Monday 7/16/12 Fish Stories

Jonah 1:1 - The word of the Lord came to Jonah, son of Amittal:  2 "Go to the great city of Ninevah and preach against it, because its wickedness has come before me."  3 But Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish.  He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port.  After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarsish to flee from the Lord.  (NIV)

Good Monday Morning, my dear brothers and sisters.  It is a beautiful morning here at the Southern Location of the North Pole, and thanks to our Lord Jesus, who is in charge of the weather, sent rain upon us last evening.  Monday and the day we pray for our leaders, President Obama, and his family and our other leaders in Washington, DC.  Pray also for the leaders in your state house, local governments, and please remember the ones who run our schools.  We also have a lot of prayer requests, one I want to just list the way it came in.  This one from Joe Zimmerman.

Hi Pastor Dan!  Joanne's surgery was not 5 weeks ago.  She had stopped breathing and had difficulty breathing during recovery from the anesthesia.  I thought I had lost her.  She spent 3 days in ICU.  She was discharged to bed rest at home, probably too early, but you know insurance companies.  Several days later her incision collapsed and infection set in.  Back to the surgeon and more blood tests.  More antibiotics and pain meds.  Rest for 2 more weeks, then blood tests.  Went to the surgeon this past Friday.  Infection is still there.  More antibiotics and pain med.  I change the bandages 2-3 times a day.


Please continue to remember her in your prayers.  We are thankful some healing is taking place but there are still serious medical issues with her spine and the fusion hardware they put in.  Thanks for your concern.  I read and keep your email every day on my computer.  I enjoy reading them and what is happening in your ministry!  Joe Zimmerman

Prayers also for Barbara who had knee replacement surgery and when the medical staff tried to move her they messed up the doctor's work and she is now in a cast.  For Patsy Emig, as she recovers in a rehab hospital.  For Vicki, whose plate seems to keep getting fuller with health issues, Pam Bower, as she has injections for her back, for Grant Crockett's back and shoulders, for Dolores Lehman, as she struggles each day just to move, yet she moves out for Jesus day.  For Matthew Lehman, our son, who is in the Holy Spirit Hospital with major problems with depression.  Sterling and Luella Funck, Doris Lively, both from our flock at the Bridges.  For Leslie, who is working on losing weight for health reasons.  Also prayers for (name removed by me) for weight loss.  Pray for NASCAR driver 24-Jeff Gordon, as he flies to Africa to be with former President William Clinton (pray for him also) as they open a cancer center.  Folks, NASCAR and its drivers support a lot of charities.

Big prayer list today, so let me get to the message and try and keep that short for today.

Fish Stories (Day One).  For everyone who has ever gone fishing, there is a fish story in their life.  Some are true, and some have been, well, for the most part, enlarged!!  I once heard this little note.  "I ask a simple question, the answer I surely wish, are all the fishermen liars, or do all the liars fish?" (author unknown)

The Word of the Lord came to Jonah!  Now let me stop right away and digest this first part of the scripture. The Word of the Lord came to Jonah!  How often does the Word of the Lord come to you?  Would you know if it really came to you?  And would you really listen if it did come to you?  Folks, each day I pray to the Lord for a lot of reasons, to thank Him for things and to talk to Him about other things and yes, to ask Him for things.  Then I need to listen, and brothers and sisters, God will always answers, however, often I do not like His answers.  Sometimes His answers just come in results I can see, and other times He just speaks to my heart.  And folks, He does it for everyone, not just a select few, or pastors.  One thing I ask for daily is the message, and I try my best to follow what He tells me to do.

What happened when Jonah received this Word of the Lord?  Let's look.  "Go to the great city of Ninevah and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me."  But Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish.  So we see that the Lord sent His word upon Jonah and what did Jonah do?  He ran away, he took off, he flew the coop.  For whatever reason, Jonah did not want to take this assignment from God and go and preach where God wanted him to go.  So he ran from God, and brothers and sisters, as we will see in the next few days, you just cannot run from God.  You might think you can, but you can't.  He sees you where you are and how you are, and oops, excuse me, I need to go get dressed, yes, He even sees what you have on at the computer.  (I am dressed a tad, but no shower yet.)  (Good thing we do not have a smell-a-vision yet.)  Anyway, God knows where we are and what we are doing all the time.  Wow, a good time to just pause and say this prayer ...

Dear Lord, please forgive me of my sins, those I have done and those I even thought about doing ... in Jesus' name, Amen.

I know many men and women who have prayed for direction in their lives and even in the ministry.  I know that sometimes doors are closed and people pray for another opening.  Sometimes this could be in the ministry or just on you getting a job.  If you have faith in God, real faith and you have been laid off from work, pray and go job hunting, He will open another door. Remember, it might not be just what you want, but what He wants for you at this time.  EVEN IF IT PAYS LESS THAN UNEMPLOYMENT COMP.

You can feel that tugging in your hearts, and I know in the ministry, sometimes directions get changed.  It has happened to use in Carry The Light Ministries over the years, and even at the age of Dolores and I, we along with our ministry team will make changes to grow in faith and grow in God.

But what happened to Jonah when he tried to run from the Lord?  See you tomorrow, as Jonah starts out in a ship.

Dear Father in Heaven, please look over our prayer requests and act upon them according to Your will for us, and please talk to us and help us listen for Your answers ... Lord, thanks for the rain and all You do for all of us.  In Jesus' name we pray.  Amen.

Now go forth, sharing your blessings and listening for God to answer you after you have spoken to Him, and listen for Him, even if you forgot to pray ... and remember this:  I love ya, Pastor Dan.