Living with Past Mistakes? How GOD Turned Rahab’s Biggest Sin into Her Salvation | John Giftah

0:01 Speaker 1: Do you ever look around and think, wow, the world is a crazy place, and it just seems to get crazier and crazier? Ease your mind and take a break. This is Fuel for the Soul with John Gifta. We're a hub for inspirational Christian sermons, practical keys for Christian living and Christian discussions and interviews. You'll be inspired to live the life that you were created for. Your host is a top ranking podcaster, bestselling author, world record holder, aerospace engineer, life coach, evangelist and founder of John Gifta International.

0:41 Speaker 1: Welcome to Fuel for the Soul with John Gifta.

0:46 Speaker 2: Hello everyone, welcome to this edition of the John Gifta podcast. As you know that we're stepping into a new season of this podcast and so grateful to God for all that he has in store as the ministry steps into.

0:58 Speaker 3: The 14th year.

0:59 Speaker 2: And my debut book, Unveil Your Purpose, is also celebrating its six year release. And so keeping that in mind, I thought we can talk about some of the striking lessons we can take away from this book. I really challenge you to get this book if you're into reading because I believe there's so much to take away in terms of the practicality of finding your God-given calling and purpose but today I'm going to talk about some things that I believe is so important with regard to your consequence or the sins or consequence of your mistakes and probably you're in a place where you're saying John I understand God has a call and a purpose and the plan yes I understand that but you know I made some mistakes and I can never erase the consequence of that mistake.

1:45 Speaker 2: You made some things that shouldn't have happened or you did things that you should have done differently and you're in a place where you can't undo whatever you've done. Maybe there are certain things we can walk out of, certain things you can leave behind easily, but there are certain things that leave a scar or there are certain things where maybe your name is on a legal board or maybe there is a label that you can never... you know leave for for instance right so you may be in a place like that you're saying john you know what maybe maybe you're incarcerated and you know you have a criminal record you can never leave behind till the rest of your life or maybe you went through certain setbacks in your marital status which gave you certain labels that will always have like a negative weightage especially in the sight of the world and you say I can never outgrow of this or I can never go to a place where this will never leave me this is always going to be with me so you may be feeling like that and I want to talk about something very important here that yes there could be certain things that happen just because life happened but for the most part maybe you're watching listening because of certain things that you did.

3:05 Speaker 3: Maybe some mistakes.

3:06 Speaker 2: Maybe you were ignorant or maybe you willfully did it. But whatever be it, today is a new day. God still has a plan for you. God still has a purpose for you. And I want to challenge you from God's word that God can still bring beauty from the ashes. And one of the best examples that I love with regard to this is the life of Rahab. OK, there is an interesting thing that I came to know, which really caught my attention. And I was like, this is so cool. And I really wanted to share with you guys. So when you think about Rahab, Rahab was a prostitute.

3:43 Speaker 2: Right. We know from God's word prostitutes. sexual immorality is a sin. God takes it very serious and it's not something God approves of. Even if the culture says it's fine, even if the world tries to redefine things, but God's word says it's not a good thing to go to.

4:04 Speaker 3: So she was a prostitute.

4:06 Speaker 2: She What caught my attention about this whole thing is when the children of Israel are about to enter the promised land, then the spies are going to check out the promised land. The Bible talks about how Rahab was the one who hid the spies. And not only that, later in verse 15 of Joshua chapter 2, it says, Since Rahab's house was built into the town wall, listen to this, she let them down and allowed them to escape. Now, because of this, eventually, when the children of Israel enter the promised land, everyone else lost their lives except for Rahab and her family.

4:52 Speaker 3: Now, here's the point I want you to understand.

4:56 Speaker 2: If you see in places around any normal city, the city wall is always going to be at the the outskirts of the city, right?

5:06 Speaker 3: Like, I mean, it's common sense, right?

5:08 Speaker 2: The city wall is not going to be in the prime locality of the city.

5:12 Speaker 3: It's going to be in the outskirts of the city, right?

5:15 Speaker 2: And if you see, generally, all the prime activities will be in the prime locality, you know, the posh areas or the schools or the offices are always going to be the posh areas.

5:30 Speaker 3: They're not going to be the outskirts of the city. They won't, right?

5:33 Speaker 2: Generally, Only things that are illegal, the things that are not so kosher, the things that are not acceptable by society or something you call as a red light area. Those are the things or mafias you see, they will have it in the outskirts of the city.

5:52 Speaker 3: You know what I mean?

5:53 Speaker 2: Like it's a generic thing. I'm not saying all the time, but it's a generic thing, right? Like recently I came to know about some kind of a mafia around timber, okay? So this group was always in the outskirts of the city around the forest area.

6:11 Speaker 3: You know what I mean? So what I wanted to understand, why am I going.

6:14 Speaker 2: All over here to try to help you understand is that when you think about Rahab, she was not doing something that was nice.

6:21 Speaker 3: She was not doing.

