ANOTHER JONAH IN THE CHURCH – Monday April 24th 2017
Memorise: And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. Mark 16:15
33:1 Again the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,
33:2 Son
o:f man, speak to the children of thy people, and say unto them, When I
bring the sword upon a land, if the people of the land take a man of
their coasts, and set him for their watchman:
33:3 If when he seeth the sword come upon the land, he blow the trumpet, and warn the people;
33:4 Then
whosoever heareth the sound of the trumpet, and taketh not warning; if
the sword come, and take him away, his blood shall be upon his own head.
33:5 He
heard the sound of the trumpet, and took not warning; his blood shall
be upon him. But he that taketh warning shall deliver his soul.
33:6 But
if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the
people be not warned; if the sword come, and take any person from among
them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at
the watchman's hand.
Bible in one year: Numbers 16-17, Jeremiah 19:10-20:6, Hymn: Sing hymn 13
MESSAGE:
We
are often quick to judge Biblical characters when they do not measure
up to God’s expectation in one area or the other. We should however not
allow our judgemental opinions to becloud our minds from the salient
lessons God is trying to pass across to us through the failings of these
characters. To drive home this point, the Holy Spirit in 1st Corinthians 10:11 says,
“Now
all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written
for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.”
Among
such characters are father Abraham and Isaac, who both misrepresented
their wife as their sister. We also have prophets like Elijah, who opted
to die in the face of adversity, and Jonah, the prophet who chose to
run away from God’s assignment. In the New Testament, we have apostles
like Thomas, who said he would not believe in Christ’s resurrection
unless he saw and touched the palms of His hands. Open Heavens
Devotional 2017 Monday 24 April 2017:- Another Jonah in the Church. The
shortcomings of these characters exposes their humility to us, and it
also serves as a challenge to us that if characters with such
shortcomings can go on to do great things for God, so can we in spite of
our inadequacies.
Let’s take a closer look at Prophet Jonah, and compare his attitude to that of believers in the Church today. In Jonah 1,
we read of how the word of the Lord came to him, instructing him to go
and warn the people of Nineveh against the impending doom hanging over
their heads because of their wickedness. Instead of carrying out God’s
assignment, Jonah chose to flee to Tarshish, because he wanted the
people of Nineveh to receive God’s judgement. Open Heavens devotional
2017. He knew if these people heard the warning and repented, God would
not punish them as He had earlier planned. However, Jonah wanted them to
receive God’s punishment because of all they had done to the children
of Israel. In like manner, our Lord Jesus Christ has commanded us to go
and preach the gospel of salvation to sinners. Following the principles
set out in our Bible reading, if we do not obey the Lord’s commandment,
God forbid that their blood be required of us. We must beware of Jonah’s
mistake so that none of us becomes another Jonah in the Church. Jonah
landed in the belly of a fish before he understood the foolishness of
trying to run away from God. Are you being called into the ministry of
soul-winning? Stop running from your responsibility! Let us take the
assignment of soul-winning seriously, and we will not miss our reward. Proverbs 11:30 says,
“The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise.”
Prayer Point
Father, help me to win souls for You on a daily basis.
Open Heaven Daily Devotional, written by Pastor E.A Adeboye,
The General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, one of the largest evangelical church in the world and also the President of Christ the Redeemer's Ministries.
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