Congratulations to all the women who just completed the study of Ruth: Loss, Love and Legacy I’m so proud of you!  More importantly, you’ve delighted God with your persistence in finishing the study. We started our study with Naomi losing her husband and two sons, and completed our study with the birth of the Savior, a kinsmen-redeemer.

Beth Moore has posted her final post for this year’s Summer Siesta Bible Study. You can read the Summer Siesta Bible Study Wrap Up here. Below is the video Beth has created for weeks five and six of the study.

Summer Siesta Bible Study – Ruth Final Week from LPV on Vimeo.

Prayer Requests

Throughout the study, we have been praying for you individually. We starting a new prayer wall as we begin our new study of Jonah today. If you have a prayer need, please submit a new one here.

Kelly Minter Quotes

• The last thing we sometimes think of is how we can bless God or someone else with our coveted treasure.
• Faithful obedience and love to God during our earthly years can affect things long after we’re gone.
• Only God looks on the heart perfectly.

This Week’s Scripture Verses-NIV

Children’s children are a crown to the aged, and parents are the pride of their children. Proverbs 17:6

Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Hebrews 10:22

Group Discussion- From the Beth Moore Blog

1. Turn to p.122 and review the paragraph in the middle of the page beginning with the words, “I wonder if your life can be easily explained.” Follow your review by sharing what you wrote in reference to the “Personal Response” portion just below it, if you feel led.
2. Turn to p.136. Kelly wraps up Week Five by asking us to have a closing prayer time over the one thing that touched us most in that five-day unit. If you feel comfortable doing so, please share that one thing with your small group or, if you’re going solo, share it with me and the rest of your participating sisters.
3. Turn to p.144 and look at the wonderful bold print at the bottom of the page. Review the answer to the question, “Who suddenly takes center stage and does this surprise you?” Then, glance up to the top of the next page (p.145) and share your answers to the “Personal Take.” Have fun looking over those next couple of paragraphs Kelly wrote about “you know, the women!”
4. Day’s Four and Five are so powerful that I cannot choose just one portion for you to review. Please glance over the entire ending to the Bible study, stretching over both lessons, and share what you have gleaned from God concerning LEGACY. God is just better than He has to be, isn’t He?

We’ve just completed week five of Ruth: Loss, Love and Legacy as we followed Ruth from the foot of the threshing floor into the marriage bed and birth of her first child. Most obvious to me is that during this season, Ruth never complained, never expressed anger at God, and never screamed in agony for her living conditions. She simply waited, trusted, and believed with all her heart, soul and strength in a God that was bigger than the problems of her life. I peeked ahead to see what she named the baby….and the abundant blessings waiting for Ruth in the last chapter of our study. I hope you’re enjoying the Kelly Minter study as much as I am! I think if Ruth was living in modern times with access to the internet, she’d most likely listen to this: My Redeemer Lives by Nicole C Mullen

Prayer Requests

Thank you for posting your prayer needs, we have been praying for you individually. If you have a special request, so please post your prayer requests here.

Kelly Minter Quotes

• One of the most tragic ways for a Christian to spend her life is to be in the right place with all the right resources but without a willing heart.
• Our heritage is not a deal breaker for Christ.
• Laying down our lives for others, for the sake of Jesus, is never wasted.
• Ruth has lost, she has loved, and now she is leaving a legacy.

This Week’s Scripture Verses-NIV

For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Mark 10:45

With the arrival of Jesus, the Messiah, that fateful dilemma is resolved. Those who enter into Christ’s being-here-for-us no longer have to live under a continuous, low-lying black cloud. A new power is in operation. The Spirit of life in Christ, like a strong wind, has magnificently cleared the air, freeing you from a fated lifetime of brutal tyranny at the hands of sin and death. God went for the jugular when he sent his own Son. He didn’t deal with the problem as something remote and unimportant. In his Son, Jesus, he personally took on the human condition, entered the disordered mess of struggling humanity in order to set it right once and for all. The law code, weakened as it always was by fractured human nature, could never have done that. The law always ended up being used as a Band-Aid on sin instead of a deep healing of it. And now what the law code asked for but we couldn’t deliver is accomplished as we, instead of redoubling our own efforts, simply embrace what the Spirit is doing in us. Romans 8:1-4 The Message

Because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them. Hebrews 7:24-25

Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. Isaiah 43:1

Group Discussion- Answer ONE or as MANY as you like!

