Jonah Had Issues
Jonah 4:1-22
His issue was his deep seated resentment toward the Assyrians. He had not left vengeance in the hands of the Lord.
The problem with his issues: Jonah didn’t control them – they controlled him.
God’s assignment for Jonah was an opportunity to be the Lord’s ambassador, to lay up treasures in heaven, be blessed, and be a blessing to others in this life. But Jonah’s issues got in his way. Jonah knew he wasn’t doing God’s will when he chose to go to Tarshish, rather than obey God and go to Nineveh.
Because of Jonah’s issues, when it came time to make the needed decision to do things God’s way, guess what showed up? Not Jonah’s belief of God’s Word; not his knowledge and understanding of God’s will; not his desire to serve and honor God; not his love for God and his neighbor; not his Christian convictions and faith, but his issues are what showed up and were in charge!
Issues are a leaven in the life of a Christian, often doing more damage to people’s lives, homes, churches, etc., than open sin. Issues are what divide and conquer God’s people.
Jonah’s issues quenched the work of the Holy Spirit. And at the same time, they fueled the fires of the unyielding spirit of his human nature.
Jonah found out it was impossible to resolve his issues to his own satisfaction. While Jonah hung onto his issues, seeking satisfaction for them, even God’s Word and God’s grace didn’t satisfy him.
The only answer for Jonah would have been for him to deny his issues and forsake them, as being a factor of his own sinful imperfection, that he needed God to forgive and cleanse him of. His disagreement with God’s will was the sure testimony that he needed to humble himself before God, with a broken and contrite spirit. Only Jonah could make that decision.
Because Jonah would not, of his own free will, forsake self and submit himself to do the Lord’s will, for the honor and glory of God, God had to subdue him. Jonah had to yield himself to the Lord’s will or face death in the whale’s digestive tract.
Issues arise due to our imperfect, sinful nature. The question is, what will we do with them?
SHARING
Fear & Faith
“What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee.” Psalm 56:3
Meteorologists say that a fog capable of covering half a square mile is made up of only one glass of water, divided into 60 million particles. But when it settles, it can obscure your entire vision.
A little fear can do the same thing.
Why do almost half of us suffer from stress-related disorders? Because instead of walking by faith, we think we are supposed to fly like jets on supercharged adrenaline – and we pay for it in terms of fear and anxiety.
It is so easy for fear to replace faith, because they have something in common: both challenge us to believe in what we cannot see. Fear tries to persuade us to run from something that’s not there. Faith persuades us to run to Someone who is there for us.
A well known preacher of the past once said, “Fear knocked at my door. Faith answered, to find no one was there.”
Fear is overcome by faith – and faith comes by hearing the Word of God, Romans 10:17. Feed your faith on the scriptures, and fear will starve to death! To eliminate room for worry, fill the mind with God’s Word. Commune with Him in prayer to gain assurance and comfort.
The antidote to fear is to do what David did: “What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee.” It all comes down to which we choose to put in control: fear, or faith.
“Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing.” John 20:27
“But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?” Matthew 14:30-31
SHARINGGod Given Honorable Mention
1 Chronicles 11 & 12 list the many mighty warriors who were leaders in David’s army, whom God used to defend Israel (example 1 Chronicles 11:14).
From the book of Exodus on, it is recorded how that God’s people had to fight in wars against many enemies. When Israel was serving God, God would give them victory on the battlefield. When they turned their back to God, God would use the enemy to punish them, and to affect their repentance.
When God anointed David to be king over Israel, he came to the forefront of Israel by way of defeating the Philistine giant in war.
There is no way Israel could have existed as a nation had they not fought the wars that defended their nation from enemy aggression.
It should also be noted that Israel obtained possession of Canaan by war, driving out the wicked inhabitants thereof.
When Christ comes back to set up His millennial kingdom, the first order of business will be war, at which time the beast and the false prophet are cast alive into the lake of fire, and Christ will then slay all their armies – Revelation 19:15-21.
Revelation 20 records how that when Satan is bound in the bottomless pit, that he should deceive the nations no more, there will be 1,000 years of no war on earth, with Christ as King over all the earth: “And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.” Micah 4:3
But when Satan is loosed out of the bottomless pit: “And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, God and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.” Revelation 20:7-9
The evidence is clear: as long as Satan is free to deceive mankind, there will be wars and rumors of war. To object to the fact of war won’t eliminate war, anymore than objecting to Satan will eliminate Satan. As long as Satan and sin exist, there will be wars fought.
THUS WE SALUTE our veterans and our armed forces. If it were not for them, our country would be overrun by enemy powers and oppression. May we be ever mindful and thoughtful of this reality as we live, raise our families, and serve God in this God given country.
SHARINGDoing Our Part
“I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.” 1 Timothy 2:1-2
We must not abandon God on this mission of striving to keep our society open for Christian business!
As we pray for leaders to be favorable towards Christianity, we must then do our part in electing those who will be more favorable towards matters pertaining to Christianity.
Hundreds of thousands of patriots have bled and died so we could have the freedom to elect our officials.
Who the people elect also expresses where people stand on government policy. So an election is not just about leaders, it also is about what policies will be implemented, and how people grade what government is doing.
Before we say, “I’m just one vote, so what I vote for won’t really matter”, what if everyone took that position?
We must not surrender our rights to ignorance by saying we don’t really know how we should vote. There is plenty of deceit and false accusation in the political campaigns. But Christians should be used to this, as it is always out there against the truth. A reasonable amount of inquiry can discover enough to know enough. While ignorance may be bliss, it is not a valid excuse since knowledge is available, nor can anything right be obtained by choosing ignorance.
In a situation where every vote counts (and it does) whether one actually casts a vote or not at the ballot box, they are still voting. Here’s how it works: Let’s say you have one hundred people who can vote on an issue. There are 48 out of the one hundred who want it passed, while 52 are opposed. So on election day, all of the 48 for the issue vote for it, while only 47 out of the 52 opposed to it vote. SO, the issue passes, not just because of those who voted for it, but it was those who did not vote against it that caused it to pass as well.
So a failure to vote, is a vote given away to someone else. This may very well give the outcome into the wrong hands. Any no-show gives the opposition the win by default. Thus, we also incur responsibility by not voting, the same as we do by casting a ballot.
We are not responsible for the outcome where other people are concerned, but we are responsible to do our part.
In praying for our leaders, we should also pray for God to guide us in the choosing of our leaders.
In most cases, you must also look beyond the individual; you must also look to see who and what they identify and are partnered with. Who a person casts their lot with, is the all important matter.
ARISE, LET US GO HENCE!
SHARING
