Dive Deeper

Philippians 4:6-7  Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

As the culture war continues to escalate all over the world, we as believers should be filled with peace in the midst of intense conflicts.  So how can we be filled with peace in the midst of such adversity?  How is that possible, one may wonder?  One method of finding your "shalom" is a lesson found in nature.

When a storm swarms across the ocean surface, the fish know where the water is still -- deep down under. While, on the surface, the winds and the waves rage, fathoms below lies water completely at peace. Perhaps we should learn something from fish.

In a shallow relationship with God, we will find ourselves being tossed to and fro by stormy waves of circumstance. James describes such a person as "double-minded" and unstable. In his trials, he cannot exercise faith because he hasn't gone deep with the Lord.

However, when we seek that deeper relationship with Him, we can enter another perspective on what's happening at the surface. Seeking and abiding in the depths of Yeshua, our Sar Shalom (Prince of Peace) will bring a peace that passes understanding, even in the midst of great storms. The double-minded man has not yet sought or found this place -- since not everyone is willing to spend the time or effort for a deep relationship, however, it is available for all who truly desire and take the time for it.

Are you distressed or worried? It's time to press in... seek that deeper relationship with Yeshua and let Him lead you to the still water. He so wants to fill you with a "shalom" that passes all understanding!

(Taken from Worthy Brief) 

Easter Devotion (Day 10) - Love Your Enemies

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Matthew 5:43-48 

It is difficult enough to love friends and family all the time. How do you love your enemies? For people in Jesus' day, this was not a rhetorical question. They were a persecuted community under Roman law, harshly taxed and often treated with disdain. Jesus was telling them to love the soldier who spit at them as they walked by and pray for the official who cheated them and stole their hard-earned money. 

Difficult words. But if we are to love as God loves, it means that all people, even people outside of our circle of friends, neighbors, and community are worthy of our concern and prayers. It means that through God, we do not allow the actions of others to change our Christian character. We are to look beyond the cruelness of this world and attempt to live as though we are members of the kingdom of God. 

I'm reminded of what this love for enemies looks like when I think back to the reaction of Charleston AME (Mother Emmanuel) Church. When a young man entered their Bible study in 2015 and shot and killed nine members, instead of calling down vengeance on him and possibly turning the incident into a violent protest, the family members and friends forgave this man. And this was not done days or weeks after the killings but immediately. Their love and forgiveness for their enemy calmed a city and showed a nation what Christian love looks like in action. 

Jesus didn't present this idea of loving your enemies as a commonsense strategy to get along with others, but as a way to embody the nature of God in our everyday lives. It is an element of living the Gospel. It is truly living as sons and daughters of our heavenly Father. 

Prayer: Lord, take away any of my anger and hatred toward others and teach me to love all, as You do. Thank you for the example set by Mother Emmanuel. Thank you for the peace and healing it brought to Charleston. Help me to act in a similar manner...quick to forgive and to reach out to my enemies. In Your name Jesus, Amen. 

* Parts of this devotion were taken from The Sanctuary for Lent 2016 by Sue Mink

Easter Devotion (Day 9) - Offer What You Have

The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught. Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.” 

So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place. But many who saw them leaving recognized them and ran on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them. When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.
By this time it was late in the day, so his disciples came to him. “This is a remote place,” they said, “and it’s already very late. Send the people away so that they can go to the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.”
But he answered, “You give them something to eat.”
They said to him, “That would take more than half a year’s wages! Are we to go and spend that much on bread and give it to them to eat?”
“How many loaves do you have?” he asked. “Go and see.”When they found out, they said, “Five—and two fish.”
Then Jesus directed them to have all the people sit down in groups on the green grass. So they sat down in groups of hundreds and fifties. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to his disciples to distribute to the people. He also divided the two fish among them all. They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces of bread and fish. The number of the men who had eaten was five thousand. 
Mark 6:30-44 

Imagine the reaction of the disciples. They had more than five thousand hungry people seated in front of them, and Jesus was thanking God for five loaves of bread and two fish. This meager amount of food wouldn't even feed the twelve of them! Yet, in gratitude, Jesus praised God for what they had, handed it to the disciples, and told them to begin. 

The problems of the world are overwhelming. There is hunger, disease, war, loneliness, hostility and spiritual hunger. As disciples, how do we respond to all the need? This passage tells us that we take stock of our resources and thank God for them. Then we go out into the world with what we have and begin the work of God.

When we measure what we have against the world's need, it can seem foolish to even try. But instead of disparaging the tiny meal, Jesus asked God to bless it. As we labor for God, we should continually ask for God's blessings on our resources, our talents, our abilities, and our coworkers. When we call God into our labors, we have the greatest power in the cosmos behind even the most meager beginnings. 

Prayer: O Lord, bless my resources, however small, and give me the courage to begin using them in Your service. Show me where You are at work and enable me to join You. Help me to be open and listening to each word of guidance from Your Holy Spirit. Thank You in advance for all You are going to do through me. In Your name I pray, Amen. 


** Devotion taken from The Sanctuary for Lent 2016 by Sue Mink

Easter Devotion (Day 8) - Child-Like Faith

At that time Jesus said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this is what you were pleased to do."

Matthew 11:25-26 

Theology can be mind-bendingly difficult. Theologians have struggled for centuries over the meanings of certain Scriptures. A war was fought over a single word that defined the substance of Jesus in a creed. While religious study can be deeply rewarding and enrich our faith, it is not the basis of faith. Faith is not religious debate and church culture. Faith is living the gospel. 

