June 16, 2013 / Every Day God: Four Questions

Jonah 1:1-7, 15-17

Amplified Bible (AMP)

1 Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai, saying,

2 Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and proclaim against it, for their wickedness has come up before Me.

3 But Jonah rose up to flee to Tarshish from being in the presence of the Lord [as His prophet] and went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish [the most remote of the Phoenician trading places then known]. So he paid the appointed fare and went down into the ship to go with them to Tarshish from being in the presence of the Lord [as His servant and minister].

4 But the Lord sent out a great wind upon the sea, and there was a violent tempest on the sea so that the ship was about to be broken.

5 Then the mariners were afraid, and each man cried to his god; and they cast the goods that were in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them. But Jonah had gone down into the inner part of the ship and had lain down and was fast asleep.

6 So the captain came and said to him, What do you mean, you sleeper? Arise, call upon your God! Perhaps your God will give a thought to us so that we shall not perish.

7 And they each said to one another, Come, let us cast lots, that we may know on whose account this evil has come upon us. So they cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah.

15 So they took up Jonah and cast him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging.

16 Then the men [reverently and worshipfully] feared the Lord exceedingly, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows.

17 Now the Lord had prepared and appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

Jonah 2:10

Amplified Bible (AMP)

10 And the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land.

Jonah 3

Amplified Bible (AMP)

3 And the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying,

2 Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach and cry out to it the preaching that I tell you.

3 So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city of three days’ journey [sixty miles in circumference].

4 And Jonah began to enter into the city a day’s journey, and he cried, Yet forty days and Nineveh shall be overthrown!

5 So the people of Nineveh believed in God and proclaimed a fast and put on sackcloth [in penitent mourning], from the greatest of them even to the least of them.

6 For word came to the king of Nineveh [of all that had happened to Jonah, and his terrifying message from God], and he arose from his throne and he laid his robe aside, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.

7 And he made proclamation and published through Nineveh, By the decree of the king and his nobles: Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything; let them not feed nor drink water.

8 But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth and let them cry mightily to God. Yes, let every one turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands.

9 Who can tell, God may turn and revoke His sentence against us [when we have met His terms], and turn away from His fierce anger so that we perish not.

10 And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God revoked His [sentence of] evil that He had said that He would do to them and He did not do it [for He was comforted and eased concerning them].

Jonah 4

Amplified Bible (AMP)

4 But it displeased Jonah exceedingly and he was very angry.

2 And he prayed to the Lord and said, I pray You, O Lord, is not this just what I said when I was still in my country? That is why I fled to Tarshish, for I knew that You are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and of great kindness, and [when sinners turn to You and meet Your conditions] You revoke the [sentence of] evil against them.

3 Therefore now, O Lord, I beseech You, take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.

4 Then said the Lord, Do you do well to be angry?

5 So Jonah went out of the city and sat to the east of the city, and he made a booth there for himself. He sat there under it in the shade till he might see what would become of the city.

6 And the Lord God prepared a gourd and made it to come up over Jonah, that it might be a shade over his head, to deliver him from his evil situation. So Jonah was exceedingly glad [to have the protection] of the gourd.

7 But God prepared a cutworm when the morning dawned the next day, and it smote the gourd so that it withered.

8 And when the sun arose, God prepared a sultry east wind, and the sun beat upon the head of Jonah so that he fainted and wished in himself to die and said, It is better for me to die than to live.

9 And God said to Jonah, Do you do well to be angry for the loss of the gourd? And he said, I do well to be angry, angry enough to die!

10 Then said the Lord, You have had pity on the gourd, for which you have not labored nor made it grow, which came up in a night and perished in a night.

11 And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons not [yet old enough to] know their right hand from their left, and also many cattle [not accountable for sin]?

Jonah 4:10

The Message (MSG)

10-11 God said, “What’s this? How is it that you can change your feelings from pleasure to anger overnight about a mere shade tree that you did nothing to get? You neither planted nor watered it. It grew up one night and died the next night. So, why can’t I likewise change what I feel about Nineveh from anger to pleasure, this big city of more than 120,000 childlike people who don’t yet know right from wrong, to say nothing of all the innocent animals?”

Wow. This scripture describes perfectly some of the people God has placed in my path. Childlike people. So many today are grown adults acting like children. While their children are growing up without parents. God has placed some of these folks in my life. Am I to judge them? No! I have NO IDEA the challenges they have faced and are currently facing.
I must ask myself these four questions:

1) Do I understand God's plan for the nations—his mercy and his compassion?
2) Do I believe that God is leading me in a certain direction, yet at times find myself doing everything I can to avoid that path?
3) Am I more worried over the trivial things in my life than I am the salvation of the multitudes?
4) Do I need to identify the Ninevites in my life? The King of Nineveh characterized them as evil and violent people. How do I pray for people like that? What does justice demand? How does grace fit into all that?

Matthew 23:37

Amplified Bible (AMP)

37 ...How often would I have gathered your children together as a mother fowl gathers her brood under her wings, and you refused!

Matthew 9:36

Amplified Bible (AMP)

36 When He saw the throngs, He was moved with pity and sympathy for them, because they were bewildered (harassed and distressed and dejected and helpless), like sheep without a shepherd.

"Jesus, as I minister to the hurting and broken masses, please give me Your love. Please give me Your compassion. In the past, I have been selfish. I have been judgemental. Help me to love, love, love those who sometimes seem a lot like the evil Ninevites. You sent Jonah to warn them and, as a result, the king instructed everybody to repent and change their ways. And they did! In Jesus name, help me to go forth and conquer the world for You, one community at a time. I pray specifically for my friend, LeRoy this morning. He has received the Holy Ghost and been baptized in Your Name. Continue to draw Him to You. Help him to surrender to You and accept Your call on his life. Deliver him completely, O Lord! Help him to turn from his wicked ways and lead his community to You!  To You be ALL the glory! It is DONE! In Your precious name I pray, AMEN!"