February 12, 2025 • 28 mins
Have you ever felt like you're on the outside looking in when it comes to feeling truly loved? Let's journey together through the powerful narrative of Hosea and Gomer to uncover the profound reality of living loved by God. This age-old story reveals how divine love reaches into our lives with grace, even when we feel unworthy. Through vivid imagery, we'll explore how God’s relentless pursuit mirrors Hosea’s unwavering love, offering us hope and redemption that transform our very existence.
You'll discover how anchoring our minds in God's truth can reshape our perspective, even amidst life's toughest trials. Inspired by Psalm 136 and the raw honesty of Lamentations, we dive into the transformative power of scripture. Join us as we explore these themes and grow together in faith, inviting you to find strength and peace through an unwavering trust in God's love.
Learn more about our Revelation Within Community: https://www.revelationwithin.org
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
Hi and welcome to our podcast, revelation Within On
the Go.
I'm Heidi Biles-Mapperson, oneof your hosts and the owner and
lead coach of theRevelationWithinorg ministry.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
And I'm Christina Motley, your other host, also a
Revelation Within coach andHeidi's partner in all things
Revelation Within, and we're sohappy to invite you to join us
for this episode of RevelationWithin on the show.
(00:35):
You went low that time, I wentlow.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
Well, welcome, welcome, welcome.
We're so glad you're here.
Yeah, in our community rightnow, in RevWithinteam, we are
living, loved during the monthof February.
I don't know, if this will airin February or not, but in our
community we're living loved.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
I love that theme living loved.
I love that I do.
Speaker 1 (01:02):
I do, I do, I love that, I do, I do, I do so.
During our meetings with ourgirls and guys, we kind of did a
deep dive into this theme ofliving loved.
We're not talking about justfeeling affection from God, but
experiencing really all that'spossible, this profound
transformation, by reallyembracing the fact that we are
(01:27):
deeply and unconditionally lovedby God, the God of the universe
, the creator of all things.
It's amazing, so we're going todive into that with you all
today a little bit too.
It's really good for us torepeat it.
We need to hear this again andagain, and again yes, so we're
going to look at how we can livein the truth that we are
(01:47):
redeemed because he chooses toredeem us, to love us, and the
difference that it makes to us.
Yes, so to kind of set thestage for our discussion,
christina, would you read Hosea,chapter three?
Speaker 2 (02:01):
verse one yes, I would love to.
The Lord said to me go showyour love to your wife again,
though she is loved by anotherand is an adulteress.
Love her as the Lord loves theIsraelites, though they turn to
other gods.
Speaker 1 (02:19):
Oh boy, doesn't that just settle on you in a kind of
heavy sort of way?
Speaker 2 (02:23):
Yes, it does, it's also a beautiful message.
Speaker 1 (02:27):
God wants Hosea to live out the way that God loves
his people.
He wants Hosea to live thatkind of love out for Gomer, his
wife, which is just amazing.
I always struggle with the nameGomer being for a woman because
of Gomer Pyle.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
I know Gomer Pyle.
Exactly, that is exactly.
So, just so we're clear on that, it's just an ugly name.
Speaker 1 (02:54):
Maybe it was pronounced differently in the
Hebrew yeah, maybe Anyway sowe're going to just open our
hearts up today to God's message.
So visualize this If you wantto.
You can close your eyes andwe're going to go into the
marketplace in ancient Israeland we're going to have a
(03:14):
glimpse of some goings on.
Picture yourself in thisbustling marketplace.
It's alive with activity.
Every sound and sight has astory to tell.
The air is thick, with scentsof spices and earthy aroma of
dust being kicked up bycountless feet, and the sunlight
(03:36):
, sort of, is filtering throughcanopies of vibrant fabrics
overhead, creating kind of apatchwork of color that dances
across the crowd.
Traders are shouting to beoverheard over the cacophony of
bargaining voices, each tryingto outdo the other in a symphony
of commerce.
It's a scene both chaotic andrhythmic, where life's exchanges
(04:01):
unfold moment by moment.
Life's exchanges unfold momentby moment.
Amidst this vibrant chaos standsHosea, weaving through the
throng with a sense of purposethat sets him apart.
His heart pounds not fromexertion but from the mix of
(04:22):
emotions swirling within him,determination tempered by an
unshakable love.
As he moves, his eyes arefocused, scanning the myriad
faces and stalls withsingle-minded intent.
Then he sees her.
His gaze lands on Gomer, hiswife, standing in stark contrast
to the bustling life around her.
She is bound, her head bowedlow, as if her very soul has
(04:46):
been weighed down by shame andbetrayal.
Her posture speaks of defeatand despair, a silent testimony
to the choices that have led herhere.
But to Hosea she is more thanher circumstances, more than her
mistakes, more than her sin.
Every step he takes toward heris filled with significance.
(05:09):
The crowd parts subtly as heapproaches, whispers darting
like quicksilver through theirranks.
What is he doing here Aftereverything she's done?
They murmur.
Yet Hosea moves forwardundeterred, his presence alone
quieting the rising tide ofjudgment and disbelief.
(05:29):
In this charged atmosphere,hosea arrives before Gomer's
captor, his love for Gomerradiating outward like a shield.
He meets the man's gaze withsteadfast resolve, laying down
15 shekels of silver and somebarley, the agreed price for her
freedom.
