Category: From Pastor

(This week’s devotions are based on Sunday’s message: Grace for All…Grace Pursues – LISTEN HERE)

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Jonah 2:3      You hurled me into the deep, into the very heart of the seas, 

         and the currents swirled about me; all your waves and breakers swept over me. 

Jonah is praying to the Lord.  When he says, “You hurled me into the deep..” is he blaming the Lord or recognizing truth about the Lord.

What do you think?

There is no question that Jonah wouldn’t have jumped overboard by himself.  In Jonah 1 he recognized before the sailors that the storm was his fault.  After the casting of lots, Jonah was determined to be the one that was causing the storm by his running from the Lord.  And while he instructed the sailors to throw him overboard, he knew it was the Lord who hurled him into the depths of the sea.

Why was this important for Jonah to recognize?

Why is it important for us to recognize?

While the Lord isn’t the cause of evil, he allows times of testing to come into our lives to refine our faith and purify it for himself. While God can and does carry out punishment on evil, when he allows testing in the life of his child, it is a discipline to turn us back to him and strengthen our faith in him.

The Lord DID hurl Jonah into the sea because his heart was on the run from the Lord.  It really was the grace of God that allowed this crisis to occur to awaken Jonah’s heart to the heart of the Lord.  Jonah was running.  The trip into the belly of the fish stopped him.

Even for God’s people, the Lord does not promise a life without challenges.  But for the Lord’s children, the challenges are opportunities to solidify and strengthen our relationship with the Lord.  

King Solomon knew this as he wrote:

Proverbs 3:11 My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline, and do not resent his rebuke, 12 because the Lord disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in.

The psalmist knew this:

Psalm 66: 10 For you, God, tested us; you refined us like silver.
11 You brought us into prison and laid burdens on our backs.
12 You let people ride over our heads; we went through fire and water,
    but you brought us to a place of abundance.

The Apostle Paul knew this:

2 Corinthians 1:8 We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters,[a] about the troubles we experienced in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself. 9 Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. 10 He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us again.

And Jesus himself knew this:

Isaiah 53:10 Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the Lord makes his life an offering for sin, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand.

The Lord wants you to know this.  It is his love that “hurls us into the sea” so we might rely on him more, believe in him and come through our time of testing with a stronger faith and reliance on the Lord.

You may be “in the sea” right now.  Know that the Lord is there to see you through the time of testing to triumph!

 

Apply: Are you in a season of life where it feels like you are drowning in the sea?  What possibly is the Lord trying to mold in you and of you even as he permits this season of testing to occur?

Prayer: Lord thank you for even the challenges of life, for in them I turn to you more and learn to trust you better.  AMEN.

 

(This week’s devotions are based on Sunday’s message: Grace for All…Grace Pursues – LISTEN HERE)

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I have spent zero minutes in the belly of a fish.  The largest fish I have handled is probably a 4-5 pound northern pike.  I’ve seen dolphins in person and have watched killer whales at the marine parks.

So my qualifications to speak about the experience of one who survived three days and three nights in the belly of a fish or minimal.

But here’s what I do know…or at least safely imagine.  It was wet and slimy and dark with an air pocket to sustain life.

So in the dark, grossness of the belly of a fish Jonah prays:

2      From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the LORD his God. 2 He said: 

 

         “In my distress I called to the LORD, and he answered me. 

         From the depths of the grave I called for help, and you listened to my cry. 

         3      You hurled me into the deep, into the very heart of the seas, 

         and the currents swirled about me; all your waves and breakers swept over me. 

         4      I said, ‘I have been banished from your sight; yet I will look again toward your holy temple.’ 

         5      The engulfing waters threatened me, the deep surrounded me; 

         seaweed was wrapped around my head. 

         6      To the roots of the mountains I sank down; the earth beneath barred me in forever. 

         But you brought my life up from the pit, O LORD my God. 

 

         7      “When my life was ebbing away, I remembered you, LORD, and my prayer rose to you, to your holy temple. 

 

         8      “Those who cling to worthless idols 

         forfeit the grace that could be theirs. 

         9      But I, with a song of thanksgiving, will sacrifice to you. 

         What I have vowed I will make good. 

         Salvation comes from the LORD.” 

 

10 And the LORD commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land. 

 

I can only imagine the emotions, the panic, the desperation as the waters came around Jonah, as the fish came up to Jonah and swallowed him.  He didn’t know if he was going to live or die, but he cried out to the Lord.

In moments of great distress, it is natural for a person to cry out to God.  As some have said, “There are no atheists in a fox hole.”  When life is on the line we cry out to God.  God heard Jonah’s cry and listened and answered.  

