Around the holidays many have a tendency to feel depressed about past mistakes they have made in their life.

The feel worthless and some even consider suicide.

The Bible is a wonderful book of hope to show us that even when we mess up our life, God can transform us into new creations and give us a fresh new start.

Today let’s turn to Joshua 2 and 6 see how God miraculously gave a woman beauty for ashes.

In the city of Jericho, there lived a prostitute named Rahab. She was lost and looking for love in all the wrong places. War was raging all around in the city and she feared for her life and family. God saw the tears of this woman and put his miraculous plan into action.

Moses had died, and Joshua was their new leader. God instructed Joshua to send 2 spies into Jericho and divinely sent them to Rahab’s house.

Rahab welcomed the men into her home as a safe haven.

Suddenly the king’s men came knocking at her door. They were searching for the men, but Rahab had wisely hidden them up on her roof under some stalks of flax.

When asked if she’d seen the men, Rahab risked her life and kept God’s servants safe from harm. Rahab said to the spies, I know that the LORD has given you the land, and your terror is fallen upon us.

All the inhabitants of the land faint because of you. We heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea for you, when you came out of Egypt, and that you utterly destroyed the 2 kings of the Amorites.

As soon as we heard these things, our hearts melted and there remained no more courage in any man, because of you: for the LORD your God, he is God in heaven above and in earth beneath.

Because I have shown kindness to you, please show kindness to my father’s house and keep my family alive.

The men said, Our life for yours. If you do not reveal our plans, when God gives us the land, we will deal kindly with you. Rahab let the men down through a window with a scarlet cord and instructed
them to hide in the mountains for 3 days until the coast was clear.

The spies instructed Rahab to tie a scarlet cord in her window and have all of her family remain in her house until they returned.

After 3 days, the spies returned to Joshua and said, Truly the LORD has delivered into our hands all the land, for all the inhabitants of the country faint because of us.

God commanded Joshua and the Israelites to march around the walls of Jericho once each day for 6 days in complete silence. This was an amazing thing for over 1 million people to be still in total obedience to the LORD.

On the 7th day, 7 priests lead the procession of mighty men before the ark. They marched around the city 6 times. The 7th time, the priests blew the ram’s horns and the people were told to shout loudly.

Joshua and his people obeyed God’s orders, even though it probably didn’t seem like much of a battle plan for men of war.

God rewarded their obedience and the walls of Jericho came crashing down.

So Joshua spared Rahab the prostitute and her relatives who were with her in the house, because she had hidden the spies Joshua sent to Jericho. And she lives among the Israelites to this day.  Joshua 6:25 (NLV)

The city of Jericho was burned to the ground, and all of the people were killed…except Rahab the harlot and her family.

God chose this prostitute to be remembered, in the hero’s hall of fame recorded in Hebrews 11… along with great men like Moses, Gideon, Samson, David, and Samuel the prophet.

By faith the harlot Rahab did not perish with those who did not believe, when she had received the spies with peace.  Hebrews 11:31

She was chosen, simply because she believed in the power of the Almighty God, who she’d heard about, from the testimonies of others in neighboring communities.

The faith she had in God, gave her the courage to lie to the king’s men when they came knocking on her door.

If caught, she would have been killed, because she had committed treason to her country. When the walls of Jericho came crashing down…she believed in the honesty and integrity of 2 strangers, to be faithful to their word to protect her, when God delivered them. Rahab and her family remained in their home, until God’s men came and took them to the safety of their camp.

Rahab was taken in as an adopted daughter of the Israelites. Her old life as a prostitute had ended. God allowed her grace and a fresh start. She and her family lived among the Israelites. Later, God sent a young man to marry her, by the name of Salmon.

Their marriage brought a child into the world named Boaz. Boaz married Ruth…Naomi’s widowed daughter-in-law.

Rahab…through God’s miraculous hand… became the great grandmother of King David…
and our Saviour Jesus Christ. as recorded in Matthew 1:5

Rahab’s past was past…and God had a amazing new life planned for her.

Today you may be alone and afraid of the future.

