November 21, 2024

Ruth, Naomi, and Grace

September 12, 2014 by

The Book of Ruth was written to help us all see God’s grace in our lives and to help us trust His grace even when the clouds are so thick that we can’t see the road.  We also see how, in our own lives, God acts to turn our setbacks into stepping stones for joy and that God is always working on our behalf…for our good.

Naomi’s gift in Ruth: Naomi’s whole life caved in when she lived in Moab and God gave her Ruth.

And Ruth said, Urge me not to leave you or to 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 shall be my God.
Ruth 1:16

Ruth has a commitment and a love for God. Because of that, she had a deep commitment to her mother-in-law, Naomi.  Ruth 2:12, Ruth goes to Judah with Naomi to take refuge under the shelter of God. She left her own home and family to serve her mother-in-law.  God was turning Naomi’s setbacks into joy—even when she didn’t see His grace.

Ruth 1:12, Naomi suggests that Ruth will not be able to remarry but little did they know that God was preserving a wealthy man after God’s own heart, named Boaz.  In Ruth 2:20, Naomi realizes that God is behind the meeting of Boaz and Ruth.  God’s lesson is this—in every loss we endure, God is already plotting our gain.

See, God was always at work in Naomi’s life and in her setbacks.  She loses her husband and sons…God gave her Ruth.  No children?…God gives her Boaz (Ruth and Boaz meet and they give Naomi grandchildren.)   So many lessons in this story show how God replaces the losses we endure, and He is so loving and faithful to do so.  Our lives, as we serve Him, may not go along perfect and straight, but God sees that we do get there.

The Book of Ruth wants us to learn that God’s purpose for our lives is to show us something far greater than ourselves and our circumstances.  As well as a life full of joy and peace and love abundant.  He wants us to know that when we follow Him, our lives have meaning; and that everything we do in obedience to Him, no matter how small, is significant.  He also wants us to know that the best is yet to come.  Stay the course, follow Him always and hang on for the greatest adventure of your life!  It’s gonna be wild, it’s gonna be great, and it’s gonna be full of Him!

  *  ~  ♥  ~  ✞  ~  ♥  ~  *

Do you know Him?  He loves you and wants the best for you.  He has a life planned for you that is full of blessings and is to give you joy and so much more. If you do want to know Him, then pray this prayer with me:

Dear God, I know I am a sinner and I need You.  I believe that Your Son, Jesus died on the cross to save me from my sins.  I want You to come into my life and be my Lord and Savior.  I trust You and I love You.  In Jesus’ name, amen.

{If you prayed this prayer, let us know in the comment section below.  We would love to talk to you about this decision you’ve just made.}

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Lady in Waiting: Take the Radical Route

December 13, 2012 by

 

“Does it seem too unrealistic for today’s woman to set her sights on a knight in shining armor?…A single friend (a modern Ruth) wrote a letter in which she admitted that her high ideals often made her feel like the “Lone Ranger.” She said, “So often I meet women who don’t want to go the deeper, more radical route of separation from our culture in seeking after God’s standards.” Do we lower our standards because we seem out of step with all our peers? Does the woman in Proverbs 31 seem obsolete? Maybe for the “cosmopolitan” woman she is obsolete, but not for the Lady of Conviction. God has the best in hand for those who seek Him.

Ruth’s choice to wait for God’s best resulted in her union with a Boaz rather than a Bozo. Ruth not only married a man who was a “pillar of strength” (Boaz), but she also was blessed by the privilege of bearing a son (Obed) who would be part of the lineage of Jesus Christ. Ruth’s wise choices resulted in her experiencing God’s overwhelming goodness.

During this study, we have talked a lot about our convictions, setting standards that honor both God and our princess status, as well as sticking to those standards despite the condition of the world around us. If we live radically in our convictions, then we should expect opposition. Have you experienced any opposition from friends or family so far? What have they said? More importantly, how have you responded?

Let’s Pray

Father, we thank You for instilling Your Spirit in us, the One who convicts our hearts and draws us closer to Yours. Lord, You promise to uphold us as we follow You. So, Father, we want to hold You to Your promise and ask that You give us the strength to stand firm in our convictions when criticism, doubt, and peer pressure arise. Father, we can do nothing apart from You. Be with us always. We love You, Jesus. In your precious name we pray, Amen.

Our Next Single Women’s Online Bible Study

“Captivating: Unveiling the Mystery of a Woman’s Soul”

by John & Stasi Eldredge 

begins January 6, 2013

To sign up for this Online Bible Study, click HERE and follow the instructions. You will also be given a link to where you can purchase this bible study. We’re looking forward to studying “Captivating” with you!!

