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"Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain.
Unless the Lord watches over the city, the guards stand watch in vain."
~Psalm 127:1

December 11, 2013

Grace-full: Advent Dec. 11

"When we come into the land, you must leave this scarlet rope hanging from the window through which you let us down. And all your family members—your father, mother, brothers, and all your relatives—must be here inside the house."  -Joshua 2:18

Why was the rope scarlet?  Was this a prophecy of things to come?  When scarlet would run down from heaven to cover us and make us as white as snow?

Jesus' family line is full of less than stellar people.  Rahab the prostitue.  Jacob the liar, cheater, and thief.  Ruth the foreigner who had worshipped other gods.  Judah, who lied to his daughter-in-law and then got her pregnant because he thought she was a prostitute.  David, the adulterer.  Just to name a few.

Of course, aren't we all less than stellar?

I love this quote from Ann Voskamp, she quoted it in an Advent video that she recorded with Liz Curtis Higgs.  And I loved it so much then that I wrote it down, and now I find that it has already been written down in The Greatest Gift!
"No personal choice that muddied your life can ever trump the divine choice to wash your life clean. No situation is more hopeless than your Savior is graceful."
Beautiful!

God uses imperfect people to further His story.  To fulfill His plan.

He uses you and me, with our imperfections, our doubt, to make Himself known to the world.  

He knows my doubts and fears.  He knows where I need to cling to the thread of hope (the scarlet rope?), before I ever slip.

The Hebrew word tikvah means 'cord,' but it also means 'hope.'  And that is pretty awesome!  The hope that God extends down to us like a scarlet cord.

Question: "Rahab was remembered for her faith.  What would you want to be remembered for?"
Grace.  I would want to be remembered for God's grace shining through the frailty of my human form.  Grace for others and grace for myself.  Letting people live and be loved in my life for who God created them to be.  Exuding restfulness.  Unhurried and unstressed by the world's chaos.  Calm.  Anchored.  Grace-full.

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