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

Esther 3:15 4/25/2023*

“The couriers went out, spurred on by the king’s command, and the edict was issued in the citadel of Susa. The king and Haman sat down to drink, but the city of Susa was bewildered.”

A Jew named Mordecai refused to kneel when Haman, a high-ranking Persian official, passed by. This so incensed Haman that he convinced the king to decree destruction for the entire Jewish race. Afterwards the king and Haman sat down to drink together as though the decision was routine. 

Haman has two fatal flaws:  

The first is pride.  Haman influences the king to retaliate for someone disrespecting him. Haman’s lethal mistake occurs because he was obsessed with being offended.  Mordecai refused to honor him, and he just couldn’t get past it. 

We call Pride a mental illness (narcissism) but it’s really a spiritual disease.  It is the original sin and causes the created to suppose they are the Creator. It is a flaw that precedes destruction…. In this case it produced hate, and anger that caused Haman to lose touch with reality. 

Prideful rage brings on a storm that produces actions and words that seem sensible at the time but when the clouds clear, stupidity is all that is left. Even the pagans in Susa were bewildered at this heartless overreaction. 

As men, we must recognize pride to be the blinding, ignorance inducing, emotion that it is.  Any honest evaluation will reveal that self-centeredness has never made you do anything you’re proud of…Yet for some reason, we tolerate it in our lives.

Haman’s second issue is lack of community.  Show me your friends and I will show you your future. It is important to have the right people in your circle who will speak up when you get ready to do something foolish. 

Haman’s friends supported his insanity…even encouraged it.  What Haman needed was a brother to warn him that his pride was getting the best of him. That small pain of correction would have saved Haman from the greater pain of the gallows. 

Don’t recruit cheerleaders as friends – find guys who speak the truth in love. People who would rather benefit you than always be comfortable. Pride can slip in unnoticed, and you need companions who will watch your back. Pick your friends carefully because life is a team sport. 

“As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend.”
 - King Solomon

Jeremiah 42:6 & Jeremiah 43:2 4/18/2023*

 Jeremiah 42:6
“Whether it is favorable or unfavorable, we will obey the Lord our God,” 

Jeremiah 43:2
“You are lying! The Lord our God has not sent you…” 

In the 42nd chapter of Jeremiah, the Israelites asked Jeremiah to inquire of the Lord, committing to obey God no matter what he commands …  But one chapter later, when God’s instructions go against their wishes, all bets were off…and they blamed the messenger. 

Does that sound familiar? … 

Lots of people today follow scripture until it says something they don’t like.  Then they discount that portion of the Bible and live as they choose. This is following yourself, not God.

The church has added to the problem by not clearly calling sin what it is.  We water down God’s commands bending His word to match our lives instead of bending our lives to match His word. 

Years ago, there was a popular bumper sticker that said, “God is my co-pilot”… The problem with that sticker is that that proposal was never on the table.  God never offered a partnership. He is God, and we are to acknowledge that and obey His commands. 

You don’t bargain with God; you surrender to Him.  And when you do, His Holy word must become the definitive guide for your life.  Your opinion of it as favorable, or unfavorable is irrelevant.  

Scripture predicts a time when men will gather teachers around themselves who say only what they want to hear…and that time has arrived. You can find “churches” today that tolerate any, and all sin – twisting or ignoring scripture if they find it offensive. 

But the power of God has preserved scripture for centuries and the truth is plain to any honest reader. Science changes, theories  are modified, concepts are disproven, but the Word of the Lord has endured unchanged for thousands of years. 

The Bible itself claims that “All scripture is God breathed”.  If that is true, then we must follow ALL of it …If that is not true, then why follow any of it?

Either God is powerful enough to provide an inerrant Bible to guide us - or He is not  – So we should either trust God and obey Scripture…or quit talking about it. 

“To forsake the inerrancy of Scripture is to snuff humanity’s only candle of truth… Inerrancy is the lamp to our feet and light to our path.” - Ray Comfort

Philippians 3:9...10 4/11/2023*

 “… found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, … that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death.”

Victory can only be achieved with a new life. 

I can’t cling to the same old system and win, because there is no victory when I’m controlled by sin. I cannot insert God into my life and continue down the road I am on.  If God is to be added, everything else must be upended. 

I cannot preach about the Spirit, while I pursue the flesh. My old life must end so that Christ can live in me. That’s not just a poetic verse; it’s a requirement for redemption.

