Author: Don Guthrie

Re: Verse reading–Ruth 1:1-19 (day five)
“The Lord grant that you may find SECURITY, each of you in the house of your husband.” (v 8)  Naomi is not thinking clearly.  She frames her ideas in religious language (“The Lord grant you. . .”) but her advice is not wise when she counsels Orpah and Ruth to seek security in Moab.  The Hebrew word  means “resting place, a place unruled by anxiety”.  Naomi makes a common mistake.  We all are tempted to think that security can be found in circumstances.  In marriage.  In a better job.  Perhaps Naomi is worried by the discrimination these women will likely face in Israel.  Perhaps she is so disappointed by her own faith-journey that she no longer remembers the true truth.  THERE IS NO SECURITY EXCEPT IN GOD.   I am grateful today for the gospel. “We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”  (Romans 5:1)  “Come unto Me,  I will give you rest” says the Lord.  (Matthew 11:28)

Re: Verse reading–Ruth 1:1-19a (day one)
When Jesus said “Blessed are the poor in spirit”, (Matthew 5:3)  He pointed to an essential moment in spiritual life.  The moment when we realize how impoverished we are in spiritual insight and power.  “I once was blind” was John Newton’s description.  How else can we come to the grace of God until we realize our desperate need?  It was happening in Ruth’s heart when she verbalized her famous words to Naomi.  Naomi had been the truest friend she had ever had.  Naomi’s God was a huge factor in Ruth’s hunger to hang on.  Imagine if people said the same to us!  “Do not press me to leave you or turn back from following you.  Where you go, I will go; where you lodge, I will lodge; your people will be my people, and your God my God.” (v 16)  Desperate for God is good.  Leaves us hungry and hanging on, searching for more.

Re: Verse reading–1 Samuel 1:1-20 (day seven)
“This man used to go up year by year . . .to worship. . .the Lord of hosts at Shiloh.”  (v 3)  It is the first time we ever see it in Scripture.  God’s name.  Lord of hosts.  It means “God of ARMIES of angels” and (after this reference) appears in the Bible over 300 times. How did Elkanah and/or Hannah retain such a clear vision of God’s power in a day as spiritually defeated as theirs?  Does life ever get you down?  Do you allow daily disappointments to cloud your confidence that God has enormous power at His disposal?  Even facing barrenness, this couple never lost perspective on God’s character and strength.  “Do you think that I cannot appeal to My Father, and He will at once put at My disposal more than twelve legions of angels?” said Jesus on the night of His arrest. (Matthew 26: 53)  We will not fear.  We worship the Lord of hosts.

Re: Verse reading–1 Samuel 1:1-20 (day six)
“Then the woman went to her quarters, ate and drank with her husband, and her countenance was sad no longer.”  (v 18)  It is a strange power that prayer has.  “A peace that passes understanding” is the way the Bible describes it.  Nothing has changed for Hannah.  Not materially.  She is still barren.  Still trapped in a dysfunctional family.  But her countenance reveals a deep inner transformation.  Her face is no longer sad because her heart is no longer defeated.  People who pray report this positive result.  The problems remain but somehow we are different!  “Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. . .while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things that are not seen; for the things that are seen are temporal, but the things that are unseen are eternal.”  (2 Corinthians 4:16, 18)

Re: Verse reading–1 Samuel 1:1-20 (day five)
“Hannah had no children” (v 2)  “She was deeply distressed and prayed to the Lord.” (v 10)  Her journey is not unlike our own.  Eventually we all discover, as Hannah did, that this world is incapable of meeting our deepest needs, fulfilling our highest hopes.  It is a hostile place.  And empty.  Sometimes we experience this brokenness in marriage.  Sometimes in parenthood or infertility or singleness or career loss,  but eventually everyone discovers the same truth.  And God can use a broken heart.  Only as our hearts break free from our dependence on/addiction to the things of this world do we  discover the power and peace to be found in “unseen things”.  Hannah may have prayed before this night but she never prayed with equal power.  Heart break?  Yes.  Break through?  Yes again.  Hannah’s experience is something that God desires to teach us all.  A broken heart may be the beginning of a new life.

Re: Verse reading–1 Samuel 1:1-20 (day one)
“No, my lord, I am a woman deeply troubled; I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but I have been pouring out my soul before the Lord.”  (v 15)  The Bible often compares spiritual life to being drunk.  “Do not get drunk with wine but be filled with the Spirit.” (Ephesians 5:”But others were saying, ‘They are full of sweet wine’ ” (Acts 2:13–at Pentecost)  Even Hannah is accused.  Perhaps it is because drunkenness and spiritual life both displace or short-circuit the ego.  In one case, we “lose control” to a negative influence. (alchohol).  In the other, we “surrender control and choice” to a higher/better mind.  (Spirit)  In both cases, someone or something else takes over. One thing is clear, so long as my ego is in charge, the Lord cannot be.  Something has to break my heart so that my soul pours out, my defenses leave and the Lord comes in to reign.

RE Verse reading–Genesis 24:34-67  (day seven)  “Then I bowed my head and worshipped the Lord, and blessed the Lord. . .who had led me by the right way”  (v 48)  It is a 3 step process.  Ideally.  We call on God.  He answers.  We worship.  Sadly, the third step is frequently omitted.  Anyone else ever seek God in crisis, receive an answer and then rush right back into life without worshipping?  I am sorry to admit but I often play the part of spoiled child.  Ungrateful.  Taking His kindness for granted.  “Bless the Lord, O my soul. . .forget none of His benefits”  (Psalm 103:2)  “Do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness. . .knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance.”  (Romans 2:4)  God’s gifts are freely given.  We cannot repay Him.  However, every answered prayer waits for a response of praise from a receptive and grateful heart.  May we gather in a few hours and bow and worship this generous God!

Re: Verse reading–Genesis 24:34-67 (day six)
Know anyone wise?  Abraham was.  Walking with God for years will do it for you.  It is the only way.  Sometimes the wisest decisions are things that we don’t do/don’t think.  So, Abraham doesn’t say, “Well, let’s just blur the lines on who Isaac should marry.”  “God will cut us some slack on this issue.”  Friendship with God was never a pass for moral (or marital) compromise for Abraham.  He also didn’t say, “If something is going to get done, I have to do it.”  He believed that God works through many people, not just one.  (Belief  in Christ is belief in the body of Christ)  But he also didn’t believe that old age (was he 140 by this time?) allows a person to be passive or uninvolved with the outworking purposes of God.  He takes initiative.  He leads his family forward.  Let’s see. . .no moral compromise, the ability to delegate, no retirement. . .How wise!

Re: Verse Reading–Genesis 24:34-67  (day one)
“The Lord, before whom I walk will send His angel with you and make your way successful.  You shall get a wife for my son. . . from my father’s house.”  (v 40)  By this point in the story, Abraham has walked with God for many years.  He was, in fact, still walking with God, still trusting for each step.  Confident that a new nation was God’s promise, Abraham knew that it was necessary to find Isaac a wife.  He also knew that God would not leave this important step to chance or choice or human wisdom.  He was absolutely certain of God’s help.  Scripture speaks of God’s call (and provision) for some to be single.  It also says that “He made a woman. . .and brought her to him”  (Genesis 2:22)  People who walk with God can be sure that He will “send His angel” with us as well.  When God is involved, we call it “holy” matrimony.