So, have you ever felt like you weren't good enough to be accepted and loved by God? Are things you have done in your past still causing you shame and pain? Do you feel like you are the only person that has sinned in any way when you worship on Sunday and wonder if you are truly forgiven?
This kind of sounds like an infomercial and it is in a way, but it's a message of courage, love, hope and grace that we all need to hear, take into our hearts and truly believe in God's grace, love and mercy.
Here is the story of Rahab, wife of Salmon and mother of Boaz:
She had a reputation no woman would ever want: she was a harlot, a prostitute. But she was also a woman whose courage and faith in God would transcend her reputation and place her in the lineage of the Messiah.
Rahab owned a house, built on the outer walls of Jericho. When two Israelite spies came to town, Rahab turned the roof of her house into a hiding place for them—an act which took courage.
The people of Jericho were terrified because they had heard of all the miraculous things God had done for His people after their escape from Egypt. When commanded by the rulers of the city to turn the men over, Rahab concealed their identities and whereabouts—an act of faith in God.
You see, Rahab had come to believe in the spies' God: "The LORD your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath" (Joshua 2:11). Knowing the Israelites would conquer the land, Rahab asked the spies to spare her life and the lives of her family members when the assault came. The spies agreed to do so if she would keep their secret, place her family safely inside her house, and tie a scarlet ribbon in her window as a signal to the Israelite army to spare her home. Later, when Joshua and the army appeared and attacked the city, only Rahab and her family survived. For her courageous faith, this woman with a bad reputation was enrolled among the faithful in the book of Hebrews—the only woman, besides Sarah mentioned. (Hebrews 11) James used Rahab as an example of how a character can be transformed by a living faith that yields works (James 2:25). And eventually, she was no longer known as the harlot who hid the spies but as the wife of Salmon, the mother of Boaz, and the ancestor of Jesus.(Matthew 1:5-16)
If you have a past or things you have done that you're not proud of (like me), don't despair. God's grace is sufficient to transform a bad reputation and those guilty emotions into peace and beauty. All that is required is faith—faith in the One, Jesus Christ, who came through the lineage of a sinner (like me and like you and like all of us).
And when someone reminds you of your past, or you just can't let it go, courageously stand and declare: "What I once was, I am not now. I am a new person, for the One who died once for me has given me a new name—daughter of the Messiah."
The Genealogy of Jesus the Messiah
2Abraham was the father of Isaac,
Isaac the father of Jacob,
Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers,
3Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar,
Perez the father of Hezron,
Hezron the father of Ram,
4Ram the father of Amminadab,
Amminadab the father of Nahshon,
Nahshon the father of Salmon,
5Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab,
Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth,
Obed the father of Jesse,
6and Jesse the father of King David.
David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah’s wife,
7Solomon the father of Rehoboam,
Rehoboam the father of Abijah,
Abijah the father of Asa,
8Asa the father of Jehoshaphat,
Jehoshaphat the father of Jehoram,
Jehoram the father of Uzziah,
9Uzziah the father of Jotham,
Jotham the father of Ahaz,
Ahaz the father of Hezekiah,
10Hezekiah the father of Manasseh,
Manasseh the father of Amon,
Amon the father of Josiah,
12After the exile to Babylon:
Jeconiah was the father of Shealtiel,
Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel,
13Zerubbabel the father of Abihud,
Abihud the father of Eliakim,
Eliakim the father of Azor,
14Azor the father of Zadok,
Zadok the father of Akim,
Akim the father of Elihud,
15Elihud the father of Eleazar,
Eleazar the father of Matthan,
Matthan the father of Jacob,
16and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, and Mary was the mother of Jesus who is called the Son of God.
Read Rahab’s Story – Joshua 2:1-23, 4:22-23
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