Verse 9 reminds us of the glorious patience of the Lord! He is waiting, not forcing the issue but waiting for us to respond to His wonderful grace as applied to both redemption and edification.

In the first five verses of chapter one of Ruth we see human drama and pain playing out in real life.

We find in the Old Testament that our Chosen Jewish friends were to be examples for the world and to live life in accordance with the instructions from the God who called them as a people.

The Apostle Paul wrote a mighty treatise and passionate document to a group of Roman Christians. In this letter, most likely read in public in many house churches, he addressed his passion for preaching Jesus Christ crucified and resurrected.

The middle of December for many means that gifts are being planned out and bought, homes have been or will be decorated; lawns and houses glow brightly with yuletide, snowmen, reindeer, and all things lights.

Old stories carry the power to attract, to invite, and to open a window into another place and time.

In this passage, Isaiah addressed the period of exile in which Jerusalem had been destroyed, and the majority of Judeans were taken to live in Babylon.

In this season, Isaiah reminds us of the coming Messiah and what that Messiah will do with and for the people of Zion. This includes us today.

It does not matter what time frame one is living in, God’s hands are always powerfully delivering and protecting His children from the enemy.

Jesus was born about seven hundred years after Isaiah describes the kind of future that God’s people were going to have. There is so much encouragement in realizing that there is hope for salvation.