A storm, a great fish, some sackcloth, and a hungry worm: The story of Jonah (Part 1)

Hello again! I was on vacation for two weeks and have missed our Monday mornings together. It’s good to be back.

For the month of August we will study Jonah. The book of Jonah contains four chapters, so we will study a chapter a week. This week we will start with Jonah 1.

from fcnewburgh.com

Read: Jonah 1

Even when you try to ditch God, His purpose is still accomplished. That should make you feel either relieved or scared to death.

Jonah is the only prophet to try and ditch God. He ends up accomplishing God’s task for him (sort of). But he really only accomplishes it by the pure grace of God Himself. He’s a perfect hero for the likes of us.

I love this story because first of all, God doesn’t allow himself to be ditched. The storm and the great fish make that very clear. And second of all, God turns Jonah’s humiliating situation into a witness for God’s glory.

The mariners that were taking Jonah across the sea were not believers. When the storm arose and they saw the ship was about to break into pieces, they each cried out to their own gods. That only made the storm worse. Finally, they realized Jonah was to blame. But even then, they didn’t want to hurt him.

But Jonah convinced them to begrudgingly throw him into the sea. The moment Jonah hit the water, the raging storm ceased. And those terrified mariners feared the Lord, offered sacrifices to Him, and committed themselves to God.

First lesson of Jonah: You cannot hide from God.

Second lesson of Jonah: God accomplishes His purposes with or without you…and sometimes He drags you along kicking and screaming.

Dear God, I know You can accomplish Your will without me, but I want to be a willing part of Your plans, both for me and for those around me. Help me to resist the urge to ditch You when I am afraid. Give me the strength to follow You even when the task is hard. Amen.

Further readings: Psalm 65:5-8; Luke 19:37-40; Isaiah 46:8-11; Isaiah 55:11

 

 

 

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Something for Nothing: Lent Series – Week 3

For these weeks leading up to Easter, we are studying how God works miracles out of nothing.

Riddle for today:

The poor have it. The rich need it. It’s bigger than God, and if you eat it, you’ll die. What is it? (Scroll down for the answer.)

Reading for today: 2 Kings 4:1-7

“And she said, ‘Your servant has nothing.’” ~2 Kings 4:2

Despair is that unanticipated moment where hope (that warm fire you had become accustomed to and may have forgotten was even there) has gone out (either suddenly or slowly over time), and despair (the lack of that precious warmth and light, and something that you never want to become accustomed to) threatens to be the only thing you feel.

The interesting thing about despair, though, is that it has the potential to be not an end, but a beginning. It has the potential, if you let it, to be the beginning of your search to find God and to cry out for his merciful, necessary grace. What else can we do, when we find ourselves with nothing, but to seek help from the only one who can give it.

The widow in our reading for today had no husband, and her children were about to be taken as slaves to pay all her debts. She had nothing left but a small jar of oil and a desperate voice.

Elisha, God’s prophet, told her to bring her “nothing” to God, and to go get lots more nothing (empty jars) from the neighbors. Then, out of her despair, out of her nothingness, God brought forth enough oil to fill every jar she could find. Enough oil to buy her sons’ freedom. Enough oil for a family of three to live on.

Praise God that when he chooses to rework hope into your life, he demands absolutely nothing but your willing heart to do it.

Dear God, make my hope strong. Send me to you if I despair. And give me a willing heart. Amen.

Let’s see what God has to say.

Day 2 – James 4:1-10

Day 3 – John 15:4-5

Day 4 – Philippians 4:4-7, 10-13

Day 5 – Psalm 55:16-17, 22

*Answer: Nothing

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Something for Nothing: Lent Series – Week 2

For these weeks leading up to Easter, we are studying how God works miracles out of nothing.

Reading for this week: Hebrews 11:8-11

“Is anything too hard for the Lord?” ~Genesis 18:14

Out of an unbelieving family, God called Abraham to be the father of all believers. Out of the old, barren womb of Abraham’s wife, Sarah, God promised a child. Out of nothing came generations, nations, kings, and blessings upon blessings.

Even though God promised to work a miracle through Abraham and Sarah, they laughed because they believed what God had promised was impossible. But their laughter was not from joy. It was from cynicism and doubt.

Abraham laughed and said, “Shall a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old?” Sarah also laughed and asked, “After I am worn out, and my lord is old, shall I have pleasure [in a child]?”

