Jonah.( Acts 26 v 19 ) 1

 Not all godly people act godly,one thinks of Jonah who was a prophet,he was supposed to do what God said,just do it , oh yes the prophets could ask questions,the prophet Habakkuk did.It is alright to ask questions , but it is not alright to be disobedient,disobedience to God is never right. One commentator says  his name means,' Jonah the son of faithfulness', but unfortunately,he did not live up to his name. As Christians do we live up to that name?,the Lord declared to the  at church at Sardis,' you  have the name of being alive,and you are dead.'( Revelation 3 v 1 )Matthew Henry writes,'This church was not really what it was reputed to be. There was a form of godliness but not  the power,a name to live,but not a principle of life'. The book starts,' Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah',in 2 kings 14 v 25, Jonah had a word of deliverance from God to Israel,who were oppressed,and it was fulfilled,under king Jeroboam.That was fine,but when  it came to delivering the word of the Lord  to Nineveh that was another matter.As regards proclaiming the word of the Lord we are not to discriminate.The gospel is for the whosoever.no matter what race they are,no matter what colour they are,no matter what gender they are,we are to be faithful.

                                       For the next 11 days we will be looking at the book 

                                      of  Jonah,I hope it will be helpful.

We will get there. ( John 14 v 1-6 )

 Recently we  looked at Psalm 107 and at those sailors who were delivered from certain death,due to a terrible storm.When the storm had died down we read,'He guided them to their desired haven' v 30. Like those sailors we as Christians will face many storms in life,some life threatening,you know your life's history,and I know mine,and we know how God has brought us through . Like the saints of old we are foreigners and strangers on earth,this world is not our final home,we are looking for something better a heavenly one. CP Hebrews 11 v  13 - 16.This world and all that dwells in it are,are temporal,it will all pass away,we fix our eyes our on an eternal home CP 2 Corinthians 4 v 18./ 2 Peter 3 v 10 .Many of the saints of old when they were singing about heaven,had an eternal look upon their face.As Christians we all have to overcome so many obstacles in on our journey to our heavenly home where our Saviour is. Bruce Milne writes ,'God has claimed us from the beginning; the Son will raise us up at the end,' 

                                            'Long before time began you were part of His plan.

                                             Let no fear cloud your brow; He will not forsake you now'.

                                                       'He will guide us to our desired haven'

The only true security ( John 10 v 27 - 30 )

Where does true security lie ?, in riches  ,that's a false security, in 1 Timothy 6 v 17, we are commanded not to put our hope in wealth, which is so uncertain,but to put our hope in God.What about the fitness regime, good health,well even the strongest gets a cold, and grows old.From a basic human  point of view there is nothing absolutely secure,nothing,all our assumed breaches can soon be destroyed.Goliath in his pride laughed and boasted, and mocked God,but a young lad defeated him.Now there are many religions in the world,but will they bring eternal security?, no they won't,they are false securities,which those who follow them  will unfortunately find out ,alas to late.One of the good things we read in the book of Jonah ,is when everyone was saved from  drowning,the men in the boat stopped praying to their false gods, and prayed to the only God. Bruce Milne writes the following,'The only true security is in having no security except the  mercy of God. To believe is  to be brought to the place where one knows, that one has to rely  completely on Jesus,and on Jesus alone'.

                                                  'My hope is built on nothing less,

                                                   Than Jesus blood and righteousness;

                                                   I dare not trust the sweetest frame,

                                                   But wholly lean on Jesus name,

                                                   On Christ the solid rock ,I stand;

                                                   All other ground is sinking sand'.

