DEEP SEA PRAYING

TEXT:

Jonah 2 

 Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish, 2 saying,

“I called out to the Lord, out of my distress,
    and he answered me;
out of the belly of Sheol I cried,
    and you heard my voice.
3 For you cast me into the deep,
    into the heart of the seas,
    and the flood surrounded me;
all your waves and your billows
    passed over me.
4 Then I said, ‘I am driven away
    from your sight;
yet I shall again look
    upon your holy temple.’
5 The waters closed in over me to take my life;
    the deep surrounded me;
weeds were wrapped about my head
6     at the roots of the mountains.
I went down to the land
    whose bars closed upon me forever;
yet you brought up my life from the pit,
    O Lord my God.
7 When my life was fainting away,
    I remembered the Lord,
and my prayer came to you,
    into your holy temple.
8 Those who pay regard to vain idols
    forsake their hope of steadfast love.
9 But I with the voice of thanksgiving
    will sacrifice to you;
what I have vowed I will pay.
    Salvation belongs to the Lord!”

10 And the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land.

English Standard Version (ESV)

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

THE 3:16 VERSES OF THE BIBLE, PART 7: "FLIRTIN' WITH DISASTER"

3:16 BIBLE VERSE:
Then Eli called Samuel and said, "Samuel, my son." And he said, "Here I am." (1 Samuel 3:16)

OPENING LYRICS TO "FLIRTING WITH DISASTER":

I'm travelin' down the road
I'm flirtin' with disaster
I've got the pedal to the floor,
My life is running faster
I'm out of money, I'm out of hope,
It looks like self destruction
Well how much more can we take,
With all of this corruption

We're flirtin' with disaster,
Ya'll know what I mean
And the way we run our lives,
It makes no sense to me
I don't know about yourself or what you want to be, yeah
When we gamble with our time,
We choose our destiny  (Molly Hatchet 1979 Writers: Brown, Hlubek)

It is a terrible thing to try the patience of the Lord. We humans do it all the time, including those of us who not only know better, but serve Him in a mighty way.  This propensity to sin, with which we were born, will always with us until we pass on to Glory at the end of our natural life on earth.

That being said, there comes a point in our spiritual maturity when we do not do the things we used to do….just because. How many times have we made a deal with God that “if You get me out of this one, I will never…..(fill in the blanks)”.  Those kinds of promises are extremely impossible to keep. That is why the bible tells us to NOT make oaths like these.

For the normal person, God’s grace is sufficient. He forgives our sins and removes them from us, as far as the east is from the west. For a church leader, pastor or priest, the standard is ten times higher!!  There is not just a higher level of conduct expected but a ministry leader’s respect and reverence for God has to be as close to perfect as humanly possible.

There is something in the background story behind 1 Samuel 3:16 which should give us pause, especially with anyone who thinks “flirtin with disaster “makes life more interesting.  Eli was the priest of the nation Israel and had a tremendous spiritual mantle/burden/responsibility to carry.  Samuel was still a boy, yet because the Lord had pre-ordained him, he became Eli’s understudy.

Eli had two sons – Hophni and Phinehas, who were also priests in the Lord’s Tabernacle and were supposed to conduct themselves, according to the requirements of their office. But they were both evil and corrupt men who not just violated God’s laws openly but flaunted their corruption.

Under Jewish law, all priests serving  in the temple were provided for by God. They were fed, clothed and supplied by the tithes and offerings of Almighty God. The Lord was their Provider. But Hophni and Phinehas, instead of allowing the sacrifice to be offered to the Lord first – as any sane person knows, had their henchmen accost those approaching the altar with their sacrifice. The priestly hoodlums, I mean helpers, would then grab more than their share of the choicest portion of the Sacrificial Animals BEFORE it was offered to God! They cut off the prime cuts first and gave the meat to Eli’s sons.

These men not only stole the prime cuts of meat for their own families but these two “priests” had illicit and immoral relations with young women in the temple, in broad daylight, right in the open…. IN THE TEMPLE OF GOD! God Himself warned His high priest Eli about his sons’ conduct, but Eli refused to do anything about it.  Not just that but it appears that Eli himself was eating ill-gotten meat because the bible says when he fell over and died in his 90’s he was a very fat man! In those days, not many people were fat, far less a minister of God. Potlucks were not invented in church  yet. 

