July 20, 2020 CAC Living Water Devotional :- YOUR DECISION DETERMINES YOUR DESTINATION (II)
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Monday, July 20, 2020
YOUR DECISION DETERMINES YOUR DESTINATION (II)
Read: Ruth 1:6-22
[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 how that the LORD had visited his people in giving them bread.[7]Wherefore she went forth out of the place where she was, and her two daughters in law with her; and they went on the way to return unto the land of Judah.[8]And Naomi said unto her two daughters in law, Go, return each to her mother’s house: the LORD deal kindly with you, as ye have dealt with the dead, and with me.[9]The LORD grant you that ye may find rest, each of you in the house of her husband. Then she kissed them; and they lifted up their voice, and wept.
[10]And they said unto her, Surely we will return with thee unto thy people.[11]And Naomi said, Turn again, my daughters: why will ye go with me? are there yet any more sons in my womb, that they may be your husbands?[12]Turn again, my daughters, go your way; for I am too old to have an husband. If I should say, I have hope, if I should have an husband also to night, and should also bear sons;[13]Would ye tarry for them till they were grown? would ye stay for them from having husbands? nay, my daughters; for it grieveth me much for your sakes that the hand of the LORD is gone out against me.[14]And they lifted up their voice, and wept again: and Orpah kissed her mother in law; but Ruth clave unto her.[15]And she said, Behold, thy sister in law is gone back unto her people, and unto her gods: return thou after thy sister in law.[16]And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God:[17]Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the LORD do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and me.[18]When she saw that she was stedfastly minded to go with her, then she left speaking unto her.[19]So they two went until they came to Bethlehem. And it came to pass, when they were come to Bethlehem, that all the city was moved about them, and they said, Is this Naomi?[20]And she said unto them, Call me not Naomi, call me Mara: for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me.[21]I went out full, and the LORD hath brought me home again empty: why then call ye me Naomi, seeing the LORD hath testified against me, and the Almighty hath afflicted me?[22]So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter in law, with her, which returned out of the country of Moab: and they came to Bethlehem in the beginning of barley harvest.
MEMORISE: But Ruth replied, “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me.” (Ruth 1:16,17).
EXPOSITION
Yesterday, we saw the effect of the choice the prodigal son made. Today’s, let us look at how a good decision can have lasting impact in ones life, as we study through the life of Ruth, one of the daughters-in-law of Naomi. Choice is your right to choose between two, or more options. Decisions is like a pregnant woman that can only give birth to only one of these — destination or destruction.
Our character in this dose of the Living Water had to make a choice between two options — to follow her mother-in-law, or go back to her people. Whereas, she probably had seen the great difference between Yahweh, her husband’s God, and the pagan god, her people were serving. What benefit had she derived over the years from serving the pagan god, with her parents before her marital union with her husband, she must have noticed great difference and inexplicable benefits of serving the God of the Jew’s. Likewise, you have to weigh the likely outcome of your actions before taking them.
Here are few things you need to take note about decision:
1. Where you are today and would be tomorrow are affected by your choices/decisions.
2. Your decisions will either make or mar you.
3. Your decisions will either increase or decrease you.
4. Your decisions will promote your breakthrough or breakdown.
5. Your decision can make you a message or mess.
The prodigal son’s decisions to make a U-turn, to choose life, rather than death, made his life to become a message out of his messed up situation. May the Lord teach us how to make decisions wisely that will make our lives a message and not a mess.
PRAYER POINTS
1. My Father, teach my heart to rely on You for my decisions.
2. O Lord, help me to always weigh the consequences ofy my choices are and actions even, before undertaking them.
3. My Father, may our government decisions be always influenced by Your Word, in the interest of the masses.
EXTRA READING FOR TODAY: Esther 3-7; Hebrews 11