Lessons From Jonah…

Yesterday I spoke @ Hoosier Harvest Church for our Biography series we have been doing on Sunday mornings. We have been taking characters from the Bible and drawing out the lessons for our lives today. Ancient lives~Modern Truth. Sunday we talked about the life of Jonah. I thought I would share my notes from the message. This is a way that I read the Bible. Going verse by verse through the text then drawing out what the lesson to learn is. Think about this…

~ If you want inspiration – just read the Bible

~ If you want information – study the Bible

~ If you want integration (God’s word inside of you) – apply the Bible

10 Lessons from Jonah…

BIBLE: Jonah 1:1 “The word of the Lord came to Jonah…”

LESSON: 1. God SPEAKS to us.

Are you listening?
Are you seeking God’s direction? – People say “I am not sure what to do?” – ASK GOD!!! He has the answers.

BIBLE: Jonah 1:2 “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.”

LESSON: 2. We have a specific PURPOSE.

You were created with a mission
What is your dream? What is your mission?
You have to understand your “why” in life. If you don’t understand your “why” you will never know “how”.

BIBLE: Jonah 1:3 “But Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed to Tarshish.”

LESSON: 3. Don’t RUN from your purpose.

Jonah held something against Nineveh – Judgment, offense, anger
- Nineveh was a BRUTAL place
What keeps you from running after your WHY – Don’t let fear keep you from your mission.

BIBLE: Jonah 1:3b “He wend 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.”

LESSON: 4. Don’t WASTE your resources.

Where your treasure is there is your heart also
We only have so much time don’t waste – invest it
It usually isn’t a matter of not having enough time it is a matter of how you are using it

BIBLE: Jonah 1:4-5 “Then the Lord sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm aros that the ship threatened to break up. 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.”

LESSON: 5. Don’t get COMFORTABLE with sin.

Children of Israel missed the Promise Land – comfortable at base camp
Can’t justify your sin.

BIBLE: Jonah 1:6-12 “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 so that we will not perish.” 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. So they asked him, “Tell us, who is responsible for making all this trouble for us? What kind of work do you do? Where do you come from? What is your country? From what people are you?” He answered, “I am a Hebrew and I worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land. ” 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.) 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?” “Pick me up and throw me into the sea,” he replied, “and it will become calm. I know that it is my fault that this great storm has come upon you.

LESSON: 6. Your CHOICES will dictate the life you live.

~ John Wooden ~ “There is a choice you have to make in everything you do so keep in mind that in the end the choice you make makes you.”

What you do today determines your tomorrow
Jonah willingly surrendered to God – Jonah gave his life away

BIBLE: Jonah 1:15-17 “Then they took Jonah and threw him overboard, and the raging sea grew calm. At this the men greatly feared the Lord, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows to him. Now the Lord provided a huge fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

LESSON: 7. God will always PROVIDE a way.

What seems to be impossible is possible to God
Sometimes God calls us to accomplish the impossible
Your mission in life will seem impossible at times – MOSES & The Red Seas
God will never call you to something you can’t accomplish

BIBLE: Jonah 3:10 “When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he relented and did not bring on them the destruction he had threatened.”

LESSON: 8. FORGIVENESS is for everyone.

God forgave Jonah & Nineveh
God is a God of love, He does not just have love, HE IS LOVE!!!
It is NEVER too late to turn to God- Jonah with his last breath cried out to God

BIBLE: Jonah 4:1-4 “But to Jonah this seemed very wrong, and he became angry. He prayed to the Lord, “Isn’t this what I said, Lord, when I was still at home? That is what I tried to forestall by fleeing 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. Now, Lord, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live.” But the Lord replied, “Is it right for you to be angry?”

LESSON: 9. Don’t live a life of COMPLAINING.

Complaining only contaminates life
There is NO FRUIT in complaining
“To complain about what you DON’T have is to WASTE what you do have”
Children of Israel
- God rescued them and they complained
Charlie Brown is complaining to Linus that every day his lunch is the same. When Linus ask him who makes his lunch, Charlie says “I DO.