A Lesson in Ruth's Beautiful Refusal

But Ruth said: "Entreat me not to leave you, or to turn back from following after you; For wherever you go, I will go; And wherever you lodge, I will lodge; Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God.
Where you die, I will die, And there will I be buried. The LORD do so to me, and more also, if anything but death parts you and me." Ruth 1:16,17.

Having heard that God has blessed her homeland, Naomi plans to go home to Bethlehem still in her pitiful condition. Even with the good news, she doesn't believe she will be blessed there.The girl, Ruth, knows the same distress that Naomi is going through. She's a widow and she's poor. She's as empty as Naomi. But Ruth has a different goal than Naomi.

Ruth ignores Naomi’s declaration that God has not blessed her and instead makes her own declaration. "I want to go to Bethlehem and worship the God of Israel."

She’s determined to live in Israel and worship their God. And further proof she has come to trust in the LORD as her Savior is recorded in verse 17 when she takes an oath in His name that only death will ever separate her and Naomi.

Ruth’s promise is a wonderful proof of a transformed life in Jesus. God has drawn Ruth to Himself. We know He has saved Ruth because she declares the LORD, God is now her God no matter what. She changed from idolatry to worship the true and living God. If anyone truly seeks to know God, God will come to them and introduce Himself.

Despite Naomi's urging her to stay in Moab, Ruth has set a life-changing goal. Because of that, Ruth is enjoying eternity with God right now.

Ruth's beautiful refusal say's to her Mother-in-law, "I'm making a change and nothing you say can change my mind. We're both going to Bethlehem!"

A person trusting Christ the LORD will trust Him even through the unknown. Ruth had no promise of anything from God. From Naomi's depressed attitude, it seems she hadn’t told Ruth of God’s provision, God’s love, or God’s protection, yet Ruth believes it.

Ruth left the familiarity of her home, her country and her native people because she trusted God to replace all of it. She didn't know what her new life would be like but she knew God would take care of her no matter what happened.

Good advice from Ruth's refusal to stay behind is this: When repenting, don’t just stop doing something, but leave it far behind. And our loyalty shouldn’t hinge on the character of the person we love.

What has God replaced in your new life as a Christian that you once thought was so important in your former life?

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Timing Is Everything

"Pleasant words are like a honeycomb, Sweetness to the soul and health to the bones" Proverbs 16: 24.

For 14 months I clerked at a small combination grocery/hardware store. On both ends of Commercial Street, the store's location, there were churches but their people very seldom came in. The regular clientele were the town's more unsavory residents and we often had to call the police because of fighting in the street or a drunken or drugged customer making trouble. I worked from 2:00 pm to 10:00 pm closing.  As the only Christian working the closing shift, I was alone. Every day I worked, either a co-worker or a customer spoke Jesus' name as an expletive or a derogatory adjective. When I once commented on the language, a customer complained to my boss I was 'preaching'  and I was told to stop.

(I know God kept me safe while I was there & I was able to do some very edifying witnessing.)

One night, driving to work, I was feeling very depressed about my job. Talking to God about the struggle of working at there, I asked God to show me another Christian. This particular night I needed encouragement. I needed to know there were Christian brothers and sisters in this town. I began my shift trusting God heard my prayer and I waited for the Christian He would send in.

No Christians came at all. I had given up on God answering my prayer. I wanted to go home and wash the world off me.

It was after closing time but as long as a customer was in the store we couldn't lock the doors. My co-worker and I were trying to get the last customer out so we could lock up and go home. Before the one left, a husband and wife came in wanting some meat from the deli. We both stifled groans and my co-worker walked back to he deli, the woman following while telling what they wanted. I stood behind the counter as the husband wandered around looking at items.

That's when I saw his T-shirt said, JESUS--The ONLY WAY with a stylized arrow pointing upwards.

I asked him, "Do you believe what your shirt says?"

He looked down to read it then looked up and said, "Absolutely."

I asked him where he went to church and he mentioned a local church in the next town over which I knew taught the Bible. When I explained where my husband and I go, he knew of our church also. In fact the parents of members of our church attend his church. In addition to that, they had been to our church to play volleyball. 

I couldn't stop smiling as I rang up their purchase and thanked them for coming in. I didn't tell them that they were God's answer to a prayer. That joy was between me and God. 

• It was after-hours. 
• We should have been closed.
• I should have been at home.

That was God's perfect timing.
Praise the Lord!

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Faith In Depression

Depression has nothing to do with a disconnection to God. God holds me in the palms of His hands and nothing can ever take me out.  I believe I have victory over all things in Christ and my belief in God is not diminished by my depression.

There are many verses of God's promises of taking care of me. I have read and reread them many times. I can recite many from memory.

Is my depression then a lack of faith? Am I grieving the Holy Spirit because I am depressed? Is my depression a matter of my old nature? Is my depression a matter of self-pity?

Can my depression be a Spiritual heaviness, or a burden for a Spiritual reason? Is my depression a way for God to help me see something I couldn't see otherwise while full of joy and gladness?

I have not the answer to those questions. They tend to be the same questions I ask myself each time depression comes over me.

