Called According to His Purpose

Romans 8:28-30

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 29For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.

Called According to His Purpose

               At some point in life we all ask the questions about who we really are, what is our purpose and what is my life really about?  I remember going through this in college.  I had grown up in a wonderful Christian home with parents and grandparents that were godly and had always taught me about Jesus.  I had a relationship with Jesus, but it had always been built on mom and dad’s values.  Now I had to figure out, are my values and purpose the same as theirs’?  I went through my times of worldliness and self.  What I found was that I was going through the actions of having fun, partying and living my life, but at the end of the day, it left me feeling empty and without purpose.  Fortunately, it didn’t take me too long to realize that the same Lord and Savior I grew up knowing through my parents was the same Lord that brought reason and purpose into my life.  As I began to turn my heart back to Him and seek Him for more, what I discovered was there was so much more to the Christ-filled life than just church, messages about salvation and trying to live a good life.  I began to find relationship with Christ in a dimension that I had not previously known before.  I began to get that sense of His destiny and calling in my life.  Many of you may have had similar experiences in how God has called you into His purpose and eternal destiny. It amazes me as I look back over the years and see how many times the Lord has had His hand upon me, protecting and preserving me, teaching and instructing me, keeping us from massive blunders, because I sought His counsel and asked Him to direct my paths. 

               I am just speaking from my heart here.  God can be so near and so real at times and seemingly so distant at others.  There are times in your life when you know they are God moments, events and happenings.  Then there are those times of desperation when we call out to God and it doesn’t seem He hears or answers.  Does that mean His calling or His purpose has changed concerning us?  No, He doesn’t change, neither does He repent of the gifts and callings He has placed in our lives. 

               It is easy to love and trust someone when they are always there, always doing and providing for you, but what about when they pull away, when they disappoint you and you become disillusioned?  Do you still love them the same?  When you are in the heat of the battle and there are no reinforcements are you still as committed to fighting the good fight or do you just want to give up and quit or die? 

               There is a vision I heard shared, I believe by Gene Edwards, and the short version went in effect like this.  ‘Jesus came down the road and met three women one day.  The first he embraced, kissed and covered with attention.  His love was so evident to her.  The second He placed His hand on her shoulder  and gave her a reassuring smile.  The third woman He verily glanced at as He walked by her.  When the recipient of this dream or vision questioned the Lord about why He acted differently to the three women.  Why did He seem to love the first one so much and the last one so little?   He was shown that the first woman is like a new Christian.  They need to touch and feel the Lord’s love so they know He is real.  The second woman had known and walked with Jesus.  She knows He is real, but still needs that reassurance of His love.  The third woman knows Jesus so intimately that Her love for Him is not based on His showing outward affection or love.  She just knows that she knows, that she knows.  Rather she sees the evidence of God’s moving or presence, her faith is not shaken, because she simply knows that He is.’  As we mature in Christ that third woman is the place that He is taking us, because she, that was outwardly loved the least was truly loved the most.  She knew her purpose and who she was in Christ.  Outward circumstances could not shake that from her. 

               In Jeremiah 1:5 what God spoke to His servant Jeremiah He is speaking to all of us that are called according to His purpose.  ” “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”  Know that all things are working for the good of those that are called according to His Purpose, even if they don’t seem good at the time.  Know Him, trust Him and don’t allow anything to move you away from your purpose in Him.

Blessings,

#kent

God Loves Us Even When We are Ugly

Romans 5:6-8

When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners.  Now, no one is likely to die for a good person, though someone might be willing to die for a person who is especially good. But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.

God Loves Us Even when We are Ugly

Isn’t it wonderful that God didn’t just limit His love and grace to the few of us humans that are cute and cuddly?  He didn’t just love us when we loved Him and didn’t withhold His greatest expression of love toward us even when we least deserved or merited it. 

