Your Past Does Not Disqualify You | Daily Devotional 1615

You're listening to the My Morning Devotional Podcast, episode 1615. Today's Devo is called Your Past Does Not Disqualify You.

Hey there, we're the Alessis, a ministry family working together in our church in Miami, Florida. And if you're like us, when days get busy and to-do lists get longer, it can be hard to find devotional time. That's why we've partnered with our friend Allison to produce a five-minute daily dose of heaven. This is the My Morning Devotional Podcast.

Good morning, everybody. Stephanie Weena here, and welcome to Friday. We made and we made it. It's the weekend, and it's gonna be a wonderful weekend because we just conquered all of James 2. We just read all of it, y'all. So now next week y'all are gonna be going into James 3. So don't get ahead of yourself. Don't read it yet, because it's gonna be really good. Let's dive into it. Today I'm reading James 2. I'm gonna start in verse 23. Come on, let's do it. James 2, 23. And the scripture was fulfilled that says, Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness, and he was called God's friend. You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone. Verse 25, in the same way was not even Rahab the prostitute, remember that Rahab the prostitute. Uh-oh. Uh-oh, Rahab, what are you doing? Considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction. As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead. And this is what I want to zoom in on today. God is more interested in your faith-filled obedience than your perfect resume. I love that James brings up Rahab because if we're creating a list of our great members of faith, Rahab probably would not have been the obvious choice. She had a complicated story, she had a messy reputation, a past that she probably wasn't proud of. And yet, Scripture, gosh, I love God. He's so cool. I love the Bible. Sorry, just had to put that in there. And yet, Scripture remembers her for her faith. This is what happened. You should look up Rahab and see her story. It's pretty great. When Israel's spies entered Jericho, Rahab made a decision. She had heard that the what the God of Israel had done, which was tearing down the walls of Jericho. This is right after they walked around seven times and yelled, and the walls of Jericho fell. The spies go into Jericho and they meet Rahab. And Rahab had just seen what happened. She knew God is crazy. He just tore down those walls of Jericho, these massive walls. God just tore them down. And after seven days of just walking around them, so she's like, these people are not your average people. Their God is true. Their God is real. Their God made this happen. And her belief became action. She took in the spies, protected them, and she risked her own safety because of what she believed, which she just started believing. Like the walls went down not too long ago. And now she believes your God is real. And I believe he's so real that I'm willing to protect you and risk my own life to help you get the job done. And generations later, James is still talking about it. Not only that, Rahab, this is the best, eventually becomes part of the family line that leads to Jesus. Think about that. God took a woman with a messy past and wrote her into the story of redemption. That is grace. Sometimes we believe God can use other people because they have the right background. They've known God longer. They know more scripture. They're just nicer. They're just more fun. They haven't made the mistakes that we've made. They've been going to church all their life. I just started going to church. But let me tell you something right now, and I've seen it firsthand, guys. God is not intimidated by your history. Stop allowing your past to talk you out of your future. If you've repented and surrendered your life to Jesus, you do not have to spend the rest of your life proving that you're no longer who you used to be. Walk forward. Obey God today. Rahab, she couldn't rewrite yesterday. That is forever a part of her story. Does she need to talk about it all the time? No. But it's the truth. She accepted it. But she could decide what she would do when an opportunity for faith came to her. Your pastor on Sundays is going to challenge you every Sunday to walk in faith. Are you going to really walk it out that following week? Or are you going to harp on the past and allow it to hinder you from where God is taking you? Are you going to obey what your leaders challenge you to do, whether it's to give more, whether it's to serve more, whether it's to love on people more? Or are you going to allow your past to make you feel more invaluable and less than? Are you going to constantly shrink back from creating relationships in your church or in your Christian community because you feel like you're not one of them? Or are you going to finally move forward into the redemption God has given you? That is the challenge for you today. Your past is done. Your past is dead. It no longer exists. What exists now is a path of redemption. What exists today are steps of obedience that you can start walking into. What exists now is a path of freedom, is a path of generosity, is a path of servanthood, is a path of humility. In practical ways too. Stop cursing, stop talking negatively, dress more modestly. There's little steps you can take today to put a massive gap between you and your past because that's what God is advocating for you. Rahab can do it, so can you. Let's pray. Father, thank you that my past does not put me beyond your grace. Help me stop defining myself by old mistakes and start seeing myself through what Jesus has done for me. Give me the courage, Lord. Give me the courage, Lord, to obey you today and use my life for your purposes. And in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

So there you have it, your five minute daily dose of heaven. Thank you so much for tuning in today. We pray these devotionals empower you to take on your day. If you've found value in this devotional, share it with a friend, leave a comment or review for us on the app you're using right now. Until tomorrow, we pray that your latte is strong, but your love for Jesus is stronger.