Doest Thou Well To Be Angry?

"But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry."  Jonah 4:1.  God had sent Jonah to testify against the wickedness of Nineveh.  God was giving them a warning and an opportunity.  All of the lost are given such by God.  Nineveh heard the message and turned from their evil way.  The punishment from God did not come as a result of Nineveh's repentance.  Jonah became angry.  God asked Jonah the question, "Doest thou well to be angry?"  Jonah 4:4.  Why would Jonah be angry over the salvation of this people?  We are to rejoice in the salvation of the wicked as they turn from their evil way.  Jonah should have rejoiced and praised God for His willingness to allow repentance unto Nineveh.  His heart should have abounded with thanksgiving that the message he had brought to them was heard.  We all need God's mercy for we all have sinned.  God wills that sinners turn from their evil and repent.  God offers opportunity for redemption.  Believers are to be the Jonahs of our day and time.  We are to sound forth God's warning and opportunity.  As we watch the evil turn from their wickedness, we rejoice that God's message has been heard and accepted.  God does not delight in the death of the wicked, and neither should we.

Alive For Evermore

"I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and death."  Revelation 1:18.  This is an announcement of victory.  This is the faith of every believer in Christ.  This is the assurance of all of the redeemed.  This is the stone upon which Christianity is established.  No founder of any religion, except Jesus Christ, can make this claim.  Jesus Christ lived, died, and is alive for evermore.  The tomb could not hold Him.  Death could not bind Him.  Jesus Christ, the Son of God, lived in human flesh.  Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was crucified upon the cross.  Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was buried in a grave.  And He arose.  Glory unto God Almighty for Jesus Christ arose.  Death had no power over Him.  Hell could not destroy Him.  Jesus Christ is the conqueror and the gospel announces His conquest.  Redemption flows from heaven's fountain because He is alive for evermore.  Death and hell shudder because those enshrined in the tombs shall one day come forth because Jesus Christ has the keys of hell and death.  Christ is alive and all believers will be made alive.  Yea, even, for evermore.  Grave clothes shall be cast aside.  The triumphant march from death's tomb to heaven's gate will begin on the grand morning of the resurrection.  And, the shout of every believer in Jesus Christ will be,  He was dead and is alive for evermore.  Amen and amen.

For I Am Holy

"But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation.  Because it is written, Be ye holy, for I am holy."  I Peter 1:15-16.  God declared His holiness to His people during the Old Testament period in Leviticus 11:44.  God is holy, and therefore, His people are to be holy.  We are to maintain holiness in a world of defilement.  We constantly witness the impurity of people.  We see it in their actions.  We hear it in their speech.  God has called us to separate ourselves from the evil about us, and live lives of holiness.  God has not called us to that style of living that we cannot perform.  He has established no standard that we cannot meet.  Holiness is to have no part with unholiness.  Impurity has the power to blemish and scar.  As we walk amidst the corruption of the world, we must ever be mindful of the high calling that we have received from God.  We must ever be aware of the character of God.  We must seek to be as He is as we live in this sinful world.  Our thoughts, our speech, our actions, even our entire manner of life is to be as the holiness of God.  A holy life is a life without regret and without guilt.  A holy life is a secure life in the bosom of the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ.  Impurity will mar life here and in the eternity to come.  Let us be holy for our God who called us is holy.

Requests With Thanksgiving

"Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God."  Philippians 4:6.  Do not worry.  Instead, pray.  Prayer is the solution to all of our problems.  We must trust God to help us.  But our prayers are to contain thanks for all that He does for us.  I try to never make requests of God until I have given Him thanks for all that He has already given to me.  I am blessed beyond imagination.  I enjoy spiritual blessings through Jesus Christ.  My life is filled with hope and expectation because of God's love and care.  My journey through life has been blessed because of the presence of Jesus Christ.  Ask of God, but also, thank God.  Gratitude must flow like a constant stream from our heart.  I am thankful for this means of communicating the gospel of Jesus Christ.  I am thankful for all of you who read this page.  My request is that your life is blessed because of the words which are penned.  I ask God for more opportunities to proclaim His saving will.  I am so thankful that God allows lost humanity to come unto Him and know His salvation through Jesus Christ.  Do not allow the cares of this present life to destroy your happiness and contentment.  Pray.  Request.  Give thanks.

Speak The Right Word

"A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pitchers of silver."  Proverbs 25:11.  An apple of gold in a pitcher of silver would be worth much.  The wisdom of Proverbs compares this valuable commodity to a word that is spoken at the right time in the right way.  We all speak countless words each day to a number of different people.  What kind of impression is left upon those people who hear those words?  We can speak a word of anger or a word of profanity.  We can hurl a word of insult or a word of slander.  We can speak words that hurt and injure.  But, those words are never fitly spoken.  They would not be the apple found in the pitcher of silver.  A word fitly spoken needs to be carefully chosen before it leaves the mouth.  A word fitly spoken speaks encouragement and consolation.  A word fitly spoken is a word of life and strength.  A word fitly spoken actually reveals the heart and soul of the individual who speaks.  Words reveal our true character.  Words can leave one scarred or blessed.  Words can lift or tear down.  Words can inspire or destroy.  Even a word of rebuke needs to be spoken with kindness and love.  With a fitly spoken word, a marriage can be blessed, a parent and child relationship can be strengthened, and a lost soul can find its way home.