The religious leaders in Jesus' day were so concerned about religious practices that they didn't see the Son of God standing in their midst. It was left to those simple people who were just wanting to experience the love of God to recognize Jesus. He revealed Himself to children and to those who were child-like in their faith in Him. 

We can get so involved in the business of our church or doctrinal debate that we become blind to Jesus as well. Our spiritual life becomes religious practice and an intellectual exercise. But the basis of a relationship with Jesus is a pure and simple invitation from Him. We don't need to debate theology and understand all the nuances. We don't need to follow some strict protocol or ritual. All we need to do is to love Jesus and seek to serve Him. We can take, as our example, children in their enthusiastic, trusting faith. Then our eyes will be opened to His salvation, and we can truly rest in the loving arms of Jesus Christ. 

Prayer: Lord Jesus, may I love You and serve You with my entire heart and my entire soul. Help me to take my cue from children as I enthusiastically embrace you with my whole life. You are so worthy of all honor, trust, praise and love. In Your name Lord Jesus, Amen. 

** Devotion taken from The Sanctuary for Lent 2016 by Sue Mink

Easter Devotion (Day 7) - Speaking With Boldness

And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.

Ephesians 6:18-20 

How many of your acquaintances know that you are a Christian? Do you have the courage to speak out about your faith, even if it might be difficult or uncomfortable? If not, you are not alone. Paul. one of the boldest apostles in history, asked the Ephesians to pray for him so that he might be fearless in preaching the gospel. This eloquent man also asked that they pray for the right words to come to him. Even Paul needed inspiration from God for the language and the bravery to teach the gospel. 

Our teachers and leaders need our prayers as well. Pastoring can be lonely and require courage. Sometimes pastors must challenge their congregations if they are to stay true to the gospel. To live a Christian life is ultimately countercultural because following Jesus does not allow one to live in quiet contentment when there is suffering and oppression in the world. 

If we claim the title of disciple, we also are called to be bold in our faith. To do so means we both need to pray for others and need to ask others for prayers as we seek to obediently follow Jesus. When disciples pray for one another, God strengthens them and enables them to send glimmers of the kingdom of God to earth.

Prayer: Lord, embolden my teachers, my leaders and myself to confidently speak Your Word! Grant us the grace to speak words of truth with gentleness and boldness. Forgive me for the times when I have kept silent when I should have shared the wonderful news about who You are. Thank you for your guidance Holy Spirit. In Christ's name I pray, Amen. 

** Devotion taken from The Sanctuary for Lent 2016 by Sue Mink

Easter Devotion (Day 6) - Lord of the Harvest

When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”

Matthew 9:36-38 

A few years back I was standing on a street corner talking to a homeless man when a stray dog ran out into the street. Immediately, cars stopped and people coaxed the dog to safety, calming it, and putting it in a car to bring it out of danger. Watching all this, the homeless man commented, "I guess I would get more help it I were a dog." 

We often shy away from helping people in need. We may not be hard-hearted, but helping others can be messy and demanding. But that is exactly what Jesus asks of us. When Jesus saw the helpless crowds, He asked that His disciples pray for more compassionate people to serve them. God's answer to this prayer would be God empowering human beings, rather than using miracles or angels to help the helpless. 

Thus, as His disciples, we are chosen by God through Jesus Christ as God's workers in the world.  Our mission is clear: to care for others in the name of Jesus Christ. We would be called to meet spiritual needs or physical needs. Either way, it's complicated, challenging and often discouraging. But our service to others as Jesus' disciples is the embodiment of Jesus' compassion and the answer to Jesus' prayer. 

Prayer: Lord, empower me to be the answer to Your prayer. Enable me to be Your laborer in the harvest. Show me who needs to hear about You. Then grant me the wisdom, love and gentleness to share You with them so that they might know You as You want to be known. Grant me an urgency, knowing that Your return could be any day. In Your name, Jesus, Amen. 

*This devotion taken from The Sanctuary for Lent 2016 by Sue Mink

Easter Devotion (Day 5) - A Humble Faith

When he had entered Capernaum, a centurion came forward to him, appealing to him, “Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, suffering terribly.” And he said to him, “I will come and heal him.” But the centurion replied, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I too am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” When Jesus heard this, he marveled and said to those who followed him, “Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith. I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” And to the centurion Jesus said, “Go; let it be done for you as you have believed.” And the servant was healed at that very moment.

Matthew 8:5-13 

When we pray, we are calling on the greatest power in the cosmos. We are daring to speak to God, who flung the stars in the sky and who sculpted the mountains and oceans. When God speaks, the heavens and earth obey. 

The centurion in this story was a Roman officer who was in charge of one hundred men. He was used to having his orders followed. just by saying the words. Yet this powerful military officer humbly asked Jesus for help, even saying that he was not worthy to ask Jesus to enter his home. He recognized that this poor, traveling preacher commanded all of the heavens and earth. Once Jesus said the word, what He spoke would be fact. 

We are taught that Jesus is our friend, and He is. But Jesus is also the incarnate Son of God, who sits at God's right hand in heaven. No matter what our wealth, position or prominence, it is only through grace that we can even dare to speak to Him. How incredible that this is exactly what Jesus desires! The very ruler of the cosmos wants to hear our sorrows, our needs, and our desires. And if it is God's will, with a word, Jesus can cause all walls to fall and all wounds to be healed. 

