Ruth and Mary's Example

This is another excerpt from my upcoming book.

Ruth and Mary’s Example

The vital necessity we have to seek and inquire of the Lord cannot be stressed enough. In order for us to know the steps we are to take, or to be shown what lies ahead that we may need to prepare for or pray to avert and avoid, we need to have fellowship with the Lord. Two female Bible personalities model for us our necessity to seek and inquire of the Lord: Ruth of Moab and Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus. Out of obedience to her mother-in-law Naomi, Ruth went to lay down at the feet of Boaz to inquire and hear what he would say to her. Boaz in this passage represents Jesus, our Lord and Redeemer. Ruth represents us the believers that are in need of every word spoken by the One who has the power to redeem us from every bondage and from every calamity.

Ruth 3:3-11 says, ^“3Wash and anoint yourself therefore, and put on your best clothes and go down to the threshing floor, but do not make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating and drinking.   ⁴But when he lies down, notice the place where he lies; then go and uncover his feet and lie down. And he will tell you what to do.  ⁵And Ruth said to her, All that you say to me I will do. ⁶So she went down to the threshing floor and did just as her mother-in-law had told her.  ⁷And when Boaz had eaten and drunk and his heart was merry, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of grain. Then [Ruth] came softly and uncovered his feet and lay down.  ⁸At midnight the man was startled, and he turned over, and behold, a woman lay at his feet!  ⁹And he said, Who are you? And she answered, I am Ruth your maidservant. Spread your wing [of protection] over your maidservant, for you are a next of kin. ¹⁰And he said, Blessed be you of the Lord, my daughter. For you have made this last loving-kindness greater than the former, for you have not gone after young men, whether poor or rich.  ¹¹And now, my daughter, fear not. I will do for you all you require, for all my people in the city know that you are a woman of strength (worth, bravery, capability) AMP.

Mary also demonstrates for us in Luke 10:38-42, “³⁸Now while they were on their way, it occurred that Jesus entered a certain village, and a woman named Martha received and welcomed Him into her house.   ³⁹And she had a sister named Mary, who seated herself at the Lord's feet and was listening to His teaching. ⁴⁰But Martha [overly occupied and too busy] was distracted with much serving; and she came up to Him and said, Lord, is it nothing to You that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me [to lend a hand and do her part along with me]!  ⁴¹But the Lord replied to her by saying, Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things; ⁴²There is need of only one or but a few things. Mary has chosen the good portion [that which is to her advantage], which shall not be taken away from her AMP.

While Martha was doing things in the same way the world does them, toiling and doing them without enough counsel from the Lord, these two passages show what really matters to God: Ruth uncovered Boaz’s feet and Mary sat at the Lord’s feet. Our feet are intended for us to walk, so what the Lord is saying through these passages is that as we uncover His feet and sit by them through communion with Him, we will learn to walk in the footsteps He walked while He was in the earth realm. Because He was a true citizen of heaven who walked on the earth and fulfilled the commands of the Father by staying in constant communion with Him, He can teach us and enable us to walk in the same way He did through the revelations we receive about the Kingdom of heaven and about Him—the High Priest and King Jesus, the Lord of Lords. Signs and wonders will also follow us, and we will do greater exploits than Jesus did because we believe in Him. This way we will also have the ability to reverently fear the Lord and obey His commands, statues and precepts given to us.

Hebrews 2:14-18 says that ¹⁴Because God’s children are human beings—made of flesh and blood—Jesus also became flesh and blood by being born in human form. For only as a human being could he die, and only by dying could he break the power of the Devil, who had the power of death. ¹⁵Only in this way could he deliver those who have lived all their lives as slaves to the fear of dying.¹⁶We all know that Jesus came to help the descendants of Abraham, not to help the angels. ¹⁷Therefore it was necessary for Jesus to be in every respect like us, his brothers and sisters, so that he could be our merciful and faithful High Priest before God. He then could offer a sacrifice that would take away the sins of the people. ¹⁸Since he himself has gone through suffering and temptation, he is able to help us when we are being tempted NLT.

