“. . . Each one of us should be careful how we build our lives. The only true foundation for building is Jesus Christ. But be careful in choosing what building materials you use on that foundation. You can build with values that last forever like gold, silver and jewels or can build with values that burn up and won’t last like wood, hay, and straw. One day your work on earth will be inspected on the Day of Judgment. God will test it by fire, so the quality of your work is MANIFESTED and all will see the true value of what you accomplished. If your work survives the fire, you will receive your reward. But if your work is burned up, you will lose your reward, even though you yourself will be saved, like someone barely escaping a fire.”1 Corinthians 3:10-14
TEN LESSONS FROM JONAH ABOUT MY LIFE MISSION
JONAH 1:1-17
1. MY LIFE MISSION
will come from God's Word.
“One day, God spoke his Word to Jonah, the son of Amittai.” Jonah 1:1
2. MY LIFE MISSION
will require a step of faith.
“I want you to get up and go to the great city of Nineveh . . .” Jonah 1:2a
3. MY LIFE MISSION
will somehow help others.
“. . . go to the great city of Nineveh and tell them that I see all the evil happening there and I won’t ignore it.” Jonah 1:2b
4. MY LIFE MISSION
may scare me at first.
“But Jonah ran away from the presence of the Lord.” Jonah 1:3a
5. RUNNING FROM MY MISSION CAUSES BAD CONSEQUENCES
1) IF I RUN FROM GOD
my life will go downhill.
“He went DOWN to Joppa, where he found a ship headed for the port of Tarshish. He paid the price to sail to Tarshish, and went DOWN below deck, hoping to get as far away from God as he could get.”Jonah 1:3b
“Jonah was DOWN below laying DOWN sound asleep.” Jonah 1:5
(later)
“I sank DOWN, DOWN into the deep sea!” Jonah 2:3 (NCV)
“I was as FAR DOWN as a body can go!” Jonah 2:6 (Mes)
2) IF I RUN FROM GOD,
it's going to cost me.
“He paid the price to sail to Tarshish.” Jonah 1:3b
3) IF I RUN FROM GOD,
God will oppose me.
“But as the ship was sailing, the Lord sent an opposing wind. . .” Jonah 1:4a
4) IF I RUN FROM GOD,
other people will get hurt too!
“. . . the opposing wind created such a massive storm that the ship was in danger of breaking apart!” Jonah 1:4b
“All the sailors were terrified, and they cried out in desperation to whatever gods each one trusted. They also threw overboard everything they could to lighten the ship’s load. While this storm was threatening everyone, Jonah was down below deck laying down sound asleep.”Jonah 1:5
“So they asked Jonah ‘How have you brought down all this trouble on us?” Jonah 1:8a
6. THE LONGER I RUN FROM GOD,
the worse it gets.
“Now the storm was GETTING WORSE and the waves GOT ROUGHER, so again they asked Jonah, ‘What should we do to you to stop the storm and calm everything down?’"Jonah 1:11
“‘Throw me overboard down into the sea,’ Jonah said, ‘and everything will calm down. I know that it is my fault that you’re having to fight this terrible storm.’”Jonah 1:12
7. IF I’M FIGHTING GOD’S PLAN,
trying harder doesn't work.
“Instead, the sailors tried harder to row the ship back to land and safety. But they could not turn it around, for the raging storm was out of control.”Jonah 1:13
8. WHEN I DO WHAT GOD WANTS,
things will calm down.
“Finally, the sailors cried out to Jonah’s God ‘O Lord, don’t let us die because of this man's life! And please don’t hold us responsible for his death, because you, Lord, sent this storm for your purpose.’ Then they took Jonah and threw him overboard, and immediately the raging sea calmed down.”Jonah 1:14-15
9. WHEN I DO WHAT GOD WANTS,
unbelievers believe.
“When the sailors saw this happen, they were awestruck by God’s greatness and they worshiped God. They offered a sacrifice and made vows to God.”John 1:16
10. WHEN I ACCEPT MY MISSION,
God shows me mercy.
“Now the Lord PREPARED a great fish to swallow up Jonah, and Jonah was inside that great fish for three days and nights.” Jonah 1:17
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