Ruth 3 SO GOOD MMMMMmmmmm

Scripture selections are taken from the Rock Church Daily Bread Reading schedule for each month. “Lena’s Journalin’” are Lena’s comments on the specific passages from her Daily Journal.

If the e-mail text you receive is encrypted at all, just scroll down to the end of all of the text and click on Lena’s Journalin’ , which will take you directly to the web-page where you will be able to read the text quite clearly in it’s purposed form.

Ruth 3:1-18
Ruth at the Threshing Floor
1One day Naomi said to Ruth, "My daughter, it's time that I found a permanent home for you, so that you will be provided for. 2Boaz is a close relative of ours, and he's been very kind by letting you gather grain with his workers. Tonight he will be winnowing barley at the threshing floor. 3Now do as I tell you—take a bath and put on perfume and dress in your nicest clothes. Then go to the threshing floor, but don't let Boaz see you until he has finished his meal. 4Be sure to notice where he lies down; then go and uncover his feet and lie down there. He will tell you what to do."
5"I will do everything you say," Ruth replied. 6So she went down to the threshing floor that night and followed the instructions of her mother-in-law.
7After Boaz had finished his meal and was in good spirits, he lay down beside the heap of grain and went to sleep. Then Ruth came quietly, uncovered his feet, and lay down. 8Around midnight, Boaz suddenly woke up and turned over. He was surprised to find a woman lying at his feet! 9"Who are you?" he demanded. "I am your servant Ruth," she replied. "Spread the corner of your covering over me, for you are my family redeemer."
10"The LORD bless you, my daughter!" Boaz exclaimed. "You are showing more family loyalty now than ever by not running after a younger man, whether rich or poor. 11Now don't worry about a thing, my daughter. I will do what is necessary, for everyone in town knows you are an honorable woman. 12But there is one problem. While it is true that I am one of your family redeemers, there is another man who is more closely related to you than I am. 13Stay here tonight, and in the morning I will talk to him. If he is willing to redeem you, then let him marry you. But if he is not willing, then as surely as the LORD lives, I will marry you! Now lie down here until morning."
14So Ruth lay at Boaz's feet until the morning, but she got up before it was light enough for people to recognize each other. For Boaz said, "No one must know that a woman was here at the threshing floor." 15Boaz also said to her, "Bring your cloak and spread it out." He measured out six scoops F5 of barley into the cloak and helped her put it on her back. Then Boaz F6 returned to the town.
16When Ruth went back to her mother-in-law, Naomi asked, "What happened, my daughter?" Ruth told Naomi everything Boaz had done for her, 17and she added, "He gave me these six scoops of barley and said, 'Don't go back to your mother-in-law empty-handed.'"
18Then Naomi said to her, "Just be patient, my daughter, until we hear what happens. The man won't rest until he has followed through on this. He will settle it today."
FOOTNOTES:F5: Hebrew six measures, an unknown quantity. F6: Most Hebrew manuscripts read he; many Hebrew manuscripts, Syriac version, and Latin Vulgate read she.

Copyright Statement: Holy Bible, The New Living TranslationCopyright © 1996 by Tyndale Charitable Trust. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers. All rights reserved

