5 women who changed eternity - Rahab - Faith

Today I'm looking at the story of Rahab and how she is a woman of God!

What's the basic story?

A little bit of background information, the 40 years in the wilderness was up, and the only people left from that generation was Moses, Joshua and Caleb. They approached the promised land for the 2nd time, and this time nothing could stand in their way. They had already defeated many kings and places that I dream of being able to pronounce. They designated Joshua as their leader and they were preparing to cross the River Jordan to get to Canaan. 

This story is found in Joshua 2-6 :) The whole story is great, but really all i'm focusing on today is Rahab and her role in all of this. Joshua sent two spies into the city of Jericho and they ended up in Rahab's house. Now Rahab was a prostitute so it was probably normal for men to come into her house without anyone questioning it. But, someone must have spied the Israelites, as someone told the king of their whereabouts. The King demands that Rahab brings the men out, but instead she hides them and tells the kings men they had already left. Rahab then tells the men that everyone in Jericho is pretty frightened because their God had given them that land. She admits the God rules over the heavens and the earth and pleads with them that when they destroy Jericho, they will show her and her family kindness like she had shown the spies. She then is told to tie the red cord round her window and keep her family inside when they attack and they will all be saved. 

They conquer Jericho, and Rahab and all her family are saved in the end!

What's the significance?

She's a prostitute, she's got a sexually immoral background and a past. But God does amazing things through her! 

There is absolutely no coincidence that the spies went into her house, it's God's leading that they did, because she saved their lives by lying to the King's men about the whereabouts of where they were. 

She had heard of this "God" and heard about things he had done like drying up the Red Sea when they came through Egypt. She knew that if these men promised before God that something would happen, it would happen. And so it was. They promised she would be spared, and she was! 

She puts her faith and her trust into this God she knew little of, and of these spies. She could have been killed as a result but that one step of faith changed her life and others. . .

In Matthew 1v 5 "Salmon was the father of Boaz. Boaz's mother was Rahab.) She becomes part of the genealogy of Jesus!

But not even that, later on in Hebrews, Chapter 11 is talking about people who have great faith, and those who trust in God and guess who features!

Hebrews 11:31 - It was by faith that Rahab, the prostitute, welcomes the spies and was not killed with those who refused to obey God

And in

James 2:25 - Another example is Rahab, a prostitute who was made right with God by something she did. She welcomed the spies into her home and helped them escape by a different road. 

And she showed her faith through her good works!

How does this apply to me?

It doesn't matter about our past, God can do amazing things through us, through the bad situations we've been in, through our sin that can be a positive thing in the future. Whoever has a past, God alone can give them a future!

God is a good God, he has everything under control and he definitely keeps his promises.

Lastly, Rahab had faith, a lot of faith in God and the spies. That's a really admirable trait to have, and as women of God we should be full of faith as well!

5 women who changed eternity - Tamar - Hope

Story number 1 is of Tamar in Genesis 38, and it's a story of hope. 

What's the basic story?

Judah (one of 12 sons of Jacob) gets married and has three sons: Er, Onan and Shelah. Judah chooses the son of Er to be married to Tamar. But Er does evil, and he dies. It's then Onan's responsibility to have children with Tamar for his brother. But Onan knew the children wouldn't be his, and doesn't have full sex with her, so Tamar doesn't get pregnant. God then kills Onan for the sin he commmited. Judah tells Tamar to live at home til Shelah grows up and she will be with him then. But Judah was afraid that Shelah would die too, so never got Tamar back. Judah's wife then dies. Tamar hears that Judah is going to Timnah, and she wears a veil that covers her face. Judah thinks she's a prostitute and doesn't know it's Tamar. She wants a goat as payment for her prostitution and as a deposit for the goat, she takes his seal, cord and walking stick which shows his personal identity. They have sex and she gets pregnant! When Judah tries to find this prostitute, he can't and he's like, we'll pretend it didn't happen. He finds out Tamar prostituted herself and she's pregnant and he says to burn Tamar to death. She sends the seal cord and stick back to him to show he made her pregnant. She doesn't die and he recognizes it was because he didn't give her to Shelah that this all happened. She has twins called Zerah and Perez, but Judah didn't have sex with her again. 

