Greg Laurie and Harvest Ministries recommend a great new children's book by Sally Lloyd-Jones called Jesus Our True Friend. You have kids and they need to hear the story of Jesus. And I bet you struggle at times trying to read Bible stories to your children. This is a great tool, so order your copy of Jesus Our True Friend Stories to Fill Your Heart with Joy, written by Sally Lloyd-Jones. Yours for a gift of any amount at harvest.org.
There's a whole generation of young people today. They've been described as the hopeless generation. But the answer is still the same. It's still a relationship with God. We're surrounded by so many ways to entertain ourselves.
Pastor Greg Laurie says, don't be distracted from the real source of hope. Don't put your hope in technology. Don't put your hope in any human solution. Don't put your hope in money. Don't put your hope in religion.
Put your hope in Jesus Christ. Don't lose hope. This is the Day when the lost are found. This is the day for a new beginning. Amazing graves now sweet the sound.
But can you hear all the angels are singing? This is the day, the day when lives begin. We live in the information age. If we have a question, the answer should be just a mouse click away. The trouble is, for every question, you'll find a million answers on the internet.
And yet with all that information, depression and hopelessness are at an all-time high. Is there just no way to find hope? Or have we just been looking in all the wrong places? Today on a new beginning, as Pastor Greg Laurie continues his study of Jonah, We'll find hope in the same place Jonah found hope. The day, the day when life begins.
So Jonah was called to preach to the city of Nineveh, and I pointed out a very wicked city, very wicked people. He thought, no, I'll just run away from God and I won't have to do this thing He's calling me to do. And of course, He got in this boat, and a great storm came. And all of these non-believing sailors who spent a lot of time in the open water started to freak out. They'd never seen a storm of this kind before, and they correctly.
Understood this storm was from some God in their mind. They believed in many gods. It was from some God.
So in their estimation, some God out there was ticked off. And they wanted to know which God it was.
So they said, everyone, call on your God. They call on all these gods. No God was responding. The storm is getting worse. And they said, what about that stranger below the deck?
Oh, that's some guy we don't even know who he is. Get him up here and tell him to call in his God. Jonah's brought up on deck and he says, Yeah, I'm a Hebrew. I serve the Lord, and my God sent this storm. And if you throw me overboard, the storm will stop.
And we read that they didn't want to do that.
So, verse 12, it says, The sailors rode even harder to get the ship to the land, but the stormy sea was too violent for them, and they couldn't make it.
So, They ultimately threw him overboard. And this, to me, is just a classic example of how sometimes, in our own strength, we try to get ourselves out of our problems. You know, a problem comes. We say, no problem, I'll take care of this. One phone call to a friend, or I'll have a resolution, or I have some shortcut, or some hack, or some way to resolve this.
And then your problem gets worse and worse. And you realize this is something you need to cry out to God about. And sometimes I think people can become Christians by... Just good things they do.
Well, I'll just get rid of some of the bad things of my life. They were throwing cargo overboard, and I think sometimes people think, well, maybe if I just clean my life up a little bit. Maybe if I don't cuss quite as much, maybe if I'm a little nicer to people, that'll be better. But you know, this is not about just cleaning your life up a little bit. Being a Christian is realizing there's no other way for you to be forgiven of your sin but through Jesus Christ.
And you have to admit that only he can do this for you. And Jonah said, You got to throw me overboard. God was saying, I want a sacrifice, I don't want a bunch of stuff. I want a sacrifice. And they threw Jonah over.
And of course, the fish swallows him. We'll get to that in a moment. And God was satisfied with the sacrifice. Why do I bring this up? Jesus uses as an illustration of what happened to him on the cross.
He said, people ask for a sign or a miracle. No sign will be given but that of the prophet Jonah. As Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish or the sea monster, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights on the heart of the earth. In other words, Jesus is saying, You want a miracle? You want a sign?
You want to be dazzled? Here it is. I'll die on a cross for the sin of the world. I'll rise again from the dead. That's my sign to you.
