Salvation Stories (Joshua Study Post 8)

Salvation Stories

Read Joshua 2:21-24

How were you saved? Did you grow up in church and accept Jesus in a Sunday School classroom at a young age? Were you a teenager at a youth event? Were you an adult who turned to Jesus as your last resort? Were you alone in your room? No matter how you came to know Jesus, there was a chain of events that led to someone, somewhere telling you about His scarlet red blood that would change your life forever! Thank God for those that are bold enough to proclaim the truth!

Tonight we read about the covenant that Rahab makes with the spies. We also read that the spies go back and tell their commander in Cheif "all that had befallen them". This means that they went back and told Joshua and the rest of the tribe all about what they found in the promised land. They tell them that all of the people there are afraid of them. But they also tell them all about their experience with Rahab, the prostitute.

We read back in verse 9 of chapter 2 that Rahab had already heard of the things God had done for the Israelites. Now, because of the dedication of the spies, Rahab comes to know, first-hand, the truth and power of God. And through her display of courage in believing and protecting the spies, she would hang a scarlet cord from her home that would link her forever to her Messiah. The spies promise to protect Rahab and her family also promises her adoption into the "family" of the Israelites. Since the Israelites will be inhabiting the whole land, this must mean that Rahab and her family will dwell with them and become a part of them! That takes the promise to a whole new level, doesn't it!! Just as I don't believe the chain of events leading to your salvation were circumstance, I don't believe this chain of events was either....

Let's go back a little further. A couple of posts ago we learned that Joshua told the people they had 3 days to get ready before the entered the promised land. Now, Joshua had just wandered around in the desert for 40 years...why do you think he would need 3 additional days before entering the land? God did for Rahab just what He did for me and you when He sent those people into our lives to show and assure us of His promises. God used those 3 days to have Joshua send 2 spies on a reconnaissance mission that was so much more than they realized it would be!! Their ultimate purpose wasn't just so they could scope out the land....It was so that they could meet this lost soul, Rahab, and comfort her fearful heart. So they could assure her of the Lord's promises. So they could offer her protections and she could have the opportunity to prove her faithfulness. Using Joshua and the spies as tools, for those 3 days, God was just patiently waiting for one more soul's conversion.

How humbling that He loves us so much that He would create a specific order of events JUST so we come to know Him? Even more so that He would choose to use us as tools in the events that He uses to bring others to know Him.

Lord, help us to be faithful and courageous when you call us so that we never miss a chance to be part of something so much bigger than us. Let us look at every opportunity as an opportunity to be a part of someone's "salvation story"!

If anyone is willing to share, I would love to hear your salvation story

Standing

I stand here, in this box; in my 'safe place'. I look out...afraid to take a step. Afraid to stand still. Anxious to move on, look forward, but still afraid to look into the eyes of the world...the people i've let down, the people that i've hurt.

I can only look up. I look up and into the face of my Heavenly Father. Crazy as it may be, i can feel His forgiveness...I can see His grace. I can bathe in His love.

I know He is the most important to gain forgiveness from. And I am so greatful for it. I just don't know how to make my flesh be ready to take the next step. To get back to the things I know He has called me to. To get back involved in the lives of those that I love so much. To be able to laugh and talk to people without this cloud of guilt smothering my every breath....In Him, I should be strong and courageous, but instead I am scared and ashamed.

I don't know what they will see when they look at me... What they will think.... I have been surrounded by only love and forgiveness from so many, yet, i know that they don't forget. I know that they can't help but think about it when they see me...they are human and we don't have a 'sea of forgetfulness'.

I am leaning on the promises and the Word of God now, more than ever. It, along with the wonderful husband and family that God gave me, is all that I have that is solid and true. Romans 8:26-28 The Message translation says;

 Meanwhile, the moment we get tired in the waiting, God's Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don't know how or what to pray, it doesn't matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans. He knows us far better than we know ourselves, knows our pregnant condition, and keeps us present before God. That's why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good

That's my promise. My hope. My future.

I am so thankful for His love and His forgiveness and the love and forgiveness of so many others. I will continue praying and seeking for His strength to forgive myself. To let go of the guilt and place it at His feet for good. Through this season, looking into the mirror has been the hardest part of it all. I need His mercy and grace renewed every morning. Until I can take that step with courage, i will just stand. I'll stand in His promises. I'll stand in His grace. I'll stand in the shower of His love. I won't sit, or fall or turn around...He has brought me so far and I know He will bring me out. He will give me strength. I know it will come. He told me it would.