Jonah

 Well, it has been a long time since I have written on my blog.  A lot of time to watch, listen, and, think about a lot of things that's happening in our world. Praise God that He is still sitting on the throne in heaven.

I heard a sermon this year about Jonah. And I couldn't help but think about what I had learned and thought about his experience with the Lord. As the young man was preaching, I was smiling, if not physically, I definitely was inside. I can see God's humor and compassion all the way through this experience. What we Christians need to know and understand is that God KNOWS us, inside and out even before we knew Him. 

So the Lord told Jonah to go to Nineveh to preach/warn the Ninevites. But Jonah did not want to do that.  He decided to go to Tarshish which according to some is Southwestern Spain. This isn't the first time the Lord sent Jonah somewhere (2 Kings 14:25). So Jonah knew the Lord and the Lord knew him. But he didn't want to warn the people of Nineveh. He didn't like those people. So on a ship he went. Lo and behold, a terrible storm came up. So after the sailors had cast lots to see whose fault this was, Jonah admitted it was his. And then he told them the reason for all this trouble. Do you know anyone today that disobeys a direct order from the Lord and tells everyone about it especially when that decision wreaks havoc on everyone around him? You know the story, they threw him overboard. He would rather die than to go and warn the people of Nineveh.

Now to me, this is where it gets interesting. People talk about a whale swallowing Jonah, but the Bible says that the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah. The fish wasn't going to eat Jonah, he was going to transport him to the place the Lord had told Jonah to go. I see the Lord smiling inside. He knew that Jonah wasn't going to go to Nineveh. I see the Lord smiling and saying, ok you want to travel by sea, so be it. It took 3 days and 3 nights inside that fish before Jonah turned and talked to God. The Lord knows exactly how to correct each one of his kids. And how do you get away from the Lord's presence? He's everywhere, all the time. The Lord knew exactly what it would take for Jonah to change his mind and to do the right thing.

The great fish vomited him out right where he was supposed to be in the first place. Oh, the mercy of God. He went and preached the words that God gave him to preach. And everyone from the greatest to the least, turned to God and was delivered from death.  Was Jonah Happy? No, he didn't like those people and he didn't want them saved. He knew that God would save them if they turned. And when the Lord came and talked to him afterwards, what did he say? He wanted to still die! 

God's compassion for his creation is so much more than we give him credit for. And when I say that the Lord was smiling, I don't mean that God was laughing at Jonah because he wasn't. Have you never smiled at something that you knew about when everyone else was the total opposite because they didn't know? God loved Jonah just as He loves every person that He has created. His mercy never fails.

I love the story of Jonah. I see God's humor, but too many times we think and believe that God is always angry with us just waiting to catch us doing something wrong. It's so much the opposite. God doesn't want anyone to go to hell.  And look what He did to help us to not go there. He sent Jesus to show us the right way to live. Living for the Lord is not difficult. We're not under the Old Testament law. We're under the New Testament of truth and grace. He sent his Holy Spirit to be in us and to teach us, and He said that He would never leave or forsake us! I'm so thankful that wherever I am, He is with me helping me to do His will and not my own. This is a process that takes some time. But in this process, the Lord is constantly 

with us, helping us, forgiving us, teaching and loving us.

So the next time you read Jonah, see the love and compassion that God had for Jonah and remember that He is no respecter of persons.

Mat.24: 6...see that ye be not troubled...

 Lots of terrible things are happening in our world today, yes? But did not Jesus tell us these things in Mat. 24 and other places? He also said for us not to be troubled for all these things must come to pass, Mat. 24:6-7. But how many who claim to be Christians are fearful and worried? Didn't we learn in 2 Tim. 1:7 that the Lord didn't give us the spirit of fear? And God is not the author of confusion, 1 Cor. 14:33. 

