The RED CORD Promise

#4 Help someone along the way

In this post, I ask challenging questions of myself as one who believes that all Christians have been called to be true representatives of the biblical God.. As such a believer, I want to IMAGE Christ. (2 Co 3:18),
We're told in 1 Corinthians 10:,11, studying OT accounts are vital because they were written FOR US as warnings and examples.. Because of this, my questions & thoughts reflect both of these aspects as I meditate on RULE #4 of THE JORDAN RIVER RULES by Robert J Morgan.. 
We were asked a vital question in the group time which also played a part in the challenge. Feeling helpless & overwhelmed in the aftermath of Hurricane IAN & the catatrosphic destruction, we honestly wanted to know, "How do we talk to those who have lost so much & are questioning God's goodness in such destruction?" I felt several in the room were also having their own doubts. We've been taught to share God's love. Our usual focus is to only share the "gospel of Jesus" and desire to do it in such a way that it is not confrontational, judgmental, or even threatening to anyone's way of life. This week, I was again amazed to find answers to our quesitions in the account of Rahab, but a little hesitant to share these answers because there seems to be more than God's LOVE & goodness. Let me just clarify that this account is the goodness of God to Rahab, as an example demonstrating God's love, but it's also a catastaphic warning for us, our family, & neighbors..  

Joshua 2:10 “For we have HEARD how the LORD made a dry path for you through the Red Sea when you left Egypt. And we know what you did to Sihon & Og, the two Amorite kings east of the Jordan River, whose people you completely destroyed.
Did you wonder how "they HEARD"? Who told them? The Jericho residents HEARD of God's power. All were aware & warned that this Power was moving forward toward them & it was so powerful they could not withstand this Presence. Rahab, a resident of Jericho, knew the Israelite's God had given them the land. Perhaps she yearned to know this God, Rahab showed kindness, which is only produced by the Spirit of God, proving God's Supreme Presence was already near.. 
Does Rahab's description of Jericho residents resemble our community? Are those around us demonstrating "kindness" showing us God is already working right here? This whole account caused me to wonder what had been HEARD about the power of God in His people here in my community.
What have my neighbors HEARD about my God? 
What have my neighbors HEARD of my relationship with the Supreme God?
Has it been rumored that new neighbors know the Supreme King who rules another kingdom?
Have they heard our adventuous story as if it were a similar mountainous trek with the powerful Supreme God of the heavens & all the earth? In part, it is why I write this blog.
The Bible asks, “How shall they HEAR unless one sent?”
We believe we have been sent.
We believe we are on mission.
As I consider the Jericho story in JOSHUA 2, and specifically, Rahab, I'm challenged with my mission and how I reflect God's image in Christ's righteousness to those who need to HEAR. What does being a true representatiive of His Kingdom & Glory mean to me each day as I live in this community? This has become heavy stuff to me. It captivates my heart breathlessly, leaving me overwhelmed that this biblical Presence & Power is now IN ME.  It drives my mission passionately & intensely. I've learned to be intentional with my day & activities.
When Israel crossed borders, it created a real fear of God in the residents.

Having recently crossed a big river & state borders into a new community, I must admit that I've never once considered my new neighbors having "hearts melting in FEAR" caused by our move into this community! With so many coming & going, I wonder if they even noticed new people, I'm sure there was no thought of the Presence of God moving in when our U-haul drove into the driveway. 

But Jericho noticed. when His Presence entered their territory.
Rahab noticed & HEARD all their fear. 
Joshua 2:11 “No wonder our hearts have melted in FEAR! No one has the courage to fight after hearing such things. For the LORD your God is the Supreme God of the heavens above & the earth below.”

What a great verse for "Peace through Strength' we often hear from the political world! No one dares fight where power has been on display. I think there is real need to pause & consider how the power of GOD IN US has been on display for our community.
Do those around us realize they are in the Presence of the Supreme God of heaven & all the earth? According to the NT, our power-filled holy lives, on display for others to SEE, should cause hearts to either be drawn in love into His Presence (Jn 13:34-35) or "melt with fear" as they fall on their knees & worship our powerful God. (1 CO 14:24-25)
Maybe just thinking about making people respectfully fearful is an appalling consideration. Perhaps you've been taught "God is love", so when natural disasters happen, you reason with others that it's no one's fault. We've learned to just deal with whatever "Mother Nature" hands out, hopeful that it will be scientifically explained. We tend to leave God out of conversation. We've been told to silently allow some to believe they're intelligent enough to figure out how to change climate, deceiving & pacifying those who deny the presence & power of the Supreme & Sovereign God.. Maybe you've not been taught or even considered that it is your loving God who creates disasters, or that HE uses natural disasters for His purposes.
How we must learn to know God as Rahab knew, “the LORD your GOD IS Supreme God of the heavens above & the earth below”.
Let's consider this knowledge of God making a difference in how we view natural disasters.

