Women's Day (Part 3)

Realizing that Esther was a girl and having to learn along the way, is good reason to re-evaluate what you have been taught so that the application of those lessons in your life can get you out of error and back on the path of righteousness. Esther did not have it all right; however because of the righteous living of her Uncle, she was able to have favor with those who were in authority of her and then be chosen as the queen. Cooking a meal, did not get her there. If food is the way to a man's heart, you chose the wrong man. As

you may have already realized, appetites can change.

The last example I am going to use is popular among female ministers. It is the book of Ruth. The ministerial staff and guest speakers where I use to attend would have such glowing remarks about Ruth and Naomi. They gleaned from the good attributes in the book rather then expounding on some features that did not fare well for them. In so doing, it gives the listener a false sense of direction when trying to apply what was heard into practical living. So let's really break this thing down and get what is really useful from this book allowing the rest of the dross to be just that.

First, let's just please notice how little the Lord or practices of righteousness are used in this book. That in of itself should have the reader and all those ministering from this book doing so gingerly. It begins with Naomi's husband doing away with a direct command of God for the children of Israel to stay in the land. Because there was famine, Naomi's husband decides to do a big move of disobedience (Joshua 1:1-18 AMP). What was Naomi going to do, rebel? That would have been the difference between living and dying for Naomi. She followed along after her husband and brought her two sons as well. So that is disobedient act, number one.

In their travels they came upon a place that seemed habitable; however the people were idol worshipers and considered evil in the sight of God. These people came from the incestuous acts of Lot and his daughters (Genesis 19:30-38 AMP). They were called the Moabites. Naomi's sons grew up in this land and married Morabite women. God told the children of Israel not to marry foreign women (foreign to the things of God) because they would cause for them to turn away from the ways of the Lord and to do things that were not pleasing to God. Naomi's sons grew up in this land and married Moabite women, Orpah and Ruth. This is disobedient act, number two.

Because of these two disobedient acts there were direct consequences. Naomi's husband died. The Word tells us that her son's married these Moabite women and then they died as well (Ruth 1:1-5 AMP). Here is where a lesson can be taught that I have not heard and possibly others as well. Seeing that when a woman marries, she becomes one with this man, it would be one of those helpful times for a woman to speak up when her husband is hell bent on causing discord in her house. If it is not apart of the culture for the woman to speak, there is nothing the matter in her praying so that God hears her prayers and has mercy on the disobedient acts of her husband (James 5:16 AMP). You don't think this is possible? What about when Abigail hurried and pleaded for the evil acts of her husband, Nebal to David. David had mercy on that man's life (1 Samuel 25:3-32 AMP). Would God have less mercy then His own creation? If you know what the right thing is to do, even if your husband doesn't, you can make change happen through prayer....it is written.

Now lets see the decision of Naomi and Ruth trying to make some sense of what has happened to them and where should they go from here. Naomi comes to the resolve that she needs to be with her family. She knows of nothing else but from where she came. Orpah thinks the same thing. She doesn't know anything else but where she has lived all her life. The big decision came from Ruth. She has decided to move to a land where she has only heard about by being with her husband and her husband's family. Ruth essentially shows, not what Naomi has taught her but how much she picked up being one with her husband, Naomi's son. He cleaved to his wife and because of that, we see how Ruth responds to her mother-in-law and how she received direction even when she has her own needs and has her own ways of the Moabites (Ruth 1;11-16 AMP).

What are the ways of the Moabites? Well, look at Abram and his family. They were liars and thieves. God was limited in blessing Abram because of his surroundings. His environment was conducive to what he has always known, to lie and steal. Those are not characteristics of God. So when God told Abram to leave his kinfolk and go to a land where God would show him, Abram brought Lot with him (Genesis 12: 1-4 AMP). In those travels, Abram sought how he could keep himself safe. He lied about Sarai being his wife. Notice how he didn't hesitate when Sarai offered her concubine to birth his first child. That's his personality showing. Also see how when he had his son Isaac that when he was grown, he used the same lie as his father. Lot, Abram's nephew, while they lived in Sodom and Gomorrah, he had a separate home where his wife enjoyed that sort of lifestyle. We didn't hear what Lot thought; however, he was one with his wife so how much more different could his opinion have been when his wife turned to look at the city she loved just before turning to salt? The other thing that strikes interesting is the character of his daughters. Why was their thinking so limited where they became afraid that there would be no men on earth and they would never have children? Then the entertainment of that thought branched off into the corrupted solution of having sex with their father after they get him drunk in order to fulfill their need to impulsively have children. This is a synapse of what made up the character of the two groups: the Ammonites and the Moabites. To further the selfishness of the people, see how Abraham realized that peace could not continue with him being with his nephew. Abraham showed him both sides of the land giving Lot the option to choose which ever side he would like to reside. The Word tells us even after all that Abraham did for him and his family, Lot chose the better of the two for himself (Genesis 13:1-14 AMP). This is the root of the feud happening in the Middle East to this day.