1. On day one, page 121, Kelly asks “What sacrificial, scary, risky or costly decision have you made in obedience to God? And what were the results.”
2. On day three, page 124, Kelly asks “Where are you in your surrender to God? Are you able but unwilling? Reflect on this and write your answer below.
3. On day four, we looked at the elders blessing over Ruth. Share a biblical blessing over this group of women in Bible study with you.
4. On day five, page 134, Kelly asks “How had God changed your life? What has He brought you from?” Share your answers with the group.
   

Beth Moore has posted her update on the Siesta Summer Bible Study as we’ve just finished reading week four of Ruth: Loss, Love and Legacy. From the comments you are posting, I can see that many of you are enjoying the study and the weekly lessons. A few of you are not posting comments and sending them directly to me by email. This week, I’ll contact those who are not participating and hold you accountable to your growth plan. Four more women joined us this week and will be posting  when they complete their week’s lesson. For those of you who have already completed the lessons and are reading ahead of the group, you may want to read Embracing Your Second Calling: Find Passion and Purpose in Your Life based upon the life of Naomi or Failing Forward: Turning Mistakes Into Stepping Stones for Success which parallels the decision Ruth made when she decided to walk forward with Naomi.

Here is the video update from Beth Moore, for week’s three and four of our Bible study. This is followed by FIVE interactive questions by Beth Moore, listed at the end of this blog post.

Summer Siesta Bible Study – Ruth Session 3 from LPV on Vimeo.

Prayer Requests

I have printed your Prayer Requests and placed them inside my workbook so I can pray for you individually. If you have a special request, so please post your prayer requests here.

Kelly Minter Quotes

• We’re fearful of finding out who God really is in relation to our deepest longings.
• When we’re wrapped up in garments of mourning, we’re unavailable for whatever else God has for us.
• The place of surrender is the most freeing place to be, and the hardest to get to.
• It was the breadth of God that carried her to such heights.
• God has called me to be a deliverer of His gifts, not a creator of them.
• Ruth’s dreams and reality began to latch into each other like colliding waves.

This Week’s Scripture Verses-NIV

Your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. Matt 6:18

Her mother-in-law asked her, “Where did you glean today? Where did you work? Blessed be the man who took notice of you!” Then Ruth told her mother-in-law about the one at whose place she had been working. “The name of the man I worked with today is Boaz,” she said. “The LORD bless him!” Naomi said to her daughter-in-law. “He has not stopped showing his kindness to the living and the dead.” She added, “That man is our close relative; he is one of our kinsman-redeemers.” Ruth 2:19-20

Group Discussion- Answer ONE or as MANY as you like! (From Beth Moore’s blog)

1. Turn to p.68 and review the first segment “For Discussion”: Describe a time when you were overcome by a man’s kindness. In keeping with the example of Ruth and Boaz, try to think in terms of an unexpected kindness.

2. Read Ruth 2:19-20 and review the climactic revelation in this Book of the Bible. After you read those two Scriptures, turn to p.85 and review the first couple of sentences of the paragraph in the middle of the page as follows: “It’s interesting that up to this point Naomi knew she had a kinsman-redeemer named Boaz but had no idea Ruth knew him; Ruth knew Boaz but didn’t know he was a kinsman redeemer. Suddenly these two pieces of information collided to potentially change the course of history.” Our divinely ordained collisions may not change the course of human history but they certainly change the course of our own personal history. Can any of you think of a time when God orchestrated an encounter or experience where you (or perhaps both/all parties involved) could say, “Only God could have known”? If so, share it. These would be really cool to hear in your blog comments so consider sharing one of the most meaningful examples.