We have to stand on his word! I'm hearing that the world leaders are stopping the farmers from producing food because supposedly, it's cows that are causing climate change?????? It's their manure. How foolish. So we aren't going to eat meat, cheese, and drink their milk, but instead we're going to eat bugs and fake meat grown on parts of aborted calves. And one very rich man in the US is buying up many acres of the best farmland in the US. Do we really think that the elites are not going to eat steak while the rest of humanity is forced to eat bugs? Wow! Do we Christians not understand that Satan is the god of this world 2 Cor. 4:4 and he has been given a certain amount of time to rule? Remember how he tempted Jesus, that if he would bow down to him, he would give Jesus all the kingdoms of this world? But the Lord has called us to come out of this world's systems, 2 Cor. 6:16-17.  

We have to believe and stand on God's word. He is the only one that can protect us and provide for us. In Psalms 91, he has given us precious promises concerning all the things that are taking place now. He also tells us in Ps. 33 and Ps. 37 that we will be satisfied in the days of famine. How? I have no idea! But God provided for Elijah and the widow during a famine. If God can cause ravens to bring Elijah meat and bread to eat, do we think that he can't provide for his kids today? He provided manna in the desert for the Israelites for 40 years. Nothing is impossible for God! After all, He created everything that we can see including ourselves, Ps. 139: 14-16. 

See that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass...They have to happen in order for Jesus to come back. Scripture cannot be broken, John 10:35. We have to do what Ps.121 says. We have to lift up our heads because our help comes from the Lord. Praise the Lord. Amen.

Grace and peace from our Lord always.

Gen. 48:21 And Israel said unto Joseph...Gen.49:1,33 And Jacob called unto his sons...

 When I was talking to my son last week, he asked me if I knew what a live funeral was. I told him no and he began to explain it to me. It's when a person knows that he's going to die, and he calls his family, friends, etc. to come and see him. What they do and where they meet is in the dying person's hands. Wow! How many times have people wished that they had gone to visit someone before they had died and felt bad because they hadn't done so. I immediately thought of Jacob. Many years ago, I said that I wanted to die like Jacob. Jacob knew that he was going to die, because the Lord had told him. Jacob called his sons together and told them what would befall them in the last days. He also told them where to bury him. After he told them, the Bible says he gathered his feet into the bed, and yielded up the ghost! That's a live funeral. Solomon said that there's nothing new under the sun!

I believe that a true child of God knows when they are going to die. Why do I believe this? Because the Lord prepares his children to leave this world. He told Hezekiah to put his house in order because he was going to die. But after seeking the Lord, the Lord gave Hezekiah fifteen more years. There are many people in the Bible that knew when they were going to die. Moses, Jacob, Elijah-although he didn't die physically but he knew he would be taken, Jesus, Paul, and Peter just to name a few.

Of course, we are sad when someone we love dies. And when we we cry, who are we crying for? The one that is gone or ourselves? If our loved ones belong to the Lord, we will see them again! I always say that my son is on vacation, and I will see him again when I leave this old world and go to join him.  Do I miss him? Of course! Is he forgotten? Never. And what did God say to Adam in the garden? Dust you are and to dust you will return. But our spirits don't die. Our spirit goes to be with the Lord. How do I know that? Because it was Moses and Elijah that talked to Jesus when he was transfigured on the mount. Even Jesus died physically as did Lazarus. 

So maybe this live funeral is something that we need to look into. Maybe we can be partakers of the food and beverages that are always shared by friends and family after regular funerals before we actually depart from this world. Wouldn't that be something to behold!!!! All things are possible in the Lord.

Peace and grace!

1John 4:16...God is love...

I just keep thinking about Adam and Eve, and the love that the Lord had for them. We always hear about their disobedience but not about the love that God had for them. Adam and Eve were intelligent people. You say that if they were so intelligent, then what did they eat the forbidden fruit. Why do we do what we aren't supposed to do? They were free moral agents. They were given the choice of choosing what they would do or not do. God did not create robots.

