Giant Step For Ruth

More in Ruth...

“One day Ruth’s mother-in-law Naomi said to her, “My daughter, I must find a home for you, where you will be well provided for.”

‭‭Ruth‬ ‭3:1‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Naomi is actually saying Ruth to find “rest” in the home of a husband. 

“May the Lord grant that each of you will find rest in the home of another husband.”

‭‭Ruth‬ ‭1:9‬a NIV‬‬

We need to understand what Ruth is being asked to do. She has left the Moabites and their customs that she is used to. She is going to have faith in the advice that Naomi is giving her. She will throw herself at the feet of this man. 

“When he lies down, note the place where he is lying. Then go and uncover his feet and lie down. He will tell you what to do.””

‭‭Ruth‬ ‭3:4‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Two points here...Naomi is leading Ruth to take a step. Naomi loved Ruth so much that she is willing to share the way to be redeemed by their nearest relative. Do I love my friends and family so much that I want to share the way to redemption? If we know that way to salvation, why don’t we share? 

Next point, Ruth is humbling herself big time! Would you follow the advice of someone that has not grown up with the same customs and belief system as you? She is giving up every single thing she has ever known that is safe and secure. She takes a giant step of faith in what Naomi is suggesting that she do. She throws herself at the feet of this man. 

““Who are you?” he asked. “I am your servant Ruth,” she said. “Spread the corner of your garment over me, since you are a guardian-redeemer of our family.””

‭‭Ruth‬ ‭3:9‬ ‭NIV‬‬

What a gospel moment! Jesus is telling us to cover ourselves with his garments. He promises to redeem us. The rewards are too great to describe. Many of those promises will be discovered long after our life is over. 

The rewards were unspeakable for Ruth. She receives much rewards for the rest of her life. But in eternity, she will find out that she became a part of the lineage of the Savior.

 When we receive the protection and security and salvation of Christ, we won’t see all the promises this side of heaven. There will be struggles and heartache and pain this side of heaven. But we can trust that we chose the best. We chose wisely when we throw ourselves at the feet of Jesus.

Decisions, Decisions, Decisions

“The men of Israel looked them over and accepted the evidence. But they didn’t ask GOD about it.”
Joshua 9:14 MSG

If you don't remember the story, I will remind you. Joshua's fame spread through the countries that God had promised the Israelites. There was a justified fear. "Because it was told to your servants for a certainty that the Lord your God had commanded his servant Moses to give you all the land and to destroy all the inhabitants of the land from before you—so we feared greatly for our lives because of you and did this thing.”
Joshua 9:24 ESV

The Gibeonites deceived them into thinking that they were a far away country. The children of Israel bought the story and made peace with them. They were bound to carry this group around forever. They took on dead weight that they did not need.

I have done that many times. I have made decisions without seeking the Lord guidance. I bought the story that the salesman told me about how much I needed the item he was selling. For years I would have to carry that purchase and clean it and repair it and maintain it. It could have been avoided if I had sought the Lord's guidance before I bought the lie.

God cares about every decision that I make, whether it is big or small. He never fusses at me for asking for wisdom.
“If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.”
James 1:5 NIV

Freedom fromFood

I thought it might be helpful to share some things I have learned about managing my weight. This has been a life long struggle. After years of trying diets, I have realized that some things just work and others not so much:).  So for what it is worth, here is my list of things that work for me.

1)  Plan ahead what you will eat for the coming day and/or coming week.  If you know that you will have a tricky situation, plan for it. Pre-decide ahead of time. Decision anxiety will set you up for failure.  Decide which restaurants are good for you and which restaurants are a death sentence, in terms of fattening foods that you know you can't resist. Decide before you go to that restaurant what you will order and do not look at the menu.  Look online to see what a good choice will be. I tell the waiter when I order EXACTLY what I want and ask if that is okay.  For example, I would never let them put salad dressing on the salad. It must be on the side so that I can dip my fork(yes, I said fork) and drizzle it on the salad. Make all tricky decisions ahead of time.

2)  Make a mental box of what food items that you will eat for the rest of your life. Sometimes I think this is where we get bitter about having to diet. I came to this important conclusion...we do not have to have anything we want, anytime we want. As a Christian, I especially want to speak to that. We give up our rights to our life when we accept Jesus as our Saviour. We do this because his terms are so much better than our terms.  His ways ALWAYS satisfy beyond what we can imagine.
We need to realize that as rich Americans(and we are all rich in comparison to most of the world) we have come to expect to have countless different food choices to consume. We think this is our right!  Most of the world probably has 5 food choices.  I have come to realize that the fewer the food choices I allow in my mouth, the simpler it is to make choices and the easier it is to eat healthy. We all need a denial list to be more focused in any area of our lives, especially in the area of food. I LOVE having fewer food choices. It has provided me freedom from food that I have not experienced before.

3)  Track what you eat.  This is an easy task, but not always done by dieters.  Why?  Too confronting!!!  We don't want to confront the slice of pizza or the 7 cookies we ate. Because I am a Christian blogger, I need to add this perspective.  Whenever we keep things secret, whether from shame or conviction, we will not be able to receive that grace that God offers us. For example, if we know that eating too many sweets is not healthy for us and we try to hide that act from ourselves or others in our lives, we are missing out on the grieving and healing process that is available to us. There are many ways to track our food and exercises.  I love the smart phone apps that are free. Lose It or My Fitness Pal are just two of the ones that I know are easy to use and help set your calories and track them.  For a small fee, there are apps that allow you to plan ahead and track even more than just exercises and food consumed.

4)  This is not a well-known diet tip but it has worked for me.  Have a meal replacement once a day.  It is hard, if not impossible, to eat three low calorie meals a day without a lot of planning and commitment.  I have found that if I replace one meal per day with a protein shake, I reach my calorie goals for the day with much less grief and struggle.  There are many good quality shakes on the market at many price ranges.  Slim fast(not very filling), Shakeology(my husband has used this for three years), Whey protein shakes, ...the list is endless.

Notice that I am not advocating a certain diet plan.  I am promoting a total life style change.  When I think of all that I missed by being overweight, it grieves me.  Now when I am tempted with a slice of cheesecake, I quickly remind myself that I do not want to head back down that road. I cannot think of a single food item that it worth it. Try to hold up everything item of food that you know it not good for you but you don't think you could give up. Is that food item worth that much???  I realize that most people would say, " a bite of that would not matter." You have to decide for yourself if it would matter to you.  Only you can decide that.

Last tidbit I want to share.  I heard a well-known Navy SEAL speak this morning at my church. He said something profound.  He shared that when we accepted Christ as our Saviour, we became a "marked man or woman." By that he meant that Satan has put his "scope" on my back and he will stop at nothing to bring me down. When I was lost, he was not zeroing in on my life because I was not a threat to him. But when I gave my life to Christ, I became a threat to his kingdom because I may help bring other people to Christ. For some reason this afternoon, I was contemplating discontinuing this blog. However, God can use something that I say to plant a little seed in someones heart that will ultimately bring them to saving knowledge of Jesus. I think I will accept the fact that if I stand behind Jesus, my self-esteem will be okay because writing this blog is very scary to my self-esteem. Hope this helped someone to experience freedom from food because we can be set free from areas that have us in bondage.