Have you ever been around someone that was hard to love and get along with?  On any given day that could probably apply to any one of us.  We can all have our ugly times and our ugly ways.  Then there are some with which it has become a way of life.  You know the ironic thing is that it is usually with the people that we love the most that we are often the most ugly.   We can be ripping our spouse or children up all-day and then come to a stranger and be perfectly nice and polite. 

Why is that?  Perhaps it is because we feel safe venting our anger, frustration and anxieties upon the ones that we love because we feel we are safe doing it with them.  Maybe it is because the ones we “love” aren’t meeting our expectations or living up to our standards.  Perhaps we feel those loved ones will still love me even when my raw side is showing.  Unfortunately, what was maybe a once-in-a-while bad hair day, can become a habitual bad hair life.  We can become abusive on a continual basis to the ones we should love and respect the most.  It may be our husband, our wife, our children, parents, family or friends. 

There is a great lesson here as we look at God’s love.  We see His love is unconditional and that He did love us, in spite of our inward ugliness.  He teaches us to be the same in our love for others.  We see it coming through in the attributes of His Holy Spirit, love, joy, longsuffering, self-control, kindness, goodness, peace, meekness, faith and gentleness.  As His people these attributes should be an ever-increasing part of our lives.  When others are ugly toward us we have to look with the eyes of the Spirit into their hearts and ask why is this person hurting so bad that they treat others this way? Is there anything I can do in Christ to minister and help to heal those inner hurts, wounds and scars? 

In our closer personal relationships perhaps we may be reaping in our loved one, seeds of discontent and strife that we have sown by our own actions or insensitivity.  Perhaps we have played a big part in why this loved one has become that not so lovely person.  What do we need to do out of the love of Christ and the love we have for them to change our dynamics toward them to relieve these angry and resentful feelings that they may be expressing?  So often anger and emotion keep us from coming to a resolution of our issues.  Sometimes the expression of our anger and emotion only serve to drive those we love further away from us and cause them to withdrawal.  You will never bring the head of a turtle out of his shell when he knows he is going to get clubbed as soon as He shows it.  We need a truce, a cease-fire and to lay our emotions aside.  We need to reconcile ourselves through the love of God to really hear and respond to the issues of the heart.  Most all of us are creatures of habits and it may be those habits that are a constant source of irritation and dysfunction.  Let us love one another enough to change those habits and behaviors for their sake and to help them become that lovely person again that we once knew. 

What is love?  1 Corinthians 13:4-7 says, “Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged.  It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out.  Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.”  Let us love one another as God in Christ has so loved us.

Blessings,

#kent

The City of God

Psalms 48

1 Great is the LORD, and most worthy of praise, in the city of our God, his holy mountain. 2 It is beautiful in its loftiness, the joy of the whole earth. Like the utmost heights of Zaphon is Mount Zion, the city of the Great King. 3 God is in her citadels; he has shown himself to be her fortress. 4 When the kings joined forces, when they advanced together, 5 they saw her and were astounded; they fled in terror.

6 Trembling seized them there, pain like that of a woman in labor. 7 You destroyed them like ships of Tarshish shattered by an east wind. 8 As we have heard, so have we seen in the city of the LORD Almighty, in the city of our God: God makes her secure forever. Selah 9 Within your temple, O God, we meditate on your unfailing love. 10 Like your name, O God, your praise reaches to the ends of the earth;

your right hand is filled with righteousness. 11 Mount Zion rejoices, the villages of Judah are glad because of your judgments. 12 Walk about Zion, go around her, count her towers, 13 consider well her ramparts, view her citadels, that you may tell of them to the next generation. 14 For this God is our God for ever and ever; he will be our guide even to the end.

The City of God

Men have conjectured many things about the city of God and what it is, but what does the Word teach us.   

Revelations 21:4 gives us an insight and description of this city of God: “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2I saw the Holy City, the New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

We see this city now described as the bride beautifully dressed for her husband.  We grasp the Word is not describing for us just a physical place and structures.  It is describing for us that the redeemed of the Lord are the city of our God and the place of His habitation.  We see that God Himself inhabits this city and even as Psalms 48:3 says, “God is in her citadels; he has shown himself to be her fortress.”  When your enemies see you they will flee in terror, because they will see the glory of the Lord upon you. 