Retrieved from – http://dohlesdevos.blogspot.com/

But God replied to their laughter with his own laughter, “Is anything too hard for the Lord?”

God forgave their mistakes, he worked through their limited understanding, and he brought forth a son from the empty womb of Sarah.

As she looked in amazement at the baby boy in her arms, she said, “God has made laughter for me.”

Praise God that when he chooses to work his greatest miracles, he does not require our understanding. He can work through our cynicism and doubt. And in his mercy, he can bring joyful laughter into a life that otherwise had nothing.

Dear God, I am able to do nothing, yet you have chosen to work through me, even when I get in the way or stumble. Thank you for your forgiveness and steadfast love. Amen.

God called forth a nation out of an empty womb. From that nation would come a Savior for all nations. Let’s read about Abraham and Sarah’s story this week.

Day 2 – Genesis 12:1-4; Genesis 15:1-6

Day 3 – Genesis 16:1-3; 15-16

Day 4 – Genesis 17:15-21

Day 5 – Genesis 18:9-14; Genesis 21:1-7

 

 

 

 

 

 

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a heart after You: week 4

Reading for this week: Psalm 32

But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord. ~ 2 Samuel 12:27

This week you will read about the lowest point in David’s life. As you read this story, though, you won’t feel sympathy toward him. Instead, your heart will probably go out to the man he murdered and to the child who died as a consequence. Then, you will start to question whether or not God had it right when he called David, “a man after my own heart”.

In the shadow of David’s shame, in the horror of what he had done, David even has the audacity to turn to God and ask for mercy.

This week as you read the story of David and Bathsheba and Psalm 51, pay attention, not to the grievous sins of a king, but to his process of restoration. As you read, look for these three responses: confession, prayer, and worship. Then answer the question: How is David’s heart like God’s, even through this tragedy?

*Hint: After this week, there should be no doubt in your mind that you too can have a heart like God’s own heart.

Dear God, My sin is always before me. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Amen.

This week let’s read about the whole story of David and Bathsheba.

Day 2 – 2 Samuel 11

Day 3 – 2 Samuel 12:1-14

Day 4 – 2 Samuel 12:15-24

Day 5 – Psalm 51

 

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Steps to contentment: Step 4 – Center

Welcome to week 4 in our study on contentment. Contentment in the biblical sense is peace with God and satisfaction in the circumstances where God has placed you.

Read Genesis 2:8-9, 15-17; 3:1-24 and Matthew 26:36-42

There were two gardens. In the first garden, everything was perfect. God had planted the garden. The plants were lush and filled with fruit. In the center of the garden grew the tree of life. A couple lived there. They trusted God and were content and satisfied, having everything they needed.

The second garden, on the other hand, was dark and dangerous. Although familiar, it was not a happy place that night. In the center of this garden a distressed man lay praying fervently for help to the God he, too, trusted. This isn’t what I want to do. This doesn’t feel good to me. I am not happy about this. Please, please take it away, Lord. He had found himself in that garden because he had come to restore the tree of life that had been lost to the couple in the first garden.

You see, they had stepped out of the master Gardner’s will. And as a horrible consequence, their rebellion brought sin, death, and sadness into a once perfect garden. Ever since that fateful day, we have been chasing down the peace and contentment that was lost.

But God did not abandon that first couple or us. He promised a Savior. One who would become for us the new tree of life.

In the midst of this unhappy, imperfect garden, a sorrowful Jesus taught us one of the most important steps in our path toward contentment. He finished his earnest prayer by saying, Not my will, but Yours be done. Jesus stood in that dark, scary garden and centered himself on God’s will. He completely trusted God. Even though it meant taking on all the sin, all the death, and all the sadness of this world.

Contentment has never really been about our happiness, our comfortableness, or our desires being fulfilled. Contentment is simply about being in the center of God’s will.

The only time we should feel discontent, is when we are in a situation that is pulling us away from God’s will. And in those dark moments, cry out to God, like Jesus did in the garden. And then remember that Jesus is for us the new tree of life at the very center of God’s garden. Center your garden on Him.

Step 4 in the pursuit of contentment: Center your garden on God’s will.

Dear Lord, Let Your will be done always and bring me into the center of Your will. Make me content. Amen.

This week, let’s read about what it looks like to center yourself on God’s will.

Day 2 – 1 John 2:16-17; Matthew 6:10

Day 3 – Proverbs 3:5-6; James 1:5

Day 4 – John 10:7-11; Hebrews 13:20-21

Day 5 –  1 Timothy 2:4-6; Proverbs 13:12; Revelation 22:14

Next week we will conclude our study on contentment by talking about the harvest!

