divine plan

So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. When they came together, the Lord made her conceive, and she bore a son. Then the women said to Naomi, ‘Blessed be the Lord, who has not left you this day without next-of-kin; and may his name be renowned in Israel! He shall be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age; for your daughter-in-law who loves you, who is more to you than seven sons, has borne him.’ Then Naomi took the child and laid him in her bosom, and became his nurse. The women of the neighborhood gave him a name, saying, ‘A son has been born to Naomi.’ They named him Obed; he became the father of Jesse, the father of David. (Ruth 4:13-17, NRSV)

Ruth had a son and continued the line of Naomi… And this is important because his name was Obed and he was the father of Jesse, and Jesse was the father of David, who was promised to have a descendant sit on the throne forever, who was the father of the one who finally begot Jesus…

You see it was all a part of the divine plan of God. It was all laid out from a time far ago, or to quote one of my favorite films, “A long time ago…”

You see, it is the same with you. Not only did the divine plan bring Jesus and save us all, but it prepared what you are to be and do.

So hold to the promises and know that God is with you and will walk with you through everything that is to come!

Happy

Happy are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord their God, who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them; who keeps faith for ever; who executes justice for the oppressed; who gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets the prisoners free; the Lord opens the eyes of the blind. The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down; the Lord loves the righteous. The Lord watches over the strangers; he upholds the orphan and the widow, but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin. The Lord will reign for ever, your God, O Zion, for all generations. Praise the Lord! (Psalm 146:5-10, NRSV)

Are you happy?

You see, happiness is a choice. We might be going through a really hard time and it might seem like the world is falling apart around us, but we can still choose to be happy.

And this is easier for us who know the Lord! We can be happy in the hardest time because we have the promise that He is always with us and He will always be there!

So chose to be happy, because He is always with you!

Preach…

‘Either make the tree good, and its fruit good; or make the tree bad, and its fruit bad; for the tree is known by its fruit. You brood of vipers! How can you speak good things, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. The good person brings good things out of a good treasure, and the evil person brings evil things out of an evil treasure. I tell you, on the day of judgement you will have to give an account for every careless word you utter; for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.’ (Matthew 12:33-37, NRSV)

“Preach the gospel at all times and when necessary use words.” This is a quote attributed to St Francis of Assisi. Now whether or not he actually said this, or something close is not what we are talking about. St Francis’ life was lived by him in a way that he embodied this quote. And it is a good thing to live by…

Sometimes words get in the way.

Sometimes our actions speak louder than our words and we send 2 completely different messages.

So what does your life say?

Do others know you are a disciple of Jesus by your actions?

Can people tell you are a follower of Christ by how you treat others and the things you do?

Or are they confused when you say that you love God, but your actions say otherwise?

So preach loudly, or maybe come to the understanding that you already are!

speak boldly

I myself feel confident about you, my brothers and sisters, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, and able to instruct one another. Nevertheless, on some points I have written to you rather boldly by way of reminder, because of the grace given me by God to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles in the priestly service of the gospel of God, so that the offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. In Christ Jesus, then, I have reason to boast of my work for God. For I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to win obedience from the Gentiles, by word and deed, by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God, so that from Jerusalem and as far around as Illyricum I have fully proclaimed the good news of Christ. Thus I make it my ambition to proclaim the good news, not where Christ has already been named, so that I do not build on someone else’s foundation, but as it is written, ‘Those who have never been told of him shall see, and those who have never heard of him shall understand.’ (Romans 15:14-21, NRSV)

Have you ever felt like you did not know what to say?

Have you ever been questioned on you faith and just let the moment pass by?

Have you ever said to yourself, “I wish I were like Paul and able to speak boldly…”

Paul tells us here his secret…

And you know what?

You have his secret! Jesus is living inside of you, so you are like Paul!

You have the Lord living in you and that is what Paul said is the reason that he is able to speak boldly! The Lord is what gives Paul the ability to wax poetically and to speak about the love of God.

So now you have no excuse! Go and boldly proclaim God and your faith. Not because you have the ability, but because He is living in you and giving you the power and strength to go and speak!

live

Finally, brothers and sisters, we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus that, as you learned from us how you ought to live and to please God (as, in fact, you are doing), you should do so more and more. For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus. For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from fornication; that each one of you knows how to control your own body in holiness and honor, not with lustful passion, like the Gentiles who do not know God; that no one wrongs or exploits a brother or sister in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, just as we have already told you beforehand and solemnly warned you. For God did not call us to impurity but in holiness. Therefore whoever rejects this rejects not human authority but God, who also gives his Holy Spirit to you. Now concerning love of the brothers and sisters, you do not need to have anyone write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another; and indeed you do love all the brothers and sisters throughout Macedonia. But we urge you, beloved, to do so more and more, to aspire to live quietly, to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we directed you, so that you may behave properly towards outsiders and be dependent on no one. (1 Thessalonians 4:1-12, NRSV)

How easy is it to treat people like you want to be treated rather than how they deserve to be treated?

It is not easy to treat people the way that God treats you, forgiving your short comings and know that you do not do the things you do to intentionally cause pain to God.

God wants us to live in a way that we show His love towards others and not treat them like we think they deserve to be treated.

Because as many people as you would like to do something terrible to for the way they treat you, they want to do that to you for the way you treat them.

We need to rise above society and treat others with the respect they deserve because they are God’s children just like us.

We do not get anything for it. We do not earn our way to God’s good graces. We do not get a better seat at the end, but we live this way because that is what God has asked us to do.

We are called to be over and above, in and not of this world to help point the way to the one who created all of us and wants to be with and in all of us.

So live like a Christian that helps others to see God!