August 4-8
[M] Hosea 1-3; Matthew 16
[T] Hosea 4-6; Psalm 58; Matt 17
[W] Hosea 7-10; Matt 18
[T] Hosea 11-13; Matt 19
[F] Hosea 14; 2 Chr 26-27; Ps 61; Matt 20
Dwell Plan Day 156-160 | CSB | Digital PDF | Printable PDF
Notes from Jon & Chris
Monday
Hosea | Hosea’s life was a living parable: his marriage, heartbreak, and relentless pursuit of his unfaithful wife all pointed to the faithful love of the Father for His people. In the same way, when we live with joy in blessing and hope in suffering, our lives point others to the grace we’ve received. Grace doesn’t just save us; it shapes us into signs and stories that proclaim the gospel. A redeemed life, lived openly, becomes a quiet sermon of the Father’s unrelenting mercy.
Hosea 2:18 | God says He will make a covenant—a binding contract and promise—between HIs people and animals. This is the restoration that Paul talks about when he teaches us in Romans 8:19 that the creation is groaning and waiting eagerly for our redemption. What is this about? This world suffers because of us. We’re connected with it and can’t be separated out. We were commissioned in Genesis 2 to take care of nature. Then, because of Adam’s sin, the ground is now cursed (Genesis 3:17). Everything is broken. Our environmental impact and destruction is all around us, and it’s our fault. A part of the true restoration that God promises is our unity with nature alongside our unity with ourselves, one another, and with Him. The scope of God’s redeeming love is cosmic and far reaching. He will restore all things even better than they were before. Praise Him.
Matthew 16:1-3 | We imagine we would have understood, but we wouldn’t have. Sin hasn’t softened with time: we are just as blind, just as proud, just as resistant to grace as the Pharisees and the disciples. The sign of Jonah wasn’t missed because it was unclear, but because hearts were hard. The gospel humbles us not just by what it says, but by showing us we’re no better than those who missed it the first time.
Matthew 16:17 | There is a moment that I enjoy when leading folks into spiritual truth, especially when it’s the moment of someone’s conversion and they suddenly “get it”. It can happen slowly or quickly, but it doesn’t matter, what matters is that it didn’t come from them. I’m usually quick to say these very words to them at that moment: “Flesh and blood didn’t reveal that to you. You didn’t figure it out through your cleverness or hard work. No, that was God’s work, our heavenly Father revealed who Jesus is to you—who He truly is.” That’s the only way that conversion works, and beyond that, it’s the only way that growing to understand God and the Bible works. We need the work of God. Remember to be praying before you read anything because flesh and blood isn’t enough. It never is. And when you understand something, when an insight clicks for you and you begin to really see Jesus and His grace, praise God for it. It wasn’t you, it was Him in His loving grace.
Matthew 16:19 | Christ repeats this expression again in Matthew 18:18: whatever you bind or loose on earth, that same action will be taken in heaven. What does this mean? In both instances, He’s talking about how you use authority in the church, in relationships. The binding and loosing image is a metaphor for judgment, where you have to discern whether something or someone is okay spiritually. Rebellion against God’s laws and truth is constantly happening in the church in all ages, and we have the responsibility at times, like an umpire, to call balls and strikes. This is what binding and loosing is. We’re either tying something up or we’re letting it go. It makes the work of the church in leadership quite serious. Heaven stands behind these actions, giving them an eternal weight that we can’t afford to ignore. It makes the discipline of the church a serious matter with eternal consequences.
Tuesday
Hosea 4:6 | “Ignorance= fear/ silence = death” is a slogan from the AIDS epidemic, and it’s not an original idea to that crisis. It’s always been the case, as we can see in this text. But we also have another cultural slogan: ignorance is bliss. But fear of disease or seeking the foolish happiness of being uninformed are both rebuked by the prophet here. Not knowing God or remembering His words are an invitation to disaster. There’s nothing innocent about spiritual ignorance, and there’s nothing harmless about knowing little about your Bible. Lack of knowledge destroys. But we can take this even further. We’re invited to know God personally, to know Him as the Living God, someone available for relationship and intimacy. Our worship was strategically designed by Jesus by these words in the weekly sacrament: do this to remember Me. Praise Him!
Hosea 5:1 | This chapter marks a change in the tone of Hosea. The book contains a great deal of judgment, and we’ll see some of that same language echoed in Psalm 58 today.
I (Jon) knew a pastor who started teaching through Hosea but stopped because he thought it had too much judgment in it. There are a lot of problems when we give in to the modern impulse to remove or soften the judgment parts of the Bible. First, we’re telling God that we know better than He does how the world should work. Second, we lessen the seriousness of sin. And third—and most importantly—without the judgment and wrath revealed in Scripture, what exactly happened at the cross? Jesus bearing the wrath of God in our place was the most loving act in history. So, ironically, when we try to make Him more loving by removing judgment from the story, we actually make Him less loving. It’s a self-defeating interpretation.
