“Jeremiah, you need to know something before you say ‘yes’, there are no back-up prophets to take your place once you have committed yourself to the task. If you walk away during your training or later on because of persecution and hardships, the city will not be warned.”
Who do I think I am that I could possibly be used as a messenger of God for such an important task? I thought. What are my qualifications? Maybe the mission is too tough for me? Maybe the Lord should send someone else?
“Lord, I’m young and not a good speaker. Who will listen to me?”
“Do not say that. You will go where I send you and you will speak whatever I command you to speak.”
“But what about churches and pastors? Can’t they warn the city?”
“The traditional churches have made so many compromises with the world system and religious spirits that they can no longer be trusted with razor-sharp prophecies from Me. And Jeremiah?”
“Yes, Lord.”
“You must never enter a traditonal church again. Not for a wedding. Or a funeral. Or for any holiday services. You must never submit yourself under the religious spirits in a traditional church for any reason. Your prophetic voice will be weakened if you do.”
“Yes, Lord.”
“If you decide to take on this task, My grace and anointing will be more than sufficient for you.”
How could I argue after what I had just seen and heard?
“Okay, Lord, send me,” I whispered.
A hand reached out of the light and touched my mouth.
“I have put My words in your mouth.”
The second living light went out. It was dark and quiet once again. The angel touched my shoulder.
“Stand up,” he said.
I obeyed and stood up.
A third light came on, off to my left. I turned toward it.
There I saw an open coffin, next to an empty grave. My parents, grandparents, other relatives, and friends stood in a semi-circle around the grave site. Everyone wore black and wept rivers of tears. Flowers and wreaths covered the coffin.
The foul stench, which I smelled earlier, increased in strength. It reeked. I covered my nostrils with my hands, hoping this would help, but the smell worsened. It came from within me. Something was dead inside me.
I pointed at the scene and looked at the angel.
“What’s this?”
“It’s a funeral.”
“Whose funeral?”
“Yours.”
“My funeral? Why?”
“If you are going to warn San Francisco about upcoming judgments from the Lord, you need to be a Two-Twenty believer.”
His words flustered me.
“What?”
The angel looked at me. His two emerald eyes radiated a depth of passion I had never witnessed before in my life.
“Paul wrote in Galatians 2:20 – I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself up for me.”
He paused for a moment.
I bit my tongue and kept quiet.
“Every plan, every hope, every dream of yours that conflicts with the calling Christ has placed upon you, needs to be buried here tonight. You cannot come back later and dig them up,” he said with a divine authority which sent shivers up and down my spine.
“And,” he added in a hushed tone, “this is the most painful part of the night. If you are not able to bury what needs to be buried, you will be disqualified from the mission.”
I looked at my parents, relatives, and friends. Seeing the anguish and misery they suffered at my funeral, I needed to know something.
“What if I’m disqualified right now? Will the Lord find another person to take my place?”
“Maybe. Maybe not. You are the Lord’s first choice. You are the one He has groomed and prepared for this assignment from the moment you were formed in your mother’s womb. There are no guarantees another prophet will be as effective as you or can be readied in time.”
I sighed. His words hammered my heart.
“So,” he said, “are you ready?”
I blew out a deep breath and nodded.
Excerpt from Jonah by Larry Nevenhoven, © 2012, Amazon eBook.
(Continued in Part 10…if you’re interested, the full series to date may be seen here.)
Larry Who 
Thank you, Mr. Larry, for continiuing this series! God bless!
Debbie,
Thanks. It’s been a while. God bless you.
This hit me kind of hard. Been feeling sorry for myself lately and the fact that no one else is called to do what I am called to is both refreshing and terrifying at the same time.
There is a move of the Spirit coming to Iowa and the burden for leading it, however that my play out in Daddy’s plans, is on me. Ouch!