As we continue our study in Ruth during this Shavout season, the theme of redemption is prevalent. We read that Boaz became Naomi and Ruth's "kinsman redeemer", or "goel" – from the Hebrew, "lig'ol", to redeem, receive or buy back. In the Torah, a provision had been made for the poor person who was forced to sell part of his property or even himself (into slavery). This man's nearest of kin could step in and "buy back" or "redeem" what his relative had been forced to sell. [Leviticus 25:25] A slave could be redeemed from his bondage by his "goel" who literally purchased his relative's freedom.

In the story of Ruth, we read that Boaz became Naomi and Ruth's "goel", their kinsman "redeemer". First, Boaz was qualified as kin to Naomi's deceased husband Elimelech [Ruth 2:1]. Secondly, he needed to be able to redeem by paying the price of redemption. [Ruth 4:2-3]. And finally, he was willing to redeem the land which had belonged to Elimelech.[Ruth 4:4].

Naomi's losses had been devastating in Moab. Her husband and two sons had passed away and she had returned to her ancestral homeland a desolate woman, with no inheritance. Her only solace was Ruth, whose love and loyalty were legendary. But Ruth's character of devotion apparently inspired Boaz to love her, and even to ignore her Moabite ancestry; for when Boaz decided to redeem Elimelech's property, he also agreed to marry Ruth. Naomi's life, her inheritance and her destiny were also redeemed in this sweeping transaction. She had returned to Israel in deep bitterness, yet through this beautiful and unexpected redemption her friends exclaim "Blessed be the LORD, which has not left thee this day without a 'goel'. [Ruth 4:14]

The marriage of Ruth and Boaz produced a son named Obed, and a grandson named Jesse, who was the father of King David; four generations of the lineage of Yeshua the Messiah. And through his redemption of Ruth and Naomi, Boaz became a picture of Yeshua (Jesus) our Kinsman-Redeemer, who redeemed us for Himself, out of desolation and slavery to sin, and made us His own beloved bride!

Isn't it amazing how a tiny slice of human history can be filled with such significance and typological meaning? Only God could invest a beautiful human love story with an eternal redemptive purpose. Can we do any less than to fall-or rather rise-hopelessly in love with such a Redeemer?!

by George Whitten, Editor of Worthy Devotions.

1 John 5:4 For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.

In 2nd Samuel Chapter 9 we read of the story of King David and Mephibosheth. Mephibosheth was the son of Jonathan and the grandson of the first king of Israel, King Saul. After Jonathan's death, David went forth to show kindness to Saul's house. Mephibosheth had become lame at the young age of five — he had lived his entire life as a cripple. When David calls him forth, Mephibosheth replies "What is thy servant, that thou shouldest look upon such a dead dog as I am?" His identity was completely based on his disability, when in fact he was the grandson of a king! He had forgotton his royal lineage and was wallowing in self pity. Yet David looked beyond his disability and recognizing who he was, offered him a place at the King's table.

How much time do we spend wallowing in our own self pity, groaning about things with which we struggle daily…so much so that it becomes who we are! The enemy would love nothing more than to keep us focused on our disabilities so that we are distracted from the calling of God on our lives. He wants us to have a "victim mentality". But let's not lose focus of the reality of who we are. In Jesus we are a chosen generation, part of a royal priesthood, and the King has offered us a place at His table! We are heirs of His great throne!!

In Him, we should have a victor mentality! Press forward — know who you are in Him and take your rightful seat at the King's Table.

Luke 4:18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance (aphesis) to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty (aphesis) them that are bruised,

The Greek word 'aphesis' means forgiveness. But in this particular verse it’s translated as both deliverance and liberty. Isn’t it interesting that deliverance and liberty are directly tied together with forgiveness?

One of the most effective tools the enemy uses to steal our joy is unforgiveness. With just a little foothold of unforgiveness in our lives, we can easily become bound with chains of bitterness, resentment, anger and rage. If we let that foothold linger without dealing with it, eventually it will lead to our own self-destruction.

Let's not let the unrighteous actions of others toward us become a stumbling block in our walk. We have been forgiven much and in the same way, we must release those who've hurt us to the Lord. But when we release them, I think we'll find that the person we'll really be releasing is ourselves!

