Vow breakers

Jonah 2:9

Like Jonah we can fall into the trap of thinking that grace is a licence to continue sinning, this is the exact opposite to what the new testament teaches. His 'confession' made him feel more noble about his unfaithful choices.

In todays society we have a 'confession crazy culture' where people are almost adicted to shouting out their sins - but do not feel any remorse or a need to change their ways. It doesnt seem to matter what you do as long as you admit it.

This aint how God's forgiveness works!

When you say sorry to someone that means you will NEVER do that thing again.

Public airing of dirty laundry is no substitute for real repentance, if anything it just gives the impression to outsiders that sin is OK.

True repentance leads to a deffinate (and genuine) change.

So, inside the whale , Jonah made promises to obey God and go to Nineveh.

What will happen in Nineveh ?

What will happen tomorrow to the vows we have made today ?

We need to pray not just to admit that I'm wrong but to turn from wrongdoing.

Love you x

Pride comes b4 a fall

Jonah 2: 8&9

We have recently seen that spirituality can be dangerous.

Here we see that not 2 minutes after Jonah has come back to God, he trips up again! He bursts into shouts of condemnation 'idol worshippers!'.

How quickley Jonah forgets what he has been through to get to this point in the story. It is said that the newly-forgiven forget where they came from and become self-appointed experts, harshly critical of others.

Jonah claims that he will now become a greatful worshipper once again. But the truth is that the 'pagan' sailors had already gone running to the real God while Jonah sat sulking in the hull of a boat!

Pride can so quickly spoil our relationship with God.

And sometimes we who have been freely (and undeservedly) pardoned withhold pardon from those who require it from us.

Like the unmerciful servant in Jesus' story (Matt. 18: 21-35), we suffer from spiritual amnesia and forget that we have been shown great grace

We who have been quickly forgiven must learn to forgive quickly.

'Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.' (Col. 3:13)

Love you x

Busy for God ?

Jonah 2:7

I've found that we can all drift in and out of 'fake faith', where we follow the basic rules of christianity but have little day-to-day interaction with God.

Ironically, 'busy' christians fall into this trap, we become so busy for Christ that we have little or no time to be with God. We can get lost in the blur of doing things and forget the real reason we are here.

When Jonah reset his compass for Nineveh, he also turned back to face God. Repentance (yep, that word again!) means running headlong into the arms of the Lord.

The prodical son ran home, not just to jewellery, a bbq and new clothes - but, first and foremost, to his father's hug.

I think we could all do with having a hug from God!

Love you x

Major on minors (or a mountin out of a molehill)

Jonah 2:4 (again)

In the last post we saw how sin can deceive us; ironically, we can sometimes do wrong in the name of religion aswell. (just look at the crusades of the holy lands!)

Religious people are oftern sticklers and always banging on about being righteous. Sadly, sometimes we prioritise issues that are unimportant in God's eyes and ignore what He is passionate about.

The pharisees fussed and argued over minute theological details and washed their hands before touching the Torah scrolls, BUT were quite happy to bruise and abuse their fellow human beings all in the name of righteousness.

Their spirituality was selective and blinded them towards their own faults.

Jesus dealt with this issue (Matt. 23:24) and it was this stubborness that lead to Jesus' betrayal and execution.

With this outcry by Jonah, you could be lead to believe that he had finally seen the error of his ways. However, Jonah was a Jew (of course) and very proud of his Jerusalem (this outcry could be seen as homesickness).

His problems all began because his calling was not within the comforts of his homeland, but to a foreign land (Nineveh).

When I tell people I go to church and believe in God, they reply . . .

"oh, you're religous?"

I'm not about religion and rules and regulations.

I'm about realtionships

Relationships with family, friends, brothers and sisters in Christ, but MOST importantly with God.

Guys, lets not be religous!

love you x

p.s. sorry no post for a while, i've had some stuff to deal with.

The fugitive

Jonah 2: 3&4

On the way to (and back from) Belarus the crossing countries and changing times was kinda crazy. I could fall asleep in France and wake up in Holland (how messed up was that?!)

