Jonah 1:2 & 3:2 5/30/2023*

Jonah 1:2  “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.”

Jonah 3:2 “Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you.”

The first verses of chapter 1 and 3 in the book of Jonah repeat the same instructions…  Why?... What happened in chapter 2?  We get a hint about what took place in verse 2:1:  “From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the Lord...”

Jonah finds himself in trouble because he runs from God. The instructions God issues in chapters 1 and 3 are the same – but Jonah has changed.  His rebellion caused events which taught him that ignoring God is dangerous and futile. 

History would have viewed Jonah differently had he just obeyed God in the first place. He would have been remembered as a powerful prophet had he not been stubborn and self-centered.  But chapter 2 occurs because “Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish”… This decision led to Jonah reluctantly becoming the world’s first Ichthyologists to study the inside of a living fish while it swam in the ocean.  

How could Jonah think he could choose a better path than God?… Probably the same way I do when I rebel against the Lord’s plans for me. And like Jonah, I resist turning back to Him until I  find myself in danger. Why does life have to go completely off the rails before we pray?… Why do we run away until we find ourselves in the belly of a fish and have no other option but to cry out to God?  

We must learn from Jonah’s story. We can’t just focus on the Love of God to the exclusion of His power and authority. He is our loving Father, and He is also the Omnipotent Ruler of the universe and must be obeyed.  Maybe by meditating on Jonah we can acquire a clearer view of God and eliminate the “chapter 2’s” in our lives. The chapters where we choose our own plan over His. If we can reduce our tendency to run from God, it will decrease the number of times we find ourselves lying on a deserted beach in fish vomit. 

“Running from the presence of God has the futility of "trying to shovel smoke with a rake". - Paul David Tripp”

1 Peter 5:8-10 5/23/2023*

“…the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings. And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you…”

Two powerful truths this morning:  

First, the devil is a predator stalking the herd.  Don’t casually read that. It carries a stark warning. Life is a team sport, and we need each other.  

Lions won’t stalk, a healthy animal in the midst of the herd. They look for a weak one that has wandered away by itself. Arrogance, which says, “I don’t need other people,” will make you a target. 

You need community and you won’t find it by accident.  We have never been lonelier than we are today… Though constantly on our devices with a mob of superficial “friends”… without transparency, we are alone in the crowd.

Go to church. Get connected. Find committed brothers you can be honest with, and who will be honest with you. Seek friends with a biblical world view that you can be transparent with, and who will have your back when the enemy is prowling around in your life. 

The second take away from this passage, is that Self-pity is not an effective life strategy…. faith is. We have been trained to be victims but that’s not scriptural.  We’re never alone in our suffering, and we should not be surprised when a world that crucified our King, is not enamored with His servants. 

We will face battles, but the war has already been won.  Christians everywhere participate in the sufferings of Christ. It is part of living in a broken world, but it’s not a permanent condition. Our eternal destiny is to be more than conquerors. 

Don’t be bewildered at the fiery trials of life, and don’t face them alone … Stand in your faith with a loyal group of authentic friends. Face the fight with courage. And trust that nothing impacts you that has not first passed through the hands of God . He loves you.  He redeemed you, and in the end, He Himself will restore you. 

“A man who fears suffering is already suffering from what he fears.” 

- Michel de Montaigne

1 Peter 3:10 5/16/2023*

“…The one who desires life, to love and see good days, must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit.” 

We enjoy examining biblical complexities but are often hesitant to implement simple truths that are inconvenient. This passage is clear, yet in our friendships, social media, politics, and even church, we simply ignore it. 

You cannot “cherry pick” which biblical mandates you follow. You can twist interpretations, argue translations,  and debate hermeneutics - but when you’re finished, this verse will still say exactly what it said before – “If you desire love and life... watch your mouth.” 

Even in church, we have become adept at softly brutalizing others with our speech. Acid words flow from our smiling lips as we are condescending about a brother… not that you don’t love him of course, but he really struggles with (insert gossip here).  It is especially satisfying if they differ with us politically. This has become standard operating procedure… even tolerated from the pulpit… So, we dismiss it and move on, but scripture does not.  

This verse contains a crystal clear “If/Then” statement.  IF you desire love and life THEN watch what you say… The inverse is clear also -  continue vomiting evil from your lips and see what happens. 

