5 HABITS BIBLE STUDY WEEK # 4

WHAT TO READ THIS WEEK: RUTH 2:15-23

QUIT QUITTING VERSES:

      DAY 1 JAMES 4:8

      DAY 2 ISAIAH 43:19

      DAY 3 PSALM 103:12

      DAY 4 EPHESIANS 5:15

      DAY 5 JAMES 4:14

What does this mean?

To live a life of surrender and humility. Learning to stay open to the movement of God is hard. It requires a deeper sense of trust and belief in Him thank we may naturally have. Learning to stay open to His movement is one of the hardest lessons we will have to learn. But when we do, we will be close to Him and able to fulfill the assignments He has given us.

Learning to stay open to the movement of God is sometimes a very humbling place. We don’t always get it just right. Sometimes we may even feel foolish. However, remember Habit 2#? We have to follow through despite how we feel. When we make a mistake we may think it’s over or it’s ruined. But that is not true in God’s world

So what makes us put God’s movement on hold?

What are your excuses? Have you ever used the excuse “ I didn’t know”? or “There is not enough time”? I think time is the #1 reason why we quit. We have so many activities that steal our time like : social media, the computer, children’s activities, work, etc. What’s stealing your time?

We may come up with excuses when we don’t see what God is going in and through our situation. Sometimes we have to ask others what they see.

Let's get in the Word:

Remember when we left Naomi, she was bitter. She was a woman that was angry and shaking her fist at God. But then, something changed. Her heart changed drastically. Sometimes when our hearts take a sudden shift, we can be left feeling remorseful or bad about how we reacted toward God.

But one of the most powerful things about God is the grace He offers us through forgiveness.

Here we see Naomi’s bitterness is slowly leaving her and she is able to trust God again. This is what happens when we stay open to God’s movement in our lives.

After a long day out in the wheat field, Ruth comes home filled with excitement. Naomi was curious and wanted to know the details of her day. After hearing the details, Naomi heart changes. She speaks blessing from the Lord upon Boaz.

No longer is Naomi a bitter quitter. No longer is she shaking her fist at God. She has opened her fist to receive.

If your fist are closed toward the presence of God, you will often miss: the opportunity for God to bless you, the chance for God to use you, and the ability of God to expand your faith and trust in Him.

Naomi had felt bitter, but her faith in God was still alive and she praised God for Boaz’s kindness to Ruth. In her sorrow, she still trusted God and acknowledged His goodness.

We may feel bitter about a situation, but we must never despair. Today is always a new opportunity for experiencing God’s care.

God doesn’t meet us at perfection. He meets us where we are in our process towards receiving His promise.

Q.U.I.T strategy.

Q – QUESTIONS WE NEED TO ASK AND ANSWER

     Why is it important in your own life to constantly remind yourself of what God has done for you? Which of the habits so far are you finding you need the most? How is God asking you to stay open to His movement right now?

U – UNDERSTANDING THE WORD

     How does the change in Naomi inspire you to keep trying and waiting on God’s movement in your life?

I – INTO THE PROMISE

     Which of the Quit Quitting verses challenged you the most this week? Why?

T – TURN SOMETHING AROUND

     This week we looked at excuses that could keep us from experiencing the fulfillment of following all the way through. Write down what a typical day looks like for you. Fine a space in your day when you can set aside five minutes to rule out any excuses that could keep you from following through.

5 HABITS BIBLE STUDY WEEK 3

Who has never got up and thought “ I don’t want to go to work today?”

Right! I knew it wasn’t just me. Life is, unfortunately, not 100% filled with moments of doing thing we love.

I remember a time when a dear classmate/childhood friend had Leukemia. Every Saturday, I drove to Emory in Atlanta to be with her most of the day. One Saturday I took my mother. After we had our visit and we got in the elevator to go, mother started to cry and asked how I could do that every week. By the Grace of God is my only answer cause when someone goes through a bone marrow transplant, the next few months is hard on one’s appearance and body. I didn’t have to do it, I would have rather not have gone through that with her, but I have cherish memories of that time.

And now, I am doing the same with my mother. Which brings us to our second habit:

THIS WEEK’S READING: RUTH 2:4-13

As you can see in our assigned reading we are going to reread some verse from last week and talk about the need to put our feelings aside.

QUIT QUITTING VERSES:

      PSALM 3:3

      ZECHARIAH 4:10

      1 PETER 5:6

      PROVERBS 25:8

      MATTHEW 11:28

Remember that when Naomi arrived back to Bethlehem, she was bitter. She had lost hope. When we don’t feel hope, we have to find hope.

Ruth did just that. Ruth made her home in a foreign land. Instead of depending on her mother-in-law, Naomi, she took the initiative to look for some work to help provide for them both. She wasn’t afraid admitting her need or working hard to supply it. When Ruth went out to the fields, God provided for her.

If you are waiting for God to provide, consider this; He may be waiting for you to take the first step to demonstrate just how important your need it.

As I mentioned last week, gleaning was generally for the poor; widows, orphans and foreigners. READ Leviticus 19:9-10.  The widows and poor would come behind the gatherers and pick up any leftover grains left on the edges of the fields.

This job was menial and tiring and even perhaps degrading, but Ruth did it faithfully. She put her feelings aside to do the task that was needed.

What is your attitude when the take you have been given is not up to your true potential? The task at hand may be all you can do, it may be the work God wants you to do or it may be a test of your character that can open up new doors of opportunity. And may I add, opportunities that we could NEVER imagine.

