Tag: belly

12.f. “He cannot save himself by his treasure and his prosperity will not endure.”

Habakkuk 2:6  “Will not all of them taunt him with ridicule and scorn, saying, “‘Woe to him who piles up stolen goods and makes himself wealthy by extortion! How long must this go on?’ Will not your creditors suddenly arise? Will they not wake up and make you tremble? Then you will become their prey. Because you have plundered many nations, the peoples who are left will plunder you. For you have shed human blood; you have destroyed lands and cities and everyone in them.

Job 20:15-23  He will spit out the riches he swallowed; God will make his stomach vomit them up. He will suck the poison of serpents; the fangs of an adder will kill him. He will not enjoy the streams, the rivers flowing with honey and cream. What he toiled for he must give back uneaten; he will not enjoy the profit from his trading. For he has oppressed the poor and left them destitute; he has seized houses he did not build. “Surely he will have no respite from his craving; he cannot save himself by his treasure. Nothing is left for him to devour; his prosperity will not endure. In the midst of his plenty, distress will overtake him; the full force of misery will come upon him. When he has filled his belly, God will vent his burning anger against him and rain down his blows on him.

God addressed the greedy man, and told him that he was ripe for judgment. The greedy man did his best to protect himself (set his nest on high), yet all his best defense would come to nothing.  The greedy man thinks in terms of nothing but gain, but ends up losing his own soul.  Luke 12:16-21– 16 Then He spoke a parable to them, saying: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. 17 “And he thought within himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?’ 18 “So he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. 19 ‘And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, [and] be merry.” ‘ 20 “But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’ 21 “So [is] he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”

Pride and greed are tempters of all.  they equally find home in the rich and in the poor.  Pride and greed will never object to where they reside.  They are sticky like glue and can attach to the surface of our hearts, minds, and souls with ease.

The Word of God exposes these life sucking leeches within our heart and mind.  The Word of God will set us free from the bondage of their grip in our lives.  The Word of God in a humble servant will do more good in this world than money from all the richest men combined.

10.o. “I will return again to my place, until they acknowledge their guilt and seek my face, and in their distress earnestly seek me.”

Jonah 2:1  Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish, saying, “I called out to the Lord, out of my distress, and he answered me; out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and you heard my voice. For you cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the flood surrounded me; all your waves and your billows passed over me. Then I said, ‘I am driven away from your sight; yet I shall again look upon your holy temple.’ The waters closed in over me to take my life; the deep surrounded me; weeds were wrapped about my head at the roots of the mountains. I went down to the land whose bars closed upon me forever; yet you brought up my life from the pit, O Lord my God. When my life was fainting away, I remembered the Lord, and my prayer came to you, into your holy temple. Those who pay regard to vain idols forsake their hope of steadfast love. But I with the voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice to you; what I have vowed I will pay. Salvation belongs to the Lord!” And the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land.

Psalms 50:15    and call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.”

Psalms 91:15    When he calls to me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him.

Isaiah 26:16     O LORD, in distress they sought you; they poured out a whispered prayer when your discipline was upon them.

James 5:13    Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray.

Hosea 6:1-3    “Come, let us return to the LORD; for he has torn us, that he may heal us; he has struck us down, and he will bind us up.  After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before him.  Let us know; let us press on to know the LORD; his going out is sure as the dawn; he will come to us as the showers, as the spring rains that water the earth.”

Hosea 5:15     I will return again to my place, until they acknowledge their guilt and seek my face, and in their distress earnestly seek me.

Idle ineffectiveness for eternal things has a way of gaining our attention on our own comfort, enjoyment, self-worth, self-reliance, and self-satisfaction.  Troubles, trials, and distress in our lives, on the other hand, have a way of resetting out wayward inner self-reliant beliefs.  Well, that is true for some.  Others harden their hearts and will not even give God a second glance for help.  For those who are humbled and realize their only hope in the situation is from the Mighty Hand Of God, and when they call out to Him, their prayer will be answered and they will be rescued and delivered.  Why is it so hard t repent and turn back to God?  Why do we choose to neglect His word and applying it in our lives?  Are we not blessed and find joy, hope, rest, peace, and strength when we are always desiring and seeking to be nearer to Him?  And yet, we seem to find time after time neglect and complacency creep in.  I can tell you this with 100% assurance when God’s Word is not hungered and thirsted for our natural default is neglect, complacency, and worldly contentment.  Spend time in His Word and intentionally choose to grow closer and closer to Him.

10.n. “So he left them and departed.”

Jonah 1:17   And the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

Matthew 12:40     For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

Luke 11:30     For as Jonah became a sign to the people of Nineveh, so will the Son of Man be to this generation.

Matthew 16:4     An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.” So he left them and departed.

The people of Nineveh did not know that Jonah had been reluctant to warn them.  They did not know he had been swallowed by a great fish of the sea and spit back out.  They did not know any of this but when the word of God was spoken through Jonah they believed God.  Here is a large city that is being called out by God for its sin and evil.  What is uncommon is their response to being called out, they repented. Maybe this is not uncommon though.  Maybe what we see in our time is that sin is not called out.  Tolerance, neglect, and complacency have overtaken the pulpits of our nation.  When is the last time you have heard a message preached on sin and the need for repentance?  Messages seem to be more in line with what you can get from Jesus Christ; (ie. health, prosperity, peace, joy, courage, hope, etc…) and all of this is true but the lack of calling out personal and national sin first and foremost is leading us into separation from God.  Thinking we can live without the need for repentance is choosing to live in ignorance.  It is easy to preach all the comforts and promises associated with being a follower of Jesus Christ and leave out the need for repentance.  Repent from what you may ask.  SIN.  If sin is not called out and if God’s Word is not thirsted and hungered for then what is it that will mature us in our walk with Him.  What will make us aware of the sins in our thoughts and our sins in acts?  The greatest tragedy in the church today is the lack of individual choice to be in God’s Word with the thought of honoring and glorifying Him, and wanting, desiring, seeking, and trusting the Holy Spirit to search our hearts and minds and change us from the inside becoming more and more aware of our sin and more and more aware of God’s grace, mercy, and love through Jesus Christ.