               We are such a blessed people when we catch the revelation of who we are in Christ.  Some say we only need religion and God as a crutch.  He is not our crutch, He is our life, our strength our divine ability and purpose.  Sin and self are only a recipe for death and judgement.  If God is my crutch, then yes, I will lean on Him all day long, for He upholds me in righteousness and keeps my foot from slipping into the paths of sin and wickedness.  

               The world still hates us, because it first hated Him and He is now in us.  They may think they have triumphed as they did when they crucified our Lord, but that was only the catalyst to release the awesome resurrection power of our Redeemer.  Through death He now lives, and He will raise up our mortal bodies also to live and reign with Him in glory. 

               Hebrews 11:8-12 says, “By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. 9By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. 10For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.”  We also have a call to go, live and abide in this promise land.  While upon earth we abide in temporary dwellings and tents while we look forward to the city with foundations whose architect and builder is God.  1 Peter 2:4-9 says, “As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him— 5you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6For in Scripture it says: “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame.” 7Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, “The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone,” 8and, “A stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall.” They stumble because they disobey the message—which is also what they were destined for. 9But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.”  We are the house of God, the city of God, His Jerusalem and Zion.  We are His holy habitation and the residence of His dwelling.  Just as God has given diverse giftings to the body of Christ and made us many members one in the Spirit, so He has joined by one Spirit the saints of all of the ages that in His appointed time He might present us as one new man in Christ Jesus.  This is the city that the Lord has built and He has chosen for His dwelling place.  Let us, His saints rejoice that He has made His abode with us and sanctify ourselves.

               2 Peter 1:10- 11 exhorts us, “Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall, 11and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”

Blessings,

#kent

The Difference Between You and Me

The Difference between You and Me

Acts 15:8-9

And God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as [he did] unto us; And put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith.

               We are people that tend to be exclusive in our thinking and how we see the acceptance of others.  We tend to want to be more white or more black, more American, more spiritual, more exclusive in one way or another.  Our faith in Jesus Christ is a melding pot where our exclusive thinking and the differences that separate us need to end.  Are we still going to be different once we are in Christ?  Of course, there will be differences in who we are, God made us that way.  God made us different to serve and function in different capacities, but not to be exclusive over one another.  Yes, there will always be those greater than us and those lesser.   Difference doesn’t mean there isn’t an order of things.  Unfortunately, we often use our differences to exclude certain individuals or groups from our circle of acceptance.  It takes on many forms and names, but it is a form of prejudiced thinking. 

               In God’s gift of salvation none have been excluded who would approach the throne of grace and embrace by faith the gospel of Jesus Christ.  The Jews used to be God’s chosen people, which excluded the Gentiles, those outside the Jewish faith.  Jesus broke down that partition wall that separated Jew and Gentile.  Galatians 3:26-29 says, “For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye [be] Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”  When any of us come to Christ by faith and have our sins washed in the blood we are each given, as it were, a robe of righteousness that is not of our own, but is fashioned in the image of Christ who freely gave it to us.  When the Father looks over the body of Christ, is He looking for a body comprised of differences and schisms?  Or, is He looking for a body that is functioning in the unity of the Son of God and His love according to the differences and unique gifting that He has given each one? Our bodies are made up of many different kind of cells, but all of those cells function together to make the unity of the whole.