To some it might seem a simpletransaction, yet in that moment
(05:51):
it becomes so much more an actrich in symbolism and sacrifice.
As he takes Gomer's hand toguide her home, every whisper
fades into insignificance.
She doesn't deserve thisredemption, she hasn't earned it
.
That's precisely the point.
Love like Hosea's doesn't hingeon merit or worthiness.
(06:15):
It simply is.
It acts, it redeems, itrestores, not because it must,
but because it chooses to againand again.
Speaker 2 (06:30):
Wow, oh my goodness, so beautiful.
So this vivid story picturesGod's love for us, a relentless
pursuit that sees beyond ourfailures and calls us back from
our self-imposed exiles.
Our failures and calls us backfrom our self-imposed exiles.
It's a love that pays what wecannot, that steps into our
(06:50):
messes with hands outstretched,not in condemnation but in grace
and hope.
We see ourselves in Gomer'splight, the ways we wander,
seeking false promises, only tofind ourselves ensnared by them.
Yet through it all, god mirrorsHosea's unwavering path towards
(07:11):
us, silent against the world'sjudgments, yet loud in his
declaration you are loved, youare redeemed and you are brought
home, not for who you are orwhat you have done, but because
of who he is.
(07:32):
This is God's love for us.
So we are Gomer, aren't we?
I mean, this is who we are.
This describes us.
How often do we wander off you?
Speaker 1 (07:43):
couldn't even count the numbers of times Exactly.
Speaker 2 (07:47):
Chasing.
What are we chasing?
Fleeting pleasures?
We're chasing approval.
We're chasing counterfeits,counterfeit comforts we're
chasing.
Yet these pursuits only bind ustighter in shackles that were
never meant for us.
So, despite our wanderings, goddoesn't turn away.
His steps remain steady as hemoves towards us, paying the
(08:12):
ultimate price the blood of hisson Jesus.
He redeems us over and over,and over and over, not because
of who we are, but because ofwho he is, over and over because
of who we are, but because ofwho he is.
Speaker 1 (08:26):
Take a moment to picture Hosea in that
marketplace, stepping towardGomer.
What does that image revealabout how God moves toward you
in your weakest moments?
Consider how it might impactyou if you were aware of this
kind of love that God has foryou as you live each day.
(08:49):
How might relishing and restingin this unconditional,
immovable, unending love impactyou?
How might it impact?
Speaker 2 (08:59):
you.
Oftentimes, when we speak ofGod's love, it feels distant,
something kind of out there,rather than drawn intimately
close.
Today let's change that bydiving deeper into understanding
the depth of God's love throughscripture.
So let's start with Romans 5.8.
But God demonstrates his ownlove toward us in that, while we
(09:25):
were still sinners, christ diedfor us.
So this underscores a love soprofound that it defies logic, a
love demonstrated while we werestill in sin.
Speaker 1 (09:43):
We want to consider.
What does this say about ourneed to perform or prove
ourselves?
Ephesians 3, 17 to 19 says sothat Christ may dwell in your
hearts through faith and thatyou, being rooted and grounded
in love, may be able tocomprehend with all the saints
what is the width and length andheight and the depth, and to
(10:03):
know the love of Christ whichsurpasses knowledge that you may
be, and to know the love ofChrist which surpasses knowledge
that you may be, filled to allthe fullness of God.
I love that Paul says here toknow the love of Christ which
surpasses knowledge,supernatural kind of knowing.
Speaker 2 (10:18):
I think Right, yes, we can't even fathom it.
Speaker 1 (10:22):
No, and Paul speaks in this passage, in Ephesians 3,
17 and 19, about being rootedin this humongous, immense love.
It's a grounding force, it'sgot us rooted to itself.
It's meant to sustain us, meantto give us all we need for
nourishment, for life.
Speaker 2 (10:42):
Yes, definitely.
John 3, 16 and 17,.
For God so loved the world thathe gave his only son so that
everyone who believes in himwill not perish but have eternal
life.
For God did not send the soninto the world to judge the
world, but so that the worldmight be saved through him.
(11:03):
So, of course, this is perhapsthe most well-known declaration
of God's intention sending hisson not to judge but to save.
How amazing is that truth.
Speaker 1 (11:17):
It is.
I love that passage Partly.
Obviously the gospel message isright there, front and center
in John 3.16.
But in verse 17, I'm remindedthat God didn't intend for us to
grab a hold of condemnation anduse that to somehow form and
shape us into better people.
That's not his intention, youknow.
(11:37):
He didn't send his son into theworld to condemn the world, but
to save us.
And so I mean he gave us such agift and it's not to be like
warped in some way, hating usourselves, into positive change.
It's just not going to happen.
And so I love that.
It's clear that God wants us toreceive his love and that
(12:00):
condemnation is.
It's a lie, it's a lie, it'snot for us.
1 John, 4, 9 and 10 says by thisthe love of God was revealed in
us, that God has sent his onlyson into the world so that we
may live through him In.
This is love, not that we lovedGod, but that he loved us and
(12:23):
sent his son to be thepropitiation for our sins.
It's just such a beautifultruth that God's love was
revealed not because we lovedhim first but because he chose
to love us first.
God's love for us is not aboutmy performance.
I can't perform to win it and Icannot perform to lose it.
(12:45):
He has chosen to love.
Speaker 2 (12:49):
Jeremiah 31.3,.
