Ruth 1:1-6
(NKJV)
“1 Now it came to pass, in the days when the judges ruled, that there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Bethlehem, Judah, went to dwell in the country of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons. 2The name of the man was Elimelech, the name of his wife was Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion—Ephrathites of Bethlehem, Judah. And they went to the country of Moab and remained there. 3 Then Elimelech, Naomi’s husband, died; and she was left, and her two sons. 4 Now they took wives of the women of Moab: the name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other Ruth. And they dwelt there about ten years. 5 Then both Mahlon and Chilion also died; so the woman survived her two sons and her husband.
6 Then she arose with her daughters-in-law that she might return from the country of Moab, for she had heard in the country of Moab that the Lord had visited His people by giving them bread.” (Emphasis added by blog author)
“1 Now it came to pass, in the days when the judges ruled, that there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Bethlehem, Judah, went to dwell in the country of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons. 2The name of the man was Elimelech, the name of his wife was Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion—Ephrathites of Bethlehem, Judah. And they went to the country of Moab and remained there. 3 Then Elimelech, Naomi’s husband, died; and she was left, and her two sons. 4 Now they took wives of the women of Moab: the name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other Ruth. And they dwelt there about ten years. 5 Then both Mahlon and Chilion also died; so the woman survived her two sons and her husband.
6 Then she arose with her daughters-in-law that she might return from the country of Moab, for she had heard in the country of Moab that the Lord had visited His people by giving them bread.” (Emphasis added by blog author)
This story starts out with a lack of food. In Bible days, bread was considered the main
food group, much as we consider protein the main food group. They would never have a meal without
bread. So, when there is a famine, there
was a definite shortage of bread. The
part that God was showing me was how this reflects in the church today. People are hungry for more of God.
In John 6:35 Jesus says, “I am the bread of life. He
who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.” In the old testament, the bread in the tabernacle
was called “showbread”, or in Hebrew it means “the bread of His presence”, (Leviticus
24:5-10; Exodus 25:30; Numbers 4:7) and it represented the relationship between
God and man, the presence of God and the provision of God. It was to be kept and eaten by Aaron and his
sons (priests) and only in the Holy Place.
On Sunday, God began to bring many things together
for me to see in a way that only He can.
First, there are the people in the church. I am reminded of a book I have read many
times called “The God Chasers” by Tommy Tenney.
If you are hungry for a deeper relationship with God, I highly recommend
this book! In chapter 3, which is titled
“House of Bread”, Tenney says “People leave the house of bread for one reason… The
reason that they left the House of Bread is that there was no bread in the
house.” Where people find old bread or
no bread, they will not stay. We as the
church tend to have an experience with God and that is awesome but if we are
careful, we begin to make bad bread or give away old bread! If God is there, the bread of His presence is
fresh.
*My Testimony*
Thursday, me and my family were blessed to be a part of Revive Indiana. With this awesome revival team, people volunteer their time to serve in any capacity with the same goal, share the Gospel and love of Jesus Christ through love, listening, discerning, and responding to people in need! My team was first to arrive on location after hearing about the bread give-away nearby. We were greeted by Rob who talked to me throughout the day as if I was in charge of the volunteers. He told me that all the bread leftover had to come back with me. UUUUMMMMM…I don’t know where to put it!!! I am just a team leader but I felt God say, “will you say yes to Me?” So, after serving 894 people (about 3,500 people when we counted how many in their household), we decided to load up the cars and trunks with bread.
He then told me how we were getting pallets of
bread! We took back everything we could
to the church to be given away but Rob asked me to call him in the morning to
get the rest of it. I prayed Thursday
night and said, "Ok God. I don’t
have the resources to do this but you do so if this is you, make a
way." God spoke so simply. He said, "Will you say 'YES'?" I got to the church for prayer on Friday morning still praying the same thing. After prayer I went to the office at First Assembly (where my husband and I are members). I called the Rescue Mission and was invited to bring the bread and some teams in to love on the people there that came for lunch! So, now I have bread and an open invitation… I needed transportation. I talked to one of our ladies in the office about the use of a church vehicle. She started to tell me that ALL of the vehicles are checked out for Home Mission week and she didn’t have anything. After a minute of explaining why I needed it she offered to look again. BUS #4 WAS JUST RETURNED FROM THE SHOP… READY TO DRIVE & I COULD USE IT!!! I was about to jump out of my shoes!!!
SO, now I have bread, I have a vehicle, I have an
invitation and I just need a team!
(The harvest is plentiful… Matthew 9:37) During breakfast I was directed to a certain
gentleman who does ministry at the Rescue Mission. However, that door was closed because he had
a full schedule that day and could not go. As I was walking out of the gym to go to the
team leader training, God highlighted Steve and said "Ask him. He’ll go." I did and he was on board immediately. I later found out that he is the director of
the Men’s ministry at his church that goes there every Tuesday. He even offered to drive the Bus since he was
experienced at it!!!
We ended up with 15 people. We picked up the bread which filled the back
of the bus and 4 cars!!! At the Rescue
Mission, we prayed with people, gave away bracelets and Bibles, and some came
to Jesus!!! BUT, we still had bread left
over!!! We decided after that to come to
one of the low-income apartment complexes and hand out bread… We got to pray
with people that I have been praying for and working with for 6 years!!! It was beautiful to see kids running out and
leaving with 6 or 7 loaves of bread and their parents coming out to see what
was going on!!! After all of that we
brought the remainder to the church to be given away to ANYONE who will use it!
As I sat reflecting on all that has happened this
last week, and what God was telling me through Ruth, the people heard from far
away that there was bread back in the “house of bread”. I sat there praising God because He was
showing me through this great miracle that the Bread is back in the House of
Bread!
God is doing a great and marvelous thing in His
church right now. It is happening in
hearts and being carried out through the hands and feet of those who love
Him. It’s not to stay in the Church and
get moldy, but to spread out to the hungry!
In Luke 4:18-19, Jesus quotes Isaiah in saying “18 The Spirit of the
Lord is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He
has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery
of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed; 19 To
proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”
After He reads this scripture from the book of the
Prophet Isaiah, He then turns to the people and says, by the way, that’s Me. Jesus came to show the example. He came to preach to the poor, to heal the
broken hearted, to set the captives free, restore and heal the blind, and
deliver the oppressed! Then He told his
followers in John 14:12-13 that “… he who believes in Me, the works that I do
he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My
Father. 13 And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may
be glorified in the Son. 14 If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.” This means we are called to do what Jesus did
AND MORE!!!
The bottom line is that the Bread of His Presence is
back in the House of Bread. It’s time to
take His Bread, His presence, and distribute it to the masses!!! Are you ready?
I challenge you to seek God’s Bread of Life as Luke
11 says… He is a good father who gives good gifts to His children… “If a son
asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone?” (Luke 11:11)
Luke 11 goes on to say that our Good Father gives us the gift of the
Holy Spirit, to any who ask, so that we can be in His presence and walk in His
power! All we have to do is ask!
Once you have His Bread, SHARE IT! Don’t keep in in the cupboard to get old and
stale!!! Give it to the poor, the
hungry, the captives, the blind, and oppressed!
They need the Bread of Life! God
bless you as you seek and serve the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, Jesus
Christ, the Living Water and Bread of Life!!!