6:22 Speaker 2: something that was okay by the standard of the law no what was she doing she was doing something that was not kosher that she was doing something you know prostitution right it was it was not something like the prime locality it was something in the in the hidden side or the outskirts you get what.

6:40 Speaker 3: I'm saying so.

6:42 Speaker 2: What i want you to understand is why was a house adjacent to the city wall why was it in the outskirts of the city because of a profession She had a house in the outskirts because of her illegal or illicit profession, which was to be a prostitute. So the consequence of her prostitution. sin of being a prostitute was the fact that her house by was by the outskirts of the city and now you look at the flip side of it when she turns around and she happens to protect the spies and eventually gives them the way to escape because of her house being in the outskirts of the city adjacent to the city wall you see the very thing that which was the consequence of her sin, was the platform God used to protect her and her family.

7:40 Speaker 3: I hope you're getting what I'm saying, right?

7:43 Speaker 2: If a profession was something polished or anything else for the record, her house was probably going to be in the prime locality, right?

7:54 Speaker 3: Somewhere else in the city.

7:55 Speaker 2: But because of a profession being something illegal and something that's not morally or ethically acceptable by society at large what happened her house was at the outskirts and that very thing was the emblem or the or the ingredient that god used for her to actually be saved eventually when she was able to rescue and allow the spies to escape so You get what I'm saying? So today, this is a word to some of you that maybe you're living with the consequence of your mistake. Like Rahab had to live with the consequence of her choice, a consequence of her profession, that her house was in the outskirts.

8:43 Speaker 2: But that very thing, that very detail is... played a major role in her being saved eventually. So God can use that very detail, which is a consequence of your mistake. That which very detail you feel as an embarrassment saying, this is the shame part of my story. This is something I don't like to visit. But what if God can actually bring beauty from those ashes? That's what I want you to understand. That's exactly what happened with Rahab. And that's exactly what happened to this lady called Cynthia Brown.

9:18 Speaker 2: When she was just 15 years old, she was thrown into prostitution. It was not her thing. She was sold into it and she was in a very bad shape. She tried to escape. She could not. And in the context of trying to escape, she ended up murdering her master and she was put in prison. It felt like She had to live with this for the rest of her life. It felt like nothing good can come out of her. She was in a very bad shape. But while she was in the prison, she came to know the Lord, started growing closer to the Lord.

9:54 Speaker 2: She started taking steps to become better as an individual because now that she's out from the world, she had all the liberty to decide and make proper decisions inside the prison cell. But still, it felt like she had to live with the consequence of being incarcerated will the consequence of being someone with a criminal record for the rest of her life but she did not allow that to stop her you know what I mean eventually in 2019 I think in the month of August she had a turnaround in the verdict and she was able to come out and not only did she come out The amazing thing is it felt like she had lost a huge part of her life.

10:39 Speaker 2: She lost the prime of her life. She lost so many things. Maybe she just has to adjust to society and just go on.

10:47 Speaker 3: But you know what happened? She came out.

10:49 Speaker 2: She became a very outspoken person talking and addressing issues related to human trafficking. She started talking about sex. the negative side of prostitution. She started being a great voice to it. And not only that, she met someone and they even got married. You know, sometimes we think these are small details, but think about this. You think like, oh my gosh, this person lost the prime of their life. This person lost so much in life. Maybe you feel like, oh, I lost so much in my life. I lost so many years because of this mistake I made.

11:23 Speaker 2: I lost so much of time because of not going in the way I should have. Maybe you feel guilty. Maybe you're living with that regret of the mistake you made, the consequence of your sin. But can I tell you something? God is still able to redeem your life. The God who redeemed Rahab's life. The God who redeemed Cynthia Brown's life. God can redeem your life. He can redeem the time that was lost. He can redeem the consequence of your mistakes. And he can use the very ingredient that was the consequence of your mistake.

11:57 Speaker 2: to actually be the platform for him to restore and redeem your life to fulfill the purpose that he has in store for you. I really challenge you to leave a comment if you're checking this out on YouTube or Facebook and share this with someone. And until next time, let's strive to walk in a God-given calling like Rahab.

12:18 Speaker 3: God bless you.

12:19 Speaker 1: You've been listening to Fuel for the Soul with John Gifta. We hope you were blessed and inspired to live the life that God has for you. Make sure to subscribe to the John Gifta YouTube channel for regular uploads of sermons, skits, interviews, and more. Follow John Gifta on Instagram for regular inspirational posts. and don't forget to check out the bestselling books written by John Gifta, Who Am I?, which will help you understand your identity, and the latest number one bestseller, Unveil Your Purpose, helping you discover your purpose and to start walking in it.

12:54 Speaker 1: Make sure to leave a rating and review, and be sure to share it with your friends and loved ones. If you'd like to donate... You can find the PayPal link in the description. And if you'd like to invite John Gifta to speak at your event or to get more details, go to the website at www.johngifta.com. See you on the next episode of The Fuel for the Soul with John Gifta. God bless you.