Where You Go, I'll Go | Daily Devotional 1652

You're listening to My Morning Devotional Podcast, episode 1652. Today's table is called Where You Go, I'll Go.

Hey there, we're the Alestees, a ministry family working together in our church in Miami, Florida. And if you're like us, when days get busy, the to-do lists get longer, it can be hard to find devotional time. That's why every weekday we share a five-minute daily dose of heaven. This is the My Morning Devotional Podcast.

Good morning, everybody, and happy Tuesday. Welcome back to My Morning Devotional Podcast. My name is Rochelle Alesi, and I get the privilege of being your host this week. We're going through the book of Ruth, and I am loving it. Yesterday we had a heart open, but it's gonna get better and better as we go, and we have an entire month to go deeper into the word and especially the book of Ruth. So, guys, I encourage you that in your alone time, you go and open up your Bible and read this with us. As you're hearing me read, that's awesome. I'm actually not reading all the verses, I'm picking up some here and there because we only have five minutes together. But it's great because you can open up your own word and go back and read and have your own study. So I hope that this week blesses you and I hope that this month blesses you because it's so great that we get to have great, I don't like to say characters, but yeah, like a character in the Bible that us women can relate to and see how we can be godly in such an honoring way, yet still powerful. And so I think the book of Ruth is gonna show us some of that. And today, um, the name of this episode is Where You Go, I'll Go. And I think a lot of you are probably very familiar with the story of Naomi and Ruth and how ne how Ruth is responding to her mother-in-law and how she does not leave her. And so I want to pick up in that uh part of the Bible, and it's actually in um chapter one, verse eight, and it says, But Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, go, return each of you to your mother's house. May the Lord deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead and with me. The Lord grant that you may find rest, each of you in the house of your husband. Then she kissed them, and they lifted up their voices and wept. And they said to her, No, we will return with you to your people. But Naomi said, Turn back my daughters, why will you go with me? Have I yet sons in that in my womb, that they may become your husbands? Turn back, my daughters, go your way, for I am too old to have a husband. If I should say I have hope, even if I should have a husband this night and have sons, would you therefore wait till they're grown? Would you therefore refrain from Mary? No, my daughters, for it is exceedingly bitter to me for your sake, that the hand of the Lord has gone out against me. Then they lifted up their voices and wept again, and Orbah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her, and she said, See your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods, return after your sister-in-law. But Ruth said, No, do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you, for where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. Where you die I will lie, and there will I be buried. May the Lord do so to me, and more also if anything but death departs me from you. And when Naomi said that, she was determined to go with her, she said, No more. This is such a beautiful story, because Ruth chose loyalty. And yesterday we discussed how when you experience the deepest loss in your life, our response should be faith in the Lord, and that faith says that you're not gonna go through this alone. And in this moment, the Lord is providing for Naomi somebody that is saying, You will not go through this alone. And what's crazy, guys, is that Naomi was not the only one who experienced loss. Ruth did as well. Ruth lost her father-in-law and her husband. She also lost two people, and she's looking at her mother-in-law saying, Where you go, I will go. I will stay with you. I think a part of her even realized if I go back to my people, they're not gonna understand what I'm going through. But I lived the last 10, 15 years of my life with my mother-in-law. We've shared moments. I'm not leaving her, I'm going to stay by her side. And she chose loyalty and to stay next to her. And I believe that that is a beautiful picture of faith and of love for somebody in your life. That sometimes we're so ready to walk out on people, but we have to remember, no, we got to stay by their side. Or even better, somebody that's going through the same thing as you. And the Lord brings you guys together because the Lord is saying you will get through this together. You are not alone. And really is such a picture of loyalty. And so, guys, what are we loyal to? Are we loyal to God's word? Are we loyal to the people that He's brought into our life, to His commandments? What are we staying in loyalty with? Sometimes we have to audit and say, maybe what I'm staying loyal to is not correct. Because she could have gone back to her mother's homes and she said, No, I'm staying loyal to you. Your God will be my God. And I want to go back, I want to literally rush to the end of this story, and I can't because there it's so beautiful how everything unfolds. But she decided to stay loyal, and we see God bless that and honor that to the point where Ruth's, it is such an impactful story that there's a book just about her. So imagine how much more there's still to your story, and how much could be written if you just stay loyal today to the right people in your life, to the right counsel and to the word of God. So I encourage you, stay loyal to the right things. And if you don't know what that is, ask the Holy Spirit for help and he will show you. But most importantly, stay loyal to him. So let's pray. Dear Father God, thank you for your faithfulness and thank you for showing us such a beautiful picture of loyalty. I pray that your word will speak to us, that it will show us something different, and that it will settle even our hearts right at this moment, that we are not alone. The Lord, you are with us, but even the right people around us, that you are sending the right people around us to help us get through one of the most difficult times of our life or any situation, Father. You care for us that deeply that you provide in every area. So we bless you today. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

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