So, if you want to be forgiven of your sin, you believe because I'm the sacrifice, and Jonah was the sacrifice, and by the way. He lived to tell the story.
So there's even a resurrection element in the story. I find it fascinating also that verse 16 of chapter 1 of Jonah says: the sailors were awestruck by the Lord's great power, and they offered him a sacrifice and vowed to serve him.
So despite Jonah's lousy witness. These men still believed.
Sometimes even when we're messing up, God can still use us.
So we have an illustration, Kathy. Tell us your story. Remember that after you became a Christian, you fell away from the Lord. and you were with your friend, was it Jeannie? Yeah.
And so tell them what happened.
Okay, so I was a disobedient girl. I had accepted Jesus into my heart and had felt. My sin was forgiven, and I was Happy and I was doing well for about six months. After about six months, due to just lack of fellowship, and I wasn't going to church, and I didn't really have any Christian friends. I got kind of worn down and I went back to my old ways.
This is part of my testimony I'm not very proud of. But for about six months, I kind of wallowed back in all the stuff that I was doing before, and I was super unhappy. And Christians would even come up to me and kind of try to say, hey, you know, let me tell you about Jesus. And I go, I already tried that. You'll get over it.
It'll wear off. But I never could deny I was probably 14, 15 years old. And so At that point, I I didn't want to think about The way in which Jesus had forgiven me of my sins. I just wanted to just forget about that and just live my life, but I was really unhappy. And so, after about six months, it was my birthday, and we went down to Laguna Beach.
And I will admit we were high, we had been smoking pot, and I felt so empty inside. It was my birthday, but I wasn't happy. And I was sitting on the beach with my friend, Jeannie, and I saw these people come walking by on the beach. And I don't know if they were really carrying Bibles, but they looked like Bibles. They were black books.
And it jogged my memory to when I was once walking with the Lord. And I said to Jeannie, I said, you know, There was once a time in my life when I kind of did that too. And I was going to church and I carried my Bible, and you know what? I felt. Clean and forgiven, and that God was there, and I had joy, and all of that had left because I had gone back to my old ways.
And as I was sharing with her the reality of what I had once experienced, I didn't know this, but Jeannie sitting next to me, who had never heard the gospel before, looked at me and she said, well, what did you do? And I said, well, I just remember praying a really simple prayer, asking God to forgive me of my sins. And I felt this weight just come off of me, like all the stuff that I'd ever done. And I was like, one of these days, I'm going to get back to that. One of these days, you know?
And Jeannie looked at me and she goes, why would you wait? I was like, I don't know. I don't know why I would wait. She goes, well, well, tell me again, what did you do? And what was the prayer that you prayed?
So the best I could recall, I told her what I had prayed. And she goes, can we do that right now? And I'm like, here we are, high, sitting on the beach in Laguna. And I'm like, I'm the worst person to tell you right now what to do. And yet, she was so insistent upon praying this prayer herself.
And so we prayed together. And we felt our just everything cleared up, our heads cleared up, and we were like, We looked at each other and we were like, Can you believe we just did this? And we were super happy and felt that same sense of forgiveness and joy. And she became my best friend. And finally, I had a Christian friend to help me walk.
We started going to church and got together with a group of friends on campus and went to Bible study. And you know, I just goes to show you can be disobedient in kind of a bad place. And if you tell the truth about who Jesus is. people will respond. It's just the strangest thing.
That's a great story, isn't it?
So, my point is, is like Jonah was messing up, but even when he was messing up, God still worked through him. And these other guys believe, and Kathy sort of illustrated that with her friend Jeannie, even though she was messing up, God still worked through her.
So, God can use us even when we're not exactly where we ought to be. Think how effectively God can use us when we are where we ought to be. And so, Jonah is thrown over the side, and God brings in his super cool custom-designed watercraft. Jonah 1:17, the Lord had arranged for a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was inside of the fish for three days and three nights. Pastor Greg Laurie will have the second half of his message in just a moment.
