In God’s Grace - Using The ‘Unworthy’

The Story of Rahab – Grace in action!

Joshua Chapter 2 – “…So they went and entered the house of a prostitute named Rahab and stayed there.” “So the king of Jericho sent this message to Rehab: Bring out the men who came to you and entered your house, because they have come to spy out the whole land.” “But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them.” “I don’t know which way they went.” “Before the spies lay down for the night, she went up on the roof and said to them. I know that the LORD has given this land to you and that a great fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who live in this country are melting in fear because of you.” “Now then, please swear to me by the LORD that you will show kindness to my family because I have shown kindness to you.” “If you don’t tell what we are doing, we will treat you kindly and faithfully when the LORD gives us the land.”  Joshua 6:17b “Only Rahab the prostitute and all who are with her in her house shall be spared, because she hid the spies we sent.” Matthew 1:5 “Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab.” Hebrews 11:31 “By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.”

God NEVER ceases to amaze me! He takes the unusable and cleans them up and makes them shine with Light from Heaven! He did it for me and He has done it for you too if you are saved!

This is what happened in the life of Rahab the Prostitute in the Old Testament. There are GREAT lessons to be learned from this portion of Scripture that are VERY relevant today.

©     There was ‘history’ that came to the knowledge of the most unworthy – the town prostitute. Rahab was cast out of the city and lived by herself on the city wall of Jericho. She made a living by being a prostitute and even though she was ‘unworthy’ she KNEW the story of ISRAEL and recognized it when confronted. She had ‘heard’ the stories of how God brought the Israelites out of Egypt by His Mighty Hand. She had heard of how God parted the Red Sea and brought them across and then closed the sea on the Egyptians. She knew the history. I am sure when the spies came to her house; they introduced themselves as the spies in God’s Army and she did not doubt them. In our lives today – we KNOW the history of the Lord. We have to keep passing down through our generations what God has done in our lives so that when one of our own ‘unworthy’ hears of it they will recognize the Lord in their own life! It is so important to tell the wonderful story of Jesus to our loved ones! ALL of us were as ‘unworthy’ as Rahab before we found the Lord!

©     When Rahab Found Salavation, she wanted her family to find it too – Rahab’s heart had found the Lord and BELIEVED Him! Since she believed in God she wanted her family to see the truth too. ONLY God could have made her make such a statement! Her life had not reflected this kind of love for her family. She had radically changed in a matter of hours! God moves that quickly! After finding the Lord, her heart immediately began to grow love and she desired more than life the Salvation of her family! Aren’t we the same way? Once we begin to let God grow in our hearts – our minds turn immediately to our families? Our thoughts are to help them find God also! This is how God works! His GRACE flows over us and onto others. I am thanking God for Rahab today because she represents the Gentile people through time. She loved God enough to risk her life to change! No turning back. We see that she did not turn back either! She stayed faithful to God all the way through the Bible. How far is our faithfulness going to take us? Will we stay faithful until we see Salvation come to all of our house and beyond?

©     God spares the family of Rahab in Jericho because of Faithfulness – God is ALWAYS FAITHFUL to give us the desires of our heart when we are seeking Him and remain faithful to Him. This is what took place in the life of Rahab. She remained faithful. The spies asked her to tie the scarlet cord in the window that she had let them down into the city with and when the Israel army saw the cord she and everyone in her house would be spared. Rahab remained faithful to that task and her family was spared! In our lives – God requires the same action that Rahab took. God wants us to remain faithful to Him in what He asks. There should not be an option in our lives. God desires that we live by His Word and have a personal relationship with Him. There is no telling how many lives will be spared because of our faithfulness. Sometimes in this life we need to have a desire to see the bigger picture!

©     In the History of Life our record will show up – We see so clearly that Rahab was in the lineage of Jesus in Matthew Chapter 1. Rahab’s faithfulness was not lost! Hundreds of years later her name is recorded! The same is true in our lives. Many generations later our love for Jesus will be what comes through. Our loved ones won’t remember what we fixed for Sunday dinner in 100 years; but they WILL remember what we did for Jesus! It is so important that we live our lives out for God – the history of that will show up one day!

©     Rahab did the best she knew to do out of Faith – and God calls her faithful! She hid the spies and lied to the King’s men about it. Rahab did what she had to do to guard the Salvation of the Lord that day in history. She did the best she could do. She trusted the Lord and closed her eyes and believed that He would save her in the face of the unknown. She had no idea how they would respond when she told the King’s men that the spies were not there. Can you imagine how scared she must have been? Alone – outcast to the city wall – and now following the call of God on her life. We are the same in our lives. We are unworthy of the call – but we need to do the best we can do and God will do the rest! When we don’t know the answers we need to close our eyes and plunge forward in life believing God will help us.

This story is really amazing and there is no accident it is in the Bible and that the thread of the story carries all the way through and ends up in the famous Chapter 11 of Hebrews!

