Get up and call on your god!
Jonah 1:6 The captain went to him and said, “How can you sleep? Get up and call on your god! Maybe he will take notice of us so that we will not perish.”
1) SURROUNDED BY STORM
Jonah 1: 4 Then the LORD sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up.”
WE ARE SURROUNDED BY STORM ON ALL SIDES:
Jonah is a very familiar subject and the often preached sermon on disobedience; however, I would like to speak on something different today… which is very important for the current situation of a broken world engulfed with famines, earthquakes, war, violence, rapes, murder, bloodshed, innocent babies being taken as hostages as it is happening in Gaza, children running helter skelter searching for dead parents…much more agony…
What is our role in this broken world???? We need to be a beacon of light in this lost and dark world. Are you listening to me? However, prophet Jonah chose to sleep, not just a nap but DEEP SLEEP. Verse 5 “But Jonah had gone below deck, where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep.” Many Christians are sleeping instead of joining prayer groups to pray! This is a WARNING MESSAGE!
According to the data, as of December 31, 2022, Nagaland, Tripura, Manipur, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh have lower occupancy rates in prisons in stark contrast to several other states, where the population surpassed the capacity, with New Delhi topping the list with 18,497 inmates with an available capacity of 10, 026 (almost double, when we talk about crime in New Delhi, how could we forget Nirbhaya's rape and murder in the eerie night of December 12, 2012, a shiver runs up my spine when I think of it). Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Meghalaya, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, West Bengal and Maharashtra are all the other States where they profusely surpass the occupancy rates.
Amaraesh Pujari, DGP Prisons and Correctional Services, Tamil Nadu said he wants to change prisons into correctional colleges. Way to go and great mission! I like the word ‘Correctional colleges’! We need these kind of officers for such a time as this in the present scenario where school students have mobile phones hidden in school bags to watch porn smoke E cigarettes. I give below gist of e cigarettes for parents who are not aware of this poison.
An electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) or vape is a device that simulates tobacco smoking. It consists of an atomizer, a power source such as a battery, The upper class youth and teens and also the highly educated bunch with plum jobs, dig their hands into drugs like weeds and also e-cigarettes. Despite comprehensive bans, e-cigarettes are available to young people in India. Those with higher levels of education are among those most likely to vape. It is available online. E-cigarettes are not safe for youth, young adults, pregnant adults, as well as adults who do not currently use tobacco products. Parents, don’t close your eyes like a cat and think everything is safe, pray for your children.
2) How can you sleep? Part 2
Jonah 1:6 The captain went to him and said, “How can you sleep? Get up and call on your god! Maybe he will take notice of us so that we will not perish.”
Hebrew prophet named Jonah, son of Amittai, was sent by God to prophesy the destruction of Nineveh. Jonah forgot his assignment and went in a different direction defying God's order. During the time storm and crisis, he should have been like Apostle Paul as we read in the book of Acts chapter 27, when all hopes were lost, Paul looked at the passengers and said verse 22 “But now I urge you to keep up your courage, because not one of you will be lost; only the ship will be destroyed. 23 Last night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve stood beside me 24 and said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul.
Because of disobedience, Jonah had gone below the deck, where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep. Not just napping but he was into deep sleep. At the right time, when you have to wake up for prayer in the morning, the demon puts you to deep sleep. People can stay awake the whole night and watch a movie, drive the car and do office work, but when it comes to prayer- they fall into deep sleep. The Lord looks at each one of you today and asks “How can you sleep? Caution!
In the year 2020 when the Government shut down everything due to COVID, my daughter Shalina started her early morning 5am zoom prayer meeting. So we as a family had to wake up at 4 am and pray before that, during that time I started attending other 5am online prayers. After a short while, I started ‘Booster group 5 am prayer’ during the COVID season and we were praying for patients and medicines; the prayer group is functioning even till date and going strong with people joining from various places in the country and out of the country too. We are called to actively operate for such a time as this! The devil stops productivity in our life by lulling us to sleep!