People say they don’t want anyone’s “left-overs”, but there are times when we just have to get behind people to pick up their leftovers.

Leftovers can be of many different things. Maybe someone is dropping some Joy by you today. Maybe some faith, some strength, some love, some peace, some hope. PICK IT UP!!! TAKE IT!!! RECEIVE IT!!! There are people everywhere dropping leftovers all around us. We just have to choose the right leftovers and “glean it”. STAY AWAY from those negative leftovers.

Now Ruth did this work the best she could. She caught the eye of Boaz. Maybe it was first by her looks, but then he noticed her working ethics. Then when he summons her, Ruth humbled herself to him.

 Favor follows those who follow through despite how they feel. Honor follows those who allow humility to shape them, and for those who do not give up, they will see the faithfulness of God.

Don’t let feelings dictate your days. Chose to follow through despite how you feel. The limitations of your assignments are within the strength of God. Hang on to that hope, the confidence that faith will give you the strength to push through every hard and trying circumstances

Q.U.I.T strategy.

Q – QUESTIONS WE NEED TO ASK AND ANSWER

When have your feelings convinced you to quit? What burden(s) do you feel like you truly cannot give to God?

U – UNDERSTANDING THE WORD

Write a summary of Ruth’s story so far. What part of her story have you enjoyed the most.

I – INTO THE PROMISE

. Which of the Quit Quitting Verse spoke to you the most this week and why?

T – TURN SOMETHING AROUND

Do you tend to pay attention more to the commands of your brain or the feelings of your heart? Finding a balance for both is important. Write down one practical step you can take in order to keep both in check.

5 HABITS BIBLE STUDY WEEK 2

Well, I don’t know about ya’ll, but last week’s Iesson gave me a new insight to this story. Different things I really never did notice.

We saw that Ruth “endured”, Orpah “escaped” and Ruth “enlisted” . This enlistment is our first habit.

So what is refinement? According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary it is “the act or process of removing unwanted substances from something : the act or process of making something pure”

I don’t know about you but I have a lot of “unwanted “ substances that need to be removed.

THIS WEEK’S READING: RUTH 1:19-2:12

Last week we left Naomi feeling bitter and wanting her daughters-in-law to go back to their home and not return with her to Bethlehem. Oprah finally decided to return but Ruth pledged her devotion to Naomi. This was Ruth’s accepting the assignment of refinement. She is not sure what to expect but she accepts it and trust this new God.

 So these women are traveling together back to Bethlehem where now there is no famine.  Not only did Ruth commit herself to Ruth but she has committed herself to the living God.  Think about what those conversations were like. Did Naomi instruct Ruth more about her God and His Laws or do you think she remained angry with the Lord.

When they got to Bethlehem the city was excited about their arrival. But Ruth continued her bitterness when she said “ Don’t call me Naomi, call me Mara” . She had left Bethlehem with a husband and two sons and come home without them. She had gone to Moab possessing the necessities of life, but now she had returned home having nothing.

Sometime we don’t see what we have to be grateful for when we go through trials and tribulations.  Naomi thought her life had ended, but her trials were really a new beginning. She had lost faith and hope. When we are going through something that feels hard and not going like we think, it’s hard to see the good and know it won’t last forever.  However, something powerful happens when we allow others to see how God is shaping and developing us. Many times people realize they are not alone.

What other things should Naomi be thankful for?

At the time they arrive at Bethlehem it was harvest time. A time when the community expressed joy and praise to God for His goodness. It was spring, a time of new life and new beginning. That is exactly what Naomi and Ruth was about to experience. Harvest was a sign of better things to come.

Although Naomi was bitter against God, Ruth was willing for God to have His way in her life, so God began His gracious works with Ruth. 

Ruth knew that she needed to do something in order for them to survive. So she asked Naomi’s permission to glean in the fields so they would have food to eat.  This was a step of faith. The gleaning was left for the poor to get. That was what God had commanded.

Now this is where God intervenes. So Ruth goes out to look for a field to glean, so being a stranger she didn’t know who owned what field. So she found a place and started to glean. This field belonged to Boaz, who was a man of standing in the community.

Boaz was concerned about his workers and wanted them to enjoy the blessings of the Lord, so he went out to greet them. Then Ruth caught his eye. Was this love at first sight? So he inquired about her and when she heard that she was with Naomi when she returned to Bethlehem, he went to her. He told her to glean only his fields and to follow the other women that were harvesting.  Then Ruth humbled herself to him, asking why he being so kind. Boaz told her that he had heard of the good things she had done for her mother-in-law and all that she had been through.

When I read this, I got the feeling that she was probably gleaning what had already been gleaned. And Boaz was now giving her first shot at the gleaning.

QUIT QUITTING VERSES:

      ROMANS 8:18

      2 CORINTHIANS 4:17

      EPHESIANS 4:31

      2 CORINTHIANS 4:8-9

      JAMES 1:2-4

Q.U.I.T strategy.

Q – QUESTIONS WE NEED TO ASK AND ANSWER

What are your assignments of refinement right now? How is God trying to improve your character? Are there any areas where you’re resisting this process?

U – UNDERSTANDING THE WORD

Who was the new character introduced this week? What harvest season was going on when Ruth and Naomi arrived in Bethlehem?

I – INTO THE PROMISE

. Which of the Quit Quitting Verse spoke to you the most this week and why?

T – TURN SOMETHING AROUND

Think of an area in your life where you have resisted refinement. It could be with your health, your dreams, your job, or a relationship. Write down a few possible areas in which God could be taking you through a season of refinement.