Psalm 18:6 In my distress I called to the Lord; I cried to my God for help. From his temple he heard my voice; my cry came before him, into his ears.

God’s promise to his children is that he will hear and answer our cries of distress from the “belly of the fish” or whatever situation in which we find ourselves.

It doesn’t mean it’s the ONLY time to cry out to the Lord…but it is A time!

Apply: At times of distress it perhaps doesn’t seem like the Lord is hearing because his answer isn’t what we want.  Take time to determine how the Lord IS listening and answering.

PRAYER: Lord, thank you for listening to my prayers at all times, but especially in times of distress.  AMEN.

(This week’s devotions are based on Sunday’s message: Grace for All…Grace Pursues – LISTEN HERE)

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Jonah 1:17 Now the Lord provided a huge fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

This is the event most memorable to us in the story of Jonah…being swallowed by a big fish. This brief narrative statement packs a lot of reality in it.

The event wasn’t random.  Jonah was surrounded by water, sinking to the depths with his life on the line.  His actions of running from the Lord would certainly have justified the Lord’s actions to allow Jonah to perish.  Yet…

…the Lord provided a huge fish to swallow Jonah.”

THE LORD PROVIDED.

The fish was unexpected.  Perhaps the Lord providing another boat to pick up Jonah would have been normal, or Jonah found a piece of floating log and clung on to it until shore.  Yet, the Lord provided at large fish.  

An unexpected gift of grace.

Perhaps it wasn’t what Jonah was expecting, but it was what Jonah needed.  The belly of the fish would be his home for the next three days and three nights.

It would have been easy for Jonah to complain of his circumstances, moan of the slimy, wet conditions of his room, and just demand a change in his situation.

But he doesn’t and it’s probably a good thing.  God has his attention.  And he realizes that he is alive in the belly of the fish because the LORD provided.

God is always ready to show his grace and sometimes it is shown in unexpected ways.  How many times have we planned a solution to a problem only for the problem to be solved a different…and better way.  Is it possible God provided the proper solution?

To be sure, God’s grace rescues us from even the most difficult situations, not always in the way we want or expect, but in the way that is best for us.

So for Jonah, the all-expense-paid 3 day/3 night stay in the belly of the fish was exactly what he needed.  God wanted his attention and still wanted to use him.

And for Jonah, the belly of the fish was the best place.

While I do not advise getting thrown overboard into the sea and waiting for a fish to swallow you, the Spirit of God provides this brief narrative to remind us that God in his grace provides not always what we expect, or what we want, but always what we need.

 

Apply: What “great fish” has God sent into your life to rescue you in an unexpected, yet grace-filled way?

Prayer: Lord, thank you for your love and grace that always gives what we need, even if it’s not what we expect.  AMEN

 

Read Jonah 2…the rest of the week will reflect on Jonah’s prayer.

(This week’s devotions are based on Sunday’s message: Grace for All…Grace Pursues – LISTEN HERE)

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Jonah 1:15 Then they took Jonah and threw him overboard, and the raging sea grew calm. 16 At this the men greatly feared the Lord, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows to him.

You have probably heard, “There are no atheists in a fox hole.”  When life is on the line, our instinct is to cry out to God…perhaps not knowing who that God is.  Yet, there is an inner sense that there is a god bigger and more powerful around us.  We call this the natural knowledge of God.  The natural knowledge of God is realized in two areas: nature and our conscience.  The Psalmist wrote of nature:

Psalm 119:1 The heavens declare the glory of God;

    the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

2 Day after day they pour forth speech;

    night after night they reveal knowledge.

3 They have no speech, they use no words;

    no sound is heard from them.

4 Yet their voice goes out into all the earth,

    their words to the ends of the world.

Nature, creation, the world around us gives evidence to the individual that there is someone more powerful, more intelligent, and more creative than they.  The sailors on the ship realized the power of the wind and the strength of the waves was beyond their ability to control.  They cried out to their gods seeking reprieve from the storm.  Nothing happened.  Jonah indicated to the men that the God from whom he was running was the one who created the wind and the waves.  He was proved right when he was thrown overboard and the “raging sea grew calm.”  The response of the crew?  They “offered sacrifice to the Lord and made vows to him.”  Did the Lord become just another god in their divine sailor toolkit or did the other gods get fired and the Lord filled their heart?  Again, we don’t know, but we do know the power of nature led them to the Lord, through Jonah.

In the New Testament, the Apostle Paul was speaking to the Athenians who had gods for all different things of nature.  He indicates that one who seeks after the Lord, the Lord will honor. Acts 17:24-28 says:

24 “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. 25 And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else. 26 From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. 27 God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. 28 ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’

The sailors reached out.  The sailors encountered the Lord.

