Greetings in The Mighty Name of Jesus, The Christ!!!
God Can Change His Mind
Brothers and Sisters we need to Understand that Jesus, whom we Serve, Can change His Mind on what He will or will not do in a person’s life or in the lives of many people. The absolute that we have, is, that when we Accept Jesus as Savior and Lord, Walking in His Ways, Heaven will be Our Home. But Understand this, things on Earth are as the Wind Blows or the Solidness Of Water, they move as they will. Also Understand this, Jesus IS IN Control Over Every Thing that touches Our Life, even in paths of Darkness.
We Need To Understand that every sorrow, every tear, every pain if Walked In Repentance is to Jesus Glory, even if we lack Understanding during these times.
In Repentance Jesus Listens for during these times that have No Understanding of the reason we are having to endure. It can be for you to Repent or it can be a Chance for others to Repent. Jesus does not tell us Our Complete Path, most, if they knew what they would have to endure, would never come to Jesus In Repentance.
Jonah, a man who Walked and Feared God shows us the Length He will go for Repentance. Jonah tried to Run away from the presents of God, from Walking In Obedience, but God knew exactly where Jonah was.
Jonah 1:1-3 KJV
"1 Now the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, 2 Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me. 3 But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD, and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD."
Sometimes there have to be Storms in Our Lives or in Others Lives to bring a Truth Out, to bring that which is Unknown to Light for all to see. It is not fun, nor is it a easy road that Must Be Traveled in order for Jesus to receive The Glory He deserves. Understand this, You may be in Pain, in Sorrow, in Tears Of Despair, but whatever you are going through at the end will bring Jesus Glory!
Understand this Brothers and Sisters, Jesus will do anything it takes to get you or others to Repent and Obey…
Jonah 1:4-5 KJV
"4 But the LORD sent out a great wind into the sea, and there was a mighty tempest in the sea, so that the ship was like to be broken. 5 Then the mariners were afraid, and cried every man unto his god, and cast forth the wares that [were] in the ship into the sea, to lighten [it] of them. But Jonah was gone down into the sides of the ship; and he lay, and was fast asleep."
Jesus sometimes has to get Your Attention and Will Allow or even Do Things to do so, even put others in harm’s way. We cannot measure the Depths that Jesus will go to try and get us to Repent, to turn from Our Sinful Natures, to Walk In Obedience. We who Believe and have Accepted Jesus As Savior are in His Hands, at All Times, lest we walk away or try and run away to do Our Own Thing, Our Own Way.
Jonah 1:7-12 KJV
"7 And they said every one to his fellow, Come, and let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause this evil [is] upon us. So they cast lots, and the lot fell upon Jonah. 8 Then said they unto him, Tell us, we pray thee, for whose cause this evil [is] upon us; What [is] thine occupation? and whence comest thou? what [is] thy country? and of what people [art] thou? 9 And he said unto them, I [am] an Hebrew; and I fear the LORD, the God of heaven, which hath made the sea and the dry [land]. 10 Then were the men exceedingly afraid, and said unto him, Why hast thou done this? For the men knew that he fled from the presence of the LORD, because he had told them. 11 Then said they unto him, What shall we do unto thee, that the sea may be calm unto us? for the sea wrought, and was tempestuous. 12 And he said unto them, Take me up, and cast me forth into the sea; so shall the sea be calm unto you: for I know that for my sake this great tempest [is] upon you."
There is NOTHING HID that will not be revealed given time. In Jonah’s situation they cast Lots to see who on their ship was the cause of their dilemma and the lot fell a upon Jonah. By Jonah’s Confession, The Truth was revealed, but, he still did not Repent but was willing to die to save others from The Wrath Of God. Jonah had not hit bottom yet. Sometimes we want to run to the aid of others because we see what they have become or where they are at and by compassion we move to help them in their time of need. But sometimes, we are not to do anything to bring aid, but watch and wait to see what will manifest.
Jonah had to go through another dilemma, though he sought death for an answer, death would not come. God created a cage that would hold Jonah until he Repented, a Great Fish. Before anyone goes and says this had to be a whale, it was not, but it was a fish that The Father Created for this situation.
Jonah 1:17 KJV
“Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights."
Jonah 2:1-4 KJV
"1 Then Jonah prayed unto the LORD his God out of the fish's belly, 2 And said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the LORD, and he heard me; out of the belly of hell cried I, [and] thou heardest my voice. 3 For thou hadst cast me into the deep, in the midst of the seas; and the floods compassed me about: all thy billows and thy waves passed over me. 4 Then I said, I am cast out of thy sight; yet I will look again toward thy holy temple."
