Mon.'s Devo - Don't Be Afraid

Read: Ruth 2:1-4:22; John 4:43-54; Psalm 105:16-36; Proverbs 14:26-27
God orchestrated it so that Ruth would meet Boaz in his own field. Boaz made sure she was welcomed, cared for and protected. He also made sure she went home with plenty of grain because he had heard of how kindly she had treated Naomi. Ruth had chosen to leave her homeland to come take care of Naomi.
Boaz’s mother was Rahab in the story of the spies at Jericho. She had also chosen to leave her home town to live as a Jew in a foreign culture. Boaz had compassion for Ruth because I’m sure he had listened to his own mother’s story and realized how hard this was for Ruth.
Naomi played the matchmaker and it worked. Ruth made it obvious that she had chosen Boaz and Boaz was delighted. He had done his homework and knew who was the closest relative. It was a matter of getting him to relinquish his rights to her and her property. The relative didn’t want to raise up a child for someone else so he sold Ruth and her land to Boaz. Now Boaz was free to marry Ruth. They did and even though she had been barren with her first husband, she was fruitful with Boaz and had a son right away. The people blessed Ruth with the blessing of the house of Pharez who Tamar had born to Judah to carry on his son’s lineage. Pharez was the oldest twin who pushed his brother aside in the womb to be born first. Little did they know that in five generations King David would come from their line and later Jesus!
In John, Jesus went back to Galilee to the same place he had turned the water into wine. Galilee was known as the heathen circle. Jesus wasn’t welcome among his own people so he flip-flopped from the Jews (Judea) to the Gentiles (Galilee). Today, he did another miracle to speak truth to the Gentiles. He healed a man’s son who was close to death. He didn’t even go and touch him but healed him by his word. The man believed Jesus word and received his son’s life back. His whole family became a family of faith in Jesus. The Gentiles had more faith than the Jews making it easier for Jesus to move among them.
Lord, help us to be bold in our testimony because the world is hungry for what we have. Thank you for the power of the Holy Spirit that we can walk in. May we prosper your kingdom today.