The Faith of Rahab

There are some people in this world, who have a past that is not pleasing to others, but they possess a measure of faith that lacking in the church. In Joshua chapter 2:1,”Then Joshua son of Nun secretly sent two spies from Shittim. “Go look over the land,” he said, “especially Jericho”. So they went and entered the house of a prostitute named Rahab and stayed there. The first thing that stands out is that Joshua has secretly sent spies into the promise land. Remember Joshua is now the leader of the Israelites, and has already seen the promise land for himself, and has heard the voice of God instruct him on the victory of the promise land, but with all that Joshua still needed to send spies back into the promise land. I find it interesting that even our leaders/religious leaders still need to send spies/ministries out in the communities to stay relevant/current on news, events, and trends. If the church is to become a leader in the major influences on people, then we have to stop being secretive, and begin to openly talk about what the Word of God says on current events, news, and trends of the community. The second thing I notice is not really about faith, but more about what the spies did when they got to the promise land. If the spies were entering the promise land for the first time, how did they know where Rahab stayed? At times church folks will downgrade others about their past or current lifestyle, and in reality the church laity knows where the hoe houses are, and the dope holes exist. The church laity pretends not to know for fear that others will assume they were from those places or are still attending those places. The truth is we all have a pass and really do not have a right to judge anyone about their past or current lifestyle. We as the church laity have to be the light of the world and show God’s love to a people surrounded by evil. In Joshua chapter 2:12, Rahab has an opportunity to stay a hoe or move into a position of holiness. I would assume that Rahab knows a thing or two about conducting a transaction, and instead of requesting the men for money or sex. Rahab realizes that she can bring herself out of a position of doom, but that her entire family can come too. Rahab makes the offer to the spies, “Now then, please swear to me by the Lord that you will show kindness to my family, because I have shown kindness to you. Give me a sure sign”. Some people in the world don’t mind showing kindness to the church, but they are waiting on a sure sign that they or their family will be hurt. In verse 19 of chapter 2, the spies tell Rahab, “… As for anyone who is in the house with you, his blood will be on our head if a hand is laid on him” The spies from Shittim, do something that I believe the church laity should follow as an example. If anyone that is in your house (that is the hoe house, the place where sin is conducted,) is harmed, we are responsible. So many people come from homes that are dysfunctional and instead of the church laity being distant and judgmental; we ought to be more responsible to the people that come out of sinful situations. The thing is Rahab still had to get her family in her house; her family was not with her. Meaning the family might have left her to be hoe and be a hoe alone. The church laity cannot leave individuals to deal with their sin alone, the church laity has to say that you will come out and while God may destroy Sodom, I know that he will save you. The last thing I notice is the faith of Rahab, the spies give specific instruction on how Rahab is to identify her house from the rest. In verse 21 of Joshua chapter 2, states that, “…So she sent them away and they departed. And she tied the scarlet cord in the window.” Rahab identified her house immediately after the spies departed. Signaling that Rahab was not sure when the Israelites were coming or when God would deliver the promise land, but Rahab said that I will be ready whenever he comes. The faith that Rahab exhibits is amazing considering her background, she told the spies I heard what you have done, and I have heard about the God that comes with you. While she was telling the spies about their God, she was also declaring that I have a faith in your God that if HE would send me you as my way out of destruction then I will use traits of past to get me to safety and in with people of promise. She also said that my faith will cover not only me, but my family that left me and stop believing in me. Please know that the faith that abides in you, can and will bring you out of situations that no one ever expected you to get out of. Know that in this life we live by faith of the promise of righteousness, while this world is evil and corrupt. We believe that Jesus came so that we can have life, and have it more abundantly. Please know that if you have faith in these scriptures, know that your faith is not only about driving you forward or to a point of change, but about driving your family to another level. Know that this faith Rahab had, not only brought her from the position/condition of being a hoe, but delivered her and her entire family to the promise land.