Prayer: Lord Jesus, how incredible that You are my friend! Never let me lose my awe and reverence of You. Help me to have faith, like the centurion, that You hear and You answer my prayers. But help me to approach you in humility and with an awareness of how truly awesome You are! In Your precious name I pray, Amen. 

** Devotion taken from The Sanctuary for Lent 2016 by Sue Mink

Easter Devotion (Sunday) - Pray Continually

Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work. Live in peace with each other. And we urge you, brothers and sisters, warn those who are idle and disruptive, encourage the disheartened, help the weak, be patient with everyone. Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always strive to do what is good for each other and for everyone else. 

Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
1 Thessalonians 5:13-18 

How can anyone pray continually? Our first thought is that this must be an exaggeration. Surely Paul just meant that we should pray a lot. The commands that frame the call to pray also seem impossible. How can one be always joyful and give thanks in all things? Life is hard and hurtful at times. This seems to be a highly unrealistic, sugarcoated view of Christian life.

But prayer is a state of mind when you are connected to your Creator and within God's will. It means praising God and looking and listening to God, not just actively telling God what you want or are thinking. To pray continually means to go through the day aware of God's presence and listening to God's guidance in all things. 

When God infuses every moment of life, every moment can be spent in His presence. In that case, thanks is an inevitable result of living. When we live connected to our Creator, we live in a deeper, more profound place than where minor annoyances or even difficult circumstances or life can shake us. 

It does not mean that life's tragedies will not touch us. What it does mean is that even stronger than any pain that life can deal us is the assurance and joy of God's love and salvation, the assurance we get from continuously opening our hearts to God. 

Prayer: Lord, may my life be infused with Your presence at all times. Help me, Holy Spirit, to live in constant awareness of You. May my spirit rest in You each and every day. In Your precious name Lord Jesus, Amen. 


** Devotion is taken from The Sanctuary for Lent 2016 by Sue Mink

Easter Devotion (Day 4) - Relationship Challenges

One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God. When morning came, He called His disciples to Him and chose twelve of them, whom He also designated apostles: Simon (whom He named Peter), his brother Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew Nathaniel, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Simon who was called the Zealot, Judas/Thaddeaus son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.

Luke 6:12-16 

Imagine you were choosing a team for the most important job in the history of the world. You would want well-educated people of influence who had complementary skills and could work well together. Yet look at the list of apostles whom Jesus chose.

There were small business owners, fishermen and family men. There were zealots, passionately dedicated to the overthrow of Rome, and a Jewish tax collector, a betrayer to his people and an employee of Rome. There was reputed nobility - tradition says that Bartholomew Nathaniel had royal blood. And there was Judas, who would give up Jesus for thirty pieces of silver. 

Certainly that mix was a recipe for disaster! Why would Jesus choose these people? Because He was guided and directed by God. It's easy to imagine Jesus objecting to these choices, yet Jesus was obedient to God's plan. After praying all night, Jesus named this contentious, ragtag group of men to His inner circle. By trusting God's direction, Jesus called the very people that God wanted to fulfill the story of salvation. 

Sometimes we may wonder why God put into our lives the mix of people that He did. Some may be easier to get along with while some may challenge us to our core. But God has His reasons and His plans.  Often times the most challenging children, spouse, family members, friends draw us closest to the Lord and help us to change in many powerful ways. 

The key is to keep our focus on Jesus, not on the faults and difficulties of those around us. Look at the disciples. God chose what the world would consider foolish to be the foundation of His Church. Surely He can work through each of us and those in our lives to accomplish His great purposes. 

Prayer: Thank you Lord for the people in my life. I have been blessed and impacted by each one of them. Please help me to be an encourager, intercessor, supporter and friend to each one. Thank you Jesus for the example you show us of relationship challenges in Your disciples. Help me to follow Your example in how I love those in my life. In Your name I pray, Amen. 

** Devotion taken from The Sanctuary for Lent 2016 by Sue Mink

Easter Devotion (Day 3) - Jesus Prayed

Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where He prayed.  Simon and his companions went to look for Him, and when they found Him, they exclaimed: “Everyone is looking for You!”

Mark 1:35-37 

Crowds were forming wherever Jesus went, hoping to be healed. Imagine the joy on people's faces as Jesus freed them or their loved ones from blindness, crippling diseases, or mental torments. Yet when He awoke early each morning, He didn't hurry back to the crowds but went to a deserted place to pray. 

No doubt even more people had arrived during the night, seeking Jesus' help. But the most important thing to Jesus - even more important than healing the sick - was for Him to set aside time to talk to God. Jesus needed the strength and revitalization that comes from deep and heartfelt prayer. Even though the needs of others were heartbreakingly great, it was even more important to remain fully connected with the Lord.

There's a tension that speaks to our own spiritual life. Many times we feel torn as we decide where to focus our energies. Do we pray? Or study? Or care for others? Do we evangelize? Simon Peter didn't understand. He hunted Jesus down and demanded that He get back to healing the people. But without time spent in prayer, we are choosing how we spend our resources instead of following God's guidance. 

Jesus had only three precious years on this earth to tell the world and His disciples all that He wanted them to know. Yet in His incredibly busy and eternally important schedule, He took time every day to pray and commune with God. If He did this, surely we should set aside that time, each day, to pray to our Heavenly Father. 


