Author: Greg Teats

Today’s reading – Ruth 3

Which human weakness highlights God’s faithfulness?

Let’s cut to the chase and answer this question first, then we can discuss further.  What human weakness best highlights God’s faithfulness?? It is the inability to keep promises!  At first, I wasn’t sure what the appropriate answer was.  In 2 Timothy, chapter 2:13, “If we are faithless, he remains faithful”.  So what exactly makes us faithless to Him??  We could go on all day listing out things that can make us faithless to God.  But I get it and agree, it’s the empty promises we tell ourselves and share with God.

Let’s get back to the reading, Ruth 3.  Naomi knows it is time for Ruth to secure her future, and Naomi has a plan.  She sends her off to Boaz to present herself appropriately and let him see her as a potential wife, not just a worker.

Ruth waits until he is asleep and lies down next to him.  He wakes up and she explains her being there.  None of this was inappropriate but more so the legal and covenant-based way to do things back then.

Boaz praises Ruth for her character and is honored she chose him instead of some younger and richer man. But there is a problem, another man has the legal right to redeem Ruth.  In turn, Boaz shows integrity, patience and respect for the law to see that the correct steps are taken and no shortcuts are made.

Boaz sends Ruth back to Naomi but not empty handed.  When Ruth returns, Naomi knows that Boaz is a man of action and of his word and will do what is necessary and right.

Let me break down everyone in this story.  Ruth is bold, respectful, and intentional.  Boaz is honorable and decisive.  Naomi is strategic and wise.

How will we respond in trust and obedience?

God is working quietly throughout our lives and with normal decisions and integrity.  Ruth chapter 3 is about trusting His timing, doing things the right way, and courageously stepping into our futures without manipulation.  How will I respond in trust and obedience in the day to day??  Well…I have an idea how I have been doing it.  Half the time I don’t think about it, I just DO.  The other half I talk with God and trust that I am making the right decisions, and He will help guide me the rest of the way.  The fault in that statement is the word HALF.  HALF the time is not how often He wants me to trust and obey Him.  He wants ALL of me and you, not just a part, not just 50%, ALL.

The more we could all be like Ruth, Naomi, and Boaz the better.  The faith and trust they have in God is what we should desire.  The promises that we give Him and the promises that He gives us all we need to help us make sure our footsteps align with His until we see him in Heaven.

Genesis 28

Where do we see God keeping His promises?

In this chapter of Genesis, Jacob is basically on the run.  Isaac tells him to get out of dodge and go marry one of his uncle Laban’s daughters, not a Canaanite woman.  On his way to Paddan-aram when the sun is going down he finds a good spot to close his eyes and a stone to rest his head.  Once asleep, he has a dream of a staircase that begins on earth and extends all the way up to heaven, with angels moving up and down.  God is at the top and speaks to him.  Most importantly, He says, “I am with you, and I will protect you wherever you go.”

Notice, God promises His presence to Jacob, but doesn’t promise his life to be easy.  He says, “I will not leave you”.  You see, His main promise is not comfort and assurance throughout Jacob’s life, but instead, it’s companionship along the way.   Jacob wakes up and treats that encounter more like, ‘If God takes care of me, then the Lord will be my God’.  That isn’t the way God necessarily intended it, but I believe is more proof that God works with people who are still figuring things out.

What promise are we invited to trust today?

Genesis 28 is a perfect example of showing us how we are expected to be ‘perfect’ Christians and followers of God.  We can never be perfect.  We don’t have to always say the perfect prayer.  We shouldn’t worry that we never experience a divine encounter with God.  Any ordinary place can become a sacred place to us with Him.  God doesn’t have to meet us always in the steadiness of our faith, it could be in the evolution of it.  God’s presence is always with us, even when we don’t know where we are going.

This chapter shows that God shows up when we are uncertain.  He promises to walk with us rather than fix everything instantly.  Often, He turns ordinary, uncomfortable moments into turning points.  He promises to always be with us no matter what.  You can certainly trust that.

Psalm 113

I can’t put a number on how many times the family and I go to church on Sundays and am either reminded by the pastor or simply sitting in my seat reminding myself how it isn’t just on Sundays for an hour or so that I should be talking with Him and praising Him.  We all know the correct answer…..it’s ALL THE TIME.  All the time, whenever we have a second, put the phone down and tell Him, Thank You! I Love You.  I Have Nothing Without You in my Heart.  That is what Psalm 113 describes.

