SATURDAY 27TH AUGUST, 2022 *GOD'S MERCY ON THE PENITENT*

GOD'S MERCY ON THE PENITENT

It is advisable that you read the text first

📜TEXT:JONAH 3:1-10📜

According to Jonah 3:1-10 (KJV)

[1]And the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the second time, saying,[2]Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee.[3]So Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city of three days' journey.[4]And Jonah began to enter into the city a day's journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.

[5]So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them. [6]For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. [7]And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing: let them not feed, nor drink water:

[8]But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands[9]Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not?[10]And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not.

🔑📖KEY VERSE: "And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not" (JONAH 3:10).

President Abraham Lincoln of the USA, on 13th March 1863 set aside the 30th of April 1863 for national humiliation, fasting and prayer. Among other things, he said - "It is the duty of nations, as well as men, to own their dependence upon the overruling power of God, to confess their sins and transgressions, in humble sorrow, yet with assured hope that genuine repentance will lead to mercy and pardon... We have been preserved these many years in peace and prosperity... And we have vainly imagined in the deceitfulness of our hearts that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient... it behoves us to confess our national sins and to pray for clemency and forgiveness..."

Jonah's re-commissioning after his three days' experience in the fish's belly made him to go to Nineveh with a message of impending judgment: "Yet forty days and Nineveh shall be overthrown", he said. The message moved the king to declare a day of national fasting and repentance for all, including animals. They were to turn away from all their wickedness and "cry mightily" to God who saw the genuineness of their works and forgave them.

When leaders realise that they have deviated by living contrary to God's expressed will, they should humble themselves in the prayer of repentance. Repentance and genuine godly sorrow for wrongs done to man or God are pleasing to Him. God honours it. Turn away from sin and God will lead you on the path of righteousness.

✍🏽THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: Genuine repentance pleases God.

📜THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: ZEPHANIAH 1-3📜

      *MEDITATION*

Mass genuine conversions through a reluctant missionary

1. Dead but resurrected preacher
What makes the preaching of Jonah so effective that a whole city of 120,000 got converted genuinely?

a. He experienced a form of death in the belly of the whale for 3 days. True believers are expected to have died and been buried with Christ. Dead to sin, the world and worldly offers are essential, Romans 6:2-7.

b. He experienced a form of resurrection from the whale grace. New life in Christ must characterise those who will be effective. Preaching without a corresponding christlike life is vain, Romans 6:2-7.

c. The new zeal of Jonah to preach was fiery. He started crying and preaching as soon as he entered Nineveh without wasting time, v4. A would-be successful soul winner or missionary must have a burning zeal to get souls converted. "The zeal of Thine House has consumed me."

2. The definite reality of saving power
What are the essentials of salvation that must manifest?
a. Faith in the word of God on salvation, v5. "The people... believed God". At the point of salvation and after salvation, faith in Jesus and His saving power is a must, Romans 10:8-10.

b. An evidence of faith is repentance and this repentance is manifest through heartfelt sorrow and contrition for the past sins, vv5,6. Anything different will lead to spurious conversion.

c. This repentance is followed up with crying to God for mercy and forgiveness, vv8,9. You must pray in addition to faith.

d. Repentance is active. There must be a deliberate and conscious turn from the way of sin and determination to follow Jesus.

Note Always watch for the manifestations of the above before any sinner is taken to have repented. It is more than responding to the alter call.

Question
What are the scriptural assurances that show that repentant sinners will always be forgiven? John 6:37.

Prayer points
If you have never experienced these or you have lost it, ask God to touch your heart afresh🙏
Pray for sinners in the Church that God will visit them and help them to get the real experience🙏
Pray that the converts of the crusade will be genuine and receive the real transformation🙏
Ask God to help all His children to be passionate about soul-winning 🙏

HYMN So send you

Good Night sir/ma.

Check on the link below as the reference point for this post. Remember the content a got from the Deeper Life Campus fellowship daily-manna in August

*[Source of the content]: Daily Manna Pastor Kumuyi

Source