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The Deceptive Heart
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n his decision to run away from God, Jonah decided to spend a lot of money to board a ship to head in the opposite direction
of where he had been told to go.
If you recall, when Jesus was buried in the tomb after crucifixion, He rose again. Just before being crucified, the Peter who had been
declared as the rock upon whom the church would be founded (by Christ Himself), denied Jesus. The denial was supposedly the
ticket to him buying his own life so that the crowd could not crucify him as well. The same Peter, after resurrection, told the other
disciples (John 21) that he was going fishing. After the Lord’s intervention, they had a wonderful breakfast where the Lord restored
Peter. For every one denial, Peter confessed his love for Christ and got an assignment in 3 fold – Feed my lambs – Tend my sheep – Feed my
sheep.
The ticket out of your assignment is always available and it presents itself in various ways. Consider the following examples in the
Bible:♣
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Moses: he tried buying his way out of his assignment by telling God about his past and his stammering speech
Gideon: his ticket was supposedly his low social status
Joseph (the earthly father of Jesus): wanted to use the divorce ticket
Jeremiah: His age, his ability to speak in public and lack of authority
Orpah (Naomi’s second daughter in law): was actually handed her ticket and she took it. It had to do with relationships and
being a wife and mother.
At this point, I would like to pause and ask what our tickets are and how many we have purchased or received freely to transport
us away from our assignment and into the whale belly of ordinary life.
- Whale Belly Experience -
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