Repent!

Luke 13:1-3 ESV

1 There were some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. 2 And he answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? 3 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. 4 Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? 5 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”

The Parable of the Barren Fig Tree

6 And he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. 7 And he said to the vinedresser, ‘Look, for three years now I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. Cut it down. Why should it use up the ground?’ 8 And he answered him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and put on manure. 9 Then if it should bear fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.’”

The goodness and mercy of God waits for people to repent, and true repentance will produce the peaceable fruit of righteousness for the child of God and is a requirement in the conversion of sinners to saints.

Matthew 3:1-10

New Testament

Repent- to think differently or afterwards, i.e. reconsider (morally, feel compunction): — repent. AV (34) - repent 34; to change one's mind

Old Testament

Jeremiah 3:21-22

21 A voice was heard upon the high places, weeping and supplications of the children of Israel: for they have perverted their way, and they have forgotten the LORD their God. 22 Return, ye backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings. Behold, we come unto thee; for thou art the LORD our God.

Return shuv- turn, restore, recover, converts

So the New Testament describes a change of mind and the Old Testament describes a change of direction, but in both cases, the person is moving away from where they are and moving towards God…

Without the ministry of the Holy Spirit, it is impossible for true repentance to take place.

John 16:8-9

8 And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 concerning sin, because they do not believe in me;

But He also convicts believers

Convict- convince, tell a fault, rebuke, with a suggestion of shame of the person convicted, to call to account, show one his fault, demand an explanation

Conviction and repentance are intricately woven together. True repentance requires a moving of the Spirit on the heart of an individual in order for them to feel a compunction to repent.

compunction- a feeling of guilt following doing something wrong

There are actions of wrong, and we have all felt those moments. But what about a lifetime of wrong? I’m talking about all of us when we came to the realization that what we were doing wasn’t working for us anymore.

2 Corinthians 7:10 KJV

For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.

Does a human have to realize the error of their ways in order to gain new life?

Not just that drugs and alcohol resulted in loss of time, jobs, money and relationships. Or sorrow that the mistakes made in a marriage resulted in loss of family, but what about sorrow over realizing that one had lived their lives in opposition against God.

Do people need to know that?  or does a person just need to ask Jesus into their heart. No need to focus on remorse over breaking God’s commandments or His heart, over sinning against His holiness or His word, just say a prayer that asks Jesus into your heart and everything is good.

Through the years, I have noticed how much effort we place on making it easy for people to get saved. Close your eyes and just raise your hand. Now, I’m going to ask you to take one more step. I’m not trying to embarrass you, but I’m going to ask you to come forward and pray a prayer. And then we get excited. Praise God 20 people made a decision for the Lord today, but there wasn’t one word of remorse uttered to God. Maybe, they repeated the word repent, but they didn’t even know what it meant. You can’t truly believe in your heart if you haven’t repented of your sin. We have to change both our mind and direction.

In order for a person to truly repent, the Holy Spirit has to move on their heart to convict them of sin. One of the problems that church folk can run into is what Jesus warned against religious hearts when He re-quoted Isaiah,

Matthew 15:7-9

7 Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying, 8 This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. 9 But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.

Again, we try so hard not to embarrass people but maybe that’s exactly what us earthlings need is to be embarrassed. I don’t mean embarrassed in the eyes of the world or under the scrutiny of other believers. I’m talking about the conviction of the Holy Spirit that leads a person to repentance.

Jeremiah 6:10-16 KJV

10 To whom shall I speak, and give warning, that they may hear? behold, their ear is uncircumcised, and they cannot hearken: behold, the word of the LORD is unto them a reproach; they have no delight in it. 11 Therefore I am full of the fury of the LORD; I am weary with holding in: I will pour it out upon the children abroad…, and upon the assembly of young men together: for even the husband with the wife shall be taken, the aged with him that is full of days. 12 And their houses shall be turned unto others, with their fields and wives together: for I will stretch out my hand upon the inhabitants of the land, saith the LORD. 13 For from the least of them even unto the greatest of them every one is given to covetousness; and from the prophet even unto the priest every one dealeth falsely. 14 They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace. 15 Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush: therefore they shall fall among them that fall: at the time that I visit them they shall be cast down, saith the LORD. 16 Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein.