What's the significance?

Tamar doesn't exactly have the easiest life. As background information, we all know the story of Judah who is Tamar's father in law. He sold his brother Joseph in slavery and lied to Jacob and said he was killed by an animal. He also marries a Caaninite women, which was against God. So her father-in-law isn't exactly a basket of roses and her husband was evil which is why he dies. The family she's put into is kind of rubbish, and she has to live with these people. 

Her husband then dies. No matter how evil he was, that's pretty harsh for her as well. 
Deuteronomy 25 v 5 - 6 says:
If two brothers are living together, and one of them dies without having a son, his widow must not marry someone outside her husband's family. Her husband's brother must marry her, which is his duty to her as a brother-in-law. The first son she has counts as the son of the dead brother so that his name will not be forgotten in Israel.
So, Tamar has to marry Onan, and by law they are bound to have sex and have children to carry on the dead brother's name, and then his own name, but Onan won't have full sex with her, so she can't get pregnant. That's shameful on him and on her as well. He ends up dying!

She then is told to go home, and she will marry Shelah in time, but Judah doesn't keep his promise. The best part, she takes matters into her own hands. As we've seen, she's had a pretty tough time, but she's resilient and doesn't give up. She stuck with her faith to follow the law, and because of it, she did amazing things. She follows the law, unlike Judah, and went to take what was rightfully hers. "She's a virtuous woman who risks everything, her life and her reputation to get what was due to her, and her tribe".

In the Genelogy of Matthew 1, we see that the twins that Tamar and Judah have become direct links to . . .JESUS HIMSELF! If Tamar hadn't had hope, and resilience, then the genelogy would stop at Judah and we wouldn't have Christ. Mind blowing! She was determined to make an heir from that tribe, no matter the cost. 

How does this apply to me? 

We need to be like Tamar! We need to be strong in our faith and our character, being resilient, to do things for Christ and for what we believe in no matter what the cost is. It doesn't say she once doubted God or what she was doing, but she had faith and she trusted in God and his plans. Even when things seem tough, great things can happen! 

Election

Election is defined by an act of God before creation in which he chooses some people to be saved, not on account of any foreseen merit in then, but only because of his sovereign good pleasure. 


Some examples of predestination and election that are taught in the New Testament:
Romans 8:28-30 - planned for people to be like his Son, for his plan
Romans 9:11-13  / 2 Timothy 1:9- election isn't based on merit
Romans 11:7 - distinct groups of elect and non elect
Ephesians 1:4-6 / Ephesians 1:12 / 2 Thessalonians 2:13 - election before the world began - predestination
1 Thessalonians 1:4-5 - chosen through Jesus and holy spirit


BUT BUT BUT!


Election doesn't mean people should turn to fatalism (where human choices and decisions don't make a difference). We all making willing choices as real humans, and they affect our lives and those around us. We make the personal decision to believe or not to believe in Christ, and that has eternal consequences. 

Election also is not based on God's foreknowledge of our faith. So, he doesn't look into the future to see who will be Christian, and who will not be. He gives confirmation to the decision he knows people will make on their own (Romans 8:29)


It also says in the bible that the reason that God chose us, isn't really to do with faith, or that we would be Christians that God chose us. Nothing in our lives would change God's decision, it's just in order that his purpose of election might continue. 


We're never will be good enough for Christ, we've all sinned and messed up, so the fact that salvation is earned on meritocracy is so not true. It's unconditional election.

Matthew 5:14-15 - Light

Part one of "salt" so that talks of how we should do, and how we should behave as Christians, by being set apart, by making a difference, and going into the world. Part two is all about us showing Jesus in the way we act and telling the world about him. 


Matthew 5:14-15 Here's another way to put it: You're here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We're going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers you don't think I'm going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I'm putting you on a light stand. Now that I've put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand - shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you'll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven.