Our story should be about Faith also. There are no accidents in this life. God is playing out the story of Salvation in all of our lives. We just have to have the faith like Rahab did and reach for what God is offering. Finding strength in the small things of life rather than waiting for the ‘big one’ to come along. Faithfulness is dug out in the everyday life around us; making choices that are based on the lovingkindness of God instead of selfish ambition. Start today to live out the faith that God has put in your heart. Take that leap that separates us from the everyday world and live out what God gave us.

We are just as unworthy as Rahab was and yet God remembered her all through Scripture for her faithfulness. Don’t you want the same said of you in this life?

My Paper Heart

“I wanted to share this with you so that you can pass it on to those that you love. We all have a paper heart. Sometimes it is crumbled, sometimes it gets ripped in half and sometimes it gets torn to pieces but you just have to let the Lord fix it for you instead of you trying to fix it yourself….”

The quote above comes from someone who has experienced a broken heart and wants others to know that there is hope!

One of the perplexing questions of life that haunts me is ‘why do good people get their hearts broken over and over again?’ It hurts me so bad to see people get their heart broken. I always just want to fix it or help them in some way.

I think I identify with these people because my own heart has been broken many times. I have also discovered that I cannot prevent someone’s heart from being broken.

Isn’t it interesting that ONLY GOD can repair a broken heart? People can’t.

Hearts get broken over the simplest of things and also over the most complex of things.

Examples are:

My best friend isn’t my best friend any more © I heard someone say something terrible about me © My husband doesn’t love me anymore © My child is on drugs © My friend’s lifestyle isn’t what it should be © I got disappointed by that © My loved one has died © Children without help © Poverty © People who really know God when I can’t © Illness I can’t understand © Young adults who have turned to an alternative lifestyle ©

As you can see; the list could go on and on. The reasons for broken hearts can go on forever and as long as we have hearts – they will be broken by these things.

Psalm 34:18-19 says “The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. A righteous man may have many troubles, but the LORD delivers him from them all.”

As you can see from this verse; ‘No man can deliver us from the broken heart, only God can’.

Broken hearts happen to BELIEVERS! No one is exempt in this life. It is through our brokenness that God works! If we never had issues of the heart; God would have nothing to examine in us. ONLY GOD can look on the heart. It is our communication piece with God. Our heart connects with His.

©      God says ‘Give It To Me!’ ~ When we have something broken or torn what do we do? We typically throw it away and get a new something. The world teaches the believer to throw away the brokenness of our hearts and turn to something new. This is called HARDENING OUR HEARTS. This is the opposite of what God’s Word teaches us! Psalm 51:16-17 says “You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart. O God, you will not despise.”  In Hebrew the words ‘broken heart’ mean to be broken in shivers or in pieces. Contrite means crushed. God NEVER refuses to fix our broken hearts! He makes a way to be renewed. Isaiah 41:10 says “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”

©      God says ‘Return To Me’ ~ A torn heart opens up our soul so that God can pour in His Mercy and Grace! Joel 2:13 says “Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity.” There are things in this life that tear our heart up! God desires that we use that opportunity to return or turn to Him and seek Him like never before. When we are keeping our ‘heart’ before the Lord, He is mending us and fixing us over and over again. When we are communicating our brokenness to God; He USES that in a powerful way. God loves us so much and when our hearts are turned toward Him He is ABLE TO COMMUNICATE that to us!

©      God says ‘Believe Me’ ~ ‘Lovingkindness’ in the Bible means unfailing love or the most tender love! When God sees His children He has ‘lovingkindness’ toward us. He is ALWAYS there when are hearts are stomped on, beat up, hurt, torn or crushed! Never leaving – He is EVERLASTING! When our focus is on Him instead of the brokenness of this life; He has the Power to fix the brokenness! Psalm 36:7 says “How priceless is your unfailing love! Both high and low among men find refuge in the shadow of your wings.”  No man is exempt from God’s Healing Power! The rest or the refuge for the broken hearted is the ‘shadow of God’s Wings’. When we think there is no way out of this situation or there is no healing for our hearts – God says the opposite! We have to take action however – and BELIEVE Him!

©      God says ‘You Will See Me’ ~ The gift that the believer finds when turning over our brokenhearted state to God – is that we WILL SEE GOD! We will. We see the things of God so easily when our heart is in the right place. When our hearts have been purified by God and cleansed of all unrighteousness – we will see God. Matthew 5:8 says “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.” The purification process breaks down our hearts and brings out what is pure and lasting. This is the place where we see God! The problem is that when we get brokenhearted – we harden ourselves against God and against this life. God wants the opposite of that. He wants to take our brokenness and purify us to see Him. Being able to see God in the midst of a broken heart helps us help others. We are looking outward not inward. We are no longer focused on our inner hurt but rather how we can use that hurt to help others. It is a GIFT of God and can come no other way.

In this life – don’t let a broken heart keep you from God! Instead, let that broken heart lead you closer to God and eventually using that very brokenness to help someone else.

