{"id":132,"date":"2016-12-19T06:00:22","date_gmt":"2016-12-19T06:00:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/?p=132"},"modified":"2016-12-14T14:35:15","modified_gmt":"2016-12-14T14:35:15","slug":"god-god-second-chances","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/2016\/12\/god-god-second-chances.html","title":{"rendered":"God is the God of Second Chances"},"content":{"rendered":"
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1\u00a0<\/span>Then the word of the\u00a0Lord<\/span>\u00a0came to Jonah\u00a0a second time:<\/span>\u00a0<\/em>2\u00a0<\/span>\u201cGo to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you.\u201d<\/em> Jonah 3:1-2<\/span><\/p>\n

This is one of the greatest verses of the Old Testament because it’s a verse of hope. Jonah begins his journey by doing everything he can to run from God, and God does everything he can to get Jonah’s attention (note to self: getting swallowed by a whale is a great way to get someone’s attention<\/em>).<\/p>\n

At this point, the story should have been over. God commanded Jonah to do something, Jonah disobeyed and ran from God, Jonah paid the price. And then we get this surprise of a verse in Jonah 3:1, “The word of the Lord came to Jonah a second<\/strong> time.<\/em>” Maybe that’s a word you need to hear. Maybe that’s a verse you need to memorize. Maybe that’s a timeless truth from Scripture that you need to proclaim to yourself when the enemy tempts you to believe the lie that you’re too far past redemption.<\/p>\n

Most Christians are sure of their salvation, but because of mistakes and years of disobedience after salvation, many Christians are convinced that God would never use them to do anything significant in life. If they could go back and change the past they would, but now they’re stuck in some type of living purgatory: saved but sitting on the bench because they struck out one too many times.<\/p>\n

If that’s you, make Jonah 3:1 your anthem. The word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time, because God is the God of second chances. If Jonah got another chance to be used by God, then what’s your excuse? Get out there and start living as if God wants to use you. You might not even be surprised when he actually starts doing it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

1\u00a0Then the word of the\u00a0Lord\u00a0came to Jonah\u00a0a second time:\u00a02\u00a0\u201cGo to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you.\u201d Jonah 3:1-2 This is one of the greatest verses of the Old Testament because it’s a verse of hope. Jonah begins his journey by doing everything he can to run from…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":607,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[74,76,75],"class_list":["post-132","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-next-steps","tag-jonah","tag-second-chances","tag-whale"],"yoast_head":"\nGod is the God of Second Chances - Next Steps<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"One of the most hopeful verses in all the Bible is a verse about a complete screw up getting a second chance. 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