The Plan
Ruth 3, part 1
Have you ever gone through trials and difficulties in life and it feels like a black cloud is going to be over you forever? Naomi had been going through such a period in her life. Consequently, Ruth never left her side. Ruth put the needs of her mother-in-law before her own. Additionally, Ruth has found favor with Boaz and is working hard to glean and store grain for Naomi and herself for the coming year. Things are looking up.Read more
A Love Story
Ruth 2, part 3
A love story is emerging. It’s quite different from the movies produced by Hollywood. The foundation of this relationship is a common faith in the true God of Israel. A man and a woman from two different worlds find themselves interacting with each other through a common bond of humility, kindness and a sincere faith in God. What a marvelous love story!Read more
Kindness Rules
Discovery Green Park in Houston!
Ruth 2, part 2
Ruth found the fields owned by Boaz, a kinsman of her deceased father-in-law who died in Moab along with Ruth’s husband. Ruth was a Moabitess, a widow and a foreigner. But she also was kind, humble, unselfish and a smart, industrious hard worker. Her newfound faith in the true God of Israel emboldened her belief and confidence that God would care for her and her mother-in-law, Naomi.Read more
Action
Ruth 2, part 1
The scene is set. Naomi returns home to Bethlehem with a sense of God’s abandonment upon her. Ruth, her daughter-in-law, returns with her. Ruth, the foreigner, feels drawn to Israel and no longer feels at home in her own country. She has embraced Naomi’s God as her God and Naomi’s people as her people. The two widows settle back into Bethlehem but this time, Naomi doesn’t live in the nice part of town. She is without a man to labor and bring home income. Naomi is too old to marry, and Ruth is in a foreign land without a viable dating website to help her find the “needle in a haystack” of a man who will marry a foreigner. They settle in and begin to live in very humble means. But, providentially, the Bible tells us that “they came to Bethlehem at the beginning of barley harvest.”Read more
Dealing With Pain
Ruth 1, part 3
Ruth clung to Naomi and was determined to stay with her mother-in-law. Ruth did not want to return to her old life and her former gods. The true God of Israel had saved her. Ruth was saved the same way we are in the New Testament era. It wasn’t because she followed the law of Moses or participated in Jewish rituals that saved her. It wasn’t through works. She heard the message of God, of the coming Messiah and God enlightened her heart and she, by faith, received the grace of God. Her heart was changed from the inside out. She took Naomi’s God as her God and her heart was turned toward Him. The beauty of how God saves an individual and changes them from the inside out, never ceases to amaze me.Read more
We Got A Clinger!
Ruth, part 2
After the death of her husband and two sons in Moab, Naomi determined to go home to Bethlehem. The famine had ended in Judah and there was no reason for her to stay. She asked her two surviving daughter-in-laws to remain in their homeland, Moab. Naomi told them she was old and had no sons for them to marry. She urged them to go home, find a husband and make a life for themselves, “for the hand of the Lord has gone against me,” verse 13. Orpah wept and kissed Naomi and departed but Ruth clung to her mother-in-law and would not leave.Read more
Influence
Ruth 1
The story begins during the time of the Judges, a couple of generations before David arrives on the scene. There’s a famine in Judah and a man named Elimelech from Bethlehem makes the difficult decision to lead his wife, Naomi along with their two sons to a foreign land, Moab. They must escape the famine. Shortly after arriving in Moab, Elimelech died. A major setback to say the least. However, life goes on and the two sons marry Moabite women, Orpah (not Oprah:) and Ruth. They lived in Moab for 10 years and then both sons also died. Maybe the whole Moab decision was a mistake???Read more
Down But Not Out
Ruth
I’ve learned that my devotions are immensely enriched when I take the time to do some basic research and consider how each Bible book fits into biblical history and how the themes fit into the full biblical story. Having studied 1 and 2 Samuel recently, it’s enlightening to realize that Ruth was most likely written by Samuel. The book was distributed shortly before or early during King David’s reign. Lineage was important to the Jews. So, at the end of the book of Ruth it is established that Ruth is David’s great grandmother. Also, Ruth is one of four women mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew.Read more
Heartwarming
We recently toured the Washington National Cathedral
Ruth - Introduction
I have recently been compelled to read and study Ruth. I carefully read all of Ruth this morning and would encourage you to as well. This is an epic love story of kindness, grace and virtue. The story of Ruth takes place during the time of the judges and a couple of generations preceding David. This book is the prequel of I Samuel.Read more