Long ago, the Lord said toIsrael I have loved you, my
people, with an everlasting love, with unfailing love, I have
drawn you to myself.
That is so beautiful, sointimate, so sweet.
So long ago, the Lord declaredhis unwavering commitment to his
(13:12):
people, describing a love thatis both everlasting and
steadfast.
This verse reassures us thatGod's love transcends time,
extending from eternity pastinto the present and future.
It's a love that continuouslydraws us to him, not based on
our actions, just like what yousaid, heidi, but on his eternal
(13:36):
promise, something we can reallystand on.
Speaker 1 (13:40):
Yeah, you know, it's interesting, I think, of the
imagery that God used inadopting us that we see
throughout the New Testament.
We see it in Ephesians, forexample, and I've never known of
a situation where somebodyadopted a child that they didn't
(14:02):
choose to adopt didn't chooseto adopt.
Maybe it's happened but I thinkit's cool that God has given us
that illustration as the natureof his love and relationship
with us, and his choosing us.
Right.
Zephaniah 317 tells us the Lord, your God, is in your midst.
(14:22):
A mighty one who will save isin your midst.
A mighty one who will save.
He will rejoice over you withgladness.
Speaker 2 (14:33):
He will quiet you by his love.
He will exult over you withloud singing.
Speaker 1 (14:37):
Yes, I love this because this verse paints this
picture of God, not as somedistant out there.
Deity, you know, god, I mean heis.
God, obviously, but he is amighty presence right here in
our midst, right here with us,with me.
His saving power is coupledwith joy and delight in his
(14:59):
people.
His creation Imagine, thecreator of the universe is
rejoicing over you, Christina,over you, listener, with singing
, with dancing and loud shoutsquieting your fears of his love.
It really does speak to a veryintimate relationship where God
(15:20):
not only saves but delights inhis people and he offers peace
and comfort through his presence.
Speaker 2 (15:28):
I think this is hard for a lot of people to fathom.
I've heard a lot of people whostruggle with this, and I've
struggled with it in the past,but again, here's the source.
This tells us what is true.
So, as we renew our minds againand again with this truth, we
begin to believe it and we beginto live like we believe it.
(15:51):
Yeah, psalm 136, 26,.
Give thanks to the God ofheaven for his steadfast love
endures forever, forever.
Yes, forever and ever and ever.
So in this simple yet profound,really profound declaration,
we're called to give thanks forGod's enduring love, and this is
(16:14):
a theme that runs throughoutthis psalm.
The phrase steadfast loveendures forever is a refrain it
happens, you know, it's writtenagain and again.
That reminds us of theconstancy and faithfulness of
God's affection.
No matter the circumstances,his love remains unchanged and
(16:36):
eternal, inviting us to respondwith gratitude and trust.
Yay, good stuff.
It's making us smile, isn't itHeidi?
Yes, it is.
We are having big smiles overhere.
Speaker 1 (16:53):
Yeah, and the more we repeat it to ourselves, the
more likely we are to believe it.
And I really think that's ifyou struggle with believing
these truths.
It's God's word, he said it,it's true, it's factual, it is
what is true, even when you feellike it's not true.
If you speak God's truth toyourself and take captive your
own thoughts, you'll begin tobelieve it too, and it will make
(17:17):
you smile too.
Yep, all right.
So Lamentations 3, 22 to 23.
This is one.
I just love, this passage.
So if we back up to earlier inchapter three of Lamentations,
we see Jeremiah really describesjust how difficult it is for
(17:37):
him to process what he isexperiencing.
He says about God.
He says he has filled me withbitterness, he has sated me with
wormwood, he has made my teethgrind on gravel and made me
cower in ashes.
My soul is bereft of peace.
I have forgotten what happinessis.
(17:58):
So I say my endurance hasperished.
So has my hope from the Lord.
This is a sad, sad state ofaffairs.
He is really, oh, my goodness.
And then he goes on and saysremember my affliction and my
wanderings, the wormwood in thegall.
My soul continually remembersit and is bowed down within me.
(18:19):
But this I call to mind andtherefore I have hope he starts
to renew his mind here.
I love this.
I know the stead, fast love ofthe Lord never ceases.
His mercies never come to anend.
They are new every morning.
Great is your faithfulness,don't you just love that?
(18:44):
God led Jeremiah to stop hisrunaway thoughts and to turn to
him and call to mind what istrue about God.
And I mean, I just think that'ssuch a great reminder.
Speaker 2 (18:58):
It's great.
Yeah, it's a great example ofmind renewal.
Speaker 1 (19:02):
It is, it's right there, it's right there, and I
love that we have this greatreminder of God's inexhaustible
mercy.
It's right there.
It's right there, and I lovethat we have this great reminder
of God's inexhaustible mercy.
It's not going anywhere.
His faithfulness is unending.
Each new day is filled withrenewed mercies, again and again
.
It's a testament to hissteadfast commitment to us,
(19:22):
despite our mess ups, despiteour shortcomings.
And there's this promise herethat his love never ceases, and
it offers us hope in the darkesttimes, like it did to Jeremiah,
assuring us that every morningis a fresh opportunity to
experience his faithfulness, hisgreat faithfulness, anew.
(19:43):
I just love it.
I love God's word.
Isn't God's word fun?
Speaker 2 (19:50):
It is, it's amazing, it's alive, it's active.
Speaker 1 (19:55):
I love it.