The Lord finally had enough and determined to not only take Hophni and Phinehas out of the picture, but not just these two evil men who called were literal Levite priests. God also decided to remove their father Eli from the land of the living. 

Here is where we come to 1 Samuel 3:16 where the message for the young boy, who would become the greatest prophet/Judge of Israel – came loud and clear from God.  The Lord had given Eli endless warnings and upbraiding about his wicked sons, but he ignored God on purpose and never listened to the Lord. 

This is the direct message from God Himself for the young Samuel from 1 Samuel 3: "11 Then the LORD said to Samuel, “Behold, I am about to do a thing in Israel at which the two ears of everyone who hears it will tingle. 12 On that day I will fulfill against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from beginning to end. 13 And I declare to him that I am about to punish his house forever, for the iniquity that he knew, because his sons were blaspheming God, and he did not restrain them. 14 Therefore I swear to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli's house shall not be atoned for by sacrifice or offering forever.”

There are several things God’s people should learn from this and it is IMPERATIVE you and I take this to heart:
-  When God speaks, we had better listen. He still speaks audibly to the hearts and souls of His people through His Spirit. For the most part, He speaks through His Word.

-  When God speaks and warns us of sin of both omission and commission, we will be wise to address that sin as soon as possible. Many maturing Christians know it is better to keep short accounts both with God and man. This means we do not let the sun go down on our sin or the devil will magnify it until we are sunk in the mire and wallowing in dirt and despair. Do not be like the rest of the world and modern western “Christianity”.

-  God will not put up with continuing blatant sin from those who claim to work for Him. This sin which flaunts its perversion and causes others to disparage God will be judged and judged harshly. His Holy Name is more than important to Him because He is the Holy One of Israel. The task for us today is to be constantly aware we carry His Cross on more than our sleeves. He bear His Mark to a lost and dying world. If we are the only Bible that people read, we had better make sure our character is not related to the official misconduct of some of our great Bible heroes. There are enough fallen preachers in the world today, who have caused the name and ministry of Christ to be scoffed at by the world. Let us not be the ones, who are indulge in – Flirtin’ with Disaster! 

THE "3:16" VERSES OF THE BIBLE. PART 3: "DO AS HE SAYS"

So Moses numbered them according to the word of the LORD, just as he had been commanded  (Numbers 3:16)
Has God ever said “go” and you said “no”? Has He said “slow” and you say “how fast”? Then the Lord said “come” and you run.  The Lord Himself did that several times in Scripture and continues to do so now in, via the promptings of the Holy Spirit. 

Several Bible heroes failed in their response to the specific directive of the Lord. The prophet to the pagan northern Kingdom of Israel – Jonah – was instructed to go to the despised city of Nineveh (now Mosul in Iraq) and preach salvation to them. Nineveh was just as bad as the bad guys in the middle east now, if not worse. Their brutality was  unsurpassed and well known in Jonah’s homeland – the 100% rebellious land of Ancient Israel. They had suffered under the Ninevites….and would suffer again, when God sent them to completely wipe out that country from His memory.

Jonah’s disobedience led to an entire ship full of people being put in danger as God sent a storm to teach Jonah a lesson.

The Lesson here is this – when you’re a Christian worker, church leader, volunteer or even a mature Christian who should know better and  God asks you to do something, it is a wise to listen. It is not only smart to do so, but also to act on what He says. Failure to even obey reluctantly could endanger others and then cost you a huge blessing.

King David was told by God to NOT take a census at a certain time during His reign. (CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ACCOUNT). David was a man who should have known better at this stage in his life, but he went ahead and ignored God. He took the census anyway.  The Bible literally says that “Satan rose up against Israel and incited David to take a census” (1 Chronicles 21:1).   

What does this mean? Well, it means that Satan, the world and the flesh knows our weaknesses and always goes for the reaction which is predicated on Pride. David’s huge pride led him to disobey God, take the census and people died. Our pride does the same thing when we think we know better than God since we are the ones who know this or that process for victory. The system also says it will work this way, if we do it and do it now. So we not just disobey but get ahead of the Lord and often fall flat on our faces. 

