A Woman God Can Use - Part 4

Today we are going to take a look at Ruth.  She was a Moabite (Gentile) woman that married an Israelite (Jewish) man who was living in Moab.  After her husband died, she stayed with her mother-in-law Naomi.  Naomi had lost her husband and both of her sons.   In Ruth 1:16-17, Ruth declares her loyalty to Naomi and even stated that Naomi’s God would be her God.  The two of them set out for Bethlehem, Naomi’s home.    

I am sure the last thing that Ruth wanted to do was leave her own family to go with her mother-in-law, but she knew it was the right thing to do.  Naomi was all alone and elderly.  When Ruth and Naomi returned to Bethlehem, they were so poor that Ruth had to glean in the fields.  Gleaning was basically an early form of welfare.  The farmers would leave the corners of their fields unharvested, and they would not harvest any left-overs that had been forgotten when they had harvested the majority of a field.  This was left for the poor.   Naomi was too old to work, so Ruth was responsible for both of them.

While she was gleaning in the fields, she caught the eye of Boaz, the wealthy property owner.  He showed her favor and told the harvesters to leave a little extra for her to pick up.  He even offered her lunch and a place to “glean” for the rest of the harvest.  (He knew who she was because her reputation had preceded her.  Her kindness and loyalty to Naomi was very impressive.)    When she told Naomi about his kindness, Naomi knew who he was.  He was family!  She sent Ruth to the threshing floor to show Boaz that she wanted to be his.

At the end of their story, Ruth marries Boaz and has a son named Obed.  Obed was the grandfather of King David!  Even though she lost her husband, moved from her home to live with strangers, and was so poor that she had to beg for food, God worked everything together for her good.   Romans 8:28 NLT “And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.”      

A Woman God Can Use - Part 3

Today we will take a look at Rahab.  She was the prostitute that hid the two spies that Joshua had sent to check out Jericho (see Joshua 2).  Why would she, a lowly prostitute, be used by God? 

If we take a look at the facts that we can see in the scripture, Rahab was clearly unmarried and without children.  We know that she had a father, mother, brothers and sisters.  What we don’t know is why the men of her family weren’t taking care of her.  We could assume that it was a situation of a family in dire poverty.  This young woman may have had to find a way to provide for herself, and maybe even for ailing parents. We aren’t told why she was a prostitute, just that she was one.  Sometimes people are victims of circumstance.  Sometimes people just make bad choices.  Either way, she ended up living this life. 

In Rahab’s line of work, she must have had the opportunity to talk to many men.  She had heard tales of how the God of the Israelites was making a way for them to take over the land.  She knew about the parting of the Red Sea and about the complete destruction of Sihon and Og.   In her destitution, I’m sure she longed to be taken care of and provided for like this God of Israel was doing for His people.  She had a fear of that God and had faith that He might protect and provide for her, too, if she did something for Him. She risked her life to help those spies escape.

                             

Because of what she did for God’s people, He saved her and her entire family.  They were taken in by the Israelite nation and lived among them.  According to Matthew 1, Rahab apparently married and had a son named Boaz. We will find out more about him in Ruth’s story later on, but he was a wealthy man.  That must mean that his parents were probably wealthy also.  This poor prostitute was blessed beyond what she could have ever imagined because of her faith in God and because she acted on that faith. 

In James 2: 24-26 Rahab’s faith is used as an example to all of us.  “You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.  In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute 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.”

A Woman God Can Use - Part 2

Let’s take a closer look at these women mentioned in Matthew 1.  The first woman mentioned was Tamar.  Her story is found in Genesis 38.  She was a Canaanite woman that married two of Judah’s sons.  Eventually, she posed as a prostitute and slept with her father-in-law Judah and became pregnant with twins.