It is, and so have you ever hadsuch a difficult?
I don't know where.
I know you have, because you'remy bestie and I know lots about
you.
Have you ever felt so sad anddisappointed and struggling so
much?
And when you started to renewyour mind, you just did with an
(20:15):
act of your will.
It changed things for you Maybenot the circumstances, but your
perspective.
Speaker 2 (20:22):
Yeah, it happens all the time.
I use it all the time.
I have several ongoingsituations right now that are
challenging and they go on, andI can expect that they will go
on, and sometimes they reallybring me down and.
I can call to mind God's truth.
(20:44):
I can choose that.
I can choose what's in my mind.
I can choose my thoughts.
And I can choose, like you said, rather than spinning around,
letting those thoughts spin inyour mind, which leads me down a
path of hopelessness anddespair.
You know just like.
Speaker 1 (21:02):
Jeremiah here, and it leads to the counterfeit
comforts.
Speaker 2 (21:05):
Leads to the counterfeits.
It leads to wanting to escape,to get in that space pod and fly
away.
It does.
That's what it leads to for allof us.
But to be able to call to mindthe truth and say it out loud,
even if you're not feeling it,you're not believing it, you
(21:26):
don't really feel like it is,you're like I don't even know,
I'm just in this really badplace.
But being able to say thosetruths aloud again and again, it
changes.
It turns my heart to the Lord,fixes my eyes on him and changes
my experience.
Right in the moment, mythoughts are traded out for his.
(21:47):
And that's what the renewing ofthe mind is.
It stops the process ofspiraling downward into
something really negative anddestructive and it turns things
around.
It's amazing what can happen itmakes me think of Psalm 131.
Speaker 1 (22:07):
It's a short little Psalm, but when I renew my mind
it's like it puts the brakes onwhere my thoughts were going.
I like to say, my runawaythoughts are going to take me
captive If I don't stop them andtake them captive.
They're going to take mecaptive.
So Psalm 131 says, oh Lord, myheart is not lifted up, my eyes
are not raised too high, I donot occupy myself with things
(22:31):
too great and too marvelous forme, but I have calmed and
quieted my soul like a weanedchild with its mother.
Like a weaned child is my soulwithin me.
Oh Israel, hope in the Lord,from this time forth and
forevermore.
I love that because I canchoose.
(22:52):
Like you said, christina, I canchoose what I will think about
and I can calm and quiet my soulby doing what Jeremiah did you
know, calling to mind what Iknow is true.
What God says is true in hisword is true.
It may not be my sense rightnow, I may not be feeling it,
but as I repeat the truth, Iwill.
(23:13):
You know, what I think on isgoing to affect my feelings and
my beliefs and what I believe isgoing to affect my actions.
So, oh, it's a good thing to do.
Speaker 2 (23:22):
Yes, I'm so grateful.
I'm so grateful for therenewing of the mind and that we
can choose at any time, anyplace.
It can take just a few secondsto say one statement of truth
that will turn my heart towardthe Lord and turn it away from
those runaway thoughts, as yousaid, right.
Speaker 1 (23:40):
And just some examples of situations that I
know I would have turned to acounterfeit comfort, and at
times I did.
I can't pretend to be perfect,just examples where I would have
turned to a counterfeit comfort, and at times I did.
I can't pretend to be perfect,just examples where I would have
turned to food and eating orturned to numbing out or turned
to something, and instead wasable to renew my mind or could
renew my mind.
Um, one of the big examplesthat comes to mind is when I
(24:04):
realized my first marriage waswas ending.
Um, and I needed to call tomind what is true and, and some
of the things that were truewere the many, the 33 years that
God had given me with a man whowas really good in so many ways
and so many ways, and to justbe thankful and grateful for the
(24:25):
many things I did enjoy andexperience.
It didn't change the reality,the sad reality of what I was
facing.
Over the years I've had a numberof situations when my thoughts,
if I didn't take them captive,they could have taken me captive
and to do things I didn't wantto do but would do, to shut down
, to numb out, to not feel itmight be turning to food.
(24:46):
It might be turning to playingvideo games.
Yes, at 63 years of age, Istill love video games.
Okay, why do I make somethingof it?
No, anyway, we keep it real onthis podcast.
Yeah Well, and there's nothingwrong with different things like
that, necessarily but, I, don'twant to do them because I can't
cope or I won't cope with whatGod has allowed.
(25:09):
For some reason, God allowedthese hardships, and so that was
one example.
When my marriage was coming toan end, I had to renew my mind
about who I am.
I had to remind myself wait aminute, Mr Bilesma does not
define me.
What is true is God has chosenme.
(25:30):
God calls me to belong to himand he is passionate for me.
What is true is that I am notdefined by my marital status.
Another example is moving frombeautiful Catalina Island to the
mainland again to live with myhusband's mother.
But really I can remind myselfokay, who is God in this?
(25:51):
What is he like?
What does the word of God sayabout who he is?
Because those things are true,whether they feel like they're
true to me or not, and over timeI begin to see hey, what's
going on here is it's puttingwhat I'm experiencing, these
hardships, into the context of abigger God is at work than I
(26:12):
can imagine.
He is way bigger than thesecircumstances that I'm
struggling with, and when Irenew my mind, I actually find
there's a little joy that comesup it doesn't deny my
circumstances, but there's alittle joy that comes up and I
began to believe that we are onthe cusp of change.