I Wish Somebody Would Move

There is an old saying,” birds of feather flock together”. Essentially, you can become or be assimilated to the people, places, and personal objects that are constant in your life. In the book of Joshua chapter 1, God gives instruction and order to Joshua for the Israelites to redeem the promise. In Joshua 1:3, God says, “I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses”. What I thought most interesting is that God did not give them the land where they were, but instructed them that every place your foot steps is yours. Consequently, meaning if the children of Israel would have never moved physically into the promise land, the children of Israel would have still been wondering in the desert. If God has ordained a promise over your life, understand that it is you that have to move physically in the direction toward the promise. The way has been made, but you have to physically walk through it. In verse 6 of Joshua chapter 1, God instructs Joshua,” to be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people”. The strongest person in or around your promise has to be YOU. Strong refers to your character and how well you will handle adversity. When trials come to stumble, derail, or slow your motion toward your promise, you have to be strong and not willing to wilt under pressure. A key to being strong in character is understanding that everyone does not want to see you accomplish your promise and purpose in life. In fact verse 7 of Joshua chapter 1 suggests that you be VERY strong and courageous. Develop a character about yourself that exudes determination and passion, as well as low-tolerance for ignorant and hating people. The second part of this verse suggests that you be courageous too. Courageousness is a trait often related to risk taking. When moving into your promise, there are some risks that will need to be taken and you cannot be scared. The risks can seem like either success or failure, but remember you are walking into your promise by something called Faith. Know that Faith is the substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen. Being courageous in walking toward your promise, means you will go places where you may not be accepted, or speak with people that others wonder how are you able to get to speak with that person, and you have not done as much as they have. That’s around the time you remember the small things from the bible, “Favor aint Fair”. Ultimately, a string character and a courageous attitude are vital necessities for achieving your promise. Finally, Joshua 1:18 say, “Whoever rebels against your word and does not obey your words, whatever you may command them will be put to death. Only be strong and courageous!” I believe God knew that some people would try to distract others from walking or making that initial step into the promise land. So God instructs Joshua, put these people to death. I am not suggesting that anyone around you that is hindering you from accomplishing your promise should be put to death. I am suggesting that the people, places, and personal objects in your life that are holding you from moving forward in your promise should be put away permanently. The reason is simple; eventually the people, places, or personal objects will have a greater effect over your life than the Word of God. When people, places, and personal objects have a greater voice and influence over you than God’s Word, then we find the first commandment broken,”Thou shall have no other gods before me”. Also, keep this in mind if you are afraid to accomplish your promise in God, essentially you become a potential danger to hindering someone else from accomplishing their promise. So I say this to encourage you as always, now is the time to step in the direction toward your promise. Move with a character of strength; be strong, and courageous in all what God has promised in your life.

Fear is Contagious

Deuteronomy 20:8
“Then the officers shall add, “Is any man afraid or fainthearted? Let him go home so that his brothers will not become disheartened too.”
Fear is contagious for various reasons. Fear will most importantly discourage you from moving forward. Secondly, fear prevents others around you from moving forward. Thirdly, fear is an outright contradiction to faith. As a side note I noticed that fear is the starting point to being fainthearted, the disheartened.
The first thing fear affects is you, and discourages you from moving forward. In Deuteronomy 20, Moses is giving instructions on conquering the inhabitants of the promise land. In Deuteronomy 20:4, the priest proclaims this to the army,” For the Lord your God is the one who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to give you victory”. There were some members of the Lord’s army that were afraid of the battle, even though they knew God was with them and would destroy the enemy. Fear prevents you from going places of elevation, and leaves you in stagnation. Fear also discourages what the Lord has proclaimed over your life. Fear brings doubt about whether or not what the Lord has said will come true. The slowness of your progress may be a direct result of fear infection in your life.
The second part of Deuteronomy 20:8 say “let him go home so that his brothers will not become disheartened too”. Fear effects and affects people that are close to us. When you are destined to do something important for God, be careful of keeping fearful people in around you. Remember the story of the 12 spies that Moses sent out 10 came back with a negative word and begin to infect the whole community with fear. If you believe that at that time Moses was leading over a million people to the promise land. Then essentially 1 fearful person can infect a 100,000 people. No one that is going with you to achieve your purpose from God is allowed to fearful of anything, because they may cause others around you to become fearful too.
If God gave them the decree through the priest in Deuteronomy 20:4, the statement in Deuteronomy 20:8 should not have been made. The reason it was made is that fear contradicts faith. A person cannot have faith and fear trying to achieve a purpose. Either you believe (faith) that you will achieve your purpose or you doubt (fear) the road/path that you have to travel for your purpose. So many people are stuck in a place of fear, and claim that they have faith, but can’t understand why the purpose is not manifesting. Your purpose can’t grow when is being fed to different foods (faith & fear). At some point in your life either faith will abide in you or fear will continuously abound in you. You have to decide who stays and who goes.
Notice in Deuteronomy 20:8 that the word “afraid” progress to fainthearted and the disheartened. I thought it should be noted that fear will make you fainthearted, and eventually disheartened toward your purpose. According to the dictionary fainthearted is to lack courage or be cowardly. The first stage fear will drive you to be a coward and a lack in courage. Achieving your purpose will be done by courageous living, which will be a reflection of the faith you have in the word of God. The next level fear will drive you to after fainthearted is disheartened. The word disheartened means to depress the hope. Fear ultimately wants you to sit on the promise of your purpose. If you allow fear to infect your life, the lack of courage will prompt you to become disheartened about your purpose, and you will sit or depress the promise of your purpose. Please don’t let fear or anyone that is fear-infected stop you from achieving the promise for your purpose that God has spoken over your life. Fear-infected people are everywhere, even in our churches. So many people are trying to put the spirit of fear on children, to stop them from achieving what is different. We have to encourage more and be like Joshua and Caleb, “We can take the land, for it is good”.

