BBD 12.03.14 Your Nineveh (Classic)
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The Burning
Bush Devotional
Classic
from 2008
12.03.14
Your
Nineveh
So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now
Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, a three-day journey in extent. And Jonah
began to enter the city on the first day’s walk. The he cried out and said,
‘Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!’ So the people of Nineveh
believed God, proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the
least of them. - Jonah 3:3-4 NKJV.
When I was in the eighth grade, I had the unpleasant
experience of attending shop class with a bully. He was a head or two taller
than any of us. He had failed a couple of grades and moved to our little school
from a large school in California. His name was Gene and Gene’s entertainment
consisted of making life miserable for others. Each day he would pick on
someone. My turn finally came when he had me down on the ground hitting me, and
there was absolutely nothing that I could do about it. Gene moved after that
year, and I have not heard what became of him. For several years even after
becoming a Christian, I could have cared less about what had happened to Gene,
but I did finally forgive him.
Jonah had a problem with an even larger bully. The bully
was the evil place called Nineveh and the Ninevites who lived there. We know
the story. The word of the Lord came to Jonah to go and preach in that evil
place. Jonah, we know, refused until he had a little attitude adjustment in the
belly of the great fish. The word of the Lord came to Jonah again, and the
second time Jonah went to Nineveh there was a great revival. Jonah only
had a one-sentence sermon, but it was enough to bring the city to its knees.
What was the biggest obstacle to revival in Nineveh?
Jonah was the biggest obstacle. One self-righteous person stood in the way of
the greatest revival of the ancient world. The word of the Lord came to me
about my bully. He has been on my prayer list for many years now. I do not know
where he is, but God does. Any old bullies, antagonists, Ninevehs you’re still
having bad thoughts about?
I’m not sure that Jonah ever forgave the Ninevites for
the evil acts that they had committed. However, if we want to have peace and be
in a right relationship with our Lord; we must forgive those who do us wrong.
Why? Because our Lord has forgiven us. Jesus says in Matthew 6:12 for us to pray, “And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors." Jesus says in Matthew
6:14-15, "For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father
will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither
will your Father forgive your trespasses.”
Revenge, getting even, getting back at someone is always
much more enjoyable than extending forgiveness. Forgiving someone is always
difficult when their offense against you is serious. It is only through the
power of God that we can forgive those offenses. In 1947, Corrie ten Boom came
face to face with a former concentration camp guard who had been one of her and
her sister’s tormentors during that difficult time in which her sister Betsie
died. The former guard was now a Christian. He extended his hand toward Corrie
and asked her to forgive him. Corrie knew that forgiveness was an act of the
will, but still it was so very hard. She silently prayed for Jesus to help her.
She lifted her hand, and as she grasped his hand she was able to say that
she forgave him. As she did so, tears came to her eyes, and she was able to hug
him and call him her brother. Corrie said that was the most intense moment of
experiencing God’s love in all of her life. Incredible!
It could be that if you have a lack of joy and a lack of
peace in your life that you need to forgive someone. It will not be easy, but
in the act of forgiving; you will experience the love of God, and you may also
gain an opportunity to share the love of God.
Copyright © 2008-2014. Ed
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