Everyday Truth with Kurt Skelly

Tuesday, May 21 | The Valley of Achor is a Door of Hope! (Hosea 2:10-17)

Hosea 2:10-17

When people stubbornly pursue satisfaction in their sinful choices, trite temptations, and empty idols, God uses various means to get their attention. At times, he removes physical blessings. Other times, he takes the joy of sinful pleasure away. At the extreme, He allows a place of utter emptiness and desertion. But it’s in that place that His presence, His love, and His offer of hope greatly abound.

Monday, May 20 | Temptation always gets ugly over time. (Hosea 2:6-9)

Hosea 2:6-9

Two ways that God gets our attention when we persistently pursue our temptations: (1) He makes them less accessible and satisfying. Our efforts to pursue them increase, but our achieving them and being satisfied by them decreases. (2) He removes His own blessings of protection and provision so that we can learn how truly fruitless life is without His involvement.

Nehemiah 4 | Attacking and Defending | Weekend Pulpit

Nehemiah 4

from the series "When God Interrupts Your Life"

Friday, May 17 | If you see something, say something. (Hosea 2:2-5)

Hosea 2:2-5

Each person is responsible in some part for the group’s behavior. Even if an individual does not participate in the sin, he has a responsibility to call it out in some measure. God speaks to the people of Israel to call out and condemn the immoral group identity that Israel had embraced.

Thursday, May 16 | God can change the meaning of your name! (Hosea 1:8-2:1)

Hosea 1:8-2:1

Hosea’s children were given names by God, and those names each represented the sad condition of God’s people: Jezreel—God’s people will be scattered. Lo-Ruhamah—there will be no more mercy. Lo-Ammi—you are not my people. YET, God’s promise to them was that He would bring gathering from the scattering, mercy to replace the judgment, and belonging to replace the abandoning!

Wednesday, May 15 | Mercy’s Expiration Date (Hosea 1:6-8)

Hosea 1:6-8

Economic prosperity and good health are not necessarily a product of obedience; in fact, God often allows very wicked people to enjoy both. The underserved blessings of God should incentivize loving and obedient submission to Him. Israel did not understand this in spite of the radical ways God showed them.

Tuesday, May 14 | You named your son what? Why? (Hosea 1:3-5)

Hosea 1:3-5

In modern days, baby names typically don’t have any more significance than that they sounded good to the parents. Not so in the Bible. Names were indicators of a parent’s desired character for his child, or were a testimony to a family member, or (as in the case of Hosea’s son) a prediction by God of something that was to come. The person with that name was a living prophecy of the Word of God!

Monday, May 13 | You want me to marry HER!? (Hosea 1:1-2)

Hosea 1:1-2

The book of Hosea is a book with maximum shock value. Not only does God communicate through Hosea’s words a very powerful message to Israel, but also He communicates an even more powerful message through Hosea’s life. Hosea’s family becomes the ultimate example of the unfaithfulness of God’s people and the amazing love of God for them.

Friday, May 10 | God does the work through His Word! (Romans 16:25-27)

Romans 16:25-27

Thursday, May 9 | Gospel work is teamwork! (Romans 16:21-24)

Romans 16:21-24