How do we show light through how we live? Well, we show the way of salvation. By being set apart Christians, by being like "salt" we are effectively showing the world Jesus! We do this by our actions, by being a witness to people, by acting like Jesus. We know how to act like Jesus, from looking at the beatitudes and the fruits of the spirit. However chances are, we're not like all of them, all the time. Chances are that we're human and sometimes intentionally and unintentionally we are going to mess up. But, if it can be helped, try not to sin in front of non believers, because although you are not trying to be fake, or try to portray that life as Christian is in any way easy, people look at us as Christians, and we do get judged. 
I've had numerous conversations with people, going along the lines of:
"she doesn't give money to charity, but she's meant to be a Christian?"
"are they a Christian? they swear a lot"
and etc, you can understand the picture. we don't want to be portraying Jesus in a negative light, we want to be bringing people to him, and not displaying ourselves as hypocrites either.


How do we show light through telling people about Jesus? but as well as showing Jesus through us, we need to be talking about Jesus to everyone, we need to "sing it til the whole world hears" (Casting Crowns). In some situations, bringing up Jesus may be easy, but in others it can be extremely difficult. It's great when it's an easier situation to talk about Jesus, but in honesty, we're going to come across more situations where it's harder.  Jesus never said that everyone would love and accept us, he said blessed are those who are persecuted, because they are the ones trying hard enough to spread Jesus around. 


Is there a medium? there's either light, or darkness. there's no inbetween. there may be a little light, or lots of light, but there's no grey area, it's one or the other. so we're either showing Jesus, or we're not! a Christian who is not showing light, is effectively useless. so as a Christian, if we're not showing Jesus and we're not talking about Jesus . .well are we really Christians? We have to be all or nothing Christians, there's no medium. In the same way, we can't be Christians but hide our faith, we're lights, it's obvious we're Christians! 

Matthew 5:13 - Salt

I quite like the message version of this. Although The Message is an interpretation of the bible, I liked this version and shall share it. 
 "Let me tell you why you are here. You're here to be salt-seasoning that brings out the God-flavors of this earth. If you lose your saltiness, how will people taste godliness? You've lost your usefulness and will end up in the garbage."

Okay, so we're called to be salt and light. We've been told this since we were little, and I had some understanding of it, but the implications and applications as always, are much greater once examined. There's three ways I think in which we can be salt and I will now divulge :P

1) Being a set apart Christian

First game we're going to play, is called spot the christian. In the picture below, which one do you think is a Christian?

Okay so pretty sure you wouldn't have found it. Christians physically look the same as everyone else, sure, there may be a crucifx necklace, a WWJD band, and maybe socks with sandals, but Christians look the same as normal everyday people. 

What? Being salt in the world means that we're called be set apart Christians, and although physically we can't, it is all about our behaviour which stems from our own morals, values and what we believe in.  If we're not like salt, we don't have the holy spirit and effectively we're worthless. How we are, and how we behave can come from the holy spirit.

Who / When? ALL Christians are called to be set apart Christians. And we need to be doing it right now, right this second. Until recently I thought that there was no point trying to be a set apart Christian in school, they all knew how I used to be. I was jealous of the people who had never sworn and people looked at them and saw Jesus. But yet, I realized that I was a walking testimony, and maybe sometimes, I can prove  to people and they can see for themselves how God has changed me. So, even if you haven't been a set apart Christian, do it now. It may be a radical change, it might not be but you need to do it. 

Why? So, why do we do it? What's the point in being a set apart Christian? I hope we've all figured out by now that we can't see Jesus, or God. We are his witnesses and we are the people that the world looks at and sees God. It's a harsh reality, we're trying to be perfect like Jesus was to display God. Yeah we'll mess up, yeah we'll sin. But that's never an excuse, we always need to do it , no matter what. 