Verses 1-3: Praise the Lord at all times, from everywhere

Verses 4-6: God is above everything, yet still cares about us

Verses 7-9: God lifts people up and gives hope to the hopeless

This Psalm is pure worship.  It reminds us that we cannot even begin to comprehend how amazing He truly is. He should be admired for His greatness and worshipped for His compassion as well.  To continue to worship Him at times when we don’t NEED something is so important, not just when we have a request following shortly after.  I am absolutely guilty when it comes to taking those many moments throughout the whole day and not once thinking about using those moments to give Him at least a little praise.  Sure, I spare some time in the morning before the day starts, then again at night when my head hits the pillow, but I am truly missing out on all those opportunities.

So many times, my mom calls me at whatever point in the day.  She asks me what I am doing.  Without thinking, I tell her I’m busy.  Half of the time, I am probably not.  I am either driving to the next stop or sitting in front of my computer working on something that can be put on hold for 5 minutes.

What if God called me on my cell phone?!  Think about this….what if God started calling you on your cell phone tomorrow??  What if he called you a few times a day, even during a work meeting, just to check in.  I don’t know what the reason could possibly be that we don’t answer that call every time. Can you even grasp at the idea to have the opportunity to hear his voice and get a chance to have a few words with Him just once?!

Psalm 113, God deserves nonstop praise at all times, from everywhere, because He is both incredibly powerful and incredibly caring and beyond anything we can comprehend.

1 Timothy Chapter 5

In this chapter, Paul is giving his mentee (Timothy) some practical advice for guiding the church.  Upon reading through the chapter, my mind went straight to the 10 commandments.  Honor your Father and Mother.  Then it was, treat those as you wish to be treated.  Paul gets a little more specific with Timothy here, though.  He brings attention to the older man, the widows, and the elders and how we and the church should be caring and treating them.

THE OLDER MAN – Don’t rebuke the older man but treat him as if he was your father.  This is easy isn’t it?  Look around, do you see everyone else doing this??  If we aren’t, we need to start.  The world today needs to get back to showing a little more respect to one another and not just the ‘older man’.  I am sure we call all agree some of that has been lost in translation of late.  So let us listen to Paul here and work harder at treating people like family, older men and women like fathers and mothers and younger men and women like brothers and sisters.  Start on Sunday mornings at church and carrying it into the beginning of the week at work with those around you.  Continue to treat everyone with dignity, care and genuine love and not favoritism and partiality.

THE WIDOWS – In versus 3-16, Paul is talking about caring for widows and those in need like family.  He goes more into detail on what types of widows and who is someone that is really in need.  He describes that the certain care that should be given based on the relationship you have with that person.  We need to make sure that we are caring for our immediate family first and foremost if we can do so, family should not be our neighbor’s sole responsibility.  It becomes the church’s responsibility more so when someone doesn’t have anyone else to help them.  He also warns against those who are taking advantage of the system, aka those who live carelessly and are more than capable of taking care of themselves.  Basically, be generous, but also wise and fair.  Help those that truly need it, family first, and pay close attention to those who have lived faithfully and have served others when they had the chance.

THE ELDERS – When Paul talks about ‘the elders’ he is not referencing Grandma and Grandpa.  This is directed to leader in and of the church.  Those who teach and preach.  If there is a rumor being spread about an elder, don’t be the one to just continue the gossip.  But if the gossip is true and witnessed by others, then they need to be corrected publicy and held accountable.  I am not sure if this is really happening in 2025 like Paul means it here, but honestly I think it needs to make a comeback.  Interpretation and division have grown vast over time and there is some type of correcting that needs to take place to re-center many churches today.  Just because someone is an elder in the church today doesn’t necessarily mean they deserve it or should be.  Elders should be chosen without bias or favoritism and they themselves should keep these instructions moving forward.  So, support good leaders, handle conflicts fairly, and don’t let gossip or bias cloud your judgment.  Everyone’s true character eventually will show through.

As you go forward, keep in mind the integrity, responsibility and respect we should be expressing toward those in our lives.  Treat others like you want to be treated.  Take care of those in need, especially those you know who need it and can’t do it on their own.  Honor the faithful and hold leaders in the church accountable and just.  And live in a way that reflects wisdom and truth and remember, what’s done in the dark will be brought to the light.

 

Psalm 92

Has anyone ever woken up in the morning to pray or lied down at night to pray and not found at least one thing to give thanks to God??  I know, me either.  In fact, it is 1,000% the opposite.  I bet anyone of us could sit down and write a list to last all day long of everything in our lives that we could thank God for.  I mean, He has given all of us everything that we have so far achieved or received. He brought us through yesterday, gave us this day today, and God willing that we wake up tomorrow and are blessed to praise Him for all we have again until our time on Earth is done.

Psalm 92 is a reminder of this, to be thankful while also being humble.  Sing about His love in the morning and His faithfulness at night.  There will never be a shortage of reasons for any of us to never give thanks to and worship God.  The cycle will repeat every day for the rest of your life.

