We’ve just finished reading  The Gospel of Ruth by Carolyn Custis James. Congratulations on your perseverance in completing this six-week online bible study. We started the journey with two widowed women and closed the journey with a redeemed family and restored lives. Boaz steps up as a man of God and the result is a blessing beyond belief. He is not threatened by Ruth’s courage, and rewards her again. First he rewards her with food from her work, and then he rewards her for being brave enough to seek a kinsman-redeemer. The simple act reminds us that we too can demonstrate the courage to rise above our past, rise above our circumstances and seek Jesus our Redeemer. Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go. Joshua 1:9 NIV Ruth was courageous and “the story becomes about what Ruth and Boaz are getting, not what they are giving up,” writes Carolyn. Today we often use the phrase “it was a God thing” to describe something so unusual, so amazing, that God’s presence is very visible. When Ruth walked into Boaz’s field and he noticed her, “it was a God thing.” Together, these two people demonstrate a Blessed Alliance, male and female, working together for God’s Kingdom and purpose. The story ends with Naomi holding the future in her arms. Two widows, a barren woman, and the future resting peacefully in Naomi’s arms. God is good!

Prayer Requests

Please visit our Prayer Wall and post a prayer request or praise report. Take time this week to lift others up with your prayers.

Carolyn Custis James Quotes

• Naomi becomes an accomplice in her own depreciation.
• Everyone wins when courage fills a woman’s soul.
• It was all uphill for Ruth.
• Naomi has gained wisdom in the school of suffering.

For Next Week

• Register for Loving Well by Beth Moore 4-week video based bible study

Group Discussion- Answer one question or as many as you like

1. How are Boaz and Ruth role models for how men and women are supposed to serve God together? (page 189 )
2. How can you live more courageously for God? (page 210)
3. Share a favorite moment from this week’s study.
4. Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not.

Welcome to the fifth week of reading  The Gospel of Ruth by Carolyn Custis James. Next week will be our last week of study as we finish reading this book. Carolyn reminds us that “God is still the main hero in this bible story as the story of Ruth reveals Him and his transformation on human hearts.” Once Naomi recognizes hessed in her life, the story takes another bend in the road as she finds courage and takes action. Her concern is no longer for herself as Naomi looks to the welfare of her daughter-in-law. Ruth has provided for Naomi and now Naomi wants to return the love. She sees an opportunity and does not hesitate to implement an action plan for Ruth. Carolyn writes “This is a stunning moment in the biblical record- one with seismic ramifications for women. It is yet another instance in scripture where we see that gospel living goes against the grain of human culture. Boaz foreshadows how Jesus would one day reach out to women who were rejected by their communities, to commission and empower them to serve him.”

Our next chapter looks at submission as presented in the story of Ruth. We see all three characters demonstrate submission and in different ways. Naomi submits when she gives up her only remaining family member, Ruth, in order to secure Ruth’s future in a foreign land. Ruth submits when she exposes herself to a possible refusal from Boaz, and also another attempt at childbirth. She loves Naomi and her God, and Ruth submits to demonstrate her love. “Ruth, out of her poverty, is giving away all that she has,” writes Carolyn. Boaz submits by redeeming this family. All three are showing us to” Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him,  and he will make your paths straight.” Proverbs 3:5-6 NIV

Prayer Requests

Please visit our Prayer Wall and post a prayer request or praise report. Take time this week to lift others up with your prayers.

Carolyn Custis James Quotes

• The bible clearly teaches submission.
• Submission is not an occasional event, it’s a lifestyle.
• Submission isn’t an act of mindless compliance, but an act of wisdom, strength and determination.
• We were created to be like Jesus and we can’t be like him if we leave out submission.
• Submission means those with power give it up.

For Next Week

• Read Chapters Nine and Ten in the book
• Register for Loving Well by Beth Moore 4-week video based bible study

Group Discussion- Answer one question or as many as you like

1. What changes do you observe in Naomi? How to you explain her new courage?
2. Why is submission a lifestyle rather than an occasional event?
3. How does Jesus change our understanding of submission?
4. Share a favorite moment from this week’s study.

