In the first book of Samuel (the book after Ruth) there is a woman, Hannah, who has not been able to have a child and she is heartbroken.  In Sam.1:8, her husband Elkanah says to her, "…aren't I better to you than ten sons?"  Those of you who have suffered barrenness know that you can't compare a husband with a child.  They are not a trade off.  You have a husband.  You want a child.  You want both.

Hannah accompanied her husband every year to Shiloh to petition God for a child, and made an "If-then' statement in her prayer to God.   I taught math at a small college for years and the premises of proofs is the "if--then" statement.   If something occurs, then there is a specific result.

This is interesting to me because I would never be able to bargain with God and say, "If you do this, then I will do that."  But Hannah did.  She told God that if he would send her a son, then she would dedicate him to the service of God.

Well, God gave Hannah what she asked for, and when the boy was of a certain age, she took him to the temple and turned him over to Eli to train in the service of God.  She kept her bargain.

The story throws new light on the verse in  Matthew 7: 9,  "…what man is there of you, who if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone?"   However, the difference in the New Testament is that it is God who is initiating the bargain.   He assures us that if we give our lives to him, then he  will be our Father.  That he will take care of us.  Jesus said in John 14:13, "…whatever you shall ask in my name, that will I do, that The Father may be glorified in the Son."  We just need to be sure that what we ask for will indeed glorify God.

Faith in God is the key to the relationship between you and the Father.

In Ephesians 6: 11, 15-17 Paul speaks about the armor of God, emphasizing the practical use of each piece of the equipment.  Paul is writing this passage telling the people to be ready for warfare against evil in the world, the powers of darkness, and spiritual wickedness in high places.
He speaks of the: Belt, Breastplate, Shoes, Shield, Helmet, and Sword.  Then he gives the spiritual equivalent for each piece of armor.

1. Belt of truth,  2. Breastplate of righteousness,  3. Shoes as the preparation of the gospel of peace,  4. Shield of faith,  5. Helmet of salvation  6. Sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.  Paul was trying to give the people something they already knew about--Roman soldiers--as a comparison of how we should equip ourselves to face an evil world that would destroy our faith and cripple our witness.

I have a note in my Bible that I wrote years ago, probably from a sermon I heard, that God always fights with those six holy weapons (not destructive weapons) when dealing with Satan.  In our lives, God uses truth, righteousness, preparation, faith, salvation and His word to combat sin.

It is also interesting to note that of the six pieces of equipment, the first five are defensive.  Only the sixth piece of equipment, God's Word, is offensive. We have no offense against the false teachings around us in this misdirected world except the Word of God.

"Study to show yourself approved unto God, a workman that doesn't need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of Truth."  ( II Timothy 2:15)  You can't fight a war effectively if you aren't prepared ahead of time.

school

When I was six years old, my mother enrolled me in elocution classes.  Believe it or not, I was shy, I was new to town, I didn't know anyone and no one knew me. But my elocution teacher taught me to speak, to stand up straight, memorize poems, and look people in the eye when I spoke.

At Christmas that first grade year, the old-maid principle (who wore high-top leather work boots) came stomping down the wood floors of the hall, passed all the classrooms and stopped at my room.

There were sixty-three children (that's the truth) in the room, and all of us were terrified of her. We had heard she had a paddle with holes in it.  We all believed she did.  Each one of us was sure that we were the one in trouble.  "Janie, come here," she said.  I will never forget that moment.  I was so scared.

She marched me down the hall to the sixth grade rooms, picked me up and stood me on the teacher's desk.  "Sing," she said.  "Quote a poem about Christmas."  I sang.  I quoted.  "Santa Clause is coming to town."  I still remember every word,  every gesture as I went through the motions my elocution teacher had taught me.  Pointing at myself when I said, " I  just got back from a lovely trip," pointing at the class when I said, "You better watch out."  Hands on my hips, tilting my head from side to side.

She moved me from room to room--eighteen classrooms--and finally worked her way back to first grade and to my classroom.  After I sang for my class, she picked me up off of the teacher's desk, set me down on the floor and said, "That was good."  I had gone from being terrified to being very warm inside. I had done something good!!  I was never afraid of speaking again.  I had been validated by the most fearful woman in the world.  Now,  sixty-nine years later, I still feel good when I think about it.

In Mark 10:14, Christ said, "Suffer the little children to come unto me…" and  in verse 16 Christ blessed them.  We need to do likewise.  Sometimes your blessing on a child lasts an entire lifetime.

break

I'm taking a fourth of July weekend break.  Back on Monday.

