God's Word For Every Day

MALACHI 1:1-2:17 -  God looks upon us in our sin. What does He see? He sees ‘the Wicked Land. He sees ‘a people always under the wrath of the Lord’ (1:4). He looks at what Christ has done for us - ‘Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners’; ‘While we were still sinners, Christ died for us’; ‘Christ died for our sins’ ( 1 Timothy 1:15 ; Romans 5:8 ; 1 Corinthians 15:3 ). God looks upon us in Christ - and everything is so very different: ‘God made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God’ ( 2 Corinthians 5:21 ). There, at the Cross of Christ, we hear God’s Word of love - ‘I have loved you’; ‘I have loved you with an everlasting love’ (1:2; Jeremiah 31:3 ). 3:1-4:6 -  God calls us to be His faithful people. He says, ‘Return to Me’. He promises to bless those who return to Him: ‘I will return to you’. God calls us to honour Him with our ‘tithes and offerings: ‘Bring the whole tithe (tenth) into the s...

HOSEA 1:1-3:5   -  ‘Hosea’ means ‘salvation’. Married to ‘an adulterous wife’, Hosea spoke with great compassion to  ‘the land’ which was ‘guilty of the vilest adultery in departing from the Lord’ (1:2). He  brought God’s Word of love to the people: ‘I will show My love to the one I called, “Not My loved one”’. He spoke to them of the life-changing power of God’s love: ‘I will say to those called, “Not My people”, and they will say, “You are My God”’ (2:23). He brought a Word of hope to God’s people: ‘The Israelites will return and seek the Lord their God... They will come trembling to the Lord and to His blessings in the last days’ (3:5). His words of hope point us to our Saviour, Jesus Christ - ‘In these last days, God has spoken to us by His Son’ ( Hebrews 1:2 ). 4:1-5:14   -  We read here of Israel’s rebellion against God: ‘A spirit of prostitution leads them astray. They are unfaithful to their God... A spirit of prostitution is in ...