Iím guna take you through ëJonahí this week coz itís not just a bookabout a man and a whale. Thereís much more to it than that! Itís anamazing book that people donít really focus on. We can learn loadsfrom the things Jonah did and ëdidnítí do!

Day 1- You can run but you cant hide!

Ch 1v1-5

Ch 1v2 sees God commanding Jonah to go to this town calledNineveh to preach against it. Jonah didnít see why he should preachto them coz they shouldnít have been doing evil things in the firstplace. He didnít want to do it.!ÖÖ..So dya know what he does to tryand get out of it? He gets on a boat heading for Spain. Yeah right!Coz thatís guna stop God!! Ö.so what does God do? He causes ahuge storm to stop the boat! Ha!

You can run from God, from the challenges and opportunities Hehas for you, but you cannot hide!! You might not go to theselengths to escape what Godís telling you, it may be that you try andignore God, by distracting yourself with other things. Itís easilydone but remember, God sees the bigger picture and knows whatísbest for you and others around you!

Challenge: Think about something Godís asked you to do, that youhavenít done or have been putting off and then do it!! Be confidentin the fact that Heíll never leave you to do anything on your own.Heís right there with you, chasing you all the way!

Day 2- ëUnder da seaí!Ch 1v11-16

Jonah makes me laugh in these next few verses. The stormís gettingstronger and stronger and the boatís nearly in half. And where is he?Sleeping!! The rest of the cabin crew are running around like headless

chickens. When the crew find out the storms coz of Jonah, theyconfront him and he replies with:ìPick me up and throw me into the sea, and then it will calm down. Iknow it is my fault that this great storm has come on you.î How many of us would actually ask to be thrown into the sea?Definitely not me! (unless itís like in The Little Mermaid where we canall sing and dance with the fishesÖ.)But do you see that Jonah knewhe could not escape God. He knew the storm was from God and he wasresponsible for putting the others in danger.

When we donít listen to God and donít obey Him, we face consequences.God will give us a second chance to receive what He has for us. So belike Jonah, when this second chance comes round, jump out the boatand do something! Donít miss it!

Challenge: Ask God to help you hear Him coz we all find this hardsometimes. Spend some time praying and reading your bible, to allow

God the opportunity to speak to you. Donít sleep your way through thestorm!

Day 3- Fish food!Ch 1v17 ñ Ch 2-

(and I aint talking about the nice Ben and Jerryís ice-cream!) When weface storms, hard times, when you feel like everythingís going wrong,sometimes we think that Godís not helping us, Heís not listening to us.But itís during these hard times thatís Godís there waiting for you tobring it all to Him. He wants you to be honest with him and talk to Him.If youíve had a pants day, tell Him. Just donít forget to thank him andpraise Him at the same time. Think about Jonah. Heís just been throughthe craziest of storms, been thrown overboard and now, has beenswallowed by a massive fish! Talk about bad times.

So youíd sorta expect Jonah to be a lil bit mad with God. But readwhat he says when heís inside the fish.

ìBut I will praise and thank you while I give sacrifices to you..îJonah realised that when its tough, God is always there! Like He is foryou all the time.

Challenge: Be honest with God! Tell Him what you really think, butremember itís Him that saves you everyday!

Day 4- Miss it? They miss out!Ch 3v1-5

God makes everyone with a plan and a purpose, meaning that there arecertain things God wants you to do, that only you can do. If you donítdo them, theyíll never get done. In ch3, Jonah finally obeys God andpreaches in Nineveh. He tells them that in 40 days, the city will bedestroyed. V5 says ëThe people believed Godí. If Jonah hadnít gone toNineveh, the people in the city would not have believed God and beensaved from the evilness.

Challenge: Are there people in your class, your friends, someone inyour family that Godís told you to speak to? Have you invited thatfriend to youth/church that youíve been meaning to? If you donít dothese things, they may never get done. We donít want to be responsiblefor that.

Day 5- Mercy!Ch3 v6-10

These next few verses really show Godís amazing mercy. Mercy is whenyou donít get what you do deserve. The people in Nineveh did reallyevil things so would deserve to be punished. Yet because they changedtheir ways and truly believed God would do what He said He would,the bible says:ëWhen God saw what the people did, that they stopped doing evil, hechanged his mind and did not do what he had warned. He did notpunish them.íWow! How merciful is that? But dya know whatís even more amazing, ishow merciful Jesus is with us. Think how merciful Jesusí death was?Taking all our sin? Now thatís us ënot getting what we do deserveí!!

Challenge: So your challenge today is to make the decision to applythis to your life because it can be quite challenging when a friendíshurt us or youíve had a fight with your bro or sis or summit and youíretempted to get them back. Try and be merciful in the way you react topeople and just remember Jesusí mercy towards us!

Day 6- Selfless not Selfish!Ch4 v1-3

Donít you just get so excited when you hear or witness someone beingsaved? Or when something good happens to someone, youíre usuallypretty happy for them? So when God saved the whole town of Ninevehyouíd expect Jonah to be proper happy about it, but He wasnít! Jonahwas alright to call on the mercy of God but he resented it when Godextended it to others. Donít fall into the trap of becoming resentful!Its like ëTreat others how you yourself would like to be treatedí.

When your friend brings more mates to youth than you, even thoughyouíve spent the whole week asking them, and theyíre really excitedabout it, donít feel resentful. Champion them instead. Tell them howawesome they are for getting all their mates to come! Youíll besurprised then how God will work and itíll be you bringing all yourmates the next week.

Challenge: A challenge would be to think of someone thatís not yourmost favourite person, and pray that something good will go their wayand be happy when it does!

Day 7- You or Them?Ch4 v5-11

Jonah in his angry state went out the city and sat down. God made aplant grow quickly to give him shelter and make him more comfortablecoz it was really hot. God then sends a worm to attack the plant andkill it. Jonah gets well angry!

ìIt is right for me to be angry! I am so angry I could die!îGod asks Jonah why he is more bothered about the plant than the livesof 120,000 people of Nineveh.

Who are you more bothered about, yourself or the people that needGod? Sometimes we put ourselves first by not doing anything thatísout of our comfort zones or anything that will stand us out from the

crowd. But God says ëstand out, be different, do what I ask you to dobecause thereís so many people that need saving!í.

Challenge: Put someone else first today! Sacrifice some of your time,so maybe give up an hour of msn to ring and chat to a mate about Jesusor do something special for someone. Put them first. Youíll feel greatafter.