“A kindhearted woman gains honor,
but ruthless men gain only wealth.” Proverbs 11:16 NIV
In His Love, Cindy
Do you want to know more about Jesus? See my page Who Is Jesus?
RealChristianWomen.blog
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My Bible reading plan led me to the book of Jonah. Even though I thought I knew this book well, God showed me something new.
“The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai: “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.” 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.” Jonah 1:1-3
Jonah didn’t want to preach to Nineveh because Nineveh, the capital of Assyria, was cruel and wicked. Israel hated the Assyrians! They were barbaric! No wonder Jonah didn’t want to go there!
You probably know the rest of this story. A great storm arose at sea and the crew threw Jonah overboard. Then,
“…the Lord provided a huge fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.” Jonah 1:17
Jonah cried out to the Lord…
“And the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.” Jonah 2:10
The Bible doesn’t tell us what kind of fish swallowed Jonah, but one possibility is the Blue Whale, the largest animal on earth, a marine creature without teeth. Learning about God’s creation is fascinating and the blue whale is no exception.
We know for a fact that whales can and do vomit. Did you know that whale vomit, also known as ambergris, can be worth thousands of dollars per ounce? In 2021, a group of fishermen in the Gulf of Aden sold a chunk of ambergris worth around $1.5 million to a buyer in the United Arab Emirates.
But I digress. Another interesting fact about blue whales is that they have 4 to 6 compartments in their stomachs, any of which could house a group of grown men. The nasal cavity contains an enormous air storage chamber often measuring 7’x7’x14′.
Many skeptics have said the story of Jonah would be impossible. But after doing a little research, I’m not so sure. Of course, nothing is impossible for God anyway. But I found these facts about the blue whale quite interesting.
The question before Jonah was this: “Will I accept that God is God and yield myself to His will? That same question is before us today.
My advice: Don’t run from God. He has some interesting ways of getting our attention and He knows how to get us to do what He wants us to do!
Sources:
In His Love, Cindy
Do you want to know more about Jesus? See my page Who Is Jesus?
RealChristianWomen.blog
“Roll your works upon the Lord [commit and trust them wholly to Him; He will cause your thoughts to become agreeable to His will, and] so shall your plans be established and succeed.” Proverbs 16:3 AMPC (emphasis mine)
In His Love, Cindy
Do you want to know more about Jesus? See my page Who Is Jesus?
RealChristianWomen.blog
Photo by Olivia Snow on Unsplash
“My son, if you accept my words
and store up my commands within you,
turning your ear to wisdom
and applying your heart to understanding—
indeed, if you call out for insight
and cry aloud for understanding,
and if you look for it as for silver
and search for it as for hidden treasure,
then you will understand the fear of the Lord
and find the knowledge of God.
For the Lord gives wisdom;
from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.” Proverbs 2:1-6 NIV
In His Love, Cindy
Do you want to know more about Jesus? See my page Who Is Jesus?
RealChristianWomen.blog
Photo by Jody Confer on Unsplash
I know that the Lord is always on the side of the right; but it is my constant anxiety and prayer that I and this nation may be on the Lord’s side.”
President Abraham Lincoln
In His Love, Cindy
Do you want to know more about Jesus? See my page Who Is Jesus?
Pray for Israel
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RealChristianWomen.blog
“There is no [human] wisdom or understanding
Or counsel [that can prevail] against the Lord.” Proverbs 21:30 AMP
In His Love, Cindy
Do you want to know more about Jesus? See my page Who Is Jesus?
RealChristianWomen.blog
Photo by Jeremy Bishop on Unsplash
Merry Christmas to all my blogger friends! How I wish we could all be together and have a grand pot-luck Bible Study! Maybe someday we will! I love you all and appreciate your encouragement and support so very much. It is so exciting to have friends all over the world! I thank the Lord for you all!
Today we celebrate the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ! He is the reason for the season!
Prophecy: “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.” Isaiah 7:14
700 years later: “But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship. Galatians 4:4-5 (emphasis mine)
In His Love, Cindy
Do you want to know more about Jesus? See my page Who Is Jesus?
RealChristianWomen.blog
7 “Ask and keep on asking and it will be given to you; seek and keep on seeking and you will find; knock and keep on knocking and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who keeps on asking receives, and he who keeps on seeking finds, and to him who keeps on knocking, it will be opened.” (Jesus) Matthew 7:7-8 AMP Read full chapter
Matthew 7:7 Here the use of Greek present imperatives (asking, seeking, knocking; vv 7, 8) emphasizes persistent, constant prayer.
In His Love, Cindy
Do you want to know more about Jesus? See my page Who Is Jesus?
RealChristianWomen.blog
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“Trust in the Lord with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways submit to him,
and he will make your paths straight.” Proverbs 3:5-6 NIV
In His Love, Cindy
Do you want to know more about Jesus? See my page Who Is Jesus?
RealChristianWomen.blog
Photo by Ray Hennessy on Unsplash
Our extended family was all together for the holidays when something unusual happened. Pastor Mike challenged the congregation to go for a whole month without complaining.
Our family took on the challenge (all 8 of us). Christina had the idea that if you complained about something, you had to sing your words! Here are a couple of the “songs” that were sung at dinner that night:
“Is that kale in my salad?”
“I thought we were eating at 6:45!”
Naturally, these songs had everyone in hysterics!
Needless to say, it was a lot of fun! Not only that, it cut down on complaining because if anyone came even close to complaining, the others immediately made the guilty party sing it!
After I was caught complaining, I said, “But I’m just stating a fact!” Guess what? If the fact is negative, that’s complaining!
Our family kept this up for about 3 hours and I learned something. We complain and don’t even realize we’re doing it! (That is until you get caught!)
So why not take this family holiday challenge? God says,
“Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation. Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life.” Philippians 2:14-16 NIV (emphasis mine)
Have you ever been around someone who never complained? Nice, isn’t it? Have you ever been around anyone who complained constantly? Not so nice! It’s pretty straightforward. Complainers don’t make bright stars in the darkness.
God knows that complaining isn’t good for us. If only we would just obey Him! Science has proven that complaining is unhealthy. Consider this:
So I challenge you to accept the “Don’t Complain Challenge”. For one month, you can’t complain about anything. See what happens. Pastor Mike guarantees that it will make you a happier, healthier, and more positive person. You will not only feel better, but you will become a person others like to be around.
You will be “seen as bright lights (stars or beacons shining out clearly) in the [dark] world, Holding out [to it] and offering [to all men] the Word of Life…” Philippians 2:15b-16a AMPC
In His Love, Cindy
Do you want to know more about Jesus? See my page Who Is Jesus?
RealChristianWomen.blog
Cover Photo by Sarah Kilian on Unsplash
Real Christian Women 