Series: #SpeechTherapy..it starts in the heart! (part 2)

 

Hey BCU family,

As usual, please enjoy the audio podcast (click on the icon below), the written transcript, or both! In either case, God bless you as you read, hear and apply the Word of God.

We prepped and started heart surgery last time, realizing we may harbor too many old and bad things in the heart/mind, and bad meditations get you in trouble! We saw that with the evil-thought/actioned Haman in Esther 3. We need to understand that many of the adverse thoughts the enemy brings are rooted in lust that is spoken of in I John 2:15-17, followed by some examples.

Do not love the world or anything in the world, if anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in him. For everything in the world, the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh and the pride of life, comes NOT from the Father, but from the world. The world and the lusts pass away, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.

  • lust of the eyes (Esau wanted Jacob’s stew and sold his birthright for it in Genesis 25:30-34).
  • lust of the flesh (many of us know all about David & Bathsheba in 2 Samuel 11:1-4).
  • and pride of life (besides Haman in Esther 3), King Herod who gave a speech, was lauded by the people, and the angel of the Lord smote him for not giving God the glory (Acts 12:21-23).

This is a fixed fight you know, and God wants us to be victorious over our heart meditations and gives us the Word in which to do it. Let’s go back to Romans 12:1  from a previous study. I beseech you therefore brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice holy, acceptable to God which is your reasonable service. Verse 2 says not to be conformed to the world but transformed by the renewing (ongoing) of your mind, that you may test or prove what is that good and acceptable perfect will of God. When we offer up our bodies, that includes the heart and mind. Acceptable means welcomed, well-pleasing and favorable. And we cannot present our bodies properly if the mind/heart isn’t right. Let’s talk about the lust of the eye.

*Since eyes are the windows to the soul, this lust tied to the soul and emotions. For the most part, every lust comes from a desire that is good. There is NOTHING wrong with desiring something—God gives us the desires of our heart when we delight ourselves in Him (Psalm 37:4). We desire to work, have things, work in a ministry, to be married—those are GOOD things. Where we have to be mindful is how the enemy can pervert good desires in your heart with thoughts that are contrary to how God commands us to think speak or act.  When you start to covet, plot, scheme, start working overtime, missing church, saving your tithes and offering money, not paying your bills, all to get “things”, that’s where the lust comes in. Let’s look at 1 Kings 21:1-16.

The story is, Naboth had a vineyard that the king, Ahab wanted (or coveted) BADLY. Naboth refused and Ahab was so upset about it, he would not even eat. Queen Jezebel found out and devised a HEINOUS plot to lie on and have Naboth killed–and then told the king the vineyard was now his to have. Just.like.that. This couple did not care that an innocent man was killed, his family likely very devastated—it did not matter who they needed to step on to get what they wanted, so long as they got it.

Can this apply to us? Perhaps not to this extreme…but let’s think about it from a few angles. For my singles..wanting to get married because you “see” everyone else is in a relationship, so you go out of our way, or rather “out of God’s way” to make it happen. When you get Mr. or Ms. NotRightNow, things go great initially (that’s how the enemy does it), and then he lowers the BOOM and you have a crazoks on your hands!  Let’s ask God to keep us content with what we have, and bless us with “extra” as He sees fit.

I Timothy 6:6-8 says, but godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world and it is certain that we can carry nothing out. And having food and raiment, let us be content.

Or, think about the times you may have wanted something so badly you missed important date or responsibility just to get it. In my early saved days, I skipped paying a bill to get a pair of shoes. I cannot tell you where those shoes are, what they looked like or where they are today! I can tell you I had a hard time recouping that money to pay my bill. All because of wanting something someone else had/ wanting something SO bad. A covetous heart. A desire gone bad.

Okay, what about the lust of the eye/desire to “play.” The purpose is socializing; taking a break..maybe talking a bit at work, playing Candy crush or a binging on a movie marathon. We all like to relax the mind–and that is a good thing.

What happens when the scales start tipping to the lust of wanting more play than work? This is when chronic slothful/laziness creeps in. A Sunday off here, missing a study there, half-doing what you’ve been called to do, not tending house, not taking care of yourself, burying your talent, not calling a sister, sending a note of encouragement, or maybe witnessing—all because you don’t feel like it, not in the mood, need a break from the people, the chores, etc, or have gotten into the habit of a Lifetime Movie Marathon or the whatever your go-to play routine is. While we all need days to unplug, recharge and refresh, we are accountable for the time God gives us and we have way too much responsibility to practice slothfulness on the regular. With God’s grace, let’s ask for wisdom to know how to spend the time He gives us.

