Live Free with Josh Howerton - The God of Second Chances | Ep. 189 | Thursday, October 26, 2023

Episode Date: October 26, 2023

After Jonah was spat out of the fish, God gave him the exact same instructions: go to Nineveh. Jonah didn’t want to go to “those people” because Nineveh was the capital city of Israel’s violent enemies. But God loves even “those people” and will forgive anyone when they repent and turn to Him. No matter what you have done, come to God with a humble, repentant heart and He will forgive you. For more information, visit lakepointe.church/dailydrive

Thanks for tuning in to today's Daily Drive with Lake Point Church, a daily dose of God's word for your morning drive. When the word, not the world, becomes the majority of your week, your life will start to change. For that reason, our prayer is that God will speak to you through today's devotional. For more digital content to feed your faith, visit lakepoint.comit. Church slash daily drive. And now let's dive in to today's devotional. Hey, thanks for joining us on the Daily Drive. So grateful for you all. My name is Mike, and we spend a few minutes each weekday, just trying to get to know God better. And to do that, this week we've been binge watching a reality series together. No, it's not on Netflix or Hulu or Prime. It's found in the pages of the Old Testament of the Bible. It's all about this dude named Jonah. So let me get my announcer voice on and say, previously on Jonah. We've seen this guy who was called to be a spokesperson for God, receive an assignment from God that he's a person. refuses to do. God tells him to go to Israel's arch enemy, the city of Nineveh and warn the people of impending doom if they don't turn from their extremely wicked ways. Well, Jonah is a patriotic prophet,

and he tells God, don't mind working with your own people, but there's no way I'm going to go to those people. By the way, you've got to need those people in your way of thinking? Jonah hates him, and he runs from his assignment by sailing in the opposite direction, and he soon learns that running from God is futile, because God loves all of us enough to persecut. He loves all of us enough to pursue us with relentless love. Well, Jonah ends up thrown overboard, and as he's about to drown, God rescues him. And I encourage you yesterday to write down your personal rescue story by using Jonah II as a template. How'd you do with that? I'm confident that those of you who have already done that are filled with gratitude for the way that God has supernaturally rescued you when you

might have been running from God. I mean, a lot of us have a fish story like Jonah, minus the fish, but God scooped us up, and he saved us from ground. two in our pride and our rebellion. We're calling episode three, never too late. Let me talk to those of you who might have a two or three-year-old run around the house these days. You say, it's time for bed, and they throw an absolute fit. I mean, a rip-roaring temper tantrum and run away from you? What are they hoping to accomplish? Yeah, they're trying to get the parent to change their mind. They're little master manipulators, aren't they? But wise parents don't fall for that. They don't cave in. They're loving and gentle, but they're also firm. They put the kid in time out and then say, okay, two things.

First of all, you need to learn, you cannot throw a fit and run away. The second thing is it's still time for bed. So here's the Heavenly Father. After he orders the fish to spit Jonah out on the beach saying, all right, Jonah, now that you're out of time out, here's two things. First of all, you need to learn that you cannot throw a fit and run away. And second, it's a lot. It's a lot. It's It's still time to go to Nineveh. Verse three says this. This time, Jonah obeyed the Lord's command and went to Nineveh, a city so large that it took three days to see it all.

Now, Nineveh was located 280 miles north of Babylon on the eastern bank. The Tigris River is now part of the modern city of Mosul, the second largest city in Iraq. Archaeological digs have revealed an ancient city whose royal palace alone encompassed three city blocks. The palace had these immense hallways 40 feet wide, 180 feet long that led to the interior of the palace. There was an enormous wall with heavily fortified gates encircling the some 1,700 acres of this city. It was a large, wealthy city with a wild and colorful history and a total disregard for anything godly.

Can you imagine being in Jonas' shoes? Again, he's a flag-waving patriot. He loves his home country of Israel, and this is the capital city of their most feared enemy, and it stood for everything Jonah despised. So there was probably a little bit of satisfaction in this pronouncement of judgment because he actually wanted God to drop the hammer. So this time he's probably thinking, okay, God, I'll do it because you say so. But you know what? They're probably going to stone me.