How could God use a woman like Tamar?   Her story sounds pretty awful by our standards today.  But actually, by ancient Hebrew standards, her actions were legal and considered moral.  According to the Levirate Law, a child born of marriage to the brother of a dead older brother was the heir of the dead husband. He was also the heir of his real father. In this way, family property was preserved and consolidated. It was not only a disgrace for Tamar not to have a child, it meant that she had no way of providing for herself.  She had no property or inheritance without a son. 
Judah had promised her his youngest son Shelah after the other two older sons had both died, but Judah did not keep his promise. Even though Tamar had to trick Judah into producing an heir with her, she was doing the right thing.  Judah eventually called her “righteous” (Genesis 38:26) because he knew that he was the one that actually was in the wrong.    
Tamar was a strong woman.  She was widowed twice, publicly embarrassed by her 2^nd husband’s actions and sent back home to her parents to live in disgrace.  Instead of feeling sorry for herself and just accepting her life as it was, she took action and God worked all of it out for her good.  He blessed her with two sons, one of which was included in the direct lineage of Jesus.

What can we learn from Tamar?   She knew her rights, and she acted upon them.  As children of God, we are co-heirs with Christ and we need to know our rights!  We need to act on them!  We don’t just sit back and wait for God to bless us, we need to get out there and bless others.  We must study the life of Jesus, and pattern our lives after His.  He used His authority and so can we!  No matter what life throws at you, know that ALL of it will work together for your good if you are a child of His.

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.  For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.  And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.  What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us?”  Romans 8:28-31 NIV

A Woman God Can Use - Part 1

Matt 1:1-6 NLT - This is a record of the ancestors of Jesus the Messiah, a descendant of David and of Abraham: Abraham was the father of Isaac. Isaac was the father of Jacob. Jacob was the father of Judah and his brothers. Judah was the father of Perez and Zerah (whose mother was Tamar). Perez was the father of Hezron. Hezron was the father of Ram. Ram was the father of Amminadab. Amminadab was the father of Nahshon. Nahshon was the father of Salmon.  Salmon was the father of Boaz (whose mother was Rahab). Boaz was the father of Obed (whose mother was Ruth). Obed was the father of Jesse.  Jesse was the father of King David. David was the father of Solomon (whose mother was Bathsheba, the widow of Uriah)....Matt 1:16 NLT  - Jacob was the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary. Mary gave birth to Jesus, who is called the Messiah.

I know that you just skimmed over all of those names! I have done the same thing many times. But go back and read them! Most of us just skip over these scriptures entirely because we can’t pronounce most of the names. One Sunday morning, while the preacher was reading out of Matthew 1, something just jumped out at me.  Look back at the entire scripture…verses 1-16.   There are only 4 women listed.  What really caught my attention was that a couple of them I recognized as women who had a very sinful past.  So I decided to do a study of the 4 women listed here.  If the Holy Spirit thought they were important enough to include in the bible, then there is something that we need to learn from the lives of these women.

The first woman mentioned was Tamar.  Her story is found in Genesis 38.  She was a Canaanite woman that married two of Judah’s sons.  Eventually, she posed as a prostitute and slept with her father-in-law Judah and became pregnant with twins. 

Next, there is Rahab.  She was a prostitute that hid the two spies that Joshua had sent to check out Jericho (see Joshua 2). 

Ruth was a Moabite woman that married an Israelite man who was living in Moab.  After he died, she stayed with her mother-in-law Naomi and moved with her back to Judah. Her story in found in the book of Ruth. 

The final woman mentioned was Bathsheba.  In 2 Samuel, chapter 11, she was introduced.  She became the object of King David’s desire and committed adultery with him while her husband, Uriah the Hittite, was off at war.        

There's No Place Like Home

In the movie “The Wizard of Oz”, Dorothy’s journey begins when a tornado takes her “over the rainbow” to the Land of Oz.  Instantly, when the house she is in lands in Munchkin Land, she knows that this place is not her home.  Everything is foreign to her. 

Throughout the entire movie, Dorothy is driven by an incredible desire to return home.  Even though this new land is beautiful and has so many things to offer, she is not satisfied there.  She knows deep down that she doesn’t belong there.  This is how we should feel in this world.  It is not our home.  Oh we might have great adventures and see many beautiful things, but we were created with a desire to go home. 