Romans 2:4-5 ESV

4 Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? 5 But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God's righteous judgment will be revealed.

He suffers long with us, He is patient, He is kind, and endures with us. The goodness of God spoken of here is directly related to His patience in waiting for us to repent. It’s saying that He is being merciful and giving us time. It’s not saying that He is being so sweet and soft spoken to us that we finally melt in His goodness and wake up one day loving Him.

Instead, it’s saying that His goodness is revealed in His patience. He waits and then when conviction comes and repentance results, the heart is awakened to His goodness and this often results in even more repentance— if nothing else a heart of thankfulness that realizes that it wasn’t worthy of this grace, but God, in His goodness poured it out.

Maybe it was embarrassing it must have been for the sinful woman who broke the alabaster box and wiped his feet with her tears and her hair. If there was embarrassment maybe it was when she pressed through the crowd and heard their whispers. The text doesn’t tell us, but if it was there, I don’t see embarrassment. I only see love and thankfulness that must be fueled by a heart of repentance. She had nothing to protect but her love for Jesus. She was not concerned about what people thought about her. (Luke 7:45-8:1). A truly repentant heart is a truly thankful heart, and it’s hard to embarrass a heart like that!

Sometimes I wonder about the way that we respond to people when we see the Lord touching them. We’re so quick to rush to their rescue. Whether it’s through financial help of some sort or helping them at the altar. I wonder if it’s us that feel uncomfortable and we feel like we have to stop them, so we will stop feeling uncomfortable. Is there any better place that a person could be other than truly broken in the presence of the Lord? Can we not trust people in the presence of the Lord? Can the clay not be trusted in the Potter’s hands?

I’ve seen people crying in the presence of the Lord and then someone comes to help them and say, “It’s okay He forgives you.”

Then I heard the person say, “I get what they were trying to do, and I appreciate it, but I wasn’t done.” We don’t know where they’ve been, what they’ve done. We don’t know what the Lord is saying to them or doing in them.

Somebody said the other day, “I’ve been repenting for 2 weeks over my sin. I didn’t even realize that I had been sinning against God like that” Our first inclination is to try to convince them that they don’t need to do that. Maybe we need to be convinced instead that’s what we all need to do.

I can remember Sister Toot telling me, “Son, you keep coming to this altar and as long as the Holy Spirit tells you to come to the altar keep coming, but if you’ve repented, you don’t have to keep coming up here.”

I don’t know what you feel when you get into the presence of the Lord, but I feel like I want to kneel, lay face first, lift my hands, cry, run around the church, tell Him that I love Him, thank Him for His faithfulness. Thank Him for saving someone like me, thank Him for not leaving me over there. You loved me Lord! You came and you got me Lord! I owe you everything!

Even after He was good to me and loved me, I still didn’t treat Him right. No, you leave me alone if I want to cry and sob in His presence, if I want to repent every week or every service, please let me.

Conviction of the Holy Spirit reveals to a person a need to repent. True repentance results in a broken and contrite heart:

Psalms 34:18 KJV

The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart;

and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.

Broken- break 115, destroy 9, break in pieces 8, break down 4, hurt 3, torn 2, give birth 1, crush

Contrite-  to collapse (phys. or mentally): — break, to crush, be crushed, be contrite, be broken

Psalms 51:17

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit:

a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.

Isaiah 57:15

For thus saith the high and lofty One

that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy;

I dwell in the high and holy place,

with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit,

to revive the spirit of the humble,

and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.

Isaiah 66:2

For all those things hath mine hand made,

and all those things have been, saith the LORD:

but to this man will I look,

even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit,

and trembleth at my word.

I want to be careful how I say this, but we judge success in church based on numbers and signs and wonders. Let me say this clearly.

