Two Women, Centuries Apart, With Parallel Journeys

Vimala

I have written and spoken about Naomi whose story is recorded in the book of Ruth in the Old Testament, many times. There are so many lessons we can learn from her life. The stories of these women were given to us by God to instruct
and help us when our lives face difficulties too.  Today I want to again look at some of the occurrences in the life of Naomi and then introduce you to an incredible widow who lives in India and trace the journeys of each as they traveled the long, hard road to wholeness and productivity after suffering the overwhelming grief of widowhood, coupled with cultural constraints on them and prejudice and mistreatment toward them.

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God Has a Better Plan for You

For the past several weeks the blog has focused on the prophet Elijah and how he felt totally forlorn, alone and fearful for his life that had been threatened by the wicked Queen Jezebel, so much so that...

Of Whom Shall I Fear?

Most of you will recall the story (I Kings 18) in the Old Testament where the prophet Elijah challenged the gods of Israel. The 450 prophets of the god Baal were to pray to him and Elijah was to pray to Jehovah God to send fire to burn up a sacrifice. All day the prophets prayed to their god with no results. Then Elijah prayed to Jehovah God and fire fell and burned up the sacrifice, not stopping until the wood, the stones, the soil, and even the water were burned up by the fire of the one true God. The people were amazed and worshipped Jehovah as the one true God;

Fruitfulness Through Suffering

In the 41st chapter of the book of Genesis, we read the following:

 Before the years of famine came, two sons were born to Joseph by Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On. ⁵¹ Joseph named his firstborn Manasseh^[e] and said, “It is because God has made me forget all my trouble and all my father’s household.” ⁵² The second son he named Ephraim^[f] and said, “It is because God has made me fruitful in the land of my suffering.”

For any of you who aren’t familiar with the story of Joseph, let me just summarize it for you..

Hope without Action is Wishful Thinking

             Someone much wiser than I stated recently that hope is an action verb. In reality, hope can be used as a noun or a verb. But most often I think we see it used as a verb as in, “I hope you’re calling with good news.” No action is required here on the part of the one doing the hoping; it’s just wishful thinking...

Robes Made By Dorcas

Acts 9:36-42

Dorcus, a word which means “Gazelle”, was sometimes called Tabitha. She was a very kind person who spent her time caring for the widows of Joppa. The story takes place in the time of the early church right after Saul’s conversion.

Tabitha, it is not known whether she was a widow or not, could have been the leader or overseer of the local widows or she may have been a dear friend who cared for them. What is clear is that she did many good things for others. We are going to study what happened in Joppa when Tabitha took ill and died.  This is where the story gets exciting...

Mary Sits while Martha "Steams!"

When we read Scripture, it isn’t always prudent to read it as something that happened last week or even last decade. Sometimes the reason we miss the greater meaning of a passage is because we lack a proper setting for understanding it. So, with that in mind, let me give you just a brief background of 1^st century Judea and its treatment of women. The rabbis of Jesus’ day had little use for women. Did you know that...

An Eternal Love Story

       

  February is “love month,” the month in which Americans celebrate Valentine’s Day. Do you remember as a little girl in school hoping that you would be the recipient of many valentines to bring home to show your mother? You thought that the more you received was proof of your esteem among your classmates. Perhaps that was so or perhaps not. But, getting a valentine, or some other token of affection, on February 14^th is always a good thing and, as widows...