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We all have some moments in our lives when we experience deep brokenness. We all have them - moments of debilitating depression and anxiety, moments when our darkness pushes us even to the point of having a death wish in our hearts. This is a Scripture describing and ministering to the whole human who the Lord loves and lives to heal when we're in just that state.
This is a Peace Academy recording of a teaching on 1 Kings 18.
This story on its face looks merely like good viewing. In other words, it looks like awesome ancient pay-per-view. The narrator, however, shows you that it can't be because it's actually no contest. In many ways, it looks like the contest is over in your life before it even starts. Baal has already basically won. That is, until, the great prophet of God steps in to give you the only God who will give everything for you to give you the everything you really need. Listen in!
Life is perplexing. It has been ever since we broke this place. And that means we get perplexed. There is a very natural and seductive way that we deal with our perplexities that this Scripture powerfully addresses. Even more powerful, however, is the way the Lord teaches us to properly deal with our perplexities. Listen in!
There is one last tragedy in the book of Ruth that we see in the life of Naomi. It's the suspense we feel as we live out our own stories. The suspense that holds us back from fully engaging own our lives. The internal suspense that makes us too afraid to let go of our fears. While that kind of suspense makes for a good story, it makes for a tragic kind of life - a life where you are always dragging around past baggage. The Spirit ministers to the human spirit in this Scripture giving it strength to fully hope in the last word of every believers' book. Listen in!
There are many, many legal details in this scene of Ruth. It is difficult to wade through. There are so many details that it can be appealing to focus on the lower story here - the story of a biblical beauty and a biblical prince who end up together, but there is a higher story here and a greater magic that we have to see. Right here in this Scripture we get to see divine love. Who knew legal details could be so saving? Listen in!