Just a quick thought...
among the many e-mails I have been receiving from students, one stood out to me, and I had not spent that much time in the classroom in past years discussing this:
Are there any verses describing dinosaurs in the Bible?
The answer is "yes" and if you would turn in your Bible to Job 40 and look at verses 15 through to the end of the chapter, you will see a very clear description of what scientists would call a Brachiosaurus - note especially the reference to the "tail like a cedar"...
-------------
A quick note to my athesit friends: a statistician came to me the other day and told me, when confronted by atheists about the knowledge of a non-existence of God, he simply quotes them the Null Hypothesis, as known by statisticians.
The Null Hypothesis, in laymen's terms, states that nothing is false until you can disprove it. INTERESTING! The atheist's claim that there is no God must be followed by the proper steps of showing that by fact that it is not so. In the statistician's world, this has not been achieved, and he told me that no atheist has ever been able to overcome the Null Hypothesis as a challenge.
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Monday, October 31, 2005
Saturday, October 22, 2005
Thanksgiving Psalm
It's been a rough time lately here in the household. An old injury acted up and as I was preparing for school on Friday, it felt as if a grenade went off in my back. The spasms on my right side sent me to the floor and I lay groaning in pain. No school for me on Friday. I'm not sure if it is a severe sprain or what it might be ... but other than catching up on some of my novels and watching some old episodes of Twilight Zone, I have been flat on my back.
God is telling me it's time to slow down. As a matter of fact, I have been taking blocks of time throughout the past days and am simply reading through the Bible. It's great fun, and if you don't agree, then you need to set some time aside and start with Genesis 1. I mean it.
(Note: In my opinion, few shows in the history of TV match the consistent quality of the scripts written for the old Twilight Zone series of the 60s.)
-----------------------------
Here's something to think about as we come upon the Thanksgiving holiday... let's start with a piece of Psalm 116:
1 I love the LORD, because He hears My voice {and} my supplications. 2 Because He has inclined His ear to me, Therefore I shall call {upon Him} as long as I live.
It's a Thanksgiving Psalm, and in the Hebrew tongue the word is todah. This powerful type of psalm is an exclamation of praise as well as a confession of gratitude.
Psalm 18: 17 He delivered me from my strong enemy, And from those who hated me, for they were too mighty for me. 18 They confronted me in the day of my calamity, But the LORD was my stay. 19 He brought me forth also into a broad place; He rescued me, because He delighted in me.
In a Todah Psalm, you praise God for something He has done for you, and then you to offer thanksgiving in the form of worship.
In a Todah Psalm the wild and cheerful celebration in worship is based on some immediate experience of God’s goodness and grace. It's kind of hard to explain, but the word "todah" that we find in these psalms (and other Psalms like 21, 32, 65, and 100) is in Hebrew much fuller than the English word "thanks." It summarizes the singer's explanation of the direct response to prayers of need ("God, please heal my baby", "Father, please help me to finish this work by the deadline", "Lord, please help me to confront the wrongdoer and show love", etc.) It's kind of like an explanation not only of WHAT God has done but WHY He did it and WHAT AUTHORITY He has to do it. Todah pinpoints the fact that God is the source of all the great stuff in life. This is a "billboard ad' of who He is, and it comes from personal experience as in "I WAS THERE AND I SAW IT WITH MY OWN EYES."
Todah Psalms! Psalm 124: 2 "Had it not been the LORD who was on our side When men rose up against us, 3 Then they would have swallowed us alive..."
In other words, your thanks and testimony should not only be for what He has done for you but Who He is in the first place, overall in your life and what He means to you! Will you share that with people today? Direct the thanks and praise to God and let others hear your gratitude and worship.
------------------
A refelction: American Express shows me a TV commercial of an actor who spent most of his life filming in New York and concludes the ad with a line that says something like "My city: New York. My card: American Express.
Let me think this out: Am I supposed to take this credit card because I want to emulate a citizen of New York? Or am I supposed to apply because I admire the actor, whose whole career is not of being himself but of portraying other people? Let me get this straight then...I am to make a business transaction based on the admiration I have for the integrity of an actor?
I look up the etymology of the word actor through through its original presentation in the Greek language and I find it's from hypokrisis "acting on the stage, pretense," and from hypokrinesthai "play a part, pretend."
So if I follow this correctly, I am to be persuaded to get a credit card based upon the reputation of a hypocrite?
God is telling me it's time to slow down. As a matter of fact, I have been taking blocks of time throughout the past days and am simply reading through the Bible. It's great fun, and if you don't agree, then you need to set some time aside and start with Genesis 1. I mean it.