Holy Spirit we need you in our services. We earnestly desire Greek burn with zeal for your spiritual gifts. We welcome the healer in this place. The Healer’s in the room, let miracles break out across this place. Who is this king? His name is Jesus. His name is Jesus. He’s the light of the world. There’s freedom in His name”

And people seek after signs and wonders. They fill up auditoriums in anticipation that they will get to see a miracle. But signs and wonders and increase in numbers do not always equate to God’s purposes for man.

2 Peter 3:8-11 ESV

8 But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.

11 Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness,

Luke 16:19-31 Rich man and Lazarus

Luke 18:9-14 Pharisee and Tax collector

The Door's Unlocked, You Can Leave

Matthew 12:22-32, 43-45

6 times in this passage, the word house is either inferred or directly used.

Matthew 12:24, 27

But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, “It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this man casts out demons.”

Beelzebul— Lord of the house

Matthew 12:25

Knowing their thoughts, he said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself will stand.

Matthew 12:29 x 2

Or how can someone enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? Then indeed he may plunder his house.

Matthew 12:44

Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when it comes, it finds the house empty, swept, and put in order.

The scripture that I really want to focus on is:

Matthew 12:29 x 2

Or how can someone enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? Then indeed he may plunder his house.

Through this story, the Lord is telling us that there are two kingdoms that coexist on the earth: the kingdom of darkness and the kingdom of light. This is verified by Colossians 1:13. But this passage in Matthew not only describes two kingdoms, it describes the strongman’s kingdom as a house that has spoil. I can’t prove it, but this seems to be where John Bunyan, the writer of the classic Christian book Pilgrim’s Progress got the idea of the castle for the giant named Despair.

Christian and his fellow journeyman got off the right path, tried to take a different way and were found to be trespassing. This resulted in them being apprehended and chained to a wall in Giant despair’s castle. This is a similar picture in Matthew 12:29– the strongman’s house is filled with human souls (this is the spoil) that are helplessly and hopelessly chained to a wall in his house.

But Jesus is saying that He came to change all of that. He came to bind the strongman, so that He could release the captives. Jesus came to spoil the evil one’s goods, which are the souls of men, which he took illegally through deception and rebellion. Jesus came from heaven to Earth on a search and rescue mission. Through His death on the cross, He stripped Satan of his power to hold humanity hostage!

This is what Paul explains to us in:

Colossians 2:13-14

Fall, fault, offense

Deviation from truth

13 And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; 14 Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;

Colossians 2:15

And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.

Again, this is how He bound the strongman in Matt 12

The Lord gave me this message about the house through a dream

In a truck with others. On way to go see someone that needed help. Seemed they had already seen him, but I hadn’t and wanted to Others were outside playing basketball.

I knocked on the side door of the house “A” answers door, seems to be getting ready (towel) she says she’s going somewhere with David, but they don’t have to if it gets in the way. “No,” I say that’s not an issue “you do whatever you’re doing. I just need to see “B”.

Walk into the house through what felt like a kitchen into a living room seems like a sliding door to the left. “B” on the couch, has a goblet of wine. Implication is that he’s not okay. There is friendly wrestling on the couch. He is obviously strong and dominates. Emotion not fearful/cordial.

I hug and tell I love him

Leaving— A/C on floor makeup? “Don’t be naughty”

“I already have been naughty,” “A/C” replies.

Feelings: “House of the weak” people in this house are weak

The Lord showed me that these people weren’t leaving this house. They were trapped in their rebellion. The wine and the naughty comment were things hidden in the lives of those people stuck in that house house— they were trapped. They didn’t have to be but they were.

What I realized was that they weren’t going anywhere. They pretended they were fine. She washed her hair and put on make up and acted like she was going somewhere with David, but they didn’t have the strength to leave, because there was something hidden that kept them bound and gave Satan a legal right to hold them in bondage and whatever it was in their lives, they preferred to hold onto that rather than be freed, so they could leave that house.

The goblet of wine and whatever the “naughty” thing was, it was that that held them captive in that place.

