After three and a half years of ministry with Jesus, the disciples could not find even fish. This happened at the shores of the Lake of Galilee on a early morning even before the sun rose. They toiled through an empty night of finding no fish. Jesus had been crucified, Peter had denied him three times, and Peter had convinced these other disciples to return to the old life and find some fish. Peter, Thomas, Nathanael, John and James and perhaps Andrew and Philip were all involved in this discouraged group of disciples.

It was dark, indicating their lifestyle of walking in darkness. Their efforts were met with failure; they did not recognize Jesus, with whom they had spent three and half years To add to injury, they were following Peter, a denier of the faith and Thomas the doubter. One of them was impetuous, the other slow in responding to faith. One was saying more than what he had in mind, the other ready to do more than what he said.

It has been now over 45 years of full-time ministry, and I know many of my friends are involved in activities which do not produce results, spending their lives giving hail to Georgia or Georgia Tech. Their lives are consumed with football or work, with no time for God. The disciples had no business of going back to fishing. The kingdom of God had been given to them and they should have been preparing for the power of God to begin to move in their ministries, but they decided to fish!

Why did Jesus meet with the disciples early in the morning after a frustrating night of fishing? Simply because reinstatement had to take place in their hearts. Why reinstate Peter and Thomas? Jesus had invested in them much of His life here in the earth. They were persons of great importance to the kingdom of God on earth. God had to bring Peter and Thomas back into action by considering them and forgiving them.
It takes very little to blame, but it takes a lot to reinstate. I want you to know that this ministry reinstates people. This ministry is here to bring healing to people. Broken people, hurt people, people out of jail, lonely people, people with a past, people without a future, people with sins that haven’t been dealt with, people with pain, sick people, married people, single or divorced people, any type of people in pain. This is why Jesus came: To seek and save those who were lost.

Please, if your agenda is to find when the end times will begin, go to another ministry. If your call is to follow the financial market, find another ministry. If your agenda is to exclude these folks above, then you need to find another ministry. God has called me to minister life to the lost. That is my call, and there really is nothing else on the agenda.  It is engraved into my brain: “Feed my sheep!”

Rick Bonfim

Perhaps you wanted God to use you in some type of ministry, so you decided to go to seminary and pursue a career in the ministry. I know that many of us have felt this way: “I want to serve God with all I’ve got and it will have to be this way.”

When Jesus spoke the parable of the Wedding Banquet in Matthew 22, He was referring to the Kingdom of Heaven. The parable speaks of a king whose son is about to wed.  So the king sent his servants to those who “had been invited” to come, but they  paid no attention and kept doing what they were doing at the time of the invitation.  Some even seized the king’s servants and killed them. The king responded by destroying and burning their cities. Next, the king sent his servants to the streets of the city inviting “anyone” who they could find, some good and some bad persons. When they all came, the king came to the feast and found one person who was not dressed for the wedding, wearing plain clothing. The king asked him, “Friend, how did you get here without wedding clothing?“

The king in turn told his servants, “Tie him hand of foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. For many are called and few elected” (Matthew 22:14).

This parable is about the call of God. I have noticed many who seem to understand their call as being in a place of authority, but they bear no fruit. They are in it for themselves. They live to know what pleases others and learn from them so they can stay in ministry. Oh! I wish it would be that easy to serve the Lord. So, to you who love God who are reading this blog, this is a word of warning today:

1-God calls many to serve Him, but He chooses a few. Just because you feel warm inside and you have the gift of gab does not mean you are called. You are exposing yourself to ridicule and shame if you try to serve God because of your feelings. I have been telling you that many of you have been called to serve Him in your capacity, but the call of full-time Christian service is not that simple. When God chooses, He empowers. When God chooses, He gifts. When God chooses, He sets you apart.

2-When God chooses He speaks to the person and reveals the kingdom to them. I have met many who want to do ministry, but the ministry is for themselves. Any ministry which spends time dealing with human lives and yet does not minister to their needs is not of God. We are packed with prophets who prophecy reading the media, who live in the future and who speak words of warning, but they have no fruit. Are you seeking to serve God or serve yourself? This is the measuring stick to every servant: To serve God daily, and not ourselves.

