05/08/12

The one stone most people hate

Jonah 1:2 - "Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before Me."


Just yesterday I was attending a very historical moment in Church history in Mumbai and it was so great to see all the churches come together and that moment caused me to think on the very topic which we got from the Lord for today. I had the opportunity to be part of this historic moment but was make to stand out by the Lord.

We all love life to be easy and nice, we look at God to be full of love and compassion, ever forgiving, ever patient, slow to anger etc.. But we forget our God is also a righteous God, He is patient but not forgetful, He is full of love but also hate sin, He is forgiving but not forgetful, He keeps His wrath for the last for those who walk the path of darkness and do not turn to Light.

In the farm all stones are removed and thrown away, for they cause problems for the farmer in tilling the soil and also harm the growth of the crop of the seeds which he sows. But there is one stone which the farmer depends greatly on and guards dearly. This stone unlike the other stones is very large. Without this stone the purpose of the crop would not be fulfilled and the crop may land as cattle feed or will be eaten but the birds and not for the purpose he planted. This stone is the threshing stone.

Since history of farming people have used the threshing stone or threshing board (a multi pointed surface) to separate the grains from the stalk and the husk from the grains.

When God planted man He put the man's spirit in a body of flesh made of soil of the earth. As man grows and is nurtured by the Lord, during this time He separates His people from those who are not His. He then calls His people to overcome the very flesh they dwell in so that they can return to Him.

In today's message Jonah is sent to be a threshing board / stone for the people of Nineveh. Similarly we have Men of God like Jeremiah and Joel in the Bible who were not loved by the people for they were sharp threshing boards / stones for the people.

In the Kingdom of God there are those who tilt, there are those who sow, there are those who water, there are those who protect and care, these all are loved by everyone. But there are also those who are not loved by everyone for these are those who are called to do the threshing.

Jeremiah cried many a times with the Lord for most of the things which the Lord told him to do were things that the people hated. He must have thought of been a nice person speaking kind things and thus being acceptable to people and thereafter bringing some change of heart in them, but the Lord did not desire that of him. The Lord knows the hearts of people and knows the results of the work that can be achieved from each person.

Jeremiah's mind desired to be good to the people but his nature, his inner-man was burning with fire of passion for the Lord and that could not allow him to turn away from what the Lord desired of him.

We should remove and cast away the stones that create obstacles to the growth of the people of the Lord but do not hate the stone that is used by the Lord as a threshing stone. Remember without the threshing stone the whole crop becomes a waste for the beasts of the land or the birds of the air. So prayer for those who are called to be a threshing stone, for they are people of sorrow who may smile outwardly but inside daily cry with the Lord like Jeremiah did or battle with the Lord like Jonah did. Jesus, Himself became the greatest stumbling block for all mankind, He separates God people from the people of vanity.


[ Prayer Starter ]
Lord, there are few among us who are called to be threshing stone they are people of sorrow. They are hated by many and very few understand or love them. They are looked like critics and agents of the enemy but become stumbling blocks for those who walk in the flesh. We ask You Lord to blessed them and do the delicate job they are called for, that they do not walk according their understanding but according your Spirit...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.


[ Reference Scriptures ]
Jeremiah 20:9 - If I say, "I will not mention him,
or speak any more in his name,"
there is in my heart as it were a burning fire
shut up in my bones,
and I am weary with holding it in,
and I cannot.

Lamentations 1:13 - "From on high he sent fire;
into my bones he made it descend;
he spread a net for my feet;
he turned me back;
he has left me stunned,
faint all the day long.

Isaiah 41:15 - Behold, I will make thee a new sharp threshing instrument having teeth: thou shalt thresh the mountains, and beat them small, and shalt make the hills as chaff.

Isaiah 28:26-29
26 For his God doth instruct him to discretion, and doth teach him.
27 For the fitches are not threshed with a threshing instrument, neither is a cart wheel turned about upon the cummin; but the fitches are beaten out with a staff, and the cummin with a rod.
28 Bread corn is bruised; because he will not ever be threshing it, nor break it with the wheel of his cart, nor bruise it with his horsemen.
29 This also cometh forth from the LORD of hosts, which is wonderful in counsel, and excellent in working.

Luke 2: 34 - And Simeon blessed them, and said unto Mary his mother, Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel; and for a sign which shall be spoken against;

Matthew 10:34-36
34 Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.
35 For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.
36 And a man's foes shall be they of his own household.

The Word of God was given free to us, therefore we should also share it freely with others. (All rights are with God)