SPIRITUAL VITAMINS Volume 2
God's Call to Service, Running or Redeeming?
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POWERFUL IMPRESSIONS
SCRIPTURE January 04
“The word of the LORD came to Jonah son of Amittai: “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me”
Jonah 1:1-2.
REFLECTIONS
Sometime ago I was reading and meditating on the Word of God when without warning a powerful message from the passage grabbed my attention. It foretold of a dreadful event that would happen to me in the future and then after a period of time the matter would resolve itself. This message disturbed and distressed me mentally, emotionally and spiritually for weeks. Two years or so later the tragedy occurred. Having been forewarned by God prepared me to cope with the challenge.
God is now using this very experience as a means to strengthen others and to open up new areas of ministry that quite likely would not have been considered had not this event occurred.
God ‘s word comes to us for various reasons. Sometimes it comes as a warning, or it may be a call to share our faith with a fellow worker, or a call to full time service. It could be a call to a specific area of ministry or a call to break off a relationship with an ungodly boyfriend or girlfriend.
The word of God still comes to you and me today and we can embrace it, ignore it or try to flee from it. God always gets His man in the end. Make it easy on yourself and submit to His will.
PRAYER
Lord, help me to cultivate the habit of recognizing your voice above the din of voices that try to get my attention. Amen
WISDOM
Don ‘t wait on a powerful impression to do what the Bible clearly teaches.
GOD ‘S GO
SCRIPTURE January 08
“The word of the LORD came to Jonah son of Amittai: “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me”
Jonah 1:1-2.
REFLECTION
When God commissions we must go and do as He says. When God brings to our consciousness the spiritual needs of others, and rouses our spirits or inflames the desires of our hearts, He is preparing us to ‘go. ‘
God ‘s strong commands are never aimless, but targeted, direct, and specific. Jonah had no doubt in his mind as to what God wanted him to do. He got a strong command. God ‘s ‘go ‘ always requires immediate response because judgment is always pending; we should therefore go without delay to those to whom we are sent. God ‘s go demands unconditional obedience.
Regrettably, the commissioned too often try to escape from their divine responsibilities, even with feeble excuses such as - ‘I am a young Christian. ‘ So What? Have you ever thought of Paul? Right after his conversion he began preaching that Jesus is the Christ. You don ‘t have to be the son of a prophet to share the message with the lost. You have a testimony - start with that. A testimony is a most effective tool. Daily reading of the Word will accelerate your Christian growth and development and make you a better instrument in the hands of God.
If the call of God is upon your life, and if you are a Christian, then you ought to do His will - get up and go. YourNinevehmay be your office or your home or your school or the playfield or friends. The mission field is wherever there are persons lost in sin. It could even be just sending this message to someone who needs it.
PRAYER
Lord, help me to hear your voice and respond positively. Amen
WISDOM
We have a message of hope for the damned; let ‘s not delay in telling it.
RUNNING AWAY?
SCRIPTURE January 13
“But Jonah ran away from the LORD and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the LORD” Jonah 1:3
REFLECTION
Jonah ‘s attempted flight from God seems so foolish. Changing our geographical location does not in anyway affect the omnipresence of God. The Psalmist David contemplated doing that very thing hundreds of years earlier and penned these words, “Where can I go from Your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there Your hand will guide me, Your right hand will hold me fast” Psalm 139:7-10.
We cannot escape God ‘s presence or judgment yet; many today seem to think they can. So many children, teenagers and adults foolishly use the cover of darkness to commit sin. But God sees as clearly in the night as He does in the day. There is nothing that can be hidden from God.
The spirit of disobedience produces spiritual distortions within, which in turn produces muddled and confused actions without. But sin is like that; it makes fools of all of us.
Consequently there is no one, who at one time or another, has not tried to escape from God and His call for service. We know it is foolish, yet we do it anyway.
PRAYER
Lord, help me to be obedient to you whatever the task. Amen
WISDOM
God sees all, knows all and is everywhere.
PAYING THE PRICE
SCRIPTURE January 15
“But Jonah ran away from the LORD and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the LORD” Jonah 1:3
REFLECTION
Important decisions demand commitment. Jonah was committed to his course of action. He paid the fare.
The likelihood of his changing his mind at that point in time was highly unlikely. He was committed to a path of disobedience. He was prepared to take the risk of being out of the will of God. Like the prodigal, he was about to embark on a trip to a ‘far country ‘ and to start life afresh without God.
So many who once walked with God have now taken that ‘Jonah Road. ‘ Their minds have become so infatuated with the desire to escape their moral responsibility that no serious thought will now deter them from ever changing their minds. What looks so promising now to the deceived mind will become their most dreadful nightmare.
The allurements of the world, the flesh and the devil have a charm that conceals the barbed hook. What now looks so promising and full of hope will soon engulf the soul in painful misery and sorrow.
When God ‘s will become unattractive to you then - beware! Grave danger is just ahead of you.
PRAYER
Lord, help me to please you always. Amen
WISDOM
God ‘s will is always best.
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Book Details
About the Book
Spiritual Vitamins, Volume 2 is a daily devotional that is based on two books of the Bible—Jonah and 1 John. Jonah was an Old Testament prophet who tried to evade his divine commission to the wicked people of Nineveh by running away. We will discover in this devotional that in many ways we are just like Jonah.
God had to use painful measures to bring him back to the path of obedience, and thus he was able to fulfill the divine commission. In this study we can learn to avoid the missteps of the prophet.
1 John on the other hand tells us how we can be effective disciples by walking in God’s light in this wicked world. Love is the key to life and this should be demonstrated in our daily walk. Failure to walk in love puts us in the category of those who murder and grope in the dark.
About the Author
Winston Wilson was born in Oracabessa, St. Mary, Jamaica. Fifty-one years ago, while contemplating suicide as he traveled on a bus, he was gloriously saved. Shortly after, he became a member of the Ambassadors for Christ, busily engaged in witnessing for Christ daily on the streets of Kingston and in several other population centers across the island.
Professionally, he is a computer/draughtsman; theologically, he was prepared for ministry at Emmaus Bible School, Oak Park, Chicago, USA. In Jamaica, he has been active in the fellowship of the Christian Brethren and has held the offices of Deacon and Elder at the Maverley Gospel Chapel. His passionate services are in the fields of personal evangelism and community visitation. He now resides in Canada and is in active fellowship at Brockview Bible Chapel, St. Catharines, Ontario.