The story of Jonah is of a BIG God who is sovereign. As he pursues His mission to redeem people, He displays a mercy and compassion not naturally found in His people, and challenges and changes their hearts along the way.
Our sovereign God is working to redeem and restore those who are his. He works to correct His own and to bring to faith those of his who have not yet heard. We join in this mission.
Jonah is more than a fish story. In fact, the story has little to do with a great fish and everything to do with a BIG GOD.
As believers we are designed to and expected to grow. As the Spirit of God works in us, by the power of the Word of God, we are changed. It is both a work of God and a surrendered effort of man.
The Great Commission is not only for the corporate body to carry out, but is the responsibility of every believer. We are reconciled to God that we might know him and make him known.
For God so loved the world, he gave his only begotten son. Jesus took on flesh and lived among us. He went to a cross and rose from the grave. He gave us a mission and the Holy Spirit empowers us to complete it.
The baby in the manger is not a cute, helpless, safe symbol. He was and is and always will be God Almighty, the Sovereign Lord of the universe.
The cross is a line of demarcation. True believers will commit to follow Christ, led by the Spirit, regardless of cost, for all eternity.
As believers, we are to cultivate the fruit of the Spirit in our lives. As we walk by the Spirit, the fruit of real religion shows in humble love for God and others.
Christ has set us free from the power of sin and law, so that we might love and serve in the power of the Spirit. By walking in the Spirit, we no longer indulge the desires of self, but produce the fruit of the Spirit.
Christ has set us free from the bonds of religion, so we can run the race of true faith. Furthermore, His gospel shows us how to run the race of faith and not stumble away from the proper course.
True believers are free in Christ, not enslaved to the Law. Paul uses the analogy of Hagar and Sarah to describe the difference between slave and free, Old Covenant and New Covenant, the law and faith in Jesus.
A true friend will desire for Christ to be formed in you, and will be motivated to help in the process. Through prayer and exhortation, they will exalt the truth of God in your life.