Month: September 2018

“But the Lord said, ‘You have been concerned about this vine, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. But Nineveh has more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, and many cattle as well. Should I not be concerned about that great city?’” Jonah 4:10-11

As I read through the book of Jonah recently I was reminded of his reluctance to obey God. Nineveh was a huge, important city, and it was a wicked city. God was ready to destroy it and told Jonah to go and proclaim His message. Apparently, Jonah wasn’t interested in obeying God or taking His message to the people. He ran the opposite way and ended up in the belly of a great fish.

When the fish couldn’t stomach Jonah any longer it threw him onto the shore and God again told him to go to Nineveh.  This time Jonah obeyed and told them God’s message. The people of the city, including the king, repented and God didn’t destroy them.  Jonah wasn’t happy. He was angry. He sat outside the city and asked God to take away his life. The sun was hot and he was miserable so God provided a vine to grow up and give him shade, but the next day He sent a worm to chew the vine and it withered. No more shade. Jonah said, “I am angry enough to die.”

Jonah was not only reluctant. He was selfish. He was more concerned about his own comfort than the salvation of the great city of Nineveh. I, too, am sometimes reluctant to obey God. I find myself being more concerned about my own comfort and preferences than I am about the salvation of lost souls.  There are lost people all around us. Do we see them? Do we care?

“Then he (Jesus) said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field’” (Matthew 9:37-38).

“I will make known my holy name among my people Israel. I will no longer let my holy name be profaned, and the nations will know that I the Lord am the Holy One in Israel” (Ezekiel 39:7).

Ezekiel was one of God’s prophets during the time His people were in captivity. His people had strayed away from worshiping God as He commanded. They turned to idols and lived as the pagans around them. They had profaned God’s holy name. All through the book of Ezekiel we read, “Declares the Sovereign Lord.” God is sovereign and He has commanded His people to worship and serve Him only. God is holy and His name is holy. I think we sometimes forget about His holiness.

When I sit down to read the Word and pray I sometimes forget I’m in the presence of holiness. My attitude is a bit too casual, I think. God is above all and He created all things that exist. He is awesome and amazing. I am often reminded of this as I read the Word and as I enjoy His creation of both the mighty and mini creatures. I must praise and worship Him, recognizing His awesomeness and reverence His name. As a child of the King, His holiness demands my submission to Him.  As the Apostle Paul so eloquently states in Philippians 2:5, “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus.” There is no room for my selfishness and pride when I think about what Jesus did.

Jesus willing gave up His place with the Father, humbled Himself, took on a servant nature to become a human, and gave up his life on a cross!  Read on: “Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:9-11).

What an awesome Name! Does my life honor His Name?

Dear God, I want my life to be free of idols that would cause me to profane your Name. I want my life, every thought and action and attitude, to be like Jesus. Forgive my selfishness and pride. Forgive me when I disregard Your Holiness when I call on Your Name. Give me a spirit of humility and an attitude of submission. In the Holy Name of Jesus, Amen.

Occasionally, I like to open one of  Wayne’s sermon notebooks and read through a sermon or two. Today, I remembered he’d preached a sermon about 9/11 and looked it up. His three points were:

1. Remembering 9/11

2. A personal 9/11

3. God’s 9/11.

He said, “We remember shock and outrage at the terrorism, pride in the heroism, and a sudden, sickening uncertainty. We realized that we love our country—and we stand together to guarantee its freedoms to our children.”

The students at the school where I subbed today were not even born when this happened. Most of them do not understand all the sacrifices made by our military and others to fight against terrorism.  I still grieve for our country’s loss that day, but so many citizens have also been lost in the wars since then.  It makes me sad to see our Nation so divided politically.  We must stand strong as a Nation and recognize God as the Sovereign Ruler of all.

Through National tragedy or personal tragedy God is still in control and cares for us. Wayne mentioned in his sermon the song by Bob Ponchot, God Still Cares. A line from that song says, “But there’s hope in a God Who cares.” Praise Him, for our hope!

Wayne’s last point was that God also had a 9/11—the day His Son was crucified! God’s Son died to rescue us—an even greater rescue than all those heroes who attempted to rescue victims of 9/11. Some of those heroes died trying to save others. One of those heroes was Todd Beamer. His wife, Lisa Beamer, said in her book, Let’s Roll, “The only true security in this life comes from placing our trust in God Who loves us and is in complete control of the events of our lives and our world.”

Some days are discouraging, sometimes we’re fearful and uncertain, some days are downright dreadful and tragic, but through it all our hope is in God.

The prophet Habakkuk said it this way. “Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior” (Habakkuk 3:17-18).

Oh, that I could trust God like Habakkuk!  Wayne closed his sermon with these encouraging words from the Apostle Paul. “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him” (1 Corinthians 2:9).

“But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him. For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life. And who is equal to such a task?” 2  Corinthians 2:15-16

I made ketchup today. I enjoy making it for several reasons. It reminds me of my mom.  When I was growing up she always made her own ketchup. I liked it better than store-bought.  I think it’s the best for bean soup and for making barbecue sauce. Making ketchup fills the house with a spicy, sweet aroma! It simmered on my stove most of the day and I can still smell it now at 9:30 PM.

The Bible says that we (Christ followers) are “to God the aroma of Christ.” If we are the aroma of Christ, then we must have Christ-like characteristics. Think fruit of the Spirit. When we have love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control growing in our lives we have the sweet aroma of Christ.

If I had not added the sugar, cinnamon, allspice, and cloves to the tomatoes the aroma would not have been so enjoyable.  Smelling stewed tomatoes isn’t very exciting.  So, I was thinking about my life and realized that sometimes the fruit of the Spirit isn’t growing so well in my life. I’m just simmering along like stewed tomatoes without the spices!  How’s your aroma?

“Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God” (Ephesians 5:1-2)