Welcome back to the fourth week of reading  The Gospel of Ruth by Carolyn Custis James. This week we completed chapters five and six. We had an interesting group discussion last week and you are really opening your hearts and minds to this study. The more you share, the more we learn so let the Spirit lead you and join the conversation.

In chapter five we saw Naomi open her heart and express concern that God no longer loves her. She fell into a cloud of depression, convinced she is unlovable and no longer has God’s favor, or hesed. Naomi knew loving-kindness when she lived richly in her hometown, but when she left Bethlehem her favor disappeared. Naomi assumed she lost hesed and so she returns to the place where she once knew it. Her faith brings her back, though her heart is still weeping. Captivated by this faith, Ruth follows and looks for an opportunity to demonstrate her own version of loving-kindness towards Naomi. Little did either woman know- God had a plan and it included a man named Boaz. At the end of the chapter we see the hope of Naomi’s heart and God’s plan for a redeemer. She went home seeking hesed and God blessed her with loving-kindness. God never stops loving His children and leads our hearts home to Him. “We were created to live in God’s hesed- to dwell in his love and to thrive in his care,” writes Carolyn. God’s hesed did not run out for Naomi. She just needed to return home to find it. When her heart was focused on her misery and suffering she was unable to focus on God’s goodness. The story shifts when she takes her eyes off herself and puts them back on God. Carolyn concludes “Living by faith means hanging on to God’s hesed and trusting Him, even when we’re looking at him from ground zero.”

Carolyn reminds us in chapter eight that we are looking at the world and at God from an earthbound perspective in the story of Ruth. We examine the fingerprints hidden in scripture and “assume God’s hand is in everything,” says Carolyn. With scripture-based vision, we have better clarity and focus on the world. We discover it was no accident Ruth is gleaning in her kinsmen-redeemer’s field. God opens doors and closes others, and this was no exception. We see how He forms a Blessed Alliance between His children: a wounded soldier, a fresh recruit and a man of valor are all brought together, explains Carolyn. Naomi’s message moves from despair into hope, just as the sinner’s heart moves from shame into grace. A Redeemer has entered the story of your life.

Prayer Requests

Please visit our Prayer Wall and post a prayer request or praise report. Take time this week to lift others up with your prayers.

Carolyn Custis James Quotes

• Hesed is the gospel lived out.
• Hesed is something you do more than something you think or feel.
• Prosperity tends to dull our senses to the presence of God’s hesed in our lives.
• God’s hesed is non-negotiable.
• God never stops loving His child.
• We aren’t spectators to what God is doing in this world, but participants.

For Next Week

• Read Chapters Seven and Eight in the book
• Join our Womens Bible Cafe Chat on Facebook
• Register for Loving Well by Beth Moore 4-week video based bible study

Group Discussion- Answer one question or as many as you like

1. Why is it sometimes difficult for you to believe God is overflowing in hesed? (page 123 )
2. How does Jesus assure you of God’s love, even when your life is full of trouble? (page 123 )
3. Describe a situation in your life that you would say is a “God thing.” (page 137 )
4. Share a favorite moment from this week’s study.

We’ve just finished our third week of online bible study, reading chapters three and four in The Gospel of Ruth by Carolyn Custis James. This week Carolyn exposed her own infertility and identified with Ruth’s barrenness in scripture. She then presented examples of women in scripture who endured barren lives. We learned that children are miracles and no birth should be assumed as human-made. In the story of Ruth, “two childless widows become lead figures in a biblical book,” writes Carolyn. We see examples of Jesus’ love for women in the New Testament and learn that God has a different view of women than many cultures do. If you want to know what is happening around to women and Christians around the world, visit Voice of the Martyrs and read their monthly newsletter. In our study of Ruth we see God work through the challenges of widowhood, infertility, grief, depression, poverty and loss. In the story we find God is Master of our past, present and future. “Despair and hope are traveling side by side,” writes Carolyn, and in this story of two women and a redeemer, we see God’s overshadowing love.