3. Turn to p.95 and, if willing, share your answers to the “Personal Response” section at the very bottom of the page: “Describe a time when you’d done everything you could do and then had to wait for someone else’s response.”

4. Turn to p.108 and read the final paragraph on p.108 aloud (“If Ruth slept at all that night…). Then review the answer to the question in the middle of the page: “What did Boaz promise to do if the nearer relative chose not to redeem Ruth?” Then, share your responses to the discussion portion just below it where we were challenged to put ourselves in Ruth’s place. What kinds of feelings and thought processes would you have had in her exact situation?

5. Share a brand new insight she’s gained from this study regarding Christ as your Redeemer.

We’re halfway through our study of Ruth: Loss, Love and Legacy as we complete session three. This week was filled with many concepts, such as kindness, humility, righteousness, gifting and redemption. Each concept and lesson seemed to reach deep into my heart.

• In kindness, I learned that I have more to give and my sacrifice only touches the surface of the field
• In humility, I learned that I need to embrace humbleness rather than fear it
• In righteousness, I learned that Jesus covers me in white linen
• In gifting, I learned that I need to move from dependent to provider in my family
• In redemption, I learned that I am an heir in the family of Christ

Although we are reading scripture from Biblical times, the messages are relevant to life today when we stop, read a verse at a time, and think about today’s application. If you turn to the back of the workbook, on page 169, Kelly Minter has created a playlist for this weeks study. We’ve selected one of the songs from her list, so enjoy the music God of Justice, We Must Go by Tim Hughes:

Prayer Requests

Thank you for posting your prayer needs, we have been praying for you individually. If you have a special request, so please post your prayer requests here.

Kelly Minter Quotes

• When God has ordained the humbling, you can be certain that His love is the catalyst.
• All are welcome at this humble table.
• Apart from Christ, we are excluded from the right to dine at God’s table.
• We all have something to give, even if we are broke or broken.

This Week’s Scripture Verses-NIV

You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail. Isaiah 58:11

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich. 2 Cor 8:9

Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir. Galatians 4:6-7

Group Discussion- Answer ONE or as MANY as you like!

1. Are you in a season of reaping (cutting the harvest), sowing (planting the harvest) or both? How can you be generous in your season of reaping or sowing?
2. Does God have you in a season of humbling, or have you walked in one in your past? What happened during your season?
3. On page 70 Kelly asks “How did you find refuge under the wings of God?” If you have experienced His refuge, please share your story below.

Welcome back to the Bible Cafe, we’ve just finished reading session two of Ruth: Loss, Love and Legacy by Kelly Minter. When I think of the word “arriving” I am reminded of my recent family vacation, a five-hour drive through the mountains until we reach our destination: Grandma’s house. In order to get there, we had to plan our trip, hire the dogsitter, pack the provisions, check the safety of the car and follow the route on the navigation screen. As Kelly Minter writes, “arriving denotes the glee of much anticipated destinations and the end of long journeys.”

This week we learn that Naomi ended her long journey to Bethlehem and arrived home with her daughter-in-law Ruth, just in time for the harvest. We are connecting with Beth Moore this week, as she posts her second update for the Third Summer Bible Study. If you want to visit her blog to read the full post for week one and week two of our study then click here. Remember, Beth is posting every-other-week and we are posting once a week  and you need to post your comments here, not on Beth’s blog.

Summer Siesta Bible Study – Week 2 from LPV on Vimeo.

Prayer Requests

Thank you for posting your prayer needs, we have been praying for you individually. Please remember Terresa in your prayers, her cousin Sandra died on Thursday and the memorial service is on Saturday. It is very difficult for her 93 year old grandmother, who raised Sandra as her own daughter.

If you have a special request, so please post your prayer requests here.

