God Stubbornly Loves

Apr 7, 2025 Loves by Percy Parakh

Hosea 11:1-11 King James Version

11 When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt.

²As they called them, so they went from them: they sacrificed unto Baalim, and burned incense to graven images.

³I taught Ephraim also to go, taking them by their arms; but they knew not that I healed them.

⁴I drew them with cords of a man, with bands of love: and I was to them as they that take off the yoke on their jaws, and I laid meat unto them.

⁵He shall not return into the land of Egypt, and the Assyrian shall be his king, because they refused to return.

⁶And the sword shall abide on his cities, and shall consume his branches, and devour them, because of their own counsels.

⁷And my people are bent to backsliding from me: though they called them to the most High, none at all would exalt him.

⁸How shall I give thee up, Ephraim? how shall I deliver thee, Israel? how shall I make thee as Admah? how shall I set thee as Zeboim? mine heart is turned within me, my repentings are kindled together.

⁹I will not execute the fierceness of mine anger, I will not return to destroy Ephraim: for I am God, and not man; the Holy One in the midst of thee: and I will not enter into the city.

¹⁰They shall walk after the Lord: he shall roar like a lion: when he shall roar, then the children shall tremble from the west.

¹¹They shall tremble as a bird out of Egypt, and as a dove out of the land of Assyria: and I will place them in their houses, saith the Lord.

Zechariah 1:1-6 King James Version

1 In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius, came the word of the Lord unto Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo the prophet, saying,

²The Lord hath been sore displeased with your fathers.

³Therefore say thou unto them, Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Turn ye unto me, saith the Lord of hosts, and I will turn unto you, saith the Lord of hosts.

⁴Be ye not as your fathers, unto whom the former prophets have cried, saying, Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Turn ye now from your evil ways, and from your evil doings: but they did not hear, nor hearken unto me, saith the Lord.

⁵Your fathers, where are they? and the prophets, do they live for ever?

⁶But my words and my statutes, which I commanded my servants the prophets, did they not take hold of your fathers? and they returned and said, Like as the Lord of hosts thought to do unto us, according to our ways, and according to our doings, so hath he dealt with us.

Joel 2:12-17 New International Version

Rend Your Heart

¹²“Even now,” declares the Lord,
“return to me with all your heart,
with fasting and weeping and mourning.”

¹³Rend your heart
    and not your garments.
Return to the Lord your God,
    for he is gracious and compassionate,
slow to anger and abounding in love,
    and he relents from sending calamity.
¹⁴Who knows? He may turn and relent
    and leave behind a blessing—
grain offerings and drink offerings
    for the Lord your God.

¹⁵Blow the trumpet in Zion,
    declare a holy fast,
    call a sacred assembly.
¹⁶Gather the people,
    consecrate the assembly;
bring together the elders,
    gather the children,
    those nursing at the breast.
Let the bridegroom leave his room
    and the bride her chamber.
¹⁷Let the priests, who minister before the Lord,
    weep between the portico and the altar.
Let them say, “Spare your people, Lord.
    Do not make your inheritance an object of scorn,
    a byword among the nations.
Why should they say among the peoples,
    ‘Where is their God?’”

Joel 2:18-27 New International Version

The Lord’s Answer

¹⁸Then the Lord was jealous for his land
and took pity on his people.

¹⁹The Lord replied^[a] to them:

“I am sending you grain, new wine and olive oil,
enough to satisfy you fully;
never again will I make you
an object of scorn to the nations.

²⁰“I will drive the northern horde far from you,
    pushing it into a parched and barren land;
its eastern ranks will drown in the Dead Sea
    and its western ranks in the Mediterranean Sea.
And its stench will go up;
    its smell will rise.”

Surely he has done great things!
²¹    Do not be afraid, land of Judah;
    be glad and rejoice.
Surely the Lord has done great things!
²²    Do not be afraid, you wild animals,
    for the pastures in the wilderness are becoming green.
The trees are bearing their fruit;
    the fig tree and the vine yield their riches.
²³Be glad, people of Zion,
    rejoice in the Lord your God,
for he has given you the autumn rains
    because he is faithful.
He sends you abundant showers,
    both autumn and spring rains, as before.
²⁴The threshing floors will be filled with grain;
    the vats will overflow with new wine and oil.

²⁵“I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten—
    the great locust and the young locust,
    the other locusts and the locust swarm^[b]—
my great army that I sent among you.
²⁶You will have plenty to eat, until you are full,
    and you will praise the name of the Lord your God,
    who has worked wonders for you;
never again will my people be shamed.
²⁷Then you will know that I am in Israel,
    that I am the Lord your God,
    and that there is no other;
never again will my people be shamed.

Entire PDF of Lesson below:
God Loves Stubbornly

He Loves You, He Cares For You

Jan 2, 2021 Loves by Percy Parakh

HE CARES FOR YOU – By Pastor Vinu John

“Zion said, The Lord hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me. Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee. Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of My hands; thy walls are continually before Me” – (Isa 49:14-16).

How often, in our distresses and difficulties, we think the Lord has forsaken us or forgotten us! In the above text, the Lord wants us to show us how much He cares for us and watches over us.

“Can a woman forget her sucking child?” Some mothers forget their grown-up children at times, but a mother can hardly forget her sucking child, as the child is helpless without her.

But the interesting truth the Lord reveals here is that even if the mother forgets her sucking child, and does not have compassion on it, He will never forget us.

In another place He promises, “The mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed, but My kindness shall not depart from thee” (Isa 54:10). How mindful the Lord is of those who cling to Him, of those who trust Him like a baby does!

“I have graven thee upon the palms of My hands.” We can always see, what is written on our palms unlike something written anywhere else. The Lord wants to assure us that just as a name that is engraved on the hand of a person is always before his eyes and therefore cannot be forgotten, He cannot forget us.

Our names are not simply ‘written’, but ‘graven’ upon the palms of His hand. It is very painful to engrave something on our hands and whatever is engraved cannot be easily erased either.

So one loves very dearly, the person whose name is engraved on one’s hand. How much the Lord must love us then! “Thy walls are continually before Me.” The Lord has promised that He will be a wall of fire around us. The Lord not only sets a wall of fire around us, but He is also watching over the wall so that no enemy may penetrate the wall.

If there is a wall of fire around you, the enemy cannot penetrate it; he will be consumed in the fire if he tries to! O dear child of God, you are well protected and well cared for by the Lord.

So cast all your care upon Him. “If the Lord careth for thee, be thyself at rest,” said Archbishop Leighton.

“He careth, He beareth, I’m graven in the palms of His hands; He watcheth and guideth, He makes the bitter sweet to me.”

Tag: Loves