Christians cannot just say, “ I will go to church on Sunday and now my duty is over’, not so, you got to help in the church. Jesus said, My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations' (Mark 11:17), did you see that? It is now you can reach out and stretch out to pray for the entire world. During the present time of war, crisis and disease, we got to gather and keep the lamp burning at the house of the Lord. If your church do conduct weekly meetings, early morning prayer and night prayer, consider this as a ‘GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY’ and attend without fail. Think of the efforts and sacrifice the leaders of the church make in order to conduct such services, do not be negligent and complacent.
GIVEN HERE BELOW ARE THE FEW INCIDENCES WHERE PROPLE SLEPT WHEN THEY HAD TO BE ALERT AND VIGILANT:
TEN VIRGINS: Matthew 25:4 The wise ones, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. 5 The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep.
6 “At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’
7 “Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. 8 The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.’
11 “Later the others also came. ‘Lord, Lord,’ they said, ‘open the door for us!’
12 “But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I don’t know you.’
This talks about carelessness, unprepared, not alert,
DISCIPLES SLEPT: Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Couldn’t you men keep watch with me for one hour?” he asked Peter.(Matthew 26:40)
Matthew 26:41
"Watch and pray so that you will not enter into temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak."
SAMSON SLEPT: Judges 16:19-21- Delilah lulled Samson to sleep with his head in her lap, and then she called in a man to shave off the seven locks of his hair. In this way she began to bring him down, and his strength left him.
c) Get up and call on your god!
Throw away unnecessary cargo!!!
Jonah 1”… they threw the cargo into the sea to lighten the ship.”
When trouble, sickness, pain comes personally, then no matter who they are, they call out to God. The sailors were terrified of the storm and great wind, so they had to throw the cargo away to lighten the ship, in order to prevent the ship from sinking. What is cargo compared to their lives? The things that were precious and valuable turn out to be nothing during times of storm, your eyes are now able to see their worthlessness. Anybody listening?
Actually I am sharing the sermon that I preached in the night prayer last Friday, today is part 3 of this message, you can check here for the previous ones in case you have not read them. I tell you there comes a time in your life when none and nothing can save you but ONLY GOD. Amen. God meets you personally and His ears are inclined to your pleas when you shut the doors for prayer!
On the tenth year of our ministry, we had to face tremendous heat everywhere in our life and ministry. After walking into the new city Hyderabad, everything looked hunky dory for a while, little did we know that God was preparing and heating the furnace for us. Children were suffering trying to adjust to the new environment, with different culture and language. Doors were closed! Have you ever experienced the doors suddenly slamming on your face? It did for us. Our ministry bank account could not be operated because the local banks were insisting for documents pertaining to our stay in Hyderabad, the bank account was frozen for the time being. There was no in-flow of funds either. School fees of my son Joshua was not paid, he came home one evening and said, “I thank Jesus that my name was not read out in front of the class, though my name was in the list.” Besides this, house rent, electricity bill, maintenance bill and other dues were accumulating. A huge pile of outstanding bills! My husband’s wallet was cleanly wiped out! The provisions in the home were wiped out, that is, we reached a stage when we did not even have a single grain or a drop of oil at home. Wiped out! I can never adequately explain the pain in words. It was like being blind-folded and let out in the dark in an unknown territory! The situation was absolutely eerie!
My husband and I fasted and we were praying, my Bible reading portion for that day was the book of Deuteronomy and within few minutes, God spoke to me beautifully through Deuteronomy 2:7 "For the LORD your God has blessed you in all the work of your hand. He knows your trudging through this great wilderness. These forty years the LORD your God has been with you; you have lacked nothing." The words “He knows your trudging through this great wilderness”, was enough for me to burst into tears! I knew that God was speaking to me! He knows about the empty kitty, He knows about the school fees, He knows about the empty rice bag and the empty oil can. We never could have understood the hunger, pain and nothingness of the poor kids of Abide School, if we had not experienced that ourselves to start with.
D) GOD BROUGHT THE STORM:
4 Then the LORD sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up.
It is crystal clear from the above scripture that the Lord brought the great wind and storm because of the disobedience of prophet Jonah. Some of us are very naïve and would not like to believe that ‘God sends storms’. He does.
