Precious

Beth Moore, during one of her teaching times, shared how we women think all kinds of women are precious. I immediately starting thinking of all the women I know who are precious:

Sarah’s smile and her hugs

Hope’s God-honoring decisions this year at college

Lilly choosing to sit with me some Sundays

Mary’s encouraging words to my husband

Melissa finding love again

Faith thinking marriage is fun

Joyce’s love for the camp

Nell coming to church when her feet are killing her

The sweet ladies who think my hugs are special

My Mom, who makes all Christmas’ gifts equal

All the kind ladies who bring their children and youth to camp

My Beth Moore Bible study ladies who are excited about studying Esther

Charity’s perseverance in writing even when she is battling fatigue

Ava when she smiles at me and not Al

Lydia’s smile as soon as she sees me

Hannah calling Al-Allen and still hugging him

What women are precious to you? And why are they precious to you?

Salvation, Tears, Joy....

We experience many things during a week of camp at South Mountain Baptist Camp. One of my favorite stories this summer occurred downstairs in the chapel on a Thursday night. As adults counsel with their campers, I make it a practice to move room to room, checking to see if anyone needs help or has questions about the decisions they have made. On this evening as I walked to the last room, one of our staffers, Jarod, came out of this room and stopped to tell me about one young man's decision. He could not talk for the tears choking his voice. He finally found enough voice to tell me a camper in his church received Jesus that night.

Jarod went on to describe how this camper understood completely that he needed a Savior and that Jesus was the only Savior that could fix his sin problem. Jarod said the young man went on to pray and express his feelings and his new found faith in the Savior.

Jarod was so blessed to be in the presence of Jesus this night. As Jarod finished telling about this experience with this camper, he had tears streaming down his face. I hugged and told him, "Those are tears of joy." And of course, I cried with him.

We are so privileged to see this miracle of salvation happen again and again on the mountain. We are also privileged to work with young men and woman who love Jesus and are not afraid of the tears.

When is the last time you saw or experienced tears of joy?

Sweet to Bitter

Most people do not like to be the center of negative attention. Imagine Naomi and Ruth, tired and dusty from the long walk from Moab, surrounded by nosey Bethlehem women.

“Is that Naomi?”

“It can’t be!”

“This woman is old, worn-out.”

“See the bitterness in her face. Naomi would never look like that!”

“Isn’t that a Moabite woman with her?”

“What is she doing with her?”

Finally, when Naomi had heard enough, she responds, “Don’t call me Naomi," she told them. "Call me Mara, because the Almighty has made my life very bitter. I went away full, but the LORD has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi? The LORD has afflicted me; the Almighty has brought misfortune upon me." Ruth 1:20-21(NIV) Naomi changes her to ‘Mara.’ She no longer wants to be known as ‘pleasant’ or “Merry Sunshine.’ (McGee, Ruth, page 29.)

Naomi knew the name of God but didn’t have a clue about the character of God. She had forgotten that God loved her and had a plan for her life even after her husband and sons died. She continued to look at her past and ignore her present blessings. She dwelled on her losses and not the gifts God had given her: her life, her new start in her hometown, and her precious daughter-in-law. What a waste of time and emotion!

Are you still holding on to your past? Are you overlooking the gifts God has given you? Are you listening to the negative talk? Consider Paul’s example.

“But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:13b-14 (NIV)

Progression of Snow

Familiar Words

‘But Ruth replied, "Don't urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the LORD deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me."’ Ruth 1:16-17

What familiar words! Most of us think of these words as marriage vows. However, these words are an entreaty from a daughter-in-law to her husband’s mother. Ruth desires to go with Naomi. Commentaries suggest Ruth had become a follower of the one True God and wanted to continue to worship and serve Him and serve Naomi.

In verse 16, Ruth says “Don’t urge me…” This word ‘urge’ in the Hebrew can mean to push against, rushing someone with hostility, desired request be granted (Key Word Study Bible (NIV), page 1543). We might wonder if Ruth felt the hostility in Naomi’s words of returning home and was pleading with her to stop the hostile words. Ruth was not going back to Moab.

