Learning from Jonah

“Then the Lord spoke to Jonah a second time: Get up and go to the great city of Nineveh and deliver the message I have given you.” Jonah 3:1 (NLT)

A second time

God will not give up on you or me. There are second chances, third chances. There is no three strikes and you’re out with God. He is patient, loving and persistent.

Get up

“Get up” from your excuses. Jonah had a few that were holding him back and keeping him stuck!

Here are a few excuses often used for not getting up and getting on with what God has for you:

I’m too old, I’m too young, I’m too tired, I’m too sick, I’m too busy, I’m (too) ungifted. There is no such thing as an ungifted or uncalled person in God’s Kingdom…in God’s economy. He loves to take ordinary people and do extra- ordinary things. Many of the “called” in Scripture had reasons for not getting up from their excuses; David, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Moses, etc.

Go

Don’t just think about going, don’t procrastinate about going, don’t overanalyze about going,  just go.  “As for Philip, an angel of the Lord said to him, go south down the desert road that runs from Jerusalem to Gaza. So he started out…” Acts 8:26, 27 (NLT)

God spoke, Philip heard, Philip went. Just go…just do it!

Deliver the message

What message has God given you to deliver? What burden do you have? What bothers you and keeps you up at night? What gifts, passion and capacity do you have to make a unique contribution for the Kingdom of God?

That is your message!

Don’t just hear it, think about it, pray about it, but deliver it with passion, conviction, joy and God’s anointing.

I have given you

We are not to deliver just any message, somebody else’s message, the message we have in our minds. Deliver the message God has given particularly to you. Your message will be different than the message he has given to others, but it is the message that he has given you in his sovereign grace and generosity!

“And say to Archippus, be sure to carry out the ministry the Lord gave you.” Colossians 4:17 (NLT)

“But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus…” Acts 20:24 (NLT)

What is the work he has assigned to you?

What has he given to you?

What has he entrusted to you?

  • God is speaking to you again
  • Get up
  • Go
  • Deliver the message I’ve given you