2 Corinthians 7:1 Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

As we were leaving for Jerusalem yesterday, my wife made one of her frequent requests of me – “Honey! Could you take down the trash?” Well, I don’t know about you– but this is not one of my favorite tasks. Why does it always seem like we guys always get pinned with the dirty work?!(My wife — and probably many of you ladies out there would probably have a good laugh at that question!) But really, though — I was sure I had just emptied that trash can two seconds ago! I mean, I turn around and it’s full again!

It amazes me how much garbage our little family makes. But it got me thinking about spiritual garbage. Let’s face it. We live in a world running rampant with spiritual trash. It’s everywhere — and though we as believers try and avoid it, we step out our front doors and there it is to greet us. As a matter of fact, we don’t even have to step out our doors anymore! The trash has inundated our television, our music, our computers. It’s in our schools and even in our congregations! We’re probably so chock full of trash by now, we’re overflowing! I think it’s time we empty our spiritual trash cans.

We have a responsibility to make sure we empty our spiritual trash – and empty it often. Let’s ask the Lord to help us take out this yucky mess and clean us up from head to toe — that we might be able to do greater things for Him!

Psalms 33:12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance.

Throughout the United States today, everyone will be celebrating the anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence — a document through which leaders of the colonies in the New World broke free from the King of England.

The declaration begins: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

While revisionist historians are working hard to remove any trace of Christian/Biblical ideals from the foundations of America, today's celebration finds its basis in a foundational document which appeals to the authority of a Divine Creator, one whom most of the founding fathers fully believed to have been the author and main subject of the Holy Bible, and who was the guarantor of certain "inalienable rights". So the Fourth of July – more than just a celebration of independence, ought also to be a day which recognizes God's participation in the nation's birth.

I've read and heard all kinds of advice about how America ought to be transformed, while a simple recognition of God's covenant offer to a nation goes ignored. The words found in 2 Chronicles 7:14 could be claimed and applied to any nation, but particularly one whose foundational documents and institutions have drawn their inspiration substantially from Biblical monotheism. "If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land."

IF we truly want to see healing brought to any nation, then this conditional covenant is for US and the restoration of our land will require our part in the covenant: humility, prayer and repentance, so that God can forgive our sin and heal our land!

True restoration and healing only comes through true repentance and God's grace! With so much work to be done — may restoration begin with us!

Galatians 5:1 Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.

Israel is celebrating its Independence today. Just before Israel celebrates its independence, its very solemn in the land as the nation mourns those whose blood was shed for its freedom.

And if you’ve ever been to Israel around these times, you’d know the kind of celebrating that goes on here! …parades, various events and fairs, flags waving and music playing, people dancing and performing in the streets, all sorts of entertainment around town, old and young spraying white foam and bopping people on the head with plastic musical hammers — it’s a riot. Israeli’s sure know how to party!

It’s good to have days and celebrations to remember our freedom and those whose blood was shed to pay it. But there’s one work of freedom that we need to remember every day. So often, we forget the price that was paid for our spiritual freedom. We get distracted by all the little things our worlds tend to begin to revolve around.

Let’s break out the confetti, turn up the music, and celebrate our freedom today! We were bought with a price! We were set free from the law of sin and death! Our mourning has been turned to joy! Let’s celebrate! If the Son has set us free, we are free indeed!

When the Torah was given on Shavuot in the days of Moses, the sin of the golden calf resulted in the death of 3,000 men. Some 1500 years later at the same season the Holy Spirit descended causing 3,000 men to be saved! The Lord has never changed; His mercy and His holiness are the same throughout all ages. But the contrast of these two historical events during the same Holy Day may be seen as a powerful illustration of this principle: “the letter [of the Law] kills, but the Spirit gives life." (2 Corinthians 3:6)

Shavuot, or the Feast of Weeks, is celebrated fifty days from the feast of first fruits. The number 50 recalls the Jubilee cycle described in the book of Leviticus; a number which is associated with liberty, freedom and deliverance, since each jubilee cycle required that slaves and captives be set free and every debt cancelled. As such, the number 50 and its significance as a "Jubilee" speaks to us of freedom, deliverance, and salvation from our spiritual debt and the bondage of sin. The first "Pentecost" emphatically revealed this significance with 3000 saved souls.

