“1Then Naomi, her
mother-in-law, said to her, ‘My daughter, should I not seek rest for you, that
it may be well with you? 2Is, not
Boaz our relative, with whose young women you were? See, he is winnowing barley
tonight at the threshing floor. 3Wash
therefore and anoint yourself, and put on your cloak and go down to the
threshing floor, but do not make yourself known to the man until he has
finished eating and drinking. 4But when he lies down, observe the
place where he lies. Then go and uncover his feet and lie down, and he will
tell you what to do.’ 5And she replied, ‘All that you say I will do.’
6So
she went down to the threshing floor and did just as her mother-in-law had
commanded her. 7And when Boaz had eaten and drunk, and his heart was merry, he went to lie down at the end of
the heap of grain. Then she came softly and uncovered his feet and lay down. 8At
midnight the man was startled and turned over, and behold, a woman lay at his
feet!” ~
Ruth 3:1-8
Naomi told Ruth to go, once Boaz had finished eating and was
asleep, uncover Boaz’s feet and lay next to him as he was sleeping. Without
hesitation or questioning, Ruth went and
did as she was told. Imagine if we had the same obedience as Ruth did when God
tells us to do something. Imagine if we obeyed God no matter what today’s
culture or society tells us. Imagine if we obeyed
God and ignored our laziness, our shyness, our fear, our doubt, our flesh. What
type of miracles would we see happen? What
kind of breakthrough would we have?
What’s keeping you from absolute obedience? What’s hindering
your faith? Obedience is better than
sacrifice. If we could only obey… but our flesh is weak. How then can we strengthen
our flesh? We must strengthen our Spirit Man. How then can we strengthen our Spirit Man? Daily prayer and
meditation on God’s word. Not yoga meditation, but meditation on God’s Word. Sitting in His presence allowing Him to
speak to us through His written word. When we pray, meditate, and worship we strengthen
our Spirit Man. When we strengthen our Spirit
Man, we are able to crucify the evil
flesh and strengthen the good flesh.
Once our flesh is strengthened our actions will more so follow the gentle guidance of
Holy Spirit.
Just as Ruth believed Naomi knew better than she did, we
should believe that God knows better than
we do. When we believe in God’s goodness, faithfulness, and wisdom as Ruth believed
in Naomi’s, we reap harvests like never before. We see miracles take place. We
see prayers answered. We see blessings poured upon us, just as Ruth did. I
believe because of her obedience and faith, Ruth was blessed. For the Savior of
the entire world came through a non-Jew. The promise came through Ruth’s
descendants. Ruth was grafted into the promise because of her obedience and her
faith. How will God use you with your obedience?
Probably one of the most deceitful things we allow ourselves to believe. We’re saying as long as I try to get some things right I’m good, I don’t have to get everything right. But that’s not biblical at all. At this point, you actually begin to reach a state of lukewarm-ness because you’re trying to hold on to a piece of the world and still hold on to God. But who cares right? Like, at least you’re trying. At least you’re going to church. And you read along in your bible at church. You even know where the books of The Bible are, you don’t have to ask where the Psalms are, you just know. I mean you are on your ‘A’ game. You can name like 7 of the 12 disciples. You’re a good Christian. That should be enough, right? I mean at least you acknowledge God on Sundays, some people don’t even go to church. So you’re better than them, right? I think this is a good time to explain the picture for this devotion. It’s a girl underwater, who’s drowning. What’s significant about this? This is after she tried to swim but now has given up. She tried, but she in the end failed, which will cost her, her life. That is exactly what we are doing when we say “at least we try.” Because unless we actually succeed to keep afloat and swim, we will drown. And when we drown, we will die.
Revelation 3:15-16 “‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.’” So, in reality, you’re no better than anyone. Actually, you’re worse because you refuse to choose a side. You live in sin yet still call yourself saved and a Christian. Which many think is okay and just fine and dandy, but in reality, it is quite dangerous. But why? Why is it so dangerous? Proverbs 21:27 “The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination; how much more when he brings it with evil intent.” Many will say they are not wicked, which is understandable according to our cultural definition of wicked. We have defined a wicked person as being a murderer, a rapist, a pedophile, etc., certainly not someone who is lukewarm. But the problem is this isn’t going based on our cultural definition, but God’s definition. Let’s just go through this verse and try to understand what it means according to God’s definition.