Here we are on the precipice ofa miracle, anyway.
Speaker 2 (26:35):
We're so glad that you've been here with us today
and we hope that something thatwe talked about resonated with
you.
It certainly resonated with me.
Anyway, we would love to inviteyou to join us for our next
podcast episode of RevelationWithin.
Speaker 1 (27:00):
I hope to see you again next time.
Bye-bye.
Hi and welcome to our podcast, revelation Within On
the Go.
I'm Heidi Biles-Mapperson, oneof your hosts and the owner and
lead coach of theRevelationWithinorg ministry.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
And I'm Christina Motley, your other host, also a
Revelation Within coach andHeidi's partner in all things
Revelation Within, and we're sohappy to invite you to join us
for this episode of RevelationWithin on the show.
(00:35):
You went low that time, I wentlow.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
Well, welcome, welcome, welcome.
We're so glad you're here.
Yeah, in our community rightnow, in RevWithinteam, we are
living, loved during the monthof February.
I don't know, if this will airin February or not, but in our
community we're living loved.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
I love that theme living loved.
I love that I do.
Speaker 1 (01:02):
I do, I do, I love that, I do, I do, I do so.
During our meetings with ourgirls and guys, we kind of did a
deep dive into this theme ofliving loved.
We're not talking about justfeeling affection from God, but
experiencing really all that'spossible, this profound
transformation, by reallyembracing the fact that we are
(01:27):
deeply and unconditionally lovedby God, the God of the universe
, the creator of all things.
It's amazing, so we're going todive into that with you all
today a little bit too.
It's really good for us torepeat it.
We need to hear this again andagain, and again yes, so we're
going to look at how we can livein the truth that we are
(01:47):
redeemed because he chooses toredeem us, to love us, and the
difference that it makes to us.
Yes, so to kind of set thestage for our discussion,
christina, would you read Hosea,chapter three?
Speaker 2 (02:01):
verse one yes, I would love to.
The Lord said to me go showyour love to your wife again,
though she is loved by anotherand is an adulteress.
Love her as the Lord loves theIsraelites, though they turn to
other gods.
Speaker 1 (02:19):
Oh boy, doesn't that just settle on you in a kind of
heavy sort of way?
Speaker 2 (02:23):
Yes, it does, it's also a beautiful message.
Speaker 1 (02:27):
God wants Hosea to live out the way that God loves
his people.
He wants Hosea to live thatkind of love out for Gomer, his
wife, which is just amazing.
I always struggle with the nameGomer being for a woman because
of Gomer Pyle.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
I know Gomer Pyle.
Exactly, that is exactly.
So, just so we're clear on that, it's just an ugly name.
Speaker 1 (02:54):
Maybe it was pronounced differently in the
Hebrew yeah, maybe Anyway sowe're going to just open our
hearts up today to God's message.
So visualize this If you wantto.
You can close your eyes andwe're going to go into the
marketplace in ancient Israeland we're going to have a
(03:14):
glimpse of some goings on.
Picture yourself in thisbustling marketplace.
It's alive with activity.
Every sound and sight has astory to tell.
The air is thick, with scentsof spices and earthy aroma of
dust being kicked up bycountless feet, and the sunlight
(03:36):
, sort of, is filtering throughcanopies of vibrant fabrics
overhead, creating kind of apatchwork of color that dances
across the crowd.
Traders are shouting to beoverheard over the cacophony of
bargaining voices, each tryingto outdo the other in a symphony
of commerce.
It's a scene both chaotic andrhythmic, where life's exchanges
(04:01):
unfold moment by moment.
Life's exchanges unfold momentby moment.
Amidst this vibrant chaos standsHosea, weaving through the
throng with a sense of purposethat sets him apart.
His heart pounds not fromexertion but from the mix of
(04:22):
emotions swirling within him,determination tempered by an
unshakable love.
As he moves, his eyes arefocused, scanning the myriad
faces and stalls withsingle-minded intent.
Then he sees her.
His gaze lands on Gomer, hiswife, standing in stark contrast
to the bustling life around her.
She is bound, her head bowedlow, as if her very soul has
(04:46):
been weighed down by shame andbetrayal.
Her posture speaks of defeatand despair, a silent testimony
to the choices that have led herhere.
But to Hosea she is more thanher circumstances, more than her
mistakes, more than her sin.
Every step he takes toward heris filled with significance.
(05:09):
The crowd parts subtly as heapproaches, whispers darting
like quicksilver through theirranks.
What is he doing here Aftereverything she's done?
They murmur.
Yet Hosea moves forwardundeterred, his presence alone
quieting the rising tide ofjudgment and disbelief.
(05:29):
In this charged atmosphere,hosea arrives before Gomer's
captor, his love for Gomerradiating outward like a shield.
He meets the man's gaze withsteadfast resolve, laying down
15 shekels of silver and somebarley, the agreed price for her
freedom.
To some it might seem a simpletransaction, yet in that moment
(05:51):
it becomes so much more an actrich in symbolism and sacrifice.
As he takes Gomer's hand toguide her home, every whisper
fades into insignificance.
She doesn't deserve thisredemption, she hasn't earned it
.
That's precisely the point.
Love like Hosea's doesn't hingeon merit or worthiness.
(06:15):
It simply is.
It acts, it redeems, itrestores, not because it must,
but because it chooses to againand again.
