Jonah

[00:00:00] Good morning. Do the children have their notes? Are there children that don't have notes that need them? Okay. I did not get a copy of those this morning. I hope I hit all the exact lines that I need to. My message this morning I entitled, Not Just Any God, But Jehovah God. [00:00:36] I'm continuing our study in Jonah. We're working through the book of Jonah. Last time I read the entire book. I'd like to read chapter 1 again this morning. Jonah chapter 1, 1 through 17. There's a lot of things in Jonah that I just didn't realize were there. There are a lot of things you can really, if you take a book and actually dissect the book and study it, spend a lot of time on a certain book, there's a lot there. [00:01:07] Jonah 1, 1-17 Now the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it, for their wickedness has come up before me. But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord, and went down to Joppa, and he found a ship going to Tarshish. So he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with him unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. But the Lord sent out a great wind into the sea, and there was a mighty tempest in the sea, so that the ship was like to be broken. [00:01:40] Then the mariners were afraid, and cried every man unto his God, and cast forth the wares that were in the ship into the sea, to lighten it of them. But Jonah was gone down into the sides of the ship, and he lay, and was fast asleep. So the shipmaster came to him, and said unto him, What meanest thou, O sleeper? Arise, call upon thy God. If so be that God will think upon us, that we perish not. And they said every one to his fellow, Come, and let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause this evil is upon us. So they cast lots, and the lot fell upon Jonah. [00:02:12] Then said they unto him, Tell us, we pray thee, for whose cause this evil is upon us. What is thine occupation, and whence comest thou? What is thy country, and of what people art thou? And he said unto them, I am in Hebrew, and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, which hath made the sea and the dry land. Then were the men exceedingly afraid, and said unto him, Why hast thou done this? For the men knew that he fled from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them. Then said they unto him, What shall we do unto thee, that the sea may be calm unto us? For the sea wrought, and was tempestuous. [00:02:47] And he said unto them, Take me up, and cast me forth into the sea. So shall the sea be calm unto you. For I know that for my sake this great tempest is upon you. Nevertheless the men rode hard to bring it to the land, but they could not, for the sea wrought, and was tempestuous against them. Wherefore they cried unto the Lord, and said, We beseech thee, O Lord, we beseech thee, let us not perish for this man's life, and lay not upon us innocent blood, for thou, O Lord, hast done as it pleased thee. So they took up Jonah, and cast him forth into the sea, and the sea ceased from her raging. [00:03:23] Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice unto the Lord, and made vows. Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. had to do with small pebbles, that kind of thing. [00:04:01] If someone can tell me exactly how lots were cast, I would be very interested to hear exactly how. I mean, we think of drawing straws and that kind of thing, but I would like to know exactly how that worked, if somebody can tell me. But anyways, they cast lots, and that was the way, I mean, the soldiers cast lots for Jesus' garments. We know that was the way they did it, of deciding, you know, like flipping a coin or drawing straws. That was their method of determining things. And yet it was a different, I mean the lots were cast in a more, the Lord directed the casting of the lots. [00:04:40] Anyways, Jonah is chosen and then they say in verse 8, then they talk about, you know, okay, now tell us who you are, where you're from, this and that, you know, tell us about yourself. And then verse 9, And he said unto them, I am in Hebrew, and I fear the Lord. And one thing we want to notice in verse, when the storm came up, in the verse 5 there it says, Then the mariners were afraid and cried every man unto his God. [00:05:12] That God there is, the way they have written there is small g, g-o-d. The, it's also, that is also the same word that is later on in that, in verse 6, when the shipmaster talks to Jonah, he says, call upon thy God, and it's capital G. That is exactly the same word that's used when it's translated with a small g, it's Elohim. And Elohim was, like we would say God, and we know who God is, we would say God with a capital G. [00:05:43] Someone from another religion would call their God, God An Elohim would actually apply, it's actually, translated literally would be God It's a plural word And just kind of the same way we would use God to mean, we would say false gods That could be the same way But in verse 9 when he says I am in Hebrew and I fear the Lord [00:06:13] That word is Yehovah We would say Jehovah The Lord which made the sea and the dry land God or gods, big G or little g is Elohim Lord is the self-existent or eternal Jehovah Jehovah That's