Now that you have a basis of what Ruth's normal is, let's also see why she would rather be with Naomi to a place she has never been as opposed to going back with Orpah. Remember, Naomi's family came out there because of the famine in Bethlehem, Judah. Ruth still made up in her mind that's where she wished to be as well. Here is where, the ladies of the church begin all of the accolades for Ruth and being loyal to the only mother figure that Ruth has. Let's get real! Ruth is trying to get the same sort of husband she had and knows if she sticks with Naomi, there are to be more of them. Ruth can't get in there any other way but with Naomi. Its not pretty, but we have already established the type of personality Ruth has been around her whole life. She will show her true self further in the passage.

When Ruth was introduced to Boaz, you wouldn't think that Naomi was at the ready plotting to get her daughter in law married off. The scriptures allows us to read how Naomi was thinking but unless you see closely, you won't notice Ruth showing her Moabite ways. When Naomi told her to stay close to the maidens, you see that Boaz told her to do the same thing. However when she came home to her mother-in-law, she said Boaz told her to stay close to the men. Its almost as if Naomi paused for a moment. She knew her family would never have said such a thing. Why not prove Ruth wrong or better yet, kick her out of the tribe altogether so not to spread those ways among her people? Instead, Naomi says nothing. She corrects her and moves to the next stage of her plan. She cleans Ruth up and tells her where she should go in pursuant of Boaz. Ruth finds Boaz in the silo either passed out or just asleep. Most women would leave but Ruth lays at Boaz's feet. When he wakes up, he knows what would happen if any of the villagers sees her leaving this man's property at that hour. They would assume she is promiscuous and have her stoned to death. But Boaz had to think quickly and have her not to leave empty handed as if she came to borrow a cup of sugar. When she came back to Naomi, she saw that Boaz protected Ruth's honor. Later, we see how Boaz finagles his way in being able to marry Ruth even though he is not the next in line to do so. If you don't believe me, look it up!

The lesson here should be to let young women know if you start scheming to get your own way, that's seed sown for you to keep doing it. Its so much unnecessary work when trusting in God is so much simpler and better. All Naomi needed to do was pray and teach her daughter in law to do the same. I wonder about a ministry who would teach otherwise based on the book of Ruth.

Women's Day is a day where we not only allow honor where honor is due, we also teach about examples in

the scriptures for our young ladies to see what to do and not to do. How did these women fare and where was the root of it all? Esther did well because of the prayers of her Uncle. The Proverbs 31 woman is an extraordinary example of a woman who has her family's best interest to heart, knowing who she is in Christ and making Him first in all things. Ruth is not a woman of nobility. She had a dog-e-dog mentality and if it weren't for Naomi, she would have been killed within the week of their return. It was Naomi who had ears to hear and redirect Ruth's attempts at getting her man any way she can.

Is it different from what you have been taught? More then likely; nevertheless, study the verses for yourself so you can know the truth and it can give you the liberty that is available for us all. Amen?

Sometimes The Good You Do Don't Do You Any Good?

I actually heard someone say this. I thought about it for a moment because a moment is all I needed to realize that as quick as it rolls off the tongue, a person not being knowledgeable in Christ, could think that statement is profound. Sometimes the good you do, don't do you any good. Really? Does that type of thinking go along with the saying, "the road to hell is paved with good intentions"? When I heard the person say the title of this entry, I had that moment. But when it came to writing material based on it, I couldn't even come up with a testimony. Hey, I don't get writer's block!

Going back to the mission statement for Kingdom Living (written at the top of this blog), the material for me to write started to flow again. In defining good, you already know, that's God. Jesus said it to His disciples (Luke 18:19 AMP). Now when accepting Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we also agree to be followers of Him. It is the definition of Christian. We desire to be more like Him. So when we do things that are pleasing in His sight, it is without malice, grumbling, or with an ulterior motive. We do so because we are blessed and continue to be while others either don't know who they are in Christ or haven't yet chose the abundant life. Twisted statements, like those mentioned above, makes sense to them. To them, it is profound, sound, and words to live by. The road to hell statement, has been said often throughout my childhood.

When we do good for others, we do so for others to be well off. We do so, because we have been provided for. We do so also out of obedience in Christ. He did it, so we do it too. How can this not be good for you? How can this lead you to hell (3 John 1:11 AMP)?