They didn’t know they were bound. Even the people outside playing basketball. It was like everyday normal life. They were all living like this was normal, but they were trapped!

Jesus told the Laodiceans:

Revelation 3:17

Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:

That’s why it’s called deception:

The people in the dream were trapped and the Laodiceans thought they were okay.

But who the Son sets free is free indeed, and once you experience freedom, you might not have known that you were in bondage before, but you will know that you are free now.

The love and mercy of God is beyond our understanding, but there will be a day when grace will end, and when grace ends, you don’t want to be stuck in the uncertainty of that house. To be trapped means that you are not free. Jesus did His part when He died and rose from the dead, but did we do our part in true repentance?

I’m not talking about just feeling sorry, but instead heartbroken over our sin against God. It’s not that big of a deal when someone that you don’t care about cheats on you, but God help you if the love of your life cheats on you! And do we think about how God must feel when we lie, cheat, steal or are covetous, maintain our pride and arrogance, when we engage in immorality. How this must make God feel. How heart broken He must be when we treat His word like it’s a common thing, like He might not have really meant it. Or the thought of committing that sin that pleases our flesh daily gets the preeminence over Jesus. Have you repented?

Matthew 15:8 Jesus quotes Isaiah

Isaiah 29:13

Wherefore the Lord said,

Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth,

and with their lips do honour me,

but have removed their heart far from me,

and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men:

Fear— Philippians 2:12

Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

Have you made a proper business transaction with God over your sin/trespass—that alternate path you took like Christian? Or did you just kind of throw a half hearted sorry out of the side of your mouth? The days are dark American Christian. It’s time to do business with God!

Revelation 3:18

I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.

He wants to do business with us. Have we done business with Him? Have we allowed the transaction of Calvary to take place. His part was done…. He died and rose again, have we done our part? Have we become broken hearted over our sin to the point that we’ve truly turned from it in our heart?

Mark 1:15

And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.

Let me say this Christian, if you have truly laid it at His feet, then He threw it into the sea of forgetfulness as far as the East is from the West. If you have believed the truth. You’re free! You’re free! You’re free!

The Lord reminded me of the story in Ezekiel 8 while I was praying about all of this. How He brought Ezekiel by a lock of His hair and carried him in a vision to the temple and faced him towards the North gate and there was what God called the “image of jealousy”

Exodus 34:14 ESV

For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God:

James 4:5 AMP

Or do you suppose that the Scripture is speaking to no purpose that says, The Spirit Whom He has caused to dwell in us yearns over us and He yearns for the Spirit [to be welcome] with a jealous love?

The Lord went on to say look what they’re doing with this image of jealousy. They’re trying to make me leave my own house.

It got worse when the Lord showed Ezekiel a hole in the wall and he told him to dig into the hole and then brought him into hidden chambers:

Ezekiel 8:12 NLT

Then the LORD said to me, “Son of man, have you seen what the leaders of Israel are doing with their idols in dark rooms? They are saying, ‘The LORD doesn’t see us; he has deserted our land!’”

No, it feels like He doesn’t see because sin offends His presence, and everyone is just going on with life: playing basketball, getting ready for a date, drinking goblets of wine, and the Lord’s heart is broken over the fact that His people refuse to read His word, believe His word and only with the help of His grace obey His word.

While in prayer, when the Lord reminded me of this Ezekiel passage and I imagined these people caught in these rooms bound under the spell of their idols, I remembered the man and the lady stuck in the house in the dream. They weren’t moving forward, they were trapped. I thought of the Matthew 12 passage and how Jesus bound the strongman so He could set the captives free and then at that moment He gave me a vision of Him holding a big ring of prison keys:

Revelation 1:18

I am the living one. I died, but look—I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and the grave.

and then He started walking to each room and unlocking the doors and I could hear Him say, “Tell them that they’re free. They can walk out now. I have the keys of death, hell and the grave.

Lessons from Jonah (Pt. 3): Get Over Yourself!