the Jewish national name for God When the Jews talked about God, they used the word Jehovah [00:06:43] Now the significance of that is If you look at verse 10 You see all of a sudden There's an extreme reaction of fear Before we get down to verse 10 Let's look at 1 Corinthians 8, 4-6 As concerning, therefore, the eating of those things that are offered in sacrifice unto idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is none other god but one. [00:07:16] For though there be that are called gods, small g, whether in heaven or on earth, as there be gods many and lords many, you know, every religion has their god, has their deity that they look to. But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in Him, and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by Him. And then a question I have is, how would you describe your God? [00:07:49] If somebody said, how is the God that you serve, who is that God? How would you describe your God to someone? 1. Is it important to you to establish the fact that He is the Creator of all things? Jonah said, I am in Hebrew, and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, which made the sea and the dry land. A lot is made of God being a God of love, a God of judgment, and God is a God of love, and God is a God of judgment. [00:08:21] But none of this matters if He is not God the Creator. God is our creator. If God did not create us, then he is that. God being God gives him authority. Don't take me wrong. But the fact that he has made us is why we answer to God. God is our creator. And that is what we see over and over in the world today. People are trying to take that away from Christianity. You can mix creation and evolution. God made some of the things and helped some of the other things evolve the way they are. [00:08:55] Or, you know, they water it down. God is God the creator. That is the foundation on which Christianity stands. If you take away creation, you destroy Christianity. It's not a mistake that Satan has had the whole system, the world system, trying to take away creation from us. We can, I've talked about this before a little bit, but I think it's worth repeating. We can fight abortion, we can fight gay rights, we can, whatever it is that we look at and we think this is where we need to attack. [00:09:32] that's shooting at the top of the tower and they're shooting at our foundation which is creation if we can establish creation as being God the creator it destroys all the other things that the world stands on if they can destroy creation it destroys Christianity so that is a very important thing Don't ever let anyone take the value of creation to Christianity away from you. [00:10:08] That is a vital building block. Okay, verse 10. Suddenly we see a different reaction. When Jonah came on the ship, he told them who he was, well, maybe not everything, I guess. But they still knew about him. But when he said, I am a Hebrew running from Jehovah, verse 10, Then were the men exceedingly afraid, and said unto him, Why hast thou done this? For the men knew that he fled from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them. [00:10:42] Now I don't know, you could almost take that as saying that when he came on ship, he said, yeah, I'm running away from my God. That didn't really mean anything until they knew it was Jehovah. Maybe when they said in verse 8, we pray thee for who's, what is your occupation, where are you coming from, and all this. Maybe that's when he told them that he was running away from Jehovah. But either way, all of a sudden they realize we've got a man on our hands that is running from Jehovah. Who was Jehovah to them? [00:11:14] Why was that significant to them? We're going to be reading some verses in Exodus. Exodus 11. Exodus 11, you can turn to that if you want. Exodus 11, 9-10 And the Lord said unto Moses, Pharaoh shall not hearken unto you, that my wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt. And Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh. And the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart, so that he would not let the children of Israel go out of his land. [00:11:47] God hardened Pharaoh's heart. We're going to see why. Exodus 14, verses 15-18 And the Lord said unto Moses, Wherefore criest thou unto me? Speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward. This is when they're at the Red Sea and Pharaoh's coming behind them and they're all distraught. Speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward. But lift thou up thy rod, and stretch out thine hand over the sea, and divide it. [00:12:19] And the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea. And I, behold, I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they shall follow them. And I will get me honor upon Pharaoh, and upon all his hosts, upon his chariots, and upon his horsemen. And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I have gotten me honor upon Pharaoh, upon his chariots, and upon his horsemen. Now, if we go to Joshua, Joshua 2, 9-11 [00:12:52] Joshua chapter 2, 9-11 This is when the spies came to Rahab and she's talking to them Now this makes sense of what happened with God Going back to that, with God hardening Pharaoh's heart And I have to give Tom