Taken from my handwritten journal entry of 2/22/2025. This is eighth in a series of meditations around the bride of Christ.
I am grateful that You are merciful!
The word of the Lord that came unto Hosea, the son of Beeri, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel. The beginning of the word of the Lord by Hosea. And the Lord said to Hosea, Go, take unto thee a wife of whoredoms and children of whoredoms: for the land hath committed great whoredom, departing from the Lord. So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim; which conceived, and bare him a son.
Hosea 1:1-3 KJV
Me: Good morning, Holy Spirit!
Holy Spirit: Good morning, Jon!
Me: I have found it surprising the instructions given to Hosea, to make his own life a demonstration of the nature of Israel’s behavior toward You and your displeasure at their hardness of heart and unfaithfulness.
Holy Spirit: Hosea tells both sides. In Hosea 2, speaking of Israel:
And I will betroth thee unto me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in lovingkindness, and in mercies. I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness: and thou shalt know the Lord.
Hosea 2:19-20
In the end, many in Israel will join with those not of Israel, but who have come to the Lord, and whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life. (Philippians 4:3, Revelation 3:5, 13:8, 17:8, 20:15, 21:9 and Revelation 21:27)
So, Hosea shows from what manner of unfaithfulness the bride has been sanctified and her redemption.
Me: Thank You, Holy Spirit! I love You!
Holy Spirit: You are welcome! I love you!
Missionary Sojourn 
I posted about “the Bride of Christ” today, too! (Great minds think alike? 😏🤭) The Lord’s mercy is so amazing…
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Good word! How is it that the bride gets to stand in purity (or wear “white”, so to speak) before her bridegroom? Not because of anything she has done, but because of what he has done for her 🤗
“that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.”
Ephesians 5:26-27
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Amen! When I started writing on this subject, I honestly did not comprehend that it encompasses all of the Good News.
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When I think about people’s commitment these days, it tends to revolve around “should I leave 15 minutes early so I’m not walking in during the opening song” and “tithing on the gross – where does it say that?”. Hosea said “Yes, Lord”. I’m sure he had moments where he wondered, but his yes was “even if”, not “what if”.
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Jon, I love how faithful you are in recording your conversations with the holy Spirit to share with all of us!
I apologize if my comment reply to your comment on my blog seemed impersonal-oddly enough, the email came through without your name missionarysojourn on it, which really threw me off. I didn’t realize that it was you until I clicked to see your blog, so I initially thought it was somebody else named Jon. Or maybe it was my eyes?I’ve struggled finding things on WordPress since they changed the forum slightly a few months ago.
Anyhow, I hope Ohio is treating you well! Could I ask you to remind me of the name of the town in Ohio that has canals similar to amsterdam? I believe that I learned about it on your blog and I was telling someone about it but couldn’t remember the name of the town!
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I am near Pella Iowa, and they do have one fake canal. So, I am not sure if that is what you are talking about. I am also not sure if I mentioned that. Some of the changes in how WordPress is working have even had me showing up as “anonymous “. Not sure if there is a workaround for that. It might be that my VPN is throwing them off.
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