Cry HELP! #169

Jonah 2:1-2

Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the stomach of the fish, and he said, "I called out of my distress to the Lord, and He answered me. I cried for help from the depth of Sheol; Thou didst hear my voice." NAS

You may never have found yourself in quite the predicament in which Jonah found

himself. He was running from the call of God in his life. God was specific in His

instruction to Jonah; "go and preach to Nineveh." His unwillingness sent him on a fast and furious trip in the opposite direction. That response will usually bring anyone to an unfavorable end.

As a result of his rebellion Jonah ended up on a ship from which he was thrown overboard and left to die. Instead of dying God prepared a great fish to swallow him.

So now Jonah finds himself in the predicament of a lifetime. He was in the sea in the belly of a great fish with no hope.

Jonah was unable to save himself from the great waters; yet in his distress he called

out to God in fervent prayer. Have you ever been at the point of despair? Were you convinced you were not going to survive? It is when there is no hoe of survival, no word of encouragement, no way out that you will learn to call out to God. It is strange that you may think of prayer as the last resort rather than the first choice.

When you get desperate enough that you will ask God to save you; It is then you will discover that He was all you ever really needed. He is more than adequate to meet your need. Just call out to Him right now He loves you and desires to rescue you from the fish that has swallowed you, whatever it may be. After Jonah called out to God he was rescued and went on to fulfill his calling to preach to Nineveh. A whole city repented of their sin and came to faith in God because one man cried out to God in the time of desperation.

How desperate do you have to get before you "call out to God?" Are you facing a big fish and an ocean of unfriendly water? Take a lesson from Jonah. "HELP" was his cry. There is nothing wrong with admitting you are being engulfed and are over your head in struggles. It is usually only when yo

Why not call on God to rescue you and then allow God to fulfill your calling?

________________Today's personal note from Dennis

Greetings from Starbucks in beautiful Tempe, AZ

Hoping and praying that you had a wonderful week.

We are back in Tempe after a great time in San Diego.

It is always good to be home.

Sunday we celebrated the resurrected Jesus with our friends at Northpointe Baptist Church. They are such a great church. Sandy and I feel like we are home

at Northpointe.

Praise the Lord with us. The report for Sandy's thyroid tests came back and show no malignancy. We are very thankful. I met with the oncologist on Friday and although I have a new tumor it is small and will require no treatment for now. Praise the Lord again.

Many of you have asked about our preemie grandson, Johnny. As you can see by the pictures seven months have made a big difference. He will be eight months old on November 8th. Again we praise God. The picture of him as a Big Boy shows him eating real food. His Dad thought it looked like BBQ sauce and put his picture on Facebook with the caption. "More ribs please" He received many comments. Some even believed he really served him BBQ sauce.

One person chastised him for doing it. My son-in-law

with his quick wit wrote back that they were "baby back ribs."

Sandy and I will be in Columbus, Ohio November 4-6 leading a retreat for our friends Bob and Pat Moser. The retreat setting is the beautiful Hocking Hills area of Ohio. We look forward to seeing all our friends in Columbus. Please pray for us as we continue to prepare.

It is very encouraging to me that almost 1400 of you receive The Encourager each week. Thanks for dropping an email to me to let me know how I can

pray for you and to let me know how things are going in your life, your family and your church. The purpose of The Encourager is to 'encourage God's servants.' I do hope and pray you are encouraged. Take a look at this week's Encourager devotional and be encouraged.

God bless you. May God give you strength, courage, power and love today. ~ DGW