Embrace Your Assignment
20 September 09
· Joel 2:13 - The nature of God – What God is like
- Gracious, merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness
- People have false concepts of God
- God desires to reveal Himself to people thus God loves all people
· Jonah = dove – picture of the Holy Spirit
· Jonah was a prophet of God in Gath-Hepher (Winepress)
· Jonah prophesied restoration of the land that was taken away by enemies
· Jonah was successful in his ministry
a) The Presence of God:
· Jonah 1:1-3 - Jonah arose to flee to Tershish from the presence of the Lord
· Presence of the Lord
- There is a prevailing atmosphere of God’s presence
- The person of Holy Spirit manifesting and communicating
- There is great joy in the presence of God Psalm 16:11
David delighted himself in the presence of the God
Moses was not willing to move without the presence of God
- The Key to the Church in being fruitful is, to have the presence of God
b) The assignment of God:
· Jonah 1:1-2 - Arise and go to Nineveh
· Arise and Go = to live with the presence of God comes assignments from God
· Every believer has a assignment – metron
· Isaiah – received assignment
· Jeremiah – received assignment
· Moses – received assignment
· Disciples – received assignment from God
· Jonah disliked his assignment – he disagreed with God
c) Don’t flee from the Presence of God:
· Jonah 3:3-10
· Jonah arose to flee – he disagreed with his assignment
Eg Adam hid in the garden and Elijah hid in a cave
· 4 Things happen when a person flees from a assignment from God
i) Become filled with the substitutes – idols
ii) Become uncaring in the heart about people around you
iii) Experience storms in life that impacts those around you
iv) Experience emptiness, lost and loneliness - belly of a great fish
· Jonah cried to the Lord in repentance and God restored him Jonah 2:10
· God still wants Jonah to fulfill his assignment given by God
d) Your assignment requires a heart embrace:
· Jonah 3:1-2 - Assignment = a specific work God has for you do to
· Message I’ll tell you => personal revelation – sensitivity to the Holy Spirit
· To fulfill our assignment
i) For a heart to embrace people
ii) To be sensitive to the Holy Spirit
· Jonah’s heart condition was exposed by the goodness of God to others
· Jonah 4:1-4 - “It displeased Jonah exceedingly and he became angry”
· Displeased = 7489 = to spoil by shattering, burning grief
· What was in Jonah’s heart?
Judgment and faultfinding eg Pharisees Luke 6:11
Anger, and became depressed
Self justification, offended by how God operated eg the Prodigal Son’s brother Luke 15:28
He lacked compassion
Pride
· The goodness of God to others exposed his smallness of his own heart
· God wanted Jonah to lift his vision and enlarge his heart
· God wanted Jonah to believe a city could be saved
· We need to stop being opinionated about others and what God is doing in their lives.
· What heart attitude is being revealed when God is being good to others?
e) Faith Releases the Power of God:
· Jonah 3:1 - “So the people of Nineveh believed God”
· Faith arose in their heart – they believed God
· What do you believe in? problems, offences, pressures
· 2 Chronicles 20:20 - “Believe in the Lord God and you shall be established. Believe his prophets and you will prosper”
· You must decide to believe God, and believe the word of God
· Embrace in your heart what God says eg Mary – Your Word, Peter – Your Word
· Mark 9:23 - “If you can believe, all thing are possible
Faith must be in your Heart
Faith must be Active
Faith must Speak
Faith must Act - don’t wait until you feel good, Act on what God says.