Proverbs 31 Man

 <sup>I'm convinced that if Proverbs 31 refers to Ruth, that this passage also refers to the character of Boaz. In Ruth 2:1 he is described as a man of standing; as Ruth is described as a woman of noble character. As I placed [he] in the places of [she], I quickly saw that what applied to the proverbs 31 woman, which made her a great find, was also admirable in the character of her husband, which made him quite the catch :)

10 [b]</sup>A [husband of standing] who can find?
   He is worth far more than rubies.
¹¹ His wife has full confidence in him
   and lacks nothing of value.
¹² He brings her good, not harm,
   all the days of her life.
¹³ He selects wool and flax
   and works with eager hands.
¹⁴ He is like the merchant ships,
   bringing her food from afar.
¹⁵ He gets up while it is still night;
   He provides food for his family
   and portions for his [male] servants.
¹⁶ He considers a field and buys it;
   out of his earnings he plants a vineyard.
¹⁷ He sets about his work vigorously;
   his arms are strong for his tasks.
¹⁸ He sees that his trading is profitable,
   and his lamp does not go out at night.
¹⁹ In his hand he holds the distaff
   and grasps the spindle with his fingers.
²⁰ He opens his arms to the poor
   and extends his hands to the needy.
²¹ When it snows, he has no fear for his household;
   for all of them are clothed in scarlet.
²² He makes coverings for his bed;
   he is clothed in fine linen and purple.
²³ His wife is respected at the city gate,
   where she takes his seat among the [women] of the land.
²⁴ He makes linen garments and sells them,
   and supplies the merchants with sashes.
²⁵ He is clothed with strength and dignity;
   he can laugh at the days to come.
²⁶ He speaks with wisdom,
   and faithful instruction is on his tongue.
²⁷ He watches over the affairs of his household
   and does not eat the bread of idleness.
²⁸ His children arise and call him blessed;
   his wife also, and she praises him:
²⁹ “Many men do noble things,
   but you surpass them all.”
³⁰ Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;
   but a man who fears the LORD is to be praised.
³¹ Honor him for all that his hands have done,
   and let his works bring him praise at the city gate.

Seek.....

Seek faithfulness and not perfection, if you seek perfection you will always fall short, but if you seek faithfulness, you can guarantee that God’s glory will be displayed. God gets to show off in our faithfulness, we show off in our pursuit of perfection, in our perfection we obtain glory, but in our faithfulness, God receives glory.

I refuse to seek perfection in my work, my confession, in my profession of faith, in love, in compassion, and in worship, instead I seek to be faithful in my work, my confession, in my profession of faith, in love, in compassion, and in worship. As I seek to be justified in Christ, I find that I myself am a sinner, but if I seek to be justified by the law (perfection), I alienate myself from Christ, and he becomes of no value to me.

Don’t seek acceptance in the eyes of man, seek favor in the eyes of God, and in return God will grant you favor in the eyes of man. Christ never sought the acceptance or approval of man, but received their favor unto death. He found favor in the eyes of his enemies, they could say nothing about his character, could find not a single charge, only that he claimed to be the Son of God, which they will see was no charge but was true indeed. 

What if God doesn't heal you?

“If God doesn’t heal you, it is NOT because he doesn’t love you, but because there is a greater purpose in your suffering than in your healing. And he will fulfill his purposes in your life, he will not abandon the work of his hands.” 

Disclaimer: More to be written on this...

Ladies, He Doesn't Owe You Kindness

Radical Thinking: Every act of kindness shown by a man of God or a man of this world is just that, an act of kindness. If I can begin to look at these acts of kindness shown to me through the lens of love, I can begin to look at them as brothers and friends. Daughters, as offensive as this sounds you are not entitled to nor do you deserve the kindness of men, take Ruth, who did not expect any kindness from Boaz, which in return freed her to be thankful for every individual act of kindness from him. Yet daughters, does that mean we don’t have expectations of men, no, we do, especially those who belong to the body of Christ. Because we are freed from entitlement and any claim to their kindness, we then leave room for God to set expectations. They are expected to speak kindly to us, be men of comfort, whom we are to find a sense of security and safety in, they are to be gentle in character and in speech, and are to be protective of us and speak blessings over us, and in this way they will display the character of their Father Boaz, who in return never expected the kind of kindness he received from his dearly beloved Ruth.  Women, we are to neither be critical or over-analytical in their actions, we are not in any way to weigh their motives, as the motives of the heart lay bare before God, and if they are sinful God is sure to make that apparent in his speech as he will be proven to be foolish, a brother, but very much so foolish indeed. Accept their kindness in thanks. We are not speak to them with words of flattery, but with words of genuine praise; do not refuse his kindness in false humility or reject his kindness in prideful rebellion; both will prove to be extremely unattractive qualities. Above all, be willing to wait- whether for him or for God, or both, not only be willing, but wait.

Foolish Love Songs

I used to think it was foolish of songs to say that they would sell everything for their lover. But I have never been in love with another person. The bible says men are too love their wives like Christ loved the church and women are to submit to their husbands. I find this puzzling and quite beautiful. Christ desires that we submit to him and trust him completely, and this seems the plight of the man who desires his wife to not fight him on every decision, but to trust his decisions as to bring her goodness and not harm, and to simply believe in him and the work he has done. This is why Christ was slightly annoyed with his disciples, after they had seen so much of his work and still didn’t believe. In return the church desires to KNOW Christ loves her, that he will never leave or abandon her despite her lack of trust, and that her husband accepts her for who she is but loves her too much to not help her grow. So it is only probable that a woman has to be reassured that her husband loves her not by a laundry list of things he does (which are good, please do not stop doing these things, there appreciated lol), BUT by his promises and his ability to fulfill them, by his affectionate response similar to that of “ I have loved you with an everlasting love and will never leave or forsake you” Then proceed to remind her of the things you have done..like “I died on the cross for your sins, because I loved you that much.” Sounds a lot better than I wake up every morning and go to work, don’t I? Both partners desire above all- to be treasured, to sell everything for their lover. This is more than a feeling, an intellectual acceptance of facts, this my friends is perfect love, worth a thousand foolish love songs.