(Note: In my opinion, few shows in the history of TV match the consistent quality of the scripts written for the old Twilight Zone series of the 60s.)
-----------------------------
Here's something to think about as we come upon the Thanksgiving holiday... let's start with a piece of Psalm 116:
1 I love the LORD, because He hears My voice {and} my supplications. 2 Because He has inclined His ear to me, Therefore I shall call {upon Him} as long as I live.
It's a Thanksgiving Psalm, and in the Hebrew tongue the word is todah. This powerful type of psalm is an exclamation of praise as well as a confession of gratitude.
Psalm 18: 17 He delivered me from my strong enemy, And from those who hated me, for they were too mighty for me. 18 They confronted me in the day of my calamity, But the LORD was my stay. 19 He brought me forth also into a broad place; He rescued me, because He delighted in me.
In a Todah Psalm, you praise God for something He has done for you, and then you to offer thanksgiving in the form of worship.
In a Todah Psalm the wild and cheerful celebration in worship is based on some immediate experience of God’s goodness and grace. It's kind of hard to explain, but the word "todah" that we find in these psalms (and other Psalms like 21, 32, 65, and 100) is in Hebrew much fuller than the English word "thanks." It summarizes the singer's explanation of the direct response to prayers of need ("God, please heal my baby", "Father, please help me to finish this work by the deadline", "Lord, please help me to confront the wrongdoer and show love", etc.) It's kind of like an explanation not only of WHAT God has done but WHY He did it and WHAT AUTHORITY He has to do it. Todah pinpoints the fact that God is the source of all the great stuff in life. This is a "billboard ad' of who He is, and it comes from personal experience as in "I WAS THERE AND I SAW IT WITH MY OWN EYES."
Todah Psalms! Psalm 124: 2 "Had it not been the LORD who was on our side When men rose up against us, 3 Then they would have swallowed us alive..."
In other words, your thanks and testimony should not only be for what He has done for you but Who He is in the first place, overall in your life and what He means to you! Will you share that with people today? Direct the thanks and praise to God and let others hear your gratitude and worship.
------------------
A refelction: American Express shows me a TV commercial of an actor who spent most of his life filming in New York and concludes the ad with a line that says something like "My city: New York. My card: American Express.
Let me think this out: Am I supposed to take this credit card because I want to emulate a citizen of New York? Or am I supposed to apply because I admire the actor, whose whole career is not of being himself but of portraying other people? Let me get this straight then...I am to make a business transaction based on the admiration I have for the integrity of an actor?
I look up the etymology of the word actor through through its original presentation in the Greek language and I find it's from hypokrisis "acting on the stage, pretense," and from hypokrinesthai "play a part, pretend."
So if I follow this correctly, I am to be persuaded to get a credit card based upon the reputation of a hypocrite?
Tuesday, October 18, 2005
He doesn't change
I can remember it well.
One of the men at church "Gabe" had obtained a pass for me to join him ON THE SIDELINES of the Tennessee-Notre Dame game in Knoxville. We would be handling the cables for ESPN TV. My friend had been working with the college and had some inside favors owed him - "Gabe" invited me to help haul cables and get the best view anyone could get in the stadium - right on the sideline!
At the same time, I was being offered seats on the ten yard line by another friend. I was nervous, now...I had already promised Gabe that I was going ...but I knew he had a problem of not following through with his promises. I sat and sweated it out. Would I be able to get on the sidelines.
The day of the game came and I got the call that upset me greatly. True to form, Gabe had fallen through...I not only lost a chance to be on the sidelines, I had lost the other seats, because the tickets were given away. Gabe never apologized, but simply hid out from me for a few months.
Although I forgave Gabe and it's not such a big thing, I was quite upset with the fact that it would be hard for me to trust this good friend. It wasn't the first time he had let me down.
I delight in the immutability of God. He doesn't change, and so I can sompletely trust Him and His Word:
I the LORD do not change. So you, O descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed. MAL 3:6
Don't be deceived, my dear brothers. 17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. 18 He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created. JAS 1:16
But what the LORD has planned will stand forever. His thoughts never change. Psalms 33:11 (CEV)
You are always the same. Years cannot change you. Psalms 102:27 (CEV)
Gabe will always be a good friend to me. God is even more than a friend. He is a confidant. He is my Father. He is my Strong Tower, One who will never shake in His foundations.