Kelly Minter Quotes

• God doesn’t want our “right answers;” He wants our hearts.
• The concept of harvesting always applies, it’s just a matter of what side you’re on- sowing or reaping.
• It’s not our weeping that brings us the harvest but our sowing.
• God carves our paths, authors each stroke, and weaves our courses into others’ lives.
• Ruth was a most unlikely candidate for exceptional treatment.

This Week’s Scripture Verses-NIV

No Ammonite or Moabite or any of his descendants may enter the assembly of the LORD, even down to the tenth generation. ⁴ For they did not come to meet you with bread and water on your way when you came out of Egypt, and they hired Balaam son of Beor from Pethor in Aram Naharaim to pronounce a curse on you. ⁵ However, the LORD your God would not listen to Balaam but turned the curse into a blessing for you, because the LORD your God loves you. Deuteronomy 23:3-5 (Click on the link to translate into another version)

When the LORD brought back (YOUR NAME) to Zion, she was like women who dreamed. Her mouth was filled with laughter, her tongue with songs of joy. Then it was said among the nations, “The LORD has done great things for you.” The LORD has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy. Restore our fortunes, O LORD, like streams in the Negev.Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy. (YOUR NAME) who goes out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with her. Psalm 126

Group Discussion-from Beth Moore’s Blog

1. Read Deuteronomy 23:3-5. Can you think of anything that happened in your life that Satan would love to use to curse you? Think conceptually, not literally. What has the enemy tried to use, and your family has turned into blessings. Pray this scripture over things that happened in your life and ask God to turn them into blessings for you.
2. We’ve already answered this question, last week. Weeping Forward.
3. Look at page 42 in your workbook, where Kelly tells about her sister Megan. If you were writing a novel that was secretly about yourself right now and right in this season, and you had to name it in the form of a question, what would it be?
4. Look at page 45 in the workbook, concerning Psalm 126. Read the Psalm aloud, inserting YOUR name into the verse.  Practically speaking, how can you sow in your weeping?

You’re welcome to comment on just one of these questions, or all three, depending on your comfort level.

Welcome back to the Bible Cafe, as we discuss our first week of study. If you want to jump right into today’s discussion, go right to the end of this post and start sharing!

We have more than 150 women participating and I wanted to thank you for your comments during the study. Some women are sending their comments by email, not quite comfortable with the online format, and that’s just fine. As you’ve noticed I am holding you accountable to your study. Your participation is what matters, not how you answer the question. Last summer we learned this during our group study: “We can feel inadequate or inexperienced and even intimidated when we study together. In our own minds, we’re ‘Not Perfect’ because another person says something more spiritual or more powerful.” If this speaks to your heart, then read the full discussion we shared on Being Perfect.

We’ve just finished reading our first week of Ruth: Loss, Love and Legacy by Kelly Minter. We started our study on day one, reading about the journey Naomi took with her husband and two sons and ended our study on day five, when Naomi begins her journey home. We looked at the decision to go forward or turn back, and watched as Orpah and Ruth made their individual choices. In our study, Kelly introduces us to the concepts of weeping forward, hesed, and prolonged obedience vs willpower. Everything is working against Naomi and Ruth, and we are about to walk forward into their journey of redemption.

I enjoyed this comment that Ginny posted last week: Something that has spoken to me already is what Matthew Henry said about “leaving something isn’t always the best solution”. It’s easy to want to run when you’re in a hard place, or to just “disengage” so to speak. But that’s not always what God wants us to do. We’ll talk about this today in our group question below. Be sure to post a comment.

