It should be during this period of seeming inactivity that we are able to reflect and to develop a plan that will enable us to change some of our habits.
It is so easy to become deceptive and the deception usually starts with you believing a lie. For Jonah, the fear of facing the Ninevites, caused him to run in the opposite direction. It was only when he was questioned by the sailors on the boat facing certain destruction that Jonah started to tell the truth. Truth telling is a cathartic process. It enables the teller to come to terms and face up to reality. When you live in a dream world, you will eventually have to wake up and face the music. Jonah literally woke up and faced up to his past when all of his new found colleagues were about to perish. Imagine the panic in the voices of the sailors as they bombarded him with questions. Why has this calamity befallen us? What do you do for a living? Where are you from? Who are you? Jonah snapped out of his malaise and started the process of restoration. He told them that he was a servant of the God of heaven, Yahweh and that he had run away from the presence of the Lord and was acting in rebellion. Therefore the only solution to the problem was to sacrifice his life to save theirs. Not only was this confession cathartic for Jonah, it was music to God’s ears. For us today let us learn from the experience of Jonah and like an old ditty I learned as a youth, let us “speak the truth and speak it ever cost it what it will. For he who hides the wrong he does will do the wrong thing still.” Fear is False Evidence Appearing Real. It comes when we start the process of deception. Today let us all stop, think, reflect and repent of the lies we have allowed to skew how we see things and what we say. Healing starts with facing up to problem not running away from it! for today read Proverbs 6.
as we wait and reflect and receive God’s grace to change deceptive habits!
Posted in The Prophetic | Tags: Deception, Fear, Lies, Process, Restoration, Truth
as we learn to wait without yielding to temptation
To effect transformation we need to learn the art of waiting. It is during this time that revelation will come. Revelation is 
given to change the way we operate and modify the way we think. It was our strange thought process that got us into a mess in the first place. Jonah thought that he could hide from God and as a consequence went in the opposite direction from where God sent him. Many times we also think that we can hide from God and do things in secret that we would not even countenance were we in the presence of others. In the normal scheme of things the Psalmist David would never countenance adultery. He knew the commandments and the mercy of God. But when left to his own devices with the children at school, the wife out at work and his personal advisor on other duties, something on the big screen caught his eye. And rather than turning around or switching off he kept on looking. In the normal scheme of things he would have walked away, but curiosity got the better of him and he followed his feelings rather than what he knew to be right. There are many people today who follow their feelings. And like Jonah they end up in a mess with little or no means of escape. How then do we avoid these situations? Well, let us take a leaf out of Jesus’ book. He too was tempted to turn, but he recognised that it was a trap and rebuked satan. And instead of staring at the temptation he told satan to get behind him with it so that it is not in his line of sight. Today, whatever is presented to you, be it a false relationship, a dodgy present or something you saw whilst flicking through the channels, tell it and whoever is bringing it to you to get behind you. As a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ you must guard your entry points and trust the Lord to lead you into all righteousness, that is, the right ways of thinking and operating. Read Matthew 16:13-23.
Posted in The Prophetic | Tags: Faith, Gates, Hope, Paitence, Temptation, Trust, Waiting
as we reflect on the sign of Jonah part II!
Although Jonah was anointed he still disobeyed God. Within all of us there is the propensity to challenge the authority 
figure in our lives and to do things our own way. This is not always the best way of operation, but like the forgiving father in Luke 15 God allows us enough rope for us to eventually come to our senses when we reach the end of the line or to hang ourselves. Jesus uses this situation to teach his hearers about obedience and trust. Who is better, the son who hears the instruction from his father says he is going to do the job but goes in a completely opposite direction or the son who hears the instruction from his father, insists that he is not going to do what he was told to do, but on reflection repents and goes and does it (Matt 21:28-32). Jonah heard the word and disobeyed whereas Jesus obeyed the command of his father and went to the cross, through the pain and anguish of torture to bring redemption to Adam’s fallen race. For today the sign of Jonah is one of obedience. Samuel said to another anointed person, king Saul, it is better to obey [the Lord] that to offer sacrifices in disobedience (1Samuel 15:22). We may not understand the full picture, however since God knows the end from the beginning, please obey and trust him, he will lead us into paths of righteousness for his name sake! Read Luke 15:11-32.