First is sacrifice. What is sacrifice? It is not bringing a lamb and killing it on a stone table. And no sacrifice is not done away with. Though Jesus was the final and ultimate sacrifice we still bring forth a sacrifice. A spiritual sacrifice. Romans 12:1 “I appeal to you, therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.” So we do still bring sacrifices, we just do them a little differently. You bring yourself as a sacrifice. By fasting. By worshipping instead of doing what you want to do. By giving up false idols that have taken the place of God. By praying. These are acts of sacrifice. Therefore anyone who calls themselves saved brings forth a sacrifice. Some feel that this is enough. That all they have to do is bring a sacrifice every once in a while and then just keep on sinning. That’s not at all how it works. Hebrews 1:26-27 “For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins,but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries.” When you continue to deliberately live in sin, but still continue to bring a sacrifice, that sacrifice loses meaning but instead becomes a judgment.
Second is the wicked. Who are the wicked? According to God, every man and woman’s heart is wicked from a young age. Genesis 8:21 “And when the LORD smelled the pleasing aroma, the LORD said in his heart, ‘I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the intention of man’s heart is evil from his youth. Neither will I ever again strike down every living creature as I have done.’” So, every man and woman are evil without Jesus. Genesis 13:13 “Now the men of Sodom were wicked, great sinners against the LORD.” So we can see that God defines someone who sins are great before Him as being wicked. We have all committed sin worthy of hell’s fire. 1 Corinthians 9-10 “9 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, 10 nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.” Therefore, we are all wicked for we are all, at some point in time, great sinners before the LORD. Matthew 7:9-11 “Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!” They were evil because they were without Jesus. They were hypocrites without salvation.
And last is Abomination. What is an abomination? According to the Oxford Dictionary, an abomination is “a thing that causes disgust or hatred.” According to the Bible, the word abomination means “something abominable, something detestable, something despicable. Here’s an example of what an abomination is to the LORD. Proverbs 12:22 “Lying lips are an abomination to the LORD, but those who act faithfully are his delight.” Proverbs 3:32 “For the devious person is an abomination to the LORD, but the upright are in his confidence.” Proverbs 15:9 “The way of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD, but He loves him who pursues righteousness.” Those are just three of the countless verses that define an abomination before the LORD, and every one of us has committed or still commit at least one of them. So where do you think that those who commit abominations go? To the ghettos of Heaven? To a small little shack right outside the gates? No. They go to Hell. They are thrown into the eternal flame. Many will say “But I love Jesus,” but Jesus’ definition of love and our definition of love are two very different things. John 14:15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” Matthew 7:21 “‘Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.”
Don’t allow your sin to have power
over you and cause you to give up your salvation. Instead, take control of your sin,
deny your flesh daily. I’m not going to lie to you it will be difficult. It
will be painful. There may be tears, but each day slowly but surely it will
become easier. And you will have dominion over it. Mark 9:43“And if your hand
causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than
with two hands to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire.” Let me clarify, Jesus does NOT want you to cut off
your hand, but he is speaking about cutting off things that cause you to sin.
That can be anything from a TV show to a person. Don’t allow anything to stop
you from the glory and blessings of God.
“And David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because all the people were bitter in soul, each for his sons and daughters. But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God.” ~ 1 Samuel 30:6
This verse begins with saying David was greatly distressed. Like everyone else, even David has been distressed, overwhelmed, frightened, but he didn’t stop there. He didn’t stop at distressed. The majority of us, we stop at distressed. We stay there hurt and broken. It’s almost like we don’t want to get better. Like we don’t want to be comforted by God, but instead, we want to stay distressed. But no-one wants that… right? When something happens, the majority do one of two things, they go to a friend, and they complain about it, and then they rant about it, and then they freak out about it. Or they do absolutely nothing and keep it all bottled up. And they try to pretend it didn’t happen, but it keeps coming back to their thoughts until that’s their only thought then distressed becomes depressed and they just keep sinking lower and lower.
The majority usually chooses one of the two, but never chooses God. They never choose Jesus. See David knew he had to lead. David knew that leading was his calling. So, he didn’t want to be overcome by the distressing feeling he had, so he took it before the LORD. He didn’t take it to a friend, or keep it to himself, but instead, he went to God. It’s like that old hymn, “What a Friend We Have in Jesus” when the verse goes:
Oh, what peace we often forfeit, Oh, what needless pain we bear, All because we do not carry Everything to God in prayer!