Moses did as he was commanded here. It is simple and plain as day. Later on, NOT doing as commanded would cost him his natural life. This time, Moses’ taking of the census would serve the plans of the Lord well, for organizing the new nation of Israel by tribe and function. Moses did as God said. We should too, when He reveals His Will, through His Word, no matter what the task or how BIG the job. Think of Moses - one man - attempting and completing, the job of doing a Census of up to two million people. He had no computers, calculators or clipboards. All He had was the Lord and that is more than enough.

TRUTH: A follower of the Lord,  a Christian will be called on by God to do certain things which accomplish three purposes: Advance the Kingdom, Mature the Believer and Glorify God. This is what we committed to when we were first saved and surrendered our lives to Christ.

LESSON: When Abba, our Father Who IS in Heaven calls, it is more than advisable to say yes the first time….or even reluctantly, while still doing it. Disobedience has dire consequences for not just the disobedient but quite possibly, for generations to come. 

(Graphic Credit Here)

THE PRAYER OF MOSES - PART 6

7 For we have been consumed by Your anger, and by Your wrath we are terrified.
8 You have set our iniquities before You, our secret sins in the light of Your countenance.
9 For all our days have passed away in Your wrath; we finish our years like a sigh (Psalm 90:7-9)
Fortunately, Moses was not speaking of himself personally here, even though his sin in striking the Rock for water, when God told him specifically to SPEAK to the Rock here in Numbers 20. Moses was punished for this and never got to lead the children of Israel into the Promised Land - Joshua did. 

Moses saw firsthand the terrible anger of the Lord. From the Ten Plagues of Egypt, which were directly right at each of the ten pagan demonic gods of the Egyptians to fiery serpents which killed thousands of rebellious Israelites in the desert, and everything in between – Moses knew it was a fearful thing to fall into the Hands of the Living God. Nothing could shake the image in his head of God’s discipline of the grumbling ungrateful elders of Israel who were led out of Egyptian bondage and wanted to go back under it. Moses knew how swift and fierce the Judgment of God against evil doers could be.

Secondly, as the author of the Book  of Genesis, Moses was given the historical record of the early days of mankind directly from God. He knew exactly what he wrote in Genesis 6 which led up to Great Flood of Genesis chapters 6-9. All of corrupt mankind except Noah and his family and two of each kinds of animal, were wiped off the face of the earth, by a God Who said He regretted making man. That scroll he wrote must have stuck in his mind until the day he died at age 120.

So we know the Mighty Power of God to destroy evil. He will do so again. John 3:17 said that ( in the First Coming) Jesus did not come to condemn the world but to save it. This is true.  However later on, Romans 1:18-32 describes the filthy condition of mankind today, from the highest to the lowest level across the entire world. The coming Judgment of Jesus in the Book of Revelation, and as described in detail in Isaiah and Ezekiel 38 and onwards, is not a picnic. The opportunity for humankind to be saved will also be over. The armies of the United Nations and the antichrist will be no match on that day for the Commander in Chief of Heaven’s armies as He reclaims His creation and sets up His 1000 year Throne in Jerusalem. 

Psalm 90:8 mentions our iniquities – the worse of the three levels of sin.  Sin, Transgression and Iniquity are ascending in their offense against Holy God. Romans 1:18-32 contain the indictment against all evil men and women; the corrupt culture, massive pagan religions which destroy people and deny God and a synagogue of Satan which claims the Name of Christ for respectability but is a wolf clothed as one of Jesus’ sheep. Those iniquities of Psalm 90 precipitate the Wrath of the Lamb.

When the Books of all mankind are opened before the Great White Throne of God, all secret sin will be revealed and judged of those who were not sealed as truly born-again Christians. (see Psalm 90:8b).  They – the majority of all human kind- will be eternally separated from God and depart with more than a sigh. However when Moses wrote this part of the prayer in Psalm 90:9b, he did not know of the Redemption plan of Yahweh, His best Friend in the desert for 40 years, to step off the Throne 1500 years later and sacrifice Himself on a Cross for the Hope of all who believed! It was not revealed to Him.

