ERCC DEVOTIONAL (TEKAN) DAILY SPIRITUAL DIET; WEDNESDAY 22ND NOVEMBER, 2023.

TEXT: JONAH 2: 1 - 10.

SPIRITUAL FOCUS: THE LORD IS NEAR TO THOSE WHO FEAR HIM.

In yesterday's study we heard how the prophet Jonah offered himself before the storm and the wind ceased. It will be of great benefit to us that wherever we are guilty, we should be sorry and repent, and the Lord will be pleased and forgive us. 

Jonah cried out to the Lord, and the Lord heard him. That's what He wants us to do. But often when we sin, we do not acknowledge our limitations and do not repent. This is incorrect. As Jonah called, every time we enter into the Lord's judgment, we should call, and He will surely answer and forgive us our sins (Jer. 33: 3). Jonah's situation in the belly of the fish is no different from that of Christ's followers who are separated from the Lord as a result of sin. 

We are often encompassed with different illness with nothing for us to do. In such times, if we can only turn to the Lord, He will deliver us from the trouble we find ourselves in. The Lord is always ready to help those who fear Him and love Him. That is why Jonah could say, "In my distress I cried to You, Lord." (vs. 2), "The Lord commanded the fish.... to cast Jonah at the bank of the sea" (vs. 10) because of his love for Jonah. Even today the Lord loves those who recognize their guilt and come to Him.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT: The Lord God knows our suffering.

PRAYER: Lord God, I beseech Thee, deliver me from the hand of mine enemies, that I may glorify Thee in the name of Christ Jesus, Amen.

                             JONAH 2: 1 - 10 (NLT).

 

1 Jonah’s Prayer

Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from inside the fish.

2 He said,

“I cried out to the Lord in my great trouble,

and he answered me.

I called to you from the land of the dead,

and Lord, you heard me!

3 You threw me into the ocean depths,

and I sank down to the heart of the sea.

The mighty waters engulfed me;

I was buried beneath your wild and stormy waves.

4 Then I said, ‘O Lord, you have driven me from your presence.

Yet I will look once more toward your holy Temple.’

5 “I sank beneath the waves,

and the waters closed over me.

Seaweed wrapped itself around my head.

6 I sank down to the very roots of the mountains.

I was imprisoned in the earth,

whose gates lock shut forever.

But you, O Lord my God,

snatched me from the jaws of death!

7 As my life was slipping away,

I remembered the Lord.

And my earnest prayer went out to you

in your holy Temple.

8 Those who worship false gods

turn their backs on all God’s mercies.

9 But I will offer sacrifices to you with songs of praise,

and I will fulfill all my vows.

For my salvation comes from the Lord alone.”

10 Then the Lord ordered the fish to spit Jonah out onto the beach.