Episode 455 - Show Notes
- Maybe you once had a strong relationship with Christ, you once served God, but today you have walked away. You wonder if God would forgive you. You doubt that he would give you a second chance.
- In the Old Testament there was a prophet named Jonah. God spoke to him and told him to go preach in a city called Nineveh. Jonah couldn’t believe what God asked him to do. They people of Nineveh were Assyrian. They hated the Jews and the Jews hated them back. The Assyrians were were an evil and wicked people. In fact, ancient records from Assyria boast of cruelty as a badge of courage and power.
- So, what did Jonah do? He disobeyed God. He booked passage on a ship going the opposite direction. If you read the story in the book of Jonah, you know that God sent a terrible storm, Jonah was thrown overboard. He spent three nights in belly of a huge fish God had prepared.
- Jonah 3:1 - “Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time.”
- Did you catch it? Yes, Jonah had disobeyed God. Yes, he had refused to do God’s will. Yes, he attempted to get as far away from Nineveh as he possibly could, but God had not given up on him. God gave him a second chance.
- Most of us have heard the lie of the devil – “look at what you did. You’ll never be anything. God will never forgive you. You are a hypocrite. This will follow you all of your life. You are disqualified.” The devil will never let you forget.
- But today our God is a God of second chances. He is a God who is great in forgiveness. His love is abundant. His mercy is given generously. He helps us get up when we have fallen. He leads us to the next step.
- Wherever you are, wherever you have been, whatever you have done, no matter how far away you may be, God’s grace is available to you. You can come back home to the Father. He is a God of second chances.
1 John 1:9 - “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”
Romans 5:20 – “Where sin increased, grace increased all the more.”
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