Adam was created with a perfect mind, like the mind of God. Adam gave names to all the animals that God had brought to him Gen.2:19-20. When Adam and Eve sinned, God made and gave the first blood sacrifice for sin Gen. 3:21 and made clothes from the skins of those animals for Adam and Eve. That blood sacrifice was the forgiveness of their sin just as Jesus shed his blood for our forgiveness. And when I think of what our God did, for Adam and Eve, it reminds me of when Isaac asked Abraham where was the lamb for the burnt offering, and Abraham told him that God would provide for himself a lamb Gen. 22:7-13. Abraham knew God! Hebrews 11:17-19, he believed that God was able to raise Isaac from the dead in order to keep the promise that he had given to him concerning that his seed would be through Isaac and not Ishmael. Oh the grace and mercy of God! God also provided us with a lamb for a sacrifice for our sins!

And when Cain killed Abel, God went to him and asked him about his brother. The Lord gave Cain the chance to confess his sin and the chance to be forgiven. Instead of admitting his killing of his brother, Cain argued with God and refused his chance of being forgiven and chose to walk away from the presence of God. 

We say and hear that God is love, and he is, but do we really understand this. We see his love here in the first few chapters of Genesis, but I have never heard  a sermon about this. I've only heard of the sin of Adam and Eve. In school, we always heard about the caveman, and yes, people have lived in caves for protection from weather, enemies, etc.  I've never heard about the love and intelligence that God had and gave to Adam and Eve. How to live on a cursed earth: when, where, and how to plant and harvest, how to kill and prepare meat, make clothes, etc. God was with Adam and Eve,  to help them live in this new environment, to have and raise children, etc. He taught them how to worship him and to teach their children to worship him. 

Jesus said if we keep his commandments then we love him. His commandments are not grievous and they are loaded with benefits, blessings. We forget that we have an enemy that wants to kill us. When we obey the Lord, we defeat the enemy. Many times we blame the devil for our problems and "the devil made me do it" was a saying made popular by Flip Wilson. But the Lord didn't blame the devil when he asked Adam who told him that he was naked. Each one was convicted by their own disobedience and given their own consequence. James 1:13-16 tells us that we are tempted by our own lusts, enticed, and then do whatever it is causing us to sin. The enemy isn't mentioned. When Eve saw that the fruit was good for food, good to look at, and it would make her wise, she ate it. And no one wants to be alone in their disobedience, so she gave some to her husband with her. We alone are to blame for our own disobedience. We choose whom we will serve. The Lord will correct us because he loves us. He doesn't want anyone to go to hell, John 3:16-21.

We know that Galatians 5:22-23 describes the fruit of the Spirit. This describes God. He is all these things. He doesn't just have them, he is them. And we can see these in his relationship with our first parents, Adam and Eve. And if we look at ourselves, we can see the Lord's forgiveness and goodness in our own lives. Blessed be the name of the Lord!

Peace and grace.

Gen. 2: 5...and there was not a man to till the ground.

 I have heard at different times from preachers that the people in Noah's time never saw rain and especially a flood. Therefore they mocked Noah. I disagree with this teaching. In Gen. 2:5-6, it says that God had not caused it to rain upon the earth because there was not a man to till the ground and that there was a mist that came up and watered the whole face of the ground. When Adam and Eve were put out of the garden,  Gen. 3:23 says that he, Adam, was sent out of the garden to till the ground from where he had been taken. And Cain had brought as an offering to God of the fruit of the ground because he was a tiller of the ground, Gen. 4: 2-3.  Ask any farmer, and they will tell you that the things they plant has to have rain in order to grow.

When Adam and Eve left the garden, they were no more in paradise. They had to work the ground in order to grow food. Now they had to deal with thorns and thistles and sweat! Gen. 3:17-19. Their sin had consequences. Yes, they were forgiven because God killed the animal(s) for a blood sacrifice and to clothe them with the animal skins, but they still suffered the consequences of their behavior. And so do we. Did the Lord help them after they left the garden? Does he help us when we have sinned and been forgiven? Of course he does. God does not change, ever. He is the same today, yesterday, and forever.

