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Resting on God

Slowly and deliberately pray this prayer. Find your rest in God who longs for your to rest in Him. And invite someone to worship tomorrow.

O God Most High, Most Glorious

The thought of your infinite serenity cheers me, for I am toiling and moiling, troubled and distressed, but you are forever at perfect peace.

Your designs cause you no fear or care or unfulfilment, they stand fast as the eternal hills.

Your power knows no bond, your goodness no stint.

You bring order out of confusion, and my defeats are your victories: The Lord God omnipotent reigns.

I come to you as a sinner with cares and sorrows, to leave every concern entirely to you, every sin calling for Christ’s precious blood.

Revive deep spirituality in my heart; let me live near to the great Shepherd, hear his voice, know its tones, follow its calls.

Keep me from deception by causing me to abide in the truth, from harm by helping me to walk in the power of the Spirit.

Give me intenser faith in the eternal truths, burning into me by experience the things I know; let me never be ashamed of the truth of the gospel, that I may bear its reproach, vindicate it, see Jesus as its essence, know in it the power of the Spirit.

Lord, help me, for I am often lukewarm and chill; unbelief mars my confidence, sin makes me forget you.

Let the weeds that grow in my soul be cut at their roots; grant me to know that I truly live only when I live to you, that all else is trifling.

Your presence alone can make me holy, devout, strong and happy.

Abide in me, gracious God.

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Refuge

He said, “Who are you?” And she answered, “I am Ruth, your servant. Spread your wings over your servant, for you are a redeemer.” (Ruth 3:9 ESV)

Ruth’s request required one attitude: humility. Humility is the admission that you can’t make it alone, that you need someone else. Humility sees the storm on the horizon and calls out to God for help to weather the storm. Humility admits weakness and invites another’s strength. Ruth’s request to Boaz recognized her weakness and Boaz’s strength.

For some reading this, your beginning point isn’t your request to God…it is your attitude before God. Will you humble yourself before Him admitting your desperate need of Him? Ruth identified herself as a servant and asked for Boaz’s help.

David wrote this desperate plea to God when he was running for his life from Saul and hid in the cave. He was a hunted man desperate for God’s help:

Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me, for in you my soul takes refuge; in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge, till the storms of destruction pass by. I cry out to God Most High, to God who fulfills his purpose for me. He will send from heaven and save me; he will put to shame him who tramples on me. Selah God will send out his steadfast love and his faithfulness! (Psalm 57:1-3 ESV)

David was the anointed King of Israel. Saul was the sitting King. David was the favored son of Israel, Saul was the feared leader of Israel. David found himself running from a paranoid, tyrannical leader. He was at a clear disadvantage. He pictured himself as a helpless bird needing the protection of its mother.

birds under wings

What do you need from God today? Cry out to Him.

The restless redeemer will not rest until he has given you refuge.

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Your Failure Is Not Your Identity

“Ruth the Moabite.” This is a common phrase in the book of Ruth. In chapter 2 alone she is referred to as ‘Ruth the Moabite’ three times.  Had she been known as  ‘Ruth the great’ or ‘Ruth the wonderful’ that would have been one thing, but Moabite? This was not only her ancestry, but also a stigma. The Moabite lineage stems all the way back to Lot, Abraham’s nephew.  Lot lived in the sinful city of Sodom with his daughters, and was taken out of there only because God had to send his angels to take them out before he destroyed the city! After Lot and his daughters left Sodom and were living in Zoar, there was absolutely no man to be found to give Lot’s daughters a son to carry on his line.  Lot’s daughters then decided to deceive their father by getting him drunk and sleeping with him, and the oldest daughter had a son and named him Moab…  WOW! (The full story is in Genesis 19)  What an unbelievably terrible story about your ancestors. This would be comparable to discovering your great grandfather was the absolute worst Nazi general, who was responsible for killing most of the Jews during the Holocaust; nobody wants that to be their identity, but this was Ruth’s. She was “the Moabite.”

Her failure had become her identity. The writer of Ruth intentionally and divinely placed her identity in the text, but according to our story it didn’t matter to Boaz that Ruth was a Moabite. Boaz was able to look beyond Ruth’s stigma to meet a need that only he could meet. This is such a beautiful picture of Christ!

