengeance of our God; To comfort all who mourn, 3 To console those who mourn in Zion, To give them beauty for ashes, The oil of joy for mourning, The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; That they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.” The New King James Version

We see the culmination of this prophecy in the life of Jesus. As He taught from Isaiah 61 in the synagogue on a Sabbath day, Jesus identified himself as the Messiah - both sacrifice and trumpet sound - the One sent to announce the ultimate Year of Jubilee, the year of the Lord's favor. His life, obedience and death bring eternal rest, freedom from sin, and abundant life for all those who believe in Him. First 5

Before we figure life out, maybe we can just live it.
Before we seek to manage life, maybe we can just embrace it.
Before we seek to analyze life, maybe we can just savor the moments.
Before we seek to control life--nice and neat and tidy--maybe we can dance.

To be filled with wonderment and laughter?  What would that look like?  And if I invited you today, would you say yes? Sabbath moments 

We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring, will be to arrive where we started, and know the place for the first time. T.S. Eliot

Hosea 1:6-7

6 And she conceived again and bore a daughter. Then God said to him: “Call her name Lo-Ruhamah, For I will no longer have mercy on the house of Israel, But I will utterly take them away. 7 Yet I will have mercy on the house of Judah, will save them by the Lord their God, And will not save them by bow, Nor by sword or battle, By horses or horsemen.” The New King James Version

The name used here, Lo-Ruchamah, (which in Hebrew means “not pitied” or “unloved”), could symbolize Hosea’s denial of fatherhood. Faithlife Study Bible

Hosea is supposed to have been of the kingdom of Israel. He lived and prophesied during a long period. The scope of his predictions appears to be, to detect, reprove, and convince the Jewish nation in general, and the Israelites in particular, of their many sins, particularly their idolatry: the corrupt state of the kingdom is also noticed. But he invites them to repentance, with promises of mercy, and gospel predictions of the future restoration of the Israelites and of the Jews, and their final conversion to Christianity.  Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary

Psalm 44:3 For they did not gain possession of the land by their own sword, nor did their own arm save them; but it was Your right hand, Your arm, and the light of Your countenance, because You favored them.

Psalm 44:4 You are my King, O God; command victories for Jacob.

Psalm 44:5 Through You we will push down our enemies; through Your name we will trample those who rise up against us.

Psalm 44:6 For I will not trust in my bow, nor shall my sword save me.

Psalm 44:7 But You have saved us from our enemies, and have put to shame those who hated us.