Category: Our God Who Pursues

Posted in Bible study, Devotion, From the Insideout, Journey Through The Word, LGG Study, Our God Who Pursues, Quiet Time

The Impact of our Choices

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Read: Jonah 1:4-16 (SOAP: verse 12)

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.” Jonah 1;12

Have you ever tried to run from God’s will for your life? If you have, you have most likely found yourself in a similar situation to Jonah’s. As the Psalmist discovered, we can run from God, but we cannot hide from Him. This has been true from the beginning in the Garden of Eden and is still true today. Fleeing from God’s presence or something He is calling us to do is simply not advisable.

Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Or where can I flee from Your presence?
8 If I ascend into heaven, You are there;
If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there.
9 If I take the wings of the morning,
And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
10 Even there Your hand shall lead me,
And Your right hand shall hold me.
11 If I say, “Surely the darkness shall fall on me,”
Even the night shall be light about me;
12 Indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You,
But the night shines as the day;
The darkness and the light are both alike to You.

Psalm 139:7-12

Even on a merchant ship in the middle of the sea, Jonah could not escape God. Why? Because God pursues us. In Jonah’s case, He sent a powerful wind and stirred up the sea, which threatened to destroy the ship. While Jonah was sound asleep in the inner parts of the ship, the sailors were above deck crying out to their god. When the ship’s captain found Jonah sleeping and not praying, he woke him and ordered him to pray, hoping that perhaps Jonah’s God would respond and keep them from perishing. Eventually, as was customary, lots were cast to see who was at fault for the danger they were in, and the lot fell on Jonah.

Jonah wasn’t ashamed of the LORD – He just didn’t want to go to Nineveh.

Me from the inside-out🦋

When Jonah was questioned about everything from his occupation to who His people were, he replied to them, “I am a Hebrew, and I worship the LORD, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.” Needless to say, this reply and the fact that He had already told them that he was running from the LORD brought even more concern. So, when the storm continued to grow in intensity, they asked Jonah what should be done to him to calm the sea – and because he knew his actions had created the danger, Jonah said, “Pick me up and throw me into the sea.”

While I know the story of Jonah, I had either forgotten or simply hadn’t learned that the sailors didn’t want to throw him into the sea. Instead, they tried to row back to land; but because the LORD was pursuing Jonah their efforts to spare him proved impossible – and they cried out, “Oh, please, LORD, don’t let us die on account of this man! Don’t hold us guilty of shedding innocent blood. After all, you, LORD, have done just as you pleased.” Then they picked him up and threw him into the sea, and it stopped raging.

I love that Scripture records that they first tried to row back to the shore before they gave in to the only other option. It bears witness to the fact that neither Jonah, nor the crew were in control – God was, and they knew it.

I have found that the LORD often uses our struggles in this life to garner not only our attention but the attention of those around us. As we will see throughout the rest of our journeey with Jonah, this truth is the reality behind the words of James 1:2-4.🦋

Prayer

Father, may I never again from Your calling or seek to escape Your presence. i am horrified to think of all the times I have hidden from You or allowed myself to be engulfed by my own desires. Thank You for redeeming grace and Your faithful pursuit of me. Thank You for the faith that has come from the “whales” of my life and for the hope that You will use it all for Your glory. Blessed be Your Holy Name! 💜

Posted in Bible study, Devotion, From the Insideout, God is good, Journey Through The Word, Know These Truths, LGG Study, Our God Who Pursues, Quiet Time

Nineveh~vs~Tarshish

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Read: Jonah 1:1-3 (SOAP: 1:3)

The Lord gave this message to Jonah son of Amittai: 2 “Get up and go to the great city of Nineveh. Announce my judgment against it because I have seen how wicked its people are.”

3 But Jonah got up and went in the opposite direction to get away from the Lord. He went down to the port of Joppa, where he found a ship leaving for Tarshish. He bought a ticket and went on board, hoping to escape from the Lord by sailing to Tarshish.

Jonah 1:1-3
God’s Plan ~vs~ Jonah’s Plan

My journal entry today consisted of two columns on either side of the page, which contained the passage for today’s journey. One column included God’s plan, the other Jonah’s. When I finished the plans mapped out from the Scripture, I connected them with the words: Nineveh-vs-Tarshish. However, I could have easily written God’s plan vs Jonah’s or God’s plan vs man’s … or, for that matter, God’s plans vs mine. Regardless of the tagline we give today’s study, it is a clear reminder that we have a choice to make –> follow ‘our’ will/plan or align ‘our’ will/plan with God’s and faithfully follow where He leads/sends.