See then that you walk circumspectly not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time because the days are evil. Do not be unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is (Ephesians 5:15-17).

What about the desire to be safe? Keeping/knowing our loved ones are safe? Our jobs are safe, the bridge is safe, etc. We teach at work that feeling safe is a basic need—NOTHING wrong with that desire–in the right place. Where things go too far is when the emotion FEAR comes in. Fear can come on the form of cowardice, worry, panic, having irrational thoughts, making emotional decisions. Let’s not forget the unprofitable servant in Matthew 25 —the one who buried the talent? During accounting time, verse 25 says, the servant told his master he was AFRAID and went to hid his talent in the earth. The master called the servant wicked and slothful–and proceeded to cast him into outer darkness where there was weeping and gnashing of teeth.

A bit back, a dear friend and sister in Christ got a message in between Sunday School and morning service that a family member had not been heard from since the night before—not answering phones, etc. Notice how the enemy timed this attempt right before service. What I loved was that the sister said something like “God knows where he is and I am not going to worry about it.” We prayed and it turned out he was fine, thank God!! Sister did not let fear take over. Now, I realize that there are scary situations out there—no doubt. We want to ask God to cover, keep and sustain our hearts from fear.

And we know that God has NOT given is a spirit of fear, but of love, power and a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7).

What about grief? That’s an innate desire when we lose a loved one or friend. The emotion connected to that is sadness. Perfectly normal. Now hear me good, grieving, sad days, crying spells are normal as we miss a person—birthdays, holidays, special times…

Where the enemy gets heart-busy is when the grief is extended to the point where one cannot function and stay in a state of depression for years at a time. We talked about that in Ruth 1 as Naomi vocalized her grief (after losing her husband and two sons) by telling the folks to call her Mara meaning bitter—because the Lord had dealt bitterly with her. While she went though the grieving process,at some point the Lord blessed her to start adjusting to the “new normal”, and she was used to bring Boaz and Ruth together. If Naomi had stayed grieving, she would not have been functional as to what God called her to do–and look at the result! Boaz and Ruth became great-grandparents to king David and mentioned in the lineage of Christ in Matthew 1.

To every thing, there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven (Ecclesiastes 3:1).

Once again, let’s start paying more attention to your thoughts/what’s in your heart. Ask God to show you (even if it’s painful), what areas need more attention or a purge. and ask for His help in overcoming them and creating a clean heart Psalm 51:10. Also, step up your gatekeeping of the heart as directed in Proverbs 4:23. Philippians 4:8 reminds us to think on true, honest, just, pure, lovely, of good report, virtuous, and praiseworthy, think on THOSE things. I did not say not to talk to the Lord about what bothers you, we just want to take it there and LEAVE it there. Amen? Amen!

Join us next time as #SpeechTherapy continues with the lust of the flesh–you do not want to miss it! Thank you so much for stopping by/tuning in and until we meet again, #StayOnTheWall!

 

Love,

 

BCU

 

*See http://www.themoorings.org for a nifty chart and examples of lust gone awry!

BlenCouragesU4 Comments

Series: Lessons from Ruth chapter 2

Hi BCU Family!

Even if you saw the Periscope broadcast, review is a good thing! Please enjoy the podcast by clicking on the logo below or you can read through the written account at your leisure. We trust either format will be a blessing to you!

Okay, last time when we left off in Ruth  chapter 1, Ruth and her mother-in-law, Naomi had safely journeyed back to Bethlehem, just in time for the spring barley harvest.

2:1-3 Chapter 2 opens and unbeknownst to Naomi,  her late husband, Elimelich had a kinsman or relative named Boaz (meaning in him is strength) who wasn’t just an ordinary man, he was a MIGHTY man of wealth (we’ll get back to that).

Background: Rather than expect Naomi to provide, Ruth asked  for and received “permission” from Naomi  to go out and work in the fields gleaning. Let’s stop right here. Bethlehem had a very moderate climate and was full of lush fields, olive groves and farms, so there was plenty of work to be had at harvest time for reapers and gleaners.

Reapers were paid to cut down and bundle the wheat and barley stalks, but to leave the corners of the fields untouched and to NOT go back and pick up any harvest (olives, grain, etc.) that was missed. The Lord commanded so in  Leviticus 19:9-10 and  Deuteronomy 24:19-22 that the leftover grains and such were for the poor, stranger, fatherless and the widow–in other words the gleaners. In addition to helping the gleaners provide food for themselves,  God promised to bless the work of the harvesters hands, and this also served as a reminder of the Israelites when they were  bondsmen in Egypt–they were unable to plant and harvest at will and were now free to do so.