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Lady in Waiting: Avoiding Bozos

November 28, 2012 by

But, he seemed like such a “nice guy”.  How many times have we heard that?  How many times have I said that myself? I thought I had a Boaz, but after awhile the disguise fell off and the Bozo came out. I think we’ve all been there before.

Like so many things in life the difference between spotting a Bozo from a Boaz boils down to the condition of our hearts. Three aspects actually, our standards, our convictions, and our motives (yes, back to the motives!)

Oh, those motives, they seem to determine so many things in life. But they have such a large impact on our thoughts and actions that we have to constantly evaluate why we are doing things, why we are saying things and even why we  are thinking things. When it comes to dating we have to ask ourselves why we are dating who we are dating. Questioning our motives will impact our standards and our convictions in this situation or in others down the road; I believe that if our motives do not line up with God, then our standards and convictions won’t either.

God already knows why we are doing what we’re doing. He already knows why we’re dating someone. He wants us to see that we deserve more than accepting a date with a bozo because it’s been a long time since we were last taken out.  He knows we deserve more than dating a man who isn’t a Christian because the loneliness is growing in our hearts. He knows that we deserve a Boaz, and that a Bozo is not fit for a daughter of the King.

As a daughter of the most high, we can have standards that line up with His word, and yes those standards are high. But those are the standards our Father set for us, remember He has our best interest in mind, and wants us to have the Boaz that we deserve.

With Love,

Tonya Ellison

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Let’s pray:

Dear Heavenly Father, again we are found examining our motives, why do we do the things we do, and why do we accept the things from people that are less than we deserve? Please help us to examine our motives before we act.  Please help us to line our motives up with Your will and Your word. We are daughters of the Most High, and as such You have set Your standards in place for our Boaz. Please help us embrace these standards, and thank You for only wanting the best for our lives.  In Jesus. Name, amen.

Your assignment:

I love how the Auburn University student wrote down her standards and carried them with her. We are going to refer back to this list for today’s assignment. Are there any characteristics that you want to add to your list? Next, make a list similar to this if you don’t already have one, what qualities and standards do you want on your list for your Boaz. Remember, these are standards that our Father has already placed here for us may seem high, but they are what you deserve.

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For the “Lady in Waiting” Bible Study, you will need the book, your Bible, pen or pencil, a highlighter and a quiet place. You can order the book right through our website by clicking the “sign-up here” button at the top of our webpage; which is also where you can sign up to participate in this awesome bible study!

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Lady In Waiting: Believing a Lie / Secure Love

November 13, 2012 by

Oh I have been there.  You know that place.  The place where you tie your self worth to a man, or whether or not you have a man?  Truth be told I still reside there some days.  My big issue, since I was young, is that I am never good “enough”.  So the fact that after 41 years I am still alone, it just makes me think that those people in my life when I was younger were absolutely right.  I’m not good enough and I’ll never be good enough for anyone to love me and want to tell the world they want to be with me for the rest of their life.  It’s not always easy.  But ladies, this is not where He wants us.  He wants us to be secure in His love.  What more should we need?

Part of today’s reading assignment brought up issues we have all discussed earlier in the book: Once we put our trust in God to bring us the man He has chosen for us, how much pursuit do we engage in?  The authors clearly tell us that we shouldn’t pursue a man.  The question that raised for me is “Well, what does that mean?  Should we just sit back and wait for this man to knock on our door?”  I don’t know if that is the answer.  I don’t think relentlessly going after someone, repeatedly, without much reciprocation is the answer either.  Isn’t there a happy medium?  I believe we can make ourselves available to possibilities without turning ourselves into a servant or doormat to the object of our interest.  I believe the keys are to pray about our intentions.  Are our motives pure, or are we doing what we are doing to snag a husband.  Seek His guidance in the decisions you make regarding him.  We can never go wrong when the focus is on Jesus rather than the potential mate.

The other thing we need to look at is why we are striving for this man we pray God has for us so strongly.  What is it we are looking for from him?  Acceptance, because we don’t accept ourselves?  Love, because we don’t love ourselves?  Security, because we are full of fear?  Worth, because we don’t feel worthy?  Well great news!  Until we heal, and accept and love ourselves with a sense of security and self worth we deserve, we have someone who already does all that for us!  Our Father loves us so much girls!  He accepts us, he knows we are worthy, and HE should be the one we seek out for security.  No man, not even a husband, can fill the need you have for secure love.

As I type this I feel so strongly about the words I am giving you.  I know a big part of the reason is because I need to hear this myself.  I need to remember it, I need to believe it, and I need to live it.  You are not alone ladies!  I struggle with never being good enough, but you know what, if my Abba Father says I am, who am I to go against Him?  Am I accepted?  My Father says I am.  Am I secure?  My Father says I am.  Am I worthy?  My Father says I am.  Am I loved?  My Father says I am.  And so are you.

