The Arkansas Farm Girl

Jonah Chapter Two At the end of the last chapter, Jonah had just been swallowed by the great fish. We will pick up in chapter two in the belly of the fish.  1-10. By this point Jonah has accepted what we already know to be true- you can't run from God. Being swallowed by a large fish after being thrown into a stormy sea has put his life into perspective. (It would mine too.) Jonah preceded to do what all of us should do in time of need, he prayed. His prayer can be applied to our downfalls as well because, even though he had run from God and there seemed to be no hope, he still cried out to his Savior. Jonah realized that God would hear his prayer and, being the just God that He is, would forgive him. He repented of his sin and promised to do as God had commanded and go to Nineveh. Merciful God then commanded the fish to spit him out on dry land.  The end of the chapter is proof of just how forgiving God is. Jonah directly disobeyed Him, but when he was willing to repent and

Jonah Chapter One The story of Jonah is well known. Many kids learn it from a young age in Sunday school but I feel that it teaches lessons for people of every age so for the next four lessons we'll be diving into the book of Jonah to find those lessons. We'll begin, of course, at the beginning. 1-3. Jonah is a renowned prophet in his land and is used quite often by God to give messages to the children of Israel, but in the first three verses we see that he has some obedience issues. God calls him to go to Nineveh, the capital of Assyria, which was at the time holding Israel in captivity. Nineveh was a bad place full of people who were committing adultery, thievery, and even murder. God wanted Jonah to go there and teach them about God so that they would repent, but Jonah had other ideas. He tried to run from God by going in the opposite direction- Tarshish. This was a big mistake because we can't run from God. There is nowhere in the world that we can go to where Go

3 John 1-8. John was extremely pleased with the work that Gaius was doing. In much the same way, God is happy to see us doing his work and walk in his Word. Like the man in the Bible, we must be equally kind and loving to both friends and strangers. Because of their acts of compassion, those strangers went and told the church how great they were and the church praised those men. Kind actions produce a good reputation. 9-14. On the other end of the spectrum we see a man who was not kind to strangers. He cast out all who deemed "unworthy." (We are all worthy of being treated the way God would treat us.) Because of his actions, John reprimanded him and even told the others not to be like him.  This concludes our study of John's epistles. If you enjoyed this study be sure to share it with your friends. Would you like me to do a study on a specific topic or book of the Bible? Just leave a comment! God Bless!

2 John 1-6. The beginning of this book is written as both a praise and a reminder. John is impressed and delighted to find that the people he is writing to are walking in truth. They listened to his last letter and put his commands into practice. John reminds them that must love one another as he previously instructed and walk in God's commandments.  7-13. Liars are everywhere waiting to deceive God's children. They transgress against God and transgressors don't have God. On the other hand, believers have both the Father and the Son. (How lucky are we?) If anyone comes to you without the gospel of Christ, do not listen to them. Do not even wish them well because that makes you a party to their sins.  These commandments weren't just true back then. We can apply them in our lives today. Love everyone you come into contact with but be wary of deceivers.  Please join me next week in 3 John. 

Chickens are prey animals and thus are subject to the threat of attack from many animals. The most common predator that a barnyard chicken faces is the dog. I have personally had encounters with this situation twice in the past year. Both times the dog's teeth cut into their sin and through their meat. It often looks bad but I do want to tell you that chickens are extremely resilient. In both cases I was both surprised and delighted with their speedy recovery and the fact that seemed mostly unfazed by the attack. If your chicken has been attacked, the first step is to wash their wounds and flush them with carbon dioxide to prevent infection from setting in. If the wound is severe or you do not catch it quickly, consider administering antibiotics if they are available to you. It is a good idea to separate them for a few days while they heal. If you keep them with the rest of the flock, the other chickens might peck at their wounds and cause an infection. You can use a temporary fe

1 John Chapter Five 1-5. What does it take to be born again? According to verse one we must believe that Jesus is God's son and love him because if we love Jesus, we will also love God. When we love God we will want to keep his commandments and live a Christlike life. I love verses four and five because they basically tell us that the children of God will overcome the world. No matter what Satan plots against you, you can know that with God you have the strength to overcome the obstacles in your path. 6-13. We have returned to the liar who says that he is in Christ but doesn't have Christ in him. The Bible shows us over and over that those who do not have Christ in them are not of God and will have no place in His Kingdom. They have forfeited an eternity with our Savior. 14-15. Pay careful attention to the wording of verse 14. We can't read this verse and then expect God to give us whatever we want just because we think the Bible says he will. God will give us what we