Surprised by Grace

The Big Fish - Phillip Ratner

I'm almost finished with this book Surprised by Grace - about the account of Jonah - You know the one about the prophet that doesn't want to go, the boat, the storm, the big fish, three days in the belly of the beast and then spit out on the shore.

Most of us have heard about Jonah or seen the Veggie Tales movie but have you ever really thought about it?

Well Tullian Tchividjian has.  As he walks us step by step through the account weaving into his retelling historical artists paintings, sculptures and from Herman Melvill's Moby Dick  he extrapolates on Mapple's sermon he helps us to see what God is telling us through Jonah's life - his human life, someone who loved God yet ran from him, a sinner, a prophet, and ultimately shares something about God and ourselves.



A quote from the book:

"God owes no explanation to Jonah (or to us) for what he has done with the Ninevites.  But in his overflowing grace, he works to help Jonah (and us!) to understand it all better.  God is still coming after Jonah (and us!) to teach us more about his grace.

"God never gives up on you.  There's no one whose patience and forbearance toward you will ever be greater or longer lasting than God's.  Your wife or husband won't be this patient with you - your kids won't, your friends won't, your coworkers won't, your pastor won't.  They'll all fail you at some point.  You'll feel dehumanized, cheapened, discouraged, depressed, or radically disappointed by everyone and everything in this world.

"But not by God. Nothing and no one will ever be as patient and forgiving toward you as God is.  In all of existence, God is the only reality who refuses to give up on those he knows.

"In unforgettable events and imagery, the story of Jonah reveals how this perfectly patient God pursues fugitives - a God who has every right to give up on rebels like us and to move on, but doesn't.  It's a story that reveals forever the heart of God for sinners from every race, every age, and every social class."
- Tullian Tchividjian in his book Surprised by Grace -  (pages 138-139)



Surprised by Grace: God's Relentless Pursuit of Rebels

Video from Author

Seeing and Savoring Jesus Christ

I just finished reading this devotional - you can download it free from here:
Seeing and Savoring Jesus Christ

I really liked this walk through of who Christ is.

He isn't a hippy Jesus that we can contain in our pocket bringing Him out to comb His flowing hair like some kind of Ken doll. He is the Savior, He is Mighty, in Power and He is worth knowing. Not inventing our own version of who He is but loving Who He really is. This is a very Biblical look at Jesus. Come See and Savor Him.

Devotional: Psalm 34:8

God and His sense of Taste

How can we Taste and Know Him?

Psalms 34: 8

Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good!  Blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him.

God and the sense of Taste

When taste is mentioned in the Bible it is often paired with the word honey there seems to be a metaphor  between the taste of honey and our relationship with God.  

What is the figurative meaning of this honey? 

I’m always struck by the imagery in Revelation 10:10 of the account of the scrolls and honey in.  I always imagine this giant angel straddling a lake holding this huge scroll.  That I am there - in the position of (John)  and I have to eat that scroll.  For whatever reason the scroll is easy to eat as it tastes good like honey but when it hits my stomach it gives me the worse heart burn.  The taste is then bitter.  What were the words in that scroll?  The bitterness did it come from the knowledge of the world turning it’s back on God?  Was it about our time or was it about biblical times?  Or could it be about both?  How would that sit in your stomach?  How did that sit in John’s?  That knowledge?  I imagine it is me and how it would sit in mine.  

Okay so what? 

God wants us to taste Him, through his word.  To develop a liking for his word even when it is bitter.  The knowledge given to John by the words on that scroll were sweet.  God wants us to know him, to taste him through his word - The Bible.  To taste and know that the Lord is good.  Better than honey, better than the sweetest honey comb.  

My response to this is what

How can I taste God, what can I physically do.  With my mouth with my body to be a living sacrifice to him.  Tasting God ....

For some reason I am thinking of: 

The prodigal son. 

I’ve been thinking about this - since hearing my husband read the account to my daughter Lucy from one of our children Bibles.  The story illustrates how the son asked for his inheritance and left and then after experiencing the world, realizes how good he had it with his father and goes back to him ready to grovel and be a servant in his house.  The father has missed his son and when he sees him from a long way off runs to him and embraces him.  

How good of a Father - he throws a cloak of a master on him, kills the fatted calf and has a party.  He is ecstatic his son is home.  

That is such a picture of our world and God.  God is the father - we are his “Sons.”  He came and died for us all and we can all have part of his inheritance.  There is in fact two inheritances.  We have the gift of this world from our Father and then if we choose we can take part in the gift of our inheritance in heaven.  

Like this prodigal son - we can reject the Father’s heavenly inheritance and take what we can get right here and how.  We can reject his authority in our lives and live the way we want and forsake the inheritance of heaven or we can live under our Father’s loving authority working for him and gain not only the inheritance of heaven - the treasure that we are storing there - but we can enjoy a loving relationship with our Father.  

So what does this have to do with taste?

Taste and see the Lord is Good - 

Taste and see that God has your bests interests in heart.

If you are not a prodigal - don’t be like the older brother - jealous of those who come into relationship with God after living a life of sin.  Rejoice with the Father at their coming home.  Seek to find those prodigals and introduce them to your Father and spread the gospel of Christ. 

We can live our lives with a bitter taste in our mouths or we can taste the honey that is from God’s word and live as a sacrifice to God.

Our taste gives us such joy - lets use it to taste the Lord and see how Good He is.