God’s Plan

  • God sent a very specific message to Jonah
  • The message included:
    • a time frame: immediately
    • a location/people
    • a cause/purpose
      • God noticed their wickedness
      • to announce judgment

Jonah 1:1-2

Jonah’s Plan

  • Jonah’s plan was to escape God’s commission of Him for Nineveh
    • he immediately headed to Tarshish
    • by way of Joppa and a merchant ship
    • he paid to get far away from the LORD

Jonah 1:3

God’s Call of His People

Throughout the Bible, we read of God calling His people to places or tasks or simply to trust Him. God called… Noah to build an ark1, Abraham to leave all he knew and father a great nation2, Moses to lead His people out of bondage3, Joshua to bring down the walls of Jericho4, and He called Hosea to “Go, marry a promiscuous woman and have children with her.5..”. The list of what God has called/led/sent His people to do goes on and on, but the greatest example of difficult and seemingly impossible callings/plans is the one God gave Jesus, His only begotten son, who was sent6 to save His people from their sins. God didn’t send Him in a hero’s cape or kingly crown, but as a baby born of a virgin. God sent Jesus to take on flesh, experience threats, troubles, and temptations of this world, teach, preach, heal and die on a cross for the sins of the world and rise again the third day – crushing the enemy! It was just as God had announced in the Garden (Genesis 3:15)7.

And I will cause hostility between you and the woman,
    and between your offspring and her offspring.
He will strike your head,
    and you will strike his heel.”

Genesis 3:15
The Importance of God’s Callings

It isn’t my point to contrast or compare these callings, but to help us remember the many callings of God throughout the Scriptures and see their importance. Jonah’s story is one of these and is equally a great example of the lengths to which He will go to pursue His people, reach them with the message of repentance, and save them from their sins.

More than a Whale

On our journey this week, we will follow Jonah from Tarshish to Nineveh. We will see that Jonah’s story is more than that of a whale. It is the saga of disobedience and revival. It is a beautiful picture of how our personal revival isn’t just about or for us but rather how God will be glorified and use our obedience to revive others from death to life.

Disobedience and revival are the key themes in this book. Jonah’s experience in the belly of the whale provides him with a unique opportunity to seek a unique deliverance, as he repents during this equally unique retreat. His initial disobedience leads not only to his personal revival, but to that of the Ninevites as well. Many classify the revival which Jonah brings to Nineveh as one of the greatest evangelistic efforts of all time.

gotquestions.org
What is God Calling You to Do?

Friends, God still calls His people to serve Him and share Him today. Do you know what He wants you to do? Are you doing it? Whether it is to serve as a greeter, a nursery worker, a teacher, preacher, musician/singer, encourager, accountant, or doctor… He has called all of His children8 to love Him, love others as Jesus loved us, and go and make disciples9.

Want to know why we should pay attention to God’s calling on our lives? Visit the links below and dig deeper into the purpose and importance of God’s commissioning of His people.

Prayer

Father God, Thank You for the story of Jonah and for the reminder that we are to be prepared with a faithful yes – regardless of what You call us to do or where You commission us to go. Help us to not run away from You but towards You, knowing that You will lead us, help us, and strengthen us for the tasks and trusting that You will be glorified in our obedience. As we continue throughout the week, may all those whose eyes fall upon this page be led to a personal revival and used to revive those around them with the truth of Your Word, love, and promises. – In Jesus’ Name ~ Amen!

The More We Know

For more insight into today’s journey, read Love God Greatly’s blog post

Posted in Bible study, Devotion, From the Insideout, Journey Through The Word, LGG Study, Our God Who Pursues, Quiet Time

God Will Repay

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Read Joel 3

Borrowed from the journal of Love God Greatly’s, Our God Who Pursues, p57

SOAP
Joel 3:16
The Lord roars from Zion; from Jerusalem his voice bellows out. The heavens and the earth shake. But the Lord is a refuge for his people; he is a stronghold for the citizens of Israel.


INTO THE TEXT


From our earliest years, we are taught the difference between right and wrong. When we or someone we love are treated unjustly by others, or when we see the terrible things that are done to people throughout this world, we often feel anger. Life is unfair and we strongly feel the need to make things right. We know that life here on earth is not what it should be.


Of course, Christians should work hard to promote justice on behalf of those who are oppressed and mistreated. There are many ways we can help to make this world a little more bearable for others. However, when it comes to revenge, that is not ours to seek. It is God’s role. God promises in Joel 3 that there will be a future day of judgment where He will confront all evil and remove it forever. A lot of times, our motives for revenge are out of selfish or angry means. Everything God does, however, is out of His holy character.


For believers, we don’t have to worry about getting even with others or making sure that we are treated with justice. We are called to trust God, who will make sure that every evil deed committed against us or others, if it is not forgiven through the cross of Jesus, will be brought into the open and justly dealt with.