Ruth steps up and does what needs to be done. She’s in survival mode as she depends on God to provide food for herself and Naomi. She’s in faith mode when she leaves her pagan gods behind her and seeks intimacy with Naomi’s God. Most likely she faced fear, depression and discouragement- yet she carries on. She breaks the rules of the establishment and keeps her faith and her courage. She makes a name for herself and receives a blessing from Boaz. Our story continues next week.

Prayer Requests

Please visit our Prayer Wall and post a prayer request or praise report. Take time this week to lift others up with your prayers.

Carolyn Custis James Quotes

• Suffering is a sacred meeting place between God and His child, where faith is fighting to survive and God’s goodness comes into question.
• The barren woman acknowledges God to be the Lord of the womb.
• Every child born into God’s family is a miracle.

For Next Week

• Read Chapters Five and Six in the book
• Join our Womens Bible Cafe Chat on Facebook

Group Discussion- Answer one question or as many as you like

1. What does the barren woman teach us about God and ourselves?
2. Why was Ruth’s courage important to this story?
3. Is there an area of your life where you need to be bolder for God’s kingdom?
4. Share a favorite moment from this week’s study.

Welcome back to our second group discussion of The Gospel of Ruth by Carolyn Custis James. This week we opened our books and found ourselves reading about Ground Zero at the same time America remembers the 10 year anniversary of the September 11 attacks. In God’s perfect timing, He connected the events of our fallen world with the events of Naomi’s life.  There are many modern Naomi’s suffering the loss of family members through terrorist attacks. Carolyn writes “I never connected emotionally with Naomi’s losses until I heard her compared to the legendary sufferer Job.” Many of us have read the story of Naomi as a background to Ruth’s love story, and missed Naomi’s suffering in the first few lines of the story. We now realize she would face ruling judges- without a husband, sons, land or assets- in a male-dominated society. From a female perspective, she was walking into the lions den. Naomi was not going back to her husband’s family, to her children, to her friends; she was retuning to seek God. With her diminished social status, she was humbled. She is being sifted like sand. “It is a Job moment when she can no longer stifle what her sufferings imply about God,” writes Carolyn.

Ruth wants to know Naomi’s God. Stop for a moment and ask yourself  “Is God visible enough in me, so others would want to know Him too?”

In the next chapter of our study, we learn about Naomi’s widowhood status. Remember what Carolyn says “God’s view of women clashes at every point with how the world views us, and even with how we see ourselves.” What God sees in us is different that what our spouses, children, friends, coworkers and family members see.  When we look in a mirror and see age, hardship, weight, or past sins- God sees the beauty of his image bearer. The mirror distorts when Satan gets involved. In the story of Ruth, “God doesn’t exile the widow to the margins of our bible. He features her in the central story of redemption,” writes Carolyn. He values us.

Prayer Requests

Please visit our Prayer Wall and post a prayer request or praise report. Take time this week to lift others up with your prayers.

Carolyn Custis James Quotes

• We meet God in our desperation.
• Even when there’s nothing less but rubble, God is mysteriously at work in the mess.
• When you are living in darkness, even a little light can make a powerful difference.
• God calls us to trust Him even when we’re missing the big pieces to the puzzle and He isn’t giving the answers.
• In God’s eyes, she was still on active duty and the treasure of His heart.

For Next Week

• Read Chapters Three and Four in the book
• Join our Womens Bible Cafe Chat on Facebook

Group Discussion- Answer one question or as many as you like

1. Have you ever experienced a Job moment where you questioned God? What happened.
2. How do our beliefs about God influence how we see our struggles?
3. What defines a woman”s value before God? How is this different from how the world views women?
4. Share a favorite moment from this week’s study.

Welcome back to online bible study as we discuss the The Gospel of Ruth by Carolyn Custis James. Shannon Barr is leading these studies, however she is without electrical power due to the recent storms and so I’m filling in this week. Last week we asked you to read the NIV Text of Ruth and the Introduction section of the book.  The author’s focus in this study of Ruth is to examine the question “Is God Good for women?” The day before I started reading this book I actually had someone ask me this exact question! I had just started work at a new job and a man I hardly knew came into my office and said “you’re religious, right?” After telling him I believed in Jesus he said “do you think the bible is kind to women, or do women get a bad deal in the bible?” Imagine my surprise when I started reading this book and the same question was proposed by the book author! I knew there was something valuable in this message and God was speaking to me through my new coworker. Later I found out his wife had died of cancer, she was a believer, and he was seeking answers about God.