 

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Temptation and Our Coat of Many Colors

Reading for today: Genesis 39:1-23

Painting by Richard McBee

Joseph had lost another coat. His first coat, an expensive coat of many colors, was destroyed when his brothers betrayed him. That coat had symbolized favor and wealth. Yet, in an instant, he went from the privileged son of a great nomadic leader, to a stripped Ishmaelite slave.

But Joseph found favor again. His new Egyptian master, Potiphar, recognized Joseph’s talent and made him second in command. He was clothed as a high servant, no longer a meager slave.

Painting by Richard McBee

Potiphar’s wife, however, also noticed Joseph and tried to seduce him. Joseph resisted the temptation but lost another coat as he ran from her. That coat had also symbolized favor and wealth. And when he lost it, he found himself in prison.

Resisting temptation is not simply a matter of choosing what’s right over what’s wrong. If that were the case, resistance would be easy. Resisting temptation, however, usually involves a sacrifice.

In the case of Joseph, he knew what favor and wealth felt like. And when he had it again in Potiphar’s house, it fit like a glove. He was successful and well loved. Resisting Potiphar’s wife came at great sacrifice. It cost him the favor and wealth he had finally regained.

That’s what makes temptation so hard. We see immediate benefits lying on the other side of temptation. Benefits we feel we deserve. Coveting those benefits drives us to excuse our actions, convincing ourselves that the ends will justify the means. On the other hand, choosing to say no to a temptation involves a sacrifice that seems unfair and difficult. In extreme cases, like Joseph’s, that sacrifice may cost us everything we’ve worked so hard to achieve.

But Joseph’s story does not end there. While his decision to resist Potiphar’s wife cost him his position and years in prison, God clothed him again in a royal coat, as Pharaoh’s second-in-command (Genesis 41: 42).

When you are faced with temptation, the temptation to leave your wife or love someone other than your husband, or take the answer key for a test or cover up fraud or break a promise, remember two things. One, temptation is never just about you. Your decisions affect your relationship with others and with God. Two, there is always a way out. That way may seem unfair or difficult, but it never goes unnoticed by God. He promises to both help you and bless you.

While we may never wear the coat of royalty as Joseph did, we are promised royal clothing. Isaiah 61:10 rejoices in God’s promise to the faithful, “I will greatly rejoice in the Lord; my soul shall exult in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation; he has covered me with the robe of righteousness.”

Painting by Deborah Waldron Fry

Dear God, I am feeling pressure about ______________________. You know what’s right for me to do. Teach me Your ways and help me walk in them. No matter the consequences, I will trust in You. Amen.

Be encouraged this week by what these Biblical authors have to say about temptation and God’s help for us. Psalm 51 is especially important to read because there are many times where we fail and need God’s forgiveness and his help to get back on track.

Day 2 – Hebrews 13:4-6

Day 3 – Hebrews 2:14-18

Day 4 – I Corinthians 10:12-14

Day 5 – Psalm 51

*Thanks to Pastor Steve, his Bible study was the springboard for this devotional

 

 

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Love in the Time of Barley: The Ruth Story

“Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there will I be buried. May the Lord do so to me and more also if anything but death parts me from you” (Ruth 1:16-17).

(This week we will read the book of Ruth.)

The book of Ruth opens with the introduction of an Israelite woman named Naomi. Naomi, her husband, and two sons had moved from Israel to a foreign place (Moab) to escape a famine. While there, Naomi’s husband tragically died. Her sons married two Moabite women, Ruth and Orpah. And after a time, both of Naomi’s sons died as well, leaving all three wives destitute.

Unable to take care of herself, Naomi prepared to return to her homeland. She graciously encouraged both Ruth and Orpah to return to their families to seek a better life. Orpah followed Naomi’s advice, but Ruth clung to her mother-in-law. The opening chapter concludes with Ruth’s resolve and the two of them traveling together to Naomi’s hometown, Bethlehem.

They arrived in Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest. Israel divided its year into two seasons: the rainy season and the dry season. The barley harvest normally occurred at the end of the rainy season.

Naomi and Ruth were both literally and figuratively coming to the end a rainy season: a season that had initially left Naomi hurting, empty and bitter. Yet God was not fit to leave these women in such a state. He was about to bless them both immensely.