Speaker 2 (06:30):
Wow, oh my goodness, so beautiful.
So this vivid story picturesGod's love for us, a relentless
pursuit that sees beyond ourfailures and calls us back from
our self-imposed exiles.
Our failures and calls us backfrom our self-imposed exiles.
It's a love that pays what wecannot, that steps into our
(06:50):
messes with hands outstretched,not in condemnation but in grace
and hope.
We see ourselves in Gomer'splight, the ways we wander,
seeking false promises, only tofind ourselves ensnared by them.
Yet through it all, god mirrorsHosea's unwavering path towards
(07:11):
us, silent against the world'sjudgments, yet loud in his
declaration you are loved, youare redeemed and you are brought
home, not for who you are orwhat you have done, but because
of who he is.
(07:32):
This is God's love for us.
So we are Gomer, aren't we?
I mean, this is who we are.
This describes us.
How often do we wander off you?
Speaker 1 (07:43):
couldn't even count the numbers of times Exactly.
Speaker 2 (07:47):
Chasing.
What are we chasing?
Fleeting pleasures?
We're chasing approval.
We're chasing counterfeits,counterfeit comforts we're
chasing.
Yet these pursuits only bind ustighter in shackles that were
never meant for us.
So, despite our wanderings, goddoesn't turn away.
His steps remain steady as hemoves towards us, paying the
(08:12):
ultimate price the blood of hisson Jesus.
He redeems us over and over,and over and over, not because
of who we are, but because ofwho he is, over and over because
of who we are, but because ofwho he is.
Speaker 1 (08:26):
Take a moment to picture Hosea in that
marketplace, stepping towardGomer.
What does that image revealabout how God moves toward you
in your weakest moments?
Consider how it might impactyou if you were aware of this
kind of love that God has foryou as you live each day.
(08:49):
How might relishing and restingin this unconditional,
immovable, unending love impactyou?
How might it impact?
Speaker 2 (08:59):
you.
Oftentimes, when we speak ofGod's love, it feels distant,
something kind of out there,rather than drawn intimately
close.
Today let's change that bydiving deeper into understanding
the depth of God's love throughscripture.
So let's start with Romans 5.8.
But God demonstrates his ownlove toward us in that, while we
(09:25):
were still sinners, christ diedfor us.
So this underscores a love soprofound that it defies logic, a
love demonstrated while we werestill in sin.
Speaker 1 (09:43):
We want to consider.
What does this say about ourneed to perform or prove
ourselves?
Ephesians 3, 17 to 19 says sothat Christ may dwell in your
hearts through faith and thatyou, being rooted and grounded
in love, may be able tocomprehend with all the saints
what is the width and length andheight and the depth, and to
(10:03):
know the love of Christ whichsurpasses knowledge that you may
be, and to know the love ofChrist which surpasses knowledge
that you may be, filled to allthe fullness of God.
I love that Paul says here toknow the love of Christ which
surpasses knowledge,supernatural kind of knowing.
Speaker 2 (10:18):
I think Right, yes, we can't even fathom it.
Speaker 1 (10:22):
No, and Paul speaks in this passage, in Ephesians 3,
17 and 19, about being rootedin this humongous, immense love.
It's a grounding force, it'sgot us rooted to itself.
It's meant to sustain us, meantto give us all we need for
nourishment, for life.
Speaker 2 (10:42):
Yes, definitely.
John 3, 16 and 17,.
For God so loved the world thathe gave his only son so that
everyone who believes in himwill not perish but have eternal
life.
For God did not send the soninto the world to judge the
world, but so that the worldmight be saved through him.
(11:03):
So, of course, this is perhapsthe most well-known declaration
of God's intention sending hisson not to judge but to save.
How amazing is that truth.
Speaker 1 (11:17):
It is.
I love that passage Partly.
Obviously the gospel message isright there, front and center
in John 3.16.
But in verse 17, I'm remindedthat God didn't intend for us to
grab a hold of condemnation anduse that to somehow form and
shape us into better people.
That's not his intention, youknow.
(11:37):
He didn't send his son into theworld to condemn the world, but
to save us.
And so I mean he gave us such agift and it's not to be like
warped in some way, hating usourselves, into positive change.
It's just not going to happen.
And so I love that.
It's clear that God wants us toreceive his love and that
(12:00):
condemnation is.
It's a lie, it's a lie, it'snot for us.
1 John, 4, 9 and 10 says by thisthe love of God was revealed in
us, that God has sent his onlyson into the world so that we
may live through him In.
This is love, not that we lovedGod, but that he loved us and
(12:23):
sent his son to be thepropitiation for our sins.
It's just such a beautifultruth that God's love was
revealed not because we lovedhim first but because he chose
to love us first.
God's love for us is not aboutmy performance.
I can't perform to win it and Icannot perform to lose it.
(12:45):
He has chosen to love.
Speaker 2 (12:49):
Jeremiah 31.3,.
Long ago, the Lord said toIsrael I have loved you, my
people, with an everlasting love, with unfailing love, I have
drawn you to myself.
That is so beautiful, sointimate, so sweet.
So long ago, the Lord declaredhis unwavering commitment to his
(13:12):
people, describing a love thatis both everlasting and
steadfast.
This verse reassures us thatGod's love transcends time,
extending from eternity pastinto the present and future.
