He is Risen!

He is Risen!

Watercolour

7" x 10"

27 March 2016

40 minutes

I painted the above from an online picture and the cover of a children's book, "The Story of Easter". I believe that the original artist should be John Hayson. I found the picture encouraging as it illustrated that an initially sinful woman such as Mary Magdalene could be justified by Jesus and unified with God through Christ's resurrection, and was even a key eyewitness to this event!

The past few weeks have been very busy, and honestly my spiritual walk has not been at its peak. I've been struggling with old sinful habits which I would have hoped to overcome by now. The sanctification process can be a demoralising and painful experience. Thank God for His great mercy in sending His son Jesus to die on the cross for us, enabling true and complete victory over sin evidenced by Christ's resurrection, which I am particularly thankful for this Easter.

There are many accounts on Jesus's resurrection in the Bible, but for this post I have decided to focus on John 20, which sets out as follows:

"The Empty Tomb

20 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. ² So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”

³ So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. ⁴ Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. ⁵ He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. ⁶ Then Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, ⁷ as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’ head. The cloth was still lying in its place, separate from the linen. ⁸ Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. ⁹ (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.) ¹⁰ Then the disciples went back to where they were staying.

Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene

¹¹ Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb ¹² and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.

¹³ They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?”

“They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” ¹⁴ At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.

¹⁵ He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?”

Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.”

¹⁶ Jesus said to her, “Mary.”

She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”).

¹⁷ Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”

¹⁸ Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her.

Jesus Appears to His Disciples

¹⁹ On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” ²⁰ After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.

²¹ Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” ²² And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. ²³ If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

Jesus Appears to Thomas

²⁴ Now Thomas (also known as Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. ²⁵ So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”

But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”

²⁶ A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” ²⁷ Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”

²⁸ Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”

²⁹ Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

The Purpose of John’s Gospel

³⁰ Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. ³¹ But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name."

The miracle of Christ's resurrection is truly remarkable as it showcases God's amazing power (to overcome death), plans (which were quite unexpected) and grace (to save a nation of unworthy people and justify us to His presence).

1. Jesus appeared first to Mary Magdalene even though she was a woman and would not be treated as a trustworthy witness in that generation. Yet He chose to use her to spread the good news of His resurrection to the disciples. This was because she waited for Him and sought Him with all her heart. As background, Jesus had to drive 7 demons out of Mary previously and she had thereafter chosen, with her free will, to follow and serve Jesus as a disciple. This event was, to me, a big encouragement that those who love God and choose to follow God will grow in understanding. It also illustrates that God will also continue to use women for His ministry and relates to them as they were created - as equal reflectors of His image. We should therefore seek to adopt a spirit like Mary, seeking God with all of our hearts, so that He will show Himself more to us and use us for His greater glory.
2. Jesus appeared to His disciples to send them to continue His work and empower them with the Holy Spirit. There is life in the breath of God (as God breathed life into Adam in Genesis), and as the disciples were empowered with the Holy Ghost with the authority to share the gospel, so are we, from our conversion, given the tools of life-giving knowledge and love to carry out the Great Commission. Easter would be meaningless if we keep this joyful news to ourselves. Instead, we must always remember that we exist as peace-keepers to draw the world to God so that they too can have everlasting life and be justified in God's glorious and wonderful presence.
3. Jesus appeared to Thomas, who was only able to believe after He saw Jesus and the proof of resurrection with his own eyes. While Jesus still graciously granted salvation to him, he said that "blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed". This is because our faith is true not because of the brilliance of our minds, our eyes and/or our reasoning ability, but because of the innate quality of whom we trust in. Thus, those who do not rely on their own strength but are able to trust the truth of God's greatness and goodness are truly blessed. I remember a quiet time book which I read which talked about a woman greatly loving and trusting a cheating scum, and contrasting that with her subsequently loving and trusting a good and stable man after her initial failed relationship with the scum. Was the quality of her relationship dependent solely on her level of trust? No, it was in the inherent qualities of the guys whom she trusted. Similarly, our faith in God is only meaningful because of the inherent qualities and goodness of our great and glorious creator! How blessed are we if we are able to maintain strong and persistent faith in Him!
4. Jesus' resurrection is key to our faith. Jesus is shown to be the true son of God as He was able to overcome death, and is worthy of our praise and glory. It also illustrates that God will keep all His promises and that we will be empowered to overcome death if we follow Jesus. With such power available to us, we can be assured that we will be able to overcome sin (and death) as long as we stay equipped with the full armour of God.

