TODAY'S VERSE:

Lamentations 3:40 Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the Lord.

In Prep school we learned that Jonah was in the belly of the big fish for 3 days and 3 nights. God placed him there so Jonah could examine his thoughts and actions, then repent (admit he sinned and make the decision to obey God). Even though God will probably not send a big fish to swallow us when we sin, we are still called to examine our own thoughts and actions, and then repent as Jonah did.

Jonah didn’t have any light to see with while in the fish! He had to just be there in the dark. However, he did have the light of God’s Word in his soul! That is the most important light of all! He could examine himself and he could see where he needed adjustment! This is what God wanted for him. It doesn’t matter where we are if we have God’s Word in our souls. What a blessing it is to know this - let us rejoice!

1Thessalonians 5:16-22 Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. Do not quench the Spirit; do not despise prophetic utterances. But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good; abstain from every form of evil.

We believers are commanded to “examine everything carefully,” including our own lives, like Jonah did. We are to especially examine our love for one another, for this is God’s will, for God IS love! Love produces good fruit, like mercy, something Jonah was in short supply of before the fish swallowed him up.

1 John 4:7-9, 12 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love. By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him…No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us.

Our enemies will try to frustrate God’s will for us. Like Jonah’s, our own flesh doesn’t want us to examine ourselves by the light of the Word. Our flesh, one of our enemies, resists the Holy Spirit’s convicting ministry in our lives. In fact, as the Apostle Paul described it, our flesh is at war with the Spirit!

Galatians 5:16-17 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please.

Do you know what this means? It means that both the flesh and the Spirit influence us. It is up to us to examine our own thoughts and actions and decide which influence to follow, which to be “filled” with. We know we are filled with the Spirit when our fruit reveals it to us.

Gal. 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

Jonah was bitter, angry, and judgmental, even though he was a chosen prophet of Israel. Being bitter, angry, and judgmental is bad fruit. When we act this way, we are being self-centered, nothing like Jesus. When we humble ourselves under the convicting ministry of God the Holy Spirit, we will know the truth, and the truth will make us free - free from the bondage of bitterness, anger, and judgement – free to live for others!

We are to: Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you (Ephesians 4:32).

Christmas season is upon us and the best presents we could ever give to others is: kindness, forgiveness, and selfless giving. Maybe the greatest gift you’ll be able to give someone this Christmas is the Gospel of Jesus Christ! Jesus, after all, is the “indescribable gift” (2 Corinthians 9:15). This gift can’t be beat! We want others to enjoy it every second of every day, like we do! Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the life! Let us be imitators of God, who IS love, and share the gift of His Son, in this new found love of ours.

Ephesians 5:1 Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.

If you happen to find yourself in the “belly of the fish”, like Jonah was, pray to God and examine yourself. Be humble, regardless of what the Holy Spirit reveals to you. Learn to focus on others, in love, the way Jesus does with you, and you will be delivered!

John 15:12 This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you.