It's a love that continuouslydraws us to him, not based on
our actions, just like what yousaid, heidi, but on his eternal
(13:36):
promise, something we can reallystand on.
Speaker 1 (13:40):
Yeah, you know, it's interesting, I think, of the
imagery that God used inadopting us that we see
throughout the New Testament.
We see it in Ephesians, forexample, and I've never known of
a situation where somebodyadopted a child that they didn't
(14:02):
choose to adopt didn't chooseto adopt.
Maybe it's happened but I thinkit's cool that God has given us
that illustration as the natureof his love and relationship
with us, and his choosing us.
Right.
Zephaniah 317 tells us the Lord, your God, is in your midst.
(14:22):
A mighty one who will save isin your midst.
A mighty one who will save.
He will rejoice over you withgladness.
Speaker 2 (14:33):
He will quiet you by his love.
He will exult over you withloud singing.
Speaker 1 (14:37):
Yes, I love this because this verse paints this
picture of God, not as somedistant out there.
Deity, you know, god, I mean heis.
God, obviously, but he is amighty presence right here in
our midst, right here with us,with me.
His saving power is coupledwith joy and delight in his
(14:59):
people.
His creation Imagine, thecreator of the universe is
rejoicing over you, Christina,over you, listener, with singing
, with dancing and loud shoutsquieting your fears of his love.
It really does speak to a veryintimate relationship where God
(15:20):
not only saves but delights inhis people and he offers peace
and comfort through his presence.
Speaker 2 (15:28):
I think this is hard for a lot of people to fathom.
I've heard a lot of people whostruggle with this, and I've
struggled with it in the past,but again, here's the source.
This tells us what is true.
So, as we renew our minds againand again with this truth, we
begin to believe it and we beginto live like we believe it.
(15:51):
Yeah, psalm 136, 26,.
Give thanks to the God ofheaven for his steadfast love
endures forever, forever.
Yes, forever and ever and ever.
So in this simple yet profound,really profound declaration,
we're called to give thanks forGod's enduring love, and this is
(16:14):
a theme that runs throughoutthis psalm.
The phrase steadfast loveendures forever is a refrain it
happens, you know, it's writtenagain and again.
That reminds us of theconstancy and faithfulness of
God's affection.
No matter the circumstances,his love remains unchanged and
(16:36):
eternal, inviting us to respondwith gratitude and trust.
Yay, good stuff.
It's making us smile, isn't itHeidi?
Yes, it is.
We are having big smiles overhere.
Speaker 1 (16:53):
Yeah, and the more we repeat it to ourselves, the
more likely we are to believe it.
And I really think that's ifyou struggle with believing
these truths.
It's God's word, he said it,it's true, it's factual, it is
what is true, even when you feellike it's not true.
If you speak God's truth toyourself and take captive your
own thoughts, you'll begin tobelieve it too, and it will make
(17:17):
you smile too.
Yep, all right.
So Lamentations 3, 22 to 23.
This is one.
I just love, this passage.
So if we back up to earlier inchapter three of Lamentations,
we see Jeremiah really describesjust how difficult it is for
(17:37):
him to process what he isexperiencing.
He says about God.
He says he has filled me withbitterness, he has sated me with
wormwood, he has made my teethgrind on gravel and made me
cower in ashes.
My soul is bereft of peace.
I have forgotten what happinessis.
(17:58):
So I say my endurance hasperished.
So has my hope from the Lord.
This is a sad, sad state ofaffairs.
He is really, oh, my goodness.
And then he goes on and saysremember my affliction and my
wanderings, the wormwood in thegall.
My soul continually remembersit and is bowed down within me.
(18:19):
But this I call to mind andtherefore I have hope he starts
to renew his mind here.
I love this.
I know the stead, fast love ofthe Lord never ceases.
His mercies never come to anend.
They are new every morning.
Great is your faithfulness,don't you just love that?
(18:44):
God led Jeremiah to stop hisrunaway thoughts and to turn to
him and call to mind what istrue about God.
And I mean, I just think that'ssuch a great reminder.
Speaker 2 (18:58):
It's great.
Yeah, it's a great example ofmind renewal.
Speaker 1 (19:02):
It is, it's right there, it's right there, and I
love that we have this greatreminder of God's inexhaustible
mercy.
It's right there.
It's right there, and I lovethat we have this great reminder
of God's inexhaustible mercy.
It's not going anywhere.
His faithfulness is unending.
Each new day is filled withrenewed mercies, again and again
.
It's a testament to hissteadfast commitment to us,
(19:22):
despite our mess ups, despiteour shortcomings.
And there's this promise herethat his love never ceases, and
it offers us hope in the darkesttimes, like it did to Jeremiah,
assuring us that every morningis a fresh opportunity to
experience his faithfulness, hisgreat faithfulness, anew.
(19:43):
I just love it.
I love God's word.
Isn't God's word fun?
Speaker 2 (19:50):
It is, it's amazing, it's alive, it's active.
Speaker 1 (19:55):
I love it.
It is, and so have you ever hadsuch a difficult?
I don't know where.
I know you have, because you'remy bestie and I know lots about
you.
Have you ever felt so sad anddisappointed and struggling so
much?
And when you started to renewyour mind, you just did with an
(20:15):
act of your will.
It changed things for you Maybenot the circumstances, but your
perspective.
Speaker 2 (20:22):
Yeah, it happens all the time.