credit for this, he brought this up in Sunday school a while ago when we were talking about this In one way we look at Pharaoh and we say, why, maybe if God hadn't hardened his heart he would have repented. We read often where Israel fought against their enemies and God told them, utterly destroy them. [00:13:32] We read that and we say, that was God and his judgment, God is just, and we don't have a problem with that. I believe what happened here, Pharaoh and his people were being judged by God. God declared judgment on Pharaoh. Okay, you have been judged. That does not mean that he was done with Pharaoh. He still had a use for Pharaoh, but at this time there was no turning back for Pharaoh. Pharaoh had denied God, Pharaoh had been set up as a God, and this was where Pharaoh's point of no return had come. [00:14:09] God had use for Pharaoh yet, but he had declared judgment on him. Okay, Joshua 2, 9-11, Rahab is talking to the spies. And now we get an idea what happened when God hardened the Egyptians' hearts, hardened Pharaoh's hearts. We already read, And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord. But now we read of Rahab, And she said unto the men, I know that the Lord hath given you the land, and that your terror is fallen upon us, [00:14:46] and that all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you for we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites that were on the other side of Jordan, Sihon and Og whom you utterly destroyed and as soon as we had heard these things our hearts did melt neither did there remain any more courage in any man because of you for the Lord and that word Lord is Jehovah Jehovah for Jehovah your God he is God in heaven above and in earth beneath probably these men here on the boat with Jonah they had heard these same stories they knew and another thing we have to realize when we hear about God now we have direct access to God through Jesus Christ it was not like that then they Jehovah was the God of the Hebrews he wasn't as accessible to these men as he was to us today [00:15:44] Okay, so we can't really fault them for that. But they had heard of Jehovah, they knew about him, and they feared Jehovah. So that is why, verse 10, they were exceedingly afraid. Now they knew this storm, this whole mess we're in, is from Jehovah. verse 11 notice that they said unto him what shall we do unto you they asked him I think that they realized he was a prophet [00:16:15] they probably realized he was a prophet since God had asked him to deliver a message maybe he even told them I am a prophet of Jehovah and even a faulty messenger from Jehovah was better than a plea to their false gods notice one that got real rough and they knew there was someone from Jehovah there All of a sudden they weren't pleading to their gods anymore. Okay, what does Jehovah have to say about this? And here again, they're asking Jonah, what should we do? And Jonah tells them what they need to do. [00:16:48] He says, okay, that's verse 12. But in 11, they ask him what to do. The point there is, just because, okay, Jonah had already failed God. He'd let God down. He'd ran away from God. But just because we have failed God doesn't mean God can't use us. Don't let the idea, the excuse, the problem that you have failed God in the past keep you from serving Him now. You've never failed God too often that He can't use you. God still had a use for Jonah. [00:17:23] So verse 12, he gives them the message And he said unto them, take me up and cast me forth into the sea So shall the sea be calm unto you Notice he said, take me up and cast me forth He's learned his lesson I feel, I had always thought that Jonah When Jonah found himself in the belly of the whale That's when he repented I'm starting to think maybe about right in here is where Jonah is starting to repent He's starting to realize, I've failed God, and now I'm going to get what I've got coming to me. [00:18:00] Jonah's learned his lesson. He's started to accept his punishment. And we know the end of the story, but Jonah has no reason to believe that when these men throw him out, that he will survive. He believes he's being thrown out to his death. He did not look at them and say Thus saith the Lord God says throw me out He must have started to think of others Up to this time he had never really thought of others What effect him running away from God on their ship [00:18:34] Was going to have on them We don't know how the story would have went But if Jonah had refused to be thrown overboard I don't know, maybe they all would have died I don't know what would have happened there But by Jonah being disobedient and not following God, he endangered the lives of the whole crew and the ship. What tempest is upon others because of you? Is there things in your life, and this is just something that I thought of, [00:19:05] is there turmoil in someone else's life right now because of your disobedience, It's your unwillingness to do what God has asked you to do. Just something to think about. Do you accept your share of the blame? Jonah took 100% of the blame. He said, I realize because of me, this is upon you. And are you willing to give yourself up for the sake of calming the storm? Jonah knew the only way for this storm to