One of the men at church "Gabe" had obtained a pass for me to join him ON THE SIDELINES of the Tennessee-Notre Dame game in Knoxville. We would be handling the cables for ESPN TV. My friend had been working with the college and had some inside favors owed him - "Gabe" invited me to help haul cables and get the best view anyone could get in the stadium - right on the sideline!
At the same time, I was being offered seats on the ten yard line by another friend. I was nervous, now...I had already promised Gabe that I was going ...but I knew he had a problem of not following through with his promises. I sat and sweated it out. Would I be able to get on the sidelines.
The day of the game came and I got the call that upset me greatly. True to form, Gabe had fallen through...I not only lost a chance to be on the sidelines, I had lost the other seats, because the tickets were given away. Gabe never apologized, but simply hid out from me for a few months.
Although I forgave Gabe and it's not such a big thing, I was quite upset with the fact that it would be hard for me to trust this good friend. It wasn't the first time he had let me down.
I delight in the immutability of God. He doesn't change, and so I can sompletely trust Him and His Word:
I the LORD do not change. So you, O descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed. MAL 3:6
Don't be deceived, my dear brothers. 17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. 18 He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created. JAS 1:16
But what the LORD has planned will stand forever. His thoughts never change. Psalms 33:11 (CEV)
You are always the same. Years cannot change you. Psalms 102:27 (CEV)
Gabe will always be a good friend to me. God is even more than a friend. He is a confidant. He is my Father. He is my Strong Tower, One who will never shake in His foundations.
Sunday, October 16, 2005
Wearing down
It's been a hard week, very tiring. To paraphrase Bilbo Baggins, I feel like butter that's been spread too thin on a piece of toast. The teens within my ministry are awakening to new insights in the Bible, exciting them to take great leaps forward for Christ. Yet I am TIRED. I've been facing problems that try to take away my joy. My prayers lately seem to be more crying and asking than thanking and applauding.
God is all around me but I fall into the problem of fogetting that holy fact.
How stupid of me!
The devotional ministry Our Daily Bread ran this story that tells me a clear story of a father’s unnoticed protection:
“The early American Indians had a unique practice of training young braves. On the night of a boy's thirteenth birthday, after learning hunting, scouting, and fishing skills, he was put to one final test. He was placed in a dense forest to spend the entire night alone. Until then, he had never been away from the security of the family and the tribe. But on this night, he was blindfolded and taken several miles away. When he took off the blindfold, he was in the middle of a thick woods and he was terrified! Every time a twig snapped, he visualized a wild animal ready to pounce. After what seemed like an eternity, dawn broke and the first rays of sunlight entered the interior of the forest. Looking around, the boy saw flowers, trees, and the outline of the path. Then, to his utter astonishment, he beheld the figure of a man standing just a few feet away, armed with a bow and arrow. It was his father. He had been there all night long.”
Much like the unseen but protective father, my Heavenly Lord may not be noticed by me many times... but He is there, watching and protecting. It is to my shame that I don’t give Him more credit for the shielding He provides for me, in events big and small.
God is all around me but I fall into the problem of fogetting that holy fact.
How stupid of me!
The devotional ministry Our Daily Bread ran this story that tells me a clear story of a father’s unnoticed protection:
“The early American Indians had a unique practice of training young braves. On the night of a boy's thirteenth birthday, after learning hunting, scouting, and fishing skills, he was put to one final test. He was placed in a dense forest to spend the entire night alone. Until then, he had never been away from the security of the family and the tribe. But on this night, he was blindfolded and taken several miles away. When he took off the blindfold, he was in the middle of a thick woods and he was terrified! Every time a twig snapped, he visualized a wild animal ready to pounce. After what seemed like an eternity, dawn broke and the first rays of sunlight entered the interior of the forest. Looking around, the boy saw flowers, trees, and the outline of the path. Then, to his utter astonishment, he beheld the figure of a man standing just a few feet away, armed with a bow and arrow. It was his father. He had been there all night long.”
Much like the unseen but protective father, my Heavenly Lord may not be noticed by me many times... but He is there, watching and protecting. It is to my shame that I don’t give Him more credit for the shielding He provides for me, in events big and small.
Thursday, October 13, 2005
"Covenant Renewal Liturgies"
I absolutely love the Psalms, and even moreso when I see the history behind each one.
I especially love the Psalms known as the "covenant renewal liturgies", which are found in places like such as Psalms 50 and 81. I challenge you to read them tonight. They are designed to lead God's people to a renewal of the covenant he first gave to them at Mt. Sinai.
