Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time:  “Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you.” Jonah obeyed the word of the Lord and went to Nineveh. Jonah 3:1-3a (NIV) The word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time and Jonah obeyed and went to Nineveh. Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown God’s message to the people is bleak. Time is coming down to the wire; they only have 40 days until they will be overthrown. By overthrown, I don’t mean they might lose a coin toss or be defeated in a short battle. No, they face extinction. The…

Now the Lord provided a huge fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. From inside the fish, Jonah prayed to the Lord his God. Jonah 1:17-2:1 (NIV) In the second chapter of Jonah, which you can read HERE, we find Jonah drowning in a sea of shame. Here are three things I note in the first few verses for today: The Lord provides for us. Jonah was not saved from death by some random fish. No, “the Lord provided a huge fish to swallow Jonah.” God’s timing is perfect. Why three days? My guess is that is how long it took for Jonah to…

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 Tarshish to flee from the Lord. Jonah 1:3 (NIV) Today we start a 4 week devotional series on Jonah by looking at Jonah Chapter One, which you can read HERE. (Did you know that there are only 48 verses in the whole book of Jonah?) The year was 1977, I was 14, and the Movie was Star Wars. I did not see very much of the movie that night. My friend Carol and I had…

“Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through.  A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy.  He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short, he could not see over the crowd.  So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him since Jesus was coming that way.  When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately.  I must stay at your house today”.  So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.  All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the…

“I issue a decree that every part of my kingdom people must fear and reverence the God of Daniel.  For he is the living God and he endures forever, his kingdom will not be destroyed, his dominion will never end.  He rescues, and he saves; he performs signs and wonders in the heavens and on the earth.  He has rescued Daniel from the power of the lions.”  Daniel 6:26-27 Did you grow up reading the Little Golden Books?  That was how I learned my Bible stories.  I remember shopping with my mom, and there would be the big kiosk filled with the Golden Books.  Mom usually lets me get one…