Joel sees a future with two sides. On the one side, there will be salvation and blessing for those who belong to God, for those whose sins have been forgiven through Jesus Christ. But on the other, there will be judgment and destruction for all those who go their own way. At the end of times, God will be for us either a roaring lion or a safe place of refuge.


Let’s run to our Heavenly Father, who offers mercy, forgiveness, peace, and protection. He will give us strength to withstand all the difficulties and injustices of life.


PRAYER


God, I oftentimes want to see revenge and repayment done to those who commit sin and evil around me. Help me to run toward your safe refuge and trust in your timing for seeing justice delivered. Amen.

REFLECTION

Where are you tempted to take revenge or justice into your own hands? How can you open your hands to trust in God’s deliverance and begin to pray for your enemies?

THE MORE WE KNOW

Be sure and check out today’s LGG blog post: Refuge for the Day of Judgment

Posted in Bible study, Devotion, From the Insideout, Journey Through The Word, LGG Study, Our God Who Pursues, Quiet Time

The Hope of Restoration

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based on the LGG Study, Our God Who Pursues/w1d4

Scripture: Joel 2:18-32 (SOAP verse 19)

Three things I noted from the reading today:

  • We move the heart of God when we do as He directs.
    • When the people cried out as they were directed, when they returned to the LORD as He gave them the opportunity to do – it was “Then the LORD became zealous for His land;
  • It is a wonderful thing when the LORD responds to His people.
    • “Then the LORD became zealous for His land; He had compassion on His people. The LORD responded to His people.”
  • The LORD sends His people hope of restoration.
    • He tells them, “Look! I am about to restore your grain as well as fresh wine and olive oil.” He promises them that they “will be fully satisfied” and that He would “never again make them an object of mockery among the nations.”

While I realize that this passage probably has a wealth of other truths and teachings, I was struggling to put it into words – but then I read the journal entry1 today from Love God Greatly’s study, “Our God Who Pursues.” I’m sharing it here because it is, in my opinion, the perfect commentary for today’s journey. I pray it is as rich a blessing for you as it is for me.

redeeming what was lost

We read in the previous chapter of Joel how God brought destruction on the people of Israel through the locust plague. His aim was to secure their undivided commitment to Him. They had been half- hearted in their worship, and they had gone after other things and other gods. That’s why God was fighting against His own people in order to bring them to repentance. He still does the same with His people today when we wander away from Him, our first love. He sometimes allows problems and hardships to bring us to repentance and draw us back to Himself.


But now God was going to bring restoration. He was going to make beauty from ashes. Can you imagine the hope that this message brought to the people? After their land had been decimated, God, in His kindness, promises to restore and renew that which was lost.


We see that with God there is hope. Even when we, His people, wander away from Him and let other things or people take priority over Him, God will not let us go. In His fierce love and jealousy, He will draw us back to Himself. He gives us His Holy Spirit who convicts us of our half-heartedness and pours His love into us again as we seek Him.


You may find yourself in a season when the locusts of this life have taken away everything. God, because of His great love for you, is allowing hardship in order to have your full allegiance, your whole- hearted worship. Turn to Him in repentance and put your full trust in Him, because one day He will make all things new. You don’t know how or when, but you know that He will. He has promised it. Believe Him.


PRAYER
God, life on this earth is hard, but you are a God of restoration. Help me to trust you no matter what may happen in my life, knowing that you have a plan to one day make all things new. Amen.

Our God Who Pursues/Journal Entry/p 53
The More We Know

Posted in Bible study, Devotion, From the Insideout, God is good, Journey Through The Word, Know These Truths, LGG Study, Our God Who Pursues, Quiet Time

A Change of Heart

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Based on: Our God Who Pursues w1/d3

Many people mistakenly believe that the God of the Old Testament is a God of wrath and judgment, whereas in the New Testament He is solely characterized by love. However, Joel 2 shows us that God is both angry at sin but full of love towards the sinner. It’s important to know and understand God’s character as it greatly impacts how we live. … While we wait for that coming day, we are charged to live faithful lives. We are to regularly repent and live a life of obedience. When our hearts can view God truly for who he is, it changes the way we live.

LGG Journal/Our God Who Pursues/p49

Friends, as the LGG journal points out today, “It’s important to know and understand God’s character as it greatly impacts how we live.” So, while our focus is on verses 12 and 13, we must first address the overriding theme of Joel’s prophecy, which is “the day of the LORD,1” or as Gotquestions.org describes it, “a day of God’s wrath and judgment.”

