Salvation!

Welcome friends and saints of the Most High! Please forgive the missing week, the 'editor and chief' rejected my copy, and I ran out of time this week to catch up. On that note, it is probably time for another quick disclaimer and explanation of the proceedings herein. First and foremost, any interpretation of scripture in picture or form is to be looked at with the eyes of your heart, and with the witness of the Spirit of God within you. Anything else is unprofitable. And I am VERY prone to wander off on extemporaneous discussions that perhaps do nothing for you. Furthermore, being a general 'know it all', I state things as fact at times when they are simply my own experience. Be critical in love, and take the life you find!

Two months have gone by, and my personal riches in Christ have grown by what we have found here. I hope and pray that those who I have not heard from are finding life as well. There is no requirement of participation, enjoy at your leisure. For those who have given responses, thank you for your contribution. We are called to be conduits of life, and I am continually blessed by the riches He has deposited in the saints. Each of you is a life giving spring! How amazing is our God!

We are discussing these verses, and for a bit of change, lets quote them here (Jonah 2:8-10, ASV):

"They that regard lying vanities Forsake their own mercy. But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that which I have vowed. Salvation is of Jehovah." And Jehovah spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land.

I read the first verse as Jonah speaking to himself, to his natural man. We could transliterate this as "paying attention to corrupt emptiness". When I live by my own choice, and that choice leading to death apart from God, I truly turn away from the supply of life in Christ, and the mercy He gives. Others interpret this more generally as a exhortation to idolaters, and that is fine. What greater idol than the self is there in this age? However, in the context of the following verse, it would appear Jonah is separating his heart, experiencing the circumcision of the heart.

What can be the sacrifice he makes? With a voice of thanksgiving, he offers up to the Lord his whole being. Remember, Jonah is not in the physical temple, and he has no convenient fatted calf or bullock to offer. Perhaps a bit wet for the altar fire in the fishes gut as well. And yet with thankfulness he sacrifices. For myself, this is the natural man Jonah is laying down. And in that sacrifice, there is the experience of salvation.

I pondered long about "paying what I have vowed". By His life, through His ministry, I live and breath. What can I pay? What vow would stand? Any promise to God that is not of Christ, in Christ, and by His life will fail. My vow is to lay down the natural self day by day. Giving Him more room to grow inside, more area to transform. What else can we pay? Beyond the personal there is Jonah as living prophecy, for these words can be only spoken in complete truth by the Messiah, no one else is able to pay. Lord, speak them in me!

Finally the word of the Lord to the fish, and onto dry land Jonah is deposited. As a aside, I calculated that the fish could have dumped him anywhere along the coast in the area given three days of swimming. Even slow Baleen whales would range 100 miles per day. So my fevered brain asked the obvious, "How much of the grueling trek to Nineveh would be saved?" But alas, even with optimal vomiting of the fish, he would still need to walk ~400 miles.

From these verses, one of our members perceived thoughtful context for Jonah in the fish: "God put Jonah in a place where he could see no salvation. He didn't call on God as a desperate plea for help, and say what he thinks God wants to hear, instead Jonah is ready and willing to sacrifice to the Lord. In that situation he receives salvation, no matter what the outcome of his personal ordeal. God puts Jonah back where he wants him, having taught him a lesson that he can pass on with conviction to others."

A lesson indeed! To let go of ourselves, and sacrifice to the Lord with thanksgiving! And in that God is faithful, delivering more life. What amazing love, that He would lead us in life, lead us in His walk. Praise God!

For this meeting, here is the current agenda:

Prayer and Thanksgiving:
Ask for the curse to be broken over all under affliction. Especially that we would see the healing of stricken ones in our midst. Thank God for opening the eyes of our hearts, that we may see His increasing Glory, that we may walk in the light.

Open questions:
Nothing comes to mind here this week.

Current topic:
Meditate on Jonah 3:1-4 seeking what the Spirit is revealing to us in this time. How about the forty days? Can you picture the size of Nineveh?

Conclusion:
Bless every saint you meet this week. May the Spirit well up in all with ever increasing love, even with that love He has for the bride. May we love the bride locally!