Eternal glory. ( Philippians 3 v 7 - 14 )

 When I was young  we played a game  called,'follow the leader',it meant, were the leader went you went,simple. It is recorded in the gospels, how Jesus,said to certain people,'follow Me', and most of then did just that.It was not a new thing for Rabbi's had disciples,people who followed them,they listened to what the Rabbi said,wrote it down or memorise it, so the followers of Jesus did the same.Follow me He said ,nobody else,Peter had to be reminded of that, when he got distracted (John 21 v 20 -21).There are many charlatan's in life,especially in the religious field, Elmer Gantries there are in plenty,they are in it to fleece people.Unlike Jesus, he made it clear that there was a cost in following Him . It was a way of denial,of suffering,of cross bearing,even martyrdom, and that there would be a reward in the future.Let me say if we are not prepared for that ,then don't follow Jesus.Initially  the disciples had thoughts that Jesus was an earthly Messiah, in which He would rule an earthly kingdom,but early on he showed that this was not so. (John 6 v 15). Before Pilate the Roman governor, He made a clear statement of the nature of His kingdom (John 18 v 36 ). Following Jesus means not going for earthly glory, but for eternal glory.

Victory ( 1 Corinthians 15 v 57 )

 1 John 5 v 4-5 ,reads , ' For everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world,even our faith.Who is he who overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God. C.H. Dodd  commenting on these word writes the following.

''The way to victory is not a confident assertion of our own better selves, but faith,and faith necessarily refers to something beyond ourselves. The victorious faith of the Christian is trust in God as He is revealed in Christ Jesus His Son. It means committing ourselves to the Love of God as it is expressed in all that Jesus Christ was and all that He did,''

                                        ' Victory! victory! blessed-blood -bought victory,

                                          Victory! victory! vict'ry  all the time.

                                           As Jehovah liveth, strength divine He giveth,

                                           Unto those who know Him vict'ry all the time.'

The elephant in the room. ( Job 19 v 25 - 27 )

A well known preacher said that many preachers never mention ,'the elephant in the room ', death,and yet we are all going to die. Alright you may say ,so what. who wants to hear about such a depressing subject as  death,lets us talk about the good life.There are many so called churches that ,make people feel good, ignoring the reality of the totality of our existence ,that means having an objective reality. We live in a time when people are living much longer than former generations,advances in so many things,have granted us longer lives.Here is something that it can't do ,it can't stop us dying,it just prolongs it,our dear queen lived a long time ,she was fortunate not to have any serious illness during her life,but for so many people long life is not a blessing because of mental and physical ailments.Here is what we are told about death,it is a certainty Hebrews 9 v 27,many people  would say what's wrong with that,when your dead your dead, but  the bible clearly teaches that after death there is judgement. Maybe for you the elephant in the room that you have ignored is becoming a realty in your mind,could be the fear of death is filling your heart,what will it hold for you?. There was custom in ancient Egypt,in social meetings among the rich,as it ended a servant would carry a coffin to some of the guests,in the coffin there is a wooden image of a corpse, as he showed it to each he would say,'Gaze here,and drink and be merry,for when you die ,such will be you',Not much hope there, but here is what Jesus said.

                                            'I am the resurrection and the life.

                                            The one who believes in me will live,

                                             even though they die.'

                                                          John 11 v25

                                              

The challenge. ( 1 Corinthians 13 )

Recently I attended one of my granddaughters wedding,I wasn't ask to speak at the reception ,afterwards I thought if I was asked to speak, what would I say?. 'Well here is what I would  have said,aiming it at the groom.''Now there are many lovely ladies here today ,who is the most lovely lady in the room?,and I would say my wife Daphne.'' Then I would say to the groom whose name was Tom,''Tom I hope you will always be able to say,as to your wife,that she is always the loveliest girl in the room'.  Marriage is God's  plan for humanity,it is a perfect plan, but marriage is made up of imperfect people,we are like snow flakes,we are all different.It is only in fairy tales that we read that the marriage couple lived happily ever after, in reality, there will be occasions when you will not be happy, for whatever reason,and there will always be reasons.As a husband the words that I find most challenging as to my marriage relationship,are to be found in Ephesians 5 v 25,'Husbands love your wives as Christ loved the Church and gave himself up for it'. I will not comment on these words but leave you with them,to think,and to pray about,and by God's grace to live it out.