The guilt and shame of your past haunts you day and night.

You may have gone from relationship to relationship…

looking for someone to love you…

Each time you were rejected by a parent, a boyfriend, a husband…

you built a wall around yourself so high…that no one could ever hurt you again.

People may have called you names like…

Easy
Fat
Ugly
Stupid
Slut
Whore

But they lied!

God loves you precious one.
Before you were born…
God knew you and had a plan for your life.

You may have gotten off to a rough start…but

God has all your tears in a bottle.

Each time you went seeking for love or acceptance…He sat in heaven waiting and hoping you would turn to him… God loves you so much, he sent Jesus to die for your sins.

No one’s past is too horrible to be forgiven from a humble and repentant heart.

No one’s past can hold them back from becoming a new creation used by our Heavenly Father.

Rahab was a prostitute.
Moses was a murderer.
David was a murderer and committed adultery.
The Apostle Paul persecuted Christians.
Peter denied the LORD Jesus.

Thousands of people remain trapped in the past. They try to deaden the pain with cutting, drugs, alcohol, sex, or suicide.

They don’t believe God could ever forgive them for what they have done.

Beloved…Don’t let your past, steal your future!

If we confess our sins…God is faithful and just to forgive our sins and cleanse us. He’ll wash away every dirty stain, every tear, every scar with the blood of his Son.

He promises to transform us into new creations…

This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! 2 Corinthians 5:17 (NLV)

Jesus is standing at the door of your heart knocking… His nail scarred hands are open wide to receive you as a child of God.

Jesus said…

“I AM the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” John 14:6

If today was your last day on earth…where will you spend eternity?

Heaven or Hell?

Choose this day…who you will serve.

He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son.  Revelation 21:7 (NIV)

Choose Christ… Choose Life!

Heavenly Father, Holy is Your name…

Thank you for the gift of this beautiful new day and for your son Jesus to save us from our sins. Forgive me each filthy sin of my past. I accept responsibility for my mistakes and thank you for your loving mercy and grace. If there are consequences for my sins, I accept your correction, knowing it will only strengthen and make me into a mature witness, to share your love with others.

Help each one who reads this message to confess their sins…and forget them, as you cover them with the blood of Jesus our Savior. Like Rahab help us to start this day new and fresh with the cleansing
power of the Holy Spirit. Fill us with wisdom and knowledge to know and do your will. Flood our hearts with love and power, so we may walk with joy and peace in our hearts. We believe that we are born again.

We are a new creation, that you are molding and shaping, to be conformed to the likeness of your Son, Jesus Christ. Help us bury the garbage of our past…and never dig it up again.

Let us never again live in fear or let someone make us feel inferior. We are your son’s and daughter’s, created and chosen especially by you, for a special mission in life.

Purify our minds and cast out doubt, fear, depression, and anxiety from us. Empower us…so we may become mature men and women to preach and publish your words boldly and with power.

Thank you Father for giving us a new life and a second chance. May our lives speak volumes of hope and love into the hearts of others this Christmas and in the New Year.

We lift up prayers to you for all who are victims of abuse. Wrap your loving arms around them and protect them from all harm and danger.

Wipe the tears from their eyes and give them beauty for ashes. Help them to lay the shattered pieces of their lives at the foot of the cross and trust you to mend and heal them from within.

In Jesus’ name we pray…

Amen

I—yes, I alone—will blot out your sins for my own sake and will never think of them again. Isaiah 43:25

Your sister and servant of the Lord,
Valerie Rousseau

At Christmas and New Year: There’s mountains of happiness, and lots to be sad and anxious about. Fear of the future, joy of the dream of tomorrow and the daunting prospect of destiny…

Whatever your feelings just know this: God is not calling you to be a superhero in your own strength. Jesus already was! All Jesus requires of us is to do is give up our own plans and walk ‘one step at a time’ as His Spirit guides us – to let HIS power permeate through us …to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with our God. Micah 6:8

We serve an amazing and healing God. Let’s walk in the promises He has for us in the coming months and years. If we do that, we are assured to see His power working in our lives – to see the hurting healed, the prisoners set free, rest for the weary and lives transformed.

