Tuesday, September 11, 2007

"By faith the harlot Rahab did not perish with those who did not believe, when she had received the spies with peace" (Hebrews 11:31).

IDEA: For Christians, the best is always yet to come.

PURPOSE: To help listeners realize that their past does not define them, but their choices now determine their future.

Do you think there is a temptation for us to explain ourselves by focusing on our past?

Do you find people who want to gain approval by telling you about what they used to be?

Do you find people excusing their limitations by telling you about their past?

I. What are the dangers in focusing on the past?

It traps you in the past and keeps you from using the present or anticipating the future.

It often is a way in which you keep God from giving you a future He wants to give you because you feel you have been a victim of your circumstances.

People often feel that any choice they make about the future is futile.

II. Rahab is an example of a woman whose past hurt her but did not shape her.

Imagine how she might have thought about herself after she became a member of the people of God.

"I don’t have anything to offer because I was a prostitute or wasn’t brought up among the people of God and I don’t really know their ways. I’m glad I was delivered from my past, but I can’t expect anything more than that in the future."

On the other hand, she embraced the new opportunity and made choices that had a way of making her.

III. Rahab is an example of someone who, by the grace of God, escaped her past to let God bring her into a glorious future. 

By the grace of God, your past doesn’t define you, but the choices you make do affect you and your future.

But Rahab’s past did not keep her from God’s gift of a glorious future. She could not have imagined while she was living that God would still use her through her children and grandchildren.

For all of us who are Christians, the best is always yet to come.