Today's Daily Devotional

 

DAILY DEVOTIONAL brought to you by Prayer Warrior Jon Vasgar 

                                                                                "Running Into Trouble" 

Verses:

Jonah 1:1 "Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah." (NKJV)

Thoughts:

God has a will, a plan for each of us. He does speak, though not normally quite like He used to do (as in Jonah's case). But, when it came to Jonah, how did he respond? We find his response in vs 3. "But Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. He went down to Joppa, and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid the fare, and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD." (NKJV)

He did exactly the opposite of what He was supposed to do. He was told by God to go to Tarshish. He was supposed to bring God's word to an otherwise doomed people. Instead, he freaked out, said, "Um... no thanks" and took off in the other direction.

Don't be too quick to judge him though. Think about it. How often does God nudge you in a certain direction and you say, "Um... yeah thanks, but no". Understand friends, ignoring God's will is perilous. When God tells you to go somewhere, it's because He wants to use you to reach someone, to bless someone, or to teach you something important in your walk with Him.

Missionary Pastor Tim Hawkins once told the story of what happened to him. He was called by God to go to Peru. In his words, he said, "God had called. I KNEW where He wanted me to go, but I said 'Screw it, I want to go my own way and live for me, so I did. One night, I was riding my motorcycle, drunk and stoned and not interested in serving God at all. I was going about 70 mph when a truck hit me and threw me off my bike. I should have died. Instead, I woke up and could only see out of one eye. My arms wouldn't move." Turned out, he said, that he'd survived, but the doctors called it a miracle. He had lost one eye (he is known for his glass eye), had scars on the right side of his face, and had lost partial feeling in his arms, though he got that back eventually. Pastor Tim continued, "Don't run from God, He will get your attention one way or another. It's better to go through life's storms with God then to run off on your own, you never know what kind of fish is gonna swallow you." Pastor Tim has since been instrumental in opening orphanages in Peru as well as seeing many churches planted all over the country.

Jonah did the same thing, look what happened in vs 10,12,15,17 "Then the men were exceedingly afraid, and said to him, "'Why have you done this?' For the men knew that he fled from the presence of the LORD, because he had told them. And he said to them, 'Pick me up and throw me into the sea; then the sea will become calm for you. For I know that this great tempest [is] because of me.' So they picked up Jonah and threw him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging. Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights."

Tomorrow, we will look at what happened next. But think about this. You may think you can run from God, but He has a way of getting your attention. Don't end up in a fish's belly. It stinks in there! What is God trying to get your attention for?

Prayer:

Lord, thank you for being so patient with us. I pray that You would show Your will to us all. Guide us, direct us, help us to listen to You and recognize Your voice when You are calling. Let us be like Samuel and respond to Your voice. Whether Your call be for big or small things, please let us discern it's You. You are our Father and our Shepherd. Lead us in Your perfect will and way. Amen.

Song: I know this song is very slow, but pay attention to the words. I love this song for it's simple, strong message.

 

DAILY DEVOTIONAL brought to you by Prayer Warrior Jon Vasgar 

                                                                                  "Man, It Stinks In Here"

Verses:

Jonah 2:1 "Then Jonah prayed to the LORD his God from the fish's belly." (KJV)

Thoughts:

Following up on yesterday's, here we find Jonah in a most unpleasant situation. He ran from God, which was crazy since God is omnipotent (always here, wherever you are). God caused the seas to act crazy with a bad storm, and Jonah told the men to throw him overboard to make the storm stop. You realize, Jonah was NOT trying to get to Ninevah like God had commanded, he'd rather drown than follow God's will in his life! So, to stop Jonah's stubborness, God just had a fish swallow him.

Sometimes, when God prods us, we say no, so then, He has to get our attention by other means. Not because He has a sick sense of humor, but because He loves us. Sometimes, the fish of life swallows us, in a sense. We find ourselves in a really nasty spot. God put us there to teach us something. The problem is, it's dark in there, it stinks in there, we are destitute, left with nothing but to humble ourselves and talk to God.

Look at what Jonah says next. Jonah 2:7,9 "When my soul fainted within me, I remembered the LORD; And my prayer went [up] to You, Into Your holy temple. But I will sacrifice to You With the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay what I have vowed. Salvation [is] of the LORD." (NKJV)

Jonah was brought to the point of breaking. Like we've talked about all week, it's only in our desperation that we finally reach out to God. Look at the lost, even they cry out to God and either curse Him or come to Him. When we reach that point, we ALL turn to God.

As Christians, we have the same choice, do we turn to Him and beg for a return or do we sit in the belly of the fish and just wait to die? Will you remember the Lord and return to Him? Jonah was. He finally realized, "Why am I sitting here? This place is awful. God, I will do what You commanded in the first place." What will take for us to say like David, "Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me." Psalm 51:10 (NASB) Because, until we recognize the fact that: Against You, You only, I have sinned And done what is evil in Your sight, So that You are justified when You speak And blameless when You judge. Psalm 51:4 (NASB). Until we see that, we will be stuck.

Jonah 2:10 "So the LORD spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry [land]." (NKJV) God has a way of delivering us, if we will but turn to Him. Jonah's deliverance wasn't pretty, but isn't that true of us too? God made the fish throw Jonah up. Yuck. He's free, but he's all covered in vomit. When we sin against God, we can get covered in vomit too. God will release us, but then we need to ask for that clean heart, wash sin's vomit off and start following Him again.

Prayer:

Lord, we come to You today, asking You to show us sin in our lives that is keeping us from following You. Am I stuck in the fish's belly and not seeing it? Please reveal that to me. Show me Your will for my life, for without You, all ceases to hold meaning. Help me to find strength every day to keep doing what Your will commands, Lord. Give me grace to keep keeping on. Don't let me fall back into sin. It looks great, but I always end up with something I don't want. Thank You for loving me enought to throw me into a tailspin when I fall away. Keep me searching after Your heart alone Jesus,
Amen

Song: