God's Word For Every Day

 * "In my distress I called to the Lord, and He answered me. From deep in the realm of the dead I called for help, and You listened to my cry" (Jonah 2:2). What are we to do when the going gets tough? We've heard the saying, When the going gets tough, the tough get going. We wonder if this really helps. What if we find that we're not really so tough? What happens when we can't get going? There are times when we know that this is too much for us. We can't raise ourselves up. We need to be lifted. We need You, Lord. You are "the lifter of my head." (Psalm 3:3). It's Your love that lifts us: "Love lifted me. When no-one but Christ could help, love lifted me" (James Rowe).  * “When my life was ebbing away, I remembered You, Lord, and my prayer rose to You, to Your holy temple" (Jonah 2:7). Where does this remembering come from? It comes from the Lord. He puts the prayer into our hearts. Jonah was running away from Go...

Jonah 1:1-2:10 ‘Salvation comes from the Lord’ (Jonah 2:9). We can never save ourselves. We can only be saved - by You, Lord. Left to our own devices, we ‘flee from Your presence.’ We ‘run away from You’ (Jonah 1:3). Sin - This is the story of our life. Salvation - This is the story of what You have done for us. We are sinners. We need to be saved. How can our life be turned around? How can we turn from the way of sin and seek the way of salvation? We cannot change ourselves. We need to be changed by You, Lord. We cannot forgive our own sins. We need to be forgiven by You. Where does the desire for forgiveness and change come from? Does it come from ourselves? No! It comes from You, Lord: ‘He drew me, and I followed on...’ (Mission Praise, 499). Jonah 3:1-4:11 The people of Nineveh ‘believed God’ and ‘turned from their evil ways.’ You, Lord, had shown Yourself to be ‘a gracious and compassionate God...’ How did Jonah react? Was he rejoicing in You? No! He was compla...

"Salvation is of the Lord" (Jonah 2:9). Jonah found himself in what seemed like a hopeless situation. He had been swallowed by a great fish. It seemed like the end for Jonah. Then, into the darkness came a bright shining light - the light of salvation. The testimony of Jonah is a testimony concerning salvation Jonah was saved by the Lord. Like Jonah, we are in the dark - until the light of salvation shines into our hearts. We cannot create this salvation. We cannot even find it. We need to be re-created by the Lord. We need to be found. by Him. When we are found by the Lord, we have this joyful testimony: "Hallelujah! He has found me." He  has found me - We must never forget this. We didn't find Him. He found us. Let's rejoice in Jesus He "came to save and seek the lost" (Luke 19:10). Lost - that's all that can be said about us. Without Jesus, we're wandering , going round in circles, getting nowhere - until Jesus finds us. --- ...

Jonah 2:1-10  "Salvation is from the Lord" (Jonah 2:9). Salvation comes first, then there is service. Before his prayer "from inside the fish" (Jonah 2:1), Jonah was running away from God. He wasn't serving God. Before we can do something for God - serving Him, He must do something for us: He must save us. Jonah's prayer comes from "out of the depths" (Psalm 130:1). In the depths, he finds that "there is forgiveness with God" (Psalm 130:4). With God's forgiveness comes hope for the future (Psalm 130:5,7). This hope comes from God's "faithful love" and His "abundant redemption" (Psalm 130:7). Jonah's experience was a physical deliverance. He should have been dead. He remained alive. There was more than that. The man who came out of the fish was different from the man who was swallowed by the fish. He had been disobedient. Now, he was obedient - and blessed.

J ONAH 1:1-2:10 ‘Salvation comes from the Lord’ (Jonah 2:9). We can never save ourselves. We can only be saved – by You, Lord. Left to our own devices, we ‘flee from Your presence.’ We ‘run away from You’ (Jonah 1:3). Sin – This is the story of our life. Salvation – This is the story of what You have done for us. We are sinners. We need to be saved. How can our life be turned around? How can we turn from the way of sin and seek the way of salvation? We cannot change ourselves. We need to be changed by You, Lord. We cannot forgive our own sins. We need to be forgiven by You. Where does the desire for forgiveness and change come from? Does it come from ourselves? No! It comes from You, Lord: ‘He drew me, and I followed on…’ (Mission Praise, 499). 3:1-4:11 The people of Nineveh ‘believed God’ and ‘turned from their evil ways.’ You, Lord, had shown Yourself to be ‘a gracious and compassionate God…’ How did Jonah react? Was he rejoicing in You? No! He was complaining ...

Jonah tried to run away from the Lord. The Lord protected Jonah (Jonah 1:17). The Lord hadn’t given up on Jonah. God had a purpose for Jonah. What a great purpose it was! The call of God (Jonah 1:1-2) wasn’t obeyed by Jonah – but the call of God remained. God was still planning to use Jonah to bring great blessing to the people of Nineveh. Jonah’s attempt to go to Tarshish (Jonah 1:3) was a detour – but God had not forgotten His plan for Jonah. The “big fish” was the beginning of God’s way of getting Jonah to the place where He wanted him to be. The “three days and three nights” were God’s way of getting Jonah ready for being His faithful and fruitful servant. In this time of preparation for service, there is prayer (Jonah 2:1-10). Jonah’s prayer was preparing the way for revival in Nineveh. “From inside the fish…” – Not a great place to be; Jonah prayed to the Lord our God” – Can prayer change things? – Yes! “I called to the Lord in my distress, and He answered me” (J...