It ain't just about the fish! Part 2

Let's jump right in!  

The format of a Precepts study is such that you do 5 days of homework and then watch a video led by Kay Arthur.  The video is a further explanation of what was studied with additional information presented.  Kay's teaching is amazing. Here's a brief list of some things I learned from her teaching and the homework:

* God appoints.  There is an incredible list of things our Sovereign God controls in Jonah.

* You cannot flee from the presence of the Lord.

* Cry out to God in our distress.  He hears!

* Ninevah was a real place with real people who were very wicked but they repented.

* So God relented.  Read that again.  God RELENTS when we confess our sin and turn from our wicked ways.  

* He will not bring the calamity if we truly repent.  If God loved the Ninevites that much, how much more would He like to do that for me and you?

* The book of Nahum is also about Ninevah.

* Is my heart aligned with God's heart?

* Be more compassionate.  God is.

* First time obedience isn't just a parenting technique.  How much would I have been spared in my earlier years if I had only obeyed God the first time?  How can I communicate that to my kids?

In the first week's video, she examined several verses that discuss how important it is to fear God, not like a little child is afraid of punishment but a respectful, trusting, honoring fear of someone who knows who God is treats Him accordingly.  She then asked 10 questions that deal with your fear of God based on an understanding of what it means to fear God coupled with examining Jonah's actions.  Poor Jonah, he was a prophet who didn't really fear his Boss, much like pastors of today who preach sermons they themselves don't even believe in for a God they don't believe in!   However, that one finger pointing at those preachers reveals three fingers pointing back at me.  My Fear Quotient certainly isn't what it should be.

In the middle of Jonah 2, there is a little verse that really seems out of place: "Those who regard vain idols forsake their faithfulness . . . "  What?  Jonah has been praying, repenting and praising God and then there's this vain idol thing.  While it may not seem to belong, Kay eloquently asks "What lures you to the world away from God?"  Vain idols mean empty vanities.  Does my ambition or trinkets or a desire for worldly or Christian fame or some other THING in my materialistic world draw me away from my faithfulness to God - what is that vain idol?  Ouch.

In the second week's video, she ties in the love of things very well with our lack of compassion.  Do we have compassion on THINGS or on people?  Jonah had more compassion for things that made him comfortable then for the lives of a lot people and children who were about to be destroyed. Double ouch.

As Kay was wrapping up this video, she quoted from a book called The Emancipation of Robert Sadler.  Since my book club is reading Roll, Jordan, Roll (see sidebar for link), I was very fascinated by the fact that Sadler, in 1911, well past Emancipation, was sold into slavery by his own father.  IN 1911.  Wow.  I'm definitely going to be adding this book to my reading list.

In her closing prayer, Kay neatly ties it up with a bow on top when she quotes James 2:13(b), "mercy triumphs over judgement."  I say neatly because the study we had just finished was Beth Moore's James: Mercy Triumphs.  God weaves together His word and my daily life in such an interconnected, economic, efficient, teachable way that I am always amazed!