I do not always understand the outcome of completing the work to which God has called me. This can, if I allow it, cause a hesitancy to obey His leading and sending. I tend to be a person who likes to have all the answers before making a commitment. However when dealing with God, you could call this a lack of faith. There is a big push for mission statements these days but are they really an attempt to erase faith by needing to know how our obedience will workout? I am for mission statements, but caution should be taken.
Some of us struggle to obey God because we are not sure how it will turn out. Because of this we say “I will not”; based on a misunderstanding of how God completes His work. Go does not always tell us all what He has planned within the scope of the work to which we are called. We often find ourselves in places we never would have dreamed, doing things that we never thought were possible. The point is this; as you participate in the work of God, He will determine the outcome as you walk in faithful obedience. The following is what we can learn from Jonah chapter four. I suggest that before you continue reading this, you open up your Bible and read this chapter.
At times we may struggle to connect who God is and what He is asking us to do.
Jonah’s knowledge of God’s merciful character caused him to say “I will not” to God at the outset of his call to announce judgement upon the city of Nineveh. Can you imagine Jonah pondering his call to announce judgment while believing God to be merciful. This is one reason why Jonah tried to escape following what God had called him to do.
A second point of concern is when God’s actions do not flow according to our thoughts and we become angry. Jonah was angry at the fact that His knowledge of God being merciful was fulfilled. To us this may not seem like some thing over which to become angry. However if you or I were an Old Testament prophet we would probably understand. There are several possible reasons for Jonah’s anger perhaps Jonah thought that others would think he was a false prophet. Or maybe he believed that the lack of judgment would give Gentiles a reason to mock God for the unfulfilled words of His prophet. One other possible reason for his anger could have been his patriotism that would have caused him to desire the destruction Nineveh as a means of alarming his own people who were in rebellion and bring them to repentance.
All this being considered God calls us to participate in His work and we have no right to be angry at what He chooses as the outcome. This is the point of the object lesson provided for Jonah in verses 5-11. This point is made many times throughout the Scriptures. One such occasion is Psalm 11. Here we come to understand that we are to engage in His work through study and remembrance while performing the work in the wisdom that comes from fearing Him. The challenge now becomes to follow God's call even if we just don't understand how it will all turn out.
May God bless you with a call to do His work, and may you never say no.
Friday, February 25, 2011
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Its not that Important
I am glad that God did not listen to my statements of “I will not” and “I will never”. I am glad that God works hard to convince me of the importance of things that I once thought were insignificant. My life has been blessed because God did not take no for an answer.
We all, by our actions and attitudes display what is important to us. However God often works hard to change that. The story of Jonah reminds us of the extent to which God goes to change our "no" into a "yes”. Most of us praise God for this fact and are glad that we were allowed to hear His call more than once. With this being true, I want to answer the question, why does God work so hard to get us to follow His call into service?
God will go to great lengths to position us for His service because of what is at stake. The following is what we learn from Jonah chapter three. Crab your Bible and and take a look.
1. There is a message” v.1-23
2. There are things of which people must be warned. V.4
3. People can change. V. 5-9
4. Because God can, and desires to turn His wrath away. V. 10 (see also 1 John 1:1-3)
So the challenge is for each of us to make the decision that what is important to God is important to us. Look at verse three as translate in the Young's Literal Translation, "and Jonah riseth, and he goeth unto Nineveh, according to the word of Jehovah. And Nineveh hath been a great city before God, a journey of three days."(YLT)To live up to this challenge we may have to face some issues that we once sought to escape. When Jonah did this he became an example of what Jesus teaches in Matthew 21:28-31. Here Jesus states, "What do you think? A man had two sons. And he went to the first and said, 'Son, go and work in the vineyard today.' 29 And he answered, 'I will not,' but afterward he changed his mind and went. 30 And he went to the other son and said the same. And he answered, 'I go, sir,' but did not go. 31 Which of the two did the will of his father?" They said, "The first."
Matt 21:28-31"(ESV)
Is what He asking you to do important enough?