Prayer: Lord, forgive me for thinking I am too busy to pray. Teach me the importance of constant prayer. Create an eagerness in me, Holy Spirit, to set aside time, throughout the day, to come into Your presence and gaze on Your beauty and power through prayer. In the name of my example, Jesus, Amen. 


** This devotion was taken from The Sanctuary for Lent 2016 by Sue Mink

Easter Devotion (Day 2) - Heaven Opened

When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as He was praying, heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended on Him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”

Luke 3:21-22

In Luke's Gospel, Jesus prayed after His baptism and the heavens opened. In ancient times, people believed that the sky was like an inverted bowl over the earth, which kept out the chaos of the cosmos, but also restricted one's access to the heavens. In this passage, while Jesus prayed, the sky cracked to let in the powerful presence of God.

Yet every heartfelt prayer can crack the sky. God is not closed off from us, but always hears our cries of anguish, our shouts of praise, and our quiet meditations. Our fears and our questions all find their way to God's ear. Psalm 34:15 reads, "The Lord's eyes watch the righteous, His ears listen to their cries for help." 

Through prayer we allow the powerful presence of God into our own lives. We think of prayer as talking to God, but true prayer is also focused listening. It is how we open the door to God's transformational power to teach us and to guide us. 

It's impossible to have a relationship without communication. When we don't pray, we are restricting our own access to God's blessings, power and grace. When we "crack the sky," we offer God His greatest desire: our devotion, our obedience and our love. Such an offering will be answered with blessing, "In you I am well pleased." 

Prayer: Lord, may my prayers "crack the sky" and bathe me in Your presence. Help me to realize what an awesome privilege it is to be able to come into Your presence anytime, anywhere, simply through prayer. In Your precious name Lord Jesus, Amen. 


** Devotion comes from The Sanctuary for Lent 2016 by Sue Mink

Easter Devotion (Day 1) - Holding Onto Hope

Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was on him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying: 

“Sovereign Lord, as You have promised,
    You may now dismiss Your servant in peace.

For my eyes have seen Your salvation,

which You have prepared in the sight of all nations: a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
    and the glory of your people Israel.”

 Luke 2:25-32 

Devout Jews had been waiting for the Messiah for centuries. Simeon, a righteous man of God, was especially eager for the Messiah to come because he wanted to see Israel escape from Roman oppressors and be restored...he wanted to see God's plan of salvation in action, before His very eyes, as God had promised him. Led by the Spirit, he entered the Temple. The Messiah would be there that day! The Holy Spirit had told him!

Imagine him scanning the crowds. Who would be the new king of Israel? Suddenly his eyes rested on an unlikely family - a peasant man with his teenage wife, holding their infant son. They were even too poor to give anything but a peasant's dedication to the Lord, offering two pigeons instead of the usual lamb. Yet Simeon swept this baby into his arms and blessed the Lord for sending the Messiah. 

The moment Simeon looked into Jesus' face was the most important moment of his life. He could rest in peace. He had seen salvation, not only for himself, but for all the world. 

Simeon held the hope of the world in his arms that day, but we have the same promise as Simeon. If we follow the Spirit, we will find the hope of the world too. The moment we look into Jesus' face is the most important of our lives, when our eyes have seen God's salvation and we know that we can rest forever in the peace of God. 

Prayer: Lord, thank You for showing me Your salvation. Thank You for Jesus, the Messiah of Israel, my Messiah, the hope of the world. Help me to put my hope in Him each and every day of my life. Help me to realize that like Simeon, I hold the hope of the world. May I share that hope with others this day. In Jesus holy and precious name I pray, Amen.  

** This devotion was taken from The Sanctuary for Lent 2016 by Sue Mink

Lenten Devotion Day 1 - Psalm 6

O Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger,

or discipline me in your wrath.

Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am languishing;

O Lord, heal me, for my bones are shaking with terror.

My soul also is struck with terror,

while you, O Lord—how long?

Turn, O Lord, save my life;

deliver me for the sake of your steadfast love.

Psalm 6:1-4

I have a confession to make: I have a hard time saying, “I’m sorry.” Or, perhaps, more accurately, I say, “I’m sorry, but …” My acknowledgement of how I have hurt someone or disappointed someone is often followed by my excuse for why it happened. However, I don’t think I’m unique in this. Perhaps you, too, have a hard time saying, “I’m sorry.”

Psalm 6 is the first of seven penitential psalms (6, 32, 38, 51, 102, 130, 143) frequently used as part of the Christian church’s Lenten observance, starting today with Ash Wednesday. The theme of these seven psalms is consistent: the psalmist expresses deep sorrow for his sin, asking God for help and forgiveness. In today’s psalm, David itemizes his distress. Both his body and his soul feel overwhelmed with terror. David realizes he is experiencing the consequence of his own sin. He cries out in physical and spiritual pain, knowing that God’s discipline is justified for the ways he has disobeyed God.

David’s confession before God is anchored in his confidence that God will forgive. He calls out for God’s deliverance, convinced that God will hear and answer because of God’s steadfast love. In spite of the situation in which David finds himself, he knows that he will not permanently abide in terror and distress because of God’s unfailing love. “Depart from me, all you workers of evil, for the Lord has heard the sound of my weeping. The Lord has heard my supplication; the Lord accepts my prayer” (vv. 8–9).

As we enter this Lenten season, we can say, “I’m sorry” before God. When we confess before our merciful Lord, we are assured of God’s forgiveness. Instead of saying, “I’m sorry, but,” we can say, “I’m sorry because of your steadfast love and forgiveness!” What a wonderful God we serve!