be calmed was for him to be thrown over. [00:19:37] He didn't say, row harder, let's try some more. And then I'll tell you what I've got in mind. He said, throw me over, this is what's going to happen. Verse 13, nevertheless the men rode hard to bring it to the land. They asked God for a message, they asked Jonah, he gave them a message, and they didn't do it. Why do we ask for a message from God, and then when we don't like what he has to say, [00:20:09] We try extra hard to do it another way. We're trying our best, we're doing our best, and we pray, God, give me an answer. So God speaks to us, well, that's not the answer I wanted. So now we're going to put a little more extra effort in doing what we had already been trying that wasn't working. Are you rowing against God's storm? Remember, this storm came from God. Has He spoken to you about something, and rather than do it God's way, You just row harder. Just some more things to think about. [00:20:44] One thing that I thought about with this was Bill Gothard, the one thing that really stuck out to me when we were here for the seminar, the introduction that was given, was he said, and I don't know if this is word for word, But when the word of God has spoken to a subject, don't ask for a revelation on that subject. Because you will get a revelation, but it won't be from God. [00:21:16] God will never contradict his word. If there is something that the Bible speaks clearly to, and you say, Okay, this is what I believe the Bible says, but I want further confirmation from God before I accept it. You can pray, you can do whatever, and all of a sudden you'll be getting a leading from God. The Lord just really gave me peace about this. Well, if it's against scripture, it's not from God. God will never contradict his word. The word God has already spoken on a lot of subjects that we face today. [00:21:50] We need to accept what God has given us and then maybe ask for a deeper meaning or more revelation. But we do not ask for a confirmation on something that God has already spoken clearly in his word Verse 14 Wherefore they cried unto the Lord and said And what does wherefore mean? When you see a wherefore, you see what it's there for They tried their best, they rode hard, and they could not [00:22:23] This was God's storm, this was Jehovah and reawakening, They were being asked to do, they had an exceeding fear of Jehovah, and they, we would call heathens, were being asked to execute a prophet of Jehovah. [00:23:10] You ever thought about it? Jonah was a prophet of God, and he had told them they needed to throw him over. Here again, we know the end of the story. To us it's just them throwing him over so the fish can swallow him. They thought they were throwing him over to his death. That is why they, I mean, it's pretty easy to get on them for not obeying right away or, you know, not understanding, but they believed they were killing this man by throwing him over. And there again, they were calling on Jehovah now. [00:23:43] They had given up on calling on their God. Verse 15. We see what happened when they threw him over. So they took up Jonah and cast him forth into the sea, and the sea ceased from her raging. I don't know if that was an instant calm or if the wind stopped and the water eventually slowed down. Either way, it was clear to them who stopped the storm, that the storm stopped as a result of throwing Jonah over. Only the one who made the sea could calm it at his will. We have a lot of technology, but we can't stop a hurricane, we can't stop a tornado, we can't stop a storm on sea. [00:24:20] God is the only one that can do that. Psalms 89.9 Thou rulest the raging of the sea. When the waves thereof arise, thou stillest them. Psalms 107.29 He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still. Luke 8.24 And they came to him and awoke him, saying, Master, Master, we perish. This is when the disciples were out on the boat with Jesus in the middle of a storm. [00:24:51] Then he arose and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water, and they ceased, and there was a calm. You know, we know later on in the story, God prepared a fish. We know that when Jonah was thrown out, the waves were calmed, the storm ceased. Man is the only thing in nature that doesn't always obey God. Man is the only one that has been given a free will. [00:25:25] We aren't robots. We obey God out of our free will. We are the only ones that are that way. And then we notice that the men, only when they submitted to God's will, Only when they did what God had been asking them to do were they able to find peace. And I think that can apply to our lives too. Only when we have submitted ourselves to what God is asking us to do, only when we are in His will are we really going to have a peace in the midst of whatever we're in, [00:26:02] whatever storm we may be going through. Submitting ourselves completely to God can give us a peace in the middle of a storm. Verse 16. Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly. There's that same as in verse 10. They feared the Lord exceedingly and offered a sacrifice unto the Lord and made vows. In verse 10 they were afraid, and verse 16 they feared. [00:26:38] There's probably a little different meaning there. It's more of a reverence or an awe rather than being afraid for their lives. But we see that God will be glorified. Whether we choose to participate or not. Right now, as far as these men know, probably, unless they got a glimpse of what happened Probably right now, these men believe that Jonah has died They're not praising God because Jonah was spared [00:27:10] Here again, it's so easy for us to know, we know the whole story So we assume things, but these men probably believed that Jonah was dead right now Now, they, and so as far as they know, Jonah is completely out of the picture. But they still brought God glory. They, God was going to be glorified whether Jonah participated or not. If God had asked Jonah to go to Nineveh, Jonah got up and went to Nineveh, God would have been glorified in that. [00:27:45] Nineveh was spared. God could have been glorified through that. But even with Jonah out of the picture, God was glorified. Are you participating in what God wants to do at Calvary Chapel? Or have you died as far as anyone can tell? Sounds a little funny, but if you pass out of the scene, God will still be glorified. How much are you participating in what God wants to do? [00:28:19] And another, along that same line, if Calvary Chapel isn't going to participate in what God is doing, someone else will. We need to make sure that we are doing what we can to be a part of God's plan for our lives. Something I've been thinking about lately, and it's one of those things, how do I get from here to there? But if every one of us that are now married and have homes and have debt and we are entangled in society, [00:28:58] I guess it's a challenge to each one of us to think about how do we let things that are earthly things entangle us in our ability to serve the Lord. I'm not saying this as far as what Jonah did, but I'm saying this as far as participating in what God wants to do. And I guess the thing I'm thinking of is youth going into service. [00:29:32] And I think that's a good thing. I'm not in any way playing that down or saying it's not a good idea. I encourage that. But how many of us are looking forward to retirement because that is when I will have... Youth have a lot of energy, but they don't have a lot of experience. When I have lived my life in a way that I didn't become overloaded with debt or overloaded with things that I can't afford [00:30:03] or that take so much of my time, am I looking forward to retiring? Maybe retire early so that I can go into service somewhere so that the church can send their best is the way it's said sometimes. You know, we sometimes think we need to keep the best here at home and send out those that aren't really needed because we don't really need them. Well, that's with Sheldon and Ellen. We almost thought we, boy, can we really afford, can the church spare them? You know, they are so needed and they're such a vital part of what's going on here. [00:30:37] And we see what happened when Sheldon left. But anyways, I think Lynn's doing a good job. And I think we see what's happened when people, when they are available, when we can go. Just something to think about. What do you see when you look ahead, however many years that is for you, when you are a senior citizen maybe, do you envision yourself being retired so that you can just relax and slough off? Do you see yourself being retired and debt free and whatever so that you can serve? [00:31:14] Just something to think about. Verse 17, Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. At least the fish obeyed. I don't remember where I read it, but where the fish was, where Jonah was spit out upon the ground, it says not even a fish can stomach a false prophet or a weak prophet. But the fish did obey. The fish did what he had said, or what God had prepared him to do. [00:31:49] And we know that Jesus talked about this being a type of his death. As Jonah was in the belly of the whale three days and three nights, so will the Son of Man be in the belly of the earth. God wasn't just saving Jonah, he was saving the people of Nineveh. He could have raised someone else up. But this was also his way of preserving the life of the people of Nineveh. And along that line, there are skeptics, and I don't have any way of verifying this story, but it's one that I came across in the Sword Scrapbook. [00:32:29] It's kind of a long story, but it's very interesting. In the Daily Mail of December 14, 1928, Mr. G.H. Henn, a resident of Birmingham, gave the following testimony. And then this is his letter. My own experience was in Birmingham, England about 25 years ago when the carcass of a whale was displayed for a week on vacant land in Navigation Street outside New Street Station. I was one of 12 men who went into its mouth, passed through its throat, and moved about in what was equivalent to a fair-sized room. [00:33:07] Its throat was large enough to serve as a door. Obviously, it would be quite easy for a whale of this kind to swallow a man. So there's a testimony of the size of the whale, as far as that being a possibility. In the late Sir Francis Fox's book, 63 Years of Engineering, the manager of a whaling station informs us that the sperm whale swallows lumps of food 8 feet in diameter, and that in one