Category: Jonah

Allowance

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Hi Peeps,

Today’s Quote

“Thank God for His allowances!”

TB

Tenure

It’s arrogant to believe that just because you’ve known Christ for a long time that your wages will be any better than the believers who show up in the last hour. Like the workers in the vineyard, Christ’s generosity supersedes our limited understanding. While the end allowance (salvation) is the same for the last and the first, do not discount the glory of walking with God.

Gift

To have walked with God for a long time is a gift in itself, so there is no need to worry or be jealous of new believers. Just like the brother of the prodigal son, if you’ve already known God, then you already have access to His kingdom. That does not change just because someone else got the memo. So instead of letting your pride lead you into foolish arrogance, Thank God for His wages and walk in peace.

Today’s Question

Are you enjoying your wages or are you counting someone else’s?

Enjoy the reading

Jonah 4

1 This change of plans greatly upset Jonah, and he became very angry. 2 So he complained to the LORD about it: “Didn’t I say before I left home that you would do this, LORD ? That is why I ran away to Tarshish! I knew that you are a merciful and compassionate God, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. You are eager to turn back from destroying people. 3 Just kill me now, LORD ! I’d rather be dead than alive if what I predicted will not happen.” 4 The LORD replied, “Is it right for you to be angry about this?” 5 Then Jonah went out to the east side of the city and made a shelter to sit under as he waited to see what would happen to the city. 6 And the LORD God arranged for a leafy plant to grow there, and soon it spread its broad leaves over Jonah’s head, shading him from the sun. This eased his discomfort, and Jonah was very grateful for the plant. 7 But God also arranged for a worm! The next morning at dawn the worm ate through the stem of the plant so that it withered away. 8 And as the sun grew hot, God arranged for a scorching east wind to blow on Jonah. The sun beat down on his head until he grew faint and wished to die. “Death is certainly better than living like this!” he exclaimed. 9 Then God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry because the plant died?” “Yes,” Jonah retorted, “even angry enough to die!” 10 Then the LORD said, “You feel sorry about the plant, though you did nothing to put it there. It came quickly and died quickly. 11 But Nineveh has more than 120,000 people living in spiritual darkness, not to mention all the animals. Shouldn’t I feel sorry for such a great city?”

Final Say

tarynbarnesLeave a comment

Hi Peeps,

Today’s Quote

“God always has the final say.”

TB

Sway

Do not be swayed by the foolish and temporal opinions of people. They do not know enough to even glean an inkling of God’s plans. The opposition will craftily use us to deter one another from our callings. For that reason, be quick to listen and slow to speak, because God’s vision and plans supersede our understanding.

Set

Just because you feel unqualified does not mean that God doesn’t lift up His children. Like the people before you, He has a knack for using the least likely. Why? What better way to show might than to exalt the underdog? So whatever your task, whatever your objective, do it with the confidence that God has the final say, not man.

Today’s Question

Are you doing what you’re supposed to or has the influence of fools got you down?

Enjoy the reading

Jonah 3

1 Then the LORD spoke to Jonah a second time: 2 “Get up and go to the great city of Nineveh, and deliver the message I have given you.” 3 This time Jonah obeyed the LORD ’s command and went to Nineveh, a city so large that it took three days to see it all. 4 On the day Jonah entered the city, he shouted to the crowds: “Forty days from now Nineveh will be destroyed!” 5 The people of Nineveh believed God’s message, and from the greatest to the least, they declared a fast and put on burlap to show their sorrow. 6 When the king of Nineveh heard what Jonah was saying, he stepped down from his throne and took off his royal robes. He dressed himself in burlap and sat on a heap of ashes. 7 Then the king and his nobles sent this decree throughout the city: “No one, not even the animals from your herds and flocks, may eat or drink anything at all. 8 People and animals alike must wear garments of mourning, and everyone must pray earnestly to God. They must turn from their evil ways and stop all their violence. 9 Who can tell? Perhaps even yet God will change his mind and hold back his fierce anger from destroying us.” 10 When God saw what they had done and how they had put a stop to their evil ways, he changed his mind and did not carry out the destruction he had threatened.

Pass it on

tarynbarnesLeave a comment

Hi Peeps,

Today’s Quote

“Share Godly teachings with the next generation.”

TB

Reactive

Some of us grew up with family members that shared the Good News. Some of us come to know Christ later on in life. Some of us are still en route to opening that door. As we grow and learn more, it’s easy to lament and wish we knew more sooner. Of course, we cannot change the past, but we can use our past to help those who are growing into their lives. Instead of taking the reactive approach, ask God how you can be a resource to others, especially the younger people in the next generation.