Words are our spiritual thermometer…they come from our heart and reveal what is inside it.  If I find ways to insert selfish, demeaning comments about others, then I have a heart problem. If I can’t speak to, or about people who are not like me, without personally attacking and degrading them – then how is my heart any different than those who don’t know Christ? 

By the way if you’re reading this and thinking about someone who really needs to hear it - you missed the point.  Look in the mirror and read it again. Then make changes in your heart so that your words will be “like honey - sweet to the soul and healthy for the body.” (Proverbs16:24)

A heart that produces polluted speech has a lethal problem. And if we camped out on this verse every Tuesday morning for the rest of the year it would not be overstating its importance. 

“With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness… My brothers and sisters, this should not be.” – James 

 

1 Thessalonians 5:25 5/9/2023*

“Brothers and sisters, pray for us”

In his letters Paul asks for many things for others… forgiveness for Onesimus… funds for various churches… kindness to each other… But the only thing Paul ask for himself from other Christians was prayer.

Does your love for others cause you to pray for them?  How often do you pray  for your wife?... your children? …your friends?  And how much do you depend on prayer from others? … Do you really desire other believers praying for you, or do you prefer they simply fund your projects? The answer to those questions depends on your opinion of prayer. 

My Buddy Bruce Hayes was a lifelong teacher and coach and in every one of his classrooms he would post 3 letters  “CWM”.  Every student knew what they meant, “Chase what matters”.  

Jesus thought prayer mattered.  So much so that He “would often slip away to the wilderness and pray” (Luke 5:16).  How often do  you slip away to talk with God?  That’s important because prayer is powerful, and the enemy would prefer us to do almost anything rather than pray. 

Can you be described as a man of prayer? … Are you a man after God’s own heart?  Or do you chase trinkets, and delegate God to Sunday morning?  

Is God so big to me that I believe the greatest gift you can give me is to  pray for me?… That should be my first, and main request… If I had the slightest understanding of the power of prayer, I would provide it for those I love and request it from them continuously.

Busy work for God without prayer is like sitting in a Ferrari without any gas… a pathetic negligence of power. If you put fuel in the engine, you  will unlock a new level of power and closeness to God that you have never known. 

 So, like Paul, I would ask you to pray for me… pray that I learn to pray out of freedom not just discipline.  

Prayer and scripture are how you grow … asking which is more important is like asking whether breathing in, or breathing out is more important… Prayer matters – Chase it with all your heart.

“Prayer itself is an art which only the Holy Ghost can teach us. He is the giver of all prayer. Pray for prayer- pray till you can pray.” – Charles Spurgeon

Luke 11:8-9 5/2/2023*

Luke 11:8-9 “…even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will get up and give him as much as he needs. “So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.”

Jesus is teaching the logistics of prayer. He is telling us to Pray… and pray boldly and persistently. He is straightforward here because prayer is a difficult discipline. The enemy is committed to keeping you from praying because a life without prayer is a life without power. Prayer is the most effective way we can influence change.  

We stress, and have anxiety over things we cannot control even though scripture is clear that you can’t add even a moment to your life by worrying… But the Bible says prayer moves mountains …So what does prayer look like? Jesus gives us the mechanics in Matthew 6, but here He talks about the emotional attitude needed to be a prayer warrior.  

Jesus invites us to “bother” God until we get an answer.  When my daughter was young, she would tug on her mom and say “mama, mama, mama, mama” until she got her attention…. Jesus proposes we do the same. He encourages us to have an intimacy with God that doesn’t stand on ceremony.

The guy in this verse is banging on a door to wake up his buddy. No formalities, just an understanding that his friend will be there for him. God is there for you… You don’t have to speak formally. You may not be able to speak at all , just come to God…He hears, and understands your broken heart… you are not alone, and His power is transformative. 

Prayer changes things… the answer may not be according to your plan (see the Garden of Gethsemane), but God will respond powerfully.  Keep pursuing the Giver, not the gift… ask, seek, knock… continue banging on the door. God will respond, and if you don’t comprehend the answer, keep praying in faith, because someday you will understand. 

The most important thing you can do today is to make prayer a priority.   Schedule it, block all distractions, and lean into it…. Nothing will impact your life more.

“Prayer is God's backstage pass into a personal audience with Him.”

 - Tony Evans