In addition to the above, have been reflecting a lot on my spiritual walk lately and wanted to share the following poem which I've written (based on some of the struggles I've been facing):

The Devil’s Lies

The Devil lies to me each day

In a very subtle worldly way

He tells me material things are good

That they will help to boost my mood

But these are things which fade away

My God would rather that I pray

Why look to things that fade to dust?

Seek heavenly gifts that will not rust

The Devil suggests I compromise

To indulge in the sins of my eyes

To entertain that sinful thought

After all, I will not be caught

However, when I start to sway

I realised I have turned away

From God to enjoy worldly sin

My heart’s been corrupted from within

The Devil tells me that I need

Worldly success to be complete

A slim body, power, popularity

Gifts and skills for security

But when I look to these not God

I detract from my spiritual walk

I end up with envy or with pride

And realise I’ve been taken for a ride

The Devil suggests life is unfair

He tells me that God does not care

He whispers a “better, happier” way

That God should have provided for my day

I end up doubting God’s great plans

I then complain and make demands

And afterwards realise I’ve been a brat

And beg for God to take me back

The Devil suggests that I should keep

What I have to provide for my need

He causes me to worry and fear

That I have insufficient for life here

When requests are made for some support

I do not give because I hoard

My worldly things I start to hide

Until I remember God does provide

The Devil tells me I have my own story

My life is not solely for God’s glory

He tells me to spend much of my time

On things which are not worth a dime

To make frivolous and worldly choices

And partake in endless indulgences

I lose my time on things so fake

Until God shows me my mistake

Without the full armour of God

This battle just cannot be fought

The Devil speaks but he tells lies

That are only clear with spiritual eyes

When the Devil tells me to disobey

I will not seek for things my way

But I will close my eyes and pray

And trust that God will show His way

Hope the above helps in your spiritual journey and in the battle against the lying and deceitful Devil! May we continue to overcome (the already-defeated) Satan with God's everlasting power!

Jesus' Temptation

Jesus' Temptation
Acrylic on Canvas
50cm x 50cm
2 hours

I have not posted in awhile. I have been so distracted trying out all sorts of other alternate art mediums, as well as focusing on work and music, so I have regretfully not focused on this ministry as much as I would have liked. Please pray for me to be able to stay focus and continue painting passionately to share the gospel!

Anyway, I painted this artistic impression of a painting that I found online. This depicts Jesus’ testing in the desert, and is meaningful to me because I personally struggle in resisting the devil and am very inspired by Jesus’ strong testimony!

The temptation of Jesus in the desert is detailed in Matthew and Luke, and noted in Mark:

Jesus was led by the Spirit in the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and nights he was hungry. The devil came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’

Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. The devil said, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down. For it is written “He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.” Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.”

Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.” Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.”

Then the devil left him.

These are my thoughts and applications:

1.       The devil is a liar and is completely untrustworthy. Time and again he tries to tempt us to follow his way our way, against God’s instructions and divine laws, by making us doubt that God has the best plans for us. This happened in the Garden of Eden, and it happened to Jesus when he was weak and vulnerable in the desert. There is no telling when he may attack us, and we have to be constantly vigilant as well as in tune to scripture in order to be able to identify and resist his attacks.

2.       The devil tempted Jesus in 3 ways.

a.        Physical needs and desires: The devil knew that Jesus was hungry. He knew that Jesus had the power to turn stone into bread, and enticed him to do so. However, Jesus did not give in. While it is not wrong in itself to satisfy his desire for food, Jesus chose not to do so because he had been led by the Holy Spirit to the desert to fast (and not to feast). Jesus was experiencing the fullness of humanity and was withholding His divinity during this period. Thus, while it may seem totally harmless to want to satisfy a physical desire that we have, there is a God-glorifying time for everything. As such, we should follow Jesus’ example to resist satisfying our human wants (even if we have the means to satisfy them), if acting on satisfying them is not God-glorifying. For example, it was not God-glorifying for Jesus on a fast in the desert to listen to the devil and create food for himself to eat during the fast. Likewise for us, it would not be God-glorifying to spend our free time on pornography, on prolonged mindless entertainment that has no value to God’s kingdom, on pre-marital sex, on stealing food to satisfy hunger etc. Jesus’ example moves us to focus on the eternal kingdom instead of our physical needs and desires by assuring us that God and His word is enough.