Our takeaway (and/or Action Point) from this portion of the Prayer of Moses (Psalm 90:6-9) is that we do not have to pass from this life to the next with a dissatisfied or scared sigh! We should check out of here with all flags flying, dirty boots and torn jeans from fighting for one more soul with the Gospel of Christ –whether through prayer or evangelism!  At the very least, it is the easiest thing in the world to have all our sins, transgressions and iniquities forgiven so we can march under the Banner of the Christ, with Jesus as our Lord and Master right into eternity, where He has prepared a place for us with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob!

                                                                                                              (Photo Credit Here)

THIRTY ONE DAYS OF BIBLE TRUTHS - DAY 8 (REST)

BIBLE VERSE: Therefore, a Sabbath rest remains for God's people (Hebrews 4:9)

TRUTH: Nine times in 11 verses from Hebrews chapter 4, verses 1-11, God uses the word “REST”! He goes on to say, through the author of the Book of Hebrews, who will and will not enter into His Rest.  The original word used is not rest per se, but "katapausis" ….which means abode or divine dwelling or in essense, heavenly home. God basically speaks more here about who gets into heaven and His eternal rest. Those of whom He spoke – the Israelite rebels in the desert – perished twice: both in the desert and in eternity.  But because of Jesus and the Cross, we have the opportunity for Salvation and not rank disobedience like the majority of mankind – alive and dead.  

The Christian who is walking closely in all things, with Abba Father, actually has that rest right now! We can feel it – it’s called “the peace that passes ALL understanding”. The world cannot comprehend and Christians in Name Only are baffled by it and ridicule true believers.  The result of all of this? We must do as Verse 11 says “be diligent to enter that rest”. That is – the immediate eternal Sabbath rest of God which actually begins at the point of one’s conversion to a True Christian.

(Image Credit here)

HOW DO WE ROB GOD?

“For I the LORD do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed. From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you, says the LORD of hosts. But you say, ‘How shall we return?’ Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ In your tithes and contributions.You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you. 
Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the LORD of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need. (Malachi 3:6-10 ESV)

More and more discerning believers are discovering the gems which the Holy Spirit put in plain sight for us to see....right in the open! The problem is not just that hardly any Christians read the Bible anymore (in the industrial west) but even those few who do, skip the Old Testament and therefore are missing Rhema revelation from the Lord! Almost every prophet, before the so-called "silent" 400 years (pre-the Birth of Christ) has a prophesy from the Holy Spirit directly related to these End Times!  As we have already seen, the Book of Malachi is one of those!

So what does today's passage mean, in these terms? In a nutshell, from Verses 6, 7 and 8, we basically see that God's people not just ignored and treated Him as irrelevant, but they did not give their offerings (first fruits) as they were supposed to! This is a mirror image of not just society today, in general, but increasingly the modern American church has made up its own god.  We already know that most people who call themselves Christians do not even tithe 5% of their income, (far less the 10% which the Bible implies) but when they do, they do it grudgingly. 

But you see, in the final analysis, God is not interested in our puny little money. He is not even interested in the massive wealth of unbelievers like Bill Gates or Steven Spielberg. What God cares about is how He is robbed of the Respect, Awe, Fear and Worship which is due! He cares about our lack of obedience, from Adam in the Garden to Alice making breakfast in the kitchen to send little Johnny and Sarah off to grade school in the morning. ALL of us have sinned and fallen short of His Glory...everyone from Pastor, priest and president to the small child.

Right now, in these last days, as America's leaders chose the enemies of Israel, we have become an anathema to Him; a curse if you will.  But He is a loving God. He is a gracious God. He is a compassionate God. He is a merciful God. Even with all the disobedience we have shown Him. Even with all the disrespect, blasphemy and thumbing our noses at Him, He still says to America and the church "Return to Me and I will return to you"! THAT IS THE GOD OF HEAVEN! That is not some made up god who has you doing unbiblical things which the TRUE God of Heaven never asked for, nor did it even cross His Mind This is the God of Heaven and Earth...and the owner of everything (even Gate's billions or Trump's real estate)....that is Who He is.