3-To be chosen is an honor, but it will cost you your life. Do not think that to serve is that simple. It will cost your family, your finances and your plans. God is in full custody of your life. You do not have a say, you do not have a choice, you have no retirement plan or pension program, and you simply place everything into His hands for the period you live. 

4-When you are chosen, the anointing flows like honey. Paul tells us that the gifts and the call are without repentance. But this type of call is connected to the operation of gifts.  It is connected to the will of God for every assignment. Gifts operate through anyone, but on those chosen they fulfill their purpose. The work of Peter should not be compared with the work of Joseph of Arimathea. The work of Paul should never be compared with the work of Apollo.

If you have not seen the difference in this idea of being called and chosen, I hope this will clear your mind. Here is my suggestion to all of you: Try to know the difference in the people you meet. Respect those who are called and chosen and never minimize them, for theirs is the Kingdom of God. FOR THOSE WHO WANT TO HEAR….

Rick Bonfim

He left Nazareth, a little city within the territory of Zebulon in the lower Galilee. It was in Nazareth that this story begins.  He lived there for 30 years with Joseph and Mary. He came to be baptized by John in the Jordan at Bethany. When Jesus heard that John had been put into prison, he returned to Galilee. He came to Capernaum. The question here is this: What did Jesus hear? The death of John or the call of God?  If He heard the death of John, He would go to to funeral.  But the call of God was what moved Him.

A call from God functions under the prophetic hand of God. Only you can stop the prophetic hand of God. God will not ever stop. One of the questions I have to answer constantly is how I have kept on going after all these years? It is simply because my father prophesied over me and his prophecy was based on a revelation from God. Thus, I have no choice but to continue to minister. Here are 5 important items about prophetic revelation:

1-The prophetic begins with a revelation from God.

You might think a man can do that. No, the prophetic begins with a revelation from God. You hear it as if it is bubbling within you and must come out.  It is up to you to discern the voice of God or the voice of the devil. Condemnation will stop you. Jesus was rejected in Nazareth because His call was to Galilee not to Nazareth. When Isaiah heard that Galilee was going to be blessed with the coming of Jesus, he spoke it out and it happened:

“Galilee of the Gentiles, the people have seen a great light!” - Isaiah 9:1-2

2-The prophetic stays the course of the call and will not deviate.

When Jesus had heard of the death of John, he had to return to Galilee. The same thing happened to the Apostle Paul at Troas, after having the vision of a man from Macedonia. Acts 16:10 says, “We got ready at once!” Jesus could have gone anywhere, but the prophecy called for him to go to the Lake of Galilee, to a small town called Capernaum.  It had to be this way. Remember this:  revelation opens doors, condemnation closes doors.

3-The prophetic thrives under its own power to perform

What do I mean by “under it’s own power?” It is like a house with its own generator. When electricity fails, the generator kicks in, providing power, a house with its own source of electricity. It is the same with the prophetic.  God will establish the power so that the prophecy will come forth and fulfill what has been said. The prophetic power of the gospel does not need your help - it operates by itself.

4-The prophetic must be spoken by the one who hears it.

Jesus spoke it, but Nazareth would not receive it. There was more power in Galilee then in Nazareth.  The call was in Galilee and not in Nazareth. He was rejected in Nazareth AND THEY TRIED TO KILL HIM (Luke 4:29-30).

Remember that when it is a revelation from God, it is accepted and heard. When it’s from the devil, it is pregnant with condemnation, and that is not from God.

5-The prophetic must be received by the one who believes.

Every disciple heard it and believed it. Some of us would say John and James were poor and the call was a way out, but in the Gospel of Mark there is mention that they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him. They were not so poor (Mark 1:20). Finally, the prophetic hand of God operates apart from experience. This is important. Just because you been in jail for 15 years, does not make you an expert on the subject. You, honestly speaking have failed in that area. Using your experience to minister in this area is wrong. God does not use your experience to justify being prophetic. The Holy Spirit moves outside of human experience and does not use what you know. It speaks about the need of someone else and not yours.

Are you under the prophetic call of God, or are you lost into your own agenda? Search your heart today and see what the King of Kings has for you to do!

Rick Bonfim