12/11 Reading - Thoughts & Comments DX3

11-Dec Jonah 1-2, 1 Cor. 15-16, Psalms 71-75, Proverbs 11

Jonah 1:1-5 (NIV) 1 The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai: 2 "Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me." 3 But Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the Lord. 4 Then the Lord sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up. 5 All the sailors were afraid and each cried out to his own god. And they threw the cargo into the sea to lighten the ship.

Jonah is about to figure out that when God calls a person to do something, He is NOT asking.  Jonah ran from God's call, but it landed him and everyone else around him in a life threatening storm.  The Lord would not relent from His pursuit of his "called out one" until Jonah finally said, "YES LORD".  As he lay in total darkness of night, with seaweed wrapped around him, only a little air inside the belly of the great fish, and with stomach juices eating away at his flesh, he knew that it was "say yes or die".  God was not asking.  The calling of the Lord is the command of God.  Who are we to say no to God's command?

When the great storms of life come, our first check needs to be personal.  "Lord, are you calling me into something that I'm running from? Have I missed a point of obedience to you, your calling, or your Word?"   But if you come out clear on these matters, it's possible that you have a Jonah on your ship!  Many people who have said no to God are causing alot of havoc and pain in the earth as they try to buy a ticket to their own destination, instead of the destination that God has commanded them to.  You may need to find out who this Jonah is and help re-direct their life towards God's most holy calling.

COMPASS GUIDE will keep you sailing in the right direction and on God's chosen path.  It will keep you from the belly of the whale, and from unnecessary discipline and correction because of missing the mark of the high calling.  Get a COMPASS GUIDE workbook today at [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] .

In a side note, can you imagine what Noah must have been going through when he landed in the belly of a great fish?  Absolutely no light. Cold, wet, watery conditions. Seaweed.  Stomach juices eating on his flesh.  There was recently a story of a man who was stuck in an air pocket 100 feet below the ocean for 3 days. He had no light, and only had a bottle of coke for 3 days.  A Navy rescue diver went down to recover his dead body and found him miraculously alive!  Watch the video and see what the diver saw when finding the man!  A modern day Noah!  [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Tomorrow's Reading:
12-Dec Jonah 3-4, 2 Cor 1-2, Psalms 76-80, Proverbs 12