One Verse at a Time

This episode looks at Jonah 2:6, “at the roots of the mountains. I went down to the land whose bars closed upon me forever; yet you brought up my life from the pit, O LORD my God.” When we are at the end of our rope we look to God. God, and God alone, can save us from our suffering and ultimately from the Pit of Hell.

This episode looks at Jonah 2:5, “The waters closed in over me to take my life; the deep surrounded me; weeds were wrapped about my head.” We don’t need to deny the realities of life. We need help to look beyond them and to look to Christ.

This episode looks at Jonah 2:4, “Then I said, ‘I am driven away from your sight; yet I shall again look upon your holy temple!’” When we face suffering, we should resolve to persist in prayer. If we are suffering due to sin, we repent and turn to God. If our suffering is not due to sin, we ask God for grace and help while the suffering lasts and for him to use the suffering for our ultimate good.

His episode looks at Jonah 2:3, “For you cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the flood surrounded me; all your waves and your billows passed over me.” Yes, even suffering comes from God. He is the one who cast Jonah into the sea. He is the one who made the man in John 9 born blind. He does this for his glory and ultimately for our good. So, we look to him and trust him through hard situations.

This episode looks at Jonah 2:2, “saying, “I called out to the LORD, out of my distress, and he answered me; out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and you heard my voice.” God is a God who hears his people. When we call to him, he listens. This provides a reason to run to him and a reason to praise him.

This episode looks at Jonah 2:1, “Then Jonah prayed to the LORD his God from the belly of the fish.” Even though he is still in the fish, Jonah can pray to God about his deliverance. We need to follow that posture and ask God for help to turn to him even when we are in the midst of trials and suffering.

This episode looks at Colossians 2:23, “These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.” Indeed, man-made religion appears good at times—like fools’ gold. Instead of settling for the stuff that can’t actually transform us, we ask for grace to push onward to the substance of faith: Christ alone and supreme over all things.

This episode looks at Colossians 2:22, “(referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to human precepts and teachings?” We cannot make lesser things the main thing! And we need God’s grace to do this well. That is what we pray for from this passage.

This episode looks at Colossians 2:21, “Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch.” This verse, similar to 2:16 reflects the ideas of a man-made philosophy that cannot save us but instead leads to death. We ask for discernment to understand the Scriptures and to know what is from God and what is not from God.

This episode looks at Colossians 2:20, “If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations—” We can’t live like we haven’t died to both sin and the philosophies and spirits of the world. We need God’s help to move out of those old ways and habits and into newness of life.