Freed To Love And Serve

Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance. (Psalm 33:12 KJV)

I am reminded this Fourth of July morning of Ninevah who after Jonah finally got around to warning them of God's impending judgment repented. They changed their ways and God changed his mind about their destruction.

"And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not." (Jonah 3:10 KJV)

We celebrate our independence from England today. We celebrate our freedoms. Sadly, we do not always understand that our freedoms should not inflict pain and suffering on others. As Christians we are not free to abuse others so that we can get our way.

As we contemplate our freedom today may we all remember that the freedoms that we do have are not to be abused rather they should be used to love and serve God; to love and serve others. Do good! Not evil! Everything that we do does affect others either negatively or positively. We do not live in a vacuum. We live in communities.

Remember the words of our Savior: "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." (John 15:1) We are not all called to actually physically die in someone else's place or to free others. But, many have given their lives. Jesus did. He died so that we might be reconciled to God and to one another. May God help us to live that life of reconciliation in Christ Jesus. We can do that by remembering that everyone has certain freedoms in this country not just you or me. We cannot use our personal perceived freedoms if they are going to harm others in anyway. But, we certainly can use them to make sacrifices of our own egos for the betterment of our neighbors; the country; and the world.

We are free to love and serve God. We are free to love and serve others as Jesus did and as so many others have. What a wonderful world this would be if we could only remember that. As we celebrate Independence Day may God bless us with ears to hear so that we might better understand what changes we might make to make this country and the world an even better place to live for all people.

God grant you safety as you celebrate this weekend.

God's Peace - Pr. J.

Jonah Did Not Want To Warn Them

And the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the second time, saying,

Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee.

So Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city of three days' journey.

And Jonah began to enter into the city a day's journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.

So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them.

And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not.

                                                                             (Jonah 3:1-5,10 KJV)

The story of Jonah is quite a story! The end result of finally doing God's will and going to Nineveh to prophecy their impending doom if they did not repent was that they repented!

Way too often in today's world those who are sent by God to warn others of the disaster that will fall upon them if they do not change their ways do not warn anyone. They would rather pretend that there is no sin where there is sin just so they can be liked by everyone; to get along with everyone. 

At first, Jonah didn't want to speak up. He did not want to go and warn the people. When the Lord told him to go he tried to run away from God, as if that were even possible. "But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord, and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord." (Jonah 1:3)

Jonah ended up with much hardship himself for not obeying the word of the Lord. He ended up in a major storm on the sea; thrown into the sea to save others; saved from drowning by being swallowed by a big fish. When Jonah finally repented of not doing God's will; God had the fish vomit him out onto land where Jonah finished the mission to Nineveh. 

The story of Jonah's call to prophesy to Nineveh is prophetic in itself. It is a warning to all who are called to share the word of God to actually share the word of God. It is a warning to those who are called to proclaim the truth of God's word. We are not called to come up with another gospel that pleases itching ears. We are not called to water it down. We are not called to hide from the truth or hide the truth from others; but, to proclaim it. Jesus told the truth shall make you free.

If the truth, which is the Word of God, is not proclaimed; how will anyone know that they are on a path to destruction. If we truly love our neighbors we will let them know that no matter what they have done God loves them so much that he sent His only begotten Son to die for their sins. And... that is the crux of the matter. We must be able to recognize and call a sin for what it is: a sin. "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us." (1 John 1:8)

Because Jonah had finally warned the people of Ninevah they repented and God forgave them.

Jesus told the disciples "the truth shall make you free." (8:32) The truth is that we are all sinners in need of forgiveness. We are all in need of being reminded of that from time to time. Let us not hide the truth or hide from it; but, share it with all in need of forgiveness and that would be all of us. We are all in need of God's grace and His mercy.

God's Peace - Pr. J. 

Speak, Lord, For Your Servant Listens

And the child Samuel ministered unto the Lord before Eli. And the word of the Lord was precious in those days; there was no open vision.

And it came to pass at that time, when Eli was laid down in his place, and his eyes began to wax dim, that he could not see;

And ere the lamp of God went out in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was, and Samuel was laid down to sleep;

That the Lord called Samuel: and he answered, Here am I.

And he ran unto Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou calledst me. And he said, I called not; lie down again. And he went and lay down.

And the Lord called yet again, Samuel. And Samuel arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou didst call me. And he answered, I called not, my son; lie down again.

Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, neither was the word of the Lord yet revealed unto him.

And the Lord called Samuel again the third time. And he arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou didst call me. And Eli perceived that the Lord had called the child.

Therefore Eli said unto Samuel, Go, lie down: and it shall be, if he call thee, that thou shalt say, Speak, Lord; for thy servant heareth. So Samuel went and lay down in his place.

And the Lord came, and stood, and called as at other times, Samuel, Samuel. Then Samuel answered, Speak; for thy servant heareth.

                                                                           (1 Sam 3:1-10 KJV)

Three times the Lord called out to Samuel. But, Samuel did not recognize the voice until Eli told him that it was the Lord trying to speak with him. 