What we see in the second half of this passage is familiar throughout many stories and messages in the bible.  The wicked always seem to flourish momentarily but it never lasts forever.  It’s the righteous who are always the last left standing.  Verse 12, “The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon”.  This is God’s people, compared to those that seem to be doing great for a while but wither away, much like a weed.  Even when the tree gets older, it stays fruitful, fresh and full of life.

Verse 15, “The Lord is upright; He is my Rock, and there is no wickedness in Him.”

 

Psalm 85

As you read through Psalm 85, it shows two sides of God.  First, God’s anger against sin then secondly, God’s salvation that restores sinners and fills them with righteousness.  This psalm follows up after God’s people had been disciplined from what I can tell in earlier psalms, the people of Israel.  God’s anger had been directed to his people but now things seemed to be cooling off, and everyone was repenting and asking God for forgiveness.

The psalmist voices how things are getting hard again.  They are praying for God to not turn his back on them and instead show them mercy and help them once more.  Basically saying, the people that love and honor you are here for you to rescue them again.

Verses 10 thru 13 paraphrased: “Steadfast love and faithfulness meet; righteousness and peace kiss each other.  Faithfulness springs up from the ground, and righteousness looks down from the sky.  The Lord will give what is good, and our land will yield its increase.  Righteousness will go before Him and make His footsteps a way.”

I have heard a prime example of when righteousness and peace kiss each other is when Jesus died on the cross for our sins.  When Jesus died for our sins, we are able to be declared righteous and that brings us into a relationship of peace with God.  Here, we see the reunion with righteousness and peace.  The righteousness bestowed on us and the peace that comes with that need never be separated or estranged again if our trust remains in Jesus.

Psalm 85 is a perfect prayer for anyone hoping for renewal, whether in their family, community, business, or nation.  It is about remembering God’s past faithfulness, owning our need for change, and asking Him to revive hope and blessing in our lives again.

Psalm 80

This is another Psalm written by Asaph that can be described as a prayer to God to help those who felt oppressed or that God has turned his back on them.

If you think about it, verses 1-7 are probably what many of us ask or think about in our prayers quite often.  This small, simple prayer might sum it up a bit:

‘Father, please help me.  Shine Your light on me and keep me safe through the trials that I am going through.  I know there are things that I do that don’t always make You happy, but please don’t ignore me and leave me all alone.  Life can be so difficult. Help me to not embarrass myself by my actions in front of my loved ones so that those with ill intentions can use it against me.  Please restore me and bring me closer to You.’

The rest of the Psalm is Asaph describing how previously God cleared the promise land, drove out the evil nations, and planted a vine.  This vine did very well while it was in the protection of God. But then to the fault of its own, the vine became no longer healthy.  The wall that was there before had been torn down.  Anyone or thing that wanted to do harm to this vine was allowed to do so.

This vine was a depiction of Israel.  God cleared the way for Israel to be safe, to thrive and to be protected.  Once the people of Israel rebelled, God took the walls down.  He let all nations that wanted to oppress Israel go ahead and crush them.

Asaph’s prayer was simple.  ‘God, please come back.  You’ve seen what has happened.  Your people are devastated as if a fire has burnt everything to the ground.  Please restore the vine and make it strong once more.  If you do this, we promise we won’t turn away from you again.’

Now how many times have we prayed in similar ways like this?  “God, if you do this, then I promise to do that.” We know that our intentions are good and just, He knows our intentions are good and just, but how often do we actually hold up our end of the bargain?  I certainly can’t tell you the exact date this Psalm was written by Asaph but Google says it was at least 586 B.C to 722 B.C.  And yet, here in 2025, some of us make promises to God just like they did back then.

Don’t get me wrong, as I said earlier, our intentions are good!  We just need to do a better job of not forgetting who cleared the way for us.  Who planted the vine for us.  And who keeps the walls up and protects us.  At those times when our walls start to break and the outside world starts to bust through, it is only our Creator that can truly help restore us, save us and make us shine again!

Psalm 73

In Psalm 73, Asaph describes how at first, he was envious and tempted after watching the way the wicked and arrogant live their lives in verses 1 through 14.  His jealousy was brewing.  He wasn’t seeing the instant gratification in what he knows of his own pure heart while the immoral were prospering right in front of him.  He wasn’t seeing them struggle, their bodies were healthy, and their lives looked so easy.  They spoke with such arrogance as if they themselves owned the heavens, and people around them were soaking up every drop.

