Giving Jonah Grace: and Learning to Give Yourself Some as Well!
By living life and facing experiences, reading the Word of God, worshiping with an unashamed heart, God the Father has revealed his fatherly love to me.
Season 8, Episode 20 · Giving Jonah Grace - and Learning to Give Yourself Some As Well!
Play the original Excel Still More episode here without leaving the article.
The story behind the idea
In defense of this negative approach to the reluctant prophet, is that it starts off pretty heinous, right? I mean, the first three verses are God saying, go to Nineveh and preach, and him saying, I'm not going to do that, and running the opposite direction.
What stands out
By living life and facing experiences, reading the Word of God, worshiping with an unashamed heart, God the Father has revealed his fatherly love to me. Jesus has demonstrated his protective, positive influence in my life and also the power of his blood to make me righteous.
Why it matters
He does not neglect to mention God, he brings God right into the conversation by saying that I fear the Lord God of heaven, verse 9, and he cares about the people that he is affecting. Are there people who, when they disobey the will of God, will not confess the name of God, will not acknowledge his presence?
A faithful way forward
I know God will bring me through in safety because I love him and I want to do his will so that even when I don't, there are immediate reactions. There's all this debate about, well, will God forgive you when you commit a sin before you ask forgiveness, or what is that gap like, or how does all that work? For the Christian, those aren't even questions that should matter to us.
Put it into practice
We need more confidence and faith in the qualifying, forgiving, redemptive nature of God. He's not a disqualifier waiting on a reason to toss you out. Jonah gave him a reason, and God did not toss Jonah out.
Take the idea with you.
- 01What idea from this study most needs my attention right now?
- 02Where does this challenge the way I am currently thinking or living?
- 03What is one faithful step I can take this week?
Prefer listening?
The original episode player is available near the top of this article, so you can listen without leaving the page.