Naomi and Ruth

Last week I wrote about Ruth's love for her mother-in-law Naomi.  The love was mutual.  Both of their husbands had died leaving them destitute and alone in the land of Moab.  The two women struck out to make a very long journey and to return to Naomi's home country of Israel, to the city of Bethlehem.  They arrived at the beginning of the harvest season.  But with all of the male heirs dead, there was no one to lay claim to the land that had been allotted to Naomi's husband.

They had nothing.  Just what they had on and what they could carry.  It had been ten years since Naomi, her husband and two sons had gone to Moab to escape the famine in Israel.  Her sons and husband had died.  All Naomi and Ruth had was each other.

Naomi had to find a kinsman to help them, because all wealth and property and power was in the hands of men.  According to Jewish law, the kinsman would have to redeem them by buying back all of the land and producing a heir in Naomi's husband and son's name.  There were two men who qualified.

One of the men, Boaz, sees Ruth and...Shazam!!  That is where the love story begins.  You should go read the book of Ruth.  I't's very short.  Three and a half pages.  It is one of my favorite books.


In Ruth 4:4b Boaz says to the other man, " If you will redeem it, redeem it; but if you will not redeem it, tell me, that I may know: for there is none to redeem it beside you; and I am after you.  And he (the other man) said, I will redeem it."

Then Boaz tells him in verse 5, "What day you buy the field of the hand of Naomi, you must buy it also of Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of the dead, to raise up the name of the dead on his inheritance."

"I can't," the man said.  "You buy it."   So Boaz said to all the elders and all the people standing around, "You are my witnesses…I have purchased Ruth to be my wife."

And their first born Obed was the father of Jesse who was the father of David.  The king.  Amazing how things that look so bad can turn out so good when God is involved.

My friend has 3 sons

My friend Carolyn has three sons. Steve, Mike and Paul.  Every time something breaks, one of them knows how to fix it.  All it takes  is a phone call.  Her friend Judy has rheumatoid arthritis.  She keeps a list of things that need to be done and when her sons Jeff and Chris come to see her they start right in doing the things on the list.

My son Scott occasionally calls and asks "What do you need done?"  He changes light bulbs.  He hooks up my hoses.  He goes to get me plants and puts them in the ground for me.  The other day he showed up with a spray bottle of bug killer and went to work on the squash bugs.

My daughter Becky cooks for us.  Packages it in portions for two and freezes it so that I won't have to cook.  Saturday she made us a peach pie to die for.

My oldest daughter Pat is always willing to spend as much time as it takes on the phone to relieve my frustration when I can't figure out what to do with this computer I bought.  "Go here.  Look on the right side of the page.  Press the orange button."  Sometimes it takes her hours to help me.  She didn't inherit patience from me.  The whole computer thing drives me nuts.

When I had chemo, my youngest son Jon took a week of his vacation time, came and cooked for us, carried me when I couldn't walk.  Shopped for groceries.

These are the four children that I could have wrung their necks when they were growing up.  Who knew they would turn out okay.

Service is my love language.  Psalms 127:3a, 5a, "Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord:….Happy is the man (woman) that has his quiver full of them."

I don't brag on my kids and don't like people who do, but talking about service prompts me to make an exception.  I doubt they know how much we appreciate them.

Love Language

Remember back when we all took those "Love Language" tests.  Supposedly, it would identify how you like to have love expressed.  My language definitely is not receiving gifts, although I like to get them if it is something that I need.  Like homegrown tomatoes.  And it isn't candy, flowers, soft music, or romance.  I do want to hear "I love you" occasionally from those who genuinely love me.  But I don't need constant attention.  Don't send me roses, I would rather that you clean the sink.  Do something for me that needs to be done.  My first love language is service.  Wash the car.

My second love language is "Appreciation."  I am a glutton for appreciation.  I love to hear "Thank you" and to know that I have done something that someone needed.  Or wanted.  I guess that does overlap praise, but I really don't need anyone to "Build me up".  I do like it when someone tells me that I have done something that has special meaning to them.

The reason I say all that is to remind us that we need to learn and  remember the way that other people receive love.   Learning how do that takes time.  We are all so different.  If I really want to give Ken a love gift, I will leave him alone for an hour or two (or two or three) and just let him "Be".  He's quiet.  I'm noisy.

Remember that when God tells you to love your neighbor as yourself, that your first neighbor is your spouse.  Then your family.  That doesn't mean that you are to love them in the way that you receive love, but in the way that they receive love.

God seems to know how to express love better than we do.  He gave us a perfect gift.  Eternal life. That ought to work in any love language.