God’s promise for Week 1:
“God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us" (Eph 3:20 MSG).
Day Two
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us" (Heb 12:1 NIV).
The “great cloud of witnesses" mentioned in this verse refers to people like Moses and Abraham who are noted in the Bible as people of great faith. We can’t help but be awed at their faith and what amazing things resulted from that faith. Sometimes it is tempting to say, “Yes, but they were great people. I’m only me—how can I have that kind of faith?" I once heard someone say that the Bible is not stories about the great people of God, but rather about the great God of people. Those people whose lives are recorded in the Bible were ordinary people. They sinned and failed just like we do. In the list of people of great faith in Hebrews 12, there is one that stands out. Her name was Rahab and she was a prostitute. When Joshua and Caleb came to Jericho to spy out the land God had promised to them, she hid them and helped them escape unharmed. Why did she do this? In her own words: “I know that…the Lord God is He Who is God in heaven above and on earth beneath" (Joshua 2:8-11 RSV). In short, she protected Joshua and Caleb because she had faith in their God, and because of that faith, she “escaped the destruction that came on those who refused to trust God" (Heb 11:31). Later, this woman who had been a prostitute married an Israelite and became the great-great-great (many greats) grandmother of Jesus Christ! This story encourages me, does it you? It wasn’t because she never lost her temper or because of her spotless past that she was listed here along with Moses and Abraham, but because of her faith. She believed that God could do anything. Rahab was “not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved" (Heb 10:39). Rahab saw God in the midst of her less-than-perfect life and she believed in His power to save her. And He did.
Prayer:
God, help me today to know that You can do “far more that I could ever imagine." Help me to trust You in the midst of difficult or painful circumstances.
In Faith:
Remember to pray for your three “hopeless cases"!