Matthew 17:1-4 | This is one of those moments in Christ’s ministry that reveal how our faith is an unembarrassed supernaturalism. There you have it: Christ is shining and He’s talking to two of the most famous men of the Old Testament, one who’s been dead over a thousand years. And they’re having a conversation. If that isn’t supernatural, I don’t know what is. But this story is for us today, and it can be easy to miss the point with all the shininess and amazingness that’s going on. Christ and His ministry and His work are all organically cemented to the whole Old Testament. The Jews described their Bibles this way: Moses and the prophets. It was their expression for the word “bible” which was from a greek word. This is why there’s so much value in being a “whole Bible” Christian, and in working your whole life to grasp the “whole counsel” of God. This is why this Bible in a year program is something we should be doing every year, not just in 2025. This bright little meeting connects all of the Scripture around Jesus and His work, affirming one God with one Word for one salvation.
Matthew 17:24-27 | What a wonderful little story, packed full of amazing truth. First, the way the little vignette is told, Peter is approached about a “tax” that had to be paid. The text doesn’t mention it, but it’s most likely the yearly “temple tax” that was collected during that time. We know that from sources outside the Bible, but it isn’t mentioned here because it isn’t relevant. Then Jesus does three miracles in a row. First, He shows Peter that He already knows what just happened. This doesn’t mean that Jesus was eavesdropping or overheard the conversation between Peter and the tax collector. No, the story makes the point that Jesus has miraculous knowledge. Peter must have realized this and made sure it was reported that way. So Jesus asks Peter a question before he even speaks about whether Kings charge their own sons taxes. And we all know how powerful men work—of course their kids don’t pay taxes. So Jesus says to pay the tax so they aren’t being offensive to anyone. They technically don’t have to, but that’s not the point. And then Jesus tells Peter to go fishing because his next catch will have a coin in its mouth. That’s the second supernatural event: the miraculous money fish! But what’s the third miracle? Christ comes to free us from our greed, so we don’t resent being taxed by anyone. We use God’s provision, however He chooses to bring it, to not bring any unnecessary offense so that we can tell them the good news about Jesus. We are free, free in ways we barely can grasp, free from the rules and standards of man. But our freedom is constrained and bounded by love. Money doesn’t mean anything to us in and of itself. That’s a great miracle of the Spirit in us when we are free like that. Anyone feel like fishing?
Wednesday
Hosea 7:2 | This image is all over the Bible, especially in the Prophets and forcefully in Hosea: our God is personally offended by our sin. He takes our evil, our rebellion, and our selfish choices as a personal affront to Him. That’s why the biggest metaphor in Hosea is how God views our sin as adultery. One of the most common objections of this age is “How can an infinite God care what I do with my body, doesn’t He have a universe to run and seven billion people in this world?” But there’s a mathematical problem with that. Because if God is truly infinite, then He is able to interact with seven billion people every second of every day and still have an infinite amount of power and attention and information to run the whole universe. You might still object: “But I’m so small compared to the universe, how can my choices about lying or being selfish or cursing or having sex matter to Him?” Again, the math still works, there’s no barrier to an infinite being in who He is. But this isn’t a math question any more, it’s a qualitative question. And this is the rub about this infinite God: He has revealed to us that He is an infinite Person, not an infinite force. And this Person created us in His own personal image, so He has a personal—and infinite—stake in how we live. It simply cannot be any other way. So all of our sins are committed literally and figuratively and infinitely in His face. That’s how He takes it. There are no little or impersonal sins we can commit, because there is no little or impersonal God to sin against.
Matthew 18:3 | What does it mean to become like a child? It doesn’t mean we set aside our intellect, curiosity, or pursuit of wisdom. Jesus isn’t calling us to be immature or naïve, He’s calling us to trust. Children live with a natural dependence on their parents; they aren’t self-sufficient, and they don’t pretend to be. That’s the posture of heart Jesus is inviting us into: humble, needy, and willing to receive grace. Kingdom people don’t come to God with spiritual resumes, they come with empty hands. Faith like a child doesn’t mean less thinking; it means more trusting.
Matthew 18:15 | This little verse is all about what ordinary discipleship and friendship and fellowship is in God’s family. It’s done quietly and personally when we get offended by someone’s sin against us. Not someone’s sin against someone else—against us. And not shared with anyone else, but shared with that one person themselves. Every conflict in God’s kingdom should be settled at the lowest level possible. And this sort of thing should be happening all the time, and what do we gain? A brother! We cement our family ties in Jesus through this sort of regular and frequent addressing of sinful hurts that we inflict on one another. Do this, and do it often. Seek it out, if you just might have offended or hurt another. Gain a brother or sister through this. God is building a temple in and through us for the glory of His Son. When this process breaks down, that’s when you go on to the next verses, into the process of discipline in the church. But that’s the exception. Where the fruits of the Spirit are, that’s where folks are doing and receiving and living by the work of verse 15 all by itself.