Imagine how much we would overcome if we took our troubles to God, instead of holding on to our pain and making it our ‘friend.’
Peace. Love. Go Forth and take your distress to God.
“But when he came to himself, he said,
‘How many of my father’s hired servants have more than enough bread, but I
perish here with hunger! ~ Luke 15:17 (Story
of the Prodigal Son)
Notice how it says, “when he came to himself,” it doesn’t say “something clicked.” It doesn’t say “he was enlightened.” It says, “when he came to himself.” Genesis 1:26 says, “Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.'” When the prodigal son remembered who he was, he knew there was better for him. When he saw that stamp that his father stamped him with when he was born, he remembered what his father had. He humbled himself and saw exactly who he was and where he came from. But how could he have seen all that, if he was going back to be a servant, not a son?
Because he didn’t deserve to be a son, he gave that up. He deserved to be a servant, but that’s where grace comes in. That’s where his father looked at him and saw his son. He didn’t see a servant, he didn’t see a slave, he saw his son. This is exactly how coming home to God is. When we realize who we are, when we realize where we come from and we humble ourselves and come home, God runs to us. He embraces us with open arms. We don’t deserve it. We know we don’t deserve it. But that’s what grace is, it’s this continuous, overwhelming flow of love that never ends. When we humble ourselves and remember who we are. When we see that stamp that God has put on every single one of His creations. When we remember that God took His time and formed us. That God took His time and counted every hair on our head. That God has given us the greatest gift of all, that’s when we run home. That’s when God opens His arms and runs towards us. When we come to ourselves, we will find exactly who were made to be.
4So Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah into the field where his flock was 5and said to them, “I see that your father does not regard me with favor as he did before. But the God of my father has been with me. 6You know that I have served your father with all my strength, 7yet your father has cheated me and changed my wages ten times. But God did not permit him to harm me. 8If he said, ‘The spotted shall be your wages,’ then all the flock bore spotted; and if he said, ‘The striped shall be your wages,’ then all the flock bore striped. 9Thus God has taken away the livestock of your father and given them to me.
10In the breeding season of the flock I lifted up my eyes and saw in a dream that the goats that mated with the flock were striped, spotted, and mottled. 11Then the angel of God said to me in the dream, ‘Jacob,’ and I said, ‘Here I am!’ 12And he said, ‘Lift up your eyes and see, all the goats that mate with the flock are striped, spotted, and mottled, for I have seen all that Laban is doing to you. 13I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed a pillar and made a vow to me. Now arise, go out from this land and return to the land of your kindred.'” ~ Genesis 31:4-13
No matter what the world does to you if you put your faith and trust in God, He will protect you. He will do what is best for you. See Jacob didn’t get mad at Laban or try to fight his sons, but instead, he allowed God to fight his battles. He didn’t take it up with Laban and argue over what he thought he deserved he left it in God’s hands. I wonder what would be different in our lives if we just allow God to fight for us if we allow “Vengeance to be His” and remember and live by the fact that “God will fight for us, we need only be still.”
Imagine how much more blessings we would inherit. How many more opportunities we would receive. How many more doors would be open to us, if we would just “be still and know that He is God.” I’m not saying life would be easy; I’m saying imagine how much more you would get out of it. You want favor in your workplace, school, even church, allow God to fight your battles instead of you taking things into your own hands.
“And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.” ~ John 3:19
All our lives we’ve been taught that if we see a bright light, run the opposite direction. Maybe we should run towards it instead…. here’s something to think about… When we sin, do we do it in the light or in the dark? When we cheat, sleep around, steal, lie, do drugs, etc. we do these things in the dark (in secret). The only time we share we did these things with others, is when they are in the dark right there with us. We don’t go willingly into the light and boast about these things, we feel uncomfortable, it feels wrong. We even refer to some things that are wrong as “coming out of the closet.”
Why? Because the closet is dark. We hide what we know as being wrong in the dark. We get easily offended, and we’re constantly on guard when we are living half in the dark and half in the light. It’s like we become vampires… vampires thrive in darkness, they can’t live without it. That’s what our flesh is, a vampire. If you want to kill a vampire you have to put it in the light. When you do it starts to burn, you act out irrationally, you’re in pain, it feels like you’re dying. When you bring your flesh into the light long enough, it will sooner or later die, just as the vampires would. But what is the light? Jesus said that we are the light of the world. But what does that have to do with anything?