Merry Christmas from SloppyNoodle.com

I’m Spending Christmas with Jesus this Year

I see the countless Christmas trees

Around the world below

With tiny lights, like heaven’s stars,

Reflecting on the snow.

The sight is so spectacular,

Please wipe away that tear.

For I’m spending Christmas

With Jesus Christ this year.

I hear the many Christmas songs

that people hold so dear.

But the sounds of music can’t compare

With the Christmas choir up here.

For I have no words to tell you

The joy their voices bring,

For it is beyond description

To hear an angel sing.

I can’t tell you of the splendor,

or the peace here in this place.

Can you just imagine Christmas

With our Savior, face to face?

I’ll ask Him to light your spirit,

As I tell Him of your love.

So then, pray for one another

As you lift your eyes above.

Please let your hearts be joyful,

and let your spirit sing,

For I’m spending Christmas in heaven,

and I’m walking with the king!

Brother Duan was stranded. It was the middle of winter and the engine of the bus had just given up its battle with the cold. Duan was travelling south and was now stuck somewhere in the Henan province.

Duan was a house leader in northern China. Now seventy-seven years of age he still had no home to call his own. On a whim, he decided to trudge off in the night through the fields of snow. As he walked, he felt so alone. He thought longingly of his beloved wife who died long ago. And then a vision of his little son swam into his tired mind, and a dark cloud settled over his heart.

Cross on the doorpost

Duan found a village and knocked on a door with a little cross notched on the doorpost. The door was opened and Duan was warmly welcomed by a Christian family. They were all excited as that night they would travel to a neighboring town to hear a dynamic bible teacher, called brother Wang, from one of the bigger cities. On their way to the meeting, the family told Duan about brother Wang. Duan asked, “How old is he?” When they told him he was in his early forties, a look of pain swept Duans face. He said, “I once had a son. I knew him for only two months. Now he’s dead. But had he lived, he would be forty-two today. I called him “Isaac,” because we had despaired of ever having a child, but ten years after we were married, along he came, like we were Abraham and Sarah. My wife and I were evangelists in the 1950′s. We were both in great danger of arrest. An old school bully of mine called Wu kept accusing us of imperialism. We worried for our son. One night my wife heard a voice in a vision, that said, “give your son to your enemy.” She said nothing about it, but the following morning I was reading genesis 22, and when I read Verse 2, “Go get Isaac, your only son, the one you dearly love�and sacrifice him to me”, I felt that God was asking me to do something terrible. We shared our thoughts and decided to offer our son to Wu and his wife. A few days later Wu came to the door and arrested us on charges that were groundless. I was convicted and sentenced to life in prison. During my interrogation, I told Wu I wanted to give my boy to him. Wu and his wife were childless. When I came out of jail in 1978 I discovered that Wu adopted my son but the entire family died in an earthquake in 1975.

Shocked silence

They finally arrived at the crowded church. When brother Wang began preaching, Duan got a terrible shock. It was like hearing himself. Even the preacher’s phrases were similar. He stood up to see better. The preacher stopped and looked over. There was a minute of shocked silence as both men looked at each other. The Physical likeness was amazing. Duan began to apologize, “I’m sorry brother for interrupting your excellent message. You see, I had a son who would be your age now. And if he had lived, he would have looked and sounded just like you.” Tears came into Wang’s eyes, and he whispered hoarsely, “are you Daddy Duan?”

After 40 years

Father and son were reunited after forty two years. Wang had been brought up by Wu, who had been so impressed by Duan’s act of giving that he became a strong believer. Wu used to say to him, “I’m not your real father. He is a great man of God. He gave you to me, and I give you all my love, and the encouragement to put God first, just like your real father.” The elder of the church stood up and declared, “We have seen our sermon tonight. Christ came into the world to save sinners” – that is Christmas. Just as Duan handed his only son to the care of his enemy, so God handed his own son to us sinners. Let us rejoice in their reconciliation, and ours too.”

Text Reprinted from Open Doors Magazine