Jonah 1:4 - Then the Lord sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up. 5 All the sailors were afraid and each cried out to his own god. And they threw the cargo into the sea to lighten the ship. But Jonah had gone below deck, where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep. 6 The captain went to him and said, "How can you sleep? Get up and call on your god! Maybe he will take notice of us, and we will not perish." 7 Then the sailors said to each other, "Come, let us cast lots to find out who is responsible for this calamity." They cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah. 8 So they asked him, "Tell us, who is responsible for making all this trouble for us? What do you do? Where do you come from? What is your country? From what people are you?" 9 He answered, "I am a Hebrew and I worship the Lord, The God of heaven, who made the sea and the land." 10 This terrified them and they asked, "What have you done?" (They knew he was running away from the Lord, because he had already told them so.) 11 The sea was getting rougher and rougher. So they asked him, "What should we do to you to make the sea calm down for us?" (NIV)
Good Tuesday Morning, my dear brothers and sisters. It is a beautiful morning here at the Southern Location of the North Pole. On Tuesday we have been praying for cures for diseases of all types. Starting today, I want to change the main prayer subjects. This does not come without thinking, for more and more people seem to be hurt or killed this way than any one other group. Starting today we are going to be praying for "drivers" on Tuesday. Starting with professional drivers, those who drive buses, including charter buses, city transit buses, and school buses, also those who drive trucks for a living, big rigs, dump trucks, cement mixers, trash trucks, mail trucks, and those trucks that deliver things up and down the streets. And remember please taxi drivers as they too are to be professionals. Now we also need to move on to all other drivers, like you and me. Yes, we all need prayers, and also pray for bikers, bikes with or without motors, for if in traffic they all are required by law to obey the road laws. Folks, it is in the Bible we should obey the law. Yes, Titus 3:1. Put them in mind to be subject to principalities and powers, to obey magistrates, to be ready to do every good work. (King James) (Magistrates = Police officers of all types) This would make breaking the laws of the road a SIN ... I just bet you did not want to hear that this morning!
Another prayer request just in, please pray for Betty Deardorff, mother of our prayer warrior, Bobbie Tucker. She was taken by ambulance yesterday to the hospital, updates to follow. Please keep our food pantry in prayer again through Thursday, as we have a major food drive going on at a football camp.
Let's get to the message.
Fish Stories (Day Two). Behind all fishing are good fish stories, and a lot of them are, well, made bigger, you know, one of those "little white lies" we talk about from time to time. However, the "fish stories" that I am talking about now don't always stop at fishing! Some happen in the woods during hunting season, some even happen on the road. I mean we have all been cut off from time to time, and sometimes a near miss happens. But often that near miss takes on another form, called road rage, and the stories about them can really grow. Water cooler stories are the same, and when the story can travel from person to person it really grows, and in fact a lot of it is just plain gossip which is of course a sin on its own. The bad thing about those fish stories that go on all the time, and I am not talking now about the little white lies, I am talking about those who have trouble telling a real story that is true the whole way through. Lesson, watch your stories. Now I love to tell one of those big whoppers once in awhile, but when done, I also like to say something like this ... Ah, I just made that up!! Okay, let me get back on point from the scriptures ...
You remember yesterday we said that Jonah was "running from the Lord," and he got on board a "ship" that was going his way. So let's pick it up. Jonah was now on the ship, and please remember that the ships back in that day were not the big ships like we have today, they were big, but were powered often by sailors rowing them. (Could you see a Carnival Cruise Ship being powered by men and women rowing the thing?) Anyway, Jonah 1:4 tells us "the Lord sent a great wind on the sea." Okay, let me point this out right now ... God controlled the storms back then and He controls them today and again I remind you He is the same yesterday, today and forever. Okay, moving on. "Then the Lord sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up." Now the storm was that bad that the sailors were afraid. Now I would think these sailors would be big, strong men and would not scare easily, but the Bible tells us that they were indeed afraid. So what did these big guys do? They prayed to their gods. Each had their own god, and we know the only one on board that worshiped the real, one and only Lord God, who is the Father of us all. But wait a minute, Jonah had run away from Him, He did not like the assignment that God gave him and he took off. Now folks, I pointed this out yesterday, you just cannot hide from God. But does God ever flee from us? No, but we might think so, when some things go wrong. We must remember that He did not say we will have a perfect life on earth, that comes IF we get to heaven. (Yes, God has rules, they are called laws and commandments and coming to Him and not fleeing.) But anyway, the storm got bad, the sailors prayed to their god, and then found Jonah sleeping below deck. They woke him and asked him to talk to his god, and of course we know that he had the real God. But Jonah also had God mad at him for fleeing. So the sailors blamed Jonah for the storm. They asked him all sorts of questions, who are you? where are you from? Etc. Then they asked him this, "What have you done?"
Now we know Jonah was fleeing, and then the storms really got rough, and rougher, and they asked Jonah what should we do to make the seas calm again? So then what happened ... oops, time's up, we will pick it up there on Wednesday.
Dear Father in Heaven, thanks for another day of life, and thanks again for this line, and thanks for always taking time to answer all of our prayers, even if we do not like Your answer. Help us to know that You know what is best for us, and to always honor Your will. Please look over our long list of prayer requests and act on them according to Your will. Lord, keep your people safe this day. Amen.
Now, one question before I sign off ... How many of each kind of animal did Jonah take with him? Now go forth and share your blessings. Love ya, Pastor Dan.
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