Letter To A Modern Day Jonah | The Worshipper's Thought of the Day

(On Monday, July 4, 2011, I felt the urge to write an open letter to all the modern day Jonah's out there who know the calling of GOD is upon them but have chosen to accept an identity contrary to the one GOD has given them.  This is strictly for those with ears to hear and is not directed to any one person in particular.  It was simply birthed in a moment late at night, during which heaviness of heart was felt for those who struggle between choosing GOD's way over their own.)

Dear Modern Day Jonah,

I know that a lot is going on with you right now.  And I know that sometimes you don't want to hear what I have to say, which is cool, because I'm not that important anyway.  Although I sometimes feel unsure of what to say because you can only stand so much "spiritual" stuff, I can't apologize for being who I am in the realm of the spirit.

So let me put it to you like this: YOU told GOD, "Yes."  A gun wasn't held to your head, and you were in no way forced to accept GOD.  Before you could ever know and choose Him, He knew and chose you because His love for you transcends time.  Telling GOD, "Yes," wasn't you giving Him permission to use you AS YOU ARE.  It was you expressing, WHERE YOU WERE, your WILLINGNESS to be used.  GOD starts to use us as we are, but there also begins at the point of our "Yes" a spinning process.  He's the potter, we're the clay.  He's seen our end from the beginning; and as our lives spin, GOD shapes us into the very image of us He had in mind from the start.  In the spinning of life, there are times when we can't tell whether we're coming or going and it's tempting to be fearful.  But GOD controls the spinning.  He only allows to happen that which is beneficial because it's His desire that we mature and develop, not suffer and struggle.  Even when the wrong we do creates painfully harsh consequences, trust me when I say that what we're experiencing could be EXPONENTIALLY WORSE.

Yes, believe it or not, even the repercussions you're experiencing are for your good: they're the manifestation of GOD's mercy in your life because He's shielding and protecting you from YOU.  All this time you've been rebuking and binding Satan, yet YOU have always been your own worst enemy.  Demons can only attack the areas of our lives that we expose as being weaknesses.  We've all got issues and matters of life that hinder us from living righteously, but YOU ARE NOT YOUR SIN.  If you're man or woman enough to know that the way you're living is not acceptable in GOD's eyes, then have enough spiritual backbone to decline any suggestion to identify yourself with your issue.  Your condition is not your conclusion; and despite what the world says, YOU ARE NOT WHAT YOU DO.  In GOD's eyes, you are who HE'S ALWAYS SAID you are.  He identified you before time was and His thoughts toward you HAVE NOT changed.  He's NOT SHOCKED concerning you and what you've done, so get over it and move forward. Your steps have BEEN ORDERED. They're not BEING ORDERED based upon your behavior.  Rest assured that GOD's plans for you have NOT changed.

The "Yes" you gave GOD is still valid, and the work He's begun in you since then has not ceased.  His hand is still upon you and He'll NEVER give up on you.  But understand this: You can't do the work of GOD under an ungodly identity.  If you're going to do what GOD has called you to do, then you do it under the identity He has given unto you.  No longer can you be identified by your sin because GOD's power only responds to who HE SAYS you are.  We can't operate in ministry and wield the power GOD's made available with an identity other than that which He's given us.  It just doesn't work that way.

 You've got to come out.  You've got to divorce yourself of every label attached to your identity that's inconsistent with who GOD says you are.  Otherwise, you're nothing more than a "sounding brass, tinkling cymbal ministry."  You're skilled but you have no power.  You wow the people, yet lack oil (i.e. anointing).  Your talent generates emotional responses from people whose lives remain unchanged and untouched after it's all said and done.  Hello!  That's the difference between entertainment and ministry.  And the church doesn't need any more entertainers because there's a surplus of them already.

This right here is what I call TOUGH LOVE.  It's not popular, but it's what we all need a hearty helping of in love.  If I didn't believe in the GOD in you, I wouldn't even bother saying this.  But because I do, I bother.  Because I love you and pray for you more than you know, I bother.  So please take to heart these Spirit-filled words and do what you know GOD desires of you.  I'm here for you, I'm here with you.  YOU CAN GET THROUGH THIS!