b.       Miracles and testing: The devil tempted Jesus to test God’s faithfulness by jumping off a cliff, assuring Jesus that God would carry Him up as He is the son of God. However, Jesus rightly responded that we should not test God. In our context, this would mean not praying conditional prayers such as “God if you love me can you please show me ___” or “God please do ___ if you love me” or “God if you do ___ I will believe in you”. Our key to the heavenly kingdom is not through witnessing God’s miracles but through faith expressed in love. As such, these tests and demands for miracles in our lives are not from God but originate from the devil. For if we make such requests, we are doubting God’s unconditional love and perfect plans and the sovereignty of His ways above ours.

c.         Power, possessions and pride: The devil tried to seduce Jesus by offering Him all of the splendor of the world if Jesus worshipped him, in the hope of distracting Him from God’s greater plans and purposes. However, Jesus chose God above all of this – even though He knew that would lead Him to the cross. This resulted in Him being exalted beyond measure and seated at the right hand of God’s throne. How often do we choose to worship material possessions and power over God? How often do we choose to satisfy our pride over bringing glory to God’s kingdom? As seen from this testing, the devil is more than able to quote scripture in his attempts to seduce us. However, if the underlying desire that we seek to satisfy relates to power, possessions and pride as opposed to solely on building the glory of God’s kingdom (regardless of our earthly standing), our desires are NOT biblical and we may have unknowingly been seduced. This may manifest itself in many ways. Do we compare ourselves with others and wish to have more talents or slimmer bodies or a better paying job or greater popularity or more recognition? Do we enjoy reading scripture passages suggesting that God will grant worldly prosperity to his faithful followers? If so, we may not be looking at the entire bible in context. If we crave anything other than God, we need to relook our inner desires and remember that we are to worship only Him. 

3.      The importance of understanding and applying scripture: The devil was able to quote scripture as well, and this makes me realize the importance of understanding the whole context of scripture in order to fully know how each verse is to be properly applied. I realized that there is no shortcut to this but a serious dedication to God’s word with God’s people. Having DG group sessions where biblical wisdom is shared, as well as daily personal quiet time, has personally helped me in the process of understanding God better. The other learning point was that the devil can be defeated through scripture. I had experienced this firsthand myself when I struggled with severe pride issues and had printed out bible verses on pride out to help me overcome them. I realized that I was very empowered by these verses (through my recurrent attacks) and that re-reading these verses would help to realign my heart towards God.

4.      Affirmation of Jesus’ humanity and God’s ministry: That Jesus could be tempted and fully resisted temptation showed how He was fully Man and God at the same time. This is very encouraging for He will be always able to understand us, and is also able to empower us with His strength and wisdom to resist the devil if we walk close to Him!

May we continue to grow in Christ-likeness and walk in God’s glory!

Christmas - the Birth of Jesus

Christmas - the Birth of Jesus
Watercolour
7 x 10
25/12/15
30 minutes

It has been a more restful season at work for the last few weeks (thanks to God's blessings!), but regretfully there has just been so much other stuff going on that I have not been able to focus on Paint for Christ as much as I would like. But thank God for giving me the time and inspiration to do a simple piece for Christmas this year! I put this piece together after some inspiration from a few online images; am still working on developing my own original pieces (so that I properly respect the work of other artists), please bear with me as I slowly develop my skills in this area.

The main accounts of Jesus' birth in the New Testament is set out in Matthew and Luke; I've reproduced the account in Luke 2:1-20 (NIV) as follows:

"The Birth of Jesus

2 In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. ² (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) ³ And everyone went to their own town to register.

 

⁴ So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. ⁵ He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. ⁶ While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, ⁷ and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.

⁸ And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. ⁹ An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. ¹⁰ But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. ¹¹ Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. ¹² This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

¹³ Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

¹⁴ “Glory to God in the highest heaven,
    and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

 

¹⁵ When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

 

¹⁶ So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger.

¹⁷ When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, ¹⁸ and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. ¹⁹ But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. ²⁰ The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told."

The following separately sets out the extracts on Jesus's birth from Matthew 1:18-25 KJV:

^"18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.

¹⁹ Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privily.

²⁰ But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. ²¹ And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins. ²² Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, ²³ Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.

²⁴ Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife: ²⁵ And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name Jesus."