In no way will we justify Jonah’s disobedience, but God used it as an opportunity to show his power in the waters of the sea and show his power to affect the hearts of the sailors.  How did things end for the sailors?  We don’t know.  But knowing the heart of the Lord, I am certainly of the opinion that he did not let their encounter with the Lord through Jonah go to spiritual waste!

 

Apply: How does experiencing the power of God in nature lead you to seek more about the true God in his Word?

Prayer: Lord, thank you for using all means available to you to bring people closer to you.  Honor the search nature sends one on so that all individuals intrigued by the power of nature will come to believe and trust the power of your Gospel. AMEN.

(This week’s devotions are based on Sunday’s message: Grace for All…Grace Pursues – LISTEN HERE)

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Disruption because of disobedience.

Virtually every day on the news there are stories of people who acted in senseless violence or evil and have affected the lives of people in a negative way for the rest of their lives.  Drunk drivers kill innocent families.  Disgruntled employees shoot up their previous employment injuring and killing people.  The headlines are many.

One can only imagine what was happening in the city of Nineveh that “came up before the Lord.”  The Lord saw their wickedness and that is why he sent Jonah to go preach against it.  Was everyone in Nineveh wicked?  Perhaps not, but many were perpetuating evil and many were suffering as a result of it.

But it wasn’t just the disobedience of Nineveh that was before the Lord.  The disobedience of Jonah nearly cost the sailors their lives.

What the captain thought was a few extra dollars to take Jonah to Tarshish led to a frantic effort to save the whole ship from wrecking.  In the process, they had to throw cargo overboard, devaluing their trip across the Mediterranean.

Yet, in the process, the Lord was still recognized as the true God because when they eventually through Jonah overboard, the storm stopped, something their cries to their gods could not do.

4 Then the Lord sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up. 5 All the sailors were afraid and each cried out to his own god. And they threw the cargo into the sea to lighten the ship.

But Jonah had gone below deck, where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep. 6 The captain went to him and said, “How can you sleep? Get up and call on your god! Maybe he will take notice of us, and we will not perish.”

7 Then the sailors said to each other, “Come, let us cast lots to find out who is responsible for this calamity.” They cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah.

8 So they asked him, “Tell us, who is responsible for making all this trouble for us? What do you do? Where do you come from? What is your country? From what people are you?”

9 He answered, “I am a Hebrew and I worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the land.”

10 This terrified them and they asked, “What have you done?” (They knew he was running away from the Lord, because he had already told them so.)

11 The sea was getting rougher and rougher. So they asked him, “What should we do to you to make the sea calm down for us?”

12 “Pick me up and throw me into the sea,” he replied, “and it will become calm. I know that it is my fault that this great storm has come upon you.”

13 Instead, the men did their best to row back to land. But they could not, for the sea grew even wilder than before. 14 Then they cried to the Lord, “O Lord, please do not let us die for taking this man’s life. Do not hold us accountable for killing an innocent man, for you, O Lord, have done as you pleased.” 15 Then they took Jonah and threw him overboard, and the raging sea grew calm. 16 At this the men greatly feared the Lord, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows to him. 

Here’s two reflections to take with your day.

1. As much as we think our disobedience of the Lord may not affect other people, it certainly can.  We act in an unloving way to our spouse, the day doesn’t go so well.  We are dishonest at work, our employer loses our productivity or some of their product.  We post a thoughtless message on social media, and someone is crushed by the negativity of your message.  The Lord gave us the Ten Commandments not only to guide our love of him and others, but to protect us and also for us, as we keep them, to be a blessing to others.
2. God, in his amazing way, still will be glorified, even when our performance fails miserably to glorify him.  In the case of the sailors, they knew the God from whom Jonah was fleeing was superior to their gods.  God can be glorified when his justice is carried out and sin is exposed.  God is glorified when sin is confronted and the sinner is brought to repentance, is forgiven and works to restore what is broken.  Sometimes God is glorified through tragedies brought on by evil as people turn to him seeking understanding, peace and comfort in their difficulty.

As we will see, God in his grace will save and restore Jonah even after his disobedience.  God’s grace is not a license to disobey, but it is a comfort to know his grace is for all, even the disobedient.

 

Apply: What disobedience is God calling you to repent of today?  What results of sin you’ve committed might the Spirit be moving you to restore?

Prayer: Lord, thank you for your mercy that calls out our disobedience, brings us to repentance and once again showers us with your grace.  AMEN.