They express a joy that God is faithful, and also remind me that I can enjoy His blessing whenever I give my life over to Him. It's not as dramatic a thing as my childhood thinking imagined.
Fred Craddock, in an address to ministers, brought this dedication idea down to earth for our day-to-day consideration:
"To give my life for Christ appears glorious," he said. "To pour myself out for others. . . to pay the ultimate price of martyrdom -- I'll do it. I'm ready, Lord, to go out in a blaze of glory. "We think giving our all to the Lord is like taking $l,000 bill and laying it on the table-- 'Here's my life, Lord. I'm giving it all.' But the reality for most of us is that he sends us to the bank and has us cash in the $l,000 for quarters. We go through life putting out 25 cents here and 50 cents there. Listen to the neighbor kid's troubles instead of saying, 'Get lost.' Go to a committee meeting. Give a cup of water to a shaky old man in a nursing home. Usually giving our life to Christ isn't glorious. It's done in all those little acts of love, 25 cents at at time. It would be easy to go out in a flash of glory; it's harder to live the Christian life little by little over the long haul."
What a great way to explain it!
Clarence Jordan was a man of unusual abilities and commitment. He had two Ph.D.s, one in agriculture and one in Greek and Hebrew. So gifted was he, he could have chosen to do anything he wanted. He chose to serve the poor. In the 1940s, he founded a farm in Americus, Georgia, and called it Koinonia Farm. It was a community for poor whites and poor blacks. As you might guess, such an idea did not go over well in the Deep South of the '40s. Ironically, much of the resistance came from good church people who followed the laws of segregation as much as the other folk in town. The town people tried everything to stop Clarence. They tried boycotting him, and slashing workers' tires when they came to town. Over and over, for fourteen years, they tried to stop him. Finally, in 1954, the Ku Klux Klan had enough of Clarence Jordan, so they decided to get rid of him once and for all. They came one night with guns and torches and set fire to every building on Koinonia Farm but Clarence's home, which they riddled with bullets. And they chased off all the families except one black family which refused to leave. Clarence recognized the voices of many of the Klansmen, and, as you might guess, some of them were church people. Another was the local newspaper's reporter. The next day, the reporter came out to see what remained of the farm. The rubble still smoldered and the land was scorched, but he found Clarence in the field, hoeing and planting. "I heard the awful news," he called to Clarence, "and I came out to do a story on the tragedy of your farm closing." Clarence just kept on hoeing and planting. The reporter kept prodding, kept poking, trying to get a rise from this quietly determined man who seemed to be planting instead of packing his bags. So, finally, the reporter said in a haughty voice, "Well, Dr. Jordan, you got two of them Ph.D.s and you've but fourteen years into this farm, and there's nothing left of it at all. Just how successful do you think you've been?" Clarence stopped hoeing, turned toward the reporter with his penetrating blue eyes, and said quietly but firmly, "About as successful as the cross. Sir, I don't think you understand us. What we are about is not success but faithfulness. We're staying. Good day." Beginning that day, Clarence and his companions rebuilt Koinonia and the farm is going strong today. ( the Clarence Jordan story comes from from Tim Hansel's book, "Holy Sweat", Word Books Publisher, 1987, pp. 188-189.)
I especially love the Psalms known as the "covenant renewal liturgies", which are found in places like such as Psalms 50 and 81. I challenge you to read them tonight. They are designed to lead God's people to a renewal of the covenant he first gave to them at Mt. Sinai.
They express a joy that God is faithful, and also remind me that I can enjoy His blessing whenever I give my life over to Him. It's not as dramatic a thing as my childhood thinking imagined.
Fred Craddock, in an address to ministers, brought this dedication idea down to earth for our day-to-day consideration:
"To give my life for Christ appears glorious," he said. "To pour myself out for others. . . to pay the ultimate price of martyrdom -- I'll do it. I'm ready, Lord, to go out in a blaze of glory. "We think giving our all to the Lord is like taking $l,000 bill and laying it on the table-- 'Here's my life, Lord. I'm giving it all.' But the reality for most of us is that he sends us to the bank and has us cash in the $l,000 for quarters. We go through life putting out 25 cents here and 50 cents there. Listen to the neighbor kid's troubles instead of saying, 'Get lost.' Go to a committee meeting. Give a cup of water to a shaky old man in a nursing home. Usually giving our life to Christ isn't glorious. It's done in all those little acts of love, 25 cents at at time. It would be easy to go out in a flash of glory; it's harder to live the Christian life little by little over the long haul."
What a great way to explain it!