How? But, how do we do it? How do we become a set apart Christian. Earlier in Matthew, it talks off the beautitudes, we can see how we're meant to be as Christians:

• Humble
• Hunger and thirst for justice
• Show mercy to others
• Thoughts are pure
• Work for peace
• Persecuted for doing good
• Realizing our spiritual poverty

There's many more I'm sure you can think of, of how we're meant to act to show God :D

Why not? The benefits of standing out as a Christian are immense, but sometimes, people don't want to be set apart Christians.

Reason number 1 - their self esteem as a Christian is low. The mantra of  "i'm not good enough" is loud and resounding in their heads. The fear that they are not good enough, may stop them from even attempting from even starting to try to be a set apart Christian, and will merge back into the crowds of the world. But, none of us are good enough. We all fall short of being a Christian. we're not always a shining example, sometimes we swear, sometimes we get angry quickly, sometimes we're whiny, sometimes we lie. And unfortunately, we'll never ever master behaving perfectly as a Christian. You have God and the Holy Spirit on your side, and they will help you

Reason number 2 - there's too much peer pressure around them. especially in education there's so much peer pressure to be like everyone else. "the challenge is to be yourself in a world trying to make you like everyone else". It's so true though, if you wear slightly eccentic clothes, you may get ridiculed for it. It's a harsh reality. People may try and enforce their ideas onto you, or by indoctrination you may start to think like them too. Remember that you are a stranger on this earth, you're not meant for this, you're meant for Heaven and eternity, and greater things than this earth. What you may get ridiculed for as being a Christian, will get celebrated in Heaven. Hold fast to what you believe in. This also links in with fear of disclusion. if you don't believe the same as everyone else, you may  feel discluded and lonely, and it is a fear for many human beings. But again, be set apart, it'll be worth it, and if the people you're with don't appreciate you for who you are, maybe it's time to move on.

Reason number 3 - society's expectations. modern culture tells us that a brand of make up will make us flawless, that it's okay to sleep around, that we need to have money to make us happy and that we're supposed to act in a certain way - society is peer pressuring us. but is modern culture right? no. the bible opposes so many different aspects of our society, which makes it harder to be a set apart Christian, but we will be good, instead of evil and shallow.

2) Making a difference

What? As Christians we're called to make a difference, like salt does to our food. Relating back to set apart Christians, if we're the same as everyone else how can we make a difference in this world? 

Who / When? Again, we all should be making a difference, on a small and on a large scale (talking a little bit about that in a sec) and when, all the time! 

Why? This earth isn't our real home, but we need to make a difference to it regardless. We need to show people God and to make a difference in this world. The person who changed the world in 30 years was Jesus, he challenged the ideals of everyone, and he created a new belief and hope for people. We may not be Jesus, but with the holy spirit and support of other Christians, we can also make a difference. 

How? Just as an example, many christians got together and all bought Delirious? song history maker, and it got to number 4 in the UK charts. Many stations didn't play it, but the example here is that Christians nationally changed the UK charts by getting a Christian song up there. If this can be done, imagine what could be done internationally, on a larger scale, with more Christians and a bigger effect? Imagine, if Christians gave all they had away, and gave it to the poor and poverty was stopped overnight. How amazing would that be. On a large scale, Christians can have an awful lot of difference, and there's no point in being skeptical, because God tells us to do this! But it doesn't even have to be on a large scale, we can show we're set apart Christians and on our own we can have a big impact on someone else's life, and help them on their way to becoming a Christian. In the world context, people need Christians. They need to stop wars, people need love, peace, forgiveness and salvation, not just a new motorway or factories. We can bring progress to our world - if we choose to. 

Why not? Why don't some people like making a difference? Because it's hard, it's effort, it means stepping out their comfort zone. But the end justify the means, how amazing it is to make a difference on a small scale and on a big scale gives us a sense of satisfaction, knowing that we're making a difference for God, and that we're changing the world!

3) Going out the world

What? Okay so  salt also gets everywhere (especially when you spill it all over the kitchen floor) , and we're called to go everywhere and preach the good news of JC! 

Who / When? Again, everyone and now!

