A scarlet lifeline of hope

Rahab

“The secret to the abundant life: to believe that God is where you doubt He can be.”

In Hebrew, the word used to describe Rahab’s cord that she threw out the window to save the spies is tikvah. It means hope. Rahab was a most unlikely person. God used her despite her tainted past, and He made her a part of Jesus’ line.

“No personal choice that muddied your life can ever trump the divine choice to wash your life clean.” This Advent, reach out and grab the cord. Reach out for Jesus. Our scarlet lifeline of hope.

Never Undone

“You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people” Genesis 50:20

Joseph’s brothers tried to destroy his life. They sold him into slavery and tore up his robe and told their father that he was dead. But God had big plans for Joseph. After many trials, he ends up saving the entire nation.

Do you feel torn to pieces? Do you feel like life is trying to destroy you?

“The places where we’re torn to pieces can be thin places where we touch the peace of God…What was intended to tear you apart, God intends it to set you apart…He intends to turn whatever you’re experiencing now into a gift. You cannot be undone.”

Wow. What powerful words. This chapter really spoke to me. I often feel that since the bombing my life has been torn apart. I get so frustrated with pain, and with this new “normal”. It is so hard to remember that God can use all of this for good. He can turn it around and bring such redemption to this seemingly hopeless situation.

Ann asks: When have you seen God take what was torn and turn it into a gift?

Make a list. Redeem those negative turns. You will begin to look a life a little bit differently.

The stairway of God

Jacob dreams of a stairway to heaven. Sometimes life feels like a stairway. Like going up steps that will never end. “Sometimes you’re just the most tired of trying to be strong.” And you feel like you are always grasping , reaching, striving for that next rung. Always trying to pull yourself closer to God. But this Advent season, its time to change that thinking. We don’t have to climb closer to God, because He came DOWN the ladder to US.

“Jesus doesn’t show you the steps to get to heaven – Jesus is the steps to heaven.”

Think about it. How would your perspective change if you started thinking this way? “When you are wrung out, that is the sign you’ve been reaching for rungs. The work at the very heart of salvation is the work of the very heart of Christmas: simply rest.” God is reaching down to you. “Grace carries you all the way home.”

God has brought me laughter. Genesis 21:6

God fulfilled his promise to Sarah and gave her a son. And Sarah said that God had brought her laughter. She had to wait almost 100 years for a child. But God never fails to fulfill his promises.

“All fear is but the notion that God’s love ends. And His for you never will. So loosen up, because the chains have been loosed, and laugh the laughter of the freed.”

What do you need to let go of? In what ways do you need to loosen up this season? Things are hard. The world is a mess, and there is so much pain, but  “that ache is not the last word for those who believe God. Jesus is. Jesus is the last word, and we rejoice and rejoice and re-joy again because grace is our oxygen now.”

You have as much laughter as you have faith.
~ Martin Luther

Living by faith.

I loved this devotional. Every day it seems to be exactly what I need to hear. This promise is something I have such a hard time believing. I know in my head that God has blessed me far more abundantly than I deserve, but whenever it is said to me “God will bless you” I find my heart scoffing. Saying: yeah right have you seen my life lately? Do you know what’s going on? I feel so far away from blessed today. So this is a promise I need to cling desperately to.

“I will bless you…and you will be a blessing to others.” Genesis 12:2

God promises to bless us. “He will not burden you. He will not break you. He will bless you” Oh how I need this! I need to be reminded that God will not burden or break me. As yesterday’s devotional reminded me, every flood of trouble can make us better or bitter. We can either sink or rise. And today I need to choose better. Rising. Believing in God’s promises of blessings. Even if everything seems so, so hopeless.

“You must feel the fullness of your own pitcher before you trust the pouring out of yourself…Only when you are overwhelmed with the goodness of God can you overflow with the goodness of God to others.”

Today we ask how has God blessed us, and how can we be a blessing to others?