The storm that is created because of a wrong move or decision will leave behind a
trail of destruction! Look at how the passengers, sailors and the captain of the ship had to suffer because one man Jonah disobeyed.
This message comes with a caveat to be extremely careful in all that you do and decide as a Christian! Let your life not be a REHASH of what you did the previous year but let it be totally newly based on God’s Word only.
Important Guidelines for making hard decisions in your life!
Your decision must always line up with His Word!
When you obey & follow Him meticulously, He’ll never steer you wrong!
1) Fast and pray for a period of time – do not hastily rush to make decisions
but place the matter at the feet of the Lord to guide you. You can fast and
pray for a set period of time, may be 3 days or one week and read His Word
meticulously. You don’t have to frantically run hither and thither, handover
the situation to God. Psalm 46:20 “Be still, and know that He is God…!”
2) Prepare your heart to obey God: God cannot speak to a rebellious person,
hence humble yourself to accept whatever He tells you. Read:
• James 4:13 Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to
such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a
profit"
• whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your
life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes
away.
• Instead you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or
that."
• But now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.”
3) Faithfully trust Him to guide you: God would never leave you when you
depend on Him wholeheartedly, be sure of His guidance and protection, read:
• Isaiah 41: 13 “For I, the LORD your God, will hold your right hand, Saying
to you, 'Fear not, I will help you.'
• " Fear not, you worm Jacob, You men of Israel! I will help you," says the
LORD And your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.”
4) Honesty and truth: Let your plans be rooted in integrity and truth, avoid
every form of evil. God would never stand by you if you are planning a shady
deal! Inept and dubious dealings will lead you down the path of destruction.
Be warned! The Bible says, Proverbs 3:7”Do not be wise in your own eyes;
Fear the LORD and depart from evil.”
5) Decision based on Word rather than world: Psalm 119:102”Your word
is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.” Do not be swayed by the
opinion of others, strongly follow the instructions of godly people and their
counselling.
6) Outward appearance is deceptive, trust His ways: Do not be allured by
outward glamour or pomp of a place or person and be deceived like Lot who
went to Sodom and was destroyed. Stay where God tells you to stay and not
where you feel would be comfortable.
7) Write down the pros and cons of your decision on a paper very clearly
and see if it is in line with His Word. Is it for prosperity or spirituality???
Would you grow in the Lord through this decision? Would your children
be in the path of God this way? Would you have godly fellowship
through your decision?
8) Decisions should be made to please God: God would be pleased when
Obey Him. Hosea 6:6 “ For the Lord desires ……….knowledge of
God more than burnt offerings.
E) GOD WANTS NONE TO PERISH:
V6 Maybe he will take notice of us so that we will not perish.”
Jonah 3:9 Who knows? God may yet relent and with compassion turn from his fierce anger so that we will not perish.”
This scripture is ace above all what I wrote! God does not want you to perish! That’s it! God wants you to repent, confess your sins and return to Him, so that He would forgive, forget and give you new life. Say Amen. 2 Peter 3:9 KJV The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”
A G Perarivalan alias Arivu, 50, was 19 when he was arrested on June 11, 1991. He was accused of having bought two 9-volt ‘Golden Power’ battery cells for Sivarasan, the LTTE man who masterminded the conspiracy. The batteries were used in the bomb that killed Mr. Rajiv Gandhi, former Prime Minister of India, on May 21 that year 1991.The Supreme Court ordered the release of Perarivalan on 18 May 2022 after he spent over 30 years in jail. When the earthly government could forgive the grave crime committed by a person and release him from prison, how much more can our Heavenly Father do for His children He loves.
Micah 7:18
18 Who is a God like you,
who pardons sin and forgives the transgression
of the remnant of his inheritance?
You do not stay angry forever
but delight to show mercy.
19 You will again have compassion on us;
you will tread our sins underfoot
and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea.
Zephaniah 2:3Seek the LORD, all you humble of the land, you who do what he commands.
Seek righteousness, seek humility; perhaps you will be sheltered on the day of the LORD’s anger.
God bless you!