Why? We're called to be set apart, we're called to go out into the world and tell everyone about Jesus! The main way people found out about Jesus, is through other people rather than divine intervention. If we're going out and spreading Jesus' word then we;re doing what he wants! Everyone needs to know Jesus to make an informed decision. It's enough for someone to say they aren't Christians because they weren't brought up that way, we all make our own decision. And also, it helps us grow in our faith, encourages us, and teaches us things on the way. 

How? On a large scale, we can take mission trips to Africa and deserted places where Jesus isn't really well known. We can become missionaries and go all over the world and tell people about Jesus. On a medium scale, we can go round England, doing things like beach missions or holiday bible clubs, meeting people we wouldn't usually and telling them all about Jesus in ways that they may not have heard before. On a smaller scale, we can go out to our friends at school and work and tell them all about Jesus, and go out in our world to tell people. There are many ways to do it! 

Why not? Because it's scary, doing beach mission and going on mission trips can be scary because you have to step out your comfort zone. With bringing up with people you know, there's a chance of being ridiculed and being persecuted, but God blesses us because we're doing what he wants!

So:

Be set apart, make a difference and go out into the world!

BE SALT!

Angels

Angels can be defined as created spiritual beings with moral judgement and high intelligence without physical bodies.

What are angels? They are created spiritual beings. They haven't always been around, but have been created. We also know that they have a moral judgement in that they can fall from their positions. They don't have physical bodies, so we can't see them unless God makes us able. They guard and protect us, worship God, and sometimes they appear in body form to various people in the bible.

What are other names for angels? They can also be referred to as "sons of God" "holy ones" "spirits" "watchers" "thrones" "dominions" "principalities" and "authorities". 

What are the different types of angels? There's different types of heavenly beings described in the bible:
a) Cherubim  - they guarded the entrance to Eden and God placed them over the ark of the covenent, and here God promised to dwell among his people. 
b) Seraphim - mentioned in Isaiah where they continually worship the Lord
c) Living Creatures - they have an appearance of a lion, ox, man and eagle and are the mightiest representatives of various parts of God's entire creation and again, worship God continually

Is there a ranking of angels? There is a form of hierachy of angels, and a rank order. Michael is an archangel and he has a title of authority over angels. He is one of the chief princes, and a leader in the angelic army. 

Are there any specific angels? Michael and Gabriel are the two specially names angels in the bible. Gabriel is a messenger who comes from God to speak to Daniel and later on, to Mary

Are angels omnipresent? Angels are not omnipresent, they can only be in one place at a time. This supports the idea that angels are created beings. 

How many angels are there? We are never given a specific number of how many angels, but there may be a great number as there is a relation to ten thousands angels in Deuteronomy. 

Do people have guardian angels? God sends his angels for protection (Psalm 91:11-12) but whether people have specific guardian angels is not really mentioned.

Do angels have families? In Matthew 22:30 it says that the people that are in heaven neither marry but are like angels in heaven which suggests that they don't get married / have a family

What power to angels have? They are mighty ones who do God's work so they have a lot of power. They have greater powers than humans do (2 Peter 2:11) and while we're on earth, we have less power than angels (Hebrews 2:7) but when we're in heaven, we'll have greater power than angels. Though they have great power, it isn't infinite. 

Who is the angel of the Lord? When it mentions THE angel of the Lord, it suggests that it is God in angel form like in Genesis 16:13 and Genesis 22:12. But sometimes it says AN angel of the Lord, which suggests an angel sent by God like in Psalm 34:7

When were angels created? They were created during creation (Genesis 2:1). It's suggested that when God created the heavens on the first day, he created the angels as well. 

What are the purpose of angels?

1. They show us the greatness of God's love and plan for us
2. Angels remind us that the unseen world is real
3. Angels are examples for us
4. Angels carry out some of God's plan
5. Angels directly glorify God

What should our relationship towards angels be? We should be aware of angels in every day life, like whilst worshiping God, angels worship with us. Like God watches us, so do angels and they see when we sin. Angels can help us and deliver us from danger and distress. 

