AWAY FROM THE PRESENCE OF THE LORD

As I read Jonah this morning, I am amazed at his blatant and obvious rebellion thinking that he could find a place away from the presence of the LORD.  He was very determined not to give mercy, grace, and the great news to Nineveh that God was going to judge them and that they could repent and receive mercy and grace from God.  

I thought what are some ways that we have a tendency to think that we can go away from the presence of the LORD?  Sometimes, the running away is not always as obvious as Jonah's distance.  Can the going away from the presence of God manifest in the thought life and to run away be vicarious ?  The going from God's presence in the mind only?  How long to entertain the thought?  At what point is there recognition of the sin of rebellion?  It seems that Jonah was experiencing a duplicitous/double-souled mindset:  that he could run from God and yet profess that he feared the LORD, God of heaven.  How often do we seek to speak one mindset, yet inwardly "live" in another mindset?  I hear David's words from Psalm 51 that the LORD delights in truth in the inward being.  

Psalm 139 speaks:  There is no place, even in the mind,  to run or to flee from the ALL-SEEING, EVER PRESENT, and ALL KNOWING GOD.  He will pursue us, for He knows our thoughts and HE has steadfast and faithful love for us.  Holy Spirit of God bring our minds, thoughts, attitudes, and behavior to yield to the mind of your Dear Son, Jesus.  

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