The Lord’s number one desire for us is to seek first His kingdom and all His righteousness, so that we can come out carrying out the information given to us and grow in our ability to walk as citizens of heaven on earth.  Proverbs 25:2 says that “It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, But the glory of kings is to search it out. ”Deuteronomy 29:29 adds that  ²⁹The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law. Our effective walk as citizens of heaven comes from our intimacy with God, and the secrets revealed cannot only help us walk the path that brings us to the fulfillment of our destinies, but the next generations can also walk in the mantles we receive from our communion with the Lord. 

To Him alone be all the glory. ■

Our Unique Perfume

John 12:3

Then Mary took a twelve-ounce jar of expensive perfume made from essence of nard, and she anointed Jesus’ feet with it, wiping his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance.

God has given each and every one of us a scent tailored to who we are and what He has planned and purposed for our lives. He is a farmer and we are the flowers in His garden. Our callings are unique and specific to the process He takes us to on the way to our destinies. For this reason, He allows the circumstances we go through to serve as crushing agents that bring out the aroma of worship necessary to change not only our circumstances, but us too into the vessels that can pour out the perfume that shifts the atmosphere around us with the anointing we have developed to set others free. This way those that benefit from our fragrance (anointing) can have a pathway available for them to also seek God to take them to the place where their aroma will transform them, their circumstances, and those around them.

The process to make perfume out of flowers starts in the morning when the dew is dry and there is a higher concentration of oil in them. This exemplifies how God uses His process with us: Worship and prayer help us come higher in the knowledge of Him when we put Him first in our lives which helps prepare us to receive revelations designed to assist us in carrying out every step of our process and our destinies. Next, the flowers need to be washed to remove all dirt and impurities and ensure that there will be no contamination when the process is done. In the same way, we need to be washed with the water of the Word to remove all impurities making sure that we are fully yielded and surrendered to God’s will for us at every step in order to remove contamination. Reading the word, prayer, fasting, worship and adoration, along with obeying every command given by the Lord will help us become pure, and will remove every spot and wrinkle that will support our firm and mature stand when we reach our destinies.

The next part of the process is to cut the flowers into tinny parts. This releases the oils and the aroma will become more apparent. Likewise, we develop the anointing necessary to be effective instruments that God can use when we reach our promised land as we yield to His will for us, His way, and His timing and choose to die to our flesh and obey every command no matter how hard or unusual it may seem. Our understanding of the reason why we are to obey is not as important as the obedience itself. Just like perfume is intended to help a person or a place smell good, the process we go through is never planned by God for our own benefit alone, it is always for others to enjoy the benefits through our influence on them and the environment in the place we are called to fulfill our assignment.

Next in the process, the flowers are put in distilled water under fire. The process here seems more intense and in the same way God allows circumstances devised to burn everything that is impure in us so that we can be entrusted with more. The water is not just any water. It is living water that is unpolluted and is able to cleanse our hearts from following the ways of the world and its system, so that Christ can be seen more in us as we develop the fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). Our love for Him and for our brethren can also grow, and the shame of the way we were in our sin is removed when we are steadfast in developing these fruits with the help of the Holy Spirit. That is the reason why Revelation 3:18 says, “So I advise you to buy gold from me—gold that has been purified by fire. Then you will be rich. Also buy white garments from me so you will not be shamed by your nakedness and ointment for your eyes so you will be able to see. NLT”

The process for us to develop our anointing and for the flowers to be turned into perfume takes time and patience. It also takes constant inspection meant to ensure everything is working right, and our God does that for us with Love and endurance, mercy and grace—the same things He develops in us and calls us all to extend to those around us. We all take time in our maturing, and with steadfast love and endurance we can help each other smell the sweet aroma that changes hearts to want to desire more of Jesus in their lives. To Him alone be all the glory∎.

ehow.com "How make perfume from flowers" Images by Google images.

