A reaaly insightful devotional

This is day 30 of a devotional I'm receiving from www.secretbelievers.org.
I thought it was really good, good enough to share ;-)

"He prayed to the Lord, 'O Lord, is this not what I said when I was still at home? That is why I was so quick to flee to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity'" (Jonah 4:2).

Jonah preached judgment to Nineveh. We love to condemn our enemies. Isn't that why there is so much war? We are determined to fight God's wars and we're always so sure that God is on our side.

We're not so sure that we're on God's side. If we were, if we truly agreed with God, we would be witnesses to all the world for Jesus Christ.

Jonah suspected all along what God would do with Nineveh. He knew in Jonah 1:1 when the Word of the Lord came to him. That's why he ran away from God. Jonah knew that if he preached the word of God, Nineveh would repent. Then God would be gracious and He would forgive.

He will do the same for you - if you repent and turn from sin.

How did Jo nah know? It was in his Bible. Jonah's prayer sounds amazingly similar to the revelation of God to Moses in Exodus 34:6-7. Jonah knew about God because he knew God's Book.

If we know God and love God, then we will...
know His Book,
love His Book,
obey His Book.

Jonah knew the book, but he still argued with God. Obedience is not automatic. We need to strive to understand God and His Book. The amazing thing is that God is so patient with Jonah. He even answers Jonah.

Jonah can argue with God and God doesn't condemn him.

I 'm sorry it's so long!:-)

Acts 3 records a story most of us are familiar with- Peter and John and the crippled man, “Silver and gold have I not…” So, yesterday on my way home from work (by the way my trip home through the infamous bus rank is rather interesting and deserves a blog which is due soon :-)), anyway, on my way home from work I stopped to get something to eat cause I feeling really overwhelmed and just needed some food to make it all better.:-) After getting a KFC twister and some chips (fries) I went to the bus rank and got on a kombi (minibus/van). As I sat down and reached for my chips, I noticed this boy sitting right opposite me. His face just said it all. My heart was broken, and I felt like a jerk eating my chips in front of him so I decided to give them to him. He reached out his hands and gratefully received them. I watched him eating ( not in a creepy, stalker kind of way:-)) and wondered what his story was. When it was time for everyone to pay the fare, I asked him how much he had to pay and I paid it for him. I still couldn’t take my mind off of him so I started to pray for him. As I prayed I thought of conversations I’ve had with friends about how overwhelming it can get as you live amongst people that are so needy. Once you choose to open your eyes, you see the need all around you and it can overwhelm you. I am not rich. I have had many days when I have wished I had this or that, but I have also had many days where I have thought, “Maybe if I give away all my clothes or all the money I have I can help make a dent in this huge, overwhelming problem”. There are days when I think I’m close to ‘poor’ and there are other days when I feel uncomfortably ‘rich’. All of this has led me to the realization that it’s not about rich or poor. I can give away my chips or money, I can be given this or that, but that’s not what it’s about. As I prayed for that boy, I realized that the most precious gift that I have to give him is my prayers, my prayers for God to be His all. What has sustained me in my times of plenty/ needed? Jesus, Jesus, Jesus!!!” I know what it is to be in need and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation…I can do everything through Him who gives me strength.” Philippians 4:12-13 When I think about meeting the physical need around me, I am overwhelmed and feel a sense of hopelessness, but when I realize that there is a spiritual need that the God of heaven and earth desires to fill, I feel a sense of freedom and excitement. There is a solution, there is hope- Jesus, Jesus, Jesus!!!! I prayed for that boy and I know He is in Good Hands- with or without my chips. :-)

Also, if you think about it, please pray for me. I am really having a hard time. I don’t know what the reason for this is. I know Satan is trying to distract me. I want to be offensive and not let him have his way. I just feel so weak. All I want to do is go to my little corner and cry! I just miss Kristen a lot and feel so detached and I don’t know really, I just am having a really hard time. I have great friends here that have been amazing and that I thank God for everyday, but it’s still hard. I just really need and would greatly appreciate spiritual support right now. I feel so vulnerable. Please also pray for everyone working with Children’s cup and people in ministry everywhere...Ephesians 6:18-20

International Day of Prayer

International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted World

- IDOP

www.idop.org

--- other cool sites
> love muslims thru prayer
> about islam
> interactive flash
> pray for kuwait
> mission china.de
> bible gems

Who You Are

Who You Are- Desperation Band

I won't be satisfied
I wont be found alright til I find
who You are
I'd climb every mountain
I'd travel the deepest valley
to find who You are

You, You cause the lame to walk
You open lips to talk
You're everything and that
is who You are
You, You calm the storms at night
You turn the dark to light
You're everything and that
is who You are

You, You cause the lame to walk
You open lips to talk
You're everything and that
is who You are
You, You calm the storms at night
You turn the dark to light
You're everything and that
is who You are

That is who You are

My savior
my healer
redeemer
that is who You are
creator
my maker
my father
that is who You are

That is who You are

:-(

You know those days when it seems like everything’s going wrong. It’s not even the big things. It’s little things like your cell phone buttons freezing just before your friends from the States calls so you can’t answer your phone, but you see it ringing and you’ve been wanting all day to talk to her because your day was kind of stressful and you were looking forward to a good conversation with a good friend that you really miss. Or you call to make an appointment for your drivers’ license test and you get hit on by the traffic policeman who is married!!!! And then you ask your dad to drop off some stuff for you so you can confirm your booking for the test because you won’t be able to do it yourself in time, and you give him all the information and even go through it twice then he calls to tell you he doesn’t have all the papers because he forgot what it was you said he needed to take with him.

So you hold yourself back from screaming in utter frustration and despair because you’re just so tired and overwhelmed and all you wanted was for these ‘little’ things to work out. And then tears well up, but you hold them back cause you’re in the office and you don’t want to break out into a weeping session in front of everyone, but you really just need and want to cry and cry about so many things, more than just these ‘little’ things that were the trigger. And you wish your friend whose call you missed because your phone wasn’t working was here so you cry out, “O Lord, please just hold me. Please, just hold me!!!!”