Jonah’s Whale Overrated?

 bob-maclafferty  1 Response »
Nov 012014
 

whale and graceJonah and the whale. Such a dramatic story! Most of us have heard the story since we were children. The big takeaway message in the book of Jonah is a shocking surprise.

Let’s pick up the story post-whale. Jonah is finally following God’s instruction to go preach His word to the city of Nineveh, a city known as a hot bed of evil. “Forty days and this city’s going down!” Jonah preached. He anticipated fire from heaven, or some other dramatic end to evil and evildoers. In his self-righteousness, he preached with vigor and passion!

Wow, what an uplifting message! So full of hope, grace,  and promise! NOT! And yet, somehow, God spoke to the people of Nineveh and they turned to Him en mass. Even the king proclaimed,

“Let everyone call urgently on God. Let them give up their evil ways and their violence.” Jonah 3:8 NIV.

In spite of the message and the messenger, the entire city changed their focus, reaching out for something they had never experienced.

“Then God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he had compassion….   Jonah 3:10 NIV.

 “I knew you were going to do this!” Jonah complained to God. “That’s why I tried to get out of this gig in the first place! You are so full of grace and compassion! I told them they were going to die and You saved them. I’m so embarrassed. Just kill me now!”

Jonah stalked out of the city and found a bench to sit on so he could watch the city- just in case it still burst into flame. The sun burned down on him and he started to get very uncomfortable.  Suddenly, a God-powered vine grew up next to him and over his head, giving him refreshing and cooling shade! Jonah sighed. He was very happy about the vine.

Okay, you can’t tell me that God doesn’t have a sense of humor. First thing the next morning, He sent a worm to cut the vine and it quickly withered. A hot wind blew up and the sun beat mercilessly on his head and he started to feel light-headed. “Go ahead and kill me now,” he said to God once again.

But God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?”

“It is,” he said. “And I’m so angry I wish I were dead.”

 But the Lord said, “You have been concerned about this plant, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight.  And should I not have concern for the great city of Nineveh, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left—     Jonah 4:9-11 NIV.

Over and over again, God teaches us. We ALL have sinned and come far short of his perfect plan for our lives. And yet, that fact fades into the background when overshadowed by His forgiveness and grace. Weak and wounded, faulty and fearful, He’ll take all comers, banishing all our history, mending our mangled lives, lifting us back up close to Him where He can patiently reshape us to look like Him. One crazy kind of love. Just sayin….

shared by Bob MacLafferty, devotional, Ukiah Valley Medical Center leadership, 9/29/2014.

Cradle Proof

 bob-maclafferty, christmas  No Responses »
Dec 272013
 

If you have once again struggled to find the meaning in this Christmas, know this- the blood oath made by Jesus Christ more than a millenium before, became real that night…

The prosecutor hurled his accusations:
“You are not who you say you are.”
“Your rules are not fair!”
Finally, the Defendant on the throne said,
“I have no more words, I will show you.”

The Son stepped from beside the throne and became Joseph’s son. (Luke 2)
and with one simple substitution,
God for man,
Faith became fact,
and a 33 year proof began.

Humble beginning in the stable,
Violent victory at the cross!
Firmly and forever crowned-
Lion of Judah,
Lamb of God,
Son of Man.

The proof of the most challenged equation of all time was complete.

God = love

Mathematical equality.
Everlasting synonyms.
John’s summary statement. (1 John 4.16)

and every year at this time we celebrate the lowly beginning of a crashing victory.
A victory proving the Father’s right to save me by grace.
A victory started as a tiny baby,
finished as grown man who jumped to his death on the cross.

Jesus, you are the living Word.
The Living Voice,
the walking message identifying your Father.
We praise your Name!
We celebrate You showing us the Father in Your birth,
Your life,
Your death.
Send Your Spirit to fill this heart and this house.
Amen.

Peace For Our Time

 Uncategorized  No Responses »
Sep 042010
 

“Peace for our time”.

Those words were joyfully shared outside 10 Downing Street in London by British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain on September 30, 1938, just hours after returning from a meeting with German Chancellor Adolf Hitler.

“My good friends, this is the second time in our history that there has come back from Germany to Downing Street peace with honour. I believe it is peace for our time [emphasis added]. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts. And now I recommend you to go home and sleep quietly in your beds.” 

His speech was greeted with shouts and cheers! That very next spring, in March of 1939, th rest of Czechoslovakia fell into Hitler’s hands. While the rest of the world struggled to wake up, the Second World War more formally began with his invasion of Poland on September 1 of 1939, just eleven months after Chamberlain’s recommendation that his countrymen “go home and sleep quietly in your beds.”

So much for peace. There was nothing in Chamberlain’s words to guarantee the kind of peace he was promoting.

Here’s a different question. When you  think of your salvation and the assurance that it is real, does that bring you peace? Or does it make you uneasy and unsure of your future? Does it make you focus on your sins and stress about what you need to accomplish?

Isaiah 53 is a beautiful and well-known passage of prophecy about Jesus and his life and death for us. In the middle of this chapter, a diamond is hidden. In referring to and describing Jesus’ death on the cross, a small bit of information is shared that doesn’t get enough attention.

But he was pierced for our transgressions,
       he was crushed for our iniquities;
       the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,
       and by his wounds we are healed. Isaiah 53:5 NIV

He was pierced, He was crushed, The punishment was upon Him.

Wait, What?

What punishment? The one that “brought us peace”. That sacrifice was identified as the one that brought us peace.  Jesus intends for us to rest easy in 0ur salvation, trusting in what He did for us. Loving Him for the way He proved His love for us. We can have peace! We can be confident in our future! Isaiah was and so can we.

Jesus, let me never forget that You meant for the gift of your life was meant to bring us peace! Let me lean on you today, safe and secure from all alarms.