Wonderful Jesus!

Tag: Jonah

• Who is Like You, O Lord?

  Posted at 10:00 am by wonderfuljesus8, on March 5, 2021

  Exodus 15:11 – “Who is like You, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like You, glorious in holiness, Fearful in praises, doing wonders? NKJV

  

  I was in New York at a conference when I heard Chris Tomlin’s song, “Our God”. I couldn’t get enough of that song! We sang it in every meeting, and when I came home, the first thing I wanted to know was, who wrote that song and how could I get it! Here are the words to the chorus:

  Our God is greater, our God is stronger
  God You are higher, than any other
  Our God is Healer, awesome in power
  Our God, Our God!

  The prayer of praise and worship is another prayer that focuses solely on God! Even greater than the prayer of thanksgiving is this time of pouring our love and affection on the Master.

  Some of the things that we can worship Him for are His holiness, His glory, His greatness, His majesty, His power, His creation and His faithfulness, to name a few!

  Our text is a verse that focuses on His greatness. After God delivered the children of Israel from Pharaoh, Moses sang this in a song:

  Exodus 15:11 – “Who is like You, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like You, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders? NKJV

  Is that the echo of your heart? Who is like our God? Who can do the wonders He does? Who is more glorious? There is no other! No, not one!

  Nehemiah uttered these words of worship to God:

  You alone are the Lord; You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, The earth and everything on it, the seas and all that is in them, and You preserve them all. The host of heaven worships You. Nehemiah 9:6 – NKJV

  It’s appropriate that at some point in our life we worship Him for the angels spend time worshipping Him, and He hasn’t saved them! Sooner rather than later! More often, than not! He’s worthy!

  Jonah, while in the belly of the great fish spoke these words to the Father:

  “When my soul fainted within me, I remembered the Lord; And my prayer went up to You, into Your holy temple. “Those who regard worthless idols forsake their own Mercy. Jonah 2:7-8 – NKJV

  Jonah worshipped the merciful God when His soul was faint! Anytime, is a good time to stop and worship the Lord or give Him praise. When you do so, it’s praying, conversing with God, on another level! Here are some scriptures to get you started:

  Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, in the city of our God, in His holy mountain. Psalm 48:1 – NKJV

  He is so great! He is awesome! Worthy to be praised! Worthy of honor!

  Psalm 77:13- Your way, O God, is in the sanctuary; who is so great a God as our God?

  No one! Our God is the only true God! You’ll not find another! He’s greater! He’s stronger! He’s wiser! Our God!

  A personal favorite of my brother-in-law, Pastor Eric and one that comes to mind is:

  Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, to God our Savior, Who alone is wise, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen. Jude 1:24-25 – NKJV

  Can’t you hear yourself worshipping Him and saying: You, O Lord, are the only One who can keep me from stumbling, and only You can present me before the Father, faultless! I worship You God my Savior, who alone is wise… and then throw some of this in there:

  O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is Your name in all the earth, who have set Your glory above the heavens! Psalm 8:1 – NKJV

  Go ahead and worship Him for His excellent Name! The Name that is above every name!

  For the Lord is the great God, and the great King above all gods. In His hand are the deep places of the earth; the heights of the hills are His also. The sea is His, for He made it; and His hands formed the dry land. Psalm 95:3-5 -NKJV

  If I had to stop and worship Him right now, I couldn’t do it without telling Him how good He is. I couldn’t go far with my words without saying how great is His love towards me. I would have to mention His faithfulness throughout my life!

  Sometimes in thinking about prayer, we can over complicate the manner. We can accomplish so much in prayer when we spend time in worship, adoring Him, offering Him praise, throwing in some gratefulness, and basically focusing on Him. Is He insecure and needs words of affirmation to get through His day? Not hardly! But He is God, Creator of the Universe! The Living God, Who was, and Is, and Is to Come! He is worthy! He deserves to be worshipped and honored. And as I blog, I realize I haven’t done it enough! Who is like our God? No one, that’s who? No one is greater, no one is stronger, no one is higher. I am overwhelmed with His love! I am awed by His creation! I am touched by His heart towards us! Wonderful Jesus!

