love, mercy joy

I feel like the story of Rahab is one of the stories in the Bible that a lot of religious people try to ignore. Like, they kind of pretend she didn't exist, or if she did, they paint her in this glorious picture as some kind of special, holy prostitute. Because God wouldn't really use a whore, would he? “Then Joshua secretly sent out two spies from the Israelite camp at Acacia Grove. He instructed them, “Scout out the land on the other side of the Jordan River, especially around Jericho.” So the two men set out and came to the house of a prostitute named Rahab and stayed there that night.” Rahab was a hooker. You get me? She got paid to have sex. Actively. Not, she used to be a bad girl but now she's redeemed. No, she was a working girl, and she worked hard for the money. I haven't thought about Rahab for years. I was one of those good little Christian girls who read that story and wrote it off as a "Bible" story so I didn't have to relate it to r...

I've found that people have a lot to say about being a virgin, and waiting for sex until marriage...and much of it comes from fear. Isn't that just like the enemy...to rob us of the very best God has for us by deception. By getting us to think about what we might be missing. A trick as old as the garden of Eden. "What if we're not compatible...what if I don't even  like  sex with him?!" "What if there's no chemistry?" "So we're supposed to learn over time but...what if  it never gets better?!" I'm almost 32 now so I get even more exciting questions...what if you never find him?? What if it's too late? Certain parts work best at certain ages...on and on lolol.  But hey, I have a question too.  What if  YOU'RE  all wrong?!  I recently have been hearing an interesting perspective--what is marriage anyway? It's an antiquated concept. Who should be allowed to tell me that I have to have a piece of paper ...

Everyone comes to a place in life where they have to face their fears. It's how we find out what we're made of. It's how we find out that we are actually strong, powerful, and capable. I believe that fear is actually someone . “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,” ‭‭II Corinthians‬ ‭10:4-5‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ Itself  was translated from the Greek word "epairō" which means literally "to raise up or exalt oneself." Until we acknowledge that what we are facing is actually a someone , we cannot tell this someone  where to go. It's a someone who has no power over us, someone who was defeated...but we have to actually come to a point where we look it in the face and say "NO MORE." No more will you rob me of my destiny. No mo...

"What do I have to give?" Why do we so often live our lives out of this sense of obligation? I feel like most of us, reading that sentence, would think of the "requirements" to be a good person, or a good Christian, or a good whatever-you-believe. Like, "This is how I was trained/raised/taught, this is what I must do or God/the boogie man/the devil will come and get me." I know that is a completely unfounded fear, but I get caught up in it the same as the next person. So while I was praying this morning God began to show me all of the different things it could mean. "What do I have to give?" This is really the epitome of unconditional love. Agape love. Complete unselfishness. What do I have in my hand that I can give to the next person? What can I do to make someone else's road a little easier to travel? To brighten their day? What have I been gifted to do to contribute to others being more fulfilled, inspired, and mot...

There's a crack in my armor I see light peaking through My old, rusty armor I thought it was true I always called it vintage Had a plan to restore Worked to bring it back to life Repair what was worn It had broken in pieces A few times before In attempts to protect it I think I damaged it more I had bent and glued Oiled and greased In sheer panic for my safety My work never ceased I must save my heart Whatever the cost Must present as a fortress One that no one can cross But today I woke up Saw my suit of mail Hanging weak and brittle Despite all my travail Yet oddly enough Between the broken shards This crazy warm glowing Had me staring hard For the first time ever I wasn't afraid I just wanted to know What made me feel this way Slowly I reached Pulled the heavy metal away Began to breathe more deeply Nothing in the way All I had underneath Was a pretty little dress All white and dre...

I just always thought this verse was talking about a prostitute. I was reading this the other night after listening to Pastor Chris's "4 Women" ( http://youtu.be/uRcziOJcyIM ). I've always thought it was a beautiful verse, but I've always felt like there was more to it than what I saw. This time, as I thought and thought, and thought, it started to hit me in a whole new way I had never ever seen. Jesus always speaks in ways that will allow those who want to, especially "good" people, to remain comfortably deceived if they want to. To go on about their lives confident that he was speaking to the people that have the real problems. So here, it was easy for the religious leaders Jesus was speaking to, to understand his message on a surface level.  She is an evil, sinful woman. If he could forgive her of all that wrong, which doesn't make sense anyway, then yeah, she'd better be grateful. It's not my fault that I can't appreciate his supposed...