They're going to burn me. They're going to kill me. You know what those people are like. and so with a not so great attitude, with no thought of the possibility that God might give those people a second chance, he goes into the city, it says in verse 4 and shouts to the crowds, 40 days from now, Nineveh will be destroyed.

Now, this was the message that God had given in, only five words in Hebrew, but powerful because they were God's words. You know, I think we're all turned off by those fire and brimstone preachers who preach that Turner Burn kind of message. I mean, ever had a preacher yet? at you that you were going to hell, and it seemed like he was glad that you were.

And while the word repent has been abused by those less-than-loving creatures, sometimes we need to hear someone lovingly tell us. Listen, come on, man, you've got to turn around before it's too late. The basic meaning of repentance is one of an about-face or a U-turn. It's a change of mind and life direction. A person who repents turns around does an about-face. A 180 actually turns their back on their old ways, and wholeheartedly starts walking toward Jesus Christ,

imperfections and all. I mean, the Bible is full of consistent calls to turn around and start walking toward and with God, like the one that Jonah delivered to Nineveh. John the Baptist showed up on the scene and said, repent, turn toward God, the kingdom of God is at hand. Peter, on the streets of Jerusalem after the resurrection of Jesus, he was courageous and loving enough to tell the crowds

if you will turn away from your sins and turn toward the God of grace, If you will surrender to his love and his leadership, if you will be baptized in his name, you'll not only be forgiven and free, but you'll have a supernatural help to live a new kind of life that kind that makes an eternal impact. And 3,000 people that day said, okay, you see, the Bible says that it's God's kindness that leads us to repentance. It's God's love that causes us to turn around and do a 180. Well, guess what happens? These no good, wicked, pagan, outcast of Nineveh. They don't kill Jonah. They don't stone him. They don't even laugh at this weird

little Hebrew who smells like three-day-old sardines. Instead, it says, they believed God. They believed God. They humbled themselves and made a U-turn. They changed directions. And as a sign of their sincere sorrow over their evil, they put on sackcloth and ashes, and they repent. This is what it says in verses 7 through 9. Then the king and his noble sent this decree throughout the city. No one, not even the animals from all your herds and flocks, may eat or drink anything at all. People and animals alike must wear garments of mourning, and everyone must pray earnestly to God. They must turn from their evil ways and stop all their violence.

Who can tell? Perhaps even yet God will change his mind and hold back his fierce anger from destroying us. They're saying maybe if we change our ways, then God will change his mind. Gang, God loves all people, but he responds to humble ones. There is real freedom and brokenness. When you get to that sackcloth on ashes stage and you humbly say, God, I don't want to do this anymore. I want to change.

I want to get well. I'm so sorry for the way I've been running in the opposite direction from you. I'm sorry for the damage I've done to myself and other people. I'm tired of leading my own life. I'm done calling all the shots. I want to do life your way. Do that. Humble yourself, the Bible says.

And God will lift you up. You see, true brokenness, true repentance always results and surrender to God's leadership and resolve to walk a new direction with his help. And I love verse 10. It says this. When God saw what they had done and how they had put a stop to their evil ways,

He changed his mind and did not carry out the destruction he had threatened. As they changed their ways, he changed his mind. I love what Max Licato writes in his book in the grip of grace. He says, ponder the achievement of God. God doesn't condone our sin, nor does he compromise his standard. He doesn't ignore our rebellion, nor does he relax his demands. Rather than dismiss our sin, he assumes our sin. sin and incredibly, incredibly sentences himself. God is still holy, sin is still sin, and we are saved by grace.

Pretty amazing, isn't it? He is the God of second chances. He is the God of unfailing love, and it's his kindness that leads us to repentance, and it's never too late to make some changes. It's his amazing grace that makes all things new. back tomorrow for the final episode. Have a great day. Thanks for tuning in today. For more biblical teaching and worship, join us for our church online live weekend services on Saturdays at 6 p.m. and Sundays at 9.30 and 11 a.m. Central Standard Time. Also, if this podcast was helpful to you, would you be sure to rate, review, and share this podcast to help get the word out? For more information about all digital ministries of Lake Point, visit Lake

point. church slash daily drive.