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Published: March 4, 2009, 4:52 a.m.

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(Jonah 3: 1-2) \\u201cThen the word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time: \\u201cGo to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you.\\u201d

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(Jonah 3: 3-5) \\u201cJonah obeyed the word of the LORD and went to Nineveh. Now Nineveh was a very important city\\u2014a visit required three days. On the first day, Jonah started into the city. He proclaimed: "Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned." The Ninevites believed God. They declared a fast, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth.\\u201d

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(Jonah 3: 6-7) \\u201cWhen the news reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, took off his royal robes, covered himself with sackcloth and sat down in the dust. Then he issued a proclamation in Nineveh: "By the decree of the king and his nobles: Do not let any man or beast, herd or flock, taste anything; do not let them eat or drink.\\u201d

(Jonah 3: 8-9) \\u201cBut let man and beast be covered with sackcloth. Let everyone call urgently on God. Let them give up their evil ways and their violence. Who knows? God may yet relent and with compassion turn from his fierce anger so that we will not perish."\\u201d

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(Jonah 3:10) \\u201cWhen God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he had compassion and did not bring upon them the destruction he had threatened.\\u201d

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A Place to Change

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How can we change direction in our lives?

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1.\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Listening to someone\\u2019s story

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Share your story, email us at: info@freedom-church.org

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(Revelation 12:11) \\u201cThey overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.\\u201d

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2.\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Fear of Consequences

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(Romans 3:18) (NLT) \\u201cThey have no fear of God at all.\\u201d

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(Hebrews 10:31)\\xa0(NKJV) \\u201cIt is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.\\u201d

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(2 Thessalonians 1:9)\\xa0(NLT) \\u201cThey will be punished with eternal destruction, forever separated from the Lord and from his glorious power.\\u201d

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(Psalm 32:3-4)\\xa0(NLT) \\u201cWhen I refused to confess my sin, my body wasted away, and I groaned all day long.\\xa0 Day and night your hand of discipline was heavy on me. My strength evaporated like water in the summer heat.

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(Psalm 32:5)\\xa0(NLT) \\u201cFinally, I confessed all my sins to you and stopped trying to hide my guilt. I said to myself, \\u201cI will confess my rebellion to the Lord.\\u201d \\xa0And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone.\\u201d

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(Psalm 32:6-7)\\xa0(NLT) \\u201cTherefore, let all the godly pray to you while there is still time, that they may not drown in the floodwaters of judgment. For you are my hiding place; you protect me from trouble.\\xa0 You surround me with songs of victory.\\u201d

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3.\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Change our behavior

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(Isaiah 58:2) (NLT) \\u201cYet they act so pious!\\xa0 They come to the Temple every day and seem delighted to learn all about me.\\xa0 They act like a righteous nation that would never abandon the laws of its God.\\xa0 They ask me to take action on their behalf, pretending they want to be near me.\\u201d

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(Isaiah 58:3-4) (NLT) \\u201c\\u2018We have fasted before you!\\u2019 they say. \\u2018Why aren\\u2019t you impressed?\\xa0 We have been very hard on ourselves, and you don\\u2019t even notice it!\\u2019\\u201d \\u201cI will tell you why!\\u201d I respond. \\u201cIt\\u2019s because you are fasting to please yourselves.\\xa0Even while you fast,\\xa0you keep oppressing your workers. What good is fasting\\xa0when you keep on fighting and quarreling? This kind of fasting will never get you anywhere with me.\\u201d

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(Isaiah 58:5) (NLT) \\u201cYou humble yourselves by going through the motions of penance, bowing your heads like reeds bending in the wind. You dress in burlap\\xa0and cover yourselves with ashes.\\xa0 Is this what you call fasting?
Do you really think this will please the Lord?

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\\u201cThey hurt enough that they have to\\u201d

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\\u201cNobody changes until the pain of staying the same becomes greater than the pain of change"

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4.\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 There is a time limit

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(2 Peter 3:10) \\u201cBut the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night\\u2026\\u201d

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For more information on the vision of Freedom Church, please visit our website at www.freedom-church.org.

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