How many of you reading this blog have allowed your failure in this life to become your identity? You have let your major failures define who you are! God is speaking through this passage to a generation of failures saying, I don’t care what you’ve done, I don’t care what others say about you, it doesn’t matter how you feel about yesterday, you may not can forgive yourself but I will… I will accept you; I am willing to lower my status and risk losing everything for the sake of taking care of you & giving you the value you’ve been looking for your entire life.

Boaz gave Ruth value and did not discount her because of her failure. Praise The Lord Jesus that He’s done the same for us by way of the cross! As followers of Christ our past sin and failure has been nailed to the cross, therefore canceling our record of debt to God, which was our sin (Col. 2:14-15). Your new identity is therefore now a child of God, a son or daughter of the king, someone who’s gone from spiritual death to eternal and abundant life!

Paul said: “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:10)

Embrace your new identity.

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Who’s Your Boss?

And behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem. And he said to the reapers, “The LORD be with you!” And they answered, “The LORD bless you.” Then Boaz said to his young man who was in charge of the reapers, “Whose young woman is this?” And the servant who was in charge of the reapers answered, “She is the young Moabite woman, who came back with Naomi from the country of Moab. She said, ‘Please let me glean and gather among the sheaves after the reapers.’ So she came, and she has continued from early morning until now, except for a short rest.” (Ruth 2:4-7 ESV)

We infer from the opening lines that the field was outside Bethlehem. Boaz, a wealthy landowner, came to check on his reapers. He happened to come the very day that Ruth arrived. Immediately we see Boaz’s character. His first words to the reapers have nothing to do with how much grain they have harvested. Rather He blesses them. The LORD be with you.

Second, his workers weren’t surprised by his greeting. They knew exactly how to answer him: The LORD bless you. Not often in Boaz’s day (nor today) do bosses interact with their employees like Boaz does with his field workers. The socioeconomic distance between Boaz and his field workers was normally insurmountable!

Then Boaz saw Ruth. He didn’t hire her so he naturally inquired about her. Whose young woman is this? Don’t miss how the servant described her: She is the young Moabite woman. Ruth must have been shaking in her sandals. She knew she would never rid herself of this title. Who came back with Naomi from the country of Moab. Her plight isn’t getting any better. She’s a foreigner who came with the bitter woman back–to the bitter woman’s home turf.

How could this turn out for Ruth’s good? One way: end up in Boaz’s field. And work hard. She did both. So she came, and she has continued from early morning until now, except for a short rest. Yesterday we defined faithfulness as doing what you know to do–and doing it now. Ruth did what she knew to do. She worked hard and when Boaz came to the field he recognized her diligence.

Long before Paul penned these words to the Colossians, Ruth practiced them:

Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ. (Colossians 3:23-24 ESV)

Who are you working for? Who’s your boss?

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A Prayer Naomi Could Have Prayed

This prayer is from The Valley of Vision, a book of Puritan Prayers and is called by that same name. Read it (and pray it) slowly and deliberately. Quiet yourself before the Lord.

The Valley of Vision

Lord, high and holy, meek and lowly,

Thou has brought me to the valley of vision,

where I live in the depths but see thee in the heights;

hemmed in by mountains of sin I behold thy glory.

Let me learn by paradox

that the way down is the way up,

that to be low is to be high,

that the broken heart is the healed heart,

that the contrite spirit is the rejoicing spirit,

that the repenting soul is the victorious soul,

that to have nothing is to possess all,

that to bear the cross is to wear the crown,

that to give is to receive,

that the valley is the place of vision.

Lord, in the daytime stars can be seen from

deepest wells,

and the deeper the wells the brighter

thy stars shine;

Let me find thy light in my darkness,

thy life in my death,

thy joy in my sorrow,

thy grace in my sin,

thy riches in my poverty

thy glory in my valley.

