E-pistle for May 5, 2006
Posted by: info <info@...>
Dr. Curt Scarborough, President
FreeWay Foundation May 5, 2006
Jonah Pouts Over God's Mercy
(Jonah 4:1-11)
Dr. Curt Scarborough
I. Concentration: on what the Lord God prepared for
Jonah
1. "The Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah," 1:17.
2. "The Lord prepared a plant . . . that it might be shade," 4:6.
3. "God prepared a worm . . . damaged the plant . . . withered," 4:7.
4. "God prepared a vehement east wind . . . sun beat on head," 4:8.
II. Meditation: on the spiritual applications seen here
1. God used the fish to teach Jonah obedience, and to provide him
deliverance from death.
2. God used the plant to teach Jonah spiritual values, and to provide
providential care for human need.
3. God used the worm to teach Jonah that human pleasures are
temporary,
and to provide a spiritual test.
4. God used the wind to teach Jonah that God is in control, and to
provide
discomfort so Jonah would establish God's perspective as his own.
III. Revelation: on Jonah's bad attitude . . . "I'll do it,
but"
1. I'll do it, but I don't want to.
2. I'll do it, but God is making a serious mistake.
3. I'll do it, but these people don't deserve mercy and grace.
4. I'll do it, but it makes me very angry.
5. I'll do it, but with a nasty, harsh, condemning spirit.
6. I'll do it, but I'd rather be dead.
7. I'll do it, but I hope it doesn't work.
8. I'll do it, but it'll ruin my reputation (make me look foolish).
9. I'll do it, but I could be doing something more productive
elsewhere.
(See II Kings 14:25 - a prophet in Israel during Jeroboam's reign.)
10. I'll do it, but not motivated by compassionate love.
11. I'll do it, but it won't change anything permanently.
12. I'll do it, but I refuse to learn a spiritual lesson from it.
IV. Applications: on the fish, the plant, the worm, and the
wind . . .
1. God has a purpose for every person's life, but we often get into
trouble
by disobedience until the only hope of deliverance is God's miraculous
power. The fish says "JESUS SAVES."
2. We should not be exceedingly joyful over life's fleeting pleasures,
nor
suicidally depressed over disappointments . . . because "life is not
fair!" Remember: GOD IS IN CONTROL! The plant says "GOD PROVIDES."
3. Just as a small worm can kill a thriving plant, so a "small" bad
attitude
(pride, prejudice, self-pity, apathy) can ruin our fruitfulness as God's
spiritual plants. The worm says "SATAN DESTROYS."
4. God sends (or allows) problems to come into our lives to discipline
us, to
teach us true priorities, to humble us, and to draw us into Himself.
The wind says "THE HOLY SPIRIT DISCIPLINES AND TEACHES."
"Gaining and Losing"
Dr. Curt Scarborough
What in the world was Solomon talking about when he wrote:
"There is . . . a
time to gain and a time to lose? (Ecclesiastes 3:6) Let me list some of
the possibilities.
WEIGHT? Remember the old vaudeville wheeze: "Did you hear
about the man
who went on a 3-week garlic diet? . . . He lost 21 friends!!" Or, how about
the slender
young woman's testimonial: "I lost 189 pounds of ugly fat . . . I divorced
him!!" No, I
don't think Solomon was concerned with America's "slenderella" obsession.
MONEY? The stock quotes from Wall Street are all about gains and losses.
But
Solomon wasn't speaking about wealth.
POWER? The news media are saturated with persons gaining power
or losing it.
The poster boy for this phenomena is Saddam Hussein, who, before our very
eyes, went
from luxurious palace to spider hole. Talk about going from the penthouse
to the
outhouse!
FAME? The list of movie and TV and musical has-beens is
endless. A lady
accosted me the other day with these words: "Didn't you USE TO BE Curt
Scarborough?"
Before I could stammer out an appropriate response, she continued with
disapproving
look, "Whatever happened to you?"
BEAUTY? It's only skin deep, and it comes and goes. Check out
Carol Burnett's
"Nora Desmond."
HEALTH? What family has not been devastated by a terminal,
wasting disease
attaching itself to one of its most robust members?
ATHLETIC SKILLS? I could name you a dozen of my favorite
ballplayers who
just hung on for one year too long . . . embarrassing themselves because
they had
"lost" it.
INFLUENCE? INTELLIGENCE? All of these things, and a score of
others, come
and go in cycles. We gain 'em . . . and we lose 'em! But Solomon's keen
assertion
should cause us to dig a little bit deeper into our hearts . . . "a time to
gain and a time
to lose" . . .
Jesus, the One who is greater than Solomon (Matthew 12:42),
taught,
"Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his
cross,
and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but
whoever loses
his life for My sake and the gospel's will save it. For what will it profit
a man if he
gains the whole world and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in
exchange
for his soul?" (Mark 8:34-37)
PRAYER FOR THE DAY: Lord, help me to understand with spiritual perception
the words of Paul about this life:
"Godliness with
contentment is great gain" (I Timothy
6:6), and about
the life to come: "To live is Christ,
and to die is gain."
(Philippians 1:21)
Pillsbury College & Seminary
Pillsbury College & Seminary is offering full tuition scholarships to the
first 100 Bi-Vocational pastors who register in 2006.
Don't miss this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity! Simply fill out the
Registration Form that you can find at http://www.pillsburycs.org
<http://www.pillsburycs.org/> and mail it
along with a $50 registration fee and you will receive your first textbooks,
instructions, and an examination within approximately one week. You will
also be contacted by your personal mentor . . . an ordained minister who
has been assigned by Pillsbury College & Seminary to assist you in
earning your Bachelor of Biblical Studies Degree.
If your have questions, please contact drcurt@pillsburycs.org or telephone
us at (314) 739-1121.
"Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues,
but the parent of all others."
- Cicero
--
To unsubscribe, send ANY messag