God's Pure Religion

"Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the Fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world."  James 1:27.  Our religion must be pure in the sight of God.  Pure religion before God is religion that God accepts.  If we would have this religion, we must visit the orphans and widows and keep ourselves unspotted from the world.  The concept is simple.  We must be in the world for there is where we serve, but we must not be of the world.  We must serve others, and yet, we must keep ourselves from the evil of the world.  We must separate, and not isolate.   Those who are in affliction need our care and concern.  We must help those who are in any need.  We are to serve others as we keep ourselves pure and clean in the sight of God.  God wants purity in our lives.  The world about us is an evil environment.  The sin of a society must not stain the character of God's chosen.   The careful and constant endeavor of God's people is to relieve the afflictions that assault the lives of others, and yet, not allow ourselves to be spotted with the blemishes of an evil world.  Let us serve in holiness.

Christ Hath Delivered Us

"Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father:"  Galatians 1:4.  The will of God was that Christ deliver us from the evil world.  This will of God was determined from the foundation of the world.  Christ delighted Himself in doing the will of the Father.  Christ was the appointed One who would deliver humanity from the evil of sin.  The world is evil.  The devil roams to and fro in the earth deceiving the hearts of the simple.  Christ hath delivered us from this world and has translated us into His kingdom, the church.  Our deliverance came as Christ gave Himself for our sins.  Jesus was without sin, and God accepted the perfect lamb of God as a redeemer.  God has become our Father because of the deliverance that Christ has provided.  The unselfish offering of Christ for us is our deliverance from the evil world.  We are now the citizens of God's kingdom.  Our citizenship in the heavenly realm has come at a great price that Christ paid as He submitted Himself unto the will of God.

God Will Help

"For I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee."  Isaiah 41:13.  Fear comes from many avenues.  But, those who trust in the Lord need not fear.  God will help us to overcome fear.  They who trust in the Lord know that God has all power and can do all things.  God goes with us through the many ways of life.  God holds our hand as we travel.  Whatever life throws at us, God is holding our hand.  In the storm, God holds our hand.  In our war against evil, God holds our hand.  God will never release Himself from us.  His stay with us is constant.  Therefore, let us not be afraid, but hold firmly to Him who will help us.  All of us need help in our journey of life.  Vain is the help of man.  God will uphold us in the battles of our journey.  God will strengthen us so that we might overcome and conquer.  God stays at our side.  Indeed, God is our help.  Therefore, let us not fear.  Fear drives out joy and contentment.  Fear robs life of victory.  The assurance of God with us and helping us calms our soul so that we need not be afraid.  God, the Lord, will help.

Communication Of The Gospel

"And I went up by revelation, and communicated unto them that gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, but privately unto them which were of reputation, lest by any means I should run, or had run, in vain."  Galatians 2:2.  The gospel is a message that has come by the revelation of God, and is for the purpose of saving the soul from sin.  The gospel must be communicated or taught.  We are to be teachers of the gospel.  We are not saved from sin by a vision, dream, or religious experience.  We have the gospel communicated unto us.  The communication of the gospel may come by an individual or preacher.  The communication of the gospel may be read and studied by using the Bible.  The communication of the gospel may come by reading messages that have been written.  There is in the New Testament many examples of conversion.  All of these examples, such as Paul who is the author of this passage, received a communication of the gospel.  God delivered a message that has the power to save the soul, and it is His design that the gospel be taught, or communicated from one to the other.  Let each of us hear the word of the gospel and receive that message into our hearts that we know the salvation of God.

I Am His

"For there stood by me this night the angel of God, whose I am and whom I serve."  Acts 27:23.  Belonging to Him is a choice.  I choose to be His because of His great love for me and the sacrifice that He made for me.  I choose to be His because of the blessings that He showers upon me.  I choose to be His because of the freedom that I have in Him.  Sin no longer binds me.  I choose to be His because of the mercy that is mine through Him.  I need mercy because of the hardships of life.  I choose to be His because of grace that is freely given.  I need grace because of failures in my life.  I choose to be His because of a peace that passes understanding.  Peace in the world is an impossible find.  I choose to be His because of an open line of communication with my Father in heaven.  At any time in my life, I can talk to my Father who doeth all things well.  I choose to be His because of constant companionship.  God never leaves.  I choose to be His because His rule is constant.  I choose to be His because His nature is forever the same.  What He is, He will always be.  I choose to be His because He is the Almighty.  Nothing is impossible with Him.  And His power is my power.  I choose to be His because of promises that He makes and keeps.  I choose to be His because I am confident that a future with Him is secure.  I choose to be His because of heaven and eternal glory.