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I Will

Then she arose with her daughters-in-law to return from the country of Moab, for she had heard in the fields of Moab that the LORD had visited his people and given them food. So she set out from the place where she was with her two daughters-in-law, and they went on the way to return to the land of Judah. But Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go, return each of you to her mother’s house. May the LORD deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead and with me. The LORD grant that you may find rest, each of you in the house of her husband!” Then she kissed them, and they lifted up their voices and wept. And they said to her, “No, we will return with you to your people.” But Naomi said, “Turn back, my daughters; why will you go with me? Have I yet sons in my womb that they may become your husbands? Turn back, my daughters; go your way, for I am too old to have a husband. If I should say I have hope, even if I should have a husband this night and should bear sons, would you therefore wait till they were grown? Would you therefore refrain from marrying? No, my daughters, for it is exceedingly bitter to me for your sake that the hand of the LORD has gone out against me.” Then they lifted up their voices and wept again. And Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her. And she said, “See, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods; return after your sister-in-law.” (Ruth 1:6-15 ESV)

Naomi was determined to dissuade Ruth from coming to Bethlehem. Four times in this soliloquy she demands that Ruth return. Her words are forceful: return, turn back, turn back, return. She’s angry at God. She’s mad at the world. Life has dealt her an ugly blow and she’s looking for someone to blame. She feels she has already put Ruth and Orpah through enough. You can hear it in her language: No, my daughters, for it is exceedingly bitter to me for your sake that the hand of the LORD has gone out against me. In other words, “It’s my fault you’re where you are–widowed and following a bitter old woman to her homeland.  Turn back!”

One must wonder why Ruth would ever want to continue the long trek from Moab to Bethlehem with a woman compelling her to go home. Ruth has no intentions of caving to Naomi’s pressure. Notice her answer:

But Ruth said, “Do not urge me to leave you or to return 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 my God. Where you die I will die, and there will I be buried. May the LORD do so to me and more also if anything but death parts me from you.” (Ruth 1:16-17 ESV)

Her language is anything but that of a quitter. She answers Naomi’s repeated commands to turn back with her own mantra: I will.

  • For where you go, I will go.
  • And where you lodge, I will lodge.
  • Where you die, I will die.
  • And there will I be buried.

Ruth’s language is the language of determination.

Some of you are staring down a road you’ve never traveled down before. You have no idea where it will lead, what you will find or even who you will be at the end of the road. In those times, focusing on what you don’t know will stop you dead in your tracks. Yours must be the language of “I will.”

I will trust God…no matter what.

I will pray….no matter what.

I will worship…no matter what.

I will.

I will.

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The Irony of Running From God

In the days when the judges ruled there was a famine in the land, and a man of Bethlehem in Judah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons. The name of the man was Elimelech and the name of his wife Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in Judah. They went into the country of Moab and remained there. But Elimelech, the husband of Naomi, died, and she was left with her two sons. These took Moabite wives; the name of the one was Orpah and the name of the other Ruth. They lived there about ten years, and both Mahlon and Chilion died, so that the woman was left without her two sons and her husband. (Ruth 1:1-5 ESV)

Bethlehem. We know the town well today because it was the birthplace of Jesus. In Naomi’s day it was a little-known spot on the landscape of southern Israel. However everyone knew what the name meant–the house of bread. Ironically enough Elimelech and Naomi were from the aristocratic Ephrathite clan living in the House of Bread and they couldn’t find anything to eat. There was a famine in the land. When God decides He’s going to send a famine, the house of bread isn’t exempt from his disciplining hand.

Elimelech and Naomi ran–to Moab. Moab was a stretch of land east of the Dead Sea. It wasn’t part of Israel–as a matter of fact it was settled by the descendants of a tragic incestuous relationship between Lot (Abraham’s nephew) and his daughter. The Moabites’ heritage wasn’t anything to write home about. However, it isn’t the Moabites’ family tree that is most surprising in light of Naomi’s plight–it is the meaning of the word “Moab” itself. Moab means “seed of father.”

Think about it. Naomi left the House of Bread because she couldn’t find bread. She went to the “Seed of Father” and lost both her sons. You can run but you can’t hide. Bethlehem starved Naomi and Moab robbed her of her sons. The House of Bread and the Seed of Father came up empty.

Corrie Ten Boom said, “There are no ‘if’s’ in God’s world. And no places that are safer than other places. The center of His will is our only safety – let us pray that we may always know it!”

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Puritan Prayer for Faith

This prayer is taken from The Valley of Vision, a compilation of Puritan prayers. This week we have been encouraged by the faith of Moses, Rahab and a host of others. Ask God to create in you a faithful heart. Pray this prayer to Him from a sincere heart.