Noah was 600 years old when he entered the ark, Gen. 7:6.  Do you really think that there was no rain in that time? I've also heard preachers say that Noah was mocked for what he was doing. However,  the Bible doesn't say that. Jesus said in Mat. 24:37-39 that the people were unaware of what was going on because they were too busy doing their own thing. And he says so it will be when he comes. Perhaps that's why he says to watch and see that you not be deceived.

We have to read what the Lord's word says, and not put our own human minds and customs to it. Not even those of the preachers. If I don't agree with something that my pastor says, I always go to him and talk with him about it. And we both come away with understanding and appreciation for God's word and each other.

Blessed be the name of the Lord!

Ps.92:14-15 They still shall bring forth fruit in their old age; they shall be fat and flourishing to shew that the LORD...

 Wow! Here we are in 2022! Amazing, because when I was ten or eleven years old, I heard my grandparents talking about the year 2000. I remember thinking that that would never happen. It was so far away that it was impossible. Well, what did that ten or eleven year old know? Absolutely nothing, because here we are beyond 2000. 

Last week I was talking to my son about this and that. How we grow up, get married, have children and grandchildren, etc. Then we get old. Now what do we older people do? He said, "Mom, they need to be doing what you're doing." What a pearl from heaven. And I realize that the Lord doesn't have the same calling or job  for everybody. We are individuals and so is our calling of the Lord. But we have a purpose here until he calls us home.

I refuse to call myself "old". I call myself older. Why? Because thinking that you're "old" will cause you to become old. It's a mind thing. Many older people use their age as an excuse to not do something. It isn't that many are too old, it's that they don't want to do whatever. I have learned, in my older years, that I can say "no." Where does God say that you always have to say "yes"? Yes to him, of course, but many things that are said to be of him are not so. If we're led by the Holy Spirit, sometimes the answer is no, don't do that. So who do we follow? The Holy Spirit, the world, or even the religious organization?

God has many things to say about we older people. We are to be a blessing to the younger people. I remember a few years ago after I came here, that a young woman had come here with another group to do whatever. She told me one day that she was in church one Sunday morning, and she looked around and asked herself what was she doing there. She was in the young people's church service, not the traditional (old) peoples group. And she realized that this group didn't know anymore than she did. She left and went to the "traditional" church service, and never looked back.

Here are some other promises for us older folks! Ps.37:25, Ps.39:5, Isa. 46;4 which says, And even to your old age I am he; an even to hoar hairs will I carry you: I have made and I will bear: even I will carry, and deliver you. Even as he carried Israel through the desert, so will he carry us. Carrying us doesn't necessarily mean that we can't walk.

I hope that we learn to enjoy our older age and what the Lord is doing in, with, and through us. When we look at what he did with Abraham and Sarah, Caleb, and Moses, we should be delighted with our own age and what the Lord is doing. No, we aren't going to do what they did, but if the Lord worked through them to accomplish his will then, he will also work in us to accomplish his will today. Remember, God doesn't change. He's the same today, yesterday, and forever. Hallelujah!

Grace and peace.

Ps.34:11-14...the fear of the Lord

 The most awesome thing happened this past Sunday in church. There is a lady that preaches at different times, and Sunday she said that she was going to talk about the fear of the Lord. What it is and what it isn't. Pastor was sitting a few chairs away from me and he bent over and looked at me and had the most  amazing look on his face. I knew what that look meant because he and I had discussed this same thing a week or so before. So you better believe that I listened closely to what she said.

I was talking to the Lord one morning and I don't remember now what exactly I had said about him to him when he gave me Gal. 5 which I knew described the works of the flesh and the fruit of the spirit. And the Lord described himself to me. He is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance. And this is how we should describe and introduce him to our children. He is all these things, at all times. He doesn't change. He is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow.  

And then came the thought of having the fear of the Lord. What is the fear of the Lord? I was taught when I was younger that God is like this big angry being with a huge fly swatter that is just waiting for you to do something wrong so he can hit you with it. I was taught as many others were, that we had to be afraid of him and that this cloud of fear was always over us. How wrong all these teachings were! My poor children!! You'd better walk a straight line or else.

