The resources God has given us to live a thriving life are His Word, Spirit, and People.
Read God’s Word:
Jonah 1-4
Act 2: God’s Covenant People
Scene 6:Kings and Prophets: God divides the kingdom people.
Background Information: Jonah 1-4
Jonah is a short book clearly demonstrating that God has a heart for all people. Israel was chosen precisely so that they could make God’s love known to the world, but their hard, sinful hearts undermined their ability to live missional lives. Jonah, a prophet in the Northern Kingdom (1 Kings 14:25) resented the fact that God loves all people, especially if the people were the hated Assyrians. The Assyrians were a long-time enemy of Israel, located in modern-day Iraq, with Nineveh at its center. God sent Jonah to the people of Nineveh, but he headed the opposite direction, as if one could actually get away from God. There are credible reports of people living for a short time inside a whale, but Jonah’s survival is supernatural in nature. We don’t need to look for precedent in history to believe that the story of Jonah is true. God, who makes great sea animals and indeed the entire cosmos, can easily see to it that a man survives inside one of his creatures. Jesus, who grew up just three miles from Jonah’s hometown, spoke of Jonah as a historical fact and applied the story to his own life in several ways. Jesus said that just as Jonah was three days and nights in the belly of a huge fish, so too would he be three days and nights in the grave. Jesus also said that Nineveh repented at the preaching of Jonah, and that he himself was greater than Jonah (Matthew 12:38-41). The story puts some questions before us as readers: Do we love our enemies, or do we wish them harm? Will we be like Jonah, who was so angry that his enemies were saved that he wished to die? Or will we be like Jesus, who prayed for those who put him to death?
“You have heard that it was said, Love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”
Matthew 5:43-44
Pray:
Praise God for…
Thank God for…
Confess your sins to God
Pray for Summer Challenge. Ask God to use the Summer Challenge program to challenge and encourage students in the faith. Pray that the students would see fruit from their efforts in evangelism.
Ask God for… (what else concerns you?)
Reflect:
Write down one passage of scripture that stood out to you today.
Write down why this passage stood out to you.
Engage Community:
Text or call someone now and tell them…
– What you are praying for.
– What stood out from God’s word today.