3-D Promise Part 3

This 3rd part to the 3-D promise deals with height/elevation. Deuteronomy 26:19, God declares,” that he will set you in praise, fame and honor high above all the nations he has made and that you will be a people holy to the Lord your God”. When you have deepened your relationship with Christ, and allowed God to widen the parameters of your promise, do know that your promise will take you places that you have not seen before. The first thing God mentions in this scripture, is that you will be set in praise. Simply put that God will place you in a position of adoration/praise. God does this, because you already know through the deepening of your relationship, “this is not about me, but about God”. People will praise you in your promise, because they can see the manifestation of God. The second thing is God will give you fame and honor above all the nations. Through the widening of promise, you will gain a reputation for revealing the wonders and signs of God. People will come to you, and ask and inquire more about you, because they recognize the fame that you have. While others, will refer to you for the honor that you show God in all what you do. Thirdly the most prized honor of all, to be declared a holy people to the Lord your God. To be at a point in your promise, that you realize your promise is about uplifting God. The height/elevation of your promise is not about you becoming famous, but rather your relationship with God going to a level that is beyond the surface. Most people can see your praise on the floor at church, but your worship/dedication is represented in the evolving of your promise. If your promise never grows or goes anywhere, it is a good indication of your relationship with God/Christ. So as this series come to a close, I hope that you begin to develop a 3-D or 3 Declaration promise over your life. I hope that you understand that developing your relationship is the evidence of your promise evolving. Please continue to deepen your relationship with God/Christ, because this is the first declaration that we made to God/Christ. Also I hope that you surround yourself and develop spiritual peripheral vision in order to understand the widening of your promise. I earnestly pray that you develop these first 2 declaration, because dealing with the height/elevation that your promise will take you. At the end of Deuteronomy 26:19, God says he does all of this, because “God Promised it” Know that, what God has said over your life will come to pass. Maybe not how we would like it to come about or in the time we want, but what God says will pass. I believe according to the Word of God that you have a 3-D promise over your life, and that as of this day you begin to develop your relationship with God/Christ.

3-D Promise Part 2

The second declaration of the 3-D promise is found in verse 18 of Deuteronomy 26 chapter. God declares that we are His people, His more treasured possession. At this point, your promise begins widen, because your depth has deepened. Now that your promise is widening, people around you can no longer just see your promise as it is before them, but now must use spiritual peripheral vision. Anyone who can just see you singing, dancing, preaching, opening a business, or whatever your promise maybe, at a local level are viewing your promise through normal vision. Those individuals that see you changing the way people sing, or the manner in which preaching is delivered, or taking business internationally can see your vision beyond the norm(spiritual peripheral vision). You have to understand that how you view your promise is essential at this point, because if you only read and accept that you are His treasured possession, you might miss the widening of this declaration, in 1Peter 2:9,”but ye [are] a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people…” Understand that you are God’s people, and as a child of God you will expand from a generation, to a royal priesthood, to a holy nation, to a peculiar people. I believe we are living in the age where more peculiar people are being raised up. Know that peculiarity is synonymous with special or different. Remember God says he is doing new thing in this day, and that new thing is to begin with you. It begins with you because you are different. I always say that I believe God called you to because you are different, not to be different. God declaring that you are His treasured possession means that He has awesome plans that involve you. Your uniqueness is your valuable to the kingdom of God. The expanding of your promise is accepting the fact you are who you are, and knowing that is the reason God calls you His most treasured possession. Remember that because you have established a depth/deep relationship with God/Christ. God/ Christ has widen the parameters of your promise, and that can only be seen or viewed by individuals that have spiritual peripheral vision. That is the reason God has declared you are His people, His treasured possession.

