HE GOT UP AND WENT THE WRONG WAY!

Jonah 1:3 NLT But Jonah got up and went in the opposite direction to get away from the Lord…

Last week we looked at the thought God wants us to ‘Get Up” because He has restoration for us, but in today’s verse we read how the Lord told Jonah to ‘Get up’ and go to a town that needed rescuing. Unfortunately, Jonah didn’t want to do it and he ran!

Maybe that rings a bell with some of us, when we’ve been challenged by the Lord about something and we’ve felt like burying our head in the sand, or just ignored what God was saying. It’s a bit like Jonah running in the opposite direction to get away from what the Lord said.😊

You may even have already gone in the opposite direction, or just done nothing by default, thinking you could escape the challenge, but Psalm 139 reminds us there is nowhere we can go that God doesn’t know where we are. The wonderful thing about it all is God’s love and mercy are vast and they’re for you and me.

I’m so grateful God gives us second and multiple chances. It’s our choice, but when we read Jonah’s story we realise he affected other people and put them in jeopardy by going the wrong way. 

God is obviously not letting this go, and whatever He is saying to each one of us, whether it’s personal or for the benefit of others, if we’ve been running from it, or we feel like we’re drowning like Jonah did, today is a good day to turn around and allow God’s mercy and grace to minister to us and believe the Lord only has good plans for our lives, to bless us and not to harm us. God only wants the best for us.😊

So this week, as we keep walking towards Christmas, may we all decide to get up and go in the right direction, not the wrong one, and do whatever He has said, that will not only bless ourselves, but those around us as well.😊 In Jesus name. Amen.

Photo: Possessed Photograph on Unsplash

GOD’S GREAT JOY

Jude 1:24-25 NLT 

Now all glory to God, 

who is able to keep you from falling away 

and will bring you with great joy 

into his glorious presence 

without a single fault.

For a lot of children Christmas is all about the excitement and the joy of Christmas presents, and I enjoy that side of it myself so I’m still a bit of a kid at heart! How about you?😊

For Christians though, we think about Joy at Christmas for its true meaning, the joy of Jesus coming the first time into the world bringing reconciliation and peace with God. We remember the joyful song of the angels on that quiet night, out in the fields, to announce Jesus’ arrival to some shepherds working the night shift.

Our verse today though talks about God’s great joy and how He’s looking forward to the wonderful event of Jesus bringing each one of us who love Him, into His glorious presence. The amazing thing is the last statement - He’s going to do it without us having a single fault!   

When we look at our many short comings in the flesh, when we’ve sinned and missed the mark, it’s wonderful to know that He is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins when we repent, and that in our spirit we have already been made righteous in God’s sight because we’ve been given Jesus’ righteousness. 

When you really stop and think about that it’s mind boggling and should make us give a shout of joy, whether it’s Christmas or not.😊 I hope the joy of Christmas, the joy of being righteous, of having peace with God, make us jump with joy each day (even if it’s only on the inside if we can’t manage it on the outside😊). 

Perhaps today we can stop and take some time with the Lord to thank Him for the joy He has given us by giving us Jesus as our Saviour, and bring Him great joy as we celebrate His gift of righteousness as we thank and praise Him that one day He will welcome us into His glorious presence without a single fault. What a glorious thought!😊 In Jesus name. Amen.

Photo by Silas Baisch on Unsplash