  Posted in God, praise, Prayer, worship | 0 Comments | Tagged adoration, Attitude, faithfulness, God, holiness, Honor, Jonah, love, Moses, praise, Prayer, the Exodus, worship, worthy

• What Right Do You Have?

  Posted at 1:53 pm by wonderfuljesus8, on February 5, 2021

  Jonah 4:1,4 – “But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he became angry. Then the Lord said, “ Is it right for you to be angry?” NKJV

  

  In my last blog, I touched on the subject of anger in relationship to others. Today, I want to look at anger from another perspective: being angry with God.

  I mentioned several reasons why people deal with anger in general, but I’d like to add to that list: grief, illnesses, financial difficulties, loss of job or home, divorce, abuse, war, loss of mobility, and the list can really get pretty long.  Sometimes we are afraid to admit it to ourselves, and definitely not to others, but if we were truly honest, we are most angry at God.

  Years ago I heard my neighbor was dying of cancer. He was a young man, newly wed, with a lot going for him. And then cancer came calling.  Since we are believers, and we believe in the power of prayer, my husband and I went to visit him to offer him some hope.  Instead of being happy to hear what we had to say, he was angry with us for coming to talk to him about a God who put cancer on him and was taking him away from his family.  At first, I was taken aback because of his intense anger, which seemed to be aimed at us.  But then I realized that he was really angry with God.

  That young man was not alone. So many people go through life, angry with God. They are mad at God because someone was violently attacked or murdered. They are angry with God because a tornado destroyed their home. They are angry because cancer is eating at their body. They are angry because they have horrible parents or horrible children.  They are even angry with Him because they have to blame someone for the mess they call a life.  So much anger, and it is wasted anger, because we are in no position to be angry with God.

  Jonah was God’s prophet. God gave him an assignment to go to Nineveh and to let them know that in 40 days He would destroy the city because of their great wickedness.  Jonah didn’t want to go. As a matter of fact he tried to run away from the assignment that God had for him.  (You’ll have to read the full account on your own), but suffice it to say, Jonah ended up in the belly of a great fish.  After he was spit out of the fish, he went to Nineveh to share the word of Lord.

  Typical of God’s nature, when the Ninevites repent, He forgives them.  Then Jonah becomes really angry with God.  In verse 2 of chapter 4, Jonah pretty much tells God that this is why he ran in the beginning, because he knew that God would forgive them, if they repented.  And he didn’t want that to happen.  You see, Jonah knew by the Spirit of God that later on, Nineveh would be responsible for the destruction of Israel.  And in his opinion, it would be better for God to destroy Nineveh, then for Nineveh to survive and destroy Israel.  So he was pretty upset with God for forgiving them, and God wanted to know what right did Jonah have for getting angry with Him?

  The audacity of Jonah!  I can imagine that this was a hard place for Jonah.  Destruction of Nineveh or the destruction of Israel?  No brainer, or so Jonah felt.  Except…when God has spoken, who can counsel against God?

  Let’s come back to people who are angry with God.  When we teach the Sovereignty of God, we teach that God is in control of everything.  This is true, but it isn’t truth!  Truth is, while God is in control, this earth realm is still in ownership of the devil.  He is still the god of this world.  As believers, we have been given authority over the works of the devil, so in truth, God isn’t in control over everything that is happening in the earth.  He gave dominion to man, through Adam, and Adam gave it to the devil.  Jesus came and triumphed over the devil giving us back the authority.  But if we just walk around and allow the devil to continue to act like he is in control of everything, then he will act like he is.

