FRIDAY, August 15th, 2008

Hey Everyone! I am so excited that so many of you are involved in the devotional blog this time! Great Job! Stay Faithful until the End!

Tonight we are going to have a Party!! We will be watching "Jonah: The Veggietales Story" and then we will be playing some Sardines and having a "Good Ol' Time"!!! :)

Be There at 6:00PM and Bring $2.00 for Pizza!! Feel free to bring a friend if you wish! It will be GREAT!

A Few Thoughts From Yesterday:
Lucy: Ha!!!! You are so funny!! "Thay put sacks on their head!!!" You make me smile!!
Jake: I hope you can come tonight!!! gtg. see ya. :)
Kacey: I have to say the same thing: If God wasn't a God of second chances, then I do not know where I would be today!!
Brooke: I am proud of you for doing that!!! Use your influence on those Freshmen for God's Glory!
Amy and Tricia: Hurry and get here when you can!! We will eat first, so you probably will get here in the middle of the movie!! :)
Bethany: I hope that Emily comes tonight! :)
Tyler: Sorry Man! I wish that we could have cheeseburgers too, but everyone else wanted pizza!
Jessica M: I fo sho am glad dat u r comin :)
Jon: Ha! Why not get fatter?? You are crazy!
Jeff: If you really want too, then yes, you can bring noodles, but the pizza will taste MUCH better!
Ryan: Glad you are on here man!!!
David: Yes, you got it right!! Good Job! Are you coming tonight?
Mallory: ...cheeseburgers are good to...

YOU GUYS ARE LATE LEACHES, NIGHT OWELS, MOONLIGHT MOKEYS, DO YOUR DEVOTIONS EARLIER AND GO TO BED!!!!! :)

Jonah 4:

1 But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he became angry.
2 So he prayed to the LORD, and said, “Ah, LORD, was not this what I said when I was still in my country? Therefore I fled previously to Tarshish; for I know that You are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, One who relents from doing harm.
3 Therefore now, O LORD, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live!”
4 Then the LORD said, “Is it right for you to be angry?”
5 So Jonah went out of the city and sat on the east side of the city. There he made himself a shelter and sat under it in the shade, till he might see what would become of the city.
6 And the LORD God prepared a plant and made it come up over Jonah, that it might be shade for his head to deliver him from his misery. So Jonah was very grateful for the plant.
7 But as morning dawned the next day God prepared a worm, and it so damaged the plant that it withered.
8 And it happened, when the sun arose, that God prepared a vehement east wind; and the sun beat on Jonah’s head, so that he grew faint. Then he wished death for himself, and said, “It is better for me to die than to live.”
9 Then God said to Jonah, "Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?" And he said, "It is right for me to be angry, even to death!"
10 But the LORD said, “You have had pity on the plant for which you have not labored, nor made it grow, which came up in a night and perished in a night.
11 And should I not pity Nineveh, that great city, in which are more than one hundred and twenty thousand persons who cannot discern between their right hand and their left—and much livestock?”

Wow! Wow! Wow! Can you believe this! One would expect the last chapter to talk about how the people of Nineveh repented, and Jonah was so happy and He went back home and worshipped God unto the end of His days... However, that is not the case.

Jonah is guilty of something that we are often guilty of QUITE OFTEN!

Jonah walked through the city telling them that God was going to destroy them, and they repented, so God decided not to destroy them because of their change of heart, but Jonah did not like that...

Jonah was excited about seeing the judgment of God poured out all over that city... so when God said that He would spare Nineveh, Jonah was not happy, in fact verse one tells us that Jonah became ANGRY.

Jonah tells God in verses 1 and 2: God I did what you said, I went and told them, and I knew that you would never hold up your side of the deal... I knew that you would never destroy Nineveh... so just kill me!!!!!

I don't know about you, but If I were God, I would not have hesitated... If He said to kill Him, I would have just done it... But God is gracious and merciful... Wait!!! Isn't that the reason why Jonah wants to die in the first place!! UNBELIEVABLE!!

Jonah begins to whine and whine and whine and He is so overly dramatic!!!!

Literally, Jonah goes on top of a mountain to watch the city and wait for God to destroy it while He pouts.

God decides to teach him a lesson instead... Jonah is sitting there in the sun, so God grows a plant that provides shade for Jonah, but the next day, God sends a worm to destroy the shade... Jonah whines about that too... Then God says why do you have more mercy on that plant than on the 120,000 people in the city of Nineveh??

That is a wonderful point! So many times, I want to see God's judgment on other people, but I want Him to forgive me for my sin. Some times I even question whether or not God is fair whenever He forgives someone who is very mean to me, but I forget the fact that He has forgiven me of the same thing!! This is a wonderful picture of how bitterness will destroy your life.

Jonah, a man who had been forgiven greatly, had already forgotten about God's mercy on his life, and He simply wanted the entertainment of seeing the Nation of Nineveh destroyed!

We must not be happy whenever God pours his judgement on people... we must wish for mercy, so that they may repent!!!

See you tonight!