               Do you ever notice how when we meet people we try and judge and evaluate them by their likeness or differences to us?  Does the love of God focus on the differences of people to determine whether we should accept them or reject them or does it meet people where they are based on the love of the one who has redeemed us from our sin?   Why was Jesus considered the friend of publicans and sinners when they were so different from the righteousness of who He was?  He became the avenue and way for us to lose our differences as we become in faith identified with His life and purpose.  He also brought a sword that separates, because those that hold to darkness will refuse to come into the light.  They, without faith, will always stand in opposition to those who are in Christ.  Becoming a Christian doesn’t make us better than our neighbor who rejects Him.  The difference is that our faith in the Lord’s righteousness and His salvation redeems us from the condemnation of that darkness in which we once dwelled.  Because of what we found and the grace of God that now works in us we should not be looking down on those without Christ, but showing forth the love God toward them through a humble and loving life.  We need to be living Christ before them that they may be drawn, as we were, to the unconditional love and provision of God’s grace through Christ.  Father God has provided access and entry to all men and has excluded none, but the way in is through faith in His Son who paid the price and made the way to bring us into the kingdom of heaven.  It is open to whosoever will.  The difference between you and me is often a matter of choice.  It is not matter of whether I am right or wrong, it is matter of whether God’s Word is right or wrong.  I choose to believe that it is right?  That is often the difference.

Blessings,

#kent

Riches with a Purpose

Riches with a Purpose

1Timothy 6:6-10

But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. 8But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. 9People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. 10For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

Money means the most to him that desires and covets it, but though he may possess it the promises that it brought are barren of the joy and fulfillment that he sought.  The joy of money is in the giving and not in the getting.  It is a tool and a means, but not an end in itself.  Many would sell their souls for riches, but in their riches they only find spiritual poverty and want.  God blesses us and prospers us so that we might be a blessing and in being that faithful steward and blessing, we are blessed.  May God give us the vision and the hearts that will take the seed that He has provided us and plant it into His kingdom that it might bring forth a great harvest in the earth. 

Our treasures are not of this world, but God gives us worldly treasure that we might invest it into an eternal inheritance.  No, we can’t buy our way into heaven, but with the heart of a good and faithful servant we can be a channel for earthly resources and we can channel those resources to heavenly purposes. 

As the people of God we don’t seek to find our contentment and fulfillment in riches.  If we do then our focus is on mammon and not on God.  It is God’s good pleasure to, often times, bless those who are faithful to His purposes, but with a covetous heart they would only stumble.  The riches of this world and what we possess are not the measure of God’s favor.  The riches I would covet are His presence and His fellowship, because at His right hand there is fullness of joy.  When God shows up in His manifest presence there is no amount of money that can buy that kind of experience and blessing. 

God’s Word exhorts us, that with our basic needs met, to be content.  So often the precious gift of life and loved ones passes us by in our pursuit for more of the world’s gain.  Like the adage says, “we can’t take it with us.”  May the Lord help us to keep our focus on the things that pertain to life and godliness, that is where we will find our contentment.  We need to treasure the riches we have in our family, friends and those who love us.  With a right fellowship with the Father and the love and fellowship of others in this life we have found the greatest riches of all.  Don’t be deceived by fool’s gold, but seek the gold that perishes not with the using.

Blessings,

#kent

It’s Time to Come Up Higher

Revelations 6:1

I watched as the Lamb opened the first of the seven seals. Then I heard one of the four living creatures say in a voice like thunder, “Come!” 2I looked, and there before me was a white horse! Its rider held a bow, and he was given a crown, and he rode out as a conqueror bent on conquest.

It’s Time to Come Up Higher

               Sometimes when we are called up to the next level of our walk in God it presents before us a great chasms that our mind of reality can’t grasp how we can span and cross over.  We know that once we make that leap, that if we survive, there is no way back to what we knew before.  Comfort and security are basic instincts that our natural man holds fast too.  Why rock the boat if there are no waves?  The problem with safety and security is that they lull us into complacency.  In complacency we become lethargic, lazy and unmotivated.  Our safety and security can become to us a greater death trap than our leaping out in faith and risk.  In our safe and secure place, our dependency and trust shifts from God to ourselves. 