  I’m not a prophet, and it would be impossible for me to make a prophetic declaration about your situation, but if you are angry with God, I do have to stop and ask you, what right do you have?  I cringe every time I hear someone blame God for the tragedy they experience in this life.  Jesus told us that we would have tribulations and even be persecuted.  Not because God is the author of it, nor because He is allowing it, but because we live in this world.  And all too often, the devil is throwing his darts at our shield of faith.  If we let down the shield, and the darts hit their mark, our heart, it’s not God’s fault.  Or if we do some things that bring about certain situations in our lives, it’s not God’s fault.  Or if we are casual with our relationship with God, and lack watchfulness against the devil, again, it’s not God’s fault.  And sometimes, stuff just plain ole happen, and it’s not God’s fault.  It’s the devil either directly or indirectly!  But it isn’t God!

  God is a good God!  He doesn’t stop being good because we are going through.  Even Jonah recognized that God was so good that He could easily see God forgiving Nineveh!  Even in his rebellion he had absolute faith in the goodness of God. As a matter of fact, it was God’s goodness that angered him so much!

  1 Chronicles 16:34- Oh give thanks to the Lord, for He is good!  For His mercy endures forever!

  God is good!  I don’t know your personal situation, or what you are going through, but the Lord is good.  If you can’t focus on anything else right now, focus on His goodness.  Maybe you need to listen to “Lord You are Good” by Todd Galberth!

  Psalm 34:8- “Oh taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who trusts in Him.”

  Have you heard of the Brooklyn Tabernacle choir.  They sing a song entitled, “Psalm 34”.  It’ll take you into a place of worship as you sing with them of the goodness of God!

  Lamentations 3:25- “The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him.”

  If you look for His goodness in your life and your situation, I really believe you will find it.  This is not trite platitudes, but it is my way of life.  I have experienced some things, while I have not experienced some others.  For example: My mother died when I was 9 years old.  Both of her parents died by the time I was ten.  Not many years later, my dad’s father died.  And by the time I had turned 14, he had died.  I had asked God to save me after my mother died, but by the time my father died, I was not happy with God.  But I needed Him so desperately in my life that I decided to cling to Him and hope for the best.  He was better than good!  He was more than wonderful!

  What’s going on in your life may not be good, but God is.  He still asks today, “What right do you have to be angry?”  Turn that anger towards God into anger towards the devil.  Resist his lies about God and shout the truth about God.  You’ll soon realize that your misplaced anger is counter productive and how desperately you need the Lord.  He’s waiting for you with arms open wide.  Step into His embrace and receive His goodness today.  Wonderful Jesus!

  Posted in Attitude, Dealing With Emotions, offense | 2 Comments | Tagged Anger, angry with God, Believer, disappointment, God, goodness of God, Handling difficulties, hurt, Jonah, trust in God

• What Won’t You Do For God?

  Posted at 9:00 am by wonderfuljesus8, on April 21, 2020

  Jonah 1:2-3 – “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me.” But Jonah rose 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, away from the presence of the Lord.” ESV

  Jonah was a prophet of the Lord! I am sure that he had a very solid relationship with God, until he didn’t. God gave Jonah an assignment. He told Jonah to go to Nineveh and to call out against it because they were a bunch of wicked people. Apparently Jonah agreed that they were wicked because he decided that the thing that God had asked of him was too much. He was so determined not to do it, that he thought he could run from the assignment that God had given him. That’s deep!

  Now if we looked at the commentaries, they would probably give us some history of the Ninevites that could give us a possible motive for why Jonah would disobey God. (I think I heard something about Jonah saw what the Ninevites would do to the children of Israel and didn’t want to see them spared). They could even share some insight into Jonah and what he could have possibly been thinking, but here’s the bottom line, he felt that he had come to a place with God where God just asked too much of him. He just couldn’t do it!

  The interesting thing about God is, that He often asks “too much” of all of us. He will eventually require of us the things that keep us from His presence, from a deeper walk with Him, from fully committing our lives to Him. And that can seem like “too much”.