My God,

I bless you that you have given me the eye of faith,
to see you as father,
to know you as covenant God,
to experience your love planted in me;

For faith is the grace of union
by which I spell out my entitlement to you:
Faith casts my anchor upward
where I trust in you
and engage you to be my Lord.

Be pleased to live and move within me,
breathing in my prayers,
inhabiting my praises,
speaking in my words,
moving in my actions
living in my life,
causing me to grow in grace.

Your bounteous goodness has helped me believe,
But my faith is weak and wavering,
its light dim,
its steps tottering,
its increase slow,
its backslidings frequent;
It should scale the heavens, but lies groveling in the dust.

Lord, fan this divine spark into glowing flame
When faith sleeps, my heart becomes
an unclean thing
the fount of every loathsome desire,
the cage of unclean lusts
all fluttering to escape,
the noxious tree of deadly fruit
the open wayside of earthly tares.

Lord, awake faith to put forth its strength
until all heaven fills my soul
and all impurity is cast out.

Amen.

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The Erosion of Evolution

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the people of old received their commendation. By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible. (Hebrews 11:1-3 ESV)

In verse 1 the writer of Hebrews defines faith. It is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

In verse 2 the people exercise faith. As a matter of fact, Hebrews 11:4-38 describes them in vivid detail. Abel is applauded for offering a faithful sacrifice. Abraham is commended for traveling into the unknown. Moses is lauded for choosing the life of a Hebrew over the lure of the palace. These people exercised faith.

In verse 3 the writer describes the origin of faith. Faith begins by believing that God created. Theologians call this God creating ex nihilio–out of nothing. Moses, the writer of Genesis, said it this way:

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day. (Genesis 1:1-5 ESV)

The earth was formless and void. Empty. God spoke. He didn’t start with raw material–He created with the spoken word. He didn’t need chlorophyll to make leaves–He spoke leaves into existence. Hebrews 11:3 states that believing God created is the cornerstone of faith, the beginning point of a relationship with God.

Why? If God didn’t create the universe, if He didn’t fling the stars into space, why in the world would He send His only Son to die for it? If God didn’t breathe the breath of life into Adam’s lungs, if God didn’t put Adam to sleep to create his wife, Eve, then why would He send His Son to die for Adam and Eve? The cross is foolish apart from creation. On the cross Jesus redeemed what He created.

That’s why evolution erodes faith. If scientists can convince us that we evolved then we are on a fast descent into doubt and self-degradation. C. S. Lewis, in his book Screwtape Letters, said it this way:

“Indeed the safest road to Hell is the gradual one–the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts.”

Belief in evolution isn’t an earthquake. It is a light rain that gradually erodes faith until all that is left is the red clay of a hard heart. Only the crucified Creator can soften red clay.

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Satisfying God

And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. (Hebrews 11:6 ESV)

Yesterday I talked about faith being one of our 3 greatest needs for 2015. But what does this faith look like? The writer of Hebrews makes it clear that faith is necessary to please God. Again I am making an assumption: if you’re reading this blog you want to please God. I do too.

Let me illustrate. Last night I grilled burgers and we watched football. We didn’t eat until 7 pm and Trent was hungry. As a matter of fact he was so hungry that he didn’t want me to take the time to heat the charcoal. “Use the George Forman,” he pleaded. Here is the reality. I could have walked into the kitchen with a brand new PS4 console and Trent would have been thrilled, but he would not have been pleased. Whatever I brought through the back door, it had better be edible.

So it is with God. He is only satisfied when we approach him with faith. Good works are good–but not good enough. Faith is necessary. Knowledge of God is good but incomplete. Faith is necessary. A good attitude goes a long way–but not far enough. Faith is necessary.

If faith is so important, then what does it look like? The writer of Hebrews clearly answers this question:

Believe that God exists. Faith, at its core, believes in the existence of God. If you don’t believe that God exists you don’t have faith. Faith believes in an unseen God who made everything that we see.   By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible. (Hebrews 11:3 ESV)

Believe that God rewards. Faith trusts.  Faith trusts that, when you seek God, you discover He was already seeking you. Faith believes God will save you when you call on him, will answer when you pray, and one day will come and get you and take you to be with him.

Do you believe? Do you trust the God of the universe not only with your eternity (He exists) but also with your daily life (He rewards)? What bold request do you need to make of Him in 2015? Seek Him.