OUT OF THE FISH

Jonah 1:17 NLT Now the Lord had arranged for a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was inside the fish for three days and three nights.

We all know fish can be very smelly and when we cook them the smell permeates the whole house!😊 

Jonah was thrown into the sea and ended up in a big fish but we can be so focused on the big ‘fish’ we pass over the fact that what he was actually in, was rebellion! That fish’s insides stank, he would have been swilling around with all kinds of mush, and rebellion is the same for us. It takes us lower and deeper than we want to go. It stinks in God’s nostrils and it makes us smell bad too!

When we don’t understand or when we don’t want to understand, when we think we know better, when we don’t trust God and question His integrity, then we can slip into rebellion without even realising it. But Jonah was outright, deliberately rebelling and he chose to run away.

He ended up nearly destroying the lives of those around him and that is what rebellion does. It’s a prideful attitude that wants to do what it wants to do regardless of how many lives might be messed up along the way. 1 Samuel 15:23 NLT Rebellion is as sinful as witchcraft, and stubbornness as bad as worshiping idols… That is a strong statement and I know I’ve been rebellious and stubborn sometimes!

When we rebel we’re just not realising God wants the best for us and for others. He has a plan He wants us to be part of, so we can be a blessing and be blessed and He knows the best way to go about it.

Jonah didn’t think the wicked people of Nineveh deserved forgiveness. He thought he knew better than God. Ever felt like that? Rebellion doesn’t bless God it upsets Him. Faith in Him is what pleases Him, when we trust He knows best because He knows the end from the beginning.

Are you rebelling about anything? Have you been inside the fish for a while, because we’ve probably all been there at some point?!😊 Has God asked you to do something, to go somewhere but you’ve stubbornly dug your heels in and for whatever reason you’ve found excuses, or said outright no, or you’re running away? 

If so, be encouraged because it’s time for you to get out of the fish where there is no future, where it stinks, and let God bring you into His glorious plan and purpose for your life. Turn around and call out to the Lord and He will rescue you, just like He did with Jonah, because He loves you.😊 Amen.

WALK, SIT, STAND

2 Corinthians 6:16 NIV …As God has said: “I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.”

What a promise to take with us into each day! The God who raises the dead, who flung stars into space, the majestic King of Heaven, our Abba Father who loves us, He is walking with us wherever we go! He’s watching over us, keeping us on the straight and narrow, when our eyes are on Him. 

Sometimes when we go for a walk and the path narrows we follow the person in front and walk in their footsteps. In the same way God walks with us, but He also goes ahead of us, so we can follow where He leads. Isn’t that reassuring? He leads us in paths of righteousness, beside still waters and He lets us rest and feed in green pastures. Thank You Lord.😊

Ephesians 2:6 NLT For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus.

Then Paul reminds us we’re no longer earth bound but citizens of heaven, taken out of the kingdom of darkness and put in the kingdom of light of God’s dear Son. We are sitting with Jesus,  at the right hand of God. Our bodies may be experiencing earth, but our inner spirit is joined with Jesus so we can experience heaven as well. In one sense we are already there! Lord give us deeper revelation of being seated with Christ in heavenly places, seated in a place of victory.

2 Corinthians 1:24 NIV Not that we lord it over your faith, but we work with you for your joy, because it is by faith you stand firm.

Now because God is walking with us, because He has sat us down beside His throne with Jesus in a place of all authority and power, we can stand by faith in all that God has done for us in Jesus. We can stand on His promises because not one of them has failed. We can stand in the victory Jesus has won for us, and having done all stand with our armour on knowing who we are and whose we are. Hallelujah. 

Just in case we forget, wherever we go and whatever we have to do today, God is reminding us we are walking, sitting and standing with God each day. What a thought!😊 Thank You Jesus. Amen.