A lesson learned from a prostitute

Today's woman of the week is a harlot or prostitute as we would call her today. Her name is Rahab and her story is just another that reveals the grace and love of a mighty God. After the Israelites left Egypt, God promised them the city of Jericho. Jericho was a protected city with VERY thick protective walls. Joshua sent spies into the city to check it out and they encoutered Rahab at the Inn she helped run. Rehab was an innkeeper and a prostitute. When the king of Jericho heard the Israelites had sent spies into his city he warned Rahab and all the citiizens to turn them in if found. Rahab had heard of the mighty God of Israel and all the miracles he had performed to free the Israelites from Egypt and she began to fear this God and believe he was the one true God. She therefore helped the spies, hid them, acutally lied to protect them and then told them where to hide until the king's army would stop looking for them. In return for her help, she asked for them to spare her life and that of her family when they returned to take the city. The spies agreed and when they did return and God miraculously knocked down the walls of the city and turned the city of Jericho over to the Israelites, Rahab and her family were the only survivors. Her faith and belief saved herself and her family. Rahab then lived with the Israelites, after a time, and married. In Rehab's story we see the beautiful reality that no life is beyond the reach of God's saving grace, and we are reminded that it is NEVER too late to believe, repent, and enjoy a life with God. In Rahab we see a heart that was transformed by grace into a model of faith. Rahab received and saved the spies not because of who they were but because of the God they served.....it was this mighty God she had grown to believe in. At this point in her life Rehab began a relationship with God and because of her belief and her trusting heart....good things began to happen in her life. God supernaturally protected her and her family from the judgement of the city of Jericho. He provided a new people, a new husband and a new life for her. Even though she had a "stained past," God gave her a glorious heritage as an ancestor of Jesus! A tiny seed of faith was planted in Rahab's heart and she responded in belief and allowed the seed to grow. If she had not allowed this "Seed" to grow and flourish and acted on her belief....she would have parished with the rest of the city of Jericho. How many times do we look back at our pasts and wonder how could God forgive me for this or that? How many times do we allow the guilt or shame of the past to hold us back from allowing a seed of faith to grow within us? How many talents or abilities are not being used for God's glory because we are still clinging to past "muck" that covers up the "diamond" God wants us to be? So...today if any of us have any doubts about who we are or what we can do....think about Rehab and the Apostle Paul. A prostitute and one who murdered Christians.....yet God used them mightily and I believe he can do the same with you and I! Have a blessed week and let some seed grow this week! :)