Jonah part 3: Get over Yourself

Jonah 3:1, 2
And the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the second time, saying, Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach (to summon or call with a loud voice) unto it the preaching (the proclamation) that I bid thee.
 
God never changed His mind. We might change our minds, but His plan never changes, "Summon the lost to come and repent! Proclaim the truth of My word!"
 
God told Jonah to arise. There are countless believers seated; they are MIA. We have no way of knowing how long Jonah was lying/ sitting around after he was spit upon the shore before God came unto him a second time. The word just says that God came unto him a second time and said, "Arise!" Arise child of God from your seated position and return to the place of obedience; once again, God's mind hasn't changed. He wants sinners saved.
 
Jonah 3:5-7
So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them. For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing:let them not feed, nor drink water:
 
There is a lot to be said regarding this passage of scripture. The first thing that stood out to me is that the people received the word of God first, and their response resulted in a change to the king’s heart. This may be a little off the beaten path, but churches are filled with leaders that aren't living or preaching right; therefore, it makes sense that the pews would be filled with people who don't properly understand the gospel, and therefore, are incapable of walking right with God. Sadly, most people will never rise above the teaching they receive from the teacher they sit under. Furthermore, there is a mindset in the church where we are supposed to teach the Bible at an elementary level-- well you do the math. The truth is that people just hate to be challenged in anything. We like the status quo. I don't know much, but I do know this-- Jesus and His disciples were the antonym of the "status quo," and the point that I’m trying to make is that just as in the Jonah story, it doesn’t matter what the leaders are doing, God wants the people that are called by His name to humble themselves and pray and to turn from their wicked ways.
 
Besides the fact that the regular people responded to God and ultimately affected leadership, I also wanted to point out the way people in the Old Testament repented.
 
It is well known through the scriptures that Israel would repent in sackcloth and ashes when they were sorrowful for their sin. While I can't prove it, I feel certain this was a big part of Jonah's message. We know he was crying in the streets that judgment was coming, and we are told that their response was that they repented in sackcloth and ashes.
 
It should be noticed that sackcloth laid upon the body is extremely uncomfortable. Furthermore, ashes spread upon the head and body in a humid climate would be an absolute irritation. In 2 Samuel 12:20, David repented over his sin with Bathsheba and the illness of their offspring. Once the child died and he felt like it was time for his repentance to be over, he rose, washed, and anointed himself with oil. I point this out because he was making himself more comfortable. The anointing of oil was the opposite of the remorse and discomfort associated with sackcloth and ashes.
 
I fear that churches are filled with unsaved people today because the message has been purposefully softened and diluted to prevent offense. Through this, people are allowed to exist in a lifestyle of sin because they have been told a lie about what grace really means.
 
True repentance will have associated with it discomfort related to one's sin. There will be a discomfort in the fact that God was offended!
 
Jonah 4:4-5
Then said the Lord, Doest thou well to be angry? So Jonah went out of the city, and sat on the east side of the city, and there made him a booth, and sat under it in the shadow, till he might see what would become of the city.
 
Jonah is displeased with God's plan and the way things are going. He's responded superficially to the request of God, but internally, he is in opposition to God's way.
 
Isaiah 29:13
Wherefore the Lord said,
Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth,
and with their lips do honour me,
but have removed their heart far from me,
and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men:
 
I can tell you that this isn't going to work with God. There are people who walk around with an outward appearance pretending they are serving God, but inwardly, their hearts are far from Him. He loves you Christian! He loves you, and He won't let you stay comfortable in the spot you've prepared for yourself.
 
That's exactly what Jonah has done-- right? He has gone off on his own and prepared his own shelter, for his own comfort hoping to see what he wants to see. With the works and manipulation of his own hands, he prepares a place for himself, but even all his work and attempts leave him open to the elements.
 