Proactive

They say hindsight is 20/20 and we all have moments where we wished we had a more Biblical perspective. Friends, if you’ve learned a thing or two from God, share it with the next generation. Share with your kids, nieces, nephews, grandchildren– anyone within your sphere of influence on the moments and situations they may come by and how they can lean on God to potentially gain wisdom that you did not. By sharing these moments, God gets the glory and the next generation may learn a thing or two.

Today’s Question

Are you spreading light or sulking in the darkness of your past?

Enjoy the reading

Jonah 2

1 Then Jonah prayed to the LORD his God from inside the fish. 2 He said, “I cried out to the LORD in my great trouble, and he answered me. I called to you from the land of the dead, and LORD, you heard me! 3 You threw me into the ocean depths, and I sank down to the heart of the sea. The mighty waters engulfed me; I was buried beneath your wild and stormy waves. 4 Then I said, ‘O LORD, you have driven me from your presence. Yet I will look once more toward your holy Temple.’ 5 “I sank beneath the waves, and the waters closed over me. Seaweed wrapped itself around my head. 6 I sank down to the very roots of the mountains. I was imprisoned in the earth, whose gates lock shut forever. But you, O LORD my God, snatched me from the jaws of death! 7 As my life was slipping away, I remembered the LORD . And my earnest prayer went out to you in your holy Temple. 8 Those who worship false gods turn their backs on all God’s mercies. 9 But I will offer sacrifices to you with songs of praise, and I will fulfill all my vows. For my salvation comes from the LORD alone.” 10 Then the LORD ordered the fish to spit Jonah out onto the beach.

Eye Sore

tarynbarnesLeave a comment

Hi Peeps,

Today’s Quote

“Don’t get too obsessed with what’s in your brother or sister’s eye as we all have something in our own.”

TB

Obvious

It’s easy to look at the problems of others, acting as if we could live their lives better than they could. But friends, remember that if we desire God’s grace, we must learn how to give it to one another.

Oblivious

It’s not so easy to clean up your own mess because you’re too busy looking at your neighbors. So, instead, let us consult God, examine our own lives, and make improvements so that we may grow closer to Him.

Today’s Question

Are you obviously oblivious to your own eye sore?

Enjoy the reading

Jonah 1

1 The LORD gave this message to Jonah son of Amittai: 2 “Get up and go to the great city of Nineveh. Announce my judgment against it because I have seen how wicked its people are.” 3 But Jonah got up and went in the opposite direction to get away from the LORD . He went down to the port of Joppa, where he found a ship leaving for Tarshish. He bought a ticket and went on board, hoping to escape from the LORD by sailing to Tarshish. 4 But the LORD hurled a powerful wind over the sea, causing a violent storm that threatened to break the ship apart. 5 Fearing for their lives, the desperate sailors shouted to their gods for help and threw the cargo overboard to lighten the ship. But all this time Jonah was sound asleep down in the hold. 6 So the captain went down after him. “How can you sleep at a time like this?” he shouted. “Get up and pray to your god! Maybe he will pay attention to us and spare our lives.” 7 Then the crew cast lots to see which of them had offended the gods and caused the terrible storm. When they did this, the lots identified Jonah as the culprit. 8 “Why has this awful storm come down on us?” they demanded. “Who are you? What is your line of work? What country are you from? What is your nationality?” 9 Jonah answered, “I am a Hebrew, and I worship the LORD, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the land.” 10 The sailors were terrified when they heard this, for he had already told them he was running away from the LORD . “Oh, why did you do it?” they groaned. 11 And since the storm was getting worse all the time, they asked him, “What should we do to you to stop this storm?” 12 “Throw me into the sea,” Jonah said, “and it will become calm again. I know that this terrible storm is all my fault.” 13 Instead, the sailors rowed even harder to get the ship to the land. But the stormy sea was too violent for them, and they couldn’t make it. 14 Then they cried out to the LORD, Jonah’s God. “O LORD,” they pleaded, “don’t make us die for this man’s sin. And don’t hold us responsible for his death. O LORD, you have sent this storm upon him for your own good reasons.” 15 Then the sailors picked Jonah up and threw him into the raging sea, and the storm stopped at once! 16 The sailors were awestruck by the LORD ’s great power, and they offered him a sacrifice and vowed to serve him. 17 Now the LORD had arranged for a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was inside the fish for three days and three nights.