LETS PRAY

Father, reach out to every woman reading these words.  Thank you for loving us unconditionally.  Thank you for never making us work for it.  We know that You are our security.  You give us what any ordinary man can not.  A love that is pure and never ending.  Bless all of us with your peace today and take the burden of matchmaking off our shoulders.  We trust in you, and thank you for forgiving us when we sometimes forget that.  In Your Holy Name I pray.  Amen.

YOUR ASSIGNMENT

Please share your thoughts on the balance between letting God do His thing while bringing a man to you, and putting yourself out there so that man can have the opportunity to get to know you.   Is it cut and dry, do one or the other, or do you have a strategy that satisfies both sides of the situation?

In Him,

Michelle

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For the “Lady in Waiting” Bible Study, you will need the book, your Bible, pen or pencil, a highlighter and a quiet place. You can order the book right through our website by clicking the “sign-up here” button at the top of our webpage; which is also where you can sign up to participate in this awesome bible study!

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Lady In Waiting: Fit for a King

October 24, 2012 by

 

And Isaac went out to meditate in the field in the evening; and he lifted his eyes and looked, and there, the camels were coming. Then Rebekah lifted her eyes, and when she saw Isaac she dismounted from her camel … Then Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah’s tent; and he took Rebekah and she became his wife, and he loved her.

Genesis 24: 63-64, 67

 

Ahhh, so this is where Disney gets it from?

As little girls we learn to be princesses from Cinderella, or Sleeping Beauty, my daughter is learning from Mulan, and Tiana (Princess and the Frog). I honestly never thought to look at the Bible and the stories of Ruth and Rebekah as how-to guides on my journey to being a princess. But, the creative minds at Disney were not far off from the example of what makes a good Princess. They are always kind, willing to help and always seem to want to do what’s best. I am willing to go as far as to say that some of them pulled the characteristics of some of the best selling princesses from the bible.

Ruth and Rebekah were hard working, king, selfless, sought to do what was right, and were both examples of a virtuous woman. I’m not saying that God is necessarily asking you to haul water for strange men, or glean off of the field, but He is asking us to display his characteristics now while we are ladies in waiting, so that these characteristics will be second nature to us in what God has planned for us.

He doesn’t just want and expect this. He gave us guides on how to be the princesses he destined us to be.

A great how-to guide on being a princess is Proverbs 31. God tells us step by step how we can live to become that princess.  The commonality between the Proverbs 31 woman, Ruth, and Rebekah is that all three fully allowed God to move in their lives without trying to stop Him.  They allowed Him to create a Christ likeness within them that shown brighter than their outward appearance could ever have.

God gave Boaz to Ruth.
God gave Isaac to Rebekah.
And God showed how much the Proverbs 31 woman’s husband and children loved and respected her.

There are things and people God wants to place in our lives, but first He wants to prepare us for the futures He has planned out for us.  Every little girl dreams of being a princess on some level, as that little girl grows up that dream doesn’t often fade, it may go to the back of the dreams pile but it remains. God is telling us that we are his princesses, and He is preparing us for our Prince; but we are responsible as well. We are responsible for opening our hearts and minds and allowing God to work in us, we are responsible to being Christ-like.

To be honest I was far from these three women in these examples. I believe that God was preparing me for marriage before I married my husband, but I don’t think that I fully accepted what god was doing until after I was married, and until after I felt the pains of a lack of preparation. I didn’t truly surrender myself to God to allow Him to mold me into the princess He created me to be until after I said “I do”, until after I saw how lack of preparation on my part can affect a marriage, and myself. I thank God every day that He continued to prepare me and that He continues to prepare me.

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Let’s Pray:
Father, thank you! Thank you for making us royalty, thank you for not simply expecting something of us, but showing us how to be the virtuous women you destined us to be, thank you for your examples.  Thank you for continuing to sustain and strengthen us on our journeys as ladies in waiting.  Please continue to prepare us, and mold us. You have our “happily ever after”, we don’t know what it is, but we do know that it is from you and that it is good. Thank you for this time in our lives.  In Jesus’ name, Amen

Your Assignment:
Read through the stories of Ruth, Rebecca, and the Proverbs 31 woman, what Christ-like characteristics do you see that we as princess possess.  What characteristics have you been blessed with? What characteristics are you praying for to be strengthened?

** Remember God isn’t asking that we be a perfect princess; it takes work, preparation and his grace and mercy. It’s a life long journey.

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 For the “Lady In Waiting” Bible Study, you will need the book, your Bible, pen or pencil, a highlighter and a quiet place. You can order the book right through our website by clicking the “sign-up here” button at the top of our webpage; which is also where you can sign up to participate in this awesome bible study!

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