Um We love hearing from our listeners, whether it's a short word or they take some time to let us know what's going on with them. Pastor Greg, I listen to a new beginning every night on my way home from work and truly get insight and blessings from your radio sermons. From what I've learned from you, I've been able to help lead my grandkids to the Lord. Thank you. I'd also like to thank you for your new Believer's Bible.
I just ordered one for my grandkids to share. Thanks again. How have Pastor Greg's studies touched your life? Would you let him know? Send him an email: Greg at harvest.org.
That's Greg at harvest.org.
Well, today we're following the saga of Jonah, the rebellious prophet. As Pastor Gregg picks up his message, one of the most requested by our listeners. Jonah is stuck inside the great fish. where he's been now for three days and three nights.
So let's look now at the prayer of Jonah in the belly of the beast. I'm reading from Jonah chapter 2, verse 1. Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from inside the fish. He said, I cried out to the Lord in my great trouble and he answered me. I called to you from the world of the dead and Lord, you heard me.
You threw me into the ocean depths and I sank down to the heart of the sea. I was buried beneath your wind in the stormy waves. Then I said, oh Lord, you've driven me from your presence. How will I ever again see your holy temple? I sank beneath the waves and death was very near.
The waters closed in around me. Seaweed wrapped itself around my head. I sank down to the very roots of the mountains. I was locked out of life and I was imprisoned in the land of the dead. But you, O Lord, my God, have snatched me from the yawning jaws of death.
When I lost all hope, I turned my thoughts once again to the Lord, and my earnest prayer went out to you in your holy temple. Those who worship false gods. And turn their backs on God's mercies will fail, but I'll offer sacrifice to you with songs of praise, and I'll fulfill all of my vows, for my salvation comes from the Lord alone. Wow, what a beautiful prayer that is. and the belly of the beast.
And notice how he was beginning to lose hope. Verse 7 of Jonah 2: when I had lost all hope. I turned my thoughts once more to the Lord, and my earnest prayer went out to your holy temple. You know, studies have revealed that when a person loses hope, They can become despondent enough to sometimes even consider taking their life. Many psychologists have said that people who were suicidal, it started with hopelessness.
And there's a whole generation of young people today, they've been described as the hopeless generation. And they're wondering, what is my life all about? What is the purpose of my life? What is the meaning of my life? And I think, honestly, all this social media has just absolutely exasperated the problem, and it's creating problems and challenges that maybe no other generation in history has faced.
It's incredible, actually. But the answer is still the same. It's still a relationship with God. So it comes down to this, what you put your hope in. Don't put your hope in people.
People will disappoint you. Parents will disappoint you. Children will disappoint you. Friends will disappoint you. Don't put your hope in technology.
Don't put your hope in any human solution. Don't put your hope in money. Money will fail you. Money will disappoint you. Don't put your hope in religion.
Put your hope in Jesus Christ. Don't lose hope. You can kind of understand why he was starting to lose hope. Imagine you're in the gut. Of a whale or a great fish wrapped in seaweed, and you're thinking, I'm not getting out of here alive.
Unless God does a miracle. There's an acronym I heard for hope, H-O-P-E. H, hold, O, on, P, patient E, expectation, holding on with patient expectation. Hope. And now we see that God gives second chances.
Go to Jonah 2, verse 10. The Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry ground. And the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying, Arise and go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach to it the message that I gave you. Jonah probably wondered if God would ever use him again. The Lord was certainly under no obligation to do so.
But remember, all of this happened to Jonah because he was loved by God. And this should give hope to any person here that feels like they need a second chance in life. God gives second chances. And third chances, and fourth chances, and fifth ones, and as high as you can count, he'll keep giving you another chance. God gave a second chance to Adam and Eve, our first parents.
They were strictly warned to not eat of the forbidden fruit. But you know what happened? They did. Sin entered into the world. And God could have said, that's it.
