365 Reflections

Ruth 2:20–23 (ESV) And Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “May he be blessed by the LORD, whose kindness has not forsaken the living or the dead!” Naomi also said to her, “The man is a close relative of ours, one of our redeemers.” 21 And Ruth the Moabite said, “Besides, he said to me, ‘You shall keep close by my young men until they have finished all my harvest.’ ” 22 And Naomi said to Ruth, her daughter-in-law, “It is good, my daughter, that you go out with his young women, lest in another field you be assaulted.” 23 So she kept close to the young women of Boaz, gleaning until the end of the barley and wheat harvests. And she lived with her mother-in-law. Ruth's haul from the day in Boaz's fields has floored Naomi. He has given her enough grain for weeks after one day and one encounter. It is a picture of the Lord's grace toward us. He is not the Lord who simply gives here and there, He gives extravagantly.  Now there is something deeper to this story here at the...

It's humble pie time for Naomi as she returns to Bethlehem with Ruth in tow. The people are shocked to see her and call out her name. Her response is emblematic of the times of Israel during these harsh Judge-led years. Ruth 1:20–21 (ESV) She said to them, “Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. 21 I went away full, and the LORD has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi, when the LORD has testified against me and the Almighty has brought calamity upon me?” Let us dissect this for a moment. She went away full? There was a famine in the land and they went to Moab to get away from it. A famine by definition is a place of emptiness. Perhaps Naomi was considering her family to be her fulness but if that is the case, why not stick it out in the Lord's promised land WITH THEM and not chase greener pastures? This would be a good time to bring up the covenant of promise concerning the land. In the Torah, God set stipula...

What do you do when you don't desire God. Psalm 63 is wonderful... but is it often our reality? Psalm 63:1 (ESV) O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. Can we say the same? If we are honest, we'd say we don't desire God nearly as we should. But here David seems enamored with God. So what do you do when you don't desire God? Psalm 63:2 (ESV) So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary , beholding your power and glory. David went to Church. I think this is an important point for those of us who don't desire God. Go to church anyway and see what happens. When we get in the presence of God and His people, our desires are trained for heaven. (So long as it's a good Gospel-driven church). We need to understand that the desires we have are largely shaped by the things we put in front of our eyes. When I watch a food show late a night, I immedi...

No sooner does a church grow than administrative problems arise fast and furiously. The Greek widows were feeling mishandled in the daily distribution of food. What's the solution? Men, full of the Holy Spirit. Acts 6 puts fullness of the Holy Spirit in perspective. This was not casting out demons or preaching powerful evangelistic messages. This was not raising the dead or calling fire down from heaven. This was not spot-light,high-light reel ministry. Yet the qualifications were clear: "seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom." What do we need the Holy Spirit for? We need the Holy Spirit to handle challenges in administrating the ministry of the church. There is no lack of need for better, more effective operation in almost any church. We usually look for skill, but God's Word says look for the fullness of the Spirit . We need to be full of the Holy Spirit so that we can SERVE people. This was food service. This was ordinary behi...