It was a kind of delayed jet lag, I'd wake up and think 'now where am I?'

Continuous sin and disobeying God can be a bit like this feeling. Deception and rebellion go hand-in-hand.

We find Jonah in this situation, he has run from God and straight into a thick fog (deceptively hard to shift!)

The truth is that Jonah was a fugitive, not an exile. He also ironically complained of being ignored by God, when it was Jonah that ran from Him.

Turning away from God always ends in tears!

This is kinda like a thing I heard (I'm not sure where it's from!), when we feel as if God has left us, the fact is we have moved away from Him.

God NEVER moves.

He is forever

Love You

x

Jonah 2: 3&4

On the way to (and back from) Belarus the crossing countries and changing times was kinda crazy. I could fall asleep in France and wake up in Holland (how messed up was that?!)

It was a kind of delayed jet lag, I'd wake up and think 'now where am I?'

Continuous sin and disobeying God can be a bit like this feeling. Deception and rebellion go hand-in-hand.

We find Jonah in this situation, he has run from God and straight into a thick fog (deceptively hard to shift!)

The truth is that Jonah was a fugitive, not an exile. He also ironically complained of being ignored by God, when it was Jonah that ran from Him.

Turning away from God always ends in tears!

This is kinda like a thing I heard (I'm not sure where it's from!), when we feel as if God has left us, the fact is we have moved away from Him.

God NEVER moves.

He is forever

Love You

x

When the going gets tough . . .

Jonah 2:2

Jonah shows us how stubborn he really is (and how we can be!), not only does he disobey[and run from] God, set sail in the opposite direction of his 'would-be' destination, is thrown over board in to a terrifying storm AND swallowed by a huge fish.

If this is not enough, he then stays inside the belly of the fish (in total darkness and probably close to death!) for 72 hours BEFORE he decided to apologies to God!

The same can be said for us. Sometimes we have to walk some pretty hard pathways before we learn our lesson.

Jonah was tired with his life without God.

He decided to return to the Father (with his tail between his legs) like the prodical son (Luke 15:11-24). It is deffinately a difficult prayer to pray, but we must admit that we have done wrong and that we cannot improve the situation on our own and we need HELP!

When we reach this desperate low and yell for help, this is when we are at our most honest and God instantly hears.

He immediately responds to the cry of those who decide they want/need Him.

How tough do things have to get before you look to God?

Love you x

p.s. I havent got a clue what music to dance to at "strickly come dancing". Any suggestions are welcomed muchley!

Repent?

Jonah 2:1

Repentance isn't a negative thing.

Repent literally means to "turn away" or "do a u-turn" from the things we have previously been doing (our old self).

Repentance is at the heart of New Testament Christianity.

John the Baptist (the guy who matt looks like) was the major prophet to prepare the world for Jesus (his cousin). The heart of his message was to repent and a change of life-style (Matt.3:8)

When JC began his ministry his main message was to repent (Matt.4:17)

Repentance is not negative, on the contrary, it's part of the Good News.

As we see Jonah inside his "fishy chapel", it is unclear as to whether his prayers of repentance are sincere or not.

God wants us to repent, not because He's a killjoy, but because He cares.

No matter how low we've gone, and however deep we find our selves in crap, there's always a way back.

"There's nothing you can do to make me love you any less"

Love you x

Sorry seems to be the hardest word

Jonah 2:1-10

Dont be alarmed, it is a large chunk of reading today.

I want you to read thru this chapter and then in the next few days we'll go over it in more detail.

This second chapter of Jonah shows us that repentance is a turning point in our lives and also it is at the heart of the Christian message.

This section of the book has been read for centuries by the Jews on the day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) - the most solemn fast day in the Jewish year.

The question that needs to be asked is ...

"Was Jonah really repentant - or was his stuborness enough to turn a fish's stomach ?"

Repentance is the theme we will be studying in the next few posts.

