B.E.S.T. Shabbat

Return to the stronghold, O prisoners who have the hope; This very day I am declaring that I will restore double to you. (Zec 9:12 NASB) Click here to listen to " Ishi No Longer Baali  "   Last time together, we began to look at how to align ourselves to hope, which the anchor for our soul to our destiny in the Lord. We began to look at Hosea 2 beginning at verse 14. We spoke about how the wilderness, the solitary times in our lives, places where God allures us to speak from His heart. "Therefore, behold, I will allure her, bring her into the wilderness and speak kindly to her. (Hos 2:14 NASB) God is the originator of romance. He uses many word pictures to convey His love nature. The most relatable are the ones that connect to our human experience. Alluring is a word connected to passion and speaking to us from the heart with openness and vulnerability. Our God is a jealous God, a possessive and protective lover. Look with me at Israel’s deliverance from Egyp

"Then I will give her vineyards from there, And the valley of  Achor  as a door of hope. And she will sing there as in the days of her youth, As in the day when she came up from the land of  Egypt.( Hos 2:15 NASB)   Hope is an anchor for our soul.  It tethers us to God’s destiny for us which is for good and not evil.     Click here to listen to " A Doorway of Intimacy "   'For I know the plans that I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. (Jer .  29:11 NASB ).   The natural question is that if God’s plans for us for our welfare and not for calamity, then what interferes with those plans, or what can I do to enhance those plans.  How can my hope be actualized?   Let’s go to Hosea 2, beginning at verse 14 to get a possible glimpse  of some solutions:   "Therefore, behold, I will allure her,  b ring her into the wilderness  a nd speak kindly to her.   (Hos