Matthew 18:21–35 | I used to hear this parable taught like the servant was forgiven a huge debt and then refused to forgive someone a tiny one. But that’s not quite right. He was forgiven a massive debt—an impossible amount—and then refused to forgive a substantial debt. It wasn’t pocket change; it was still big. That detail matters, because it deepens the point Jesus is making. The forgiveness the Father has shown you isn’t just greater, it’s infinitely greater, than any forgiveness you’ll ever be asked to give. The cross doesn’t minimize the pain others have caused you; it just reminds you that grace has already covered more.
Thursday
Hosea 13:8 | I’m not afraid of a lot of things. I (Jon) rode motorcycles for years on freeways across the country. I’ve done my fair share of crazy stunts and adrenaline-junkie stuff. But one of the few things that does scare me? Wild animals. The image God uses here to describe His judgment on Israel is terrifying—because it’s supposed to be. Imagine hiking alone in the woods when a bear, robbed of her cubs, charges at you. If you’ve seen The Revenant, you know how that ends. A wild bear is raw, unstoppable power—claws, teeth, muscle, fury.
And that’s the image God chooses. But here’s what’s even more sobering: images like this are always meant to point to a greater reality. The judgment of God is like that—but worse, because He’s the One who made bears, lions, and vipers. When His holy wrath is aimed at you, there’s nowhere to hide.
But here’s the stunning grace of the gospel: if you belong to Jesus, that wrath will never be pointed at you. On the cross, all the terrifying judgment of Hosea 13:8 fell on Christ. He stepped in front of the bear for you. And that’s why passages like this aren’t just scary—they’re precious. They show us just how much God loves us: enough to take His own wrath in our place.
Matthew 19:26 | The truth is that our God can do a million impossible things before breakfast. That’s who He is. But “God of the impossible” is quite a pointed truth here. Jesus is describing the amazing power of God when it comes to a very specific action: rich folks entering God’s kingdom. Before you then protest that it couldn’t be about you, remember what wealth is. Christ teaches us it’s where our treasure is. For many folks that is money. But for many it isn’t. Their wealth can be in the amazing family they come from or the ancient traditions of their culture. It could be in good looks or a fine education or a high intelligence. It might be an ability to connect to others or it might be in daily being reliable and faithful. All of these are treasures! They are quite valuable to us and they can all blind us to our deepest need for a savior. All of us need the God who does the impossible, who saves people who are trying to save themselves.
Friday
Hosea 14 | After chapter upon chapter of judgment, this text breaks in like a cool drink of water after a long day’s work. For so long, God has exposed the sin and idolatry of His people, warning them of the devastation to come, but here, He offers restoration. He invites them to return, to repent, to lay down their idols, and come home. And what awaits them isn’t punishment, but healing. Grace. Mercy. Love.
This chapter has obvious pointers to what we find in Christ. The same offer is made to sinners. Turn and repent—come home and you will find rest for your soul. You will find grace and mercy. You will find life and light, joy and peace, hope and assurance. He is way better at saving than you are at sinning.
Matthew 20:17-19 | God repeats Himself a lot. All over the Bible, God repeats His promises, reveals His character and personality, and tells us over and over again about what to expect in life. Christ even sets up the Lord’s Supper with this phrase, repeated twice itself “do this so you will remember Me.” What’s the point? We need a lot of reminding. We are easily distracted and even more easily forgetful. We need reminders—which is why memorizing Scripture is so valuable. It’s binding the reminder into your brain and burning it into your memory. And it’s not only about how forgetful you are. Crisis is coming in your life, whoever you are. Temptations will come and dark nights of doubt. Attacks and the rejection of friends and family is coming. Jesus knew in detail that the cross was coming, and with it all sorts of humiliating torture. When you’re right in the middle of all of that, remembering all of the predictions of Jesus about our suffering can be very valuable. It can help you get through. Jesus was doing more than just reminding them: He was modeling how we all need to remind one another. He was teaching, through His own actions, how we need to keep going back to God’s words. Reading the Bible in a year isn’t a one off task. Been there and done that—not at all. We need reminders all of our life. It’s our habit. God loves us, and He repeats Himself a lot. What a gracious and loving savior He is for us, let’s do all we can to remind ourselves of this every day.
Matthew 20:34 | Moved with compassion, Jesus touched their eyes. Immediately they could see, and they followed Him (CSB) | I don’t have a long reflection on this verse—I just love it. Jesus sees these blind men, hears their cries, and Matthew tells us He’s moved with compassion. That’s not just what He does; it’s who He is. He’s not cold, calculating, or reluctant—He’s tender, present, and full of mercy. We don’t follow a Savior who stands at a distance; we follow One whose heart moves toward the broken.
Sidenote: if you ever want to reflect more deeply on this aspect of Jesus, read Gentle and Lowly by Dane Ortlund. I’ve never met anyone who read it and didn’t come back saying it changed them.