Jonah 3:10 - When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways...

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

And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not.

Jonah is a fascinating story of redemption. The most interesting thing to me is that the city of Nineveh repents, but Jonah does not! "But Jonah was greatly displeased and became angry." (Jonah 4:1)

Nineveh was known as a place of unspeakable darkness. Yet the king sees his wicked ways and God stays his hand of judgment. This act of mercy causes Jonah to become angry with God. Yet even in his self-righteous temper tantrum, God's mercy tries to reason with Jonah.

This story points to another time much later when Jesus would come to the world and challenge both the sin of wickedness and the sin of self-righteousness. And just like Jonah's day, the wicked were more prone to change than the religious!

Today's commentary by: Dave Whitehead, Senior Pastor, GraceNYC.org

What do you think? Discussion at: http://facebook.com/DailyBibleVerse

Nehemiah 4:15-16 - When our enemies heard that we were aware of their plot...

When our enemies heard that we were aware of their plot and that God had frustrated it, we all returned to the wall, each to his own work. From that day on, half of my men did the work, while the other half were equipped with spears, shields, bows and armor. The officers posted themselves behind all the people of Judah

And it came to pass, when our enemies heard that it was known unto us, and God had brought their counsel to nought, that we returned all of us to the wall, every one unto his work. And it came to pass from that time forth, that the half of my servants wrought in the work, and the other half of them held both the spears, the shields, and the bows, and the habergeons; and the rulers were behind all the house of Judah.

Even though God had frustrated the plans of Nehemiah's enemies, there was a level of diligence and readiness that was needed as they proceeded. As we experience God's grace and goodness in our day-to-day lives, we still need to work with a state of alertness. Unlike Nehemiah's day, our enemy is not physical. The Scripture talks of Satan as a prowling lion, therefore we need to keep on the alert with our skills to build in one hand and the word of God in the other.

Today's commentary by: Dave Whitehead, Senior Pastor, GraceNYC.org

What do you think? Discussion at: http://facebook.com/DailyBibleVerse