Prayer: Holy One, we confess before you our sinfulness, our brokenness, and our need to experience your abundant mercy. Help us, each day, to come before you and say, “I’m sorry.” In Jesus’s name we pray. Amen.

By Leigh Boelkins Van Kempen

Rahab - Desperate Faith

Read Joshua 1 and 2

Have you ever wondered what it means to step out in faith with Jesus?

Rahab found the Israelite spies, and the Bible tells us in Joshua 2 they came to her home. When evening came, the king of Jericho was informed about these Hebrew spies and where they had gone. The king sent word to Rahab to turn the spies over to his people.

Rahab told the guards and soldiers that the men who had come to her had already departed, and urged them to run after the spies along the road to catch them. Then, Rahab returned to where she had hidden the two men and asked them to save the life of her family and herself when the army came to destroy Jericho. She told the men how afraid everyone was of God’s people; everyone was convinced God would destroy them just as they had heard God had defeated all the rest of the nations standing against Israel.

Rahab made a desperate choice. She chose to act against everything and everyone she had ever known to ask the help of this God she knew so little about, other than the stories she had heard. When the two spies asked her to mark her home with a red cord in the window through which she sent them out of the city, she did what they asked. Can you imagine the number of questions she received about why she had tied this red cord in her window?

There was still much she did not understand about God. For example, she did not know how much God hated a lie, the kind of lie she told the king and his guards about the spies being gone. Yet, God saved her and her family anyway because she chose Him over everything else she had ever known.

Sometimes we too are asked to choose God even when we are certain we don’t know all the details. How often do we ask “Why?” when God asks us to do something for Him which we do not understand? How often do we ask for understanding or details before we do what He has asked?

Jesus said in Luke 14:26 that anyone who does not hate their father or mother or family cannot be His disciple. This is not the kind of hate coming from anger or jealousy, but the kind of hate that makes a choice between two people – choosing to follow the one and forsaking the other if necessary.

In Rahab’s life the choice was between all she had ever known and God whom she had only heard about. She asked for the life of her family, but the ultimate decision had to be made by each of them. They could have chosen to step outside of Rahab’s house for any reason. There were no weapons fired to persuade them to stay inside. There was no sign of danger to make them hide in fear. There was only Rahab’s word that she had asked the spies to save them, and they had said they should stay in the house.

*When have you chosen what God asked of you over what you already thought to be true?

Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank You for providing each of us with a red cord of salvation through Jesus Christ. May we hold onto the Savior even when we don't understand all that is going on around us...even when we can't see what will happen. We do not know what to do but our eyes are on You. In Jesus' name, Amen. 

Singleness - God, His Plan and His Healing Touch

I have been single for all of my life. That's 19 years of flying solo. Given that we are in a world that glorifies romance and finding "the one", this did not sit well with me for quite some time. Obviously, when I was much younger, I wasn't sitting in the sandbox pondering love, but once I got old enough to start noticing that my friends were beginning to be interested in boys, I started being interested too. Obviously, this is a natural desire. I want to drive that point home: the desire for a relationship is natural and (more importantly) God-ordained. God made man and saw that he needed a companion. A partner to challenge him and worship with him. God knew that he needed Woman, and vice versa. But I digress. 

From the age of about eleven, I started growing more interested in the idea of boys and thought that I may even want one for myself. As the years went forward, that interest only grew. Yet no one reciprocated. (And I can't blame them, really. Who would be interested in a quiet, withdrawn, antisocial girl who preferred reading to running around? The mindset of the typical fourteen-year-old boy is not geared towards mute-in-public bookworms.) As time went on and my knight in shining armor still did not appear, I began to grow embittered. I decided to take singleness as a choice. In ninth grade, I swore myself off from dating so that I could pour more time into what made me feel validated--my grades. (This was a big part of my problem...rather than seeking affirmation in the Word and in the knowledge that I was a beloved daughter I turned to what I could accomplish myself.) It's not like this oath-to-self made a difference--it would be far from true to say that I had guys lining up out the door for me, but making that promise to myself made me feel like I had more of a semblance of control over the situation and that made me feel a bit better about myself.

I began looking at singleness as my cross to bear. Perhaps God never intended me to find someone in the first place? Perhaps I was one of those people who was called to singleness? (Although, it would definitely be more like dragged to singleness...since I was young I have desired ultimately to be married and have a family of my own.) With this bitter mindset, I did something I should never have done; I put God in a box.

Outwardly, I would express my submission to the Lord's will. Inwardly, I was still holding on tightly. This is the one area of my life that even He can't control, I'd subconsciously tell myself. I went through different phases, trying different methods to dull the loneliness that throbbed constantly in me. First, I denied all my feelings. I tried to put myself above emotions as if I were too intellectual to feel love. That was a lie.

Then, I tried searching for love. Not actively, thankfully. The Lord was good enough to grant me enough wisdom not to throw myself at the first person I saw. But in my heart, I was ready. I saw singleness as a purgatory that I'd done my time in, and now I DESERVED a relationship. I approached it "analytically" and assumed that was the next natural step.

Shockingly, neither method worked. I found myself still just as single and alone as before. Except now, with an impatient and broken spirit. But recently, I've had some good conversations with wise and godly people. My friend Michaela (who has been a true blessing from God!) reminded me of the importance of being expectant and anticipating good things from the Lord. She gave me a lot to chew on mentally, and it convicted my heart.