So spiritual gut check–are we leaving anything behind for the “gleaners?” In other words, how are we being a blessing to someone (as God leads us) who cannot bless us back? Remember then YOU were enslaved to sin, the creditors, a stronghold and God set you free?! GLORRAYYYY! Everyone has a little something they can give, even with the smallest salary.  Maybe you are having a hard time financially or on a limited income…can you offer to babysit, sit with someone, cook a meal, buy a coffee, make a call to encourage someone,  visit, buy/make a greeting card that says “I was thinking about/praying for you?” God can bless us with creative ways to share our harvest!

2:4-6.  Ruth’s initiative landed her in the field belonging to Boaz– And while I’m sure he had substance, notice how he greeted his staff “the Lord be with you!”and they answer back “the Lord bless you.” This was a godly and well-respected man and that kind of character is worth MUCH more than money (that wealth mentioned in verse 1). Trust me, I have been close to people with money and the dispositions was “bowling shoe ugly” as my brother would say. Money comes and goes, but how you conduct yourself tells who you are. Proverbs 22:1 says “a good name is rather to be chosen that great riches, and loving favor rather than silver and gold”.

2:6-9. Getting back to Ruth, the Word says her hap (or destiny) was to glean in Boaz’s field. He noticed this foreign woman and after some inquiry found out  who Ruth was, how she asked to glean AND the fact had been gleaning all day–just resting a little. In turn, Boaz approached Ruth and instructed her to 1) stay in his field 2) go with his maidens 3) the young men would not bother her AND 4) they would get her water when she was thirsty.  Closer look time–this speaks to Boaz’s character once again.

Single ladies, take note–marrieds, please stay with me or relate this to a friend or your dating children.  First, BOAZ went to seek out Ruth not the other way around. Nor was Ruth posing and cheesing by the well—acting all ” 7-11 Big Gulp thirsty” waiting to be noticed and rescued from gleaning. She was BUSY and godly!!! Men notice BUSY, godly, fulfilled  women. They notice other types, too but for reasons we need to cover in another study. 🙂

Next, recall that Ruth is new in town, and a widow in this land and could very easily been taken advantage of (remember that from our first study–the widows were not always treated fairly). Boaz got in front of any potential foolishness by giving Ruth and his young men specific instructions that were followed without question. A godly man (single or married) will protect, rather than take advantage of your condition, manipulate or guilt you into doing something wrong, or just to fleece you.

I remember visiting a friend in Chicago a few  years back, and when we left church it had snowed a bit. One of the deacons (around my age) cleared off my rental car without blinking  an eye. Another time, as a group of us were leaving a venue, the deacons (again, these were not 80 year old men), happily made sure we got to our cars safely rather than just driving off. And there was NONE of this “well, since I did…you should” or “when can I expect a little payment in the special room later?” This was IN them and it came out. Boaz characteristics in full effect.

Conversely, I was talking with a young lady who had a boyfriend she “loved” but spoke roughly to her, was physical with her, cheated regularly and manipulated her into buying him an Xbox (whatever that is, I still rock my Wii) with the little money she did have. What was in him came out, stayed out and needs to be cast out!!!! Where is the Boaz in THAT situation? What’s attractive or wonderful about that?!  I ask you single ladies–are you dealing with a Bozo? Clear the decks and wait on BOAZ! He’s out there!!!!

2:10-12. Ok, back to our study! Ruth, clearly overwhelmed at Boaz’s friendliness and favor, tells her he knows all about how Ruth took care of Naomi in Moab,  and since, had left her own family and homeland to come into this strange land. Then he said “the Lord recompense  for your work and a full reward be given unto you from God under whose wings you have come to trust.” This hearkens back to when Ruth took on Naomi’s one true God as her God–you can NEVER go wrong choosing Christ!

Also BCU family, know whatever you are doing from your heart is not going unnoticed, especially from God. Remember, He is NOT unrighteous to forget your labour of love which you have showed toward His name, in that you have ministered to the saints and do minister (Hebrews 6:10).

2:11-14. Getting back to Ruth, as if the blessings from Boaz were not enough, Boaz’s favor continues as he INVITES her to eat. Singles women,  Boaz did not ask Ruth for her gleaned grain, to go “half” or for anything in return.  On top of that, Boaz served Ruth (he reached her the parched corn verse 14 ) as she ate until she got full  with the reapers—the hired folks! How many other  gleaners are recorded in the Ruth’s story as sitting at the owners table? None!

