FORGIVENESS

READING THE WORD OF GOD

Hosea 14:1-9

Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God, for your sins have brought you down.Bring your confessions, and return to the Lord.Say to him, “Forgive all our sins and graciously receive us, so that we may offer you our praises. Assyria cannot save us, nor can our warhorses. Never again will we say to the idols we have made, ‘You are our gods.’No, in you alone do the orphans find mercy.” The Lord says, “Then I will heal you of your faithlessness; my love will know no bounds, for my anger will be gone forever. I will be to Israel like a refreshing dew from heaven. Israel will blossom like the lily; it will send roots deep into the soil like the cedars in Lebanon. Its branches will spread out like beautiful olive trees, as fragrant as the cedars of Lebanon. My people will again live under my shade.They will flourish like grain and blossom like grapevines.They will be as fragrant as the wines of Lebanon. “O Israel, stay away from idols! I am the one who answers your prayers and cares for you. I am like a tree that is always green; all your fruit comes from me.” Let those who are wise understand these things. Let those with discernment listen carefully.The paths of the Lord are true and right, and righteous people live by walking in them. But in those paths sinners stumble and fall.

RESTORED.....

The Israelites could return to God by asking Him to take away their sins. The same is true for us: we can pray Hosea's prayer and know our sins are forgiven because Christ paid the penalty for us through the cross. For the Israelites they had no cross, they still were able to have their sins forgiven through God. 

Forgiveness begins when we see the destructiveness of sin in our life and the emptiness we have without God in our lives. Then we must admit that we cannot save our self; our only hope is to put our trust in God's mercy. Even though you do not deserve forgiveness you can simply come to Him and with sincere sorrow ask for forgiveness. And through His amazing grace we are forgiven. God is gracious and full of love and mercy and He wants to restore you to Himself, just as He wanted to forgive and restore Israel back to Himself. Once forgiven remember the Holy Spirit is there to walk with you and to help you!

If you should have any questions on God's forgiveness please post them as a comment and I will do my best to answer them.