It will be such a terrible day that Job’s opening words of the second chapter are a message from the LORD, to “Blow the trumpets in Zion, sound the alarm signal on my holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land shake with fear, for the day of the LORD is about to come.” If we know the hope of salvation, we may not be as prone to fear the day – yet surely, if we look around us today, it seems there is undoubtedly great cause for alarm – a truth that prompted me to write in the margin of my journal: Should this not also be our message to the people around us and across the world? After all, if the day of the Lord is an awesome, terrible thing, threatening the survival of mankind, as verse eleven announces, should we not also heed the call of repentance and sound the alarm to alert ‘all the inhabitants of the land?’

The day of the Lord is an awesome, terrible thing.
    Who can possibly survive?

A Call to Repentance

12 That is why the Lord says,
    “Turn to me now, while there is time.
Give me your hearts.
    Come with fasting, weeping, and mourning.
13 Don’t tear your clothing in your grief,
    but tear your hearts instead.”
Return to the Lord your God,
    for he is merciful and compassionate,
slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love.
    He is eager to relent and not punish.

Joel 2:11-13

I’ve heard it said that God is a God of second chances, and in verses twelve and thirteen, we see an example of this truth. Joel’s announcement of the coming awesome, terrible day is followed by his message from the Lord for the people to turn to Him while there is still time. You see, God wasn’t interested in their outward expressions of tearing their clothes but rather an inward change of heart that they might return to Him. He desires their hearts be broken for what breaks His heart, and he was giving them more time, or a second opportunity, it would seem, to repent. Don’t miss the beauty of His message that He was ready and waiting to pour out His mercy and compassion as a wonderful reminder that He is slow to get angry and abounding in unfailing love. – When we know this side of God’s character, it shouldn’t just change the way we live, but it should spur us on to sound the alarm so that the people around us will turn to the Lord while there is time.

God doesn’t desire an outward repentance of tearing the clothes, but instead desires an awareness of our sin that brings sorrow on the deepest level – so that we turn to Him and away from the sin.

Prayer of Response

Father, You are a merciful and compassionate God. You are slow to anger and filled with unfailing love. Thank You for letting me know this side of You and for the way it has changed my life through the years. Help me to be better about sounding the alarm so that those around me can turn to You while there is still time. May my heart be broken for what breaks Yours, and may my will align with Yours. – Let sin break my heart so that I always turn away from it – for Your glory – Amen!

The More We Know

Posted in Bible study, Devotion, From the Insideout, Journey Through The Word, LGG Study, Our God Who Pursues, Quiet Time

Repentance or Regret?

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The first chapter of Joel is not an easy or feel-good read. However, two things are made clear through the prophet. First, the message is of great importance and meant for all of Judah to hear (vs2). Second, and most important, was the need for repentance (vs. 13-14). Without repentance, as chapter one describes, there would be dire consequences. From swarms of locusts to the destruction of life and land, and even animals, nothing and no one would be left unaffected.

I wrote very little in the margins of my journal today, but of the few things I did write down, this one stood out: Are you sorry for what you did (repentance) or sorry you were caught (regret)? When I turned from my personal journal to the LGG journal entry, I was a bit relieved to find similar wording written by the LGG writing team – indicating that I wasn’t too far off in my understanding of what Joel was saying, namely that “true repentance is seeking forgiveness and running to Christ.”

True repentance is more than simply being sad that you were caught or sad over the consequences of your sin. Rather, true repentance comes from deep sorrow over our sinfulness and the realization that we have grieved God and hurt other people. It is seeking forgiveness and running to Christ.

Our God Who Pursues/p45

Another thing worth noting is that it wasn’t just that the people had stopped bringing offerings to the Lord – it was that these offerings were offerings of faith, given as acts of worship which represented their trust in God – that He would provide. It wasn’t that they couldn’t come; it is that they stopped coming. The bottom line is that their sins had separated them from their God, and anything that puts distance between us and the Father grieves Him and should grieve us. It is why He calls us to repent, to turn back to Him, and it is why Joel warns of the impending doom that awaits those who do not repent. May we be people who faithfully follow the ways of God, but when we sin, may we be swift to practice true repentance – letting nothing stifle our faith, hinder our worship, or harm our relationship with God.

Prayer

Father, like the Israelites, we are sinners, and like them, we are called to repent of our sins. According to Your promises, when we confess our sins and ask Your forgiveness, You forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Help us always stay alert to any sin in our lives and to remember the grief and separation it causes between us and You. We cannot live apart from You, so help us walk in obedience and quickly repent when we fail so that nothing will separate us from Your Holy presence. In the name of Jesus – we trust and pray – amen.

The More We Know

Book of Joel – an article from Got Questions Ministries