When you are doing something for someone else because you owe it to him/her, do you feel frustration because you don't wish to pay back the debt, or you might have issues with the person that hasn't been sorted out, or you could be thinking that this good thing you are doing is going to advance this person even higher then he already is (1 John 5:1-3 AMP)? Thoughts like that could worry a person into an early grave. Why? Because it is what the enemy does. It might have started out as a test to see if your heart is as good as you would like it to be. The test shows you what God sees and what you need to rid yourself of. If you don't use better words to push out those negative thoughts, then you are what I like to call, "feeding the beast." The more you grumble, complain, or look at what someone else has and compare it to what you don't, the beast gnaws away at the blessings you do have until the only thing you have left is your health. The ease Jesus came to give, you have opposed it - hence comes disease. So if this defines, that road paved to hell - well, I guess it would make sense. But it would also show that your intentions weren't good, which then becomes biblical and the truth (Proverbs 21:27 AMP).

I was going to write an entry on why a Christian would be bored. I had a hard time getting material on that too. Then I saw a banner on facebook. It said: only boring people get bored. Which in a sense is scriptural. Christianity is a faith walk. We walk in the spirit so not to fulfill the lust of the flesh (Galatians 5:16 AMP). The Word also says that faith without works is dead (James 2:20 AMP). Its as if you can have as much faith that God will do this or that for you, but without any effort from you (the ability God has put in you), would He be a good Father to do it all? A man can guide his children to assist them to walk, but if he walks for them, they will never try to walk themselves. If man assists a baby bird to come out of his shell because the baby bird seems to be struggling so hard to get it off, he kills the baby bird. He might have had good intentions in the assistance, but the bird needs the struggle to get his lungs activated. Because of human assistance, the baby bird never gets that necessary struggle to breath appropriately and eventually dies. God is good.

Some seeds might be a good snack and that's all they will ever be. Other seeds can do more if planted in good soil though it has a process to go through even in the dirt to get to where it needs to be and produce fruit. There is an outer covering that has to sloughed off otherwise, it won't grow. Water and the minerals in the dirt gnaw away at the outer covering to get to the inside. When the minerals do,  along with heat from the sun, the seed then germinates and grows. This is also what happens to a believer. The serpent, when cursed after the fall of man, was told by God that he would eat the dust of the earth for the rest of its days. The dust of the earth was also used to create flesh (man). The struggles man goes through is first because of the curse. Then we find the Lord who came not to condemn man but to give him life. Without Jesus, man would continually be cursed, having good

intentions based on his own definition and still going to hell. God allows man to go through what he does so he can not only live the life he has chosen but an abundant life having produced much fruit (1 John 5;10-12 AMP).

Understanding this basic concept can move a hum-drum life into the stratosphere. But it is up to you. Can you still do good and be content or have you turned to the dust once again (2 Peter 2:20-22 AMP)?

Its Alright, he Comes Home to me

It has been brought to my attention by way of just talking to people, how certain habits have been brushed over or over looked for the sake of the relationship. It is much like realizing that the most powerful man in the country has an extramarital affair for years but we are told to just focus on the issues and his policy making skills. If I weren't one to practice keeping my tongue from profanity; that, at one time, would have taken me to the point of temptation.

First, the problem we seem to over look. Checking out porn from time to time and/or masturbating isn't something we should think as being normal. The answer being, "well he comes home to me so its alright," is not acceptable. It is not acceptable to God and should not be acceptable to you.

We, as Christians should be seeing porn as a means of voyeurism. It is looking at the intimacy of others and getting aroused by it. Then if the spouse isn't there, the matter of arousal must be tended to, so he does this himself. Problem is, when it comes to satisfying the spouse, there is no arousal. He believed the lie that satisfying himself is perfectly normal. He believes that everyone is doing it and not being punished so he can too. He believes that he can continue with this behavior and it does become a habit. This habit, whether he knows it or not, is feeding the flesh. The flesh then becomes determined to get fed and now he has a problem with sex. He either is not able to get an ejaculation or cannot stop ejaculating. One is called sexual addiction and the other is a called erectile dysfunction. There is medication and therapy for both. Well, at least someone is profiting from all of this.

The President or any other elected official having an extramarital affair is an issue. He made a decision not to be faithful to one woman - his wife. His policy making skills and other matters in his life will falter because of his disloyalty to the one person closer to him than God. It is a character flaw. If we wouldn't accept this flaw in our own relationships, why would we be so readily accepting of it in our government where the official would have to establish relationships with others to make peace. How can he make peace if he doesn't have it in his own house?

God tells us there should be no other gods before Him. He tells us to love Him with all of our hearts, mind, and strength. He tells us this for us to maintain an abundant life by which Jesus came to give us. Anything else begins to muck up the waters by which we were planted. Our clarity isn't there, we blame others, and we justify sin.

Sin, no matter how much we justify it, will have its way if continually fed. It will come to collect the debt that Jesus already paid for. With or without you making excuses for the behavior, the Word still remains: for the wages of sin is death.