I have always been a pessimistic person. I expect the worse, and (in a way) hope for it too. I was withholding hope of a relationship thinking Surely God wouldn't give me that, because that would make me happy and WHY would He do that?? (See how messed up my perception of the Father was!?) The Lord gently convicted me of how I had not submitted that to Him OR trusted that He would bring blessings into my life and keep His promises. Once I realized how wrong I had been, I was filled with a sense of peace.

Then I had ANOTHER conversation with another godly friend, Mary Kate. She reminded me of the importance of hearing and knowing the voice of the Father. The value of discerning what is from Him and what is not. This prompted me to think about how I want to be more aware of and listening for His voice in my life. I put it into practice and started really listening for His voice, and I was so hit by His truths. He first gave me a visual metaphor--a valley that I was stuck in. I could feel Him telling me, "In the valley there is healing. Stop looking up for a way out, and stop looking down with a broken spirit. Instead, look straight ahead; that's where I am. Chase after me and my promises." In my valley of singleness, I had been looking at it all the wrong way. Rather than using it as an opportunity to seek Him and fully commit myself to His plans I was letting it break me down, or I was approaching it as a period of dryness that I had to get through to get to the good stuff. This was such a flawed way of thinking. Since being convicted, I have been able to reassess and look at this "valley" in a new light.

I received a promise from Him. A promise that He will bring good into my life, and soon. A promise that there is hope when I plant my roots in Him, for Psalm 111 says that the fear of the Lord is the root of all wisdom. Anything worth having must take root in Him. So, now, I'm working on living more intentionally and prayerfully. On learning to hear and know His voice and pursue Him rather than pursuing the idea of love or "the one". Although, I wholeheartedly believe that He will give me someone because He gave me a promise, and His promises ALWAYS come to fruition. I will get my "one" when it is according to His plan, and now I am sure I wouldn't want it any other way.

He spoke to me again and gently reminded me, "Singleness isn't about waiting passively for 'the one' to be dropped in your lap. Singleness is about pursuing Me so passionately that you can't see anything else. Then, I will allow you to run into someone else who is also wholeheartedly pursuing me." Praise the Father, He is so so good.

I encourage you, fellow friends struggling with singleness, to be full of joy and expectancy for the goodness of God. He is a merciful Father who desires to bless His children; pursue Him with joy and remember that desiring a relationship is a desire that He is growing in you. Just be sure that that desire leads you to someone who is intentionally living for Christ...love is designed to allow two people to worship together in ways that they otherwise could not do apart. Love isn't about the next hookup or someone telling you they find you attractive--love is a reflection of the Gospel and thus it must be pursued with care and authenticity.

I leave you with a verse from Habbakuk, one of my favorites.

"Though the fig tree should not blossom,

nor fruit be on the vines,

the produce of the olive fail

and the fields yield no food,

the flock be cut off from the fold

and there be no herd in the stalls,

yet I will rejoice in the Lord;

I will take joy in the God of my salvation.

God, the Lord, is my strength;

He makes my feet like the deer's;

He makes me tread on my high places."

(Habakkuk 3:17-19)

Though you may not see the fruits of His promises yet, be expectant and ready for them. They will come to fruition. In the meantime, rejoice in Him with your whole heart for He is the God of your salvation. :)

From https://reflectionsofgrace1.blogspot.com/2021/02/singleness-in-valley-there-is-healing.html 

Why Leviticus Now?

The more law-centered books of the Bible used to intimidate me. I would skirt around Leviticus saying to myself, There was a time and a place for all that, and that was left in history. I reasoned that, since the coming of Christ did away with the Old Covenant, I didn't have to pay attention to any of the rules before that. While it is true that Christ's birth was the New Covenant that did away with the ways of the old, I was missing the point. There is so much to be learned about the consistency and character of God by reflecting on the laws of the Old Covenant--insight that could not be gained if I continued to disregard it. In recent months I have been able to look at it in a new light. I took an Old Testament class last semester, and the way my teacher walked through these more challenging books helped me see the way these books are PERMEATED with evidence of the Father's love for us.

I used to interpret these rules as a very structured and rigid way for God to keep His distance from us. Kind of like busy work to keep the Israelites from actually achieving closeness with Him. (Which, given the circumstances, He had every right to do. The Israelites deserved nothing but His wrath for their countless betrayals and lack of faith.) Thankfully for us, this is not the case! In fact, quite the opposite is true. The Father loved His people so much that He desired closeness with them. He wanted to push past their many sins and faults and touch them with His mercy. He desired for them to know Him and make Him their God. However, because of their broken and fallen state, the Lord required that they approach Him in a very specific way so that His wrath would not be unleashed upon them, for the Lord is also a just God and cannot allow corruption in His presence. Or, rather, corruption cannot stand to be in HIS presence. His very essence is holiness--searing and blinding light that penetrates even the deepest darkness. If they had tried to approach him casually without making atonement for their sin, they would have surely been obliterated. And He knew this.

In every ritual, law, and sacrifice there is evidence of love. Leviticus is all about intentionality. The intentionality of the Lord, providing His children with a way to be close to Him. In the very first verse of the first chapter, it is obvious that God is being intentional with His people. "The Lord called Moses and spoke to him from the tent of meeting..." (Lev. 1:1) Moses could not approach the tent of meeting or be in the presence of God yet, but the Lord was gracious. He called out to Moses from afar, making it known that He wanted His people to be able to come closer and know Him better. The laws of Leviticus were put into place to bring the people into the tent of meeting.