Like Dorothy, our main focus should be on that one goal: to go home.  Dorothy wanted her friends Scarecrow, Tin Man and Cowardly Lion to go home with her.  That should be what we desire, too.  To take as many people home with us as we can!    

In the movie, there were lives that Dorothy needed to touch (Scarecrow, Tin Man, Cowardly Lion) and lessons that she needed to learn in that foreign land before she could leave there are return home.  As it is with each of us, God will not call us home until we have done what we were placed here to do.

As you go through this life and things seem so hard to bear, remember that it is only temporary.  Nothing here can compare to our perfect home up above with Jesus. There is truly, NO PLACE LIKE HOME!   

"All these people died still believing what God had promised them. They did not receive what was promised, but they saw it all from a distance and welcomed it. They agreed that they were foreigners and nomads here on earth. Obviously people who say such things are looking forward to a country they can call their own. If they had longed for the country they came from, they could have gone back. But they were looking for a better place, a heavenly homeland. That is why God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.” - Hebrews 11:13-16 NLT

The Wizard of Oz

One of my favorite movies of all time is The Wizard of Oz.  As a child I was so excited when it would come on TV.  Of course now I have it on DVD and I can watch it any time I want to. It has always had a special place in my heart because of the beautiful message “there’s no place like home” and the wonderful songs.  My family gets very annoyed watching this movie with me because I know most of the lines and song lyrics and I love to sing along! 

I am always looking for object lessons, and this is a movie that people of all ages can relate to.  So I have decided to do a series of devotions comparing our Christian walk to The Wizard of Oz!  First, I need to set the stage of characters:

Dorothy: The young orphan girl, who feels unwanted and unloved in her aunt and uncle’s home, will represent you and me, who live in this world that is not our home. 

The Wicked Witch of the West: Dorothy’s adversary, will represent Satan, our enemy.

Glinda the Good Witch: who watches over Dorothy and saves her from her enemy, will represent Jesus, who saves us and is always with us and watching over us.

The Wizard of Oz: who is great and powerful and knows all, will represent our Almighty God who is great, powerful, knows all, sees all and is in charge of everything.

Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Cowardly Lion: Dorothy’s three friends that help her on her journey, will represent our teachers, ministers and friends that help us on our journey.

Ruby Slippers:  The gift that was given to Dorothy by Glinda the Good Witch. They give Dorothy power over her enemy and they will represent the Holy Spirit that was given to us when we accepted Jesus as our Savior and gives us power over our enemy. 

Tune in over the next few weeks for these devotions that I am so excited to share!  Hope you will enjoy the journey with me! 

       

I Know You Can Hear Me

We have a son (who is actually a dog, but shhhh don’t tell him) named Bosley.  He is such a sweet puppy.  Inside the house, he listens and minds so well.  But the second I open the door to let him outside, it is as if he suddenly becomes deaf!  He makes a beeline away from the house smelling and “watering” everything in his path. As he moves further and further away from me I begin to call his name, but he just keeps walking along pretending I’m not there.  Every blade of grass, every tire and every tree are WAY more important to him than me at that moment.  As I start to yell louder and louder, I catch myself saying, “I KNOW YOU CAN HEAR ME!”

Aren’t we just like Bosley?  Most of us try to listen and obey God when we are in His house, but the second we leave out the doors, we suddenly become deaf to His word.  We walk around in our day to day lives ignoring His promptings and never spending time listening to Him. We venture further and further away as He calls after us.  The things of this world keep us so busy and they hold our attention so deeply.  Can’t you just see Him yelling at us, “I KNOW YOU CAN HEAR ME!”

The reason I get so upset with my puppy is because I want him to be safe.  If he doesn’t listen to me, I can’t protect him.  It is the same with our Master.  He only wants the best for us, He only wants to love and protect us.  

As we go throughout our day “outside” in the world, I pray that we never get too busy that we ignore the voice of the Lord.    

""But this is what I commanded them, saying, 'Obey My voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be My people. And walk in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well with you.'" - Jeremiah 7:23 NKJV