As a young adult you may have trouble seeing eye to eye with your parents or other adults, especially in the church. You may feel they are being too strict and not understanding of your generational trends. Each person that is guiding you towards God is not concerned about your generational trends, but they are concerned about how these trends affect your personal relationship with God. There are things that can pull you away from God and just like Naomi says to Ruth, you parents just want to seek security for you. That means they want to guide you to Jesus because the more Jesus you have the better you’ll be. Everything a parent does is their way of trying to seek security for you; whether it’s in God, academics, financially, or morally. They just want to make sure you’re ok in the future. But you have to obey just as Ruth did. Remember parents have valuable life experience and just because technology, some laws, and some morals have changed doesn’t mean people are less deceitful, cruel, a violent. In fact the world is more of those things. Let your parents teach you and show you and tell you how to be safe so that when you are on your own, it ‘will be well with you’.
Preparing to be Made Into a Minister (Part A) Ruth 3:2-3
Naomi instructs Ruth in how to prepare herself to meet Boaz. She knows that Ruth cannot present herself in just any old way. She must be clean, smell good, and look her best before she can go to the threshing floor. It’s harvest time in this story and the threshing floor is where people winnow the barley and grain. Winnowing is the process of loosening or separating the edible parts of the grain. It also is the time when the pests are removed from the food. This story reflects how we are made ministers for God. In Colossians 1:22, it says that we are made ministers. This means we must go through a process in order to become a minister. The process lies in Ruth’s obedience. This is something we have to want to do or at least be obedient as Ruth did. We must wash ourselves. This is an act of physically scrubbing our flesh free from dirt. It involves cleaning the outside of our entire body. These are the things on the surface of our lives. We need to scrub ourselves free of dirty music, movies, language, friends, and thoughts. Then we must anoint ourselves. Anointing is usually done with a aromatic oil and it represents God’s approval and sanctification. We need to begin applying the things of God to our life, the things that sanctify us and give us God’s approval. This involves reading, praying, loving at all times, fellowshipping with godly people, ministering, and spreading God’s word.
Preparing to be Made Into a Minister (Part B) Ruth 3:2-3
Yesterday we looked at this passage and determined that we must wash and anoint ourselves in preparation for ministering. After these things we can put on our best garment because we are free from things that weigh us down. We can look our best because we feel our best. We don’t have to impress anyone but Jesus, so no glitz and glam items that make everyone gawk at you in an ungodly way, but put on holy things that make them gawk at you in a holy way. This is your countenance or mood and emotions. Don’t let the small things make you upset, don’t let problems trip you up, and don’t let go of God’s hand in bad times. Keep your best garment on, being content in all things. All of these things we have the God given strength to do on our own, next we must take action and go down to the place where God can remove the pests that we can’t remove and loosen the edible parts of us that will feed others that are going through what we went through. At the threshing floor is where God will release some things that are holding you down and loosen some things that will build you up. Just as a Pastor “feeds his sheep”, you must also (with the way you live your life) “feed” others. It’s as easy as giving Godly advice, being a true friend, or helping others see the positive in a negative situation..
Ministry (Part A) Ruth 3:4-8
Naomi gives Ruth instructions on securing a relationship with Boaz. We can use these same principles to secure our ministry in God. We must first examine ourselves and notice where the Lord rests on us. Is it in the youth department, do you like to help out and serve, are you a friendly greeter? Wherever you heart feels the most pull, notice it; that may be God. Next you must make a move. Go in, Naomi says. Take action. Don’t just think about it. Plan it and then execute it. Next, we should uncover the feet of the ministry. We need to reveal God’s feet in our ministries. God’s feet will guide the ministry by walking us in the direction of God’s will. The feet represent the furthest pare of the body from the head or the deepest part of our ministry. Uncover the root of the ministry and that will become the mission statement. Lastly, lie down and listen. The majority of the time ministers must wait on God for direction. They should be lying down at the feet of God in prayer and worship and listening to hear God’s voice for direction.
Ministry (Part B) Ruth 3:4-8
There is another way we can look at these scriptures. When we minister to others, particularly people we don’t know, we must rely on the Holy Spirit to guide us to say comforting, convicting, or encourage words. We must notice where the subject the Holy Spirit rests on. Sometimes we are talking to someone and the topic will cause emotions to stir; either in you or the person you’re ministering to. Be sensitive and notice that the Holy Spirit is speaking; meaning that topic is something God wants you to deal with. Next, go in, or take action on the voice of the Lord. Stay on the subject and work through it with them. You may not be able to deal right then and there, but pray on it. Let them know you care and are there to help. Sometimes things are buried so deep that it takes a while to get to it, but keep going in until you uncover the feet or the root of the problem. People tend to ignore stressful events and that causes hurts, traumas, and pain to be buried deep inside. Keep ministering until the issue is uncovered. Once the hurt and pain is uncovered, lie down and listen. Stop moving. This is the time when you stop speaking and you allow them to release the pain and pressure that was built up inside of them. Also listen for the Holy Spirit’s voice in guidance on how to help heal and restore the person into a better life, way of thinking, and way of dealing with future issues.
God rescued you.It can be about anything from a test that overwhelmed you or about when you had a bad fight with a friend or something more serious.This book can help you witness to others.Also you can keep this book for a long time and use it to remind yourself about what God has done for you when things don’t seem to go well.It will encourage you and reassure you that God is truly “able to do exceedingly, abundantly above all we could ask or think" (Ephesians 3:20).Show God you’re grateful and throw a party while you make a celebration memory book.Don’t forget to show a friend
