Barf

Greetings and God's bountiful blessings to you~

Jonah is one of God's interesting and typical children.  God gave him an assignment, and he ran in the opposite direction.  To make a harrowing and long story short, Jonah found himself aboard a ship - his feeble attempt to run from God.  The Bible literally says Jonah went on board trying to get as away from God as he could get (Jonah 1:3).   

God had other plans, and He sent a really big storm.  Eventually, the sailors realized Jonah's rebellion was causing all the towering waves, and they threw him overboard. 

And then this verse:

Jonah 1:17 Then God assigned a huge fish to swallow Jonah. Jonah was in the fish's belly three days and three nights.

I have tried to imagine what that must have been like for Jonah. Some biblical scholars say he was in the belly of a whale, but others insist it was a great white shark. Shocking and distressing either way.  

And while you or I will never literally find ourselves inside a fish, I think we can all identity with what Jonah was feeling when he prayed this prayer.

I call to You, Lord, in my distress and You answer me. From deep in the realm of hopelessness I call for help, and You listen. You hurled me into the depths, but I look again toward You.  The engulfing waters threatened me, but You Lord my God, brought my life up from the pit. When my life was ebbing away, I remembered You, and my prayer rose to You.  Salvation comes from You!

God's response was to command the fish, and "it vomited Jonah onto dry land."

Jonah teaches us to pray right in the middle of our problem. That when we call on God He answers. Even if we feel that God has forgotten us, we still need to pray. Even when we think it's over, new life is right around the corner. Sometimes our circumstances are ridiculously rough, and it's beyond difficult to be grateful and shout out praise.  But when we do...

GOD COMMANDS THE FISH TO BARF!!!

PRAYER: Dear Lord, We seek you today in our distress.  Out of our seemingly hopeless situation we call for help.  We feel engulfed in fear and worry, but we call out to You.  You bring us out of the pit. Thank you that our prayers rise to You.  Thank You for salvation. Save us and command the "fish" we find ourselves in to let us go! We want to walk upright, confidently, with faith and peace, on dry, smooth, clean land! In Jesus' name, AMEN!

I Want to be Barfed Up~

TGIF Greetings~

Today we end our Jonah tour with his own words. See if you can identify with his prayer, and feel free to use it yourself!

Jonah 2:1-10

"From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the Lord his God. He said: In my distress I called to the Lord, and He answered me. From deep in the realm of the dead I called for help, and You listened to my cry. You hurled me into the depths, into the very heart of the seas, and the currents swirled about me; all your waves and breakers swept over me. I said, ‘I have been banished from your sight; yet I will look again toward your holy temple.’ The engulfing waters threatened me, the deep surrounded me; seaweed was wrapped around my head.

"To the roots of the mountains I sank down; the earth beneath barred me in forever. But You, Lord my God, brought my life up from the pit. When my life was ebbing away, I remembered You, Lord, and my prayer rose to You, to Your holy temple. Those who cling to worthless idols turn away from God’s love for them. But I, with shouts of grateful praise, will sacrifice to you. What I have vowed I will make good. I will say, ‘Salvation comes from the Lord.’  And the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land."
Points to ponder:
Jonah prayed while he was in the middle of the problem--literally.
He called on God and God answered!
He felt like God had totally forgotten him, but he didn't let that stop him from praying.
He thought it was all over, but new life was just around the corner.
Sometimes it's a sacrifice to be grateful and shout out praise when you are engulfed in a problem.
But when we do...God commands the fish to vomit!
I LOVE IT!
PRAYER: Dear Lord, Command the "fish" in our life--that thing that has us upset, and fearful, and worried, to let us go. We want to be vomited onto dry land! In Jesus' name, AMEN~
(I bet you never thought you would pray to be barfed up! HAHAHA)

Of Course Not!!!

Good morning~




One of the things I love about you all is that you ask great questions! Yesterday I received a doozy.



"If God's mercies are new every morning, why not just take advantage of His unending goodness and do what you want?"



Back in 1978 at the ripe ol' age of 13 God allowed me a glimpse into the life of someone who lived recklessly precisely because he was taking advantage of God's forgiveness.



"B" was a husband and father with three teen aged sons when he started an inappropriate relationship with another woman. I barely knew about sex much less infidelity, but I recognized sorrow when I saw it. His family was devastated, and while the exact details of how it all came out are fuzzy, I distinctly remember him saying, "God forgives me everyday. I am not going to stop seeing this woman."



I knew in my heart that what he was saying was wrong, but I also knew that God forgives. And all that confusion was put on the back burner until I had to face certain tragedies in my own family. So as I sit here and write this today I want to, more than anything else, bring clarification. Can you imagine this man's poor wife praying and God saying to her, "He keeps on asking for forgiveness, so it's ok?"



Romans 6:1 "So what do we do? Keep on sinning so God can keep on forgiving? Of course not! Since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it?"



God keeps forgiving, and Amen! to that. But we died to sin the instant we said yes to Christ. Notice the word "died." It's past tense. If we have truly died to a wrong way of living and thinking, then we should not be following it.



In other words, Mr. B, your viewpoint was wrong then, and it's wrong now.



Only God can judge Mr. B's true intentions and his soul, but if he made a legitimate decision to begin a new life with Christ, then the evidence of it should be that his old way of living was dead.



How tragic that there are those who will misuse God's love as a license to do whatever they want--not caring who they hurt in the process--as opposed to purposely trying to live right precisely because God loves us. (I wonder if Mr. B would have changed his behavior if he could have seen into the future and seen the devastation that continues in his childrens' lives to this very day?)



In other words, God offers us a new life, overflowing with love, peace, joy, hope, goodness, kindness, mercy, and forgiveness, and our response should be one of gratitude not disobedience.



Proverbs 26:11 "As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his foolishness."



That's a rough verse, but it's in the Bible for a reason. There will always be those who want to hang on to sin, and it is plain disgusting.



We, on the other hand, are not foolish. We are wise. Wise enough to know that a blessed and beautiful life comes from right living. Notice I said right living--not perfect living.



Let's tie it all up tomorrow:)



PRAYER:

Dear Lord, Thank You for Your Word, which guides us day-to-day. Sometimes life is confusing, but one thing we do know is that we can not live without You. We never want to take advantage of Your generous outpouring of blessings, so help us and those we love stay on the right track. And we especially pray today for our kids. If anyone of them is struggling to do the right thing, empower them to make the right decision. In Jesus' name, Amen~