"His Sustaining Touch"

I lay down and slept; I awoke, for the Lord sustained me. Psalm 3:5

I love this thought or rather this truth! The Lord sustains me and He keeps me in all my ways! According to the Strong's Concordance the word sustained comes from a primitive root meaning to prop (both literally or figuratively): reflex. it means to lean upon or to take hold of (in a favorable or unfavorable sense.) What that means is that as His people we can rest, assured in the knowledge that He has our back!

We can lean on Him as He takes hold of all the things we deal with on a daily basis. It is easy to understand that we can look to Him when we are facing a difficult situation but how often do we acknowledge that He is the one we look to for everything else as well. I think that it is an all to often event for His people to take His "sustaining touch" on our day to day for granted! I think that all to often the thought of our heart is ... I've got this and we forget to even acknowledge that He holds us up in all that we do!

He has a good hold of us and He sustains us as promised ... "See, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands; Your walls are continually before Me." Isaiah 49:16

"Her True Token"

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

"By faith." Two words that we can easily see being used when talking about Noah, Enoch, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, David, Moses, Gideon, etc, etc, etc. So how and or why did Rahab 'the harlot' get a mention in this infamous faith chapter? What was that deal breaker moment that established her place as a woman who exhibited faith for all the generations to see?

According to this verse in Hebrews 11 it tells us that it was her faith that caused her and her family to be the only ones saved when the walls of Jericho came down. It also tells us that it was because she received the spies with peace ... so when did her deal breaker moment take place?

Some might think that it goes to the 'deal' she was offered, and took, I might add, to hang the scarlet cord so that she and all who pertained to her might be saved. While this action definitely confirmed her deal it was not the deal breaker moment I'd like to talk about today. What I'd like to draw attention to today is that first moment when she heard the reports about everything that God had done bringing the nation of Israel out of Egypt. She heard. She believed. She believed the reports of what the God of Israel had done and decided to align herself with The God who could do what God had done for His people...

   "So before they lay down, she came up to them on the roof, and said to the men: "I know that the Lord has given you the land, that the terror of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land are fainthearted because of you.
   For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were on the other side of the Jordon, Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed.
   And as soon as we heard these things, our hearts melted; neither did there remain any more courage in anyone because of you, for the Lord your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath.
   Now therefore, I beg you, swear to me by the Lord, since I have shown you kindness, that you also will show kindness to my father's house, and give me a true token.
   and spare my father, my mother, my brother's my sisters, and all that they have, and deliver our lives from death." Joshua 1:8-13

My point being, her deal breaker moment was the moment she heard and believed in her heart that God was The God she would choose to align herself with. That moment when faith to believe took up residence in, not only her heart, but her actions as well. That spark of faith caused her to 'receive the spies in peace' and to receive her 'true token' as a testimony of, not only her faith in God, but His provision and protection for her as well.

As believers we have all had this deal breaker moment. That moment when faith in God takes its place in our hearts and actions because we too have heard and believed the reports about all that He has done to save and provide for us. Rahab, the harlot, received a scarlet cord as her true token and as it hung out her window it declared her connection to the One True God. It declared that she belonged to Him. You and I have a true token given to us when we believe as well ... a blood stain cross. That blood stained cross and the events, the actions, that took place upon it by our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, declares our connection to Him as well. When we take a hold of our 'true token' in faith we too can know that we belong to Him. He becomes our Lord, our Savior, our King and all the protection and provision that goes with belonging to Him is ours to walk in.

Rahab, the harlot, displayed her true token and received all that it promised. Will you and I do the same? Will we share the message of our true token, a blood stained cross. Will we tell the world that we belong to the One who loved us enough to pay the price to save us!
  

The Walk

Paul knew this. He. KNEW. This.

But it was so different to hear it. Unsettling. Worrisome. Even frightening.

His friends, confidants, partners in ministry were worried. Their voices rose as they clamored for his attention, begging him not to go to Jerusalem. A few of them even tugged on his arms.

And a part of him wanted to listen.

He vehemently shook his head and waved his arms. His friends, people who had become family to him, quieted, waiting for him to speak.

The part of him that desperately wanted - needed - to follow the Lord knew different. The desire burned within him. He would go. He would follow the Lord anywhere.

Based on Acts 21:10-14

While we were staying for many days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. And coming to us, he took Paul’s belt and bound his own feet and hands and said, "Thus says the Holy Spirit, 'This is how the Jews at Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.'" When we heard this, we and the people there urged him not to go up to Jerusalem. Then Paul answered, "What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be imprisoned but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus." And since he would not be persuaded, we ceased and said, "Let the will of the Lord be done." Acts 21:10-14

A man of God arrived, and told Paul that hard things laid ahead. That if he went to Jerusalem, troubles would come. Understandably, Paul's close friends tried to keep him safe. And I don't think there isn't any one of us who WOULDN'T listen to our friends and loved ones in this position. But the so-called "sensible" path is not always God's path.

Sometimes God walks us through difficult seasons to reap joys in the harvest.

Or as I like to say...

Sometimes we have to walk through mud to get to the bookstore. :)

But the thing is, God doesn't let us walk alone. He doesn't leave us. And He always brings us through it. We are not alone. No matter what we face, and in the Christian's walk, we face a lot of hardships, persecutions, uncertainties, and worries. But instead of giving in to the enemy's fear, give your fear to God. He's got your back and He says, "Let's do this thing."

V. Joy Palmer