3-D Prominse Part 1

There has been an emergence of 3-D (three dimensional) movies being released, and God has already revealed a 3-D promise to His peoples. The term 3-D means: having depth, width, and height. In Deuteronomy 26:17-19 3 declarations are made over the people of Israel/you. These declarations discuss the depth, height, width of a relationship with God/Christ. After reading these scriptures, I begin to re-assess my relationship with Christ and I became strengthen in those areas I was weak. I pray the same happens with you.
In Deuteronomy 26:17, the first declaration is made. The first declaration is made by us, and deals with the depth or basis of our relationship. At times we believe God is at our beckon and call, that we can live our life as we please and God is still to stay true to His word. Verse 17 exposes 4 declarations we made to God, and at times we have to be reminded of what we declared. The first is that we declared to the LORD that, “you are my God”, that means NOTHING should have your worship, attention, or praise. If God is your God, and you recognize that everything moves and lives in Him, then I believe He deserves us to treat Him better and with more reverence. We also, have to acknowledge the one He sent to save our souls, JESUS CHRIST. Jesus Christ is the head of our lives, and we know/believe that God sent him so that we may be saved and have everlasting life. For that we declared that you are God over/in our lives. The second declaration made is, “we will walk in His ways”. In 2010, with so much distraction in the world and openness to secularity, I know it becomes difficult to fulfill the second declaration. Walking in His ways, only increase our depth in Him. To walk in God ways keeps us more grounded/humble to others around, so that non-Christian disciples can see Christ working through us more clearly. The third declaration is, “to keep all His decrees, commands and laws”. God/Christ has outlined throughout the bible various decrees that we should withstand from should do. Keeping God/Christ decrees allows us to be partaker/witnesses to all the miraculous signs and wonders that God/Christ do through our lives. The fourth declaration is,” to obey them”, as the last thing we declared to God is that we will obey them. God mentions that obedience is better than sacrifice; we know that to be true, when we trust God’s Word over our lives. Similarly we should have the same trust/faith in Obeying His decrees, commands, and laws. When you look up the word depth, the words complex, gravity, deep, downward from an upper surface are mentioned. We cannot have a depth relationship with God/ Christ, if we are not willing to keep our word. If we can’t keep our word to God/Christ our relationship with them will never have depth. Jesus was speaking to the disciples and said, "All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows who the Son is except the Father, and no one knows who the Father is except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him." I think this sums up the reason for us to have a relationship with God/Christ with depth, after all we declared it.

Kingdom Characteristics

Deuteronomy 17:18-20
I hear a lot of talk from churches about kingdom living, having a kingdom mind, or kingdom vision. I found through reading Deuteronomy 17 chapter, God outlines kingdom characteristics through Moses. God begins this outline actually in verse 18 of Deuteronomy 17 chapter. God says through Moses that when you take throne of your kingdom, you ought to write a copy of the law for yourself. One kingdom characteristic is having the law close to you in written form, or in another words the bible. With so much technology available today, the Word should be accessible to us at all times. If you are going to have kingdom characteristics keeping the Word near, and dear to your heart is but the first step. Most people treat their cell phones with more importance than the Word of God (Bible). Keeping the Word of God near you at all times, displays discipline, and shows that the Word is the highest priority in my life. Again, with so much technology available the Word of God can be found on the web, cell phones (Iphone), and various other forms. So keep in mind that one kingdom characteristic is having the word in written form near you at all times.
In verse 19 of Deuteronomy 17 chapter, God mentions through Moses that a king should read the Word daily. Which is the second kingdom characteristic, read the Word of God daily. Whether you read a chapter a day or 10 chapters a day, keeping up with a daily routine is pertinent to developing this kingdom characteristic. There is so much reading material on having a daily devotion, the most notable is “Daily Bread”. You can find “Daily Bread” at most of your churches in the information section. This is design to increase your discipline in reading the Word daily. Reading the Word daily, suggests that God is to be included in your life daily. Reading the word daily is the way we expand and expound our relationship with Christ. Christ reveals so much to us through His Word, and if we don’t take time to read his Word, we are neglecting him. When you don’t spend time reading the Word, you don’t enhance/improve your relationship with Christ. You can’t be a kingdom thinker or living a kingdom lifestyle, and have no idea what kingdom you are a part of or what the history/legacy of the kingdom is about. The Word of God gives so much insight on kingdoms and the history of all the kings of Israel. The importance of developing the kingdom characteristic of keeping The Word near you is essential to developing the next step, which is reading the Word on a daily basis
After keeping and reading the Word of God on a daily basis, another characteristic is shown. This kingdom characteristic is Humility. In verse 20 the bible reads, “…not consider himself better than his brothers and turn from the law to the right or to the left”. There is a trend that once I have master the Word, that I am now better than those who have not. God says through Moses at the end of chapter 17, make sure the king does not think, because he has keep the law and read the law that he is better than the people he rule over. The same law that works on him is working in those he lead. You have to read this Word daily, and God will manifest signs and wonders to you, but do not think that you are better than the next person or that the Word changes for you only. Humility plus daily reading, and keeping that Word with you creates a kingdom characteristic that others will follow. That is the reason that kingdom characteristics need to be developed. Kingdom characteristics are not about you become a king or queen, but about understanding that you are an heir to throne of Christ. If Christ had kingdom characteristics on earth, shouldn’t we act like our heavenly father who is king of kings and lord of lords? The beautiful thing about Jesus Christ was that he as a boy recognized his kingdom potential, and begin to act like it the rest of his life. For that reason his disciples followed him and displayed kingdom characteristics that led many followers to them. So remember to develop your kingdom characteristic’s of keeping the Word near you daily (Deu. 17:18), reading the word daily (Deu. 17:19), but also practicing humility daily (Deu.17:20).