That quote at the beginning is from a woman who sees God and desires that her own brokenness help someone else! That is what we should all be doing!

Examine your heart tonight and find out where you need to be before God. He desires to communicate with you in an intimate and tender way that no one else can!

Explosion Ahead! My God Will Come Through

Romans 4:20-24 “Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. This is why it was credited to him as righteousness. The words ‘it was credited to him’ were written not for him alone, but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness – for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead.”

How many of us REALLY believe the statement that says ‘My God WILL come through’?

Many Christians DON’T really believe this statement and yet the Bible proves it to be fact!

We would rather put our trust and hope in US instead of in God. This is what causes the ‘explosions’ in our lives.

Has putting our ‘trust and hope’ in us fixed our explosions – the things in this life that there are no explanations for?  Has putting ‘trust and hope’ in our surroundings or our government fixed the wrong things of life?

Obviously the answer to these questions is ‘NO’.  Most of the time we choose to put our ‘trust and hope’ in our fellow man because it is easy. It is easier to say ‘What do you think’ than it is to get on our knees before a Holy God and ask forgiveness and lay the burden down at His altar.

The truth is - that God rewards our faithfulness with MORE faith and help than we can handle! If we are truly laying our burdens down at His feet; He LOVES that and always gives back to us in the form of more faith, hope and love! It is just how He works!

Testimony of believers can prove that out. Abraham’s life proves that out! Those who have done this kind of thing have no problem relating that to others. It is the Hope we should be clinging to!

To believe that ‘My God will come through’ is to say in the face of fear that –MY GOD WILL COME THROUGH and BELIEVE it!

What circumstances in your life are proving that out?  

I imagine Abraham believing God because he saw ‘God in Action’ in his life! He believed God when he called him to leave his home and because of that faithfulness God rewarded Abraham with more faith. He believed God when God said he would number his seed more than he could ever count and because of his faithfulness God rewarded Abraham with more faith! Abraham believed God when he said he would give him a son with Sarah and his faithfulness was rewarded by God. Abraham believed God would provide when his son’s life was required of him.

Abraham had nothing. He owned nothing. All he did was follow God and believe Him and his story is unfolded across the pages of the Bible!

In my opinion this is what it looks like to know that ‘My God will come through’! Abraham was not perfect, he messed up and he continued to turn toward the Lord.

I can see that evidence in my own life – Can you? Are we looking in the right place? Do we give God credit like Abraham did?

‘MY GOD WILL COME THROUGH’ – Are we saying this in the midst of the troubles and trials of our lives? Do we believe it today?

The truth is that God WILL come through. He comes through all the time; only we are not seeing it actively in our lives. A lot of times we see it in the past tense. We look back on the trial we came through and say; “you know God was in that” and yet we can’t actively believe in the midst of the trial!

What is going to change us? ACTIVE FAITH IN GOD!! It is radical and life changing and those who have experienced it would not change it! Why don’t we all try to be ACTIVE in our faith instead of letting our faith be in the past tense?

Corrie TenBoom once said “Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow; it empties today of its strength”. Our FAITH is what makes us stronger and makes us able to say ‘MY GOD WILL COME THROUGH’! When we are focused on the ‘worry’ of a situation; we are exhausting ourselves – when we should be relying on God coming through!

We have talked a lot about what causes explosions in our lives but now we need to focus as a chosen people on how to avoid the explosions and be ‘strengthened in our faith’.

©     Be strengthened in your faith by believing God and His promises! If you read the verse carefully above the whole reason that the Bible records Abraham’s life is to strengthen us! God wants us to look at the life of Abraham and find strength in that even though Abraham had problems and explosions in his life – he chose to BELIEVE God and wait on Him! (Lamentations 3:24)

©     Be persuaded that God has the POWER to do what He promises! Part of believing God is ACTIVELY believing Him! We don’t need to be a people that looks back and says ‘that was God’ we need to be a people that in the midst of the trial says –THIS IS GOD – and I BELIEVE HIM! It changes the face of the explosion in our life! (Romans 8:28)

©     Be a people that LIVE by the Word and Promise of God. The one thing that will follow us into eternity is our faith! How we lived and How we proved that out in this life. It is important, not only to us, but to all those around us. Study the Word and find out the promises that are recorded to increase our faith! (Proverbs 3:5-6)

When the explosions come in your life – BELIEVE that God is at work and make decisions based on that one fact. It will change the way you look at the explosions in this life. Troubles and trials are real and they happen to all of us. The way that we react to them tells the story of our lives.

Let God take you to the next level in your belief of Him! God WILL come through when we are looking to Him through eyes of faith. Spend some time this week examining your heart before the Lord to see where your level of faith is. Begin to say in your heart and mind that ‘My God WILL come through’ in all situations in your life!

Here are some more promises of God that are recorded in the Bible for the BELIEVER! Psalm 31:24; Isaiah 12:2 and John 14:1-3