I'm starting over again. But yet, what do we read there? In the book of Genesis, they heard the voice of the Lord God in the garden in the cool of the day, saying, Adam, where are you? God was still longing for fellowship with his wayward son. King David was given a second chance after his adultery and murder, which he did to cover up his adultery.
He was confronted by the prophet Nathan and he repented. He was given a second chance. Samson. had so much going for him. Samson was like a superhero, but he was for real.
He could do these incredible feats of strength that God gave to him. But you know how he fell into sin and he got involved in all kinds of immorality. And ultimately, he was captured by his enemies and his eyes were gouged out. But the Bible says in Judges 16, verse 22 about Samson: howbeit the hair of his head began to grow again. By the way, that's my life verse.
I quote it often. Lord, you've promised in Scripture: the hair of his head grew again, let it be unto me now. Hasn't worked so far. Oh, it grows, but it grows in all the wrong places, right? It never grows out of your head, it grows out of your ears.
I'll stop there. God gave him a second chance. Finally. Simon Peter failed miserably. Of course, he denied the Lord three times.
Yet after Christ rose again, the message was sent out. Go tell the disciples. And Peter, he's risen again. Why and Peter? Because he failed the most miserably.
God gives second chances. So I love how this. Story just says, and the whale vomited Jonah on dry ground.
So here's Jonah, repentant. and regurgitate it. Believing and barfed. Righteous and ralft. Victorious and vomited.
And what did he look like? I mean, when you're inside, Of the stomach of some sea monster or fish or whale, all those gastric juices, you know? But he was probably ghostly white, and so he starts walking into Nineveh. 40 days in Nineveh, we'll be overthrown. They're saying, Whatever you say, dude, you're scaring us.
I mean, he was a scary-looking sight. But God gave him a second chance back. To Nineveh. It was Nineveh. Or bust.
Back to the illustration of Jesus when he said the story of Jonah is like. The story of the cross. You know, sometimes people will say, Yeah, you know what? If you'd show me a miracle, I'd believe. If you could prove this to me, I would believe.
You know, Jesus performed a lot of miracles. He restored sight to the blind. Hearing to the deaf, he cured people of leprosy, which was incurable. He even raised people from the dead. And so he says, you know, you guys want a sign.
Here's the sign I'm going to give you. As Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The effective sign he gave and the message he gives is, I died on the cross for your sin. That's the greatest thing I could do for humanity. And I rose again from the dead three days later.
Maybe you've tried to make some changes in your life. You know, you're like the sailors throwing stuff overboard.
Well, I'll just clean my life up a little bit. No, you don't clean your life up and come to Christ. You come to Christ and He'll clean your life up. You come with your problems. You come with your sins and you realize you can't save yourself any more than a drowning man could save himself.
You have to call out for help. And he'll forgive you of all of your sin. And Jesus is ready to do that now. And I wonder if there's someone here that needs a second chance. You've messed up.
You've done things you know you shouldn't have done, maybe even as a Christian. And you Want to get right with God. This is the perfect time to do it because we're going to pray in just a moment. But there might be somebody here that maybe you're a little bit like Kathy was. When she was uh compromising.
And then realized what she was missing, and she wanted to come back again to the Lord. Or maybe you're a person who's hearing this for the first time. You're hopeless.
Some of you have even contemplated suicide.
Some of you have maybe even attempted it. I don't know what you're going through right now, but I'm telling you. Your situation is not hopeless. And God can Come into your life and change your whole story. And it can happen so quickly for you.
But you must call out to him because he has everything you're looking for in life, and Jesus, who died on that cross. For your sin and mine, and rose again from the dead, is standing at the door of your life now, and he is knocking, and he is saying, If you'll hear his voice and open the door, he'll come in. If you've never asked Jesus to come into your life, you can do it right now. And if you need to come back to the Lord again because you need a second chance, you can do that as well. Why don't we all pray together?
Father, thank you for loving us so much. You never. Let us go too far. And you keep chasing after us, ready to forgive. Ready to pardon.