We all, by our actions and attitudes display what is important to us. However God often works hard to change that. The story of Jonah reminds us of the extent to which God goes to change our "no" into a "yes”. Most of us praise God for this fact and are glad that we were allowed to hear His call more than once. With this being true, I want to answer the question, why does God work so hard to get us to follow His call into service?
God will go to great lengths to position us for His service because of what is at stake. The following is what we learn from Jonah chapter three. Crab your Bible and and take a look.
1. There is a message” v.1-23
2. There are things of which people must be warned. V.4
3. People can change. V. 5-9
4. Because God can, and desires to turn His wrath away. V. 10 (see also 1 John 1:1-3)
So the challenge is for each of us to make the decision that what is important to God is important to us. Look at verse three as translate in the Young's Literal Translation, "and Jonah riseth, and he goeth unto Nineveh, according to the word of Jehovah. And Nineveh hath been a great city before God, a journey of three days."(YLT)To live up to this challenge we may have to face some issues that we once sought to escape. When Jonah did this he became an example of what Jesus teaches in Matthew 21:28-31. Here Jesus states, "What do you think? A man had two sons. And he went to the first and said, 'Son, go and work in the vineyard today.' 29 And he answered, 'I will not,' but afterward he changed his mind and went. 30 And he went to the other son and said the same. And he answered, 'I go, sir,' but did not go. 31 Which of the two did the will of his father?" They said, "The first."
Matt 21:28-31"(ESV)
Is what He asking you to do important enough?
Friday, February 11, 2011
Misplaced Hope
At CONNECT we are in the second week of our series, "I Will Not" in which we are discussing why it is difficult at times to follow God. This study in based in the book of Jonah and this week's message is entitled "Misplaced Hope". The focus here is that it becomes difficult to follow God when we place our hope in things that cannot satisfy or bring completion to our lives. Being that our lives then lack hope, we say "I will not" when God calls for faith. The following is a summary of "I Will Not" part two...
I have at times placed my hope in the wrong places, people,things and occurrences. This has led to frustration and a lack of effectiveness, even to the point where saying no to God is a temptation. When we do this, we lose the hope that trouble will turn to good. We also lose our hope in God and say, “I WILL NOT”. Though Jonah may not be the perfect example of faith and courage, in him we can see a man that placed the hope of his survival in the mercy of God. This is revealed in his prayer recorded in Jonah chapter two.
We observe here that Jonah still had hope because he has not given himself to the worship of idols.
o He acknowledged that his distress was from God. V.1-3
o He had hope that he again would be in the presence of God. V.4
o He had hope of his life being spared. V.5-7
We also see in a key statement from Jonah that when you trust in that which cannot help, you are forfeiting the hope that comes from a loving relationship with God. In Jonah’s day his issue may have been worshiping other gods, but it can also apply to us today when we trust in anything other than God. Instead of this we must, when in the middle of a difficulty, go to the middle of God’s Word. Psalm 118:8 states, "It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man"(ESV).
We must also remember to put our trust in the Holiness of Christ. As Peter reminds us in his epistle. He writes in 1 Peter 3:13-17, "Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? 14 But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, 15 but in your hearts regard Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; 16 yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. 17 For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God's will, than for doing evil"(ESV).
Hoping you will say "I Will" to God,
Pastor Paul
I have at times placed my hope in the wrong places, people,things and occurrences. This has led to frustration and a lack of effectiveness, even to the point where saying no to God is a temptation. When we do this, we lose the hope that trouble will turn to good. We also lose our hope in God and say, “I WILL NOT”. Though Jonah may not be the perfect example of faith and courage, in him we can see a man that placed the hope of his survival in the mercy of God. This is revealed in his prayer recorded in Jonah chapter two.
We observe here that Jonah still had hope because he has not given himself to the worship of idols.
o He acknowledged that his distress was from God. V.1-3
o He had hope that he again would be in the presence of God. V.4
o He had hope of his life being spared. V.5-7
We also see in a key statement from Jonah that when you trust in that which cannot help, you are forfeiting the hope that comes from a loving relationship with God. In Jonah’s day his issue may have been worshiping other gods, but it can also apply to us today when we trust in anything other than God. Instead of this we must, when in the middle of a difficulty, go to the middle of God’s Word. Psalm 118:8 states, "It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man"(ESV).