Enjoy this short video clip from Kelly Minter, posted on YouTube

Last week we asked you to describe your present season of life in One word. These are the words that describe our online group:

Anticipating-2, Anxious-2, Blessed-4, Busy-2, Calm-1, Checking-1, Dependent-1, Determined-1, Discouraged-1, Discovery-1, Drought-1, Exhausted-1, Fearful-2, Finding-1, Full-1, Grateful-1, Grieving-1, Growing-2, Happy-1, Healing-2, Hectic-2, Loneliness-2, Longing-1, Mourning-1, Nervous-1, Newborn-1, Overflowing-1, Overwhelmed-2, Patient-1, Recovering-1, Remission-1, Renewal-2, Restless-1, Stressed-2, Stretched-1, Suffering-1, Thankful-1, Tired-1, Transition-4, Uncertain-1, Unemployed-1, Unfocused-1, Unfulfilled-1, Unworthy-1, Well-1, Wondering-1, Worried-1, Yearning-1

Prayer Requests

We have more than 150 women participating in this study and know that each of you are unique with special prayer needs. We’d like to pray with you, so please post your prayer requests here.

Kelly Minter Quotes

• The people had a history of turning to God during seasons of punishment but forgetting Him during seasons of prosperity.
• Bread is always available at His table for anyone willing to return.
• Although there will be weeping in this life, the direction in which we weep is what truly matters.
• It’s possible to cry and walk.

New to this Study or Just Catching Up?

If you are just starting the study or catching up, here are the posts you’ll need to read:

How to Register for the Study, Subscribe to the Blog and Find a Workbook

Our First Group Discussion

Beth Moore’s Launch Video

Our Thoughts While Reading Week One

Group Discussion

In the workbook on page 22 Kelly Minter writes “Although there will be weeping in this life, the direction in which we weep is what truly matters.” Has a certain hardship in your life caused you to turn around in your weeping, or to weep going forward? Please share your personal experience.

***Feel free to include your own questions or responses to this week’s lesson.  You can answer the group question or post a new question in the comments below.

We’re reading week one of our workbook Ruth: Loss, Love and Legacy by Kelly Minter as we participate in the Beth Moore Summer Bible Study 3. If you have any questions as you begin your reading, don’t hesitate to contact Christine. There are nine women in the group participating in their first Bible study, so please participate in discussion questions so they may learn from you and grow in faith. We have women in the group who lead bible studies in church or at home, and your comments are encouraging to others. Everyone is encouraged to participate in the discussion. If you feel uncomfortable posting your comments on the blog, then please email Christine privately. We’re helping you stay accountable in your desire to study the Word and find intimacy with God.

How I Study My Workbook (for new people)

Many have asked how I organize my workbook when I study. I complete my study in the early morning, so I am able to reflect on the words and lesson throughout my day. Sitting in a comfortable place with a cup of tea and my two small dogs, I will start my study with a blue highlighter. I’ll highlight all the scripture references for the entire week study, before I start reading. This helps me locate the verses in my bible, and I’m able to return to my place in the workbook as I look for the blue marks. Other women in my bible study also write the page number next to the verse in the workbook, in case they want to revisit the verse in their Bible without searching for it again. If the verse is powerful and speaks to my heart, I’ll place a star beside the blue mark. As I read the daily lesson, I will highlight my favorite phrases with a yellow marker. If I see a quote I want to tweet @LifeVerse (my Twitter account) I will mark the sentence with a “Q.” It reminds me to tweet the quote. Remember when you tweet the quote, reference the author as the source. If I see something in the book that I want to discuss with the group, I write “discuss” next to the sentence or “pray” as a reminder to come back to the paragraph. If my method seems complicated for you, then I encourage you to create a method that is most comfortable for your study. Once you create it, you’ll make it a habit for lifelong bible study.

Our Amazing Group of Women

We have about 145 women participating in this online study, from more than 35 states. We’re reading the blog in different time zones and posting comments throughout the day. Yesterday, the launch day of the Summer Bile Study, we had more than 1,600 visits to this blog! After reading all the introductions, I found some common elements in the group:

• First time in bible study- 9 women
• Hosting a home small group- 4 women
• Relocated and seeking friendship -2 women
• Mother-daughter learning together- 4 women
• Need accountability- 11 women
• Recovering from illness- 4 women
• Grieving the death of a child- 1 woman
• Seeking reconciliation of a marriage- 1 woman