These words could remind us of missionaries all over the world. With their lives, they make these words their vow as they minister to these people. However, as they pray and minister to lost people all over the globe, they pray our God becomes their God. Many times these missionaries are discouraged, tired from culture shock, and homesick. Nevertheless, they continue to plant their feet firmly in their new homes and remain to share with these precious lost people. They remind us of Ruth. They are not returning home.

Today, take time to pray for God to encourage the missionaries you know and give these missionaries fruit for their labor. Don’t know any missionaries personally? Then pray for these:

NAMB
William and Teresa Johnson
Janet Morrison

IMB
*J
*P
*M family
(*Names withheld for security reasons.)

“How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!" Romans 10:14-15

“How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news,
who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, ‘Your God reigns!’” Isaiah 52:7

A Tug of War

‘Look,’ said Naomi, ‘your sister-in-law is going back to her people and her gods.Go back with her.’ Ruth 1:15 (NIV)

Have you ever tried to minister to someone and they kept pushing you away? You tried to take them to lunch, do errands for them, or provide food for their family. Maybe you are the one who has refused offers of kindness?

Naomi did this very thing. Repeatedly, she refused the kind offers of Ruth and Orpah to return home with her. It became a tug-of-war.

“Let us go!”

“No, you must return home!”

“Please let us come with you.”

“No, you must return!”

In this passage of Scripture, the Hebrew word ‘sub’ is translated 6 times. This word can be translated as ‘to turn back, to cease from evil ways, movement back to the point of departure, to recede.’ This word is translated in 2 Kings 20:9-11 as a shadow that moves backward 10 steps (The Key Word Study NIV Bible, page 1556). Naomi used this word as a plea to her daughters-in-law to return or go back to their homes and their people. The daughters-in-law persistedly pleaded with Naomi. Repeatedly Naomi refused Ruth and Orpah.

Commentaries think Naomi was embarrassed to take two Moabite women home with her. Ruth and Orpah would be a reminder to Naomi, of the bitter things that happened to her. In addition, they would be a reminder to all of Bethlehem of how Naomi’s family had turned their back on God and His commandments.

People in need are often like Naomi; they have varied reasons for rejecting your kind offers. Maybe they are embarrassed by their circumstances, maybe they are angry with God, or maybe they simply do not want to be a bother to anyone else. However, if God wants you to minister to them, you must be persistent, no matter how many times they tell you to ‘return home.’ Find kind ways to help them without embarrassing them or arguing with them.

If you are refusing offers of help, it is time to let people minister to you. Quit saying, “Return to your home” and say, “Yes.”

“He who despises his neighbor sins,
but blessed is he who is kind to the needy.” Proverbs 14:21


“For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
2 Peter 1:5-8

Life Stuck in the Corner

“When she heard in Moab that the LORD had come to the aid of his people by providing food for them, Naomi and her daughters-in-law prepared to return home from there.” Ruth 1:6 (NIV)

One by one, all of the men in Naomi’s life disappeared: first her husband then her two sons. What once was a close-knit family of six quickly became a patchwork family of three. Naomi might have loved her daughters-in-law, but they were not her sons.

“Surely, the Lord has turned His back on me,” Naomi thought.

What once was a Hebrew, patriarchal family story becomes to a story of lonely women, women who must provide for themselves. In all likelihood, Naomi had never made any life-altering decision before. Imagine how she felt: abandoned, frightened, cornered, and hungry.

It is interesting that Naomi heard, “The Lord has come to the aid of his people,” without applying this to herself. She didn’t hear, “The Lord comes to the aid of Naomi.” We might infer that Naomi felt forgotten or dismissed by God. You can understand how she could’ve felt this way. Wouldn’t you?

Have you ever felt like Naomi? Have you ever felt forgotten by God? Felt as if God sat you in a corner and walked away? Felt as if you were the only One God did not love?

If you are feeling this way today, meditate on the following verses and ask the Lord to show you how much He does love you:

“See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands.” Isaiah 49:16a (NIV)
I love how the Amplified translates this verse.
“Behold, I have indelibly imprinted (tattooed a picture of) you on the palm of each
of My hands.” Isaiah 49:16a (Amplified)

“The LORD appeared to us in the past, saying:
‘I have loved you with an everlasting love;
I have drawn you with loving-kindness.’” Jeremiah 31:3(NIV)