Posted in The Prophetic | Tags: Anointing, disobedience, Hearing, Obedience, Repentance, Righteous living, Sacrifice, Trust
as we reflect on the meaning sign of Jonah, Matthew 16:1-4
Although Jonah only writes a short account of his life experiences, his experiences are profound enough for him to be quoted by Jesus(Matt 16:4). He typifies the history of humanity. God puts out the call and they respond. They then seek to go their own way and forget God who called them in the first place. They then get themselves in serious trouble and whilst in the throes of death, they call out to God for clemency. Because Yahweh is a gracious and merciful God he responds to the desperate call of humanity. Isaiah puts it like this, “come let us reason together even though your sins are red like scarlet they shall be as white as snow” (Isaiah 1:18). When Jesus pointed his hearers to the story of Jonah, he was pointing towards his own advent and the fact that he would be killed, buried in a borrowed grave for three days and then rise from the dead to bring salvation for all those who put their faith in him. Jonah was sacrificed to save all those who were on the ship. They put their trust in him and believed him that they would be saved if he died. Similarly, when the man Jesus died, many people were saved, are being saved and will be saved. However, unlike Jonah, Jesus is more than a prophet, he is more than someone who warns people about the impending destruction that is coming, he is God and will save his people (all who put their faith in him) from their sins. Today as we reflect on the sign of Jonah, remember it is more than just him dying to self but giving access to life for all.
Posted in The Prophetic | Tags: Dying to self, Fallen Humanity, others, Reasoning, Sacrifice, The shedding of Blood
as we stick to the plan
Jonah preached the word, the people repented and God saved them. This is the formulae that still work today. You preach the word, the Holy Spirit convicts people and God saves them through the finished work of Jesus on the cross. However we must be very careful when we are engaged in the business of leading people to Christ. It is easy to become depressed especially when things don’t turn out as we expected. For Jonah this led to severe depression and a desire to die. Always remember that God’s remit is to bring life to those who put their trust in him not death. To avoid these and other pit falls, it is imperative that we stick to the plan that God devised in the first place and remember that since God devised the plan, it is his prerogative to change it as and when he wills. This is the beauty about following God, he has a great sense of humour, and as Jonah reminds us, he is merciful and gracious and abounding in steadfast love. That’s my God, a merciful forgiving God who always gives us a second chance. Today, don’t get depressed trust in the Lord! Don’t give up on the vision that God gave you, stay focussed and it will come to pass. It may take a different turn from what you envisaged, but remember that with God all things are possible.
Read the whole book of Jonah again.
Posted in The Prophetic | Tags: Depression, Plans, Purpose, The word, Timing
as we keep in step with what God has done ans is doing now!
When the people of Nineveh heard the news about their impending destruction from God through the prophet Jonah, 
they heeded his warning and repented. This action did not please Jonah in the slightest. He quotes from psalm 145:8 that the Lord is gracious and merciful and abounding in steadfast love and added that the Lord is ready to relent from punishing (Jonah 4:2). Knowing this it is surprising that Jonah was so upset that Nineveh was not destroyed. And this is where there is a desperate need to keep in step with the Spirit of God. If we were unsure about the experiences of Jonah, he tells us that God responds to prayer and fasting. We don’t know how it works all we know is that when we pray and are earnest in our prayers, God hears, understands and will act. Our God is a personal caring God who is cognisant of how we feel.
However, Jonah’s reaction was typical of most people. Having gone through that entire struggle, spending three nights and three days in the uncomfortable belly of a smelly fish, bathing in its vomit and spending three days walking across the city to deliver the message, he was not happy that God decided to spare them. And sometimes we want the Lord to respond and react how we would. However, let us remember that the never changing everlasting God, Yahweh, who is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow always acts with compassion and always shows mercy. Unlike other gods our God is a merciful God who is slow to ANGER and ABOUNDING IN STEADFAST LOVE. It was at the cross that mercy there was great and grace was free, and it was there my pardoned soul found liberty, right there at Calvary. His grace is sufficient for all our needs today. Read Jonah 4.
Posted in The Prophetic | Tags: Anger, Dependency, Grace, Healing, Mercy, Repentance, Restoration, Retribution, Steadfastness
as we encounter the God of the second chance
The word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time saying, get up, go to Nineveh and tell them that in 40 days they shall 
be destroyed if they do not repent. This time Jonah got up and went to do what God commanded him to do (Jonah 3:4). However, as the people heard the message their hearts melted and from the king to all the animals, they fasted and prayed and sought God for clemency. The king decreed that all the inhabitants of Nineveh should humble themselves, repent, turn from their wicked ways, pray and seek God about the message of destruction. Although the king was not an Israelite, i.e. he was not follower of the king of kings, there is placed in every single human being a realisation that there is a greater power than them. On the 26th May 1940 at a time when Britain was facing certain defeat at the hand of the German army, King George VI called for the nation to observe a national day of prayer for deliverance. The Prime minister, Winston Churchill reported to the House of Commons that “The whole core and brain of the British Army, on which and around which we were to build, and are to build, the great British Armies in the later years of the war, seemed about to perish upon the fields or to be led into an ignominious and starving captivity.” A service was held at Westminster Abbey and a few days later the weather changed over Dunkirk and the miracle of Dunkirk occurred and the Armies of Britain prevailed.[1]
The fervent effectual payer of the righteous is powerful and effective (James 5:16b). However, for this prayer to be effective it must be preceded by repentance. We are instructed by James to confess our sins to one another so that healing can occur. The king of Nineveh compelled all the inhabitants to fast and pray and God changed his mind. King George and the people of Great Britain confessed their sins and prayed to God when faced with certain defeat, God heard their cry and averted destruction. Today we too can fast and pray to change the spiritual dynamics over this country or our own country. We are the gatekeepers who have the keys to open up the heavens to allow the blessings of God to flow down upon our great nations. So let us join together in corporate prayer and fasting to allow God’s favour to distil upon the nations of the world who acknowledge his name and call upon him.
