Word of the Day (1-12-12)

Good Morning Everyone

Today is Thursday January 12, 2012

The word of the day comes from 

Joshua 2:8-11

New International Version (NIV)

 ⁸ Before the spies lay down for the night, she went up on the roof ⁹ and said to them, “I know that the LORD has given you this land and that a great fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who live in this country are melting in fear because of you. ¹⁰ 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 Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan, whom you completely destroyed ¹¹ When we heard of it, our hearts melted in fear and everyone’s courage failed because of you, for the LORD your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below.

My Interpretation

Continuing with our study in the book of Joshua…now Monday we didn’t fully discuss the person per say of Rahab who was a prostitute but we went into how the most unlikely of people could wind up being the very people who blesses you. Think about it, Joshua sent the men of God out to scope out the land and somehow they wind up being sheltered and provided to by a prostitute. Let’s put that in plain terms. If my Bishop sent me and someone else to scope out the land surrounding our church to report back and we come across a prostitute who takes us in, could you imagine the headlines “ministers sleeping with prostitutes”. Yet in the first part we have that exactly happen; men of God being sheltered and provided to by a prostitute. Now read Monday’s word to get the full scope of not prejudging or boxing in God when it comes to how He chooses to shelter and provide for you. What I want to discuss more today is the reason she did it…

What do our verses tell us today? We can gather that by the way Rahab mentions God as “your God” and not our God or her God that she herself does not have a personal relationship with God. But even without having a spiritual eye to discern, her physical eyes told her that based on what has previously happened wherever these men were, that God (the one true and living God) had to be with them. She assessed that if they were in the land in which she lived, that God must be setting them up to give them that land as well. She assessed that the stories that were circling about the miracles they were accomplishing were real and realized they had to only be by God. I mean how else do you explain walking yes walking across the Red Sea? She said that when she heard they defeated two great kings their courage depleted, their hope was gone because they realized that what God was doing in their lives, neither great men (kings) or nature (great seas) could prevent it from happening.

This helped me to draw a conclusion. Their reputation preceded them. Rahab never met those men before and they never met her. Yet she knew of them. She knew who they belonged to, whose they were, what they represented and the miracles that followed wherever they went. Has anyone ever said that they heard of you because of your stance for God, your walk with God, your faith, your prayer life, your fasting life, your bible knowledge, your teaching, your preaching, your understanding, your comprehension, your explanation of the Word of God, your life period?

I remember being at a church one day socializing and talking and someone must have mentioned my name. A lady comes over to the conversation and says “excuse me so you are Gamal from Southern Baptist.” I was a little startled because I’m thinking how this lady knows me and more importantly know where I worship. She said that she heard good things about me and my teaching the Word of God. I was still trying to compute all of it but was able to say praise God and thank you. In seeing this story, it made me think of that experience. My reputation preceded me in a good way but I have also had instances where my reputation preceded in a bad way. If someone was to talk about you, what would they say? And more importantly, if the person didn’t know God for themselves, would your testimony of being a man/woman of God be so compelling that they helped you, provided for you, blessed you in some way that seemed to go against everything they knew and dealt with in the world they lived in?

I want to have the kind of reputation where strangers want to be bless me, to help me succeed, to provide covering of some sort for me because they realize the God I serve is bigger than any harm they could potentially want to do to me. And without opening my mouth or meeting them, my lifestyle could have such an impact on somebody that they are willing to go against their normal to see to it that the man of God is provided for. That is testimony I want to have.

Have a wonderful, blessed, productive, stress free day!