Throughout the chapters, the Lord gives many instructions on the offering of sacrifices as atonement for sins, even sins committed unintentionally! (Leviticus 4!) He knows well the sinful nature of His children, yet it does not deter Him. He also has sacrifice options for those who cannot afford the choicest animals or oils. The Lord does not favor the wealthy. He made it so that even the humblest and lowliest of His children could approach Him and partake in sacrifice. 

I like how specific the instructions for offering turtledoves and pigeons are. When tearing the bird in preparation for the offering, the priest was always instructed to "...not sever it completely". This is reminiscent of how, even in our sin, the Lord does not completely sever us off from Himself!

Chapter 8 is all about the consecration of the priests, which sets a good example for how we should approach the Father and conduct ourselves. Verses 6-9 touch on the priests being washed publicly, a humbling experience that reminds us how we too must be cleansed before approaching Him. After being cleaned, they are clothed not with their own clothes, but with garments ordained by the Lord. Now that they had been washed and made new, He didn't want them to step back into the dirty clothes of their past; He provided them with new and fresh articles to clothe themselves. Reminds me of Ezekiel 36:26 "And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh." God takes the old and replaces it with the new as an act of sanctification!

Verses 23-24 Describe Moses placing the ram's blood on the right ear, thumb, and toe of Aaron and his sons. This is a powerful and symbolic calling to live differently through the Father's covenant. In His renewal we can HEAR new truths, we are called to DO new works for His glory, and we can WALK uprightly in His love and Word. The application of the blood specifically to the right side represents our need to use the best of our strength and abilities to serve Him. When it comes to the Lord, we should always strive to give our best.

In the New Covenant, we don't need a priest to approach God for us. We can communicate with Him directly through prayer and the study of His word. We can act as our own priests. With these new privileges also come new challenges--are we living in a way becoming of a priest? Are we setting ourselves apart, committing our mind, body, and soul to His purposes? My challenge to myself and to you today is this: reflect on the love of the Father, look for evidence of His love in the more intimidating or harder-to-approach books of the Bible, and accept the priestly calling: hear, do, and walk in His truths. 

Seeking an Unknown God - Rahab

Read Joshua 1 and 2.

Rahab’s life had been centered around a different god and a different worship all her life. We do not know when she began seeking the true God, but it was known throughout the land that the people of Israel were coming. Jericho was one of the leading cities of the land, traders from the east as well as from Egypt would have stopped in Jericho to sell and to buy goods. Traders and travelers always brought news of things happening from the places they had been.

The news of Egypt’s armies being destroyed forty years earlier when they chased the people of Israel into the Red Sea would have been news Jericho would have heard long ago. It is also clear that news of the spies from Israel, who had come into Canaan shortly after the Egyptian army was destroyed, would have been known. Rahab told the Israelite men who came to her house the stories the people of Jericho had heard about the victories Israel won over the kings and their armies just in the past few months, too.

Rahab probably felt like many of us do sometimes – she did not know enough about this God she was hearing about to know what she was supposed to do. How could she know what would please this God who was doing such amazing things for the people of Israel? Would He even accept her since she was not an Israelite?


God has made us a wonderful promise in Jeremiah 29:13 – “You will seek Me and find Me, when you seek Me with all your heart.” No matter how we become aware of Him, we must seek Him with whatever information we have about Him. We must seek Him honestly, and He will reveal Himself to us. Then we must do whatever He asks of us – and most of the time He will simply say, “Come to Me.”

Rahab believed she would be able to find God through the men who came to Jericho as spies. How did she know who they were or how to find them when they came into the city? While the Bible does not give us the details, we can only say that God honored Rahab’s search for Him by somehow bringing these men to her attention.

Was it by chance Rahab found these men or that they found her? Do you believe in chance or in luck? I pray that as a believer you trust in God rather than chance or luck. His promise in Romans 8:28 is that He makes everything in our lives work out for good. That means He will allow nothing to come into our lives which He cannot make into good for us as a believer in Him. Does that mean we can do anything evil and He will change it for us? No, sin always has consequences. God says He uses for good the things that happen to us that we do not choose, but we must allow Him to do so by not becoming angry and bitter over these circumstances.

*In what way are you seeking God today?

Prayer: Father God, may we seek You with our whole heart, mind, soul and strength. May we seek You in the morning, in the evening, and every minute in between. Thank You that when we seek You, we will find You. We love You Jesus! In Your name we pray, Amen. 

Spiritual Warfare

Many of you may be struggling to understand the events of the last few months surrounding the election and the transition in our nation's leadership that occurred. You may be upset, or you may be relieved today, but most people I know are unsettled. We all want to know what's in store for us as a nation. And, we all want to know when life can return to some sense of pre-Covid normalcy.

Everyone has an opinion on what the next 4 years hold politically. Know one knows with certainty how events will unfold, but you would have to be culturally tone deaf to not see that challenging times are here for those who both pursue a deeper relationship with God through His son Jesus, and take seriously the call to be salt and light in the public square.

Students of spiritual warfare understand that there are always important parallels between what is seen in the natural realm and what is occurring in the spiritual realm. And, just as you see strategic shifts occurring in the natural realm - the spiritual atmosphere is changing also.