Women in Need of Prayer

• Elsabe- diagnosed with breast cancer this year, in remission
• Meghann- grieving her daughter who died in December
• Pamela M- recovering fro a recent surgery
• Rachell- double masectomy two weeks ago
• Renee- preparing for a mission trip to Kenya in August
• Susan S. -caretaker for disabled husband
• Tammy- diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma
• Vanessa- daughter with Rhett syndrome, husband just lost job
• Whisperings- severe depression

Be sure to post your comment for the Summer Bible Study Launch Day. Or email your comment to Christine, as mentioned above. If you missed the opportunity to post your comment, we will contact you later this week to help you stay accountable to your first week of bible study. As Beth Moore said on her blog today, “we are a beautiful community of women!” When we share our thoughts with each other, we grow in faith.

Below you’ll find the Summer Bible Study, Week One video from Beth Moore. She has made the video available for sharing, so we’ve posted it here. We still recommend you visit her blog post for today’s launch of the Summer Bible Study 3;  sometimes her blog will slow down with congestion from so many women watching the video,  so here is our “backup” copy for you to view.

Summer Bible Study – Week 1 from LPV on Vimeo.

Here’s a copy of the first chapter of Ruth: Loss, Love and Legacy in case you’re still waiting for your workbook to arrive.
http://www.lifeway.com/lwc/files/lwcF_Ruth-Sample-Chapter.pdf

It’s time for Summer Bible Study to begin! Welcome to the online Bible Cafe, as we launch our newest study with Beth Moore: Siesta Summer Bible Study Three. Beth Moore has posted the Siesta Summer Bible Study 3 Launch on her blog. When you visit her blog, you’ll see a 13 minute video segment to watch.

Our online group has about 125 women from more than 32 different states. Each woman participating in the study brings a unique aspect to the group, from the seasoned Bible study warrior to the first time student. As Beth says in today’s blog post “the more alike you all are, the less you may sharpen one another.” We’re all here for the same purpose: to find intimacy with God through His Word. We’ll gather here each week on Tuesday, to discuss our workbook lessons, pray for each other, and grow in faith.

Discussions are essential to our growth and learning, so be sure to post a comment. Simply go to the end of the blog post, see the discussion question, and post a comment. If you want to reply to another member in the study, hit the “reply” link below her comment. You’ll notice comments are on moderation status…because we are a women’s blog, we’ve attracted well over 3,400 spam comments! These have been filtered out of the system via comment monitoring. We update the blog many times during the day, so visit as often as you like!

Today’s Scripture

In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as he saw fit. Judges 21:25 NIV (if you click on the reference, you can translate this verse to another version using BibleGateway.com)

“But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him. He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.” The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? “I the LORD search the heart and examine the mind, to reward a man according to his conduct, according to what his deeds deserve.” Like a partridge that hatches eggs it did not lay is the man who gains riches by unjust means. When his life is half gone, they will desert him, and in the end he will prove to be a fool. A glorious throne, exalted from the beginning, is the place of our sanctuary. O LORD, the hope of Israel, all who forsake you will be put to shame. Those who turn away from you will be written in the dust because they have forsaken the LORD, the spring of living water. Heal me, O LORD, and I will be healed;  save me and I will be saved, for you are the one I praise. Jeremiah 17:7-14

Homework

• Write a letter to God on the inside cover of your workbook. Tell Him where you are in your life right now, and where you hope He leads you during your 6-week Bible study journey.
• Complete the first week (Session ONE) in your workbook. We’re meeting again next Tuesday to discuss session one, and then we’ll move on to session two.
• Contact Christine if you have any questions about the study or homework.

Group Discussion

1. Characterize your life in this present season using ONE WORD.
2. Share a specific goal you have this summer for being in bible study.
3. Give specific reasons, based upon Judges 21:25, why doing what each of us sees fit at any given time could be dangerous.
4. How does Jeremiah 17:7-14 compare or contrast to Judges 21:25?