of these whales they actually found the skeleton of a shark 16 feet in length. [00:33:39] There is an incident related by Sir Francis Fox, which he assures us was carefully investigated by two scientists, one of whom was M. de Parville, the scientific editor of the Journal des Debats of Paris, France, well known as a man of sound judgment and a careful writer. The incident is as follows. In February 1891, the whale ship, Star of the East, was in the vicinity of the Falkland Islands, and the lookout sighted a large sperm whale three miles away. [00:34:16] Two boats were lowered, and in a short time, one of the harpooners was enabled to spear the fish. The second boat attacked the whale, but was upset by a lash of its tail, and the men thrown into the sea, one being drowned, and another, James Bartley, having disappeared, could not be found. The whale was killed, and in a few hours the great body was lying by the ship's side, and the crew busy with axes and spades removing the blubber. They worked all day and part of the night. Next day they attached some tackle to the stomach, which was hoisted on deck. [00:34:48] The sailors were startled by spasmodic signs of life, and inside was found the missing sailor, doubled up and unconscious. He was laid on the deck and treated to a bath of seawater, which soon revived him. But his mind was not clear and he was placed in the captain's quarters where he remained, two weeks a raving lunatic. He was kindly and carefully treated by the captain and by the officers of the ship and gradually gained possession of his senses. At the end of the third week he had entirely recovered from the shock and resumed his duties. [00:35:21] During his sojourn in the whale's stomach, Bartley's skin, where exposed to the action of the gastric juice, underwent a striking change. His face, neck, and hands were bleached to a deadly whiteness and took on the appearance of parchment. Bartley affirms that he would probably have lived inside his house of flesh until he starved, for he lost his senses through fright and not for lack of air. Bartley is also said to have explained that after being hurled into the sea, the waters foamed about him, evidently from the lashings of the whale's tail. Then he was drawn along into darkness and found himself in a great place where the heat was intense. [00:35:56] In the dark he fell around for an exit and found only slimy walls around him Then the awful truth rushed into his mind and he became unconscious Till the seawater bath revived him on the ship's deck And where now are the critics who have declared the swallowing of Jonah to be an impossible feat? I just thought that was a real interesting story And it's said to be true, it's said to be authentic But like Walter Beachy said You know, if the Bible said Jonah swallowed the whale, I'd believe it. [00:36:28] But I do believe it's very possible for Jonah had to, and it also says God prepared a fish. So, who knows what he did to prepare the fish. I entirely believe that this story actually happened the way it sounds and not as in a, you know, Not literally, but in a sense. No, I believe it was literal. Okay, getting back to what God saved Jonah, and he saved Nineveh by saving Jonah. [00:37:04] And that's also what happened to Joseph when he was sold into slavery. Joseph could have went off, lived a life of slavery and died, and no one ever heard of him again. But he told his brothers, God spared me to save a lot of people Jonah, through his managing of the food and of the famine, was able to save the lives of lots of people And also, Jesus rising again Jesus rose again to give us life [00:37:38] That was the reason Jesus needed to rise again Jesus' spirit could have went to heaven, the body could have laid there, and Jesus would have been okay. But he had to rise again for us to live again. I believe God has a plan for each one of us. We're not just alive to be alive, live our life, and die. [00:38:09] I believe God has a plan for you. God had a plan for Jonah. Jonah tried to get out of it, go do something else and we still see where God ended up convincing him and the thought I'd like to leave you with, God's going to do a work, are you going to participate? Participate. I just think it's important to us to think about it. What am I doing to participate in what God is wanting to do? Let's stand for prayer. [00:38:47] Lord, I thank you for this day. I thank you, Lord, that you have risen again for our sakes, Lord. You have brought us eternal life. I pray, Lord, that you would help us to live in the abundance of that life, to participate in what you are doing. I just pray, Lord, for wisdom, for direction for each one of us here. I pray that you would speak into our lives as individuals and give us, Lord, a clear vision, a clear understanding of what you would have us to do and what we can do for you. [00:39:25] I thank you for the story of Jonah, Lord, and that you don't give up on the first time, but that you are willing to continue to work with us even though we fail. I just pray, Lord, that you would go with us this week and help us to serve you with all our hearts, to be what you would have us to be. Thank you for caring, Lord. We ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen.