May-Getting Clean

Matthew 23: 25-28
“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean. “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.


Psalms 51: 7-12
Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice. Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity. Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.


      Have you ever cleaned a dish only to realize it still had food or stains on it? Or vacuumed your carpet wondering if it really is as clean as it looks? I imagine most of us know that carpets may seem clean to the naked eye, but there is a lot of dust and allergens imbedded underneath. You may also know the best thing to do for a pot or dish that has baked on food is to let it soak in soapy hot water. After a few hours, you can usually scrub away the particles like magic! Or for dried food on stoves, sprinkle salt and let it sit for a while and then scrub away. Didn’t know you were getting cleaning advice, did you? Now here’s the real question. Would you eat or drink out of a dirty, stained dish? Most of us would not. Jesus speaks to us about dirty dishes and unclean graves. But He’s not giving us cleaning advice for our home, but for our heart. He’s not teaching us how to keep a grave clean, but how to keep our minds pure.
     When you eat something that doesn’t settle well in your stomach, it usually has to find its way out. I’m sure we have all dealt with that awful experience. Whatever you put into your stomach has some effect, it can be painful or wonderful. Proverbs tells us to guard our hearts, to protect it and to be on the offensive with its care. Our hearts are as fragile as glass and as strong as steel. We have to learn how to use it properly and to guard it carefully. Our hearts have the power to destroy and the power to heal all at the same time. The words and actions that flow from our heart is determined with what has been put into it. There is so much that influences us on a daily basis. From the moment we wake up, we are listening to the radio, the TV, the people in line, people at work, friends, and relatives. We are reading our phones, computers, books, signs, and billboards. We are talking to people on the phone, people at work, at the grocery store, at the drive through, or down the street. Our brains and hearts have the ability to process all of this and sometimes all at the same time. From information to emotions, our minds and hearts never stop working, processing, and feeling. Tired yet? Yet somehow we have to be able to filter what sticks to our heart and what we need to scrub away. I personally don’t want everything I read on a billboard or hear on the radio to stay with me for the rest of the day. What tends to happen when we are not careful is that whatever we don’t scrub away, somehow finds its way out of our mouth and into our actions. Hence the reasons we must guard, defend, and fortify our hearts and minds.
     So how do we clean and scrub away? I suggest a few cleaning products. The baking soda Bible is the best filtering system you are going to find out there. It’s where stains and crusty particles don’t stand a chance. In the background of God’s Holy truth, our imperfections are revealed. Another good product is Comet people. Having a few godly people who can see the dirty areas, point them out, and help remove them is essential to any cleaning plan. They can help you, sharpen you, and encourage you, but like any cleaning product, you have to let them work. The last item that is by far the most important is the Spic and Span Spirit. The Holy Spirit resides in you if you have surrendered and offered your life to the Lord Jesus. It is the Spirit that gives you the wisdom to understand and apply the baking soda Bible. It is the Spirit that uses the Comet people in your life to show you truth, to rebuke you, and to comfort you. It is the power of the Holy Spirit that truly washes and scrubs you clean. The bottom line? You have all the resources you need to help you remove the stains of anger, selfishness, greed, pride, rudeness, envy, and anything else that is black against the light of the baking soda Bible. The question is will you use it? Do you want to shine from the inside out? I can have awesome products like fancy soap and cool brushes, but unless I use them properly, they are just that, fancy soap and cool brushes.
     Let us go back to the carpet analogy. I can vacuum my carpet and it can be clean on the surface, but unless I deep clean, it is only clean on the top. Underneath lays all sorts of nasty stuff. This is how Jesus describes the Pharisees in the passages above. They seem righteous because they’ve cleaned the surface, but underneath they have stains that only deep cleaning can reach. You have to have the right condition for cleaning as well. You need a hot soapy heart. Yes our hearts are delicate like glass and strong as steel, but we must choose to have soapy delicate strong hearts. Soapy hearts can soak a lot of information and emotions, but then you can apply the baking soda Bible, Comet people, and the Spic and Span Spirit to scrub away the unwanted stains. Cleaning is a daily chore. Just like any chore, sometimes we have no desire to do it. But cleaning isn’t always about desire, is it? It is about what is necessary. If we waited on desire to clean our home, we might end up living in a pig pen. We clean daily because we want our home livable and enjoyable. How much more should we cherish our hearts and minds, and the hearts and minds of those living with us? If you are not cleaning daily with the baking soda Bible, Comet people, and Spic and Span Spirit, then get on board. Dirty hearts are not enjoyable to be around and God can’t always use you the way He desires unless you are in the business of cleaning. Can we agree to start cleaning today and living with soapy hearts?

Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. Keep your mouth free of perversity;
keep corrupt talk far from your lips. Let your eyes look straight ahead; fix your gaze directly before you.
Give careful thought to the paths for your feet and be steadfast in all your ways.

Proverbs 4:23-26

April- God Needs My Help, Right?

Genesis 25: 21-23

Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife, because she was childless. The Lord answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant. The babies jostled each other within her, and she said, “Why is this happening to me?” So she went to inquire of the Lord. The Lord said to her, “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger.”

      Sometimes I really do think God needs my help. He’s very capable of handling things on His own, but have you ever noticed that sometimes He takes longer than He should to answer your question or provide for that need? I’ve noticed that many times in my life and some of those times I’ve decided that my help, or a nudge in the right direction, would really be beneficial for Him. Besides, He has given me wisdom and discernment. Like I said, He’s very capable, but who wouldn’t turn down my help? I know of one woman who felt the same way. So, she decided to help God.                                                                         

     Rebekah was married to Isaac and if you remember, this was the Isaac that Abraham was prepared to sacrifice for God. God spared him and promised Abraham that He would make a great nation through Isaac. That great nation was born from Rebekah. Now, let’s assume that maybe Rebekah doesn’t know or understand this promise that was made from God. She’s pregnant with twins, she feels the babies fighting within her, and it causes her to be concerned. So she does what seemed best, she spoke to the Lord about it. He very clearly tells her that she has two children, and they will be great, but the older will serve the younger. Those are pretty heavy words for her to meditate on. And I’m pretty sure she forgot those words. Fast forward to when her sons, Esau and Jacob, are young men. Let me start by saying that Esau was only the firstborn by a few minutes and that Rebekah favored Jacob. Their father Isaac is going to die soon and per their custom, he needs to bless the first born son. He tells Esau to go hunt game and bring it to him and then he will bless him. Rebekah overhears this conversation and takes into account who she favors [which is Jacob] and possibly remembers that the older son is supposed to serve the younger. She decides at this point that God hasn’t come through on His promises. She does what any loving mother would do, right? She takes matters into her own hands and plays the deceiver to get the end result. Let’s read about it.

"Now Rebekah was listening as Isaac spoke to his son Esau. When Esau left for the open country to hunt game and bring it back, Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “Look, I overheard your father say to your brother Esau, ‘Bring me some game and prepare me some tasty food to eat, so that I may give you my blessing in the presence of the Lord before I die.’ Now, my son, listen carefully and do what I tell you: Go out to the flock and bring me two choice young goats, so I can prepare some tasty food for your father, just the way he likes it. Then take it to your father to eat, so that he may give you his blessing before he dies.” Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, “But my brother Esau is a hairy man while I have smooth skin. What if my father touches me? I would appear to be tricking him and would bring down a curse on myself rather than a blessing.” His mother said to him, “My son, let the curse fall on me. Just do what I say; go and get them for me.” (Genesis 27: 5-13)

Let me mention that Isaac is pretty much blind at this point, so it was easy to deceive him. Jacob received the blessing by deception, Esau was heartbroken and angry, Isaac was taken by surprise, and I’m not sure what was going on in Rebekah’s mind. But a curse did befall her and really the whole family. Rebekah did not trust God to follow through on what He proclaimed many years before. She deceived both her sons and her husband. I don’t know how His promise would have come through, but I know that it would have been much better for all the people involved than the way Rebekah chose to handle things. She chose to act out of her fears rather than her trust in God. I encourage you to read the rest of the story when you can. That one deceptive decision that Rebekah made and Jacob followed had catastrophic consequences for everybody for years to come. Jacob had to flee from Esau and he never saw his mother again. God still worked good through those poor choices, but oh how it could have been so much better!                                    

     Remember I mentioned earlier that I think I need to help God out sometimes? Well, that’s when I’m thinking out of my fears. To be quite honest, I’m not really thinking at all. I’m reacting to fears and so I act and usually make a mess of things. Can you imagine if Rebekah, upon hearing that conversation between Esau and Isaac, prayed instead of conjuring up a deceptive plan or even had just spoken to Isaac about the matter? Well, let me end by offering some practical instructions for the next time you’re convinced you need to “help” God. You remember what you are supposed to do if you are on fire? “Stop, drop and roll!” Roll that fire out. Well how about when we feel like taking matters out of God’s hand, let’s Stop, Drop and Pray! Pray those fears out completely! I think we can all relate to Rebekah, even more so if you have a child and want the best for them. Yet whether we are single, married, or a parent, our fears can be very powerful motivators. We have to condition our fears to motivate us to literally stop our thinking, drop to our knees, and pray to the Lord. Can we all practice that this month?

STOP your thinking, DROP to your knees, PRAY to the Lord!

 

March - Stones of Memory

Exodus 14: 21-22 

Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the Lord swept the sea back by a strong east wind all night and turned the sea into dry land, so the waters were divided. The sons of Israel went through the midst of the sea on the dry land, and the waters were like a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. 

Joshua 3: 14-17 

So when the people set out from their tents to cross the Jordan with the priests carrying the ark of the covenant before the people, and when those who carried the ark came into the Jordan, and the feet of the priests carrying the ark were dipped in the edge of the water ….the waters which were flowing down from above stood and rose up in one heap, …. So the people crossed opposite Jericho. And the priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firm on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan while all Israel crossed on dry ground, until all the nation had finished crossing the Jordan. 

Joshua 4: 2-7

 “Take for yourselves twelve men from the people, one man from each tribe, and command them, saying, ‘Take up for yourselves twelve stones from here out of the middle of the Jordan, from the place where the priests’ feet are standing firm, and carry them over with you and lay them down in the lodging place where you will lodge tonight.’……Let this be a sign among you, so that when your children ask later, saying, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’……So these stones shall become a memorial to the sons of Israel forever"                                                                                                                                              

      I’m a big fan of celebrating. I love birthdays and anniversaries. It is fun to celebrate life and events that change our life. It’s great to gather around other friends and rejoice over something wonderful. This kind of celebrating is part of the community God wants us to have, to love those around us and to remember God’s goodness in the midst of it. Yet, rarely do I commemorate times when God chastens me, or exposes my fears, or brings unwanted change. They don’t seem like things you and I want to put a party hat on for. When I look back and think about when God brought me deeper into His will and strengthened my faith in Him, it usually was in the midst of some trial. It’s not always that He just helps me through the trial, but during the trial, He does something amazing. He’ll reveal something about Himself, or something about me. Or, He’ll do a little miracle that I wasn’t even praying for. Moses led the Israelites out of slavery from Egypt through the Red Sea, literally through the sea. God pushed the waters back and they crossed on dry land. Then they lived on the other side of the Red Sea for 40 years. At the end of the 40 years, Joshua led the Israelites to the Promised Land through the Jordan River, literally. God tells Joshua that the tribe leaders are to pick up stones from the middle of the Jordan River and bring them into their camp. They are to keep them as memorials. Getting on the other side wasn’t necessary the trial the Israelites were nervous about—it was taking over the city of Jericho. Yet cross the river they must and God did an amazing miracle in the Jordan River just as He did on the other side of it. He parted the Jordan River and the Israelites crossed on dry ground…completely dry ground as to be able to pick up stones from the bottom. 

     God’s instruction was to “remember”. Remember what He did and what power He revealed for His people. He wanted the people to have visual reminders of the spiritual and supernatural. The stones were not just a story of crossing the Jordan but of everything before, during, and after the crossing. The stones were visual reminders to celebrate His goodness, to remember His goodness during other trials, and to help others believe in His goodness in the future to come. I remember years ago, walking with a good friend after a break up and trying to move past it. She stopped and picked up a white stone and handed it to me. She told me that whenever you look at it, remember that God is good and everything will be just fine. I kept the stone on my dresser for a while and every time I saw it, I thanked God for His goodness and that He was in control. I wish I still had that stone. 

      We tend to forget so easily what God has done for us. Remembering His power and miracles are not just for ourselves, but for future generations. God wanted the children of the Israelites to know about their parent’s relationship with God, and He wants that for us as well. He does not want us to forget. The enemy would like for us to forget. We have to be active in remembering His miracles, His goodness, and His tenderness so that during trials, our faith is strengthened and we can share it with others. I challenge you and myself to start today to pick up ‘stones’ from our trials. They can be anything that is a sign among you of what God has done. 

Now the people came up from the Jordan on the tenth of the first month and camped at Gilgal on the eastern edge of Jericho. Those twelve stones which they had taken from the Jordan, Joshua set up at Gilgal. He said to the sons of Israel, “When your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, ‘What are these stones?’ then you shall inform your children, saying, ‘Israel crossed this Jordan on dry ground.’ For the Lord your God dried up the waters of the Jordan before you until you had crossed, just as the Lord your God had done to the Red Sea, which He dried up before us until we had crossed; that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the Lord is mighty, so that you may fear the Lord your God forever.”

Joshua 4:19-24

February

Proverbs 19:11

A person’s wisdom yields patience; it is to one’s glory to overlook an offense.

Feel and Act Love

     Last month we looked at love and how it is a sacrifice of ourselves to others. It is all about giving and serving another person. Christ gave and served us on the cross. His love is an example everyday of how you and I should love others. As I think about this, I realize that if Christ had not gone to such lengths to show and prove His love for me, would I do the same? Would I prove my love to Him or to those I love? It’s easy to love when things are easy, but it’s during the difficult times that love becomes more of a choice; a choice to have patience, faith, hope, and endurance. His love is pure, cleansing, forgiving, and enriching. When we as fallen beings practice that kind of love, it refines and cleanses us. Many times that word “refine” is another way of saying that its making us see our sins and having to change our ways—not always fun, huh? And yet, this is how sanctification truly works in our lives. The word “sanctify” can be defined as ‘to purify or free from sin’. That is what Christ wants for us. Is that not the reason He willingly was nailed on the cross…so that we would be free from sin? As a believer, you are free from the eternal consequences of sin, but not from its earthly effects. Choosing to love as Christ is a choice. It is through practicing His love that the Holy Spirit sanctifies us.
     I talk about love again because even though we’ve already seen that sacrifice goes hand in hand when it comes to loving others, the truth is it is hard to love that way. Giving of ourselves does not come easy and sometimes we do truly love others. We just love ourselves more. Think about the last time it was hard to forgive someone. How about that time you were asked to help serve a meal, help someone move, or give an extra offering? What about prayer? Are you praying for those who’ve asked for it? This isn’t about guilt. It’s about how love comes in many forms and how we must recognize all of them. It’s about loving those we live with and loving those outside our ‘circle’. Christ loves us not just by His death, but by His life in us. He loves us by forgiving us every day, redeeming us every day, protecting us every day, and by refining us so that we can love like Him. I hope there’s a certain amount of sorrow as you read this and realize that you have said ‘no’ to some ‘love opportunities’. Not a sorrow that leads to guilt, but to repentance and choosing to love better. (“yet now I am happy, not because you were made sorry, but because your sorrow led you to repentance..” Romans 7:9a)
     For many of us, love sometimes comes down to time. I will be the first to admit that I can be selfish with my time. You’ve heard the phrase “time is money”. Well, in our culture right now, time is precious and valued very much, just like money. I agree that we must protect our time, but to what lengths? We’ve got to let God’s love penetrate where it hurts and I believe it hurts us when it comes to our time and our money. Everything we have, our time, our money, our families, and our bodies belong to God. He has made us stewards to care for such things. How do we love as He loves with the resources He’s given us? I can tell you I don’t measure up that great. I can be selfish with my time and money. The reality is that I have no problem giving my money and time to my family or my closest friends. That’s relatively easy. Even if I don’t feel like loving them, I choose to because of my relationship with them. Anyone else feel that way, too? For the most part I want to serve them and I have no problem sacrificing for them. But, what about those I don’t have a close relationship with? Should sacrificial love be shown to only those I know? What about those that have hurt me or those I don’t know very well. Am I expected to love them with that same love and compassion I have for my family? Did Christ distinguish His love between His disciples and those that nailed Him to the cross? Love hurts.
     You and I have different backgrounds, personalities, strengths, and weaknesses that allow us to relate to others in ways that may not be similar. The Lord has carefully put people in our lives to love us, sharpen us, rebuke us, and comfort us. This is another way He loves us. He wants to grow us in His love. He wants us to experience Himself in many forms. Yet love is not complicated. We can’t forget that truth. Love may be hard, it may not be wanted, it may be wonderful, but it is not complicated. The Lord has made that clear. It was love that allowed Him to create us, it was love that caused Him to save us, it was love that drew Him to the cross, and it was love that moved Him to redeem us eternally. Is it His love that draws me to serve others, is it His love that compels me to sacrifice my time and money, is it His love that moves me to get out of my comfort zone? I wish I could truly say yes to all these questions. I hope that you desire to say yes to these questions. This is the month of commercial love. Valentine’s Day is a recognized Love day. Whatever we may think of it, let’s take advantage of it. It is okay and even fun to love with heart balloons and heart shaped candy, but what if we also use this ‘love’ month to practice Real Love? To show other’s that love is not just giving of gifts, but of oneself as Christ did on the cross? We can’t love others right if we don’t feel and understand God’s own love for us. Love is feelings and actions together.

“True love always feels. But please note this crucial distinction: Feeling doesn’t necessarily mean you love; but if you truly love, you feel…..This means that when God loves, He loves in such a way that He is not just concerned about getting you to heaven. He cares about your comprehensive well-being, every minute detail of your life. He checks into all the nooks and crannies of your existence. No area goes unloved by God because if He gave you Jesus, He’s not going to hold back anything else. He has invested too much in you to overlook anything”

- Tony Evans, Our God is Awesome -

January

Romans 5:6-8 

You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 

Philippians 2: 3-8 

Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 

J.O.Y. 

One of the recent sermons I heard was on why relationships, any kind, break down. The usual culprit is communication or the lack of communication. I admit I’m guilty of thinking someone can read my mind and know what I need. The thing is that relationships, whether they be with your spouse, your children, or your friends, takes effort. To communicate takes effort, especially for those who have a hard time expressing their emotions. Yet sometimes it’s not just communication, but more about attitude and having too much of it, or about humility and not having enough of it. Love is sacrifice and what greater picture of sacrifice than the cross. Christ laid down his life for you and me and He didn’t do it to gain anything from us. He did to save us. He did to offer us something. That’s the kind of love I want in my friendships and my family. Love is sacrifice. That means we sacrifice our time, energy, interests, resources, and things we desire. That doesn’t mean we sacrifice our principles, but we humble ourselves for those we love. It’s how I want to learn to love people, and how I want to be loved. Somewhere between the desire to love sacrificially to actually doing it, I get in the way. We can speak efficiently, but words are worthless when action doesn’t follow. How do we measure love? Surely not merely by feelings or words, but by actions right? Words can be very powerful and can speak to your soul. Yet words gain their power when they are put into action. When the president speaks, he speaks with authority and power. But what if what he says never happens? Then the power of those words is lost. God says He loves me. But He proved it by saving me from eternal death. He gave up something precious to Him to show how much He really loves me. If what He gave up wasn’t precious to Him, then it wouldn’t be a sacrifice, would it? Yet it was a huge sacrifice for God to give up His son. So, is that what love is, the giving up of something I value? Sacrificing what I value to better the other person? 

      Humility plays a key role in sacrifice. How can we give up what we value for someone else unless we are humble? Humility is putting others before me. I remember the J.O.Y. we are supposed to practice. Jesus, Others, and You. It’s not that hard to know to put Jesus first, but many times I practice JYO. Others are last and where is the sacrificial love in that? This is exactly what Christ did for us. He put God first and then all of us next. That’s how He was able to be nailed to the cross and die knowing what His death would bring for you and me. That is True love. He said He loves me and He showed it. 

     Real love is not usually what is portrayed in the movies. It’s not always easy or fun or happy. Sometimes it is hard, time consuming, and taxing. Love pushes through feelings, but it doesn’t stop with them. Do you think Jesus felt like having nails hammered through Him? I doubt it, but He was not letting His feelings be His guide of what needed to be done. He was being led by Love. True love did not start with fairy tales. True love did not start with the Bible. The Bible was the result of True love already existing and proving that Love for us. 

     I want to live True love daily. What makes it hard is my own selfishness and wanting my own ways. The beauty about sacrificial love is that it not only benefits the receiver, but the giver as well. There is a transformation that takes place deep in our hearts when we choose to love as Christ did. He transforms our hearts to be more like His. Yet it is a daily choice and daily process. Christ did it for you and me in the most painful way imaginable and yet He did it out of His pure love for us. How will you love this New Year? If there is any resolution you and I will make this year, let us make sure it is True Love.

We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren…..let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth. 

1 John 3: 16,18

  

December

Ruth 1:3-10, 14-18

Then Elimelech, Naomi’s husband, died; and she was left with her two sons. They took for themselves Moabite women as wives; the name of the one was Orpah and the name of the other Ruth. And they lived there about ten years. Then both Mahlon and Chilion also died, and the woman was bereft of her two children and her husband. Then she arose with her daughters-in-law that she might return from the land of Moab, for she had heard in the land of Moab that the Lord had visited His people in giving them food. So she departed from the place where she was, and her two daughters-in-law with her; and they went on the way to return to the land of Judah. And 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. May the Lord grant that you may find rest, each in the house of her husband.” Then she kissed them, and they lifted up their voices and wept. And they said to her, “No, but we will surely return with you to your people.” …. And they lifted up their voices and wept again; and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her. Then she said, “Behold, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and her gods; return after your sister-in-law.” But Ruth said, “Do not urge me to leave you or turn back 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. Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. Thus may the Lord do to me, and worse, if anything but death parts you and me.” When she saw that she was determined to go with her, she said no more to her.

Love that speaks 

      Ruth is a short book in the Bible, but in such few words, it shares the sweet love story of two people that met under difficult circumstances. Ruth was a widow and had no children. She had the choice to go back to her people and her homeland, yet she chose to stay with her mother-in-law, Naomi. That decision had a mighty impact on herself, on Naomi, on Boaz, and on the lineage of Christ. She may not have been aware of this powerful decision, but she knew that her life was not meant to go back to what she was. Naomi was a godly woman and Ruth had lived with her for 10 years while she was married to her son. She must have noticed a difference in the way Naomi lived and worshipped. She willingly followed Naomi back to Bethlehem to make a new life. Naomi was a widow herself and was grieving the loss of her only sons. She knew exactly what Ruth was going through. At a time of grief and uncertainty, they became a comfort to one another. As you read the whole story, you notice that Naomi was bitter and heartbroken about her losses, yet in the midst of this she did not neglect Ruth’s well being. Because they were both poor, Ruth tried to find food in the fields that the harvesters left behind. She did not care how this looked or the fact that she was in a position lower than even servants. In a sense she was a beggar coming up behind the hired help looking for food. She and Naomi needed to survive. God saw her servant’s heart and so did the owner of the field, Boaz. Boaz not only was godly and generous, but also related to Naomi. I greatly encourage you to read the entire book. In it you will see how kind and compassionate Boaz was to his servants. He treated them with respect. This was a glimpse of his integrity and his fear of God. Ruth could have picked any field, but as she was gleaning, she ended up in Boaz’s field and he happened to notice her. Coincidence? Unlikely! God is always in the middle of everything and He was all over this. Boaz provided more than enough food for Ruth to take back. When Naomi realized what was going on, she had Ruth do something that may seem strange to us. She told Ruth to lay down at Boaz’s feet after he fell asleep. Boaz is asleep by his harvested grain. She came secretly, uncovered his feet, laid down and waited. He awoke suddenly and realized there was a woman lying at his feet. Let’s read what happened next:

So she went down to the threshing floor and did according to all that her mother-in-law had commanded her. When Boaz had eaten and drunk and his heart was merry, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of grain; and she came secretly, and uncovered his feet and lay down. It happened in the middle of the night that the man was startled and bent forward; and behold, a woman was lying at his feet. He said, “Who are you?” And she answered, “I am Ruth your maid. So spread your covering over your maid, for you are a close relative.” Then he said, “May you be blessed of the Lord, my daughter. You have shown your last kindness to be better than the first by not going after young men, whether poor or rich. Now, my daughter, do not fear. I will do for you whatever you ask, for all my people in the city know that you are a woman of excellence. (Ruth 3:6-11) 

Ruth is not being scandalous, but in fact she is being quite humble. When she tells Boaz to ‘spread your covering’ she is essentially asking him to take her as his own, to provide, to protect, and to marry her. Boaz honors and respects her and does marry her. She is provided for her as well as Naomi. Her loss became her gain more than she could have imagined. Her servant’s heart led her to find food in the fields which in return led her to her provider. 

     As sweet as this love story is, it is only a hint of the love story we share with God as His children. He longs ‘to cover’ us with Himself, to be our Protector, our Provider, and our Savior. Ruth can teach us two very important lessons. First, we don’t go back to who we used to be before Christ. She chose to leave behind her old self, her old beliefs, and lifestyle. Second, we must know who we are in Christ. Ruth was a woman of humility. She knew her place, but also her value. She was a woman of virtue and yet recognized that she needed a provider. She came to Boaz in humility with respect and honor. She didn’t see herself lower than Boaz, but she came to him giving him a higher place. I hope you see the difference. Jesus desires us to give Him ourselves completely that He may transform us into something new. Ruth became a new person. She had a new last name, a new home, and was completely loved. She eventually became a mother. She had a life more abundant that she had before. Jesus wants to do that for you and me. You may have already given your life to Christ and need to remember the abundance He has provided for you. You may be someone that does not trust that Christ can really transform your life into something new. I am living proof that He does and He continues to sanctify and renew me in His image every day. For this I am grateful and like Ruth, I am honored to be covered by Christ.

Thus must we by faith apply ourselves to Jesus Christ as our next kinsman, that is able to redeem us, come under his wings, as we are invited and beg of him to spread his skirt over us. 

-Matthew Henry-

November

Psalms 111:10 

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; A good understanding have all those who do His commandments; His praise endures forever. 

James 3: 13 -18 

Who among you is wise and understanding? Let him show by his good behavior his deeds in the gentleness of wisdom. But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth. This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, natural, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil thing. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy. And the seed whose fruit is righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace. 

The Good and the Bad

     I’d like to think that I am wise and full of discernment, but when I sin and make a bad decision, I am reminded that I’m not there yet. According to James, I am to show my wisdom by my good behavior and deeds. Oops! This isn't always true of me. In case you were wondering, I do unwise things sometimes and my behavior doesn't line up with my knowledge. Knowledge is information. We can choose to gain great knowledge or live without it. When I am making a big purchase, I've learned that the informed consumer is the best one. If I know all about the product, I can make an informed decision and be satisfied that I made the best choice possible. Making that knowledgeable decision based on the information I acquired is called wisdom. Wisdom is knowing what to do with the knowledge I have. Yet good wisdom doesn't just come naturally does it? As I read James 3, it says there is wisdom that is not good and not from above. This kind of earthly wisdom does not have to be learned or sought after. Unfortunately it comes pretty natural to us. This is why God calls it earthly and natural. 

     There is so much packed in those verses in James. The first thing I want to bring to our attention is the fact that we show our good behavior in the gentleness of wisdom. What exactly does gentleness of wisdom mean? It suggests that wisdom is not harsh and arrogant. Have you ever known someone that maybe wise and yet the way they choose to act on their wisdom isn't so sweet? Being gentle is being humble. Look at the next verse. As I read this passage over and over I get the idea that if we are bitter and selfish, it’s very difficult to have gentleness of wisdom. He says that bad or natural wisdom is bitter jealousy, selfish ambition, arrogant, and untruthful. Personally I wouldn't call any of these wise, but I think we get his meaning. Look how else he describes this wisdom. It is earthly, natural, and demonic. Wow! It makes me shudder to think that sometimes I act out of bitterness or arrogance and I’m living out demonic and earthly wisdom. We act out of what we know and what we believe. The good news is that we can change what we know and what we believe. 

     The next few verses we have heavenly and earthly wisdom compared. I made it into a list and I think it gives us a good picture of how they play it out in our lives. I've taken this list straight from the passage. 

Heavenly Wisdom:                                 Earthly Wisdom: 

Gentle                                                    Bitter
Order                                                     Jealous
Pure                                                       Selfish
Peaceable                                            Arrogant
Reasonable                                         Untruthful
Merciful                                                Disorder
Good fruits                                          Unfaithful

Unwavering 

Without hypocrisy

Do you know notice anything about the heavenly list? It is very similar to the fruits of the Spirit that is mentioned in Galatians 5: 22-23, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.” As a believer, we already have the Spirit of God living inside of us therefore we have all these fruits in us to make wise choices from. We have to practice through the Holy Spirit to be loving, peaceful, gentle and so forth. It’s acting out our wisdom in gentleness. There is no way we can do this without the spirit of God. Our flesh is extremely strong and will carry out what we naturally know whenever it can. I think you would agree with me. 

      Behavior can be adjusted and modified. When we decide to practice out the Heavenly wisdom, we are being wise and understanding as God desires us to be. I mentioned earlier that wisdom is knowing what to do with the knowledge we have. We must strive to gain godly knowledge. This comes straight from God’s Word. If we want to be wise, it’s very simple. Read the Bible, do what it says, and share it with others. Living out the Christian life is not complicated and not rocket science; it’s just a matter of committing our lives to God and then carrying out that commitment. I am not naïve, I know that it’s harder than it actually sounds, but sometimes we make it more intense than it needs to be. When we are not sure, here is what James encourages us to do: 

But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. (James 1:5-6) 

God is more than ready to help us, but we just need to ask Him in faith. I want to make decisions that are wise and glorify God. I am fully aware that I am not able to make those wise decisions without His help and His heavenly wisdom. I must seek that wisdom in the Bible and ask for it in prayer. Communion with God is where I grow in wisdom. If the beginning of wisdom really starts with God, then why would we go seek it anywhere else? 

Proverbs 1:7

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; Fools despise wisdom and instruction. 

Proverbs 2:6

For the Lord gives wisdom; From His mouth come knowledge and understanding. 

Ecclesiastes 7:12

For wisdom is protection just as money is protection, But the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom preserves the lives of its possessors.