Also, what I love about Ruth in verse 15, was rather than hang around and make small talk, or otherwise take advantage of Boaz’s kindness, after dinner, she went right back into the field to work until evening.  Ruth’s laser focus, intent and  godly character stayed consistent–even with the new-found favor of Boaz. Ladies, let us never exploit anything a man does out of his heart for us.  Nor should we get all silly and unfocused–ask the Lord to help you stay on task!

2:15-22. With Boaz’s instruction to his staff to  purposely drop grain for Ruth and not to rebuke her,  she brought about a bushel of grain–roughly about 64 pints or  50-odd pounds home to Naomi (another unselfish act–Ruth shared her grain), which prompted Naomi to ask, “where did you glean and work?” Once Ruth told her it was Boaz, Naomi went into a praise saying, “blessed be he of the Lord who was not left off His kindness to the living and to the dead. Boaz is near kin to us, one of our next kinsmen”. One of the most memorable moments from out last study was a grieving and broken Naomi who is now rejoicing in God–He knows just how to turn our mourning into dancing.

The chapter wraps up where Ruth tells Naomi of Boaz’s kind protection,  their “verbal contract” for Ruth to glean till the end of harvest, and how Ruth stayed with her mother-in law. These women came to Bethlehem poor and unsure, and in one chapter were blessed and less stressed.  Amen!!!  Let’s see what our notes to self are:

  1. God blessed Ruth with a selfless heart, ambition, faith and the mind to be guided by the voice of the Lord to “hap” in the field Boaz owned.  That would not have happened if she and Naomi sat around waiting.  Faith without works is dead (James 2:20).
  2. Boaz may have been a man of wealth, but that extended far beyond money. His generous, selfless acts went above the law God provided. He protected and took care  of  Ruth without anything in return and taught his men to do the same thing. This type of character is what all men should exhibit. Examine any “Bozo’s” singles, you may be entertaining and ask God for a discerning heart and to use “clown repellant.”
  3. Likewise, Ruth remained humble, hardworking and a godly example of how a woman should behave #NotThirsty!  She never counter-offered herself for any of Boaz’s favor (thereby protecting him), rather she thanked him and went back to what she purposed in her heart to do. Single men, if the women are offering up things,  unless the Lord told you He has plans to turn things around, run as fast as your legs can carry you! That’s a Proverbs 5 woman–you’re looking for the Proverbs 31 woman!
  4. Whether you get recognized by people or not, God takes note of your work. Paul said, whatever we do, do it heartily and to God and not unto men, because we serve God and He is the rewarder (Colossians 3:23-24). Men may award, but God rewards.

I trust you were as blessed and challenged (whew!) by this word brought to you by God as I am. I thank God for His awesome illumination and now the application of what He said. We have to be doers of the Word, amen? Amen! God bless you for tuning in and until next time we meet #StayOnTheWall.

 

Love,

BCU

 

 

 

BlenCouragesU1 Comment

Lessons from the book of Ruth (1:1-15)

 

Hey Family!

While the content is very similar, the written transcript varies slightly from the podcast. I am trusting you will be blessed in whichever format you choose to enjoy the Word through!

God bless you and welcome to BlenCouragesU! Last month, a few of my friends and  I thought we’d do a Bible study on Periscope,  and the Lord led me to the book of Ruth. You may be thinking, “seriously–Old Testament?” “This same story?” Trust me, there are some nuggets here! I know I found a few that paralleled MANY of my life situations! To prepare, read though Ruth chapter 1 and then we’ll dig in.

Background: This was a time when Israel was pretty disobedient. In fact, Judges 17:6 says “and there was no king in Israel, but everyone did what was right on their own eyes.” (Times sure have not changed much).  So a consequence here was Israel was experiencing a famine in the land, so Elimelech, his wife Naomi and their two sons Mahlon and Chilion move to Moab.

So–what’s Moab got to do with anything? This is significant because Moab had oppressed the Israelites for eighteen years under the leadership of king Eglon, (Judges 3:12-14),  ON top of the fact, when the children of Israel were fleeing Egypt, Moab would  not feed them, AND the Moabites hired a prophet, Balaam to curse the children of Israel (Numbers 22:1-6 and Deuteronomy 23:3-5). In fact, verse 6 of Deuteronomy said: “you shall not seek their [Moab’s] peace or prosperity all your days forever.” With all this history and direct command from God, Elimelich moved his family. Anyway. Not so fast, family! How many times have we directly disobeyed God for something we needed, but did not trust He would supply..maybe out of curiosity, fear, desperation, no other way out? I just told one of my young people, God would never tell you to do something bad to get something good. 

Situation: After a space of time, Naomi’s husband, Elimelech dies and her sons marry Moab natives Orpah and Ruth. After ten years, the sons pass away, leaving Naomi, Ruth and Orpah destitute widows.

