Seeds of Faith

Two male spies with a plan, one woman with information. Two men on a mission. One woman with a bad reputation. Two men doing the work of the Lord. One woman labeled as a harlot. Who could imagine that their paths would cross? Yet the spies entered her city and ended up at her house.

The time? Early 1400's B.C. The place? Jericho. The woman? Rahab. The people of her city were in turmoil because of the news they had heard. When the two spies showed up at her house, Rehab was honest with them, "I know that the Lord hath given you the land, and that your terror is fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you. For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red sea for you, when ye came out of Egypt; and what ye did unto the two kings of the Amorites, that were on the other side Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom ye utterly destroyed. And as soon as we had heard these things, our hearts did melt, neither did there remain any more courage in any man, because of you" (Joshua 2:9-11a; KJV).

Sometime between hearing the city news and the arrival of the spies, a seed of faith sprang up in Rahab's heart. She believed the stories about this God's power. She was afraid that her city would be destroyed next. The God of the Israelites was someone to be reckoned with. She acknowledged her belief that He was God (Joshua 2:11b).

When the sound of an authoritative knock came at the door, Rahab had a choice to make. Should she turn the spies in, or hide them? With heart hammering in her chest, Rahab acted on her growing seed of faith. Carefully concealed under the flax on her rooftop, the spies heard her tell the king's men that her visitors had left before the city gate had been shut. (Joshua 2:5).

A covenant was made. Since she had saved their lives, they would spare the lives of she and her family members before the Israelites destroyed her city of Jericho. The spoken oath was sealed with a sign. A scarlet cord. The spies told Rahab to bind the same scarlet cord that would allow them to escape to safety, in her window. "Behold, when we come into the land, thou shalt bind this line of scarlet thread in the window which thou didst let us down by: and thou shalt bring thy father, and thy mother, and thy brethren, and all thy father's household, home unto thee" (Joshua 2:18).

The spies were true to their word. "And the young men that were spies went in, and brought out Rahab, and her father, and her mother, and her brethren, and all that she had; and thy brought out all her kindred, and left them without the camp of Israel" (Joshua 6:23). What began as a seed of faith was continuing to grow.

Rahab. The woman we're introduced to in the book of Joshua who has a bad reputation is nowhere to be found once she acknowledges her belief in the God of the Israelites. We meet up with her again in the book of Matthew. No mention is made of her past. She is recognized as the wife of Salmon, no doubt a dashingly handsome Israelite, whose son just happens to be Boaz (Matthew 1:5). That's right! The mighty kinsman redeemer of the book of Ruth.

Think about it! A former harlot ends up in the genealogy of Jesus Christ! After all, Boaz and Ruth have a son, Obed, Obed and his wife have Jesse, Jesse and his wife have David, and fourteen generations later, our Savior is born!

It never ceases to amaze me what God can do with a man or woman with a seed of faith and a spirit yielded to Him!


Are you willing to step out in faith and be used by the Lord? What step will you take today to water the seed of faith that's growing in your life?


Prayer: Heavenly Father, Thank You for the encouraging story of Rahab. Help me to put my faith in You no matter what. Use me to point others to You. In Jesus' name, Amen.

*I'm hosting over at Living by Grace today. Come join in the discussion!
























* A re-post from March 26, 2010.

At the Heart of it All

The wedding was beautiful. The bride, dazzling in white. The groom, radiant as he stood waiting for his bride. As vows were spoken and rings were exchanged, I had no doubt the bride and groom were in love. In love with each other and in love with the Lord. The Lord was praised for bringing the couple together and He was an integral part of the wedding ceremony.

A wedding signifies the merging of two lives. Marriage was instituted by God himself, and is a beautiful picture of Christ’s relationship with the church. “For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church,” (Ephesians 5:31-32; KJV). So this translates to ‘happily ever after,’ right? Only when the Lord, hard work, and determination are part of the equation.

Every marriage faces challenges. Sometimes I selfishly want things to be done my way – forgetting my better half. “Oneness in marriage does not mean losing your personality in the personality of the other. Instead, it means caring for your spouse as you care for yourself, learning to anticipate the other person’s needs, helping the other person become all he or she can be,” (Life Application Study Bible, p. 2078). Wow! Now that’s a tall order. But when God is at the heart of the relationship, we put ourselves in a position where He can bless us, and our marriage works.

Remember Ruth and Boaz’s love story? Ruth was a young woman from Moab who was profoundly influenced by her mother-in-law, Naomi. When Ruth’s husband died and Naomi determined to return to Bethlehem-Judah, Ruth willingly left her country, and embraced a new life, “…for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God,” (Ruth 1:16b). Once back in Judah, Ruth was determined to help Naomi. Gleaning in a nearby field gave her an opportunity to harvest food for the two of them.

