Rahab The Harlot . Introduction to the "Diary"

During the last two years my spiritual life has taken a turn for the better! A turn that I desperately needed to take. Those walking closely with me know that both are true. It's mainly been that during that time I've been practicing the "habits" as I call them. In antiquity and by the learned they're called "spiritual disciplines." They've changed my life. Or more accurately, He has changed my life because of the increased focus and time I've spent listening to Him and apprehending spiritual truth. A big part of this, besides prayer, reading the Word, and staying in Community is my practice of reading three devotional books - a short scripture and thought for each day.
Recently I was spending some time with Brian, and introduced him to one of these books, Thoughts From The Diary Of A Desperate Man, by Walter A. Henrichsen. He immediately decided to order one, but also found the daily writ on the web at this address: http://www.ncmm.org/devotional/
He suggested I share it with you all, so we can read it together, and get in the habit of sharing our thoughts or lessons learned as we read. So be it! I pray it grows to mean as much to you as it has to me, since an American Airlines captain gifted me with it as we shared Christ over a meal in a London Tavern a few years ago. May your journey grow richer as you continue. Amen.
"She does not enter "The Hall of Fame" as one of God's heroines because she abandoned her promiscuous life and became a good Hebrew. Rather, because, as a whore, she "received the spies with peace." She testified to the spies, "for we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red sea for you, when ye came out of Egypt… for the Lord your God, he is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath." [85] On the basis of a rumor over forty years old, she was willing to risk all she had. God overlooked her moral imperfections and declared her great.

Rahab knew very little and took great risks. By way of contrast, the Pharisees knew a great deal and took few risks. God rebuked the Pharisees and exalted Rahab. You please God, not by what you know but by the size of the risks you are willing to take; not by what you know, but by what you apply. God did not give you the Bible to make you a smarter sinner, but rather a holy saint. Application, not knowledge, pleases God."