               God, speaking through Moses warns His people about this snare in Deuteronomy 8:10-14, “When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the Lord your God for the good land he has given you.  Be careful that you do not forget the Lord your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day.  Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, then your heart will become proud and you will forget the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.”   This is pretty much the state we find ourselves in today.  As a country, we have forgotten all that God has done for us, but as His people we have grown fat in the comfortable pastures of Christianity that feeds us weekly and has dumbed us down in our own personal responsibility and activity with the Lord.  We become content to follow the programs and doctrines of men, accepting it naively as God’s will and provision for our lives.  This is exactly the condition we need to be in for satan to come in and rob the inheritance, burn the fields and plunder the camps. 

               People of God the day for playing church is over.  It is a day to arise out of our security and complacency and realize that we have been made fat for the slaughter.  For us to remain where we are is death.  God is calling us back into the ranks of fighting spiritual warriors.  He is taking us back through the boot camp where we are stretched out of our comfort and complacency into the painful agony of bringing every inactive spiritual muscle back into shape.  This is not a pleasant place for our natural man to be, but it is what God is calling us to if we want to live in His life and take back what the enemy has taken from us. 

               Father is stirring our hearts, He is laying the ax to the root of our old denominations, creeds and traditions.  These things have made the Word of God of none affect.  The world at large is starting to shake, rattle and roll, but it is best that it starts in the house of God so that we, His people might prepare and sanctify our hearts, shedding the old wineskins of religion and embracing the coming of God’s kingdom.  Father wants to shed His spiritual light into our hearts and illuminate present day truth that take us to the next level in our walk with Him.  That next level may be rather scary because it is not a familiar way, it is drawing us out of our comfort zone and it no longer provides for us the leeks and onions we were used to when we were in Egypt.  Like the wilderness, God is leading us again on a journey of faith, where He alone is our provision and provider.  If you only look to your natural circumstances you will become a grumbler and complainer.  We know that didn’t fair well with the Lord’s favor.  His favor is upon the righteous who live by faith, who count God faithful even when there is no substance of reality visible to sustain such a belief.  We walk by faith, not by sight.  We count those things that are not as though they were.  We are coming to a place where we will declare a creative word into our circumstance and like it was through Moses, provision will be made. 

               It is time for all of us, as the body of Christ, to come up higher; to take the risk and leap of faith.  How long will we waiver between two opinions?  If God is God then let us go where He goes and do what He show us to do.  Being willing to allow the old things, the former ways and the past life to be left behind.  It will not serve us well where we are going.  It will only encumber and weigh us down.  Remember Hebrews 12:1, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. 2Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”  Stir up your spirit and ready yourself for the journey to the next level in Him.

Blessings,

#kent

No More Fences

Romans 8: 1-4

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. 3For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man, 4in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit.

No More Fences

There is no fence where I walk,

The words of grace are in my talk.

There are no walls that confine me in,

Or traditional paths that define my sin.

There is therefore no more condemnation,

Because of the relationship I have with Him.

Christ set me free from the law of sin and death,

I am no more an object of God’s wrath.

He has written His laws upon my heart,

It is my delight to keep each part,

For they are the declaration of my liberty,

His Spirit has set me free from sin’s tyranny.

Outwardly all constraints are gone,

But inwardly His divine nature lives on.

As I walk in His Spirit I am free,

From laws and traditions that once burdened me.

It is no longer I that live, but Christ in me,

He has opened my eyes that I might see,

It is God’s grace that has met my needs,

I no longer seek justification by my deeds.

The blood Jesus has cleansed and made me whole,

His life is who I am, no longer just a role.

There are no fences where I walk,

But a firm foundation in Christ my Rock.

Kent Stuck

Blessings,

#kent

God, I don’t Deserve You

Psalms 71:5

For thou [art] my hope, O Lord GOD: [thou art] my trust from my youth.

God, I don’t Deserve You

Throughout the highs and lows of life, the victories and the defeats, the triumphs and the disasters the one thing that is constant is God’s love.  How thankful I am that my hope and confidence is not in myself.  It would be as vanity and vapor if it were.  All through life the anchor has been the Lord.  Even in the times I felt rejected and cast off by others and the times that I even have hated myself, I have known like David that God is my hope and my trust is in Him.  As we are pressing in to know and love God more, we all know that we make a lot of mistakes and miss the mark more than we would like.  The good news is that while there are times we may really get down on ourselves and feel totally condemned, God loves us.  He loves us through our failures as well as our successes.  While He doesn’t justify or condone our sin, He can forgive us and restore us into right fellowship with Him. 