James chapter 5 tells us to confess our sins to one another. In doing this, we become each other’s light. When your flesh is hiding in the dark, you have someone to shine in that darkness and help you kill your flesh. Proverbs tells us that iron sharpens iron. We are one body, and no one nerve, no organ, no single drop of blood can survive on its own. Find someone who will be your light when you are dark, and who you can be their light when they are dark.
6Then she arose with her
daughters-in-law to return from the country of Moab, for she had heard in the
fields of Moab that the Lord had visited his people and given them food. 7So
she set out from the place where she was with her two daughters-in-law, and they
went on the way to return to the land of Judah. 8But Naomi said to
her two daughters-in-law, “Go, return each of you to her mother’s house.
May the Lord deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead and with me.
9The Lord grant that you may find rest, each of you in the house of
her husband!” Then she kissed them, and they lifted up their voices and
wept. 10And they said to her, “No, we will return with you to
your people.” 11But Naomi said, “Turn back, my daughters;
why will you go with me? Have I yet sons in my womb that they may become your
husbands? 12Turn back, my daughters; go your way, for I am too old
to have a husband. If I should say I have hope, even if I should have a husband
this night and should bear sons, 13would you, therefore, wait till
they were grown? Would you, therefore, refrain from marrying? No, my daughters,
for it is exceedingly bitter to me for your sake that the hand of the Lord has
gone out against me.” 14Then they lifted up their voices and
wept again. And Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her.
15And
she said, “See, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her
gods; return after your sister-in-law.” 16But Ruth said,
“Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where
you go I will go, and where you lodge, I
will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. 17Where
you die I will die, and there will I be buried. May the Lord do so to me and
more also if anything but death parts me from you.” 18And when
Naomi saw that she was determined to go with her, she said no more. ~ Ruth 1:6-18
Ruth gave up her way of life, her way of thinking, her gods,
just to follow Naomi. She wasn’t just loyal to her;
she trusted her and had faith in her, that no matter where she would go or take
her that it would be the place that they needed to be. They left with no money,
no husbands or sons, but yet she still went and took on the culture of Naomi
without reassurance that she would be okay. This is the type of faith and
loyalty we need because it’s hard to trust God when we can’t see what He sees.
We hesitate even when God tells us to go. If Ruth could have
so much faith in a regular woman that could not guarantee her prosperity, why
can’t we as Christians let go and follow God wholeheartedly, without doubt? This is something we should strive
towards this year; by stepping off on to a branch that doesn’t look safe, but
God has promised that it will uphold us. That no matter how sketchy the path looks that we will still go walk the path in
faith that this is where and what we should be doing.
We should desire to love like
Ruth, that no matter the outcome of the situation, whether she would be poor or
rich, it didn’t matter she just wanted to be with Naomi. We should want to love
God in that same way, even if we poor, we should desire Him. Even if we are
wealthy and well off we should desire Him. Our situation shouldn’t matter, we
should still desire to cling to God as if He is the only way we can breathe
because He’s the only way we can live.
“29I will not drive them out from before you in one year, lest the land become desolate and the wild beasts multiply against you. 30Little by little I will drive them out from before you, until you have increased and possess the land. 31And I will set your border from the Red Sea to the Sea of the Philistines, and from the wilderness to the Euphrates, for I will give the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you shall drive them out before you. 32You shall make no covenant with them and their gods. 33They shall not dwell in your land, lest they make you sin against me; for if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you.” ~ Exodus 23:29-33
There will always be something that will try to lead you astray. Whether it’s a person, a show, a thought, an idea, there will always be something. But God said He would destroy them. He would remove them little by little so that you would not be overcome by the wild animals (demonic/evil spirits). If you are completely rid of every temptation without having to fight first, you will be overcome easily. See God uses the people, thoughts, ideas, obstacles, places, that the devil meant for evil, as a training ground. He allows us to be tested not so that we can fail, but so that we can learn to overcome.
Ever realize how much stronger you
feel after you have overcome. Sure, you may not overcome
right, but that’s why Jesus said to Peter when you return back, help your
brothers. See falling isn’t a problem, messing up isn’t a problem because when
we’re at our lowest point, that’s when we
have no other choice, but to look up. I’m not saying that God tempts us so that
we can fall and then need Him again, I’m saying He allows us to be tempted so that we can train to get better.