  I can remember praying about the direction I was to go in when I had to leave college with an associate’s degree because I could no longer afford it. I’ll never forget waking from a dream, or being in that in-between sleep stage when I had a conversation with the Lord. He told me to join the Navy. I said something like, “God, you know I don’t like the military, I don’t watch any of the movies about the military, I don’t like dressing like other people, and besides all of that, when they sent me a letter it was addressed to a mister not a miss.” But He continued to talk to me about the Navy and even told me why I should join the Navy. I so didn’t want to! So I said, that’s the devil!

  Then I visited my pastor and shared my experience, but only shared that I was wondering if God had really spoken to me and if I should join the Navy. He said yes, and then proceeded to give me every single reason that God had given me. I want you know, I did not, let me repeat, did not want to join the Navy! Vanity kicked in and I told the Lord that I didn’t want to cut my hair off to join the Navy! I wasn’t happy with the Lord, giving me this assignment.

  You see, God has a plan for each of our lives. And He has things that need to be done for the advancing of His kingdom. And He wants to use us. But!!!!!!! He wants to test our level of obedience to Him. He wants to know, or wants us to know, what is that thing we won’t do for Him, or give up for Him!

  Some people won’t go to church! No matter how much you quote the Bible to them about not forsaking the assembling together, they aren’t going! Not for God and certainly not for you! Some people won’t tithe! They have a million arguments why they won’t. Not can’t, won’t! Some refuse to abstain from certain “known” sins. They are absolutely not giving up their man, their drugs, their profanity, their lying, their gambling, and whatever else in their life that they know He isn’t pleased with! It just isn’t going to happen! That’s called bondage!

  Jonah ended up in the belly of a large fish. All because he refused to go to Nineveh and give them a message from God. We aren’t given details of what that was like, but I am pretty sure it was dark, stinky, claustrophobic, and even humiliating. Like some of the places the disobedient end up today! And while they are there, in that place that they hate, they blame God for their “lot” in life when it is simply their absolute refusal to do what He has asked of them! Go figure!

  Well, even though I had no desire whatsoever to go to the Navy, I immediately contacted a recruiter and became a member of the US Navy! I am so grateful that I obeyed. I met and married my husband while I was in the Navy and discovered that I actually liked being in the Navy. (Not the cutting of my hair-which grew back; and not the dressing like everybody else!) It wasn’t always easy to live in a foreign country so far from home, or to not be able to attend a good Bible teaching, faith believing church; but it was the right decision, because God had told me to go! Actually, when I filled out the application and they asked me why I was joining, I put on the application that God told me to join! You can imagine the psychiatric tests I had to undergo; but I figured if He was sending me, He could overcome that obstacle!

  Jonah discovered in that dark place an awareness of who God is. He said that those who pay regard to vain idols, forsake their hope of steadfast love. That thing that you won’t do, that you won’t give up has become an idol in your life and it keeps you from a hope in Jesus! It hinders His steadfast love from being available to you! It keeps you from the presence of the Lord! Jonah bowed his will, his idol, his disobedience to the obedience of God and was spit out of the fish’s mouth! Are you ready to be vomited out of your dark situation?

  Obeying God isn’t always easy. We heartily think that we, like Abraham, can forsake all to go where He calls us; but let me tell you, most of us really couldn’t do it! You see, if you can’t obey in the small things, you will not be able to obey the hard things that He asks of you. None of us will! And some of these things are just our reasonable service. (Romans 12)

  I hope that there is nothing in my life, no person, no amount of money, no status that is more important to me than obeying God. I don’t know if I have yet been tested in that “one” thing, although I’ve had many tests. In my heart I don’t believe that there is any thing that I won’t do for God. There are a whole lot of things I won’t do for a person, but I trust that I have a yes to His will and to His way resounding loud and clear! And when I miss it, I repent! Some things we don’t get a second chance at like Jonah did.