I use it all the time.
I have several ongoingsituations right now that are
challenging and they go on, andI can expect that they will go
on, and sometimes they reallybring me down and.
I can call to mind God's truth.
(20:44):
I can choose that.
I can choose what's in my mind.
I can choose my thoughts.
And I can choose, like you said, rather than spinning around,
letting those thoughts spin inyour mind, which leads me down a
path of hopelessness anddespair.
You know just like.
Speaker 1 (21:02):
Jeremiah here, and it leads to the counterfeit
comforts.
Speaker 2 (21:05):
Leads to the counterfeits.
It leads to wanting to escape,to get in that space pod and fly
away.
It does.
That's what it leads to for allof us.
But to be able to call to mindthe truth and say it out loud,
even if you're not feeling it,you're not believing it, you
(21:26):
don't really feel like it is,you're like I don't even know,
I'm just in this really badplace.
But being able to say thosetruths aloud again and again, it
changes.
It turns my heart to the Lord,fixes my eyes on him and changes
my experience.
Right in the moment, mythoughts are traded out for his.
(21:47):
And that's what the renewing ofthe mind is.
It stops the process ofspiraling downward into
something really negative anddestructive and it turns things
around.
It's amazing what can happen itmakes me think of Psalm 131.
Speaker 1 (22:07):
It's a short little Psalm, but when I renew my mind
it's like it puts the brakes onwhere my thoughts were going.
I like to say, my runawaythoughts are going to take me
captive If I don't stop them andtake them captive.
They're going to take mecaptive.
So Psalm 131 says, oh Lord, myheart is not lifted up, my eyes
are not raised too high, I donot occupy myself with things
(22:31):
too great and too marvelous forme, but I have calmed and
quieted my soul like a weanedchild with its mother.
Like a weaned child is my soulwithin me.
Oh Israel, hope in the Lord,from this time forth and
forevermore.
I love that because I canchoose.
(22:52):
Like you said, christina, I canchoose what I will think about
and I can calm and quiet my soulby doing what Jeremiah did you
know, calling to mind what Iknow is true.
What God says is true in hisword is true.
It may not be my sense rightnow, I may not be feeling it,
but as I repeat the truth, Iwill.
(23:13):
You know, what I think on isgoing to affect my feelings and
my beliefs and what I believe isgoing to affect my actions.
So, oh, it's a good thing to do.
Speaker 2 (23:22):
Yes, I'm so grateful.
I'm so grateful for therenewing of the mind and that we
can choose at any time, anyplace.
It can take just a few secondsto say one statement of truth
that will turn my heart towardthe Lord and turn it away from
those runaway thoughts, as yousaid, right.
Speaker 1 (23:40):
And just some examples of situations that I
know I would have turned to acounterfeit comfort, and at
times I did.
I can't pretend to be perfect,just examples where I would have
turned to a counterfeit comfort, and at times I did.
I can't pretend to be perfect,just examples where I would have
turned to food and eating orturned to numbing out or turned
to something, and instead wasable to renew my mind or could
renew my mind.
Um, one of the big examplesthat comes to mind is when I
(24:04):
realized my first marriage waswas ending.
Um, and I needed to call tomind what is true and, and some
of the things that were truewere the many, the 33 years that
God had given me with a man whowas really good in so many ways
and so many ways, and to justbe thankful and grateful for the
(24:25):
many things I did enjoy andexperience.
It didn't change the reality,the sad reality of what I was
facing.
Over the years I've had a numberof situations when my thoughts,
if I didn't take them captive,they could have taken me captive
and to do things I didn't wantto do but would do, to shut down
, to numb out, to not feel itmight be turning to food.
(24:46):
It might be turning to playingvideo games.
Yes, at 63 years of age, Istill love video games.
Okay, why do I make somethingof it?
No, anyway, we keep it real onthis podcast.
Yeah Well, and there's nothingwrong with different things like
that, necessarily but, I, don'twant to do them because I can't
cope or I won't cope with whatGod has allowed.
(25:09):
For some reason, God allowedthese hardships, and so that was
one example.
When my marriage was coming toan end, I had to renew my mind
about who I am.
I had to remind myself wait aminute, Mr Bilesma does not
define me.
What is true is God has chosenme.
(25:30):
God calls me to belong to himand he is passionate for me.
What is true is that I am notdefined by my marital status.
Another example is moving frombeautiful Catalina Island to the
mainland again to live with myhusband's mother.
But really I can remind myselfokay, who is God in this?
(25:51):
What is he like?
What does the word of God sayabout who he is?
Because those things are true,whether they feel like they're
true to me or not, and over timeI begin to see hey, what's
going on here is it's puttingwhat I'm experiencing, these
hardships, into the context of abigger God is at work than I
(26:12):
can imagine.
He is way bigger than thesecircumstances that I'm
struggling with, and when Irenew my mind, I actually find
there's a little joy that comesup it doesn't deny my
circumstances, but there's alittle joy that comes up and I
began to believe that we are onthe cusp of change.
Here we are on the precipice ofa miracle, anyway.
Speaker 2 (26:35):
We're so glad that you've been here with us today
and we hope that something thatwe talked about resonated with
you.
It certainly resonated with me.
Anyway, we would love to inviteyou to join us for our next
podcast episode of RevelationWithin.
Speaker 1 (27:00):
I hope to see you again next time.
Bye-bye.
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