Read Jonah 3.
Posted in The Prophetic | Tags: Corporate Prayer, Fervent Prayer, Judgement, Justice, Prayer, Renewal, Repentance
as we die to self and respond to the prophetic call
When Jonah ran away from the commands of the Lord he ended up in the belly of a large fish. For all intense and purposes he was dead. It is from here that he prayed in the spirit since the human spirit is eternal. It is not clear whether he was conscious or unconscious, however it is recorded that Jonah said that it was while his life was ebbing away that he prayed 2:7. When we go in the opposite direction from God’s original, it is obvious that we will die and for many, unlike Jonah, they do not get a second chance to be redeemed. It is also interesting that Jonah’s last recoded words from the belly of the fish is one of thanksgiving. Here he is, in the throes of anguish and at the point of death and he proclaims that he remembers the Lord. He doesn’t curse God or complain about his position. He remembers the Lord, gives him thanks and reverts to his original calling. “I will pay my vows”, he says 2v.9. For some of us it is at the point of no return that we confess our faults and try to make amends for our past wrongs. It is from this watery grave that Jonah is given a second chance to fulfil the calling on his life; God commands the fish to vomit him out. Today when the word of the Lord comes to us, let us test and confirm it before making rash decisions. Let us also be aware that God always has someone to do his bidding. So if the Lord has called you, do not run in the opposite direction or dismiss the calling. It could have dire consequences for you and those whom you associate with. In our busyness let us make time to listen to the voice of the Lord. Read Jonah 2.
Posted in The Prophetic | Tags: Belief, consciousness, Despair, disobedience, Opposite, Throes of death
as we moderate our diet of the word
A prophet is always called to a specific people and locale. No prophet apart from Jesus has a universal ministry. In giving gifts to his church Jesus clearly sets out the gifts to the body in order to establish a fully functioning church. The apostle plants and establishes the ministry while the prophets confirms the spiritual direction and keeps the fellowship in the touch with the original plan of God. Prophets were placed in strategic positions since it is in these specific locations that satan weaves his spirit if deception to cause confusion and derail God’s plan for that locality or region. Prophets who were placed in ‘high places’ were placed there to give direction and correction to the kings they ministered to. People like Isaiah who was placed in the palace of kings to speak the word of God to them, whereas Amos was placed among the ordinary people to speak directly to them. Neither of these propjets was more important than the other, they had a job to do and had to do it to the best of their ability. Whenever God places you in an area and gives you the prophetic anointing it is for a particular purpose with a desired outcome in the long run. The whole intention of God is to restore his order that was destroyed because of the sin of disobedience. The apostle Paul says this; “for since death came through one man, the resurrection of the dead has also come through one man. For as all die in Adam, so all will be made alive in Christ”, (1cor 15:21-22). Disobedience brought the curse of death to humanity. Adam had a prophetic mandate and was enticed away from it by the lure of food. Similarly the prophets of the Lord were lured away from speaking the word from the Lord by eating at Jezebel’s table. Today prophets are being lured away by satan appealing to their egos. Let all who are called to speak the word from God to a particular area do so with humility and without compromise, in spite of the table you have been invited to sit around. Read Jonah 1
as we redefine the prophetic anointing
Your anointing can be circumvented by the sin of disobedience. We must remember that a prophet is called to bring 
clarity and revelation to their community. However, acting in a selfish manner will nullify the anointing of God in your life. This was indeed the case with Jonah. He was anointed and appointed by God to call his community to repent and to return to the Lord. He disobeyed the command and went on a journey in the opposite direction to which he was sent. Disobedience activates the curses outlined by God in your life (see Deut. 28:15ff). Although in our modern world some folks dismiss the notion of curses, it is there in scripture for all to see. Disobedience activate the curses whereas obedience actives blessings.
For Jonah the curse was to spend three nights and days dead in the belly of a whale. For us as modern day prophets we may not be so fortunate, so guard your anointing and learn to obey the voice of the Lord and his prophetic word that comes to you.
Read Deuteronomy 28:1-14 and 15-45.
Posted in The Prophetic | Tags: Aural, disobedience, Hearing, Listening, Obedience, Sin
Pastor Bell's Words To Live By 