Forgiveness Brings Power

Luke 23:34

And Jesus prayed, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do…AMP

There is an inherent power that God wants to draw out of us when we refuse to succumb to offense that leads to unforgiveness, bitterness, and resentment towards someone that knowing or unknowingly made us angry or caused us pain, perhaps through rejection, by taking something from us, gossip or slander about us, betrayal, or someone who hurt a loved one, etc. There are a number of things we can think about that people have done to get us angry and wanting revenge. But the Bible says that it is best to desire mercy than judgment. James 2:13 says, “For to him who has shown no mercy the judgment [will be] merciless, but mercy [full of glad confidence] exults victoriously over judgment AMP.”

Colossians 2:13-15 also states, “¹³ And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, 14 having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. ¹⁵ Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it. NKJV”.

This happens because God uses the circumstances we go through to dismantle the enemy and his tactics to create chaos and strife in our lives that could derail us from God’s purposed destiny, and makes ridicule out of them when we choose to let go of the offense, and forgive the offender. Sometimes it takes prayer for us to be able to forgive and give the person(s) into God’s hand for Him to intervene in the situation whether it is to bring reconciliation or to remove the offender(s) that refuse(s) to repent from oppressing God’s people after many warnings to repent or face judgment. God also uses these situations we encounter that require for us to forgive and pray for an offender to bring them to repentance as we bless them and ask God to forgive them and bless them as well. The expected outcome here is the offender’s surrendering to God’s love for them through His Son, so he or she can receive Him as their Lord and Savior or be reconciled to Him. If it is someone in the family of God, we pray that they come out of darkness and back into the arms of Jesus to be healed, set free and able to walk in unity with their brethren.

I remember about five years ago I was in a meeting with other members of a Ministry I used to be a part of where we used to pray and seek God on behalf of Christians, mainly business people, that sometimes were brought to a crossroad or felt stuck somewhere and did not know how to come out of that stance and be enabled to continue walking God’s path and process for them. This particular time, two ladies came without having made an appointment and because they saw us and recognized some of us, decided to approach us and ask for prayer. They seemed desperate and one of the ladies asked for prayer because a man had stolen her identity and sold her information causing a lot of problems for her and she at that time was faced with having to go to court to try to prove her innocence from the charges against her due to the mistaken identity.

When we in the group started seeking God for a word in the situation on behalf of the lady, I heard the Lord say that she needed to forgive the man and not only that, He wanted her to intercede for him because He wanted to use the situation to draw the offender to His Son to be saved. When I related this to the lady she was not happy to hear that. She would have preferred to have heard that God was going to punish that person severely and bring great victories for her in court. I’m not sure the lady obeyed God's command for her because she left us in a disappointing state of surprise because of what she heard the Lord tell us to convey to her.

But Romans 8:28-30 explains the reason why God chooses to work in our lives this way, “²⁸And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. ²⁹ For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. ³⁰ And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified NIV.”

I have heard a plethora of testimonies in which God commanded the offended or hurt to pray or do an act that proved he or she had forgiven the offender. Sometimes things were as serious and devastating as a person who killed a person’s loved one and how the grieving family had to express forgiveness to the killer. Other times it was a rapist or someone who was caught stealing other people's wealth and assets. These actions opened the opportunity for the Lord to visit those who were guilty and bring them to a place where they recognized they needed a Savior to give them a new live in Him.

Moreover, of the examples mentioned, many of these people that hurt others are today being used mightily to advance God’s Kingdom with their lives and bring many who like them, have caused pain and discomfort to others one way or another to be joined to the family of God, thus being used like the Samaritan woman in John 4 that brought many to not only hear her testimony, but to know the Lord for themselves. God works His mysterious ways and we are the vessels He wants to use to reconcile others to Him and to be made in the image of His dearly beloved Son. Also, this way we are fulfilling the commandment given by Jesus to love the Lord with all our hearts, souls, and minds, and strength, and to love our neighbors as we love ourselves (Mark 12:30-31). To Him alone be all the gory.

Images by Google Images.