               God loves you.  Even if you don’t know how He could, He does.  No matter what falls we take in life or even if we have slipped back into sin, hope in the Lord.  Continue to put your confidence in Him.  He is the One that you can always trust to love you, forgive and restore you if you will put your trust always in Him.  We don’t deserve His love, His forgiveness or His mercy, but they are new every morning.  His arms are open to us today.  Come, let us embrace Him and draw near to Him again.

Blessings,

#kent

The Prophet with an Attitude

Jonah 4

1 But Jonah was greatly displeased and became angry. 2 He prayed to the LORD, “O LORD, is this not what I said when I was still at home? That is why I was so quick to flee to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. 3 Now, O LORD, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live.”

4 But the LORD replied, “Have you any right to be angry?”

5 Jonah went out and sat down at a place east of the city. There he made himself a shelter, sat in its shade and waited to see what would happen to the city. 6 Then the LORD God provided a vine and made it grow up over Jonah to give shade for his head to ease his discomfort, and Jonah was very happy about the vine. 7 But at dawn the next day God provided a worm, which chewed the vine so that it withered. 8 When the sun rose, God provided a scorching east wind, and the sun blazed on Jonah’s head so that he grew faint. He wanted to die, and said, “It would be better for me to die than to live.”

9 But God said to Jonah, “Do you have a right to be angry about the vine?”

“I do,” he said. “I am angry enough to die.”

10 But the LORD said, “You have been concerned about this vine, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. 11 But Nineveh has more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, and many cattle as well. Should I not be concerned about that great city?”

The Prophet with an Attitude

               Allow me to give a brief summary for any whom may not be familiar with the story of Jonah.  Jonah was a prophet that was called of God to go to the wicked city of Nineveh and warn them of God’s judgement that was to come upon them if they did not repent.  Jonah tried to run away from God and the task that He called him to do.  After he had boarded a ship to flee God’s calling, God sent a terrible storm that threatened the lives of all onboard.  Jonah confessed that he was the reason for the storm and had the crew through him overboard.  Jonah couldn’t even escape his calling by drowning as the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow him up.  For three days he was in the belly of the fish until it spit him up on dry land.  Reluctantly he obeyed God and preached throughout the city of Nineveh the coming judgement of the Lord.  The city actually heeded Jonah’s words and repented of their sins which brings us to this last chapter where Jonah is upset because of the people’s repentance and God’s compassion toward them.  It is pretty evident that Jonah has a lot of dislike, hatred, prejudice and most definite unforgiveness toward this people.  It is quite possible they had been responsible for great hurt or loss in his life.  He had probably grown up with a prejudice and hatred toward them.  It is my guess that Jonah wanted judgement to come upon these people and the last thing he wanted for them was God’s compassion and forgiveness.  He feels so strongly about this that he is willing for the Lord to take his life rather than to change his heart.  He is a prophet with an attitude and a chip on his shoulder that he is unwilling to let go of. 

               God causes a vine to grow that provides shelter and shade for Jonah, which made Jonah very happy.  Then He allows a worm to come in and destroy the vine and his shade.  Again, he is angry with God for taking away something that was never his in the first place.  God asks him, if he really has the right to be angry about the vine which he had no part in planting, tending or helping it grow, but yet he shouldn’t care about a great city of people that are about to perish?

