Mar 3

“Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it…” Jonah 3:2

Nineveh was a metropolis in its day and age. ‘That great city’, was indeed great in the number of people that lived there, its fortifications, its towers and its riches. Nineveh was also great in its sin! In fact the wickedness of the city was so great that God was passing judgment upon it! That is where Jonah was sent to preach. He was to be God’s herald, and cry against the sin of the city, taking to it God’s message of impending destruction. Some tasks, to which God calls us, are less than pleasant and may go totally against our preference or leaning. They may be considered difficult, a ‘ten’, on a scale of one to ten! Scriptural examples show that some tasks to which God calls us, may require the risk of our personal comforts, resources, security and even reputation. A servant of Yahwah, the Living God cannot afford the luxury of personal inclinations, when doing a work for God. Following God’s instructions and sensing after God’s Spirit, is all important in being faithful as ministers and servants of the Lord. We live in a time when it has become acceptable to make ministry merely another ‘job’, at best a professional occupation or business. This is not the intention and meaning of the word and the position of ministry, as described in scripture. The only correct motivation for entering the ministry must be a call of God on a man’s life, corresponding to his desire to serve the Lord, in His way and in all areas of life, at whatever personal cost. He must become willing without exception, to remain obedient to every directive the Lord gives and faithful in carrying out the tasks God has set – even the hardest ones! Jonah did not have an easy task ahead of him, but he did have the power of God behind him. This is the core thing to remember – that with each task God calls us to, if we trust Him, He supplies the ability and all that may be required to carry it out. The power of God behind us is always greater than the task before us. It follows that it is on Him we must place our eyes and not ourselves, and that from Him we must draw our strength, wisdom and capacity to meet the challenges, He directs us to address. Once Jonah aligned himself with the Lord’s will, and obediently carried out the mission God had sent him on, he was mightily used of God and a great revival resulted in Nineveh. We too can find great blessing and wonderful success in God, if in all our ways we acknowledge Him, and in each endeavour we go forth in His strength and wisdom, obediently, patiently and faithfully, loving and trusting Jesus.

http://www.pentecostalfamilychurch.com.au/devotion