When we hit rock bottom, when it seems we can go no further and death we long for, time and time again Repentance is at hand to deliver us from our dilemmas. But, Understand this, it is Your Choice to Repent, not God’s. if we Choose to continue to Rebel then we will path the consequences and even others may pay the price for Your Rebellion. The full Repentance of Jonah is vs 2: 1 - 9
In Jonah’s case, he Repented, he Returned to that in which he know was right before God and by the Mercies of God, Jonah was Delivered from his dilemma.
Jonah 2:1-2, 10 KJV
"1 Then Jonah prayed unto the LORD his God out of the fish's belly, 2 And said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the LORD, and he heard me; out of the belly of hell cried I, [and] thou heardest my voice. ... 10 And the LORD spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry [land]."
But in God’s Mercy, His first Command was still relevant, Jonah still had to be Obedient in doing what God had told him to do in the first place. If Jonah had not Obeyed, God might have killed him and would have to answer for his Disobedience.
Jonah decided, was persuaded to be Obedient, to do the task that God wanted in the first place. Some of you have been delivered out your dilemmas and still need to be Obedient To The Lords Command whatever it may be, else, death may come and you will have to answer for Your Disobedience.
Now, here is another Understanding that you need to grasp. We may be Obedient to what The Lord Jesus has told us to do, expecting things to go a certain way, to be in our favor and when it is said and done we find it did not turn out the way we expected it to.
Jonah 3:1-4 KJV
"1 And the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the second time, saying, 2 Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee. 3 So Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city of three days' journey. 4 And Jonah began to enter into the city a day's journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown."
Jonah EXPECTED that in forty days Nineveh would be destroyed, taken over, crushed. That Death would come upon all who were in the city, but God changed His Mind because Repented with a True Repentance, turning away from their wickedness, being Obedient to God.
We can expect the same for us and others, that when we Truly Repent it can change Death in to Life!
Jonah 3:5-10 KJV
"5 So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them. 6 For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered [him] with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. 7 And he caused [it] to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing: let them not feed, nor drink water: 8 But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that [is] in their hands. 9 Who can tell [if] God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not? 10 And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did [it] not."
There are times that we are going to get Angry at Jesus because WE Expected things to go a certain way and they do not. We do this because of a Lack Of Understanding Of Know Jesus, it is a Pride within the Flesh called Self Righteousness. We Must Repent of such things, humbling ourselves before Jesus and Allow Jesus to do things His Way, not ours!
Jonah faced this very issue, he was angry with God because He did not destroy Nineveh as He said He would. Jonah did not Understand that True Repentance Changes The Heart Of God and The Situations we are in or have been in. Jonah, like us, had to be Reminded Who God is, Who Jesus is, that He is a Merciful Loving God!
Even in Our Anger towards God, towards Jesus we can still find His Mercy to Repent.
Jonah 4:4-6 KJV
"4 Then said the LORD, Doest thou well to be angry? 5 So Jonah went out of the city, and sat on the east side of the city, and there made him a booth, and sat under it in the shadow, till he might see what would become of the city. 6 And the LORD God prepared a gourd, and made [it] to come up over Jonah, that it might be a shadow over his head, to deliver him from his grief. So Jonah was exceeding glad of the gourd."
Sometimes we have to be Reminded of God’s Mercy, of Jesus Mercy towards us and others. As James wrote, that we look into a mirror and see what manner of a person we are, but when we step away…we forget.
James 1:23-24 KJV
"23 For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: 24 For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was."
Jonah 4:7-11 KJV
"7 But God prepared a worm when the morning rose the next day, and it smote the gourd that it withered. 8 And it came to pass, when the sun did arise, that God prepared a vehement east wind; and the sun beat upon the head of Jonah, that he fainted, and wished in himself to die, and said, [It is] better for me to die than to live. 9 And God said to Jonah, Doest thou well to be angry for the gourd? And he said, I do well to be angry, [even] unto death. 10 Then said the LORD, Thou hast had pity on the gourd, for the which thou hast not laboured, neither madest it grow; which came up in a night, and perished in a night: 11 And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; and [also] much cattle?"
It is Not Easy going through Trials, Tribulations, Dilemmas and we all go through them, but we Must Endure until the end whatever it may be.
We must remember that we serve a God Of Love, we Serve Jesus who hears our cries, sees our dilemmas, knows our pains and griefs, sorrows, even being in despair. Jesus will answer in His Time in His Way, He will deliver us to His Glory … if we Allow Him to do so. Jesus will go to great lengths to bring you to Repentance, to His Glory, to His Will. Do not ignore The Work Of Our Lord that is in Your Lives and for The Sake Of Others, for Jesus Does Care, Jesus Does Love YOU!!!
Amen and Amen!!!
Email: godsonlyfoundation@gmail.com
Website: ApostleLee.com
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