It’s the prediction of a snow storm that gets SOME of us EXCITED. A friend was looking forward to 5-8 inches fresh powder for skiing, I just like the clean look of snow and the excuse of inside relaxing tonight, as the next few weekends I will be busy outside of the house.
I am of course excited for the big game tomorrow, which I plan to enjoy on a couch at home. Our biggest concern, and I bless you the same, would be WHAT to eat rather than IF we can eat. May we all be blessed with place and provision.
A big IF exists for food insecure folks, especially kids in tough situations. A family filled with love can still have empty bellies. Our church is running a food drive collection for non-perishables. Provisions are blessings to share. And if shared with us, may we beam the Light of the Lord going forth, paying it forward… God provided, provides, will provide. God is the ultimate power before, now, and in the future.
Food was not an issue yesterday at my work tailgating fun party… Whew, so much food… Comradery abounded too in sharing… I was so full that I didn’t even mind the later separate evening fundraising event I went to after, a puppy bowl charity with work friends, had run out of food, well practically run out for the last of us. I did get an apple cider donut, that was more than enough. The chef said it was more that people were taking big helpings, but I digress (and digest). Honestly I am still full this next day from work, but I gleaned some chicken wings, in the fridge, and chocolate cake leftovers. That’s not gleaning of course, just seeing leftovers not going to waste, yeah. Yeah blessed. I’m warmed in heart more than you know for the joys we find in workplace families, we have to kindle those too.
Gleaning is the biblical benefit given to many poor, food insecure, folks working in the fields, to collect leftovers from the first round of harvest so that they too could eat. It was God-commanded and realized in the time of Ruth, who gleaned even as a foreigner Moabite in the area of Bethlehem with her Israelite (Judah-born) mother-in-law Naomi who returned from painful hardships of losing husband and sons. Naomi was bitter at the painful life she felt the Lord had dealt her, but even her situation was worked back into both the storyline of God’s chosen people as well as Jesus’s birth line family tree. Naomi saw the faith rekindle in her, gleaned hope.
Ruth gleaned grain. And in so feeding the people, God regained a remnant of holy spirit-seeded-lineage people to keep the prophesy alive that the Messiah would come through “David’s house”. The HOPE planted was cultivated by trusting God, Yahweh.
The “Sight and Sound” video of RUTH, which I just watched and highly recommend, was as part of an easy $8.99 monthly subscription (or $5 one-time) showing online: https://www.sight-sound.tv/browse I plan to watch them all in my downtime for resting in this winter. The musical scenes of angst and of truly divine HOPE. Hope for more than a meal, for a satisfaction of soul. And that’s what Ruth realized, and that spilled over to Naomi. The people remembered that God provides.
A joy of provisions shared to others by Boaz was also joy received by the Lord’s provisions of PURPOSE to Boaz. Such JOY is given by God to experience the gift of giving. Boaz is overwhelmed with the blessings God gives in return. Likewise the Lord rejoices with His children returning to Him. God’s greatest gift is Jesus’s salvation to bring us back to Him. All who hunger FOR HIM are satisfied IN HIM.
There is no one on earth, nor food or provisions, that we should put in front of us, distracting us from our Redeemer, Jesus the Bread of Life.
Be SOUL satisfied.
Amen
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The story of Ruth, Boaz and Naomi in the Word of the Lord FULFILLING THE SOUL SATISFYINGLY: Jesus is our Guardian Redeemer
“May the Lord repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.”
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Psalm 107 NKJV by David in Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving to the Lord for His Great Works of Deliverance
Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, Whom He has redeemed from the hand of the enemy, And gathered out of the lands, From the east and from the west, From the north and from the south.
They wandered in the wilderness in a desolate way; They found no city to dwell in. Hungry and thirsty, Their soul fainted in them. Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, And He delivered them out of their distresses. And He led them forth by the right way, That they might go to a city for a dwelling place. Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, And for His wonderful works to the children of men! For He satisfies the longing soul, And fills the hungry soul with goodness.
Those who sat in darkness and in the shadow of death, Bound in affliction and irons – Because they rebelled against the words of God, And despised the counsel of the Most High, Therefore He brought down their heart with labor; They fell down, and there was none to help. Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, And He saved them out of their distresses. He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, And broke their chains in pieces. Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, And for His wonderful works to the children of men! For He has broken the gates of bronze, And cut the bars of iron in two.
Fools, because of their transgression, And because of their iniquities, were afflicted. Their soul abhorred all manner of food, And they drew near to the gates of death. Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, And He saved them out of their distresses. He sent His word and healed them, And delivered them from their destructions. Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, And for His wonderful works to the children of men! Let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, And declare His works with rejoicing.
Those who go down to the sea in ships, Who do business on great waters, They see the works of the Lord, And His wonders in the deep. For He commands and raises the stormy wind, Which lifts up the waves of the sea. They mount up to the heavens, They go down again to the depths; Their soul melts because of trouble. They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, And are at their wits’ end. Then they cry out to the Lord in their trouble, And He brings them out of their distresses. He calms the storm, So that its waves are still. Then they are glad because they are quiet; So He guides them to their desired haven. Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, And for His wonderful works to the children of men! Let them exalt Him also in the assembly of the people, And praise Him in the company of the elders.
He turns rivers into a wilderness, And the watersprings into dry ground; A fruitful land into barrenness, For the wickedness of those who dwell in it. He turns a wilderness into pools of water, And dry land into watersprings. There He makes the hungry dwell, That they may establish a city for a dwelling place, And sow fields and plant vineyards, That they may yield a fruitful harvest. He also blesses them, and they multiply greatly; And He does not let their cattle decrease.
When they are diminished and brought low Through oppression, affliction, and sorrow, He pours contempt on princes, And causes them to wander in the wilderness where there is no way; Yet He sets the poor on high, far from affliction, And makes their families like a flock. The righteous see it and rejoice, And all iniquity stops its mouth.
Whoever is wise will observe these things, And they will understand the lovingkindness of the Lord
Debbie Upper 