Our Redeeming God

To redeem is to recover ownership by paying a specified sum.

Rahab was a prostitute. Most of us may say that we don´t relate to her, but we all do. Perhaps many of us have never sold our bodies, but we have bought into a lie. The same lies that drove Rahab to share her bed with many is the same lie many of us believe today. We may think that we are not precious enough or good enough. We have each held on to a lie at some point in life and we have allowed that lie to tell how how to live.

God´s love redeemed Rahab. She had a defining moment in her life. Joshua 2:9-11 shows us where she stood, ““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. 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.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.” She recognized God’s power and she didn’t let her bad choices decide whether or not she was going to believe in Him. She realized that there was only one way out and it was with God! Joshua 6:22-25 shares her deliverance, ^“Joshua said to the two men who had spied out the land, ‘Go into the prostitute’s house and bring her out and all who belong to her, in accordance with your oath to her.’ So the young men who had done the spying went in and brought out Rahab, her father and mother, her brothers and sisters and all who belonged to her. They brought out her entire family and put them in a place outside the camp of Israel.Then they burned the whole city and everything in it, but they put the silver and gold and the articles of bronze and iron into the treasury of the Lord’s house. But Joshua spared Rahab the prostitute, with her family and all who belonged to her, because she hid the men Joshua had sent as spies to Jericho—and she lives among the Israelites to this day.”

Matthew 1:5 tells us who she becomes “ Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab,

Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth, Obed the father of Jesse,” She becomes the mother of Boaz. Perhaps Boaz’s heart towards Rugh had everything to do with the fact that his mother was also a foreigner. God’s love redeems!

For those who don’t know how the story ends, this ex-prostitute is listed amongst the great men  of  faith in Hebrews 11:30 “By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.” She also becomes a great-grandmother of Jesus Christ! Yes, a reject from society is in the lineage of our Savior!

You see, God knew her destiny from the beginning and being a prostitute wasn’t going to stop God’s plan for her life because she chose to believe Him instead of the lie.

Her son was able to redeem Ruth because he grew up under the care of a mother who knew and experienced the redeeming love of God. What are you teaching your children?

God has given us an awesome opportunity to redeem the lives of many children in Cien Fuegos. His love for them draws us to that dark place and keeps us there.

The sweet children in that place are also the rejects of Santiago, but they are accepted in God’s loving arms. He embraces each of them. He draws them, He calls them by name and He molds them into His image.

He creates His masterpiece in them through us. Each of us has played a significant part in the redemption of their lives. God has used you and us to shape His anointing into the broken hearts and lives of those that He has set apart.

It is an honor and privilege to know that we are looking at lives that are transforming each day! Praise God for His power to redeem. Thanks to you for your obedience to give and to pray!