  Think about it! Is there any thing that you just won’t do for God? Is there anything in your life more important to you than obeying God? Any person? Everything God asks us to give up isn’t because of sin. Sometimes He just wants our “Isaac” so that we can demonstrate that we will do anything for Him! What won’t you do for God? Think about it! It may change your life! Wonderful Jesus!

  Posted in obedience, pleasing God, service | 1 Comment | Tagged Attitude, Believer, disobedience, encouragement, hard times, Jonah, obedience, Sin, victory

• Serious Business!

  Posted at 1:00 pm by wonderfuljesus8, on January 14, 2020

  Ezra 8:22-23 -For I was ashamed to request troops and horsemen from the king to protect us from the enemy along the way, because we had told the king, “The hand of our God is favorable toward all those who seek Him, but His power and His anger are against all those who abandon (turn away from) Him.” So we fasted and sought [help from] our God concerning this [matter], and He heard our plea.” AMP

  At the beginning of the year, many churches take time to do extended fasting. Our church is right there with them. On yesterday, I had to preach on fasting and prayer, and as I sought the Lord, His word to me was that fasting is “serious business!” Now technically, we all know that already, but in reality we may not fast and pray as if it is serious business.

  Ezra understood the power of fasting and prayer. He was leading a group of Israelites from Babylon back to Jerusalem. The king had given him much favor and many possessions for his travel and the work in Jerusalem. He had also given him the artifacts that Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple. So Ezra had a lot of people in his care and much wealth.

  When it was time to leave, Ezra said that he was embarrassed to ask the king for an escort to protect them from bandits along the way. After all, he had told the king that His God knows how to look after His people! That’s why he said that he felt as if he couldn’t ask the king’s help in getting safely to Jerusalem. So he did what he knew to do, he called a fast and they prayed. And God heard.

  This was serious business. After his testimony to the goodness of God, he needed to act on his faith and trust that God would be faithful! I am pretty sure that no one was sneaking off to get food to eat or to socialize during this time. Every one knew the seriousness of the hour and everyone got involved in the fast!

  This reminds me of Nineveh. In the book of Jonah, Jonah was upset that God asked him to go warn the city of Nineveh that He would destroy them in 40 days. So he took off and ended up in the belly of a great fish. (I believe it was last summer that I learned of a whale shark that grows to the size of school bus and doesn’t eat meat. I wondered if that was the offspring of Jonah’s whale). Anyway, when Jonah was free again, he went to Nineveh as instructed. As soon as the people heard the proclamation, they began fasting. And when the king heard, he decreed that not only were the people to fast, but the animals and children as well. These people were not the children of God, but the king thought that if they fasted and repented that maybe God wouldn’t destroy them. That got God’s attention and He abandoned His plans to destroy the city.

  What do you do when you are in a tight place? Do you automatically think it’s time to fast? A lot of the time I do, but sometimes it doesn’t cross my mind. I just react in my flesh. I whine, I complain, and I even become frustrated having to fight discouragement. One would think that if I know the solution that works that I would always apply it. But I don’t! How about you? Do you automatically fast and pray when difficulty arises? Do you think of God coming through or how you can figure this out? Do you cry out to God with your whole heart knowing that the answer you need is in Him? Well, I can assure you that I have missed it to! If the ungodly can fast and pray and see God move, surely His children can!

  This year I plan to do so much better in trusting Him. I plan to spend much more time fasting and praying this year than I have in quite some time. Not only for the difficult times or when I have to preach, but for situations that wont’ change but need to change. For attitudes and thinking that cause His heart to hurt. For people I know who need to be saved, or healed, or set free. Yep, this year will find me seeking God as if I know that things are serious and fasting and praying is serious business! I invite you to do the same. Wonderful Jesus!

  Posted in Attitude, Believers, Christian, Ezra 8:22-23, Fasting, Victorious Living | 0 Comments | Tagged Attitude, Christian, Ezra, Ezra 8:22-23, Faith, Fasting, Jonah, Nineveh, Prayer

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