Clarence Jordan was a man of unusual abilities and commitment. He had two Ph.D.s, one in agriculture and one in Greek and Hebrew. So gifted was he, he could have chosen to do anything he wanted. He chose to serve the poor. In the 1940s, he founded a farm in Americus, Georgia, and called it Koinonia Farm. It was a community for poor whites and poor blacks. As you might guess, such an idea did not go over well in the Deep South of the '40s. Ironically, much of the resistance came from good church people who followed the laws of segregation as much as the other folk in town. The town people tried everything to stop Clarence. They tried boycotting him, and slashing workers' tires when they came to town. Over and over, for fourteen years, they tried to stop him. Finally, in 1954, the Ku Klux Klan had enough of Clarence Jordan, so they decided to get rid of him once and for all. They came one night with guns and torches and set fire to every building on Koinonia Farm but Clarence's home, which they riddled with bullets. And they chased off all the families except one black family which refused to leave. Clarence recognized the voices of many of the Klansmen, and, as you might guess, some of them were church people. Another was the local newspaper's reporter. The next day, the reporter came out to see what remained of the farm. The rubble still smoldered and the land was scorched, but he found Clarence in the field, hoeing and planting. "I heard the awful news," he called to Clarence, "and I came out to do a story on the tragedy of your farm closing." Clarence just kept on hoeing and planting. The reporter kept prodding, kept poking, trying to get a rise from this quietly determined man who seemed to be planting instead of packing his bags. So, finally, the reporter said in a haughty voice, "Well, Dr. Jordan, you got two of them Ph.D.s and you've but fourteen years into this farm, and there's nothing left of it at all. Just how successful do you think you've been?" Clarence stopped hoeing, turned toward the reporter with his penetrating blue eyes, and said quietly but firmly, "About as successful as the cross. Sir, I don't think you understand us. What we are about is not success but faithfulness. We're staying. Good day." Beginning that day, Clarence and his companions rebuilt Koinonia and the farm is going strong today. ( the Clarence Jordan story comes from from Tim Hansel's book, "Holy Sweat", Word Books Publisher, 1987, pp. 188-189.)
Wednesday, October 12, 2005
Rapture
People ask me, "do you believe that Jesus will come back and take His children away at some point, in what many call the Rapture?" And I answer, yes, I definitely do. I think that Jesus Christ has offered us an exciting event, explained in 1 Thessalonians 4:17:
Then we who are alive [and] remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.
...hey, I'm not here to start a weeks-long argue with people about pre-trib, post-trib, mid-trib and all that. I think the Bible makes it obvious what God is teaching. I'm telling you what I see in the Bible, and it makes it pretty clear. We call it the Rapture - that time when Jesus pulls His children into Heaven - and we get the English word from the Latin word rapto, meaning “to seize" or "be carried away" whether in spirit or body, and the dictionary explains that it means to be transported quickly from one place to another. The Greek word is harpadzo and is translated “caught up”. The Latin translation uses the term rapto, but the Greek translation says it is harpadzo, and it used 13 times in the New Testament. Harpadzo is translated “caught up” 4 times, “take by force” 3 times, “catch away” 2 times, “pluck” 2 times, “catch” once and “pull” once. (Here are some of the references in case you want to look: Acts 8:39, 2 Cor. 12:2-4, Rev. 12;5 and Matt. 11:12) I am truly looking forward to the opportunity to escape death if God so chooses (who wouldn't like to bypass the pain of death - it sounds like a mighty nice option, believe me) and I try to live my life as if Christ would come today and make harpadzo a reality.
--------
I truly love the students in my classes at Christian Academy of Knoxville. What an enthusiastic group of learners. I constantly tell them that they are the rebels of this generation because they are thinkers. Thinking has gone by the wayside in this world. These students are the revolutionaries.
Then we who are alive [and] remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.
...hey, I'm not here to start a weeks-long argue with people about pre-trib, post-trib, mid-trib and all that. I think the Bible makes it obvious what God is teaching. I'm telling you what I see in the Bible, and it makes it pretty clear. We call it the Rapture - that time when Jesus pulls His children into Heaven - and we get the English word from the Latin word rapto, meaning “to seize" or "be carried away" whether in spirit or body, and the dictionary explains that it means to be transported quickly from one place to another. The Greek word is harpadzo and is translated “caught up”. The Latin translation uses the term rapto, but the Greek translation says it is harpadzo, and it used 13 times in the New Testament. Harpadzo is translated “caught up” 4 times, “take by force” 3 times, “catch away” 2 times, “pluck” 2 times, “catch” once and “pull” once. (Here are some of the references in case you want to look: Acts 8:39, 2 Cor. 12:2-4, Rev. 12;5 and Matt. 11:12) I am truly looking forward to the opportunity to escape death if God so chooses (who wouldn't like to bypass the pain of death - it sounds like a mighty nice option, believe me) and I try to live my life as if Christ would come today and make harpadzo a reality.