My friends, do not treat His offer of forgiveness and Grace lightly! It is ONLY for a time. That time is now. See Him while He can be found, because one day soon, it will be too late for you....that Day is coming. It is the fearful Day of the Lord. Return to Him, now. Amen.

THINK ON THESE THINGS - WEDNESDAY

MOSES - THE FIRST CHRISTIAN!

As our Jewish brothers get ready to observe the DAY OF ATONEMENT (YOM KIPPUR) on Friday, I wish to continue into our five week long Hike through Hebrews 11, with purpose! We are now up to Verse 23, but need to look at Verses 23-29 in two consecutive parts before Friday. The reason - MOSES!


I have divided them into two sections dealing with the Faith of Moses and how it relates to this feast day. To wit, verses Hebrews 11:23-26 (NKJV) says:
²³ By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden three months by his parents, because they saw he was a beautiful child; and they were not afraid of the king’s command. 
²⁴ By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, ²⁵ choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, ²⁶ esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward.

Please re-read Verses 25 and 26 in BOLD RED above and note these two things:

- While he was rescued and raised by Pharoah's daughter, once he knew better, he embraced his identity as NOT an Egyptian, but a man of destiny.

- While he could have had anything he wanted as the Prince of Egypt, Moses then threw in his lot with God's people at the time - the Hebrews (meaning "those who have crossed over).

BUT, more importantly, we see something unique here about Moses! HE KNEW CHRIST! WHAT? Whatchutalkingbout, Willis? Jesus was not born until around 3 BC and Moses lived about 1500 years before! 

I will say this loud and clear - MOSES WAS THE FIRST CHRISTIAN!

Who do you think gave Moses the LAW on Mount Sinai - Jesus!

Who do you think was in the Pillar of Fire by Night - Jesus!

Who do you think was in the Cloud by Day - Jesus!
Who do you think was in the ROCK that Moses hit, when God said to speak to it - Jesus!

Who do you think was with Moses and Elijah on Transfiguration Mountain - Jesus!
Who is this all about - JESUS!

What's the Name? - JESUS!

WHAT'S THE NAME? - JESUS!!!!!!!!!!

Something happened to Moses when he spent all that time with God on the Mountain of God and throughout his 120 years on this earth. He was not called into this amazing Walk with God until he was 80 years old and spent the next 40 serving God, listening to God and writing the First Five Books of the Bible, under power of the Holy Spirit.

He died at 120 years of age, not because of ill-health. He was as strong as an ox. Here is where the Reproach of Christ comes in and where WE must be careful in our disobedient mortal spirit! 

When God calls us to a task. He equips us. But never lose sight of this - IT IS HIS WORK, NOT OURS. MOSES WAS SO FILLED WITH PRIDE AND RAGE AT THE GRUMBLING ISRAELITES that he disobeyed God! Read Numbers 20 from verse 8 where the Account of Moses striking the Rock to let the water out, instead of SPEAKING to it as God told him to!

This earned an immediate rebuke from God Who told Moses "because you disobeyed me and STRUCK the ROCK instead of SPEAKING TO IT, as I asked you, YOU WILL DIE"!

You know WHY this is important and why this Reproach had to come from Christ, through God? Here is Scripture explaining Scripture in 1 Corinthians 10:3 "and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ!!!"

The Rock that gave the Water for 3 millions Israelites, living water, WAS CHRIST!! Remember we said above, Jesus was everywhere with the people of God and Moses! MOSES HIT THE CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSE WITH HIS STICK! 

Disobedience by a man of God, who has more accountability than most, leads to big problems! Moses. This is one big lesson! We must never lose our cool Our love for God and Christ and His people should ALWAYS our personal hangups; peeves; pride and quick tempers...because the latter will get us in trouble!

But Moses is still getting his reward right now as we live and breathe! That reward was visible when he and Elijah were last seen on the Mount of Transfiguration, talking to the Lord Jesus in stunning and shining White Light! Moses did land on the Promised Land, after all!

(image of BING images)