~ Lena’s Journalin’~
Boaz is a redeemer, like Jesus is. He’s a picture of the Lordship of Christ. When we receive Jesus as our Savior there will also be an opportunity to go much further in our relationship of reconciling to God.
Do you know that Jesus is everyone’s Savior? He is the Savior of the world, the whole world. The only thing that prevents their reception of that salvation is believing in it, but believing it is only step one of a whole lifetime of reconciliation.
Lordship is where lifelong salvation lies. Lordship is where the blessings of God on one’s life are at. Lordship is where the instruction of the Father can be carried out by the sons and the world can be reconciled to the Father. Not just one person reconciled, but a family of people, which is God’s desire. God uses us to reconcile the world to Himself. We are His messengers, His witnesses, His lovers, His sons, who become like Him to show Him to a lost and eternally dying world. He’s totally counting on us making Him Lord and not just Savior.
This is the hard part for American’s who have been raised to be independent of any rule, in a place where every man can rightly have an opinion and walk in his own ways everyday of his life on earth. It is where so many in our country stop, where Christianity is concerned. We want God to bless us in someway, we want Him to meet us at altars and give us what we need, but when it comes to Him requiring something from us or needing us, we have other desires and obligations and with that tons of excuses.
Ruth had to lay herself out on the threshing floor, and come under Boaz’s covering, This is what we do when we make Jesus Lord. We come into the action of doing what the Master wants, even if it means it is something we don’t particularly desire initially.
Naomi was again telling Ruth what to do. Why? She was bossy? She was controlling? No she loved Ruth enough to desire all of the best for her. Ruth made a covenant promise to Naomi, why wouldn’t Naomi expect Ruth to go all the rest of the way to provision and fruitfulness and growth? Don’t you expect your child whom you decided to make and birth, to grow up into adulthood and be fruitful in life?
That is the same with us, when we go say a prayer for salvation that is only the initial promise. Don’t lie to God. He isn’t even thinking you’ve lied, He fully intends for you to do what you said. You promised. He keeps His, He also expects us to keep ours, no matter how easy or hard. Covenant promises are for life, and beyond.
I just heard some of you say, He hasn’t kept some of His.
2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. There is a reason, possibly an earthly barrier of a freewill exercised with choices made and consequence of choices made that have gotten in the way.
Let me ask you something concerning the fruition of the promises of God? Do you agree with God’s word on the matter completely, nothing bringing doubt at all, not able to be swayed away from the promise of the word you have? Have you wavered off of it at all? Have you ever disagreed with God on it? If so, did you change your mind in repentance? Or, are you walking in the will of God, or in your own ways? Do you usually do whatever you want or do you usually do what God wants? (Even where attitudes are concerned). When you do the will of God is it an excruciating sacrifice or is it a joy? Has your desire become His desire? Do you purpose to become the fruits of God spirit dwelling in you, or are you just the same old you sacrificing for God? (See Gal 5:22-27 for a list of the fruits of God’s spirit- these are for living, not just reading).
These are all walls that can be broken down, They can be dams holding back God’s promises. Oh and one more, Are you under covering, under rule, a disciple of the Lord Jesus, following after another stronger disciple? Do you even assemble with other believers regularly, or just go to church whenever it works out for you?
We often wonder why God has not come through for us, He has, we just have some walls to bring down. Some obedience’s to fulfill.

2 Cor 10:3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. 4 For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, 5 casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, 6 and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.

God has entrusted us with His Son. He expects us to make Jesus Lord, come under the covering of the church, and be led into harvest fields, joining the reapers.
Ruth was going the next step, she was going to enter into a lifelong covenant with the Lord, the Master. She chose to go after the mature, not just mess around at peer level. She was in for the long haul, not just for the leftovers. She had to follow Naomi to get there, once there she had to follow the instruction given her by Naomi, thus she had to know and remember Naomi’s words. Then she had to get brave trust and do the words, which meant laying herself out and asking someone else to cover her.
Most of us believe we can cover ourselves and we are fine like we are and we can just go to church a few times a year or even go Sunday’s but not be involved, not obey anyone and stay as we are, just fine. That is a deception. Kingdom life must be lived and growth has got to happen for one to be a healthy member of the kingdom family.
God has plans for you. He has a desire to fulfill and wants to use us to do it. If we fulfill His, He fulfills ours, He knows ours already, do we know His? Have we even been interested enough to ask?
We wonder why our dreams have not come true. Have God’s dreams come true? They started to when we got “saved”. Why do you think the angels had a party when one sinner repents? It’s potential that God may have His desire fulfilled, there’s another person submitting themselves to the execution of the will of God. If we never get a thing we want but God gets His, it will be quite well with us. Quite well.
The stuff we want is so temporary anyway, the “stuff” God wants is eternal, will last forever. We will all see so clearly then what we lived for. Let’s not leave here with any regrets. Let’s minimize our dreams for now and live out His. Ruth did that when she lay at Boaz’s feet! She could have done anything in life, but she chose the best part, at His feet.

Matthew 6:31 "Therefore do not worry, saying, "What shall we eat?' or "What shall we drink?' or "What shall we wear?' 32 For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

Luke 15:17 I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance.

Daily Repetitive Verses:

Isaiah 58:12 You'll use the old rubble of past lives to build anew, rebuild the foundations from out of your past. You'll be known as those who can fix anything, restore old ruins, rebuild and renovate, make the community livable again. THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language