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GOG - 19 - 264 - 2019: Answering The Call Of Jonah

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Answering The Call Of Jonah (Part 1) Pastor Nkechi Ene (Mrs.) In this article, we will be taking a close look into God’s heart and actually find out what makes it tick. It is important for us to know what God, our Father takes delight in, and be intentional about pleasing Him always. Somebody may ask, what has “answering the call of Jonah” got to do with me or what was the call of Jonah? Jonah was called to preach to the city of Nineveh. 1 Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying,

6 So the captain came to him, and said to him, "What do you mean, sleeper? Arise, call on your God; perhaps your God will consider us, so that we may not perish."

let us perish for this man's life, and do not charge us with innocent blood; for You, O Lord, have done as it pleased You."

7 And they said to one another, "Come,

15 So they picked up Jonah and threw

let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause this trouble has come upon us." So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah.

him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging.

8 Then they said to him, "Please tell us!

16 Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice to the Lord and took vows.

For whose cause is this trouble upon us? What is your occupation? And where do you come from? What is your country? And of what people are you?"

17 Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

9 So he said to them, "I am a Hebrew;

Jonah 1:1-17

2 "Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their

and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land."

wickedness has come up before Me."

10 Then the men were exceedingly afraid, and said to him, "Why have you done this?" For the men knew that he

3 But Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa, and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid the

fled from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them.

fare, and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.

11 Then they said to him, "What shall we do to you that the sea may be calm for us?" — for the sea was growing more

4 But the Lord sent out a great wind on the sea, and there was a mighty

tempestuous.

tempest on the sea, so that the ship was about to be broken up. 5 Then the mariners were afraid; and every man cried out to his god, and threw the cargo that was in the ship into the sea, to lighten the load. But Jonah had gone down into the lowest parts of the ship, had lain down, and was fast asleep.

12 And he said to them, "Pick me up and throw me into the sea; then the sea will become calm for you. For I know that this great tempest is because of me." 13 Nevertheless the men rowed hard to return to land, but they could not, for the sea continued to grow more tempestuous against them. 14 Therefore they cried out to the Lord and said, "We pray, O Lord, please do not

The Scripture says, “Preach the Word, be ready in season and out of season, … do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your Ministry“ (2 Timothy 4:2-5). Every believer has been called to preach the Word to the unbelievers. Every season is a season to preach the Word. A lot of times believers respond or react just like Jonah. He tried to run away from his assignment. He took off in the opposite direction. Nineveh was on one side, and Brother Jonah headed in the opposite direction of Tarshish. Jonah did that because there were certain things he didn’t understand about the heartbeat of God. In this article and the next, we are going to look at some important things that will enable you to preach the gospel.

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GOG - 19 - 264 - 2019: Answering The Call Of Jonah

God Has A Heart For Souls 16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. John 3: 16

There is something that is dear to the heart of God, and that is to see the lost; who do not know Jesus personally as Lord and Saviour, come in contact with Him as Lord and Saviour, and have everlasting life. I believe that if Jonah understood that God has a heart or a passion for souls, he wouldn’t have taken off in the opposite direction. God desires that unbelievers come to know Him. That is why the Scripture says that there is rejoicing in heaven for every person who gets born again (Luke 15:7). There is a party in heaven each time somebody says, “I surrender to Jesus Christ, I make Him the Lord and Saviour of my life”. Isaiah 53:1-9, is popularly called the messianic chapter. In it, you will see a graphic description of the pain and torture that Jesus went through just for you.

Then in Isaiah 53:10, the Bible says, “Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, And the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand”. It pleased the Lord to see or to have Him go through the ordeal He went through on the cross because of you and the person that will come to Him as Lord and saviour. The joy of that person not perishing, but having everlasting life was why it pleased Jehovah to bruise Him. When you understand how much love God has for Jesus, yet it pleased Him to make His soul an offering for sin, you will value His passion to see the lost saved. Jesus

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endured Calvary because of the joy set before Him (Hebrews 12:2). God expects you to be like Jesus. You need to have the passion for souls and be consumed by it. You should desire to see people saved and receive everlasting life. You shouldn’t just relax here on earth, and pass through here without one person getting saved through you.

When you have a passion for something, you are willing to commit anything you have towards it. When you have a passion for something, you will invest your resources, and your time into it. When a man has a passion for a woman, he is ready to do anything and say

anything, because he has a passion for her. God has a heart and a passion for souls, and the day He got you saved, all He wanted to do was to impact that same passion, and desire into you. You do not have to say, “Well, I am not called to be an evangelist”. It says, “Teach the Word, in season and out of season, do the work of an evangelist”, because there are people who are dying, and going to hell. Everything you do as a Christian really, should be targeted towards winning souls. 15 And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. 16 He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. 17 And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues;

18 they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.” 19 So then, after the Lord had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God. 20 And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs. Amen. Mark 16:15-20

Mark 16:15-20 shows the last things Jesus said before He ascended into heaven. When you are about to leave somebody and go on a long journey, what are the things you are likely to say just as you are getting into the car? They are the most important things; the things very dear to your heart, the most crucial things. Women or anyone who ever travelled can bear witness, you can do everything else, pack everything, but just as you are about to enter the car, you turn back to whoever you are leaving behind and for the hundredth time, you give instructions: “Make sure the children go to bed at nine o’clock, whatever happens, make sure their homework is done”. You reiterate the things that are most crucial to you. Jesus, was as it were, leaving the face of the earth, and ascending up to be with the Father; He gathered His disciples, and He said, “…go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature…” He was saying to them, everything we have experienced here in this three and half years of My ministry, everything you have seen, even in the resurrection, culminates in this one statement: go into all the world and preach the gospel. This is the vision; this is the reason why I came; this is the reason why you are not ascending with Me. You are to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. I have already laid down the blue prints; I have done everything, yours is to go and be my witnesses. Find out more in the next part.