When we fall, when we hit rock bottom, and
then we get up, we never get up the same way. We never get up weaker than we
were when we fell or just as weak when we
fell, we get stronger because in that moment we submit everything to God.
Every relationship, show/movie, thought, idea, conversation, obstacle,
everything, but we tend to not do that for very long.
We tend to keep one thought, one idea, one relationship, one thing and it begins to consume us. And we end up sinning against God. See we need to understand that things happen slowly for a reason, impatience gets us nothing but sloppiness. We allow certain things to stay in our land, in our hearts because we didn’t do it God’s way. We didn’t follow the process we jumped ahead, without reading all the instructions. Stop and read… fail, fail again, fail better. Don’t give up. Get stronger, so that at the end of the day there is no wild beast left in your land that can overcome you, so that there is no idol, friendship, relationship, god, idea, or thought that will cause you to sin.
28And
when he came to the other side, to the country of the Gadarenes, two
demon-possessed men met him, coming out of the tombs, so fierce that no one
could pass that way. 29And behold, they cried out, “What have
you to do with us, O Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the
time?” 30Now a herd of many pigs was feeding at some distance
from them. 31And the demons begged him, saying, “If you cast us
out, send us away into the herd of pigs.” 32And he said to
them, “Go.” So they came out and went into the pigs, and behold, the
whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the waters. 33The
herdsmen fled, and going into the city they told everything, especially what
had happened to the demon-possessed men. 34And behold, all the city
came out to meet Jesus, and when they saw him, they begged him to leave their
region. ~
Matthew 8:28-34
Fear can hold you back and stop you from getting your blessing. Imagine what more Jesus could have done in their region if they had not been afraid. If they had just had faith and brought him their sick. Brought him their hurting. Imagine how much more they would have gotten if they had just asked. The church has become like this. The church has become fearful of things we do not understand. Because we don’t understand power, we don’t seek it. Because we don’t understand prophecy, we don’t seek it. Imagine if we did.
Jesus said if we would only seek, we would find. If we would only ask, we would receive. But we are too afraid to seek things we don’t fully understand. Let us no longer be like the people of the Gadarenes, fearful and without faith, but instead let us be courageous and full of faith.
8Then Boaz said to Ruth,
“Now, listen, my daughter, do not go to glean in another field or leave
this one, but keep close to my young women. 9Let your eyes be on the field that they are reaping,
and go after them. Have I not charged the young men not to touch you? And when
you are thirsty, go to the vessels and drink what the young men have
drawn.” 10Then she fell on her face,
bowing to the ground, and said to him, “Why have I found favor in your
eyes, that you should take notice of me,
since I am a foreigner?” 11But Boaz answered her, “All that you have done for your
mother-in-law since the death of your husband has been fully told to me, and
how you left your father and mother and your native land and came to a people
that you did not know before. 12The Lord repay you for what you
have done, and a full reward be given you
by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take
refuge!” ~ Ruth 2:8-12
Ruth was an outsider, a woman not of any status or wealth,
but because she worked hard and never gave up,
she found favor in the eyes of Boaz. She denied her flesh (tiredness, laziness,
pride, etc.) and she strove forward until
she completed what she needed to. This is the type of determination we as
Christians should desire. We should want to strive towards the things of God so
that we find favor with God and all of those that we meet. We should want to
seek God wholeheartedly so that we will be able to hear His gentle whisper in
the wind. We should want to run this race as if every leg was the last leg of
the race and our reward’s in touching distance. May we each have the
determination of Ruth. The determination that no matter how our circumstance looks,
we can be confident that we will become successful.
Not once did Ruth look at her situation and feel sorry for
herself. Not once did Ruth look at who she was, an outsider, and begin to build
a victim mentality. Not once did Ruth stop, look around and say that she could
not do it. Instead, she was determined to follow her mother-in-law Naomi no
matter where she went or what she did. She didn’t question Naomi when things
didn’t make sense to her. She didn’t second guess Naomi when things seemed
hopeless. She knew that Naomi had her best interest at heart and so she
followed wholeheartedly. That’s how we need to be. We have to look at our current
situation and believe that God is going to getting us through because He has
our best interest at heart. We don’t have to become the victim because we are
more than conquerors through Christ Jesus.