How should we be wary of angels? firstly, some things may claim to be angels, and give us information that isn't right, that contradicts the people. even Satan disguised himself, so we need to be careful. secondly, we shouldn't worship angels because they work for God, they are effectively a middle man, and we should be worshipping and seeking God who is the true God, not not putting angels to equal status as God. 

Do angels appear to people today? In the early church, angels were pretty active, and less now but angels can still appear to people nowadays!

Loneliness

So it's been a real challenge this week, being completely on my own with no one around that I know, and no one my own age (Nearest person i've found my own age was 30!!!) It's felt a bit like being thrown in the deep end, and although I am fully capable of meeting a stranger and talking to them, I have had sooo many awkward moments with people, today I was driven by two different people for an hour who I didn't know at all. This whole experience did a feel a bit overwhelming, but God's helped me very much to bring everything back into focus. But today, I wanted to talk a little bit about being alone and how God is with us and examples through the bible. Nothing too heavy, some gentle reminders for when people are in this situation!


Matthew  27 v 46: About three o'clock Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" This means, "My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?"


First example - Jesus is being crucified and not only being on that cross would have been pretty lonely, everyone went against him, he had been dis-owned, everyone sentenced him to earth, there were very few people who were supporting him at this point. And even here, Jesus, son of God, is asking why God has abandoned him. He hasn't, we all know this but it's okay to feel lonely, Jesus did too. This really shows how human Jesus was, he still had feelings. It's easy to say from hindsight and in perspective, oh God is with us all the time, he never leaves us. But it's in real and focused situations where we need to remind ourselves that it's okay to feel lonely as Jesus did, but God never leaves us.


Psalm 68 v 6a: God gives the lonely a home


Second example - God is a friend out the outcasts, the people rejected by society, the homeless, the poor, the widow, the orphan. Those who have no one else, God is with them. All those who feel alone, who are alone, God has them in the palm of his hand. How reassuring this is, that God is with us, when we're alone. God, who made the universe, who is so amazing and powerful, is with people like outcasts. Okay, this isn't to say that if we're not outcasts, God isn't with us and supporting us, but using the example that God is with the lowest of the low (well considered lowest of the low) and to him, trivial things like caste or race or any other different ways to separate society doesn't matter to him. 


Job 19 v 13 - 19: "God has made my brothers my enemies, and my friends have become strangers. My relatives have gone away, and my friends have forgotten me. My guests and my female servants treat me like a stranger; they look at me as if I were a foreigner. I call for my servant, but he does not answer, even when I beg him with my own mouth. My wife can't stand my breath, and my own family dislikes me. Even the little boys hate me and talk about me when I leave. All my close friends hate me; even those I love have turned against me. 


Third example - Here, Job must have felt extremely lonely. His brothers, friends, relatives, guests, servants, wife, family, sons, and those he loves have all turned against him. I don't think that leaves many people left! At the time, this must have been such a low point in his life, and here he is despairing. But God never leaves him, he never leaves him to defend himself. At the end of Job, he is very blessed and live a long life with lots of children. This point is about, even though you may feel lonely, it won't stay that way forever, look at the bigger picture and it will get better. 


2 Timothy 4 v 16 - 18: The first time I defended myself, no one helped me; everyone left me. May they be forgiven. But the Lord stayed with me and gave me strength so I could fully tell the Good News to all those who are not Jews. So I was saved from the lion's mouth. The Lord will save me when anyone tries to hurt me, and he will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom. Glory forever and ever be the Lord's. Amen.


Fourth example - I love this passage so much. Again it highlights Paul's loneliness, but firstly he forgives the people who leaves him. It's so easy to stay angry and hurtful at people who leave us, but at looking at the bigger picture, it's in God's plan and may end up benefiting you more! The second part of this, is that God stays with Paul and gives him strength. There may be several reasons why you feel lonely, may be because you are standing up for your belief and your faith. But remember God blesses those who are persecuted, and he saves and rescues those who try to hurt those doing God's will!


So:
It's okay to feel lonely, God is friends of the lonely, You won't be lonely forever, God will always stay with you!