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But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry . . . “That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish.” Jonah 4:1-2 For the last week, my son and I have been playing the new battlefield video game he got for Christmas. Before each game starts, players assemble in a staging area where…
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When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it. Jonah 3:10 Every morning, I read tomorrow’s passage, and then spend the day thinking on it, asking myself a few of questions. What…
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Jonah began to go into the city, going a day’s journey. And he called out, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” And the people of Nineveh believed God. Jonah 3:4-5 In today’s passage, Jonah finally went to Nineveh, preaching to the people that God was going to destroy them for their evil behavior. They…
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Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying, “Arise, go to Nineveh . . .” Jonah 3:1 I often write of the disastrous consequences of my addiction, but I don’t often write about all the warning tremors that came before the great earthquake. In my addiction, constantly terrified of discovery, I…
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And the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land. Jonah 2:10 I love the story of Jonah because I identify so well with this man who believed in God and yet remained so deeply flawed. I empathize with his self-inflicted misery and I understand that he only became…
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I called out to the Lord, out of my distress, and he answered me; out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and you heard my voice. Jonah 2:1 Whenever I meet someone struggling with addiction, I tell my brief story: I followed me and my destructive appetites to disaster, surrendering my faith, family, and career.…
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And the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah. Jonah 1:17 I recently had a bad day. My back hurt, I didn’t sleep well, and when my family stopped for breakfast at the gas station, I lost my wallet. I didn’t discover this until later, when I was getting a carwash, during which I…
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Pick me up and hurl me into the sea; then the sea will quiet down for you . . . Jonah 1:12 Whenever I’ve struggled with some self-destructive behavior, I’ve known what I needed to do to change long before I was willing to do it. This is not uncommon for the addict who knows he…
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I am a Hebrew, and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land. Jonah 1:9 I’m always a little surprised when I hear someone insist that if you learn the right things, it will necessarily translate into right behavior. Life just doesn’t work that way for me. Many…
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But Jonah had gone down into the inner part of the ship and had lain down and was fast asleep. Jonah 1:5 Most of us who have known addiction, have learned to scheme, hide, and lie, convincing ourselves that we can get away with behavior that we know should lead to severe consequences. Enslaved to…
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