--------
I truly love the students in my classes at Christian Academy of Knoxville. What an enthusiastic group of learners. I constantly tell them that they are the rebels of this generation because they are thinkers. Thinking has gone by the wayside in this world. These students are the revolutionaries.
Tuesday, October 11, 2005
Talking to an atheist
I had an interesting interchange last week. A teacher from another school - an avowed atheist, I am told - sent word through one of my students that he questioned how I could possibly believe in creation by God rather than evolution. He was a committed Darwinist., and how could anyone believe otherwise. I asked him to explain the guilt feeling we all get when we do wrong - where would that arise, if we were truly to follow the "survival of the fittest" thinking?
He replied by saying that evolutionists believe that guilt was an adapted (may I say adopted?) trait in order to make us a superior species.
Not so, I replied. If that were so, then the Darwinist has taken a backward step. The lion would not be king of the jungle if he carried guilt. We could not be the superior being (in Darwin's logic) if we carried remorse or regret for what we do. The evolutionist has gone against his own philosophy. Survival of the fittest, with no hesitation.
Furthermore, if the universe has no meaning...why do we as humans keep looking for meaning?
The atheist has yet to reply.
He replied by saying that evolutionists believe that guilt was an adapted (may I say adopted?) trait in order to make us a superior species.
Not so, I replied. If that were so, then the Darwinist has taken a backward step. The lion would not be king of the jungle if he carried guilt. We could not be the superior being (in Darwin's logic) if we carried remorse or regret for what we do. The evolutionist has gone against his own philosophy. Survival of the fittest, with no hesitation.
Furthermore, if the universe has no meaning...why do we as humans keep looking for meaning?
The atheist has yet to reply.
Saturday, October 08, 2005
"chesed" - lovingkindness
If I'm going to worship God, I want to know more about Him, and let Him reveal Himself to me. So, in searching, I come across this great word about God. It's a hebrew word: "chesed" and it means lovingkindness. Honestly, that's the way the word is displayed - as two words welded into one.
Lovingkindness.
Psalm 36:7 - "How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God! And the children of men take refuge in the shadow of Your wings."
This is a fiercely loyal but personal love the Father has for us. Three examples show up in the book of Ruth in the Old Testament...
First, I find it in 1:8. Naomi faces a great tragedy, with the death of her husband and two sons Naomi and her daughters-in-law are mourning and must figure a way to survive in a land that was harsh to the widow. Naomi directs her daughters-in-law that "each of you return to your mother's house," but she gives a chesed blessing: "May the Lord show faithful love to you, as you have to the dead and to me."
The chesed is used again when Naomi realizes the meeting of Ruth and Boaz is an example of God's faithful love (2:20) .
In the third chapter, Boaz is awakened in the middle of the night, finding a meek yet determined Ruth at his feet. He declares her blessed, paralleling her faithful love to the Heavely Father's.
I praise God for His faithful love to me, not only protecting me from panic and overburdening stress, but also in the words to say int he classroom, the ways I can learn to rightly run my family, and the words to read for comfort.
Lovingkindness.
Psalm 36:7 - "How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God! And the children of men take refuge in the shadow of Your wings."
This is a fiercely loyal but personal love the Father has for us. Three examples show up in the book of Ruth in the Old Testament...
First, I find it in 1:8. Naomi faces a great tragedy, with the death of her husband and two sons Naomi and her daughters-in-law are mourning and must figure a way to survive in a land that was harsh to the widow. Naomi directs her daughters-in-law that "each of you return to your mother's house," but she gives a chesed blessing: "May the Lord show faithful love to you, as you have to the dead and to me."
The chesed is used again when Naomi realizes the meeting of Ruth and Boaz is an example of God's faithful love (2:20) .
In the third chapter, Boaz is awakened in the middle of the night, finding a meek yet determined Ruth at his feet. He declares her blessed, paralleling her faithful love to the Heavely Father's.
I praise God for His faithful love to me, not only protecting me from panic and overburdening stress, but also in the words to say int he classroom, the ways I can learn to rightly run my family, and the words to read for comfort.
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