{"id":9016,"date":"2021-06-01T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-05-31T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dumc.my\/tm\/faithful-in-a-foreign-land\/"},"modified":"2022-06-15T17:21:37","modified_gmt":"2022-06-15T09:21:37","slug":"faithful-in-a-foreign-land","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dumc.my\/tm\/faithful-in-a-foreign-land\/","title":{"rendered":"Faithful in a Foreign Land"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Posted by Pastor Samuel Krishnan \u2022 Jun 01, 2021<\/p>\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n

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Our Best Thought is a weekly devotional thoughtfully penned by leaders in DUMC arising from their daily devotions. The devotional’s title, “Our Best Thought” is taken from the hymn, “Be Thou My Vision” as a reference to God: “Thou my best thought, by day or by night.” Publishes on Sundays.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Scripture:<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

At this, she bowed down with her face to the ground. <\/span>She asked him, “Why have I found such favor in your eyes that you notice me—a foreigner?”<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/sup>Boaz replied, “I’ve been told all about what you have done for your mother-in-law <\/span>since the death of your husband—how you left your father and mother and your homeland and came to live with a people you did not know <\/span>before.<\/span> <\/span>May the <\/span>Lord<\/span> <\/span>repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the <\/span>Lord<\/span>, <\/span>the God of Israel, <\/span>under whose wings <\/span>you have come to take refuge.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Ruth 2:10-12 (NIV) <\/p>\n

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Observation<\/strong>:<\/em><\/p>\n

The story of Ruth was known to Boaz, one of commitment and self-sacrifice in the face of loss and tragedy. Her mother-in-law, Naomi, lost her husband and two sons, and decided to return to Israel when word arrived that the Lord had provided food for Israel, for they had been living in Moab. Naomi had urged her Moabite daughters-in-law, Orpah and Ruth, to return to their families where they will be better off.<\/p>\n

Ruth, being determined not to be deterred, made the decision to follow Naomi even to the point of rejecting her gods and accepting the God of Israel.<\/p>\n

Once in Israel, the Hebrews took notice and admired her diligence and character, and she being a Moabite foreigner won the favour and heart of Boaz a Hebrew landowner, whom she would find out later to be relative of her husband’s and her kinsman redeemer.<\/p>\n

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Application:<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Through Ruth the Moabite, we can see that God does not discriminate because of race or social position. God is concerned for all people, and every person has a purpose and a destiny. In fact, God established a legacy through Ruth, who gave birth to Obed the grandfather of King David, the line of Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n

Ruth was faithful even in the most difficult of times. She knew the hardship, and difficulties that awaited her in Bethlehem. However, she was determined and obedient. She was diligent as she worked in Boaz fields, as a result she earned respect, blessing and honor.<\/p>\n

As followers of Christ we too must be courageous, holding steadfast in obedience and being determined to keep faith, regardless of the cost.<\/p>\n

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Response:<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Heavenly Father, thank you for your reminder that you are faithful in all the seasons of our lives. Help us to cling to you even in the hard times of life. <\/p>\n

As we remember the story of Ruth of Moabite, help us to see foreigners in our midst, offering grace and compassion especially during this pandemic.<\/p>\n

Let our lives reflect you, that those around us will be drawn and want to know this hope we have. Amen.<\/p>\n

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Pastor Samuel Krishnan is Head of Breakthrough Drug Rehabilitation Centre, Community Excel Services.<\/p>\n

Our Best Thought is a weekly devotional that follows <\/span>DUMC’s Bible Reading Plan<\/a>. Posts on Sundays.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The story of Ruth was known to Boaz, one of commitment and self-sacrifice in the face of loss and tragedy. Her mother-in-law, Naomi, lost her husband and two sons, and decided to return to Israel when word arrived that the Lord had provided food for Israel, for they had been living in Moab. Naomi had urged her Moabite daughters-in-law, Orpah and Ruth, to return to their families where they will be better off.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_mi_skip_tracking":false},"categories":[118],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dumc.my\/tm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9016"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dumc.my\/tm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dumc.my\/tm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dumc.my\/tm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dumc.my\/tm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9016"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/dumc.my\/tm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9016\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9485,"href":"https:\/\/dumc.my\/tm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9016\/revisions\/9485"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dumc.my\/tm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9016"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dumc.my\/tm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9016"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dumc.my\/tm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9016"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}