Ruth 2

There was a relative of Naomi’s husband … His name was Boaz. …Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi, “Please let me go to the field, and glean heads of grain after him in whose sight I may find favor.” … So she fell on her face, bowed down to the ground, and said to him, “Why have I found favor in your eyes, that you should take notice of me, since I am a foreigner?” And Boaz answered and said to her, “It has been fully reported to me, all that you have done … 

Ruth chose to not allow her circumstances to overwhelm her to the point of making stupid decisions. She carefully evaluated where to go and then sought blessing on her choice. Her lifestyle gave her a good reputation. Her looks may have earned her the first look from Boaz; but her wisdom and perseverance kept the attention. 

Father God, I praise You for Your divine wisdom in placing me where You have and at the time You have. I do not know much; but I do know that You promise me wisdom, so I ask for it, that I may make godly choices. Lord, I don’t want to be lazy and just go with what is convenient or the path of least resistance, I want to evaluate with Your smarts the choices You offer me and choose well. Help me to persevere and work hard at that which You give me to do in order that I may have a good reputation as a daughter of the Most High. Please help me to fully respond to the favor You pour out on me, in me and through me, that I may bring You glory and make You famous in the barley fields of my life and anywhere else You may delight to drop me.

Ruth 1

Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her.

I can kiss (muwah, muwah) or I can cling. What do my actions say about my devotion to God? To my family? To those my Lord has entrusted to me? Lord God, thank You for my family and my circle. You know the troubles and decisions facing so many of them even tonight; I pray that they would cling to You. And they would know You cling to them. Blessing and honor, glory and power unto Your Name be praised. Help me, Holy Spirit know and pray for them to birth what You have in store for Your Name and for my precious people. Find me a faithful intercessor and not a slacker on these frighteningly serious matters of this temporal span. Help me cling to You in ever-increasing measure of love, faith and trust.

~I praise You that You never entreat me to leave you, – I thank You Father that You never ask me to leave You and that You never leave me nor forsake me
~Or to turn back from following after you; – I praise You that You never turn away from me, no matter if I get distracted
~For wherever you go, I will go; – oh Lord, take me with You; I want to go wherever You go, even when it it is looks hard and appears lonely and seemingly unfair – for I know that You are GOOD
~And wherever you lodge, I will lodge; – You have given me the privilege to be Your dwelling place, oh that I would always be a loving and gracious home for Your Presence
~Your people shall be my people, – Your people are precious to me, increase my imagination and heart for loving and praying for them according to Your glorious plans
~And You, God, are my God – the only true God
~Where You have me live and die, I will live and die, – and I welcome Your plans for me
~And where I will be buried, I know that will not be the end for You, God, have eternal plans for me
~The Lord do so to me, and more also, – as long as You are glorified and made much of
~And I praise You that nothing, not even death can part You and me.

Judges 21

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

And each event gets crazier and crazier. Sin kills. Sin destroys. Sin is ravenous and without satiety.

Thank You Lord God for Your leadership and for Your divine provision of leadership over me. I can see why the folks would clamor for a king as this insanity had to be a scary thing for the mere mortals who desired to live regular lives. There is no mention of anyone being raised up in the spirit of Moses or Joshua … There just doesn’t seem to be any accountability for those nameless/faceless folks making the choices for the tribes and nation. It’s like they just made it up as they went. Holy Spirit, help me to yield and honor those You have put in place over me. May I not complain, rather inspire me with Your vision that I may be part of the solution. Where I entertain sin or welcome arrogance, please remind me of the waste of the young woman’s life and death that I may rethink (with Your pure and holy truth) my affiliation with such deadly folly.

Judges 20

Thus all the men of Israel were gathered against the city, united as one man.

United as one man.  The unconscionably grievous and tragic crime against a young woman and her husband combined with the egregious response of dismembering her remains for national distribution to incite a visceral reaction to the situation; this is what brings unity for most of Israel?  And this to undertake a civil war. Oh, my.  

Lord God, I pray that unity is never this far away or that we will never need something so heinous as to stir unified sentiments within the Body.  Holy Spirit, keep us in Your rhythm, compliant and excited about the Kingdom agenda and focused on bringing holy glory to the great Name of our King.

I don't know if these descendants of Abe, Ike and Jake had trouble with the concept of holy or if they had keen understanding which I lack; but the desiring of the man by the townsfolk, the giving of the young woman, the matter of fact response to her corpse, the message her husband sent...where is the holy, where is their fear of You, where is their decency, their hospitality?  They had no fear of You or respect for Your divine law and that disregard manifested itself in the brutalization of a guest to their town.  And then, to have absolutely no repercussions from the local authorities is shocking and unbelievable.  

We need You, Father, we need Your holiness, Your wisdom and Your law.  We need You Holy Spirit, to cultivate in us the appetite for holy, the high view of our Lord, the desire and commitment to follow all the days and nights of our lives the Truth.  Jesus, my Messiah and Example, we need You to continue speaking Your way to us, to demonstrate that the holy path is noble, narrow; but very accessible if we choose to follow.  My Lord Rabbi, we need You to teach and illumine our minds and hearts with vision of the True.  Encourage us with Your humble example of triumph and resistance.  My Triune God, if You do not continue with us, we will be no different that the Gibeah-ites.   How I pray that we do not need such a severe jump-start on unity.  I praise You and thank You for the unity which is found only in You.  If we are not unified, we are untied.  So keep us  braided in Your strong cord of purity, holiness and integrity, to the praise of Your infinitely Wise and Good Name.  And please show me where I need to repent and how to pray regarding of the atrocities in my life.

Judges 19

Lord, help me let my children go when it is time to release them to their next phase of life; don’t let me keep them home longer than they are supposed to be here. Please don’t allow me to manipulate them for my heart’s sake; as it is not helpful for my heart in the long run. God, may You be praised in my parenting.

Judges 18

And there was no deliverer because it was far ….


Lord God, I praise You and thank You for Your faithfulness to me. You never wander off after a better  offer or try and trade up from me. Amazing. I am so grateful to You, too, because there is never a “far” with You; You are immediate, the Great I AM. Thank You because I know the peace I have is from You and not because I (am deceived to think I) am off the radar of the enemy. You are my ever-living, ever-loving, ever-present Defender and Great High Priest. I pray that I may fully, graciously and authentically respond to You today. Grow me up in You, Lord Jesus. Holy Spirit, please cultivate my God-gratitude and teach me to reciprocate according to Your design.   i long to finish our dance and to follow Your divine lead.

Judges 17

And Micah ordained the Levite, and the young man became his priest, and was in the house of Micah. Then Micah said, “Now I know that the LORD will prosper me, because I have a Levite as priest.”

Lord God, please help me to not ordain people and things in my life to be my way to You, keep me from giving a home to anything – anything which ignorantly or rebelliously – sets itself up (oh You forbid, that I would empower the poser) to be my religion, my “faith” … as I recognize the despicable spirit behind such acts. LORD God Almighty, please keep my expectations on You and Your words and not on anything I may do or not.

And as this passage screams at me: Micah ordained his own priest, who welcomed this man in his own house, who paid compensation according to his own contract, who expected You to prosper his own self because he had acquired his own Levite. Micah is the god, he defined the way to You and established his own religious protocols – ignoring Your well-established words. YIKES, my Lord, please keep me from this abominable insanity. You, Jesus, are the only way.. You set up and depose kings as You please, You planned the Cross, You executed the Cross, You triumphed at the Cross and You give this to me. I thank You. You have already prospered me. I praise You.