There was a relative of Naomi’s husband, a man of great wealth, of the family of Elimelech. His name was Boaz. Ruth 2:1 REFERENCE Ruth 1:19-22 & 2:1-9 The book of Ruth begins with a famine in Bethlehem that pushed Elimelech and his entire family to leave the city for Moab in search of greener pastures. However, our text reveals that Boaz, who stayed back in Bethlehem, was a man of great wealth – he had prospered through the famine. On the other hand, Elimelech’s widow, Naomi, and widowed daughter-in-law, Ruth, returned to Bethlehem empty-handed How did Boaz and his business survive the...
So it was, whenever Israel had sown, Midianites would come up; also Amalekites and the people of the East would come up against them. Judges 6:3 REFERENCE Judges 6:1-6 It is frustrating to labor and not see the reward of your labor. This was Israel’s unfortunate reality in today’s text. They planted and watered their seed, but that was where it all ended; getting to reap their harvest was impossible because their enemies would destroy what they had planted before it got to harvest season. This pattern continued until the Israelites became impoverished. Our text clearly states that ‘whenever Israel...
Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age: and he made him a coat of many colours. Genesis 37:3 (KJV) REFERENCE Genesis 37:1-11, 23-28 (KJV) Joseph had a coat of many colors given to him by his father; a symbol of his love for him as well as to show him his significance and uniqueness in life. Unlike an earthly father, God doesn’t have favorites amongst his children; He loves us equally and has given each of us a unique coat of colors which differentiates us from others. Your coat of...
The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ,… - Romans 8:16-17 REFERENCE Romans 8:14-17 An heir is a Legal inheritor who holds the right to receive property, position, or title of somebody else when that person dies. As believers, this passage reveals our status as joint or co-heirs with Christ Jesus; this connotes that we can partake freely of our Father’s goods. The significance of this is that firstly, we have equal position with Christ: – The new birth puts us in the...
Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” He said. “Be clean!” Immediately he was cleansed of his leprosy. Matthew 8:3 REFERENCE Matthew 8:1-4 One battle we all often have to fight is to overcome that voice that says, “You are not good enough; you don’t qualify.” It is the voice that speaks from a deep place in our past; childhood memories. Voices that have come to turn you into a timid, afraid and pessimistic person. It’s the voice of the teacher that termed your inquisitive mind a nuisance, it is the voices of parents who...
Comfort, yes, comfort My people!” Says your God. “Speak comfort to Jerusalem, and cry out to her, that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned… Isaiah 40:1-2 REFERENCE Isaiah 40:1-5 Comfort is a state of physical ease, well-being and freedom from pain or limitation. It is synonymous with consolation, compensation, succor and encouragement. Comfort depicts the easing or alleviation of a person’s feelings of grief or distress. It could also mean a person or thing that helps to alleviate a difficult situation. For example, Genesis 24:67 records that Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death, when he took...
And David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem, but he put his armor in his tent. I Samuel 17:54 REFERENCE I Samuel 17:33-54 “Every worthwhile accomplishment has a price tag attached to it. The question is always whether you are willing to pay the price to attain it – in hard work, sacrifice, patience, faith and endurance.” – John C. Maxwell. If you have been in the world for a while you would have noticed that life doesn’t always give you what you deserve but what you demand of it…and a way to demand is...
And a certain man lame from his mother’s womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms from those who entered the temple; who, seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, asked for alms. Acts 3:2-3 REFERENCE Acts 3:1-9 The beggar in this account was born with a limitation; he was limited by his lameness because he couldn’t do things for himself. He relied on others to carry him and wherever they kept him was where he remained; that put him on a perpetual lockdown. Although...
And many of the Samaritans of that city believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified, ‘He told me all that I ever did.’ John 4:39 REFERENCE John 4:5-19, & 39-42 This passage introduces us to a woman who may have been suffering from low self-esteem, rejection, and shame. She has not had very good experiences in her relationships with the opposite sex. The fact that she went to the well in the hot oriental afternoon (when most people reclined in the shade of their homes), lends credence to the theory that she could be avoiding...
A man’s stomach shall be satisfied from the fruit of his mouth; from the produce of his lips he shall be filled. Proverbs 18:20 REFERENCE Proverbs 18:6-8, & 20-21 Our text reveals a mystery which shows that so much of what happens in our lives depends on what happens with our mouths. We therefore cannot live victorious Christian lives without taking control of the mouth. When God made man and breathed the breath of life into Him, Genesis 2:7 says, “…and man became a ‘living being.’” The Targum Onkelos, an ancient Aramaic translation says ‘…and man became ANOTHER speaking spirit.’ Man became...