Word for the day by Christian Education Forum

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Accepting Christ
Hosea 2: 14 -23
“I will betroth you to Me forever; Yes, I will betroth you to Me in righteousness and justice, in loving kindness and mercy; I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness, and you shall know the Lord.” (V 19-20)
This passage tells us of God’s inexplicable, relentless, unfailing, everlasting and unconditional love for mankind despite of our unfaithfulness and spiritual infidelity. Our lust for worldly matters traps us in the quick sand of sin. However, God does not forget us; He has our names engraved in the palms of His hands. His love for us withheld from us the punishment that we deserve and extended to us the forgiveness that we did not deserve. Nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. God loves us personally and intimately, like no other person can ever love us. This does not mean that we will not have our wilderness experience on our way to our Promised Land. It is part of God’s plan of training us to endure the marathon of life and creating a path that leads to spiritual growth and heavenly bliss.
 God hates sin. He was willing to pay the price for our sins with the precious blood of His beloved Son Jesus. Our sin-stained blood was exchanged with Jesus’ sinless blood at the cross and we have been redeemed and reconciled to the Father. “But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners” (Romans 5:8). In John 3: 16 we read, “For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”
“Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow: though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool…’’ (Isaiah 1:18). There is no sin beyond the reach of His saving grace.  All we have to do is confess our sins, repent and accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior. If we confess our sins, He is just and faithful to forgive us. This very second, Jesus is knocking at the door of our heart. He longs to have a personal relationship with us. If we open the door to our heart and invite him as our Lord and Savior, He will come in and have fellowship with us. He is waiting with open arms to embrace us just as we are. He will then start the process of transforming us. He will give us light for our darkness, faith for our fear, trust for our doubt, peace for our strife, joy for our sadness, rest for our weariness, tranquility for our anxiety, hope for our hopelessness and everlasting life for our death. Accept Him now.
Prayer: Compassionate and gracious heavenly Father, we thank you for your faithfulness and unconditional love. We confess our sins and accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. Amen.
Thought for the day: Jesus is our only hope and our only way to the Father.

Saramma  Chacko,  Epiphany MTC,  New York

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