 So, they were widows…why is that important?  In biblical times (and in many homes today) men provided for their wives and families–and they did that well. Widowhood at that time is not like now–we have life insurance (well, we should–if not, please invest today) and many women work outside the home, so they can help/provide for themselves. At the that time, even if a widow did work, she was often fleeced, neglected, and overlooked.  God, in His infinite wisdom set up a law that said the widow must marry the next of kin on the deceased husbands’s side of the family. But…think about it…who would be related to Elimelech in Moab? No one. And after so many years, what relative would be alive back home? How could they find not one, but three relatives? Hence Naomi’s impassioned plea for her daughters-in-law to stay in Moab and start over as she prepared to go back to Judah. Orpah took Naomi’s advice and went back to “her people and her gods”.  Ruth insisted on staying citing, she would stay, worship Naomi’s God and be her family until death.

Relationships: I’m sure Orpah loved her mother-in-law, yet despite knowing the laws, situation and what hardships were ahead of the elder woman, Orpah still chose to leave Naomi to fend for herself. While we may chide her for doing so, in all honesty, how many of us would take on in-laws or other members of the family indefinitely? (As God directs, of course). Would we do it lovingly, or automatically think of the extra work, inconvenience and responsibility involved? While the Word does not tell us Orpah’s thoughts, she clearly left Naomi to fend for herself.

Well family, this is a good place to stop, reflect and meditate on what the Word of God has revealed in our hearts, and more importantly, to talk with the Lord on how to apply the Word in our lives, with His help. I’m going to part here so we can all take the time to do just that. Lord will, when we get together next time, we’ll finish up Ruth 1, starting around verse 16, make our way to the end of the chapter, and prepare for Ruth 2.

I trust this study was a blessing to you as much as it was to me! If so, please take a moment  to give us a thumbs up, share and comment–we’d love to hear from you! Thanks SO much and may God bless you for stopping by, and until next time, #StayOnTheWall.

 

Blen

BlenCouragesU5 Comments

Visual: What are you thinking?

Hey Family!

Take a look at the chart below. I saw it on Linked in—I’m not sure who the original author is (if anyone knows, please let me know), but this SPOKE to me!

The Word of God reminds us that we are to think on things that are true, honest, just, pure, lovely, of good report, virtuous, and praiseworthy (Philippians 4:8). That’s important because what we think translates into words and they effect our actions.  In fact, Proverbs 18:21 says death and life are in the power of the tongue and you will “eat the fruit of your words”. Every self-depreciating comment, negative affirmation or put-down is like eating rotten, deadly fruit. How many of us would knowingly eat harmful food? If you’ve ever had food poisoning or ANY gastrointestinal trouble after eating a particular food or at a place, you would totally avoid it! We need to incorporate this in our thought and word choices.

Additionally, the result of the rotten fruit not only effects you to the point where you feel like you cannot do anything correctly, it either draws other “flies” to you (fellow bad fruit eaters–that’s another post) and/or can drive away the folks who prefer to speak life. Moreover, it is a like a slap in the face to God, who has made us and not we ourselves (Psalms 100:3).

Bottom line: If it you are reading this, it’s not too late to repent for thinking and speaking in the negative. We all say things on the left side of the list from time to time, myself included—the thing is not to continue practicing this behavior. How different would our lives be if we spoke life into ourselves, children, co-workers, et cetera? In fact, after praying, the Lord blessed me to tell a couple of folks with God’s help, they would be a blessing to all they came in contact with. Do you know they came back with a victory report?! Thank you, Jesus!!! So it’s best to ask God to help us line up our thoughts, words and actions with His Word and enjoy the fruit of the spoken labor. Amen?! Amen!

God bless you and thank you for reading!

Blen

What are you thinking?
What are you thinking?

BlenCouragesU3 Comments

Stewardship

One of the wonderful things about the Word of God is the timeless relevance and application. [Re]read and reap! God bless you!

BlenCouragesU's avatarBCU

Hey Family,

A while back, the Lord blessed me with a thought about stewardship and what our responsibility is, so I thought I’d share a condensed version. Let’s start of with some background. So what is a steward?

In the Old Testament a steward is a man who is ‘over a house’ (Genesis 43:19; 44:4;).

Similarly, in the New Testament, a steward is a person who’s been entrusted to care or honor something. This could apply to Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard:

“So when evening had come, the owner of the vineyard said to his steward, ‘Call the laborers and give them their wages, beginning with the last to the first’ (Matthew 20:8).

Steward also means a manager. This would likely be more around the parables of the Talents and the Unjust Steward.

After a long time the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them…

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