God of Second Chances

Good Morning:

Chuckle: "I'm eighty-five years old. Forget about the health food . . . I need all the preservatives I can get!"

Good Quote: “Jesus is the only one who can bring us to forgiveness. He waits for us to turn our hearts over to him; then he performs the healing, changing, finishing miracles.” --Holly Metcalf

GOD GIVES SECOND CHANCES

    Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time: "Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you" (Jonah 3:1-2 NIV).

I'm sure you remember the account of a prophet of God named Jonah. God told him to go and preach to the wicked people of Nineveh -- cruel arch- enemies of Israel. Jonah refused and ran from God in the opposite direction from Nineveh. As he sailed from Joppa toward a city called Tarshish, he was thrown overboard to save the ship in a violent storm, and was swallowed by a giant fish. It was inside the fish that Jonah repented and God gave him a second chance by having the fish deposit him on dry land. Jonah did as God had commanded and the people of Nineveh repented.

You may remember how Simon Peter denied Jesus on the night He was arrested and swore that he did not even know Jesus. Jesus had predicted his denial even when Peter said he would never do such a thing. Peter denied Jesus three times during the night before the rooster crowed as Jesus had predicted. The Bible says when Peter heard the rooster he went out and wept bitterly. But Jesus forgave him and gave him another chance. Peter didn't blow it this time, and he became one of the early stalwarts of the Christian faith.

Most of us can vouch for the fact that we serve a God of second chances -- or maybe third, fourth, or fifth chances. You may have disobeyed God, wandered away from Him and His church, and are living as if you don't even know Jesus. If so, you may be thinking that God will give up on you and will not forgive you. But that's not the way the heart of God works. He loves you and like a shepherd searching for a wandering sheep, or a father searching for his prodigal son, will welcome you back into the fold of His fellowship and His church.

It is by God's grace, love, and mercy that he grants wayward Christians second chances. The Bible says, "I urge you not to receive God's grace in vain" (2 Corinthians 6:1 NIV). Do not reject God's invitation to rejoin Him in His kingdom work. In other words, don't blow it again when God gives you a second chance. But jump at the chance to repent of your sins and once again feel the warmth and security of God's love and forgiveness, and enjoy the fellowship with God's people.

Love, Jerry & Dotse