This is a perfect picture of the flesh attempting to cover self. While this is a somewhat difficult thing to explain, and a little out of context, Christians love to prepare coverings for themselves in an attempt to prevent themselves from falling. There was a movement sometime back where everyone was going to get themselves an accountability partner and confess all their faults to them as though that was going to set them free or keep them from sinning. While on the surface it seems spiritual and even biblical, to be truthful, when someone places their faith in this instead of the finished work of Christ for victory, it's just another attempt through feeble flesh to gain victory over sin; therefore, it's just another way to say in the heart that what Jesus did wasn't enough.
 
The Lord showed me several years ago that if a person can't be accountable to Him, the one that created and peers into the human heart, then it's preposterous to think that trusting in some earthly relationship will fill that need. Please don't misunderstand what I'm saying, iron sharpens iron. Brothers and sisters in The Lord are an extremely powerful source of strength as we walk together in the faith encouraging and edifying (building up) one another in the things of God.
 
Nevertheless, if a man would learn to walk in Christ through proper faith in His finished work, then that man will learn to be accountable to God as the Holy Spirit empowers towards obedience. Until a man learns to be accountable to God, that man will never, and I repeat, that man will never learn to be accountable to man.
 
While it is true that James said to confess to one another and pray, so that you would be healed, which is referring to healing of the soul, Jesus is the answer and victory for sin. The purpose here is that a stronger brother would lead the other or vice versa back to Jesus and His answer for the problem:
 
1 Peter 2:24
Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness:by whose stripes ye were healed.
 
So which would you prefer to trust in completely for your healing?
 
Ultimately, Jonah like so many of us has feebly attempted to meet his needs, and even though he's disobedient, God is going to show him mercy and provide a supernatural covering to provide for Jonah what his hands could not.
 
There is so much to be held onto here. If we could only stop in the midst of the chaos and remind ourselves that He alone can provide what we need and every attempt we make in erecting our own plans only leads to failure and more frustration.
 
 

Jonah 4:6-9
And the Lord God prepared a gourd, and made it to come up over Jonah, that it might be a shadow over his head, to deliver him from his grief. So Jonah was exceeding glad of the gourd. But God prepared a worm when the morning rose the next day, and it smote the gourd that it withered. And it came to pass, when the sun did arise, that God prepared a vehement east wind; and the sun beat upon the head of Jonah, that he fainted, and wished in himself to die, and said, It is better for me to die than to live. And God said to Jonah, Doest thou well to be angry for the gourd? And he said, I do well to be angry, even unto death.
 
God prepared a storm for chastisement, a form of discipline to stop his disobedience.
 
God prepared a great fish to rescue him from the turbulent chaos he had brought upon himself and to turn Jonah back to the right direction. God uses chastisement to turn us around.
 
God prepared a gourd as a covering of mercy. Jonah's feeble attempts failed, and his heart was disobedient; nevertheless, God showed mercy and protected Jonah.
 
God prepared a worm to destroy the gourd, which He had provided for Jonah to give him a covering of mercy.
 
The gourd was God's; the worm was God's; the wind, the sun, the fish, the storm, the Ninevites, and Jonah, everything belongs to God and God will do with it what He pleases. How dare you Jonah! How dare you think the Ninevites don't deserve God's mercy!
 
When you feel bitterness in your heart towards someone who has treated you wrong, just remember as fast as God raised up and destroyed Jonah's gourd, He can also remove his mercy from over your life.
 
Needless to say, Jonah is miserable with his life right now. The sun is scorching and a vehement (hot) east wind is blowing; he's miserable with his life to the point that he wants to die.
 
Jonah 4:9
And God said to Jonah, Doest thou well to be angry for the gourd? And he said, I do well to be angry, even unto death.
 
It should be noted that all of Jonah's discomfort is because of his refusal to see what God wants Him to see and respond the way God wants him to respond; essentially, God wants Jonah to be about God's business and see life His way, but Jonah wants things done his way.  Let there be no confusion, Jonah wants what he wants and he is angry because he can't get it!
 
When we demand something from God that is contrary to His will, refusing to see things His way and instead demand that it go our way, we will continue to be miserable.
 