Achieving Max Benefits

Deuteronomy 8:1
Follow every command- To achieve your max benefits, instructions must be followed carefully (sounds like something at the end of a recipe). When Moses is preparing the children of Israel to head into the promise land, the first thing said is “Follow every command”. When entering a place of position of promise, we have to follow the commands that God has laid out for our lives. Failure to follow the commands that God has spoken over our lives can potentially lead a promise deferred, derailed, or worst destroyed. If things are not working out for you and your purpose that God has for you, a suggestion might be to re-check the instructions he gave you to follow. You might have missed a step that is hindering the completion on step 1.

Once you know that you are following every command that God desires for your lives. You must Live & Increase. The first part of this 2 part order is closely related to the former statement of “Follow Every Command”. Shawn Carter, makes the statement,” that living does not begin until church ends”. In a counter argument, living does not begin until we follow the commands of God. In Matthew 10:39, “Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it”. We have not experienced living until we begin to follow the commands that God has ordered for our lives. When you are living, you know your purpose, you can feel the passion for your purpose, and the sight/vision of your promise becomes more apparent. Once you know that you are living, there is a second part to the order, Increase. Increase is directly related to Development. So after you are living the next step is to increase/develop your life better. One thing that hinders people is the development of self. Be careful of people that claim to be living but are not developing. If a person is not developing themselves, they are in a position of inactivity, or non-mobile. When you are non-mobile or inactive, this closely resembles someone who is dead. So essentially you can’t be a walking oxymoron, claiming to be living but never developing/increasing your life. To increase/develop yourself is contradictory to complacency. You have to find a way to add/increase/develop to your living through following the commands that God had ordered for your life.

After God was finish giving the Israelites instruction through Moses (Follow every command of God, Live, and Increase). God gives direction, He says enter & possess. At some point in time after viewing your purpose, you have to enter it. If not, we run the risk of becoming a recognized unfulfilled purpose. Which is like what James says, “…like a man who looks at his face in a mirror, and after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like”. You cannot see your purpose and you vision only to be scared to enter into it. For God to fulfill, His promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the children of Israel had to walk in the promise land. Remember God removed those who were afraid to enter. Do not be afraid of your purpose in life, the time is now for you to enter into your purpose. Next thing God says is possess it. The children of Israel were to take hold of everything in the promise land. Understand that the word possess is synonymous with endowed with. To be endowed with something, literally means: (to provide with a permanent fund/source of income/to furnish with talent/to equip). Essentially, to say this, “that once you have entered your God destined purpose, you must possess it”. When you have possessed it, understand that everything has been provided for you. God has endowed you with provisions for your purpose. Not only our you to follow every command God gives you, and to live according to the commands given, and while you are living remember to increase your life, but now is the time that you are to walk/enter into the purpose, and while you are walking in your purpose know that have provided everything necessary for you to possess your purpose.