I cannot say how my depression comes and goes. There lacks any pin-point key to why or when it comes or goes.

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me, even go through depression and emerge on the other side. God hasn't gone anywhere. He hasn't lost any power. He hasn't suddenly become incapable of helping or saving.

I am a frail human. I am a tender sheep. I am a timid lamb. I need leading. I need protecting. I need feeding. I need a strong, reliable Shepherd.

I have all these in Christ Jesus.

"The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside the still waters." Psalm 23: 1&2

Guest Blog (YouTubeVideo) Focus On Jesus

This is a video of a friend speaking at Cornerstone Baptist Church in Exeter Maine.

Linda Griffin Handzel uses her great sense of humor, combined with her love of 

Jesus and trust in God in ministering to women around Maine and New England. 

Through tragically losing her husband in a motorcycle accident, 

she learned to love Jesus more and more. In her personal grief 

during her painful circumstances that stretched her faith, God 

brought Linda to a new place of service into a ministry to help 

widows and hurting women.

Linda's delivery of the Good News is a fresh a dose of smiles and laughter in anyone's day.

This video is a good representation of Linda's style and wonderful personality. 

Click this link Linda Griffin Handzel Video YouTube to 
see and hear Linda's comedic approach to Peter walking on water 
from Matthew 14, while applying a great lesson of keeping your 
eyes on Jesus. There is nothing better for a Christian in a
storm to do than call out to Jesus for help.

Click this link to go to Linda's Facebook page

https://www.facebook.com/lists/493303820757115

Please leave her a comment

& Cornerstone Baptist Church's website

http://www.cbcexeter.com/

Permission to post this video was given by 

Cornerstone Baptist Church 

&

Linda Griffin Handzel

6 Things Not To Tell A Depressed Person

 "But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them"  Matthew 9:36a

Compassion is love in action, yet many times love isn’t the first thing shown by the words we speak. Having personally struggled with suicidal depression since childhood, I have learned that while people mean well, most fail the best ability to help. What they say is less than helpful even when they truly desired to help me. Friends and family reached higher levels of frustration. It wasn’t because they didn’t want to but they didn't know how to restore my health. Unfortunately, many things were said that sent me deeper into myself.

The depressed person may know all about their condition but hasn’t the physical or mental tools to change the problem. They know there’s a problem but can’t explain anything about it to anyone. When the ill person tries to explain it, it can come out all jumbled up with emotions and sound crazy, mad, and pitiful. Then there are the silences that are so loud in the mind. There is the isolation and social withdrawals and the lonely anger with less and less outlets: the worse the depression, the worse the self-hatred, which can increase the depression.

I faced this for years, imaging my silence was screaming for help yet not one word escaped me. Then I would have terrible rages of anger and frustration at the inability to express all the things pressuring me, real or imagined. No one understood how I would get so incredible angry and hurt myself and I hadn’t learned how to organize and itemize the thoughts of suicide, fear, and shyness.

Listed are 6 statements that are less than appreciative to a depressed person and a few hints of why they won’t, or can’t work from the inside.

•  “Snap out of it!” If it were possible to suddenly become happier, then depression would not exist. A sudden snapping into normalcy is about the most impossible action for anyone in any abnormal situation. You wouldn’t say “Snap out of it” to someone choking on a piece of food or someone drowning. You would come alongside the distressed person and do something to change the situation. So after carefully examining the situation, what can you do in the situation of the depressed person?

• “It’s all in your head.” Well ‘Duh!’ Obviously, you’re pointing at a house fire and telling the fireman what he’s combating. Our mind is the memory bank of our lives. Depression affects the entire body, and yes, it is in the mind. We store bad memories right alongside the good memories. If you delete something on your computer, you’ve only told the machine to store it in a deep file somewhere inaccessible to you but They never went away. It is still possible to retrieve them. For some, deleting the bad memories isn’t as easy as it is to others. Sometimes the bad memories override the good ones, feeding fears, and anger. Something that may help in some situations is try increasing the feeling of security . That was a major factor in restoring my health.

• “You need counseling.” You’ve mastered another obvious statement. Here's a hint, if you know the person you to which you just said that to, then you are probably the best counselor for them. You’re most likely closer to knowing what the root of the depression is. I’ve discovered through years of receiving professional counseling, that having the listening ear of a close friend is tremendously foundational to my better health. A listening friend as a sounding board can do as much as a professional and it’s less expensive. (That’s not to say professional counseling doesn’t work and if it is going to help, definitely seek it.)

• “You need to get out more.” Yes, isolation is bad but a depressed person is in a disconnected state of mind. Placing them among a lot of bustle and hustle can enhance the feeling of separation. I called that my glass box. I could see and hear people around me but I had locked myself inside my own see-through prison. Connection was broken, I couldn’t reach out, and those outside couldn’t reach me. Perversely, isolation gives the mind abnormal space to chew on abnormal problems and come up with abnormal solutions. A few friends, and a few acts of kindness in the space where the ill person is are a big help to those isolating themselves. And don’t expect an overnight change just because you did something once, it could take time and you may need a lot of patience.