Throughout the life of the Christian, God desires to align our hearts, minds, essentially our inner man with His heart: the way He sees things. This concept encompasses every aspect of our lives. In Jonah's scenario, the context specifically surrounds his obedience to God regarding the ministry God has asked from him. Jonah's response is undoubtedly being influenced by the world around him. What I mean by that is Israel, as a whole, is living in disobedience towards God. Idolatry stands in between them and God; therefore, they cannot properly connect to His presence, and they cannot properly perceive His ways.
 
In a similar fashion, the Christian whose mind isn't stayed upon the Lord isn't able to see God's way. We can get into specifics here. We can talk about relationships. We can talk about demanding a relationship out of wedlock or one that enters wedlock outside of God's will and then sit there under our withered gourd while the east wind scorches our head, and we are frustrated and aggravated because nothing is going our way. It's not the way God wants you to go! He wants you to surrender to His will.
 
We can talk about jobs. I've talked about this hundreds of times over the years of this bible study. People change jobs more rapidly sometimes than they do partners in today's society, thinking they're going to find happiness in the new job because somehow the boss at the new job is going to finally "get it." Don't get me wrong there are better bosses and better jobs, but the job oftentimes isn't the problem. The problem is we're looking for fulfillment elsewhere, and so we sit under the withered gourd having a pity party because nothing goes our way. Stop! Stop and be about the Father's business. Seek His will for your life and surrender to Him.
 
Sometimes, we desire to control a situation so bad that the relationships, job, church, ministry...isn't even the problem. Instead, these are just the symptoms; we have a letting go and letting God problem. We want it our way. We want to see the world our way. I don't like to read, so I don't even know what the preacher is talking about when he mentions Abraham. That works ok when you’re a newborn baby Christian, but if you refuse to change your world view through the word of God, you will remain with your miserable control issues demanding God give you what you want, sitting under your withered gourd blaming God.
 
God didn't create you so He could give you glory; He created you for you to give Him glory!
 
God didn't create you so He could spend all His time ministering to your plans; He created you for His glory, His plans, and His purpose. If you ain't on board with that, you ain't on board with Him!
 
Jonah 4:10-11
Then said the Lord, Thou hast had pity on the gourd, for the which thou hast not laboured, neither madest it grow; which came up in a night, and perished in a night: And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than sixscore (120,000) thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much cattle?

As I said earlier, Jonah’s mindset has been tainted and influenced by the current condition of Israel’s spirituality: Romans 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good, and acceptable will of God.

In this passage, Paul explains that we aren’t to be conformed, which means to be molded by an outward source. In this case, the outward source is the world system, in Jonah’s case he’s being molded by the spiritual condition of Israel. Paul exhorts believers to be transformed, which describes an inward change manifest outwardly. Interestingly, the word in the Greek is metamorphoo, where we get our word metamorphosis. The transformation of a caterpillar to a butterfly is a metamorphosis that manifests outwardly what was already inherent in the butterfly’s genes. In addition the word transfigured used of Jesus is also this Greek word. On that day what was really in Jesus, His deity, shown thru. We are exhorted by Paul to have a renewed mind that understands this. All this is connected to verse 1 and all the previous teaching that spoke of the “old man” dying in Christ and the “new man” resurrecting in Him. This is the immediate context of verse 1 to make the point:

I beseech you therefore, brethren by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed

After all the previous teaching that he had offered in Romans 6, Paul is now saying that we are to live our lives as a living sacrifice (the old man dead and the new man alive). The renewed mind understands he is a new creation in Christ and he is about his Father’s business. Ultimately, he has gotten over himself and is moving forward in God.

Jonah has pity for the gourd. In other words, he's sad it withered away because it can no longer serve his (Jonah's) purpose. But here is God's creation about to be destroyed and Jonah wants to see it happen. God is also trying to teach Jonah a lesson on mercy. Mercy is God's to give; it doesn't belong to Jonah. Sadly, many Christians also act like this. How quickly we forget what God has done for us.
 
Be careful Christian, God has been known to pull back His hand of mercy in order to teach His children a lesson. He's doing it right here in this story.