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A Little Redeemer, a Lot of Redemption

Read it! Ruth 4:13-17

“He will renew your life and sustain you in your old age.

For your daughter-in-law, who loves you and who is better to you than seven sons, has given him birth.”

(vs 15)

Think it through

Do you ever get the feeling that the book of Ruth is really more about Naomi?

I’d expect a book called “Ruth” to end with Ruth herself, happy with her husband and cradling her son in her arms. But instead we’re left with the image of Naomi holding and caring for the child, and her friends saying, “Naomi has a son!”

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Are You a Fool for Jesus?

Read it!: 2 Samuel 6

I will become even more undignified than this,

and I will be humiliated in my own eyes.

But by these slave girls you spoke of, I will be held in honor.

(vs 22)

Think it through:

When I was a child, my Dad and a family friend named Ray performed at various church services as the “special music.”   In fact, they still do on occasion!  The two of them would sing and play guitar, and one their regular songs was “I’ll Be a Fool for You, Jesus.”  (You can check out the lyrics here if you’d like.)  The older I get, the more I understand what they were singing about.

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Nicholas and the Christ Child

I wrote this story for parents like me who want to share the fun of Santa while making Christmas completely about Jesus.  As I’ve said to my own children time and again,

“I don’t know much about Santa; all I know is that he loves Jesus so much that he wants to give presents to kids on His birthday.”

 

(Please note that this isn’t meant to be historically accurate; it’s just a story.

But there’s plenty of truth in it for me.)

 

In the weeks following Christ’s birth, the news about the baby King began to spread. The shepherds told everyone they knew, and so others began to visit the newborn babe. They added their own stories to the story of the shepherds, telling all of their neighbors, friends, and acquaintances.

Soon the Good News had spread far and wide and even up into the North Country, where it met the ears of a kind man named Nicholas. Nicholas went home to his wife and told her of the baby who had his own star.

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Are You Eager for God? Are You, Are You?

Read it! Acts 17

Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians,

for they received the message with great eagerness

and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.

(vs 11)

 

Think it through

In Acts 17, Paul visits three different cities with three very different reactions to his message:

The Thessalonians were split. Some Jews “were persuaded” along with many Gentiles. The remaining Jews felt threatened and reacted violently. Not a great start to Chapter 17.

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Breaking the Rules, Jesus-Style

Read it!: I Samuel 21

…The men’s things are holy even on missions that are not holy.

How much more so today!

(vs 5)

 

Think it through:

David made several questionable decisions in I Samuel 21. At the start, he lies to a temple priest about being on a mission for Saul. In the next chapter Saul kills the priest (and many others), an act that might not have happened if David had told the truth.

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