We must also remember to put our trust in the Holiness of Christ. As Peter reminds us in his epistle. He writes in 1 Peter 3:13-17, "Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? 14 But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, 15 but in your hearts regard Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; 16 yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. 17 For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God's will, than for doing evil"(ESV).
Hoping you will say "I Will" to God,
Pastor Paul
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Friday, February 4, 2011
"I Will Run"
There have been times in my life that I have had a hard time following God. In fact, there have been times when I did not like what He was asking of me and I simply wanted to quit.There have also been seasons of discontent that only ended when I realized that my true source of joy and satisfaction comes from being in the presence of God and enjoying who He is, not only what He does.
We all are challenged in many different ways and these challenges make it difficult to follow God. These challenges come from who we are as humans and the fact that we live in a culture that, for the most part, has rejected God.I think that it is also hard to obey God because we believe the lie that moving away from God will produce satisfaction. I know that this sounds weird to the ears of a Christian. It sounds like something a Christian would never think or dare to attempt. However if we are honest with ourselves this silly idea is very much what many choose to believe.
This weird little lie states that I can disobey God and He will find someone else to do His work. The dangerous part of this is that it is somewhat true, yet there are somethings that God will only use you to do. For example, only you can be the father or mother to your child. This lie also tempts us to believe that we can escape His inspiring influence. The truth here is that when God calls you He will not give up so easily. Finally and perhaps the most stunning, this lie tells us that
we can flee the “face” of God without considering the real result. Consider the meaning of “the face of”. It means the following, with the corresponding Scripture passages:
- Acceptance - Gen. 32:20
- Devotion - Psalm 27:8
- It is symbolic of the exposure of one’s nature and character.
(Jewish Literature)
So the challenge for us becomes to believe the truth about being away from the face of God. Being away from the face of God means...
- Being away from His communication. Deut. 31:16-18
- That God will ignore your request for help. Psalm 13:1-2
- It is compared to a death…..Psalm 143:7
With all this in mind my prayer for all of us is that the presence of God becomes the most precious part of our lives. Psalm 17:15 states, "As for me, I shall behold your face in righteousness when I awake, I shall be satisfied with your likeness"(ESV).
May you be blessed,
Pastor Paul
We all are challenged in many different ways and these challenges make it difficult to follow God. These challenges come from who we are as humans and the fact that we live in a culture that, for the most part, has rejected God.I think that it is also hard to obey God because we believe the lie that moving away from God will produce satisfaction. I know that this sounds weird to the ears of a Christian. It sounds like something a Christian would never think or dare to attempt. However if we are honest with ourselves this silly idea is very much what many choose to believe.
This weird little lie states that I can disobey God and He will find someone else to do His work. The dangerous part of this is that it is somewhat true, yet there are somethings that God will only use you to do. For example, only you can be the father or mother to your child. This lie also tempts us to believe that we can escape His inspiring influence. The truth here is that when God calls you He will not give up so easily. Finally and perhaps the most stunning, this lie tells us that
we can flee the “face” of God without considering the real result. Consider the meaning of “the face of”. It means the following, with the corresponding Scripture passages:
- Acceptance - Gen. 32:20
- Devotion - Psalm 27:8
- It is symbolic of the exposure of one’s nature and character.
(Jewish Literature)
So the challenge for us becomes to believe the truth about being away from the face of God. Being away from the face of God means...
- Being away from His communication. Deut. 31:16-18
- That God will ignore your request for help. Psalm 13:1-2
- It is compared to a death…..Psalm 143:7
With all this in mind my prayer for all of us is that the presence of God becomes the most precious part of our lives. Psalm 17:15 states, "As for me, I shall behold your face in righteousness when I awake, I shall be satisfied with your likeness"(ESV).
May you be blessed,
Pastor Paul
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