Hello Everyone,
Today was the first day for Micah and my Bible Study and our facebook fast. We went on an early morning run with my little sister and then went back to Micah's house and watched the first sermon in the series "Redeeming Ruth" by Mark Driscoll. Todays sermon was entitled "God's Hand in Our Suffering" it was very good. I have listened to it before, but I was able to get some new things out of it. I'm sorry I wasn't able to get a post up sooner, but I had a very busy day. : )
Today we were given a glimpse into the life of Naomi and Ruth. Naomi was a woman who knew much pain. Her husband moved them away from they're home to a place where there was no one who worshiped the one True God, she was moved from all she knew. Then her husband died. That alone is some major pain, but then her two sons died as well. I can't imagine the pain that she went through.
Now we are introduced to her two daughter in-laws, Ruth and Orpah. Ruth shows incredible loyalty to her Mother In-Law. Somehow we as a culture have lost that. There is this wrong mentality of the relationship between Mother In-Law's and Daughter In-Laws, for some reason, most people view it as they shouldn't get along, and that is all wrong. Ruth and Naomi show us what it's supposed to be like. Someday when God brings me a husband I pray that my relationship with my future Mother in-law will look like Naomi and Ruth's.
Naomi was also a woman of great honesty. She wasn't afraid to tell people she wasn't okay. She wasn't afraid to tell people how life really was going.
One of the things that I like about the book of Ruth is the realness of it. It's not all happy times. It's real life stuff. Pastor Mark talked about in the sermon how he loves that Scripture is brutally honest, and that it talks about the same degree of pain that we go through.
We will see in the coming sermons how God was able to take something that looked incredibly bleak for Naomi and Ruth, and turn it into something beautiful.
Here is the intro for tomorrows sermon called "God's Hand in Our Luck".
In Him,
~Tressa
Monday, July 12, 2010
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I didn't let myself read this until AFTER I wrote mine so I wouldn't steal your ideas. :) Love you! See you at 6AM! Thanks for being my BBF! ;)
ReplyDeleteHi Tressa,
ReplyDeleteThis was a really great study..so I'll be posting the exact same comments on your blog and on Tressa's :) :)I took six pages worth of notes and I'm amazed..
there were things I already knew, but I learned some new things, as well as learned to look at some of the passages in a new way.
1) Bethlehem means "House of bread"...I never knew that. I just knew about it in relationship to Jesus Christ...and it's totally ironic that Naomi, Elimelech and sons lives in the "house of bread" , yet there was none. Elimelech makes a move to another city/land thinking it'll be a better way of providing for his family. Instead, it ends up killing all the men in the family. They were relying on their own worries/decision making power instead of trusting God to provide for all their needs...you know what though, I can identify with that, because my father and I have known times of extreme difficulty...not having money to pay bills or buy food. So I can see how easy it would be to just want to pick up and move somewhere else...BUT that's not the solution....because difficulty can find you anywhere...but what doesn't change is God's faithfulness to us or His promise that He'll take care of us...and that includes the everyday things of life :) :)
2) Something I"m still pondering but realized I'd never thought of before...all the prayers that were prayed in the book of Ruth were for other people. Never once did the person praying pray for herself. It was always for someone else...AND all of the prayers were answered by the end of the book. Not sure why that has intrigued me...but I'm gong to think/pray on it some more...
3)"Hessed"..not sure if I spelled that right..but I thought it was so sweet that Naomi had absolutely nothing left to give...but she did, she gave of herself..She shared God with Ruth..praying that she, Ruth, would be blessed..and by the end of the book she will be :) :)
4) Here's the big one that I talked about THE MOST with my father. Stop to consider for a moment how the Moabite people came into existence as a result of a wrong relationship Jacob had with his daughter, that resulted in a child. The Moabites had become some of the most disliked people among the Israelites....
I'm sure Ruth knew that her people were not liked in Naomi's homeland. She had to have known..Maybe in a way, that was one of the reasons Naomi tried to get Ruth to turn back home. However, something in Naomi's life told Ruth that this God was/is real. God never talked to her. She just made this decision to trust God and follow Naomi..making Naomi her family. That took an extreme amount of faith and courage...especially since Ruth did not hav a single promise of security where she was headed...not a blessed thing except for God :) :) All she knew was that she would now follow God and not leave Naomi alone. That's all she had..and it was enough...because God provided so richly for her...
Oh and the other is so important in my mind..that God took a woman who came from a hated land and people...blessed her decision to follow Him and adopt Naomi as her own family...and then place Ruth directly into the lineage of Jesus Christ....Jesus Christ who died on the cross and rose again...Jesus Christ who would become the singular most important figure for all of mankind..Jesus who loves every single one of us.
I know that'll make me think twice when I look at someone who I don't like as much or who I think isn't very useful...I'll remember that God loves all of us and can/will use all of us to bring glory to Him...and also realize that no matter what others say/think about us/our lives...God loves us and has a plan for us.
Anyway, there is so much more I could have said...but I really kept this short..Trust me, I worked hard not to write more :) :) :) I hope that's okay. Let me know if this is too long..but I really am enjoying this study!!!
Love and hugs from Oregon, Heather :) :) :)
I will tell you young ladies, that the Lord is looking from heaven and watching each one of you as you seek His face!!!!!!! I am so excited as to what the Lord will do individually in each of your iives. Different paths, but He wants it straight for you!!!!! God is so wonderful to meet each of us, IF we will humble ourselves to Him alone.
ReplyDeleteSo proud of all of you for being the examples He wants you to do. What you are gleaning, the Lord will use! Be sure to live it out, so many will want to follow Him!
Love you all, Momma Stubbs
Oh, you know what...Moabites...that was Lot and one of his daughters...I think I said it was Jacob..that was wrong. I'm listening to part II right now!!! Hugs, Heather :)
ReplyDeleteHi Tressa! I love your mom and I am going to love you too! I am so excited to see the faith you share here on your blog. I have done a study in the book of Ruth and she is definetly one of my favorite strong bible women. I don't think there were too many w weak willed women in the Lord's day. Even the story of the prostitute in the New Testament reveals what a strong willed woman she was. She loved the Lord with a passion because He reached out to her. I will be back. Your blog is awesome. You are a wonderful child of God! Blessings to you and Micah today and always.
ReplyDeleteMicah~ Love you too! Thanks for being mine!
ReplyDeleteHeather~ I'm really glad you like it. No, your comment is NOT to long. I enjoyed reading it. You had some great points, a lot of the same things stood out to me as well.
Mom~ Thanks. I love you.
Heather comment 2~ Haha. : )
Anne~ Hello Anne, I'm glad you enjoyed my blog. Ruth is one of my favorites as well. You are very right about the women in the Bible.
Thank you!
~Tressa