So for us as believers, Shavuot / Pentecost recalls, on the one hand, our freedom from the power of sin, which is the law [1Cor. 15:56], our cancelled debt, our deliverance from the slavery of the old nature; and on the other, reminds us of the source of our life and the power of our witness and service, the Holy Spirit: "not in the oldness of the letter, but in the newness of the Spirit."

Remember, you have been freed from the bondage of sin and dead works, and cannot please the Lord apart from His own empowering of your life and service. His Holy Spirit was given because apart from Him we can do nothing. Shavuot ought to be a powerful reminder of this amazing reality.

by George Whitten, Editor of Worthy  Devotions.

Romans 8:13-14 For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.

Once upon a time, there was a prince who received a very rare and beautiful bird. He named her Goldie and placed her in a lovely, 14K gold cage. But the poor creature was not impressed by the gold at all. She pleaded for her freedom but the prince loved her much too much to part with her. Still, she continued to beg. In final desperation, she asked that he at least allow her go to her relatives and tell them that, though captive, she was still alive.

The prince was not certain she would return if he allowed her to go, so he decided to go and inform them himself. He went into the forest, where Goldie directed him and he found her sister. When she heard the awful news of Goldie's capture, she immediately fell to the ground and died.

Sorrowful, he returned to his castle and told Goldie the sad news that her sister had died. Immediately Goldie collapsed and died in the same manner.

Perplexed, but a tear rolling down his cheek, the prince then took the poor bird out of the cage, gently wrapped her in a cloth and placed her on his window sill in order to bury her. Suddenly, to the prince's amazement, the cloth began to move and Goldie fluttered out. She quickly flew out the window and landed in the nearest tree.

"You don't understand, fine prince" called the bird from the nearby, "by pretending to die, my sister taught me the way to escape."

The moral of the story is simply this. If we want to truly be free — we have to die!

If we want to truly live a life of freedom, a life full of peace and joy, a life which provokes others to jealousy — we must learn to die to our flesh and give our all to the One who has given His all for us! Let's take up our cross once again today. There's sooooo much work to be done!

We came across this story, about a man who was slowly losing his memory. After a lengthy examination, the doctor said that a risky operation on his brain might reverse his condition and restore his memory. However, the surgery would be so delicate that a nerve could be severed, causing total blindness.

The surgeon asked, "So, which would you rather have, your sight or your memory?" The man pondered the question for a while and replied, "My sight, because I would rather see where I am going than remember where I have been."

Our enemy is always trying to dig up the past and keep us all bound up in our failures. But be encouraged! Today is a new day! Today and every day we have a choice to make! Like Paul, we must choose to press forward and put aside our past. We must purpose to keep our eyes on the Lord, not on our successes or failures, but upon on what can we do for Him today!

Be free from the shackles of the past! Keep your eyes on the prize! There's so much work to be done!

I heard a story about a man who was imprisoned during Napoleons reign. While sulking in his dungeon one day, he etched on the wall the words "Nobody Cares".

A few weeks later, through a crack in the dungeon floor, a little green shoot sprang forth, reaching toward the tiny ray of sunlight that came from his small prison cell window. The prisoner began giving a portion of his daily water to the little shoot and it began to grow. One morning the man awoke to a beautiful flower. A tear rolling down his face, he crossed out the words, "Nobody Cares" and replaced them with "God Cares."

The story goes on to tell that His devotion to the flower was reported to the Empress Josephine. She was so very moved that she convinced Napoleon to set the man free.

How many times do we feel like "Nobody Cares"? God has planted little shoots of hope in each and every one of our difficult circumstances — do you know that? Perhaps we're stepping on them, not even noticing they exist. Perhaps we're pulling the shoots before they spring forth into beautiful flowers.

God wants us to be released from our prisons of despair. Look around! See what God has planted since the beginning of time especially for us today. Be encouraged! There's so much work to be done!