Jonah Chapter 2

Jonah Chapter 2

Jonah chapter 2 is a chapter that resonates with many people who have felt like the have hit bottom.  Perhaps it is an endless line of failure in relationships, jobs, or some earthly goal.  Maybe the issue is an addiction that got way beyond control.  The reality is that the people going through such things feel hopeless.  They feel as if they have reached the end.  This is the situation for Jonah.

Jonah Chapter 2 takes place in the belly of a great fish.  Jonah ended up in this predicament because of his disobedience to God.  His life appears to be about to end.  Thoughts certainly flying through his mind.  Jonah would be preserved in the belly of the fish for 3 days and nights – a type of Christ in the tomb.  What would you do if you were at the end?  Judas came to what he thought was the end and took his life.  Peter in denying Christ three times certainly could have felt the same.

In this peek at Jonah’s response to God’s discipline, we are introduced to humility.  When the bottom is hit, people need to be honest about how they got there.  They need to be honest about who provides real deliverance from an evil world.  When man humbles himself and seeks out the one who can truly help, there will always be hope.

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Dead Rock or a Living Stone

Dead Rock or a Living Stone

There is a story, the truthfulness of it cannot be confirmed, that illustrates a truth of God taught in both the Old Testament and the New Testament. The story tells of that time when Solomon was building the temple. The Bible says that there were 80,000 laborers in the mountains who quarried the stones for the temple (1 Kings 5:15), and these were then moved to Jerusalem. The stones are described as being large (one foundation stone has been discovered that was 38’ 9” long and weighed 100 tons), costly and hewn to perfection (1 Kings 5:17).

The most remarkable aspect of the building of this magnificent building was what happened when stones arrived to be put in place. “And the temple…was built with stone finished at the quarry, so that no hammer or chisel or any iron tool was heard in the temple while it was being built” (1 Kings 6:7).

It is at this point where the unconfirmed story enters. It is said that one stone arrived in Jerusalem, and they laid it aside not knowing where it was to be placed. In that type of building, the most important stone was the one which brought the walls and the roof together—called the cornerstone. The story tells of how later they could not find it, but eventually found the cornerstone they had rejected and laid aside.

Whether that part of the story is true or not has little to do with the application made about the place of Jesus in the building of God’s new temple, the church. Peter describes Jesus in this way: “A living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious” (1 Pet. 2:9). The Old Testament background of this is then quoted by Peter. Isaiah prophesied, “Behold I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious, and he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame…the stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone” (1 Pet. 2:5; Isa. 28:16). The apostle then added to this the words of David, “The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone” (Psa. 118:22).

What does all of this have to do with us in our day. Look again at the words of Peter. He calls Jesus the living stone, rejected by men. The Jews saw Him as dead, but such was far from the truth. Jesus is alive and the chief cornerstone of the church.

But there is more, for Peter describes us. “You also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (1 Pet. 2:5). Every time the world looks down on you, remember how God honored the rejected Chief Cornerstone. We may be rejected by men, but God sees us as the stones who make up His holy temple.

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Fret Not Thyself

Fret Not Thyself

“Fret not thyself because of evil men, neither be thou envious at the wicked; For there shall be no reward to the evil man; the candle of the wicked shall be put out.” (Proverbs 24:19-20 KJV)

The English word “fret” means literally, “to wear away.” Figuratively it describes how undue worry and unnecessary care wear away at one’s emotions. Solomon says don’t do this to yourself because of evil men. He also says not to be envious of the wicked. They may have wealth, riches and fame and embody everything that the world considers great. When the righteous struggle and the wicked prosper, remember that there is no heavenly reward for those who prosper in their evil deeds. It is better to be rich in faith, yet poor in this world than to be a rich man who became so by wickedness. Remember also, that the candle of the wicked eventually goes out. The wicked will not have eternal life, their candle may burn bright for a time, but eternal darkness awaits them, so don’t be afraid of them and don’t be envious of their fleeting material wealth and prosperity. Honestly, we need to pity those deluded fools who have traded their immortal soul for a material reward.

Read Psalms 38:1-28

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Jonah Chapter 1

Jonah Chapter 1

Jonah chapter 1 is a book that I have used many times to describe salvation.  It starts out with a proclaimed follower of God, the prophet Jonah.  He is disobedient to God.  How many people in this world claim God but do not obey?  Luke 6:46 – “Why do you call me Lord and not do the things I say?”  This book starts in the same manner.  A denial of Christ by behavior.Jonah fish

As Jonah chapter 1 progresses God provides earthly consequences for Jonah’s sinful actions of running from what was commanded.  Jonah was supposed to be headed to Nineveh, but was headed purposefully in the wrong direction.  God would raise the winds and sea in preventing Jonah’s will from being successful and in the process ensuring His own Will would be accomplished.

Upon the ship Jonah traveled, there would be preaching, hearing, calling upon the Lord, obedience, sacrifice, and salvation.  Jonah is a type of Christ and this chapter is just the beginning.  God ends up sending a great fish to swallow Jonah as the writing ends.  However, there are three more chapters of this book to cover and the next few lessons of Locusts and Wild Honey will cover exactly that.

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Parents and Grandparents are Failing

Parents and Grandparents are Failing

The evidence is clear—many parents and grandparents are failing their children. Perhaps you have seen the statistics. Even by conservative estimates, New Testament Christians are losing between 60% and 90% of our young people after they graduate from high school. We are losing the cultural and spiritual war that has been waged on our families.

I see it almost every weekend as I look at young people who have already mentally checked out, and demonstrate through their lack of participation in worship that they don’t believe religion is relevant in their life.

sad parent

As a parent or a grandparent, are you fulfilling your spiritual role?

John J. Dunphy knew the importance of teaching young minds when he wrote his infamous article “A Religion for a New Age,” in which he justified indoctrination of humanism, boldly proclaiming:

I am convinced that the battle for humankind’s future must be waged and won in the public school classroom by teachers who correctly perceive their role as the proselytizers of a new faith: a religion of humanity that recognizes the spark of what theologians call divinity in every human being. There teachers must embody the same selfless dedication of the most rabid fundamentalist preacher, for they will be ministers of another sort, utilizing a classroom instead of a pulpit to convey humanist values in whatever subject they teach, regardless of the educational level—preschool, daycare, or large state university. The classroom must and will become an arena of conflict between the old and the new—the rotting corpse of Christianity, together with all its adjacent evils and misery, and the new faith of humanism, resplendent in its promise of a world in which the never-realized Christian ideal of “love thy neighbor” will finally be achieved.

The bottom line is that most Christians are handing over their children–in many cases paying–for people to lead them away from Christ. For twelve years we send our most precious gifts, our offspring, off to be indoctrinated in secular humanism, LGBTQ+ agenda, and atheistic ideology—and our tax dollars are paying for this propaganda. And for the life of us, we cannot figure out why so many Christian teenagers abandon the faith when they leave home.

Many Christians have not fully recognized that our children are the ultimate prize. Activists in our country have waged war on Christianity, and they are quietly enlisting our own children against us. By shaping their thoughts and molding their value system for twelve years, secular humanists, atheists, LGBTQ activists, and evolutionists have fashioned their minds to reject the concept of a God. Instead, they return home to us embracing a philosophy of: “eat, drink, and be merry, and always look out for number one!” By many counts, these militant groups have won many battles, as we observe indicators that our society is forsaking Christian values in favor of humanism. But they are not just claiming street children or their own children in their victories—more importantly, they are taking away our children!

Satan is working hard for the hearts and minds of young people. Church, it is time that we outwork him!

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