Have fellowship with the heart of a merciful God

Have fellowship with the heart of a merciful God

In Jonah 3:1 "The word of the Lord appeared to Jonah a second time". Even if we fail the first time, the Lord will give us a second chance. Praise be to God for that. This is the great message we get from the book of Jonah. Have you failed? God is waiting to give you another chance. Have you failed the second time? He will give you a third chance. He does not give only two chances.

We all make mistakes once or twice. He is the God who gives you another chance no matter how many times you fail. If you repent with all your heart God can restore you even now and help you fulfill a ministry for Him.

It took him three days to announce in the streets that Nineveh would be destroyed in 40 days. Surprisingly, the people of Nineveh were immediately converted. This is the fastest revival in the history of the world. One thing that encourages me here is that God showed mercy when a wicked city like Nineveh repented.

He knew that after a few years the city would be so evil that he would have to destroy it. But God sees all as they are. He does not look at what they have done so far or what will happen in the future. "He who is" is His name. 'I am' or 'I are not His names. God is more merciful than us.

We think that Jonah would have been happy when God had mercy on Neveve. But he was not happy. To teach Jonah a lesson, a tree was planted to provide shade over Jonah's head. Jonah was very happy to see that. But the next day God caused a worm to destroy the tree and it withered.

Unable to stand the sun, Jonah got angry again and said that it is better to die than to live (Jonah 4:8). "But I said to Jonah, "Should I not be sad about the great city of Nineveh, which has more than a hundred and twenty thousand people and many cattle who do not know right or left, " (Jonah 4:11).

Jonah 4:11 shows God's greatest compassion for perishing souls more than any other verse in the Old Testament. God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that none should perish. Jonah had no fellowship with God in this matter. Like Jonah, there are many preachers who preach and see revival today.

But like Jonah, they may not have fellowship with God's merciful heart. The proper basis for evangelism is fellowship with God's heart. God is very merciful to the unenlightened. 'He desires all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth' (1 Timothy 2:4) says the Bible.

He hopes for it. The more we come into fellowship with God's heart, the more we share His burdens. If God calls you to be an evangelist He will have mercy on you for the perishing souls. If God has called you to be a preacher, he will have mercy on blind deceived believers who have not entered into the victorious life.

In order for us to carry out our ministry effectively, it is vital to fellowship with God's heart and share His mercy.

Author

Zac Poonen