Believers must understand the context in which we live. These shifts in the spiritual atmosphere will have ramifications in the natural realm. As our culture has forsaken God's designs for our lives and pushed Him to the periphery, we will see the impact of these decisions. Religious freedom in this nation will be challenged, and with it, your right to dissent. Societal and peer pressure will demand more universal acceptance of politically correct (but un-Biblical) teachings on some of our most fundamental beliefs.

And these challenges you encounter in the natural realm will result in an even greater increase in the intensity of spiritual warfare. Scripture (Ephesians 6) teaches that all believers are called to engage in spiritual warfare. It is not optional. When we encounter spiritual warfare, our role as believers is to stand firm and fight.

Armies advance by using tanks, ships, bombs, and bullets.

Carnal people fight by using hateful words, rumors, lies, deceit, slander, and physical acts of violence. But believers are told to stand firm and fight using God's weaponry.

Truth, prayer, the word of God - those are God's weapons.

This is a season when all believers are being called to stand firm in their faith and use these weapons. God is calling you to grow in your faith - to mature in your understanding of the Father's love, His will, His intentions, and in your understanding of His strategies in the earth to accomplish His priorities.

He is calling you to participate with Him in His strategies and in His activities. This will require pressing into Him. It will require more alone time with Him - more prayer, more feeding on His word. Navigating successfully in this season will require greater intimacy with the Father.

Terry Allen

Rahab - A Life of Sin & Repentance

Hebrews 11:31 - By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had given a friendly welcome to the spies.

The Bible says Rahab was a prostitute. This was God’s view of her, and it was true.

However, to understand this story a little better, we need to see who Rahab was as the world would have seen her. It will also tell us more about what God did in the first few chapters of Joshua as He led the people of Israel to defeat Jericho.

Jericho was called the “Queen of the Valley” by the people of the area. The city had defenses most armies would have considered unbeatable. Jericho was also the leading city for the worship of Ashteroth, the goddess of fertility. Therefore, since the Bible tells us Rahab owned her home and her home was located at the top of the wall, we can believe she was a priestess in this temple worship, and very probably the high priestess (or about to become the high priestess). When we read about the rites these people followed to crown a new high priestess as the human goddess, we see many very familiar parallels between these rituals and the instructions God gave Joshua for how the people were to “attack” Jericho.

Therefore, if this is true, God began conquering the land of Canaan as He had conquered Egypt a little more than 40 years earlier – by displaying His power as greater than the gods of the land! But in conquering the gods of the land, God also showed His mercy and grace as He saved only Rahab and her family from the destruction. God showed that it does not matter how deeply we have been enslaved to sin. He can save even the one who would be a high priestess in the worship of another god, if that person turns to Him in repentance and forsakes all this world has to offer and seeks Him alone.

Romans 3:23-24 tell us, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by His grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” No matter what our life has been, we are sinners before God. No matter how highly respected we might be in the eyes of those who know us, God calls us by the name we truly are, just as He called Rahab a prostitute even though she was a highly respected and powerful woman of her day.

Not one of us can impress God and buy our way into His favor through money or good deeds or influence. We must each come to Him in sincere repentance, knowing we deserve our death sentence, believing in Him. Believing in Jesus is far more than saying so or giving mental agreement to believing. It is an action. It is, as Rahab found it, a believing that burns all other bridges behind it with the full knowledge that if He is not telling the truth then all that was before has been lost. She turned her back on every part of life she had ever known, every god she had ever served, and trusted only that this God of the Hebrews could deliver her.

*How are you seeking God alone in your life?

Prayer: Lord God, please help me to turn my back on anything that is not of you. May I recognize the sin in my life and repent of it before You. Thank you that, like Rahab, You promise me a way of escape through Jesus Christ. May I entrust myself and my eternal destiny to Him. In His name I pray, Amen. 

From Global Media Outreach 

Women of the Bible - For Such a Time as This

There are many women named in the Bible. This in itself should be enough to make us take notice, because in the culture of those times women were rarely mentioned since it was their husbands who did whatever was needed to care for and protect them.

In this study we will examine the lives and testimonies of three women whose names are known to anyone who reads the Bible. They are Rahab of Jericho, Esther the Queen, and Ruth the Moabitess. Rahab was a prostitute, Esther was an orphaned slave, and Ruth was a young widow. Yet, God used each of them for His Kingdom because each, in her own special way, was willing to be His servant at a special time in her life.

As we will discover, each of these women chose to follow God. With the choices they had before them, it would have been much easier for them to turn their backs on Him and to find an easier path, such as letting someone else make the choices for them.

Today, whoever we are, we can learn from the choices and the faith these young women had, to help us determine which choices we ourselves will make. Joshua, the commander of Israel’s armies after Moses died, challenged the people to look carefully at the choices they had before them. They could follow the easy path of what others around them were doing, or they could choose the path God had laid out before them. 

God’s way is never the easy way – the path of least trouble or pain. His way often leads, as David wrote in Psalm 23, through the valley of the shadow of death. But this path, even though it is impossible for us in our own strength, is the best path because it leads to God’s glory and eternal joy and peace. The joy of victory we can know in Jesus as we allow Him to work in and through us (as these three women did) is a joy we cannot find anywhere else on earth.

We invite you to see, through these stories of their lives, how Rahab, Esther, and Ruth allowed God to work through them, “for such a time” as He needed them.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, speak to my heart through Your Word as I learn more about Rahab, Esther and Ruth. Show me how you want me to live in my day, my home, my job, my life as I allow You to work through me for such a time as this. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.