Ready to give a second chance. And I pray for any person here that needs that, or someone who doesn't even know you yet. Let this be the moment wherever they are that they come to believe in Jesus Christ. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
Yeah. An important prayer from Pastor Greg Laurie. And if you want to follow through on what Pastor Gregg suggested and make a change today in your relationship with the Lord, He wants to help you with that before today's edition of A New Beginning concludes, so stay with us. Are you receiving Pastor Gregg's daily devotions each day via email? If not, let's take care of that right now.
You can sign up today free of charge at harvest.org. And you'll receive a daily inspirational thought from God's Word each day in your inbox. Again, go to harvest.org. And then, Pastor Gregg, just before we go, would you mind praying with the person listening who wants to make a change today in their relationship with the Lord? I'd be happy to, Dave.
You know, as you've been listening to this today, Maybe you've heard another voice. By that I mean, yeah, you heard me say a few things, but you heard God's voice. Speak to you. Deep in the recesses of your heart, and it suddenly dawned on you: this is what I need, or to state it more accurately, this is who I need. I need Jesus and I want Jesus, but maybe you don't know how to make that connection.
Let me help you. God is only a prayer way. He stands at the door of your heart and he knocks. And Jesus says, If you'll hear his voice and open the door, he'll come in. Let me help you open the door, so to speak, of your heart as you invite Jesus to be your Savior and Lord.
Here's what I would like you to do. I'd like you to stop what you're doing. And I want you to pray a prayer after me. I'll lead you in this prayer. And as you pray it, God will hear you.
Pray this after me right now if you want Jesus Christ to come into your life. Lord Jesus I know I am a sinner. And I am sorry for my sin. And I need your forgiveness right now. Would you come into my heart, my life, as saviour As God as friend I choose to follow you from this moment forward.
Thank you for calling me. and accepting me and forgiving me. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. I know that was a relatively short prayer.
Maybe you felt something as you prayed it. Maybe you felt nothing. That doesn't really matter. Because God's word says These things we write to you that believe on the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life. It doesn't say, so you may think you have it, or you may hope you have it if God's in a good mood.
No, that you can know it. And I want you to know: if you pray that prayer in a minute, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, has come into your life.
So, congratulations. You're now a Christian.
Now continue to follow the Lord. And to help you, we'd like to send you Pastor Gregg's New Believer's Bible. It's in an easy-to-understand translation with hundreds of helps specifically for those who are new to the faith. It'll answer many of the questions you might have and get you started in your new relationship with the Lord.
So get in touch and ask for the New Believer's Bible. We'll send it free of charge. Just call 1-800-821-3300. That's our 24-hour phone number, 1-800-821-3300. or just go online to harvest.org and click Know God.
And then let us take a moment to thank you for praying for this ministry. and for supporting it through your generous donation. It's an investment in kingdom business. Isn't that right, Pastor Greg? Yeah, it's really true, Dave.
And I believe it's so important because, you know, the gospel saves lives. It saves eternal lives. Because when a person believes in Jesus, according to Scripture, they pass from darkness to light, from the power of Satan to the power of God. And then, of course, that changes the course of their future. That impacts their children and their children's children.
The gospel changes everything. And thousands and thousands of people respond every single year. Thanks to the Lord. Also thanks to you for your investment in this ministry, enabling us to reach people. wherever they are.
So if this is something you care about, I encourage you to make a financial investment. and a new beginning in harvest ministries. Yes, that's right, and we really do appreciate your support. Thanks for partnering with us today. It can make a real difference, not just for today or this week, but for eternity.
So get in touch with your support today by calling 1-800-821-3300. That's a 24-7 phone number, 1-800-821-3300. or write a new beginning box 4000 Riverside, California 92514, or go online to harvest.org.
Well, next time, as Pastor Gray continues our up-close look at the life of Jonah. We'll focus on the evangelism side of Jonah's story. Astergreg offers another of his top 10 messages called How to Reach Our Culture. Join us here on A New Beginning with Pastor and Bible teacher Greg Laurie. This is the day, the day when life begins.