7th grade picture & I was a depressed teenager

• “You need medication.” This is a cold statement, especially from family or friends. Yes, they very well might need some kind of medication, and while medications are available for helping, medication means drugs. The depressed person may fear what drugs mean or might do, and should only given by doctors after testing and examination. And the taking of medicines has to be monitored by someone, especially at the very beginning. For depressed people, taking medication can be difficult to keep track of on their own. If the person begins taking medications, don’t leave them to it, as if everything is going to be better; make sure it’s a daily pattern added in their lives.

• “What’s wrong with you?” Another very cold statement. A physical illness, overwhelming circumstances, stress, a great loss, or any number of things could cause it, so how could they tell you what it is while in a depressive state of mind? If they even attempt explaining it you may not understand the description. It may sound like nonsense to you. This does not mean you don't care, maybe you're not the best person to come alongside them. Any of your honest intentions to help quite possibly could hinder. Lending a hand from a distance may be all you need to do after you seek others to help your friend or family member. If it isn't within your realm of knowledge, let a compassionate personality be the closer companion. Help from a distance as you can and if there’s something for you to do, step up and perform it.

If you decide to help, please walk carefully. One simple mistake, easily made, is doing everything for the depressed person. Unfortunately, this could keep them in their state of mind. 

Whatever you do, try to do something within your ability. It may be asking them to help you, giving them small responsibilities, or trusting them with something. It could be secretly paying a bill, supplying a meal, or taking care of their child for a few hours. How about asking them if they want to walk in the sunshine, take photographs, or play a game. Laughter does add to health.  

If you want to help or think you can help a hurting person, 

whatever you do, do all with love.

You can accomplish much without having to mention the illness.

When you love someone, you move with compassion to fill the need.

I now can feel my depression and notice when it is affecting me. I have learned to watch myself and seek the friends I need when it begins. Jesus has helped me live life more abundantly, and even though my flesh gets in the way, I have my Lord to sustain me.

Not everyone has Jesus, but everyone needs Him.

Vaporous

 "and you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a time and then vanishes away" James 4:14. (NKJ)

Many women hate to tell their age. I have no such hang-ups about age. In a month I will be 51 years old. To me that is amazing. Especially since I didn't think I would live to reach 30. There were times, I didn't want to reach 20. My life was so miserable, I thought it was way to long to live through a day.

Sexually abused by my Father, bullied at school for being of one of the areas poorest families, ignored by teachers imagining I wasn't worth the time to teach me, lonely and isolated, life was so rotten, suicide was a poplar notion.

I grew more afraid of men and people in general that my isolation became actually terror of public places.

Was help ever going to come or was I destined to kill myself? 

I needed help---where was God?

I knew a God existed but I had no idea that I needed to approach Him through His Son in His perfection. I thought He should do something for me. I didn't know anything about sin verses righteousness. No one had ever explained to me that I was an enemy of God, and unforgiven because of Adam. I imagined God looked down and helped those like me who needed pity. If God were so loving and kind and good, God should help me because I needed help and no human was helping me.

I can't describe all of my life and the day to day thoughts and struggles and survival. I can't explain the hate, rages, fear, and panic. I can't explain the desperation for love that I would allow men to use me. I can't explain the drug and alcohol use that took me away from myself and made life light and fun for a time. Then comes the bitterness of the sickening aftertaste. That is too much to tell. *

But....

Isn't it great there is a but?

But, now that I have the answer, I am going to have my 51 birthday in June of 2014.

My answer is Jesus Christ. My life is Jesus Christ.

My 51 years seems a long time, yet God says I've only lived as a vapor. Poof, I'm born, lived and died. God sees all of that and He sees me with Him now as today. God sees me in my new body living the abundant, glorious life on His new earth He promises to all who believe in Him.

"Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done, saying, 'My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure" Isaiah 46:10. (NKJ)

I'm a vaporous puff on this earth but for eternity, I am a forever child of God.

"Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them" Psalm 139: 16. (NKJ)

"How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great are the sum of them! If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand; when I awake, I am still with You" Psalm 139: 17, 18. (NKJ)


God gives abundant life!

*(If you want a few more details, click the My Testimony Button in the left panel of this blog.)

Handling Holiday Depression

This is an article from my files from when I wrote for the Somerset Times Weekly. (2008-2012) I feel it is still relevant.

  Emotions can either rise because of the Christmas season or close in on a person who feels unloved or put upon by others. Studies show that four to six percent of Americans suffer post-Christmas depression. Many of these people are isolated from family and friends, not necessarily by social distress but by choice. Many sufferers begin getting depressed before the holiday and slowly begin the isolation process, overwhelmed by the stress of shopping and resentment of pressure from what to give to who gets what. This makes the person close in on him or herself and seek to be alone, wanting the noise, and bustle to be over so their lives can get back to normal routine. Some people feel pressured by the Christmas Carols played extensively in stores and public PA systems. The songs meant for joy and festive ambiance heightening the emotional stress. These feelings can become dangerously extreme by the New Year.

  People who have lost loved ones during the year feel the loss more because they don’t have that person in their lives to enjoy the gift exchange, food, or parties. The void is sometimes impossible to fill even through many years. Facing the New Year can be tough for those living with such a loss.