               There are a number of lessons here, but one of the foremost I see is that of hate and unforgiveness.  There are some of us that have carried a grudge for years that we have never repented of or let go.  We still carry that attitude that Jonah had.  There is nothing we would like better than to see that person or people burn.    We may be carrying a strong prejudice or hate against a person, people, sex, race, ethnic group, religion, political group or even sexual orientation.  I believe God used Jonah as He did, because Jonah needed to come to terms with what he was carrying in his heart.  The sad part is that even though the wicked city of Nineveh repented, Jonah never did.  Where do you think the judgement of God has to come to pass, in Nineveh or in Jonah?  God often shows us our heart for what it is, but we often stubbornly refuse His correction because we want to nurse our grudge or hold on to our sin, whatever that sin may be.  For Jonah it was hate and unforgiveness.  He obeyed God, because God didn’t give him a choice, but not from a willing heart.  What sins are we not willing to let go of?  What unforgiveness are we unwilling to release?  Perhaps we face the greater judgement than those we have condemned and passed judgement upon.  Is God trying in His love and compassion to bring us to areas that we need to repent of and ask His forgiveness? 

Blessings,

#kent

Perseverance

Perseverance

Hebrews 12:1-3

1Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. 2Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

               Our life, our walk and relationship in Christ is likened unto a race here in Hebrews 12. This great cloud of witnesses are like the array of saints presented in the previous chapter 11 where we have example after example of great people of faith who have lived a godly testimony before us and who we have as examples of how we should walk in faith.  In each one of us our faith comes down to our own personal relationship with Christ, but it is like we have the host of heaven and the patriarchs of faith who have gone on before us, now surrounding us in the spirit.  If our spiritual ears were opened we might here them whistling, cheering and encouraging us on in our faith and walk in Christ.  They are on and by our side as they are rooting for us to win our race of faith.  Hebrews 12:1 exhorts us in an area where we all need it.  We have all experienced how easily we can become entangled in the affairs and cares of this world.  We are trying to be faithful and godly people in the midst of raising and trying to please and meet the needs of a spouse and family.  We are coping and dealing with a multitude of relationships with all different types of people, some of which may be in the very difficult category.  We live in a fast-paced world with demands and tasks before us from the time our feet hit the floor in the morning till the time we go to bed.  There is no doubt that there are many obstacles and trials in life to hinder us. 

               Then there are the sin issues that still come up.  All of us have areas in our lives that we are more prone to sin than perhaps others.  We all have our weaknesses and frailties, but these must not become our excuse for indulging and giving place to the flesh in whatever areas these occur.  1 Peter 5:8 reminds us, “Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”  We all tend to get tired, complacent and distracted concerning our faith and relationship in Christ.  When we do, we are even more prone to allow sin to creep in.  It is usually the small things that we give place to that lead to the bigger and bigger things where we find ourselves in really hot water.  The secret of course is to keep the weeds pulled when they are first sprouting.  Otherwise sin is like a spider’s web.  Once we get caught in it the worse it seems to get.  Our lives can suddenly become entangled in that which has not only led us away from God, but may well hurt and negatively affect the people we love. 

               Along with the example of the faithful in Hebrews 11, Paul gives us the opposite example in 1 Corinthians 10 of those that fell short.  He specifically warns us not to follow after the error of disobedience.   “1For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers, that our forefathers were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea. 2They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. 3They all ate the same spiritual food 4and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ. 5Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them; their bodies were scattered over the desert.

6Now these things occurred as examples^[a] to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did. 7Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written: “The people sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in pagan revelry.”^[b] 8We should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did–and in one day twentythree thousand of them died. 9We should not test the Lord, as some of them did–and were killed by snakes. 10And do not grumble, as some of them did–and were killed by the destroying angel. 11These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come. 12So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! 13No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it. (1 Corinthians 10:1-11)”

               We are exhorted that we are in a race, a contest of perseverance that requires discipline, continual focus and unencumbered participation of our whole man.  Will there be distractions and diversions?  Yes.  Will sin try to creep in and seduce us?  Yes.  But the key is that our eyes must always be fixed on Jesus who is the author and finisher of our faith.  He is the image of what we want to be conformed too.  When we look at His life we see the greatest example of what endurance and perseverance is all about.  As long as He remains the focus, the discipline and the confidence of our lives, He will help us to win the race.

Blessings,

#kent