My reflections on the above extracts this Christmas is as follows:

1. The Miracle of Christmas. Christmas is a true miracle. It is a reminder that nothing is impossible with God. The very birth of Jesus through virgin Mary is symbolic of this. As Jesus came as a perfect sacrifice to save us from our sins, in order for Him to be truly free from the curse of Adam and Eve (who had fallen and had a sinful nature within them and their descendants), He came down as the son of God, reborn from the Holy Ghost, fully Man at the same time, into our world to free us from our slavery to sin. The salvation of Mankind is a huge miracle, a gift that was difficult to comprehend, and now that we have been blessed by the benefit of God's wisdom set out in the Bible, we should love and appreciate this free gift and glorious miracle which changes and reforms lives, and pray for continued love, faith, wisdom and strength of character to be able to live out a life that is transformed and pleasing to God!
2. Trust in the Lord. It is difficult to fully understand and comprehend God's plans at all times. But we need to constantly pray for faith to be able to be obedient to His commands. A great illustration is the testimony of Mary and Joseph through this. During their time, it was unheard of for a virgin to be pregnant. For Mary to have accepted this pregnancy obediently (she would surely have been subject to much gossip), and for Joseph to have accepted the truth and Mary as his wife, was a huge act of faith. Furthermore, they were called away from their home through the census, had to travel miles from Nazareth to Bethlehem (during Mary's pregnancy), and had to dwell in Bethlehem without good accommodation. This was not a smooth and effortless journey, but one which required much trust, faith and obedience. May we continually pray for faith through the trying periods of our lives so that we can be obedient to God's perfect plans!
3. The Humility of Christ's Birth. Christ had a humble birth. He came into a world where there was no room for him. He was born and placed in a manger because there were no guest rooms available at the inns. He was visited by shepherds, and subsequently some wise men, not the kings of the land. He was not born in a palace, and although He was the greatest king, He did not have a luxurious life. This is not what we, in our prideful and fallen world, are used to. We are often taught from young to crave and respect and worship power characterised by strength, worldliness and abundance, not to be servant leaders as Christ Himself was. But He came to serve us and not to be served, and Christmas is a great reminder to realign our lives and principles towards being humble servant-leaders, just as Christ himself was from the very moment of His birth.
4. God's Timely Plans. Luke sets out the account of God's timeliness of events. The timing of the census, the hard heart of Herod and his evilness, and the messages sent to Mary, Joseph, the shepherds and the wise men through the angels, all enabled the prophecies set out in the Old Testament to be met and fulfilled in their own time. This is a reminder that we should always focus on God's perfect timing, not our own, as His plans are greater than our comprehension and He knows far better what is the best for us. This may be trying and difficult but may we always look to God for the faith to trust and obey and believe.
5. The Heart of God's Plans. The heart of God's plans through Christ is salvation through His perfect sacrifice and example, and this is a beautiful gift that we often do not appreciate enough. We often do not know what it means for Christ to have come fully as Man, to have been rejected and despised by His creation. Coming down to earth is an act of true sacrifice and vulnerability which was founded in love; He allowed Himself to serve us fully and be hurt by us, and is fully able to completely empathise with us in each moment of rejection and darkness. Yet we often turn away from Him and indulge in our senseless worldly pleasures and sins. This is something that hurts Him greatly, and out of love and appreciation for His gift, we should avoid such sinful behaviour and look towards Him in thanksgiving and love instead.
6. Worship Christ & Spread the Good News. The birth of Christ is a glorious event. The Lord called to the shepherds to this event; angels were signing of the glories of His birth and the shepherds later went on to spread the good news. For this is good news; we have been saved through His precious sacrifice! Thus we should work to spread the good news to the people around us!
7. Make Room in Our Hearts for God. In this fallen world, Christmas is often an over-commercialised event; coupled with the bonus season, it is often a time of endless extravagance and gifts that focus on self and loved ones, but not enough on God (if at all). But we should not be intoxicated by possessions (or distracted by worldly things) - rather, we should intoxicate ourselves in Christ's presence and shower the world around us with the same type of love which Christ gave - love founded on compassion, empathy, mercy and justice.

Merry Christmas 2015!

Jonah & the Big Fish

Jonah and the Big Fish
Watercolour
9" x 12"
40 minutes

I have been going through a particularly busy and difficult period at work lately, and regretfully have not put up any new posts in awhile. This watercolor picture of Jonah and the Big Fish, an artistic impression of an image I found online, was a painting that I did a few weeks back, and it speaks to me in particular because I struggle with the same issues as Jonah - difficulties in ministry, obedience, lack of compassion, self-righteousness and constant anger.

The full story extracted from the book of Jonah (NIV) provides as follows:

"1 The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai: ² “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.”

³ But Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa,where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the Lord.

