Friday... We can get ourselves in so much trouble but God still cares.

Jonah 2:2 (NLT), "I cried out to the Lord in my great trouble, and he answered me. I called to you from the land of the dead, and Lord, you heard me."

Friday... We can get ourselves in so much trouble but God still cares.

It seems that we are in the business of doing life our way and getting into trouble, of making wrong decisions without God but God still is there for us to pray to, to show that he cares and head us in the right direction.

Now there was this great city called Nineveh that was a very wicked city but God came to Jonah and said in Jonah 1:1-2 (MSG), "Up on your feet and on your way to the big city of Nineveh! Preach to them. They're in a bad way and I can't ignore it any longer." Yes, God wanted to tell them the consequences of their evil but he also wanted to give them another chance. That is the kind of God we serve. Yes, Jonah liked the task of telling them they were going to be destroyed in 40 days but he didn't want to tell them that God wanted to give them another chance. Verse 3 says, "But Jonah got up and went the other direction to Tarshish, running away from God." The last part of this verse says, "as far away from God as he could get." But God knew where he was.

We as a Christian world could have problems in letting people, people who are evil have a second chance, but God loves them and wants to save them and to give them a second chance to repent. Yes, that is the kind of God we serve. He loves evil people and he wants to give them another chance to repent and we too could be running away from what God wants us to do. There is a lot of hatred, judgment and pointing fingers but God loves everyone! Oh by the way, he wants to give us a second chance.

Now here it seemed that Jonah blew it just like we do so many times. Verse 4a says, "God sent a huge storm at sea." and Jonah was on this ship going the wrong way in the middle of that storm.

Could it be that some of the storms that we are in are there because we have made a wrong choice and are doing the opposite of what God wants us to do?

Now look at Jonah 2:2 (NLT). It says, "I cried out to the Lord in my great trouble, and he answered me. I called to you from the land of the dead, and Lord, you heard me."

In order to stop the storm the crew picked up Jonah and threw him into the raging sea, and the storm stopped at once. That is what Jonah meant when he said, "I called to you from the land of the dead."

And 1:27 (MSG) says, "Then God assigned a huge fish to swallow Jonah. Jonah was in the fish's belly three days and nights." Yes God saved Jonah but in a weird way and that is the way he sometimes works even in our lives. His answer to our prayers may not be the answer we were hoping for but God knows best.

By the way, the fish took Jonah to where God wanted him to go and Jonah 2:10 says, "Then God spoke to the fish, and it vomited up Jonah on the seashore." It was not a real pleasant trip. Yes, God taking care of our great trouble may not be pleasant.

We may not like the way God handles our great trouble but he knows what he is doing.

Jonah 3:1-3 (MSG) says, "Next, God spoke to Jonah a second time: 'Up on your feet and on your way to the big city of Nineveh! Preach to them. They're in a bad way and I can't ignore it any longer.' This time Jonah started off straight for Nineveh, obeying God's orders to the letter."

Yes, Jonah told them they were going to be destroyed in 40 days but also that if they repented, turned from their wicked lives to serving God then it wouldn't happen. And they repented and it didn't happen. God gave this evil city a second chance and he does the same to us when we don't do what he wants. Yes, he also gave Jonah a second chance.

We can get ourselves into so much trouble but God still cares and he wants to give us a second chance. I'm not sure there will be a huge fish but it could be difficult. So just trust God and do what he says. He knows what he is doing. Yes, yes! #todaysbeginning

Monday... He did it by Himself

Isaiah 44:24b (AMP), "I am the Lord, Maker of all things. Who alone stretches out the heavens, Who spreads out the earth by Myself." Monday... He did it by Himself. Many have a tendency to think very highly of themselves and what they can do. Oh we do have great ability but we are not the source. Yes it is important to have self-confidence but we are limited. The prophet Isaiah in 44:9-10 (NLT) says, "How foolish are those who manufacture idols. These prized objects are really worthless. The people who worship idols don't know this, so they are all put to shame. Who but a fool would make his own god - an idol that cannot help him one bit?" Now later in verse 24 (AMP) he writes, "For the Lord, your Redeemer, and He who formed you from the womb says, 'I am the Lord, Maker of all things, Who alone stretches out the heavens, Who spreads out the earth by Myself.'" I love that. "By Myself." Now we do need confidence but we are foolish to ma...

Friday... We have this hope of expectancy.

Psalm 5:3 (NLT), "Listen to my voice in the morning Lord. Each morning I bring my requests to you and wait expectantly." Friday... We have this hope of expectancy. Now David found a great way to start his day. He says in Psalm 5:1-3 (NLT), "O LORD, hear me as I pray." And that is a great place to start. It really is. Morning sunrise He goes on, "Listen to my cry for help, my King, my God, for I pray to no one but you." And that is so important. We don't try to pump ourselves up by ourself. No, we pray to no one but you, God, my LORD, my King. Now this relationship with God is so, so very important. And then David says, "Listen to my voice in the morning, LORD. Each morning I bring my requests to you" And that is so great. And then he says, "and wait expectantly." Yes, we have this hope of expectancy. We are experienced. That is what a relationship with God and a moment by moment connection does. It makes a difference in our daily wa...

Friday... Yes, we can know this to be true.

Psalm 12:6 (NLT), "The Lord's promises are pure, like silver refined in a furnace, purified seven times over." Friday... Yes, we can know this to be true. Maybe this is what you want to say in this day in which we live. Psalm 12:1-2 (MSG) says, "Quick, I need your helping hand! The last decent person just went down, all the friends I depend on gone. Everyone talks in lie language; lies slide off their oily lips. They doubletalk with forked tongues." Do you ever feel that way?" Have you found that to be true? Well David the writer of this Psalm continues and says in verse 6 something to encourage us, to lift us up, to give us hope. Psalm 12:6 (NLT) says, "The Lord's promises are pure, like silver refined in a furnace, purified seven times over." The Message Paraphrase says verses 6-8 this way, "God's words are pure words, pure silver words refined seven times in the fires of his word-kiln, pure on earth as well as in heaven, God, keep ...

Todays Beginning

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