Enter the knight in shining armor. Okay, he didn’t really wear armor, but check out his list of qualities and decide if he was a keeper: above reproach, self-controlled, wise, respectable, hospitable, gentle, a godly man, and a good manager of his own household – to name just a few. I’m pretty sure he’s the kind of guy every mother dreams of for her daughter!

In order to marry Ruth, Boaz had to fulfill some legal obligations. He was willing to do everything that was necessary. These two demonstrated a strong love for the Lord as individuals and continued to build on this foundation as a couple. And God blessed! “So Boaz took Ruth, and she was his wife: and when he went in unto her, the Lord gave her conception, and she bare a son,” (Ruth 4:13). That son turned out to be none other than Obed, the grandfather of David! Ruth and Boaz were blessed for their obedience to the Lord by being included in the lineage of Christ.

When we center our marriage on the Lord, we can be sure we will be blessed as well. In fact, any relationship with Christ at its core is headed in the right direction! “The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing,” (Zephaniah 3:17).

Evaluate your relationships. Is Christ at the center of each of them? If not, what step will you take today to make Him the emphasis?

Prayer: Heavenly Father, Thank You for the relationships You’ve blessed me with. Help me to build strong relationships where You are honored and glorified. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Overcoming Fear with Faith

Several hundred feet above the desert floor, the aerial tram crawls up the face of Mt. San Jacinto. A true engineering marvel, the tramway has been dubbed the eighth wonder of the world.

I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not fond of heights. In fact, to be totally honest, I’m afraid of heights. As we prepared to board the tram car, it was comforting to know that “more than 12 million people have been safely transported by the Tramway into the majestic mountains overlooking the Coachella Valley since the attraction opened in September 1963.” (http://www.pstramway.com/)

Although the rotating tram car was a bit unnerving, I found that if I focused on a spot above the horizon, I could actually appreciate the eleven minute ride up to the top of the mountain. I can’t say I enjoyed it, but it wasn’t as nerve-wracking as I’d originally anticipated.

Once we arrived at the top of the mountain, the discomfort I had experienced as we traveled the 8500-feet was well worth it! The views were breath-taking. The temperatures a full forty degrees cooler than those we had left behind. It was as if we had been transported to a different part of the country. Where there had been sparse vegetation on the desert floor, different varieties of pines and flowering plants covered the ground as far as the eye could see. A true oasis.

Oftentimes the Savior desires for me to face my fears, the things I dread, in order for me to arrive at the ‘oasis’ He has for me. Much like the safety information printed about the tram cars helped to quell my initial fear, the Bible spells out countless reasons why I can put absolute faith in my God.

I think about the many heroes of the Old Testament, ordinary men and women who overcame fear with faith and did extraordinary things for God. Remember Joshua, the leader who had brought the children of Israel successfully into the promised land? After an unsuccessful attempt to overtake the city of Ai, the Lord appeared to him with the words, “Fear not, neither be thou dismayed: take all the people of war with thee, and arise, go up to Ai: see, I have given into thy hand the king of Ai, and his people, and his city, and his land:” (Joshua 8:1; KJV). I imagine Joshua was more than a little afraid! Yet he trusted God, faced his fear, and was rewarded with a spectacular victory over the people of Ai.

Do you recall Gideon, the Israelite who hid by the winepress to thresh wheat, in order to keep it from the Midianites? The angel of the Lord appeared to him with the words, “The Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valour” (Judges 6:12) You might wonder what the Lord saw in a man who was hiding in fear from the enemy. The answer is one simple word, faith. Gideon believed the Lord when He said to him, “Surely I will be with thee, and thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man” (Judges 6:16). Because he chose to overcome his fear and trust God, we see the mighty way God was able to use him, “Thus was Midian subdued before the children of Israel, so that they lifted up their heads no more, And the country was in quietness forty years in the days of Gideon” (Judges 8:28).

What about Ruth, the Moabitess? After her husband died, she made the choice to return with her mother-in-law, Naomi, to the city of Bethlehem. This might seem like an insignificant decision, until you realize that the Moabites were hated by the Israelites. Don’t you suppose Ruth feared the possibility of rejection from Naomi’s people? Yet she saw something different in the God of Naomi and put her life into His hands. Because of her obedience, she ended up marrying a godly man named Boaz, and having a child who became the grand-father of King David!

Is fear holding you back? Take a fresh look at the many times God’s word challenges you to ‘fear not.’ He is a God who can be fully trusted! Talk to Him about your fear, lay it at His feet, and then choose faith in Him to transport you to the oasis He has for you!

Prayer: Heavenly Father, I stand amazed at Your goodness. I praise You for the opportunity to overcome my fears through faith in You. Help me to remember that You will never leave me nor forsake me. I’m placing my trust in You. Use me today for Your honor and glory. Amen.