Our blog is inspired by the Holy Spirit.
The word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time:
“”Set out for the great city of Nineveh,
and announce to it the message that I will tell you.””
So Jonah made ready and went to Nineveh,
according to the LORD’s bidding.
Now Nineveh was an enormously large city;
it took three days to go through it.
Jonah began his journey through the city,
and had gone but a single day’s walk announcing,
“”Forty days more and Nineveh shall be destroyed,””
when the people of Nineveh believed God;
they proclaimed a fast
and all of them, great and small, put on sackcloth.
When the news reached the king of Nineveh,
he rose from his throne, laid aside his robe,
covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in the ashes.
Then he had this proclaimed throughout Nineveh,
by decree of the king and his nobles:
“”Neither man nor beast, neither cattle nor sheep,
shall taste anything;
they shall not eat, nor shall they drink water.
Man and beast shall be covered with sackcloth and call loudly to God;
every man shall turn from his evil way
and from the violence he has in hand.
Who knows, God may relent and forgive, and withhold his blazing wrath,
so that we shall not perish.””
When God saw by their actions how they turned from their evil way,
he repented of the evil that he had threatened to do to them;
he did not carry it out.
Jonah 3: 1-10
Jonah was a man asked by God to go to Nineveh and proclaim their doom. Jonah was reluctant because of the brutal way the Assyrians had treated the Jews in prior years.
Consider for a moment you are told by God to go to the Taliban and proclaim,“”Forty days more and Nineveh (You, the Taliban) shall be destroyed.””
You just might think, let them be destroyed, they deserve it. Earlier in the book of Jonah, we see Jonah fleeing from God and ultimately being swallowed by a large fish, deposited on shore, and reluctantly starting on his mission.
Well, as today’s reading shows, the Ninevehites fully believed Jonah and repented of their sins, not by words but by their actions, from the highest to the lowest person, and this is what is so important.
God relented from the punishment God was going to carry out.
The book of Jonah ends with Jonah being despondent that God did not wipe them out. They had believed Jonah and turned from their evil ways.
We are in the first week of lent, and earlier in my life, I was a man of words, not actions. I would say I would do something and then not do it, or even worse, I would treat Lent as just another season and do nothing.
By doing this, I am not recognizing that I am a sinner and am in need of change, just the opposite of the people of Nineveh.
What’s the harm?
Well, the harm was not growing in a relationship with God.
and
Not using this wonderful season to strengthen yourself against the attacks of satan.
Since we started our blogs, we have discussed a prayer where we “Thank God for the difficulties God has ALLOWED in our life.” We have also stated the difficulties are ALLOWED to bring you closer to God, not as a punishment.
We are no different from the people of Nineveh.
When faced with doom, they repented by their actions.
They could have ignored Jonah, as happened at the time of Noah, but they didn’t.
Look at our world today; we don’t need more laws; WE NEED MORE GOD!
If you want to join Team Jesus, throw satan out of your life by praying, “Get behind me, satan,” or “Come Holy Spirit.” And fight your way back into the Love, Joy, and Peace of the Holy Spirit.
Sidebar:
Father Dickenson, our Paster at Mass on Saturday night, mentioned a revival at Asbury University.
I was intrigued because I have been praying for a revival for some time since I read the book What’s So Amazing About Grace by Philip Yancy. Philip Yancy said this country and the world need a revival, and I felt this was true.
Soooooooooo, we pray for a revival.
After Fr. Dickenson mentioned this revival, I had to get online right after Mass to find out what was happening.
Briefly, the revival was started by students, who remained after a regular service, and that service has been nonstop for the past two weeks. People are coming from all over the world to participate.
The college decided not to interfere but let it take its own course, and because of all of the social media available, it took off.
The revival at Asdbury College is grassroots; this is God in action; just in case you believed that these things only happened in the Old or New Testament, no, they are happening today.
In a Fox News article, the writer quotes The Chosen character of Jesus continually saying, “Get used to different.”
The Asbury Revival is different and is expanding to other campuses.
Remember, JESUS WON!
Two links to help you learn more;
Tucker’s report was the best of the three I saw. When Tucker asked if he could come and film what was happening, the college responded NO. The Asbury college revival is God-driven by the students.
Wow!!
Asbury Revival 2023- Tucker Carlson Coverage (Asbury asks him not to come)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNtRd89BuNc
Right after Tucker Carlson, there is a story about how the revival is spreading to Lee College and why some think this will only grow.
Picture:
The picture of the Rose was taken in Hummelstown, PA. Picture by Kathy Sheehan
Please keep Snapping!
Remember, if you want to submit a picture, no people, please, because we have to get permission from that person to use their photograph; in the comments section at the bottom of our blog, tell me you want to submit a picture, and I will send you my email address in our reply on Thursday. By sending your picture, you consent to allow us to reprint that picture in our next book, God Thoughts 2023, with your name and any comments as stated in the Blog.
