I first want to apologize for my rant yesterday, it was all true but uncalled for in the way I expressed my feelings...
If you don't mind, I would like to share a new Bible study I started last night...
It's 6 weeks long with 5 days of reading in between... I am going to be documenting what the lesson was about and also what I am reading during my quiet time...
So, buckle up, because here we GO!!!
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I started a bibly study last night at my parent's church and it's called Jonah by: Priscilla Shirer...
[If you don't know the story of Jonah, it's the one in the Bible about the man who was swallowed by a whale, or as the Bible stats it, a big fish...]
Many people think that the book of Jonah is all about the big fish but what they don't realize is that it's really about a BIG GOD and whether or not we are going to choose to run from Him or trust that He knows what is best for our life...
*Every chapter, every verse in Jonah is about the GRANDEUR of our God.
*Jonah was the only prophet who received instructions from God and RAN from what God told him to do.
- It is a great priviledge to to hear teh voice of God so directly and many of us do not get that priviledge very often. So we need to be open and willing to accept the things God has planned for our lives because only He knows what we will accomplish in our lives before we even start the plan we set for ourselves.
The Bible study started off with the a verse from Isa. 55:8 and it says " 'For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways', declares the Lord".
It's not unusual for people to make plans for their life and try their hardest to make it them come to pass, but often times, the people of God will experience things in their lives that are not necessarily what they had planned and they think of them as INTERRUPTIONS in their life.
*Our journey with Jonah helps us REVAMP our view of a life interrupted.
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I hope you're ready because here we GO!!! ...
"The word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai saying..." Jonah 1:1
The INTERRUPTED life is the PRIVILEDGED life.
We need to realize that God does not INTERRUPT our lives to ruin our plans, He does it to give us the PRIVILEDGE to turn and follow His path He has prepared for us.
In the first verse of Jonah we are presented with 2 miracles:
- God Spoke
- God allowed a mere human to hear His voice
- Life Interrupted can also be viewed as a Divine Intervention -
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Let me stop to add a few of my notes...
Take a few minutes to think of how your life has been interrupted lately...
Can you recall?
I sure can... My life is still in the process of a "DIVINE INTERVENTION" by God right now.
***In a way we are ALL Jonah. We have all been given a path by God that is in the opposite direction of where we want to go, but it is not about what WE want it is about what GOD wants!***
In Psalms 135: 15-17 it says,
15 The idols of the nations are silver and gold,
made by human hands.
16 They have mouths, but cannot speak,
eyes, but cannot see.
17 They have ears, but cannot hear,
nor is there breath in their mouths.
In Bible times, many people worshiped many "gods/idols"... you may notice "gods" is not capitalized, and that is because there is only one God that can do all things.
These few verses are stating that all these other "gods/idols" may be made of tangible things and may have the outlines of a mouth, eye and ears, but can they heal the sick, raise the dead, hear your prayers, see you pain or speak the plans for you life?????
I DON'T THINK SO!!! Sorry to dissappoint you... (not really...)
*The ONE TRUE God comes down to talk to us! He does not wait for us to come to Him.
- Unlike these other "gods/idols" that make their believers come to them... There is a buddhist country that makes people walk up the side of a mountain for miles and miles just they can pray to it... Does that sound like the kind of god you would want to serve?
He is even right beside while you're walking down the street, driving in your car, sitting at work... HE IS EVERYWHERE!!!
"Arise, go to Nineveh the great city and cry against it, for their wickedness has come up before Me." Jonah 1:2
Nineveh was city full of sin, murder, adultry, etc. and it had been brought to God's attention and He wanted to do away with it...
We often times hear the voice of God and say "I got it!" but when He begins to start His plan we turn and run and let it fall to the ground...
God wants us to be His hands and feet until He comes back to take His children home to Heaven! He has created us so that we may go out and share his good news that there is a better place waiting for us all we have to do is put our faith in Him and trust His plans He has set for us.
*One of the greatest revivals in history occurred because one man responded in obedience (Jonah).
*Jonah was a prophet. His job was to HEAR the word of God and then to ADMINISTER is to other people.
- God's word - instructions/translations to things we may not understand. -
*Nineveh, as I said was just a place of sin and hopelessness.
*God often send us into the HOPELESS place because it's in the hopeless place that we can see the HOPE of God.
Can you think of a something in your life that me be your HOPELESS PLACE? We have one or many... our "hopeless" place is our "Nineveh".
THE INTERRUPTED LIFE is the SIGNIFICANT life.
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- There are some things in our life that can not be started/fulfilled until our life is DIVINELY INTERVENTED by God and until we allow Him to do His work in our life so that we can go out and tell His word to other children of God.
Unless we do something with the word of God, we are missing the point. We need to be God's voice, hands and feet to others who are in their "hopeless" place and need to be told that there is something better out there... We just have to be willing to accept it. -
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There is only one other time that Jonah is talked about in the Bible and it is in II Kings:
In II Kings 14:25 we are told 5 things about Jonah:
- his name: Jonah
- his religion: servant of God
- his family (father): Amittai
- his job: Prophet of God
- his hometown: Gath-hepher
In closing...
***THE INTERRUPTED LIFE is the cure for the SEARCH for significance.
*****When we go where God is leading us, He is setting us up the a DIVINE INTERVENTION so He can start something in our life so we have a story that marks people for eternity*****
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As this week goes on I pray that whoever may read this, will realize that there is so much more out there other than being accepted by a certain group of people or being the prettiest or skinniest or richest... God has made you beautiful in His eyes, and made you who you are so that you are an individual and He has also made you rich and has riches upon riches waiting for you in Heaven. All you have to do is pray and ask God to take the wheel in your life and tell Him you are ready to live the life He has had planned for you all along!!!
I pray that God keeps you safe and surrounded with his angels and I can not wait to see what He has in store for me.
GOD BLESS!!!!!
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