How often does the Lord speak to us and we do not hear him? Too much noise; too many distractions; too much of everything going on to be still and listen to Him? Maybe you don't listen for His voice because you don't believe that He will actually talk to people in this day and age. 

Praying is not just about telling God what your "give me this list" is. It is not just about thanking him. It is both of those things. But, it is also about listening to Him; listening for God to whisper your name and to affirm that He truly loves you and is with you.

There's a lot of prophecy flying around on the internet these days. I've heard many "prophets" say the Lord told me this or that is going to happen. It can be difficult to know what is real prophecy from God and what is not.  I haven't really seen much, if any, of it come to fruition. The word of the Lord, coming to us in the form of prophecy, does not usually tell us what is going to happen as many of these prophets have been telling us. Prophecy, the word of the Lord, does not work like a fortune teller; it is not like a crystal ball. He does not  tell us the future, especially not in full detail. He has given us free will, so the future can change. As in the days of Jonah, prophecy is most often a warning that there will be consequences if we don't change our ways; if we don't repent of whatever it is that we are doing that we ought not be doing. 

God does speak to us. He speaks to us through the word found in the Holy Scriptures.  He speaks to us through others who know Him. He speaks to us in the stillness of our hearts. But, we can't hear that voice unless we slow down and listen. A little warning here... Have you noticed that many of the prophecies have done nothing more than cause you to be a bit or a lot anxious about the future?  The devil and his minions have no problem with pretending that they are the Lord speaking to you. Make sure the whisper that you hear is from the Lord and not some other entity trying to stir up trouble and that the word you hear is supported by the word found in the  Holy Scriptures.  

In the darkness and the quiet of his room Samuel heard the voice of God call to him. May God help us to change our ways and take the time in prayer to really be still and ask Him to "Speak Lord, for your servant listens." Then listen! Listen to His promise that He loves you and is with you always to comfort and guide you in the way of our Lord Jesus the Christ. 

God's Peace - Pr. J.

Not A Victim

"Now the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me. But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord, and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. (Jonah 1:1-3 KJV)

Jonah was given a calling by God. God sent him to Ninevah to warn the people that they needed to change or he would destroy them. But, Jonah did not want to go. He ran so that he wouldn't have to go and face this challenge that God had called him to. Poor Jonah, God was picking on him.

Poor Jonah! The ship that Jonah used to try to run away from his calling; his responsibilities was about to sink in a storm. In order to save his shipmates' lives he confessed that he was the cause of the storm because he was trying to run away from God. He had them throw him into the sea to save themselves where he was swallowed by a very large fish. Poor Jonah!

Jonah repented of not listening to God and God had the fish spit him out onto the land. Jonah went to Nineveh reluctantly and warned the people that they must repent or be destroyed. Unbelievably, they repented and they were spared! But, Jonah was not happy. All that he had to go through and those horrible people actually repented. Why did God put him through all of this? Jonah felt sorry for himself. He felt like a victim.

Not everyone who thinks they are a victim actually is a victim of others. They may however be a victim of their own stinking thinking as Jonah was. There are many legitimate victims in this world. They suffer horrendously at the hands of others. Many are tortured and killed. But, just because we don't like our circumstances at any given moment, that does not make us a victim. It may make us unhappy; but, not necessarily a victim. Sometimes, maybe often, those things that make us uncomfortable are challenges that we need to face so that we and even the people around us might grow. Those challenges may not be attacks on you personally; but, God calling you to do his will. It just may be that you are being called to follow Jesus and that may mean that your ego must die. But, do not worry. If or when he calls you, he will be there working in and through you for the good of all people.

Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is wellpleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen. (Heb 13:20-21)

God's Peace - Pr. J.

Calm The Sea

The sea was getting rougher and rougher. So they asked him, “What should we do to you to make the sea calm down for us?” Jonah 1:11

I listened to the book of Jonah dramatized on You-Tube after my evening prayers last night. It is a fascinating story. What, indeed, shall we do when we feel as though the storm we are going through is about to take us down? Shall we attempt to make a bargain with God to save us? Shall we attempt to find the guilty party; the person or persons, that may have offended God and make a scapegoat of them? Shall we offer up a sacrifice to God? That is exactly what the men on the ship with Jonah did. They threw him overboard to drown in the depths of the sea. Only, he did not drown. He got another chance. He lived to continue on the mission that God had sent him on in the first place.

When the sea gets stormy and when times get rough, we don't get to make scapegoats of others. Because the truth is that we are all guilty. We all make mistakes. We all sin. We all, at times, by our actions or our inactions, put others in harm's way.

Justifying our own sins by blaming others will not erase our sins. We cannot and will not be able to appease or bargain with God by making someone else the scapegoat. The Good News is that the only sacrifice for our sins that is required has already been made by Jesus on the cross. With him and in him, we have died; and, have been born again. We have been given another chance and even another to live as a child of God; to go forth and continue in the mission God has called us to.

Let us go forth and proclaim the Good News that our sins have been washed away by the blood of Jesus the Christ. Let us proclaim that, through him, we are reconciled to God our Father for time eternal.

God's Peace - Pr. J