Don’t run away and hide from God.
Run to Him in honesty.
Gracious God knows exactly how rebellion hurts people.
A few examples of human rebellion are to
- fail to love God and the people He created
- act in ways which tempt others to worry or misbehave
- fret over things that are not ours to control
- ruminate on past failures which have already been confessed and absolved
Jonah 2:1
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| …“I called out to the Lord, out of my distress, and he answered me… Jonah 2:1 |
“Jonah deserves death, not deliverance. Yet the Lord graciously rescues him by miraculous intervention. Jonah recognizes the greatness of the Lord’s compassion and expresses his thanks in prayer. The apostle Paul, like Jonah, once felt that he had “received the sentence of death,” but the God “who raises the dead” delivered him… All sinners deserve the sentence of everlasting death. But the God to whom salvation belongs has, in Christ, rescued us and given us new life. • Gracious God and Father, thank you for redeeming me from sin, death, and the power of the devil. Move my tongue to glorify you in praise and witness. Amen.” The Lutheran Study Bible
Apart from Christ…“No God, no truth. Know God, know truth.” author unknown
- grace and mercy seem too good to be true
- human arrogance takes priority over Christ’s humility
- there’s no regret when integrity fails
- outlook is hopeless and negativity sets in
Light reminds us we cannot hide darkness, nor can we fix it on our own.
God created us to instinctively know right from wrong. God knows motives. Darkness of our own and others proves no one can always make things right. Neglect, isolation, doubt, and lies damage or wreck healthy attitudes and
emit oppression, estrangement and unjust blame onto others and toward
God.
God pursues us to save us with His goodness.
Christ’s goodness became ours when He took our own mistakes upon Himself at the cross and brings us into His Light. Patiently, He points us to recognize the reality of sin, run from evil, and turn toward Him. In mercy, He forgives believers who fear Him; He saves sinners from the of punishment and condemnation reserved for those who continually reject the Holy Spirit’s work of repentance.
God infinitely keeps His promise in Christ.
The loving-kindness of our Lord is higher than our finite minds can comprehend. Scripture is a fountain which pours goodness into the empty cracks and depressed pits of our imperfect lives. The Word softens hearts and shapes minds with wisdom for grace-filled communication—power to confess, receive confessions, forgive and receive forgiveness. Confidence and gratitude flow from reception of the Word of Truth.
While we muddle through the confusion of this life, it is necessary to grasp the abundant opportunities to regularly hear the Word. Worshiping alongside other sinners sitting in the pews, we receive gifts of pardon and peace which come to us in Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Together, we are reminded we may trust Jesus who bled for and shields us from danger. We worship Him with music and prayer.
“Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution, how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard, while God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will. … For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source. That is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers,” Hebrews 2:1,11
Everyone messes up—knowingly or not. Everyone will face damaging, disturbing, confusing, goofed-up, unhealthy situations in one form or another.
Consequences we own, guilt we carry, distress we combat, things gone wrong we fail to fix throughout life—Jesus compassionately knows every hardship, weakness and screw-up.
Christ humbled Himself to love, cleanse and heal us and our enemies.
God’s own Son was forsaken to leave His place of glory, come to us through Mary’s womb to grow up perfectly obedient, willingly suffer, be executed, lay in a tomb for three days (where he left our sin in the belly of the earth) and rise from the dead! He spoke, prayed, wept, ate, and walked among us. His painful, sweaty, bloody work paid the price to rescue us from hell and give us peace. Jesus ascended to live with God the Father who hears confessions through Christ’s intercessions for us. His gracious merciful love for us allows us to openly lay our burdens down at the foot of His cross. The sacrifice He made covers believers with grace, forgiveness and redemption. His benediction is spoken in church.
God’s desire is to restore and nurture. Everyone who receives His blessing trusts Him and lives joyfully now with certain hope of forever.
Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to counsel and comfort us in this life until the next. He listens to the people He created who trust Him and answers according to His will. As God sent Jonah to preach to sinners, the Holy Spirit empowers believing sinners to be there with and for others, to take the first step toward sharing the Gospel. Jonah didn’t expect things to turn out like they did. We don’t always completely understand why God allows the suffering He does, nor His tough-love plans, nor His perfect timing and will. Outcomes of His plans sometimes become clear, yet, they might not always be revealed in our lifetime. By God-given strength, we tell of the preservation and protection given to us, honestly look at what repentance truly is, and trust Him to refresh and renew us despite our weakness. Only God knows the heart of those with whom we share our peace and if they will receive or reject His gift of faith.
“Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 1 John 4:11
“Our soul waits for the LORD; he is our help and our shield.” Psalm 33:20
Why is God’s Word so important to take seriously? It is the power to believe Christ’s atonement for all sin is 100% necessary for salvation.
Faith in Christ comes by hearing, so, listen! On the Last Day He will return to…
- receive faithful believers to live forever with Him in perfect peace and glory—where all types of illness, weakness, sin, confusion, pain, distress, tears and even death will no longer exist, ever!
- separate from Himself unfaithful people who reject the Truth; unbelievers will suffer forever.
It is a mystery that we won’t sleep; we will be changed in a moment.
“When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: ‘Death is swallowed up in victory.’”
1 Corinthians 15:54
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