" We have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea [a] for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan, whom you completely destroyed. When we heard of it, our hearts melted and everyone's courage failed because of you, for the LORD your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below. 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"
Summer 2009 has literally taken the PureHeart leadership team to the four corners of the earth and back!Our team’s travels are the reason you have not heard much from us.
Regardless of life’s business, our hearts’ desire for PureHeart and the purpose God’s called us to has not diminished.We just have to be more and more creative in how we engage and approach our ministry.
Check out our web site for parts two and three of a “Turned Away Heart.”Brad posted them for me while I was vacationing in July.
This week I continue in my Heart Series with the condition of a melted heart.
In order to completely understand this verse you must start at the beginning of the book of Joshua.Doing so you find the following:
·Moses has died
·The LORD appointed Joshua to continue what Moses started – Take the Israelites out of the land of captivity and into the Promised Land.
·Joshua sends two spies into the “Promised Land”
·Rahab hid the spies from the King of Jericho
Now, we get to the heart of this week’s note.Scripture states that Rahab, a prostitute, protected Joshua’s spies.Verse nine captures my attention.It states that Rahab “knew” what the LORD had done and continues on by saying she had heard!She knew how the LORD had taken care of the Israelites, how the Red Sea had been parted.She knew that the LORD had given the land to Joshua.The stories have preceded the spies to the point that Rahab knows the LORD was part of this and the hearts of Jericho’s citizens has melted in fear.
According to the Lexicon Transliteration, the word melt is derived from the Hebrew word, macac meaning to dissolve, melt, vanish, drop off, faint, grow fearful, wasted, worthless.
Think about this, the hearts of the people of Jericho vanished, dropped off, fainted and grew fearful of the LORD!
I have to stop here.This is a woman of very low standing in the community.She is a prostitute! But God choose her to assist His chosen people. God chose her and her family, out of all the people of Jericho, to save.Think of this.Of all those who could have been selected to assist the LORD’s chosen, He chose the least of the least, and still the least of the least’s heart melted in fearful reverence of what He had done and who He was!
Can you grasp this? I am the Rahab the LORD chose!Despite the known profession of Rahab and what one can assume her“chosen profession” would do to her heart, she knew the LORD’s activities and His presence in such a way the heart, even the heart of a prostitute could not help but melt.Talk about a heart that fears the LORD in the full meaning of the word fear!I want that at all times, don’t you?I sense in our world we have lost that along the way.My prayer for the universal church of believers is that we would come back to that.
Join me praising God and lifting up the following prayers requests:
1. I praise Him for the absolutely beautiful weather we've been having the past few days here in Oklahoma!
2. I praise God for never giving up on me or the vision He gave me for this ministry.
3. I praise God for His unfailing love. Lord, teach me what that truely means and how to live it out to others.
4. The past couple of days, I've received reports from our family of prayer partners of a couple of amazing people diagnosed with cancer. Please pray for them and their families. May we be the body of Christ to them during this time.
5. Pray for the OWU students, professors, and administrators as they returned back to school last week.
6. Pray for avenues to minister where ever God directs.
