{"id":658,"date":"2013-04-06T13:19:40","date_gmt":"2013-04-06T18:19:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gpc.168prayer.org\/?p=658"},"modified":"2013-05-09T10:18:28","modified_gmt":"2013-05-09T15:18:28","slug":"transformed-in-the-fish","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gpc.168prayer.org\/?p=658","title":{"rendered":"Transformed in the Fish"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u4e2d\u6587\u8acb\u9ede\u64ca<\/em><\/strong><\/span>\u9019\u88e1<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The engulfing waters threatened me, the deep surrounded me; seaweed was wrapped around my head. To the roots of the mountains I sank down; the earth beneath barred me in forever. But you brought my life up from the pit, O LORD my God. When my life was ebbing away, I remembered you, LORD, and my prayer rose to you, to your holy temple. \u00a0Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs. \u00a0But I, with a song of thanksgiving, will sacrifice to you. \u00a0What I have vowed I will make good. Salvation comes from the LORD. \u2013 Jonah 2:5-9<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Sensing that the Lord is taking us through a significant transition season, I have recently decided to scale back on the weekly message blog to quiet my spirit in seeking God\u2019s heart.\u00a0 Here are some \u201csceneries\u201d of this journey that I would like to share with you.<\/p>\n

God\u2019s preparation of our hearts to steward influence and wealth is about change \u2013 reorienting what we think is reasonable and desirable and aligning to what God wants.\u00a0 Because of people\u2019s \u201cstiffed-necked\u201d nature, the change process that God takes us through can often seem painful, chaotic, and contradictory<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Recently, the Holy Spirit reminded me of Jonah\u2019s case \u2013 truly the epitome of \u201cextreme heart transformation\u201d.\u00a0 In an odd way, it brought me encouragement by the assurance that:\u00a0 when God cares enough to get our attention and compliance, He will shake us out from our bounds of logic, justice, and sensibility.\u00a0 He will take us to a place where we will not only clearly understand His heart, but will also be ready to change our hearts.<\/p>\n

Being trapped in a fish\u2019s stomach must be one of most horrid experiences \u2013 hanging somewhere between life and death, completely blind, swaying like a crazy roller coaster, staring at the face of a painful and slow death.\u00a0 Is this how we perceive our situation today as we go through the \u201cchange process\u201d?\u00a0 God\u2019s ways are always sensible. \u00a0But to perceive it requires a faith to see His heart\u2019s greater picture and a willingness to step out from our bounds of logic, justice, and sensibility.\u00a0 Only then will the beauty of God\u2019s wisdom and mercy become visible.<\/p>\n

The fish experience may be frightening.\u00a0 But in reality, it is God\u2019s salvation that saved Jonah from drowning.\u00a0 It is God\u2019s condition that opened Jonah\u2019s eyes and compelled him to \u201cmake good his vow\u201d. \u00a0It is God\u2019s provision that transported Jonah to his intended destination, all expenses paid!<\/p>\n

God\u2019s way operated completely outside of Jonah\u2019s logic and sensibility.\u00a0 Can we relate to that?\u00a0 How many of us are in a \u201cfish\u201d today \u2013 feeling blind, disoriented, out of control, while seeing our resources ebb away?\u00a0 In many aspects of my Kingdom assignment, I can relate to that.\u00a0 My encouragement to you, from one sojourner to another, is: everything will be and must be OK. \u00a0The \u201cfish\u201d is the way of God.\u00a0 Just sit tight and wait for it to spit you out. \u00a0When that happens, you know that you have been elevated to a new level of Kingdom authority!<\/p>\n

God bless – as we ride the \u201cfish\u201d together.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u4e2d\u6587\u8acb\u9ede\u64ca\u9019\u88e1 The engulfing waters threatened me, the deep surrounded me; seaweed was wrapped around my head. To the roots of the mountains I sank down; the earth beneath barred me in forever. But you brought my life up from the … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpc.168prayer.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/658"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpc.168prayer.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpc.168prayer.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpc.168prayer.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpc.168prayer.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=658"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/gpc.168prayer.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/658\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":665,"href":"https:\/\/gpc.168prayer.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/658\/revisions\/665"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpc.168prayer.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=658"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpc.168prayer.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=658"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpc.168prayer.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=658"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}