Maybe you’ve had the same question hidden in your heart, or maybe you already know the answer. We’re going to take another look at the story of Ruth and dig into the heart of Naomi, a female Job.  Carolyn Custis James has proposed four guiding principles of this bible study:

1. God is the true hero of the story.
2. Eve’s legacy, a blueprint for women, is the key to understanding Naomi and Ruth.
3. The bible is an ancient book, written in a culture foreign to us.
4. The beginning, middle and end of the book are deeply interrelated.

Our six-week study begins as Naomi walks a path of despair and a feeling of rejection from the Lord she loves. One daughter-in-law walks away. One daughter-in-law stands by her side and together they walk into town as childless widows- and the story begins.

Prayer Requests

Please visit our Prayer Wall and post a prayer request or praise report. Take time this week to lift others up with your prayers.

Carolyn Custis James Quotes

• Whenever we study God’s word, our main quest is always to discover what He is telling us about Himself.
• Naomi and Ruth understand that the world revolves around God.
• In one pivotal moment, Ruth’s identity and center of gravity change forever.

For Next Week

• Read Chapters One and Two in the book
• Join our Womens Bible Cafe Chat on Facebook

Group Discussion- Answer one question or as many as you like

1. Describe a time when you or someone you know questioned God’s goodness.
2. How do you feel about “a female Job” openly sharing her feelings about God and questioning His goodness?
3. What potential harm might come from stifling our questions about God?
4. Share a favorite moment from this week’s study.

We begin our redemption bible study today, a six-week study on the lives of Naomi, Ruth and Boaz.  To participate in the study, you’ll need the book called The Gospel of Ruth by Carolyn Custis James. If you are waiting for your book to arrive, you can start late and jump into the group discussions when you finish reading your chapters. Be sure to sign-up for this bible study so we know you are joining us.

Christine selected this bible study because it’s a different perspective on the book of Ruth, and in this study Naomi is the central character. It’s a story of redemption and faith, uncovering what Carolyn Custis James calls “The Blessed Alliance” as male and female work for God’s purpose. My prayer is that after completing this study you will see how the story of redemption is written through scripture, from beginning to end.

There are fewer women participating in this bible studies than previous Bible Cafe studies. We have about 50 women in the study and a few will drop out before the study is complete. This is the result of spiritual warfare which is intended to cause you to drop out of the study, fall behind in the study, or never finish the study. It’s the work of Satan and a few good women will fall. If it happens to you, please contact us so we can pray for you and support you in your bible study journey.

This is not a workbook format, so you will be reading TWO CHAPTERS each week. As you read, make comments in your book, mark favorite sections, and make sure you are connecting with the author’s words. You’ll need a notebook or journal to answer the study questions found at the end of each chapter. When you finish a chapter, answer the study questions so we can review and discuss them the following week.

Getting Started

1. Before you start your study, we recommend you write a letter to God on the inside cover of the book, and date it. Tell Him why you are this study and what you hope to learn from the study. Ask Him to keep you centered and focused on the Word.
2. You’ll read two chapters each week and we recommend you do this first thing in the morning. When you read the Bible before your day begins, you are lighting the candle of His word inside you, carrying that candle throughout the day, and seeing examples of the Word as your day progresses. You can also read at the end of the day before bed, however our experience is women who do this often fall behind because they are too tired at the end of the day.
3. If you have any questions about the online format, please read the FAQ’s for the Bible Cafe.
4. Please pray for the Spirit to guide you in study and to keep you on track with the lessons. Pray for the other women in this study and for the leaders. We have a prayer wall to post individual prayers.

For Next Week

• Monday is a US holiday so next week our study will be posted Tuesday Sept 6
• Read the NIV Text of Ruth and Introduction  in the beginning of your book
• Answer the study guide questions at the end of the Introduction
  

Group Discussion

1. Please post a comment with your name, where you are from, and answer this question: What is your favorite childhood book?

for example: Shannon, New Orleans, “Little House on the Prairie”