Seeking God's help to deliver you from the consequences of your disobedience is an act of faith, an acknowledgement of sin and your need to be in right standing with your heavenly Father. We so often enjoy the pleasures of sin and the fulfillment of our selfish desires, failing to take into consideration the consequences we will experience. This blog is about Jonah's confession and sincere prayer for God to deliver him after making a conscience decision to dishonor God through his disobedience.

This is an excerpt from Sidney Poitier's book entitled, The Measure of A Man. This book is included in Oprah's Book Club and is listed among New York Times Bestsellers. The Measure of A Man is Sidney's spiritual autobiography. He was the first black actor to win the Academy Award for best actor for his outstanding performance in the 1963 movie entitled, Lilies of the Field. Born and raised on Cat Island, in The Bahamas, this author shares his journey from the simplicity of poverty to success.

A word of encouragement for you not to give up when life challenges are increased. Remember that your heavenly Father is able to do all things but fail. Faith pleases God and is the substance of hope. Do your best to keep hope alive and watch things change for your good.

We cannot afford to become negligent with our lives due to being familiar with others. Too often after attaining some knowledge about a person, and upon them becoming our co-worker, acquaintance or church family, we let our guard down. Never should we feel the need to stop discerning. People change and not every change is immediately noticeable. When we stop discerning it becomes more difficult for us to detect deceit, betrayal, manipulation, etc. We change, people change, this is life.