That is the issue… the conversation stops right there.  I cannot walk in victory in my own shoes. I must surrender to the Lord and walk in the footsteps of my Savior.

That is the battle we fight daily… we know there is a God – but we are constantly tempted to believe it might be us. Have you settled that question? Are you ready to make Christ your Lord or are you attempting to  just claim Him as Savior?

You cannot live in the power of His resurrection, until you have died to yourself completely.  Either He rules your life - or you do. There is no shared leadership.

You were dead in your sin… but you have been offered the gift of new life … The question is, will you take it? Will you surrender and receive the gift – or continue to fight a losing battle with your own strength?

Do you want to know the power of His resurrection?… Then die to yourself. Do you want to learn to have joy in suffering? … then be conformed to His death and live a resurrected life.

It’s not about just acknowledging God (even demons do that). You must Love Him and place your faith in Him… Then live a new life, with new goals … Abandon the path you have been on and live each day in the power of His resurrection… with lovingly serving Him and others as  your only motivation.

“The Christian’s motto should not be ‘Let go and let God’ but ‘Trust God and get going.’” - J.I. Packer

Galatians 2:20 4/4/2023*

“I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.”

If there is a thesis statement for the Christian life, this is it.  It defines life after you accept Christ as your Lord and Savior. 

There are no degrees to the transformation salvation produces… there is no such thing as a “good or bad” Christian.  You are either saved or lost. You are either the same old sinful wretch…or a new creation covered by the blood of Christ which gives you a new past, present, and future. 

Easter is not about eggs, bunnies, or brightly colored clothes.  It is about redemption. It doesn’t improve or remodel your life – It replaces it … your past has been obliterated.  The stain of sin is gone, and you become a different person. 

This is why Jesus can never be just a part of your life – that is why you can’t love God on Sunday morning and ignore Him on Saturday night. Christianity is not an addition to your life – it is an invasion that results in total conquest. There is only room for one King in your life and it will be completely Christ - or not Christ at all.  

Have you been crucified?... Is God your King or just your insurance policy?

This Easter cut through all the fashion, colored eggs, and games and consider the truth. The first Easter morning is the most important occurrence in human history.  Nothing else even comes close… When Jesus came out of that tomb it changed the options you and I have for eternity. But it is an all or none proposition. 

It must be either you or God governing your life – Make it Him. Abandon all the fruitless struggles you have pursued seeking worthless trinkets the world offers and seek the Glory of the One who gave Himself up for your redemption. 

It is not a timid decision – It is a radical about face.  It is dying to yourself and living a life committed to your King.

If Christ is not all to you, He is nothing to you. He will never go into partnership as a part Savior of men.“― Charles H. Spurgeon  

Judges 10:15-16 3/28/2023*

“But the Israelites said to the Lord, “We have sinned. Do with us whatever you think best, but please rescue us now.”  Then they got rid of the foreign gods among them and served the Lord. And he could bear Israel’s misery no longer.”

What an amazing concept that “God could bear Israel’s misery no longer”. God had every right to be disgusted with Israel's’ adulterous betrayal. Who could blame Him if He let them suffer for rejecting Him? Yet their misery moved Him. 

I am astonished at this aspect of God. The amazing grace of a holy God who suffers for the misery I bring upon myself – just because He loves me.  

God loves you too. The things He has done to prove that are mind boggling.  He did them, because it breaks His heart to see you in misery.… His plan for you is peace in the arms of your Father. You were never intended to fight your battles alone.

Aren’t you tired of your rebellion?  Has it ever produced what you wanted it to?  

God’s not some cosmic killjoy looking to punish you… He’s a loving Father patiently waiting to rescue you. He has already been wounded for your transgressions and bruised for your iniquities… your pain is His pain. Stop fighting battles that have already been won.

There’s only one place in scripture that describes the Father running… and that was when His prodigal Son returned … He ran to greet him. He will do the same for you, if you will just turn around. Don’t waste another day resisting the God who loves you. 

Easter means we never have to ask God the question Jesus asked on the cross…” why has thou forsaken me?”... The answer to that question was your name and mine…Christ was forsaken for us… He has already borne the punishment for our wickedness so we will never have to. 

The Crucifixion happened because God loves you and could bear your misery no longer … the resurrection proved Jesus was qualified to pay the debt that separated you from God and you never have to be separated again.

 “We should be astonished at the goodness of God, stunned that He should bother to call us by name, our mouths wide open at His love, bewildered that at this very moment we are standing on holy ground.” ~ Brennan Manning