Love you x

Amazing Grace

Jonah 1:17

Put yourself in Jonah's shoes. (although he only took a size 7 sandal!)

He's ran from God, got himself stuck on a boat with pagans in a wild storm in the middle of nowhere, the "luck" of drawing straws has gone against him and NOW he has been thrown into the oceans depths.

Wowzas! . . . I bet he'd wished he just went to Nineveh now!!!

So, this was it, his life had come to an end.

Then he gets swallowed by a huge fish! (some people argue that it may have been a great big shark). The very thought that this aquatic predator would be his rescuer is quite unbelievable.

But thats the way God is.

You can ask him to help you out and you may think you know what you need to come to your aid, but God will turn you around (or upside down) and in the end you WILL be blessed.

Grace really is amazing.

Can't figure it out ? (you never will) Just accept it, like a lifebelt - or a passing fish - to a drowning man.

Love you!

x

Jonah 1: 13-15

Back on the subject of those pagan sailors (I'm not obsessed!). Even after discovering that Jonah was a Hebrew [sworn enemies of the gentiles], they still did all they could to avoid throwing him overboard, they 'did their best to row back to shore' (v13).

THEN they prayed to the real God - that they would not be held accountable for the death of an 'innocent man' (v14). They were terrified at the fact of executing this man without a fair trial, especially if word got to Jonahs relatives - who would may have felt bound by honour to seek revenge on the sailors. (2 Sam. 14:7)

On top of all this there was the worry of God's judgement upon them for the murder of Jonah. The shedding of 'innocent blood' was a terribly serious crime.

In contrast, Jonah seemed untroubled by his own sin, and had risked the lives of everyone on board that ship for the sake of his own stubborness.

How Jonah expected to have his life spared by these sailors, when he had turned his back on the people of Nineveh AND God, is beyond me.

He simply could not see past his own problems.

Once again, it sounds kinda familar.

Love you !

x

Stand up / Stand out

Jonah 1:9-12

During the panic caused by the storm, everyone (except Jonah!) was crying out to their gods, and there was plenty on offer!

Most people who lived in Palestine at this time believed in three kinds of gods; personal gods, who you would worship to watch over your life (protection) and help in day-to-day problems. There were family gods, worshipped by all family members. And finally, there were national gods, worshipped a guardians of the nation as a whole.

With all this going on, Jonah finally reveals his true identity as a Hebrew - and as a follower of the One true God. But notice that this didn't happen imediately, he sat there and waited until the last possible opportunity (after the men had umm'd and ahh'd about the situation AND drawn straws!) to own up.

Sometimes we find ourselves in situations where we prefere to keep quite obout our faith (I know I have). When you are just too tired or you can't face the questions, sniggers or even the abuse.

I am sad to say that Jonah and myself are more alike than I would like to admit!

I just hope I can learn from his mistakes.

Love you!

x

Jonah 1: 7&8

Last time we saw how the 'pagan' captain seemed to have more faith in prayer than the sleeping Jonah.

Sometimes signs of great love and compassion can be seen within the world. It saddeneds me that we do not see more of this in the church (and in my own heart!)

Often those who don't know God embarass those of us who say we do, and faith sometimes appears in the most unusual places - such as a Roman centurion. (Matt 8:10)

Sometimes we christians give the impression that the world is a lost cause and is hopeless. However, we are ALL sinners and occasionally those who don't know the Lord shine, and some of us saints can learn from them!

Love you!

x

Downward spiral

Jonah 1: 5&6

The tale of Jonah is riddled with 'ups and downs'.

Jonah goes down to Joppa (geographically)

Jonah goes down 'into the depths' of the boat-and after that plummets into a 'deep sleep' (the phrase in hebrew literally translates ad 'dead sleep' which associated to severe exhaustion or depression).

In every way his life was headed south.

When we resist God, we can sometimes think that it'll iron out and all be ok in the end. However, the more we resist(or ignore) God, our hearts harden.

Rebellion is not a plateau, its a downward spiral.

