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For I know the plans I have for you,declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jer 29:11 |
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| Archived Manna: | |
Dear
Friend,
If you do not already have a habit of gathering daily manna the first thing in the morning (we can look at the example given to us in Exodus 16 and find the pattern for collecting daily manna), make it a habit. Establish your life and your schedule to allow you the necessary time to do your daily collection first thing every morning to give you the strength to make it through the day. And remember that today’s manna will not be sufficient for tomorrow; tomorrow’s manna must be collected tomorrow morning. Tuesday, November 21, 2017
Today's Passage : Today's Passage: Subject:Jonah’s Prayer Bible Verse:Jonah 2 (ESV) "Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish, saying, “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. For you cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the flood surrounded me; all your waves and your billows passed over me. Then I said, 'I am driven away from your sight; yet I shall again look.' The waters closed in over me to take my life; the deep surrounded me; weeds were wrapped about my head at the roots of the mountains. I went down to the land whose bars closed upon me forever; yet you brought up my life from the pit, O Lord my God. When my life was fainting away, I remembered the Lord, and my prayer came to you, into your holy temple. Those who pay regard to vain idols forsake their hope of steadfast love. But I with the voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice to you; what I have vowed I will pay. Salvation belongs to the Lord!” And the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land. " Message:
Jonah’s prayer, in the form of a psalm, is laden with meaning and makes unmistakable metaphor of the entire incident. He directly compares the whale to Sheol, the Hebrew concept of hell. But oddly, he does not treat his own disobedience or sinfulness, nor speak directly of his odd circumstances. It is a general psalm, praising God for his mercy in saving a man from the punishment inflicted on him by the world.
Jonah spends three days in the whale’s belly, just as Jesus would spend three days in death before his resurrection. It is said that Christ descended into hell during that time, in order to offer salvation to all those who had died before His coming.
So Jonah becomes, with this prayer, an important prophet of the Messiah, for his song is a statement of confidence and thanks: that God will rescue those who have been condemned by the forces of earth. We do not have to stretch far, to say that the inescapable sinfulness of mankind is the product of being created to live on earth, or that sin comes from our mortal incarnation.
Jonah contrasts people who worship idols, because they have forsaken their “hope of steadfast love.” But for those who worship God, that steadfast love will come to save them from the pit (of hell), even though God’s wrath has put them there. Thus Jonah specifically, if indirectly, prophesies the three days following the crucifixion, when Christ will offer His salvation to those who have already died.
And immediately after, we get the wonderful last line, “the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land.” He is saved from his destruction, as the faithful dead would one day be saved in the three days of Jesus’ death.
Meditation : Prayer : O Sovereign and almighty Lord, bless all your people, and all your flock. Give your peace, your help, and your love unto us your servants, the sheep of your fold, that we may be united in the bond of peace and love, one body and one spirit, in one hope of our calling, in your divine and boundless love..Amen |
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