There are many scriptures that describe the fear of the Lord. It is the beginning of knowledge, Pro.1:7: Ps.111:10 says it's the beginning of wisdom, etc. Ps. 34:11-14 describes it beautifully. God is not mocked. What a person does will come back on him. If he does good, he will reap good. If he does evil, he will reap that same evil. God is no respecter of persons. He loves everyone the same. He has a plan for everyone that walks this planet, and he is not waiting for us to do something bad so he can punish us. 

Now, he will correct us when we're going down the wrong path, and he says that in Pro.3:12, Heb.12:6-13. He is our Heavenly Father if we have accepted his son Jesus Christ as our Savior. And we can go to him always and talk to him about whatever is on our hearts  Phil.4:6-7 and 1Pet.5:7. We can tell him anything and everything because he already knows our thoughts and feelings. He knows what we have need of before we say anything Mat.6:7-8. But he says to come and ask. Why? It's called communication and relationship! God wants a relationship with each one of us. He is a personal God. My relationship with him is not the same as someone else. Why? It's because we do not have the same personality, nor the same life as others. We are individuals. 

Now, should we fear to do wrong? Absolutely. However, there is not one person on this earth that does not sin. 1 John 1:7-10. If we think, say, do something that isn't right or have a wrong attitude, the Holy Spirit will convict us in order to turn us around. The Lord didn't come to destroy us but to save us from ourselves! We are our own worst enemy even as Paul said in Romans chapter 7. He had the same problem that we do verses 14-25. But praise the Lord for Rom.8:1-2.

God is a just God. He does everything well. However, there is another side to him. No one can approach him if they don't have his son, Jesus Christ as Savior. Over and over, the Lord warns people in his word what to do and what not to do. Ps.119:109 says our soul is in our hands. I have heard people say that since God is love, he won't send them to hell. They're right. He won't. They will send themselves according to their own works. God made us a free moral agent. He will not override our will. Jesus didn't override Judas' will. When Judas kissed Jesus, Jesus called him friend. Why? Because he loved him still. In Jos.24:15, Joshua tells the people to choose whom they will serve. Deut.30:19 tells us to choose life. The Lord sets before us a choice even today. Choose whom you will serve. 

The Lord wants no one to go to hell. Jesus came to show us the way and to bleed and die to cover our sins because God so loved the world that he sent his own begotten son John 3:16-17. God isn't willing for anyone to perish 2 Pet:3:9. I think that we sometimes have said and heard these verses said so many times that we forget the depth of their meaning. I pray that those that call themselves children of the Lord that we truly learn the meaning of the fear of the Lord and teach it to others. The real fear of the Lord allows us to come boldly before his throne  of grace Heb.4:16. 

The lady didn't use what I have said in her sermon, but she gave Ps.34:11-14 and others giving examples of the real fear of the Lord. I was so thankful to the Lord for her sermon! He has given it to two of us here, so I know others will receive the same revelation. He loves us so very much and wants us to know him intimately and not just about him! PTL!

Love, joy, and peace!

2 Tim.3:1 Know this also that in the last days perilous times shall come.

 So I'm sitting here this morning thinking about all the things that I'm seeing take place in the good old USA. It's hard to watch and hear the things that are being said and done supposedly to be for our good. I keep thinking where are these peoples brains? And then the words from an old song came to my mind. Stand For Something Or You'll Fall For Anything by Aaron Tippin. Isn't it true? How many will stand for what the USA stands for? How many will honor our Constitution and the Bill of Rights? I think not many.

How many Christians will stand against all the evil that is happening right before their eyes? James tells us that when we've done all, stand. Maybe we should ask how does God feel about abortion? It's amazing how an unborn child must pay the price for his mother's sin, selfishness or whatever may be the case. Shouldn't she have thought of the consequences, good or bad, when she made the decision to have sex? I always told my kids that if they didn't want to be a parent, they'd better not be having sex because all contraceptives don't work 100% of the time. Yeah, I know about the human nature! Of course a lot of money is being made by the killing of these innocents. And this too, was widespread in ancient Israel. They sacrificed their babies to the idol gods that they worshipped. What idols are being worshipped today?

And then we come to homosexuality. I have had family members that were homosexuals. Poor things! Are they truly happy way down deep inside? I don't think so. And they knew, don't display that stuff in front of me.  And now, I've heard that the gov. isn't putting gender on our passports. Well, that will sure help keep our enemies at bay, right? And our children? I praise God for the parents that are standing up against the filth that is being promoted by many school districts today.

I pray for those that call themselves Christians. I pray God give them strength and courage to stand for what's right. I hope that they have a personal, intimate relationship with Jesus Christ because then they will be able to stand. But it's so sad that many only have that relationship when they go to the church. And many don't read their Bibles and know what the Lord says. He's no respecter of persons. And speaking of Bibles, one of my students told me that now there is a"Queen James" Bible. How sad. Is that blasphemy?

We truly are in perilous times as Paul told Timothy. And our faith will be tested. We aren't any better than those that have gone on before us. Our hope is in the Lord Jesus Christ and what he purchased for us. And we know that all these things just brings his second coming closer. Hallelujah, Amen!

Grace and peace.

1 Thes. 5:18 In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

 Wow! What a birthday I have had! Instead of celebrating one day, it was a whole week! I received so many emails, phone calls, and gifts. I don't think that I have had such a birthday like this one was. The Lord is so good to me. No one really takes the place of your own family members, but when you are sent away from them according to God's call on your life, he provides people to love you and to share their lives with yours. He supplies our every need always.

So I just watched a video about what is supposed to happen to us in a few years. We are not going to own anything and we will be happy. Really? Those that are proposing this are the same ones that say we will be eating fake meat. Well, let me see you do this now. You first. Show the rest of us how this is going to work in our lives. It makes me think about the movie Soylent Green that was made in the early 70"s. If we the common people don't own anything, who does own it?? I hope that the American people wake up and stand against this. And even the people that are in authority now don't obey our laws or our Constitution. And nobody seems to care. How sad. But the one ray of sunshine is that all this brings Jesus' return a little closer. Hallelujah!

A friend just brought me an individual pineapple upside down cake !! :) Woohoo! So I think that I'll go eat lunch and have a piece for dessert.

Grace and peace in our Lord Jesus Christ.

Mat. 24:6...for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.

Wow! What a day we are living in. I've never seen so much anguish and fear. I'm so glad the Lord gave us the spirit of love, power, and a sound mind, and not the spirit of fear that we see today. I'm reading a book called "They Thought They Were Free".  It's about ten everyday German friends of the author before, during,  and after Hitler's reign of  brutality and terror.  As I read it, I see parallels of what's going on in the US today. I have thought several times about the US being called the Nazi States of America instead of the United States. So much hate is being disseminated by the powers that be against people that don't think and say the same things as they. How sad and dangerous! The Creator God gave us a free will, and they are out to take it away. Even God won't go against a person's will. We are given choices and with them the consequences whether good or bad depending on our decisions. But the powers that be would like us to become human robots. I pray that the people will stand against this. It isn't a country outside the US taking us over, it's those inside that want our form a government to cease. If our government is so bad, why do so many foreigners want to come to the US?

I pray that God will have mercy on us as a country, but I fear that possibly He won't. God never turns his back on a country unless that country turns its back on him first. And before he sends judgments, he always sends warnings. And as a whole, I don't think the people in the US are paying attention. 

However, I look at what the Lord said about all the things that he says must happen before he comes. The more of it that takes place, the closer is his coming. Hallelujah! Perilous times are ahead even as the Apostle Paul said. But for those in Christ Jesus, they need not to fear. God never changes. He's the same yesterday, today, and forever. He will take care of his children in whatever circumstance they find themselves. We can look in the Old and New Testaments and see the deliverances of his people either in groups or individually where he intervened for them. So even as the mother said,"All is well" when her son was lying dead in his bed, so all is well for use his kids today.

Grace and peace from our Lord Jesus Christ.