Only God can save: Spend 5 with Jesus: March 17, 2023

Thus says the LORD: Return, O Israel, to the LORD, your God; you have collapsed through your guilt. Take with you words, and return to the LORD; Say to him, "Forgive all iniquity, and receive what is good, that we may render as offerings the bullocks from our stalls. Assyria will not save us, nor shall we have horses to mount; We shall say no more, 'Our god,' to the work of our hands;for in you the orphan finds compassion." Hosea the prophet had a challenging time in being a prophet. The people would not listen. And they forgot the source. They believe they could save themselves. Yet only God can save. Assyria will not save us. We cannot look to a political power for salvation, as tempting at it may be sometimes. Nor shall we have horses to mount. We cannot look to weapons for salvation, even though in the short term they make us feel safer. We shall say no more, 'Our god,' to the work of our hands. We cannot look to our own efforts to save us. No, there is only one source of salvation. God. But we need to allow God to save us. We need to know and accept that we need salvation. We need to surrender to God, so that with God's grace, we can really be changed. We are made in God's image, but we do not always act like we are made in God's image. We need to allow our God to be God. Period. Jesus is our savior. Jesus is the way. And God's grace shows us the way, which is the only way we are saved.