JONAH (pt. 4)

A community fostering Christ-like grace, growth, and compassionGrace Always Comes First - Before we ever reached for God, God had already reached for us.Grace Clears the Table - It removes the “earning” from the table.Allow the Holy Spirit to do His work in you.1) Catch yourself trying to earn God’s approval.                                                                2) Catch yourself making somebody else earn your grace.Titus 2:11 “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people.”

It is easy to give without ever surrendering a single thing.“What have I given to God” or “What can I give to God”   “What am I still holding back?”Stewardship that ends at giving, stops short of handing everything over to the Lord.Giving can look transactional; surrender costs something: It costs the illusion we own any of it. Pray: God, what have you entrusted to me?Wrestle: Am I holding what God has entrusted me like an owner or managing them like they were always His?Ask: What am I still gripping onto that is already yours?

God’s grace is not a reward we earn to keep or to ration; it is a gift we share.Does Jonah truly desire what God does?What’s your shelter today?God gives Jonah relief and he is happy, but a city of thousands of people repents and Jonah is angry.What thing has your heart while a person God loves has none of it?

The greatest lie is “God’s done with youGod’s grace doesn’t get used upHe obeyed the word of the Lord and went to NinevehFaith that prays in the dark also obeys in the lightGod’s storms are his grace designed to redirect our course back to him!      If God is a God who speaks… then we must become a people who listen.

God’s storms are not punishments but acts of grace, designed to redirect our course back to Him.Faith is thanking God before the answer comes.Hesed – Steadfast/Covenantal Love “Those who pay regard to vain idols forsake their hope of steadfast love.”What idols cause you to forsake God’s steadfast love?Salvation belongs to the Lord!

God’s storms are not punishments but acts of grace.What are you running from in your relationship with Jesus?Sometimes, to get our attention, God sends storms into our lives.God not only can stir up the waters, but he is also able to calm them too.“Here we are Lord, send us!”

When life gets bitter, God is quietly crafting a story of redemption through unexpected places, people, and daily obedience.God’s redemption is never accidental - it is public, costly, and binding, and it always leads somewhere bigger than we can see.Terms and ConditionsEasy promises in private mean nothing until they are tested publicly where the cost is clear.The question isn’t “Do you want to be redeemed?” It is “Are you willing to pay what redemption requires?”Grace rewrites the value system of a fallen worldGod didn’t just redeem Ruth for her story; He redeemed her for HIS story.DON'T GIVE UP ON YOUR STORY

When we lay down what we love the most, we discover that God’s grace is all we truly ever need.Faith surrenders what we cherish most.Obedience walks forward even when we can’t see the way.God supplied what His glory demanded.God provided a ram to save Isaac. God provided Jesus to save the world.God himself provided the Lamb.What is your “Isaac” today?   What would be hardest for me to place in God’s hands?Where are you demanding explanations before obedience?How will you descend the mountain? What needs to be let go?

Waiting changes people... It is how we live within “the wait” that matters.God doesn’t need a perfect track record from us to keep a perfect promise to us.God remembers His word when we have forgotten our ways.Through submission, our holy, just God redeems our history through his grace.Growing in holiness and grace isn’t pretending you never messed up your name; it is allowing God to rename your mistakes so we can see them as His monuments of grace.What is an area of your life where you’ve been managing a “messy shortcut?”Are your prayers filled with the sigh of: “God, I have to fix this”, or the expectant joy of: “God, I can’t wait to see how You handle this?”

How many times have you negotiated with God?Sometimes we intertwine our negotiating skills with our relationships.God’s grace comes before His justice.Grace Invites Us into Conversation (Prayer)God’s justice is real, but His first move is grace.God’s justice protects the integrity of His grace.Justice IS NOT the opposite of grace.Where have you lowered your standards of personal holiness under the excuse that “God’s grace will save me”?Who are you praying for that doesn’t believe in Jesus?