When Jonah lost the ability to hear God's whisper (due to a hardened heart) he tried a more obvious approach (hence the storm).

Jonah was sleeping when he should have been praying....Sound familiar?

Love you!

x

Wrong direction

Jonah 1:3&4

After receiving God's plans, Jonah legged it.

He fleed to Joppa-1,500 miles in the opposite direction of Nineveh. Commanded to go northeast, he went southwest.

You can almost see him shking his fists at God.

What seems like a quick solution to a problem is usually pro-longing the chaos and making it worse.

So . . . Jonah boards a ship. (yeah, that'll work, cuz everyone knows that God can't get you from the sea!)

God sent a great storm-which in the original hebrew text paints a picture of God 'hurling' the storm at the ship in the same way that a spear is thrown.

So why did God bother pursuing Jonah? If he wasn't interested in accepting the Nineveh mission, then surely their where others God could choose?

But Jonah was a chosen instrument for the job. God deeply cares for human beings, EVEN the people of Nineveh!

His calling is not for us to complete mere projects, but to participate with Him in reaching and caring for the lost.

God invites us, not merely to chase after our small dreams, but to play our unique part in His kingdom plan.

If we turn and run from God or just say "no" to God it doesnt just create a raised eyebrow in heaven, but a wounded heart.

Love you!

x

Patriot

Jonah 1:1&2

No No No . . . This post aint about the best NFL team in the league.

Jonah was very patiotic about his background and where he is from. He is proud to be a Jew and going into a Gantile-based area is really not on his mind.

Then God turns around and says "Go...to Ninevah".

The word "GO" in Hebrew roughly translates to "Get up and go". Both Elijah and Jeremiah heard exactly the same command (1Kings 17:9; Jer. 13:6)

Jonah twists and turns and tries to wriggle out of what God has asked of him. He uses excuses we hear (and make ourselves) today.

"Why me?"

"I'm not good enough"

"I don't know how"

"I'm not good at this, I always do that instead"

The last excuse is used a lot when we are being asked to do something that we may not be comfortable in doing, or that takes us out of our comfort zone.

What we've done in the past becomes a secure bunker to prevent us from doing anything costly in the present.

God takes away from what we feel 'safe' doing and puts us in situations we feel we can't deal with, or are scared of.

But we have nothing to fear, if you are doing as God asks, hten surely you are safe in his big old hands.

Love you!

Read Jonah

Don't be scared.

Reading the bible is a good thing to do!

It might sound obvious, but so many christians neglect the best reference to God they have (along with prayer, which is also neglected!)

So read Jonah....Go on!.....It's only 4 chapters!

One of the main problems Jonah has is the initial request from God. He wants Jonah(a Jew) to go and tell ALL the people of Ninevah (Gentiles) that they are not living as they should be and must repent to God!

This is the ONLY instance of this[Jew preaching to Gentile] in the old testament.

We will start this study properly tomorrow, but I encourage you guys to read through the book of Jonah a couple of times (just to get familiar with the ins and outs)

All that really counts are the lessons we can learn from this little book.

God is God.

Whether a man could physically survive inside a fish for 3 days is slightly irrelevant. It would take a miracle for that to happen, and God does those!

Love you!

Jonah Man Jazz

Hi guys!
So, last night I had an idea (yep, I get them sometimes!) and I am gonna try to do a bible study thru my blog. The idea is so that as I learn stuff, I can share it with you guys and you can leave comments/questions.

So (if you have'nt already guessed I'm reading from the book of Jonah!)

If I asked anyone what the book of Jonah was all about, you'd probably say it's about a whale or big fish, or maybe it's about Jonah himself, or it's a story of warning.

Jonah is one of the best known books in the old testament, and the least understood.

The reality is it's about God.

It's basically a love story.

It describes the overwhelming consumimg love that God has for ALL human beings.

"People have looked SO hard at the great fish that they have failed to see the great God"

(G. Campbell Morgan)

#any comments on whether you think this is a good idea or not are welcomed muchley!#