⁴ Then the Lord sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up. ⁵ All the sailors were afraid and each cried out to his own god. And they threw the cargo into the sea to lighten the ship.

But Jonah had gone below deck, where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep. ⁶ The captain went to him and said, “How can you sleep? Get up and call on your god! Maybe he will take notice of us so that we will not perish.”

⁷ Then the sailors said to each other, “Come, let us cast lots to find out who is responsible for this calamity.” They cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah. ⁸ So they asked him, “Tell us, who is responsible for making all this trouble for us? What kind of work do you do? Where do you come from? What is your country? From what people are you?”

⁹ He answered, “I am a Hebrew and I worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.”

¹⁰ This terrified them and they asked, “What have you done?” (They knew he was running away from the Lord, because he had already told them so.)

¹¹ The sea was getting rougher and rougher. So they asked him, “What should we do to you to make the sea calm down for us?”

¹² “Pick me up and throw me into the sea,” he replied, “and it will become calm. I know that it is my fault that this great storm has come upon you.”

¹³ Instead, the men did their best to row back to land. But they could not, for the sea grew even wilder than before. ¹⁴ Then they cried out to the Lord, “Please, Lord, do not let us die for taking this man’s life. Do not hold us accountable for killing an innocent man, for you, Lord, have done as you pleased.” ¹⁵ Then they took Jonah and threw him overboard, and the raging sea grew calm. ¹⁶ At this the men greatly feared the Lord, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows to him.

Jonah’s Prayer

¹⁷ Now the Lord provided a huge fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

2 

¹ From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the Lord his God. ² He said:

“In my distress I called to the Lord,
    and he answered me.
From deep in the realm of the dead I called for help,
    and you listened to my cry.
³ You hurled me into the depths,
    into the very heart of the seas,
    and the currents swirled about me;
all your waves and breakers
    swept over me.
⁴ I said, ‘I have been banished
    from your sight;
yet I will look again
    toward your holy temple.’
⁵ The engulfing waters threatened me,
    the deep surrounded me;
    seaweed was wrapped around my head.
⁶ To the roots of the mountains I sank down;
    the earth beneath barred me in forever.
But you, Lord my God,
    brought my life up from the pit.

⁷ “When my life was ebbing away,
    I remembered you, Lord,
and my prayer rose to you,
    to your holy temple.

⁸ “Those who cling to worthless idols
    turn away from God’s love for them.
⁹ But I, with shouts of grateful praise,
    will sacrifice to you.
What I have vowed I will make good.
    I will say, ‘Salvation comes from the Lord.’”

¹⁰ And the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.'

Jonah Goes to Nineveh

3 Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time: ² “Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you.”

³ Jonah obeyed the word of the Lord and went to Nineveh. Now Nineveh was a very large city; it took three days to go through it. ⁴ Jonah began by going a day’s journey into the city, proclaiming, “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown.” ⁵ The Ninevites believed God. A fast was proclaimed, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth.

⁶ When Jonah’s warning reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, took off his royal robes, covered himself with sackcloth and sat down in the dust. ⁷ This is the proclamation he issued in Nineveh:

“By the decree of the king and his nobles:

Do not let people or animals, herds or flocks, taste anything; do not let them eat or drink. ⁸ But let people and animals be covered with sackcloth. Let everyone callurgently on God. Let them give up their evil ways and their violence. ⁹ Who knows? God may yet relent and with compassion turn from his fierce anger so that we will not perish.”

¹⁰ When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he relented and did not bring on them the destruction he had threatened.

Jonah’s Anger at the Lord’s Compassion

4 But to Jonah this seemed very wrong, and he became angry. ² He prayed to the Lord, “Isn’t this what I said, Lord, when I was still at home? That is what I tried to forestall by fleeing to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. ³ Now,Lord, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live.”

⁴ But the Lord replied, “Is it right for you to be angry?”

⁵ Jonah had gone out and sat down at a place east of the city. There he made himself a shelter, sat in its shade and waited to see what would happen to the city. ⁶ Then theLord God provided a leafy plant and made it grow up over Jonah to give shade for his head to ease his discomfort, and Jonah was very happy about the plant. ⁷ But at dawn the next day God provided a worm, which chewed the plant so that it withered. ⁸ When the sun rose, God provided a scorching east wind, and the sun blazed on Jonah’s head so that he grew faint. He wanted to die, and said, “It would be better for me to die than to live.”

⁹ But God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?”

“It is,” he said. “And I’m so angry I wish I were dead.”