Looking at another biblical passage, affirms faith by revealing more of God's continual personal involvement in creation. We can consider our own fearful respect in the knowledge of the One True God.
Here is a description of God in Jeremiah 10:12-13 “But the LORD made the earth by His power, and he preserves it by His wisdom. With His own understanding He stretches out the heavens, When He speaks in the thunder, the heavens roar with rain. He causes the clouds to rise over the earth. He sends the lightning with the rain and releases the wind from his storehouses.”
It's hard to wrap my mind around this, especially while hearing reports of destructive 155mph winds. It causes me to try to grasp the enormity of God's Sovereignty working though weather to demonstrate His continual Presence & Power in our daily routines. It's hard to explain that what's happening around us is a loving God getting our attention. We believe God created the heavens & the earth – a long time ago, you know, “in the beginning”. But how often do we consider His complete Sovereignty in creation’s work TODAY? God says HE is preserving the earth, by causing, sending, and releasing weather at His Will. Just pause on that for a moment!
It is GOD who preserves this earth. It is GOD who calls to the clouds to rise over the earth. It is GOD who calls thunder to bring rain, It is God who sends the lightning with the rain. It is God who releases the wind.
Wow!  That's saying "it was God’s extreme power over creation" that made us see disaster this week?
Do we need to take time to get better aquainted with this biblical God of disasters?
Are we even willing to consider sharing this biblical side of our God among each other, or, an even more daunting task, sharing truthfully with our neighbors & family, or those who are in distress? 
IS THIS YOUR GOD?
I know I personally feel alittle harsh to say "My God of love sent disaster." I don't think it would be a welcomed subject in many circles. So, I have to ask myself again...
What would make neighbors today become respectfully FEARFUL of God so that He had their attention? What in our lives displays His Presence & Power for others to HEAR about our God?

Proverbs "9:10 "The Fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom..."

I feel very challenged to see God's handiwork as disaster, yet I stay silent, not knowing how to speak truth in love. I'm not convinced my words would come across as gentle & fragile as I feel inside. I grieve over the loss I see, yet my heart yearns to tell others God needs their undivided attention. This disaster could be "fields that are ready for spiritual harvest". We desperately need to see people as God sees?
What is God doing among His people? We offer hope like the spies offered Rahab. Yet, we also need to be READY for what is to come. We need to be prepared spiritually to cross over & conquer.

Our neighbors need to HEAR His display of PRESENCE & POWER IN US? 
Our lives must help others become respectfully fearful, growing in knowledge of the Supreme Sovereign God especially as we offer the Love of God displayed in Jesus Christ?

Knowing future prophesy, we can use disaster to offer hope & eternal rescue. This disaster looks really bad, but it's nothing compared to what is about to happen to this earth! We have a tendency to avoid Scriptures that speak of judgment. We shy away from any confrontational passages that might give impressions of possible judgment. Just recently while reading Ezekiel 38, the words “A long time from now you will be called into action. In the distant future…”
I believe that “long time from now” is not so long away now. I believe it might be our future. The "distant future" of Ezekiel is most likely our “present” time. The Bible is a revelation where God not only describes Himself, but He tells what He is doing and how His work will look. Jesus told his disciples that the Holy Spirit has come to teach us of things to come. This is to warn us, but also to give us words to warn others of coming disasters. Our God is a loving God. Out of that love He warns us that terrible things, climatic changes will happen for His purposes. Man cannot change climate on a whim. God tells us that rain falls on the righteous and on the unrighteous at His command. He also comforts His people with His own personal involvement, often through His people's hearts & hands as we relieve their pain.. Many biblical accounts show God offering a way of escaoe. 
Coming judgment will be catastrophic. God has made a way to escape future disasters. Through His Son's sacrificial death, burial, & resurrection, God redeems people from the grip of judgment. What this earth faces soon is a judgment far more fierce than anything that has been before! The recent disasters are building to much bigger catastrophic, epic, natural disasters.
Are we preparing ourselves & those we love for upcoming catastophy? 
The spies, God's people, offered the RED CORD as a covenant symbol of safety.
Have you found God's escape provided through the blood of His Beloved Son, Jesus Christ?
God's people moved FORWARD in His Presence & Power.
Today, "the Ark of the Covenant" continues moving forward in the power of God's Kingdom to come.
Are you following, prepared & ready to conquer?
Have you prepared your children so that they are ready?
Are your neighbors ready?
Have you told them that wisdom begins by a respectful fear of God?
My concern is that we have unintentionally lived a message of “health & wealth”, pacifying others with only comforting words, while avoiding the harsher reality of judgment to come on those who reject God's rescue offer of LOVE.
Rahab HEARD.
A red cord was provided for her deliverance.
By faith, Rahab received deliverance. (Heb 11:31)
Our friends need to HEAR.
They need to respond in FAITH.
Each needs God's promised red cord, the precious blood of Jesus, to provide deliverance from coming judgment.