Have you ever watched a TV series or movie and when it ended there was no resolution. It didn’t make sense. You get to the end of it, and you go “Wait?!” I paid attention all the way through. I watched the entire series, and we get to the end, and it ends like that! Who knows what I’m talking about? Raise your hand. I have so many questions: did they get back together? Did the good guy live? Did the bad guy actually die? Sometimes they look dead, but they are not really dead. How many of you get frustrated when something ends like that and there is no resolution? Raise your hand. If that kind of stuff bothers you, then you are not going to like Jonah 4. Jonah ends leaving you with a lot of questions. Continue reading
Category: Jonah
Today we are in chapter 3 in the book of Job and I want to show you my favorite Bible verse in the entire book. Wait a second. Did I say we were in the book of Job or Jonah? It’s been a long week. Can I start over? Will you give me a second chance? Continue reading
How many of you believe in the power of prayer? Raise your hand. That’s awesome. Now, how many of you believe you should pray more? Even though many of us believe in a God who hears our prayers and responds to our prayers will also say that we need to be more engage in talking to God and praying to God. More on prayer in just a moment. Continue reading
Take your Bibles and open them to Jonah 1. In chapter 1, Jonah received a word from God. God told Jonah what he wanted him to do. Jonah responded with disobedience. He didn’t want to do it. Instead of obeying God, he rebelled against God. He decided to run from God. Jonah went the opposite direction that God wanted him to go. Jonah knew better. God had used him throughout his life, but Jonah was now running from God’s purpose and mission for his life. Continue reading
Take your Bibles and open them to Jonah 1. Last week, we left Jonah admitting to the sailors that he was running from God. He was rebelling against God and disobeying God. Jonah knew better. God had used him throughout his life, but Jonah was now running from God’s purpose and mission for his life. He had found a ship that would take him to Tarshish, the furthest place away from Joppa known to them at the time. While out on the sea, God sent a violent storm upon Jonah. The sailors became very afraid and started praying to their gods for help. They started casting the cargo overboard to lighten the ship. They woke Jonah up and cast lots to see who was the cause of this catastrophe. The lots pointed to Jonah. He was the reason why the storm was occurring. The crew and Jonah are now having a desperate conversation in the midst of the storm about all this. We pick up the story in verse 11. Continue reading
Let’s dive right into it. Let’s begin with verse 1, The word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, 2 “Arise, go to Nineveh, the great city, and cry out against it, because their wickedness has come up before Me.” 3 But Jonah got up to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. So he went down to Joppa, found a ship that was going to Tarshish, paid the fare, and boarded it to go with them to Tarshish away from the presence of the Lord. Jonah had three bad attitudes that sent him running from God and into disaster. These three bad attitudes set in motion everything that follows. Continue reading
We are on an incredible adventure with Jonah. We are learning a lot about ourselves, about God, and His plans for our lives. One of the things I want us to see today is the incredible truth that our loving and compassionate God is in pursuit of us for our affections and attention. He is determined to have your heart because He loves you so much! Continue reading
Today we are going to take a look at how God’s mercy shows up in the storms of life and specifically, in your storm. Proverbs 10:25 says, “When the storms of life come, the wicked are whirled away, but the godly have a lasting foundation” (NLT). It’s not IF the storms of life will come, it’s WHEN the storms of life come. What are the storms of life? They come in all shapes and sizes: a broken marriage, bad health, death of someone you loved, loss of a job, financial storm, relationship storm, health storm, emotional storm, etc.
Today, we will see a man who decides to run from God and runs right into a storm that God sent in order to get his attention. This storm in Jonah’s life is in direct relation to his decision to disobey God and do his own thing. Continue reading
Throughout your life God is going to interrupt your life. You will either embrace God’s interruptions or rebel against them. You will either obey or disobey. You will either walk with God or walk away from Him. In Jonah we see someone who God interrupted and gave him a message and a mission, but walked away from it and ran from God. He chose to ignore God’s calling upon his life.
From Jonah we see some valuable lessons about the life that gets interrupted by God. Let’s dive into it. Continue reading
Mercy is a powerful thing. When you think deeply about it, it becomes a little overwhelming and shocking at times. You need mercy every single day of your life and there are people in your life who need mercy every day. God’s Word tells us God’s “mercy is new every morning” (Lam. 3:22-23, NASB). Listen closely, God will never ask you to forgive someone else more than He has already forgiven you. He will never ask you to be more merciful toward someone more than He has shown mercy to you. Continue reading
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