¹⁰ But the Lord said, “You have been concerned about this plant, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. ¹¹ And should I not have concern for the great city of Nineveh, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left—and also many animals?”

My personal reflections on the above account are as follows:

1. Ministering for God's kingdom. As Christians, we are called to minister to both Christians and non-Christians through sharing the gospel, loving correction and being the salt and light of this fallen world. For the most part, once I had converted, I did not expect to find that ministering to people could be hindered by personal bias or issues. Oftentimes, sharing the gospel came easily to me. However, like Jonah, through time, I found that I had multiple personal barriers that hindered my ministry. Jonah did not want to preach on repentence to evil people because he thought them to be unworthy of God's mercy. I, too, gradually realized that I had my own barriers. I am not a naturally warm person - I often need (much) time to warm up to people and a healthy amount of personal space and consequentially I find it hard to reach out to people who intrude my personal space, who are socially exhausting, whom I have no chemistry with, whom I feel are unkind or incompetent or who simply rub me off the wrong way (even if I know that this is through no fault of their own). I used to justify my general hostility/struggles, believing that maybe my natural struggles was an indication that God did not intend to use me to reach out to these people. But Jonah's account shows that despite internal biases, God may still want us to continue to fight these biases, so that we may reach out to these people and draw them to His kingdom. Hence, we should obediently and prayerfully seek to overcome our internal biases in our ministry so that we can work to achieve God's ultimate glory and purposes.
2. Obedience to God. Often times, we are willful disobedient to God's commands because there are things that we choose to hold on to and refuse to submit to God's  greater design. When we disobey, it shows a lack of faith in God and a desire for our (often selfish) wills and plans to prevail over His. For example, God tells us not to hoard money; often, we refuse to give generously and continue to hoard because we refuse to believe that God has better plans for our money than for it to sit comfortably in our bank accounts for our (sometimes frivolous and meaningless) consumption. Or God tells us to submit to authority; we refuse because we think our ideas and plans are so much better and we deserve more than to have to submit to another (perhaps undeserving) person. God told Jonah to preach in Nineveh - Jonah did not want to do so because he wanted to see them punished for their misdeeds. In all of these instances, we have an idea of what we, in our limited human understanding and in all our sinfulness, want to achieve, sometimes in contradiction to God's greater purposes. We find ways to justify what we want or what we think is right. And that's where the danger lies. Because our plans will never be comparable to the greater plans and designs of the all-knowing, ever-loving and ever-wise God. No doubt, we will continue to struggle in our quest to be obedient to God, but in this struggle, we should always prayerfully fight our sinful nature to submit to Him and be fully obedient. In any event, disobedience is futile because God is sovereign. Jonah disobeyed God, but God ultimately disciplined and brought him to humble obedience (a process  which could have been avoided if Jonah had been obedient from the start).
3. Repentance and God's Grace and Compassion. God extended both grace and compassion to Jonah (who had disobeyed His instructions) and the people of Nineveh (who had disobeyed His commands). Both were sinful. But both had repented - and the repentant heart of a sinner with faith in the Lord is pleasing to His eyes. Jonah had repented by confessing to his sins on the boat, taking responsibility and being thrown aboard, praying humbly to God for salvation and thereafter obeying God's command to preach in Nineveh. The people of Nineveh had repented by humbly clothing themselves in sackcloth and renouncing their evil ways. However, in being angry at God's compassion to Nineveh, Jonah had clearly misunderstood the basis of God's grace - he had erroneously thought that part of this should be based on conduct and works. But in actuality, since the fall of Adam and Eve, all Men are fallen and need God's grace; none are, on their own, worthy of any salvation. As Luke 5:31-32 (NIV) states: "
   Jesus answered them, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.
   I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance."
4. Comfort vs Love. God had used the plant and Jonah's anger in relation thereto to gently illustrate clearly how Jonah valued his comfort (from a plant) more greatly than the lives of many. How can this be? Yet sometimes we find ourselves unknowingly ensnared in the same trap. I remember how I was once very exhausted and could not find a taxi for more than half an hour; in my angst tears came to my eyes and I was not pleased with God at all. That was really spoilt of me, and as I was reflecting on this passage, I realized that I am often more preoccupied and emotional about my own personal comfort than caring about doing God's work or being compassionate about the trials of God's people. For all of my self-righteousness at times, I, like Jonah, have a very skewed perspective of what is important and pleasing to God, and constantly get unduly worked up over the wrong things.

May we draw wisdom from Jonah's experience and continually walk forward in our relationship with God!