I've been studying Hosea 14:1-5 and it's a powerful passage.

V1- "O Israel, return unto the Lord thy God; for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity."

I love this verse, we see God actually calling them back after they've turned there back on him. Even after everything he's done for them they turned away. A couple of important words stand out in this verse. "Thou" and "Thine" some translations use "You and "Your". Which means we are each accountable for our iniquity. What's so cool is that once we've accepted Christ and should we fall away we can always come home to the Lord. If you've fallen away, don't think God has turned his back on you, He will let you come back to Him. How do we do this?

V2- "Take with you words, and turn to the Lord: say unto Him, Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously; so will we render the calves of our lips."

We see that we must see our sinfulness and go to Him and repent. Turn our back on the sin we've fallen into. But the three words we need to really look at are "Take with you". That means we have got to go to Him and once we do, and it's from the heart, he welcomes us back.

V3- "Asshur shall not save us; we will not ride upon horses; neither will we say any more to the work of our hands. Ye are our Gods; for in thee the fatherless findeth mercy."

We see here that we must realize that anything other than God will not save us from our nature. We have a sin nature within us that separates us from God. The only thing that can break down that barrier is coming to Christ. We are not to worship anything but God. No idols, which is anything you put before God. I love the next phrase "for in thee the fatherless findeth mercy". Those who do not know God are like orphans without a father. Once we come to Christ we are no longer fatherless and that's where we find mercy. Not in other things or people, Jesus Christ alone.

V4 is where we see the love and grace of God and what he promises for coming back to him.

V4-"I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely; for mine anger is turned away from him."

He will heal us and bring us back home to his love and grace. He will love us freely. He will no longer be angry with us. I know some people say God doesn't get angry with you, this verse says different. If he turns his anger away like it says, He had to be angry because of turning away from Him.

V5- "I will be as the dew unto Israel; he shall grow as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon."

Have you ever seen dew first thing in the morning? It's like there's a fresh start to a new day. Everything looks clean. That's how God makes us look. We get a new start, a new beginning. We'll grow as the Lilly, some versions say "blossom". When something blossoms we see the beauty that was inside just waiting to come out. And cast forth his roots as Lebanon. Some versions say "Like a cedar of Lebanon". Have you ever seen one of these Cedar trees? They are HUGE! Imaging the root system on them and how strong it must be. That's what God gives us, the strength of the Cedars of Lebanon. So in just verse 5 we see the new start, the beauty and the strength God gives us.

I know this was a long post but I had to share those verses. In Jesus there's always hope. If you once knew him and have gone astray or if you have never known him, he wants you to come home. Our nature is sinful and that sin stands in the way of God. Only one thing can take that away, whether you've fallen away or have never accepted him, and that's Jesus Christ. Romans 6:23 tells us "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord". The best part is is that gift is free, all you have to do is repent and accept it.