Post by mommadee48 on May 2, 2021 5:18:35 GMT -5
SECOND CHANCES (RUTH 4:12-17)
"The Lord bless him!" Naomi said to her daughter-in-law. "He has not stopped showing his kindness to the living and the dead". (Ruth 2:20)
By making wrong decisions, Linda had ended up in prison in a country not her own. When she was set free after six years, she had nowhere to go. She thought her life was over! But her family gathered money to buy her ticket home, and a kind couple offered her lodging, food, and a helping hand. Linda was so touched by their kindness that she listened as they told her the good news of a loving God who wants to give her a second chance.
Linda reminds me of Naomi, a widow who lost her husband and two sons in a foreign land and thought her life was over (See Ruth 1). However, the Lord hadn't forgotten Naomi, and through the love of her daughter-in-law Ruth and the compassion of godly Boaz, Naomi saw God's love and was given a second chance (4:13-17).
God still cares, and He wants to give us a fresh start. We need to see God's hand in our everyday lives and realize He never stops showing us His Kindness.
FOOT NOTE: "I WAS A RASCLE IN MY TEENAGE YEARS and WANTED NOTHING TO DO WITH GOD. I THOUGHT HE WAS MEEN and DIDN'T CARE. IN MY YOUNG ADULT YEARS HE GOT MY ATTENTION AND I WAS TOO GIVEN A SECOND CHANCE"
Love Changes us. Before I finally met Jesus, I'd been wounded so deeply that I avoided close relationships in fear of being hurt again. But remarried second and third time and still ended up in divorce and messed up. Jehovah was so kind he had a friend invite me to her church and made sure I didn't escape. I went, afraid to trust but desperate for help. Thankfully, believers reached out, prayed for me and taught me how to nurture a relationship with God. Over time, the love of Christ and His followers changed me. Jesus does transforms lives if you let HIM. Took me a long while before I asked Him to live in my heart with me, I'm glad I did. ( I've enjoy my second chance).
"OUR DAILY BREAD"
Sometimes the words of children can jolt us into a deeper understanding of God's truth.
The apostle Paul referred to this mystery when he prayed that the Holy Spirit would strengthen the believers in Ephesus so that Christ would " dwell in their hearts through faith".
When Jesus lives within us we can finally understand how deeply he loved them and us. Fueled by this love, they/we would mature in the faith, and love others with humility and gentleness while speaking the truth in love. Jesus dwelling in us means that His love never leaves those who welcomed Him into their lives.
For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through the Holy Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to who is to do immeasurably more than all is ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen3x.
"The Lord bless him!" Naomi said to her daughter-in-law. "He has not stopped showing his kindness to the living and the dead". (Ruth 2:20)
By making wrong decisions, Linda had ended up in prison in a country not her own. When she was set free after six years, she had nowhere to go. She thought her life was over! But her family gathered money to buy her ticket home, and a kind couple offered her lodging, food, and a helping hand. Linda was so touched by their kindness that she listened as they told her the good news of a loving God who wants to give her a second chance.
Linda reminds me of Naomi, a widow who lost her husband and two sons in a foreign land and thought her life was over (See Ruth 1). However, the Lord hadn't forgotten Naomi, and through the love of her daughter-in-law Ruth and the compassion of godly Boaz, Naomi saw God's love and was given a second chance (4:13-17).
God still cares, and He wants to give us a fresh start. We need to see God's hand in our everyday lives and realize He never stops showing us His Kindness.
FOOT NOTE: "I WAS A RASCLE IN MY TEENAGE YEARS and WANTED NOTHING TO DO WITH GOD. I THOUGHT HE WAS MEEN and DIDN'T CARE. IN MY YOUNG ADULT YEARS HE GOT MY ATTENTION AND I WAS TOO GIVEN A SECOND CHANCE"
Love Changes us. Before I finally met Jesus, I'd been wounded so deeply that I avoided close relationships in fear of being hurt again. But remarried second and third time and still ended up in divorce and messed up. Jehovah was so kind he had a friend invite me to her church and made sure I didn't escape. I went, afraid to trust but desperate for help. Thankfully, believers reached out, prayed for me and taught me how to nurture a relationship with God. Over time, the love of Christ and His followers changed me. Jesus does transforms lives if you let HIM. Took me a long while before I asked Him to live in my heart with me, I'm glad I did. ( I've enjoy my second chance).
"OUR DAILY BREAD"
Sometimes the words of children can jolt us into a deeper understanding of God's truth.
The apostle Paul referred to this mystery when he prayed that the Holy Spirit would strengthen the believers in Ephesus so that Christ would " dwell in their hearts through faith".
When Jesus lives within us we can finally understand how deeply he loved them and us. Fueled by this love, they/we would mature in the faith, and love others with humility and gentleness while speaking the truth in love. Jesus dwelling in us means that His love never leaves those who welcomed Him into their lives.
For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through the Holy Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to who is to do immeasurably more than all is ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen3x.