Others could see this evil happening and began questioning God.  “Why is He allowing this?”  These heartless people were living carefree, getting richer and richer.  Meanwhile the righteous were suffering?!  Asaph was tempted to believe that all his time trying to live a holy life was for nothing.  Verse 13, “Surely in vain have I kept my heart pure; in vain have I washed my hands in innocence.”

Then in verses 15 through 28, Asaph brings himself back to what he knows is true and good after getting clarity from visiting the sanctuary.  When it came to decision time and whether he would opt in with the evil doers, he was wise enough to stay to true to God’s words.  He knew in his heart that these wicked people were walking a tight rope with no net underneath to catch them.  He understood that just because these individuals were ‘flourishing’ in this life, punishment awaited them in the next.

Asaph acknowledged his foolishness for initially questioning God. Verse 22, “I was senseless and ignorant; I was a brute beast before you.”  Also summarized in verses 27 and 28, ‘those far from You will perish, but as for me, it is good to be near You.”

We all see this every day.  People arrogantly boasting about how good they have it and how easy life is.  But if we keep listening, they are easier to spot than you would think.  It is usually those that seem to give all the glory to themselves and leave out any mention or thanks be to God.   Then you can truly see who has been feeding off the devil’s lies.

Our societies are filled with so many people who are completely confused about who they are, why they’re here, and the meaning of life.  They are walking off cliffs, and the only thing that will save them is the truth that flows out of the sanctuary of God.

Philippians 2

A modest or low view of one’s own importance according to Webster.

I know, I know. We all already know what humility is.  What it looks like.  How it is defined.  But how often do we sit and think about the Bible’s meaning of humility?  I don’t disagree with Google…..”A key virtue marked by an absence of pride and self-centeredness, emphasizing love and placing God and others before oneself”.

In Philippians, Paul breaks down humility very simply.  Verses 3 & 4, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.  Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.”  Paul makes it so easy to read, but is it that easy to carry out in everyday life?  Are we all able to find humility in our everyday lives or do we very often get lost in our own self-interests and desires?

I love how life works.  Just this morning before I sat down to spend time on this chapter in Philippians, I was listening to a podcast.  The host is an avid pool player and his guest is currently the #1 pool player in the world.  The host explained how he casually played against his guest a couple of years ago and lost several times, expectedly.  But the host wasn’t mad or upset that he lost, even though he finds himself as a very good pool player.  No, instead he told the guest how humbling it made him feel.  The host knows he can beat the average pool hall player but also recognizes that the guest is an elite pro.  This pro spends way more time practicing and playing pool and there is a reason he is #1 and the host understands and accepts this.

This is just a microcosm example of everyday humility and certainly not exactly the type of humility Paul is referring to in Philippians.  Paul’s humility is that of Jesus.  One that describes not considering equality with God to be attainable, but instead being a simple servant made in human likeness.  By just humbling yourself for who and what God made you.

When I think of being humble, I think of exactly where I am sitting or standing in that very moment.  I am currently sitting in my office in my house in front of my computer.  I am humbled by everything I have in my life.  An amazing God-fearing wife, 2 amazing little girls, a roof over our heads, all the family and friends that I love and care about and that love and care about me.

But every night I put my head on my pillow, periodically throughout the day and especially church on Sundays, I am reminded of the humility through Jesus.  Verse 5, “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus”.  This is not true for me 100% of the time, and thank God that’s ok.  But it is a great memento that it should be a lot closer to 100% than 0%.  A recent sermon in the last month has stuck with me in absolutely everything I do that Right or Wrong(especially wrong), I need to be more like Jesus in every which way.  If it were easy everyone would do it!  Well, none of us can be 100% like Jesus, but maybe we can at least try more, 100% of the time.

Psalm 52

Doeg the Edomite was down-right the opposite of what we know as a good person.  He was essentially an antagonist.  Has anyone ever run into one of those in your life??  The answer is probably yes, but have any of us ever run into one like Doeg?  That may be a different answer.  Doeg was extremely proud of doing wrong.  It wasn’t just mere sinning, he was boastful about it.  He highly indulged in the telling of lies way more than the truth.

Then there is the complete opposite of Doeg, and that is David.  He believes in truth over lies all day long.  He reminds us that God will always expose the lies and remove those that act in such a deceitful manner.  God always sees the truth and will bring justice.  David knows that the righteous will always see God’s justice and learn the lesson to be given.  So many times lies can lead to more money, power, and wealth, but only true trust in God is what is most real and right.

Doeg was the epitome of a bad man.  He was a true example of the bad guy in the movies who wanted no part of being good or righteous.  God always sees his type of injustice, but remember God will respond in His time.  Evil people may seem powerful for a while, but it won’t last.  Trust in God and stay rooted in His love.  Remain faithful even when evil seems to be winning.