While gleaning in the barley fields as a pauper, Ruth met a man named Boaz. He owned the fields where she gleaned and took an interest in her. He kindheartedly made sure she was safe and asked his reapers to leave extra stalks for her to collect.

The story quickly develops into a selfless love story between Ruth and her “kinsman-redeemer,” Boaz. Ending with the couple’s engagement at the threshing floor for six measures of barley. Their marriage not only saved Ruth and Naomi from extreme poverty, but also continued the lineage that would eventually lead to our Redeemer, Jesus Christ.

I don’t know whether God causes rain to fall in our lives or if he just uses it. Regardless, whenever I have experienced a time of rain, whether it was a light drizzle or a torrential downpour, the experience has inevitably brought me closer to God. And as I arrive at the other side of a rainy season, I can look back and be grateful to God, because I know that if there had not been a change in weather, I would not be sitting in the center of God’s harvest.

“We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God—those whom he has called according to his plan.” Romans 8:28

Dear God, You know that _________________ is going on in my life. Give me peace. Give me help. Take me through this and lead me to the other side. Amen.

Let’s read Ruth’s story this week.

Day 2: Ruth 1

Day 3: Ruth 2

Day 4: Ruth 3

Day 5: Ruth 4

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Top 3 Favorite Bible Stories: #1 Esther

“And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” ~Esther 4:14

Esther: the perfect Cinderella story.

Young, beautiful, orphaned girl left to be raised by her older cousin, ends up marrying the king and bravely risks her life to save her people from annihilation. It’s a perfect princess story that I spent many of my younger years poring over.

Esther became Queen through an ancient-day version of The Bachelor. Because of her beauty and likability, Esther – a Jew – was chosen for the king of Persia’s harem. She continued to win the favor of those in charge of her and everyone who met her, while successfully keeping her nationality a secret.

She had one night to win the favor of the king and the book of Esther says, “the king loved Esther more than all the women, and she won grace and favor in his sight more than all the virgins, so that he set the royal crown on her head and made her queen” (Esther 2:17). And they lived happily ever after.

Esther’s Gamble by He Qi
       (www.heqiart.com)

Well. That’s partly true. But there’s more to the story. Second-in-command, Haman, had a deep-seeded hatred for the Jewish people, especially Esther’s cousin. “When Haman saw that Mordecai did not bow down or pay homage to him, Haman was filled with fury. But he disdained to lay hands on Mordecai alone… Haman sought to destroy all the Jews…throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus” (3:5-6). Haman manipulated the king to create a horrific edict that allowed for the genocide of the Jewish people. Mordecai immediately sent word to Esther and insisted that she “go to the king to beg his favor and plead with him on behalf of her people” (4:8).

By approaching the king without being called, Esther would need to gamble a high-risk game where the stakes were “but one law – to be put to death” (4:11). After discussing back and forth with her cousin Mordecai what she should do, the pivotal moment came when Mordecai argued, “And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” (4:14).

The book of Esther states that she resolved, “Then I will go to the king, though it is against the law, and if I perish, I perish” (4:16). And so her story goes that she was successful in thwarting the plans of Haman. She was not executed. She was not banished. She remained Ahasuerus’ queen. Her people were allowed to join forces and protect themselves. Her cousin, Mordecai, was given Haman’s title, position, and house. And the Jews no longer lived in fear, but “had light and gladness and joy and honor” (8:16).

That’s why I love the Esther story. Not just because Esther was beautiful or loved or favored. Not because she beat the bad guy or lived happily ever after. But more than that. Esther had a greater significance. A significance that was realized when she stumbled into a critical dilemma: stay hidden in the significance created for her by her position or reveal her true significance in God. In that desperate moment, she chose to lay everything aside and walk dangerously forward into King Ahasuerus’ inner court, not as his queen but as God’s chosen instrument.

God wants our significance to be found in Him as well. He wants us to trust His will, His way, His ideals, so much so that when the “significance” that we have spent our lives creating for ourselves stands against God’s will, we confidently drop everything and go with God. Holding tightly onto God’s promise that He is working everything out to our good, to the good of His people, and ultimately to His glory.

Dear God, Thank you for making us significant. Guide us as we daily search for our significance in you. Amen

Readings for this week are longer than usual, the complete Book of Esther. But, by the end of the week, you’ll know the full-story! (Click on the passages to read online.)

Day 2: Esther 1-3

Day 3: Esther 4-6

Day 4: Esther 7-8

Day 5: Esther 9-10

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