Month: May 2021

God’s Providence: Year One Day 151 Devotional

Passage: Ruth 2
Psalm and Proverbs: Proverbs 1:1-7

Ruth 2:10-12

10 Then she fell on her face, bowing to the ground, and said to him, “Why have I found favor in your sight that you should take notice of me, since I am a foreigner?” 11 Boaz replied to her, “All that you have done for your mother-in-law after the death of your husband has been fully reported to me, and how you left your father and your mother and the land of your birth, and came to a people that you did not previously know. 12 May the Lord reward your [a]work, and may your wages be full from the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.”

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The situation was not as dire as Naomi thought. A kinsman-redeemer, Boaz, lived. Ruth “happened” to glean in his field. Besides being a kinsman-redeemer, his background predisposed him to care about what happened to this foreigner. His mother was Rahab (Matthew 1:5), who also left her people and their gods to join God’s people and follow God.

Nothing merely “happens” in God’s providence. Those around us, including the foreigners, the outcasts, and the sinners, are there for a reason. We were once, as they are perhaps, alienated from God. We were not God’s people. Therefore, our hearts should be open to reach out and bring them in.

Father, open our hearts to all who You bring near us that we may show them Your love and share the good news.

Proverbs 1:7 (NASB)

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge;
Fools despise wisdom and instruction.

No Guarantees for Ruth: Year One Day 150 Devotional

Passage: Ruth 1
Psalm and Proverbs: Psalm 150

Ruth 1:16

But Ruth said, “Do not plead with me to leave you or to turn back from following you; for where you go, I will go, and where you sleep, I will sleep. Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God.

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A childless widow was vulnerable in that day. Without a husband or adult male child to care for her, she faced lonely and miserable future. To help prevent this situation, societies had the custom of levirate marriage, where the nearest male kin to the late husband would marry the widow. Naomi tried to send her daughter-in-laws back to Moab, because she did not believe such a redeemer existed.

When Ruth refused to go back, she did three things. She took on a commitment to care for Naomi and to do so in a state of poverty. She turned her back on her own people to Naomi’s people, Israel. Also, she turned her back on her gods to follow the Lord. Ruth did so without any guarantees of anything going well for her.

Father, may I wholeheartedly follow when all I see are costs.

Psalm 150:6 (NASB)

Everything that has breath shall praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord!

Psalm 148 Reading: Year One Day 148 Devotional

Passage: Catch up by reading through the end of Judges.
Psalm and Proverbs: Psalm 148

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Psalm 148:14 (NASB)

For I know that the Lord is great
And that our Lord is above all gods.
Whatever the Lord pleases, He does,
In heaven and on earth, in the seas and in all the ocean depths.
He causes the mist to ascend from the ends of the earth,
He makes lightning for the rain;
He brings forth the wind from His treasuries.

When “Do What You Feel” Reigns Supreme: Year One Day 147 Devotional

Passage: Judges 20-21
Psalm and Proverbs: Psalm 147

Judges Judges 21:25

In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

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What is the result of “everyone doing what is right in his own eyes?” A society disintegrated and without a moral compass. Women treated as property. Civil war. Cruelty. Murder.

This “do what you feel” culture that some want leads to death. Humans flourish when we submit to God’s ways.

Father, empower Your people to live out Your ways. Help us in how we live to show a better way to flourish. Help us to be salt and light.

Psalm 147:7-11 (NASB)

Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving;
Sing praises to our God on the lyre;
It is He who covers the heavens with clouds,
Who provides rain for the earth,
Who makes grass sprout on the mountains.
It is He who gives an animal its food,
And feeds young ravens that cry.
He does not delight in the strength of the horse;
He does not take pleasure in the legs of a man.
The Lord favors those who fear Him,
Those who wait for His faithfulness.