This years theme comes from the PWOC website here
The new PWOC theme the LORD so graciously provided for this year is At the Redeemer’s Feet. The theme verse is Ruth 4:14-15.
Then the women said, Naomi, "Blessed is the LORD who has not left you without a redeemer today, and may his name become famous in Israel.
May he also be to you a restorer of life and a sustainer of your old age; for your daughter-in-law, who loves you and is better to you than seven sons, has given birth to him.”
This text recounts the blessing spoken by the women of Bethlehem to Naomi. But to understand the end result of her blessing, we need to start at the beginning. The book of Ruth tells the story of how the LORD used a woman from the tribe of Moab, a pagan people, to restore the lineage of Jesus Christ. The redemption story so beautifully illustrated in Ruth spans episodes of rejection, courage, sacrifice and love.
Ruth courageously left her country, family and culture to follow Naomi to Bethlehem. Ruth expressed her commitment to seek Naomi’s God when she bravely declared in Ruth 1:16:
But Ruth said, “Do not urge me to leave you or turn back from you from following you; where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God.”
Ruth had certainly witnessed Naomi’s desperation and loss during her years in Moab. But she had also encountered the true Living God through Naomi’s example. Ruth had grasped the understanding that God moves through our circumstances to bless us. The seeming despair of her situation did not deter her determination to follow Naomi and her God. Ruth’s fervent words to Naomi inspire us to seek God first. Her example, and that of Naomi, encourages us to reflect a passionate relationship with Christ to the world.
Ruth’s hunger for God led us to the selection of our theme song for this year: “The More I Seek You”. The lyrics says:
The more we seek Him,
the more we find Him;
the more we find Him,
the more we love Him.
Our sincere pursuit of Him draws us to sit at His feet. It encourages us to drink from all that He has for us. It moves us to experience His love. It brings us to recognize that despite our circumstances, He surrounds us with His peace. It stimulates us to the realization that His presence—His truth—is overwhelming!
As individuals, we come to know the LORD as our Savior at different stages in our lives. God takes us from wherever we are through increased levels of intimacy that further refine our experiences with Him. We develop deeper revelations of who He is through
our experiential encounters with Him. But that intimacy and relationship requires a priority commitment of our time, devotion, commitment and determination.
Ruth understood that with her decision to follow Naomi, she would also be faced with the responsibility to take care of her. She takes the initiative by requesting permission to go to the fields and glean (Ruth 2:2). Ruth risked a lot to go into the fields and face possible mistreatment as a woman and a Moabitess. But God providentially led her to Boaz’s field where she experienced favor and protection.
Not only are we challenged by the depth of Ruth’s desire to follow Naomi and her God but we are also challenged by her courage to step out of her comfort zone and risk her life. Ruth’s bravery confronts us. How many of us are willing to step out of our perceived place of security and encounter faith at deep levels?
Naomi, encouraged by the favor Boaz shows to Ruth, begins to reveal God’s plan to provide a home for Ruth. She begins to orchestrate Ruth’s experience at the threshing floor and her introduction to her kinsman redeemer. Naomi instructs Ruth to wash herself, anoint herself with perfume, and put on best clothes. We also enter the “threshing floor” prepared to meet God and expectant of His desire to meet us there. We don’t have to be cleaned up because He accomplishes that by divine grace. But we do need to be ready to receive Him and eager for Him to work in our lives.
The threshing floor also represents being set apart. It’s on the threshing floor that the chaff, the undesirable part of the grain, is separated from the good. It’s in His presence that He sifts us and removes the undesirable traits of our character---pride, hate, envy, control, rejection—and leaves behind His goodness.
In going to the threshing floor at night, Ruth risked being mistaken as an intruder or being deemed a loose woman. She risked being killed. Her perseverance to follow God’s plan regardless of personal cost leads us to consider our own devotion. Are we willing to die to self and become one with Him?
My prayer this year is that we may all have a desire to enter into the God presence and to position ourselves at The Redeemer’s Feet. Be blessed my sisters, for your end result can be like Naomi’s—one that extends far beyond even our generation.
Learning to sit at His feet and soar with Him,
Dyanah Negron
PWOC International Theme Development Coordinator
Questions to ask yourself during this year’s Theme
“At the Redeemer’s Feet”
• What is my relationship with GOD?
• What is my relationship with my husband/What does it look like (for example, am I respecting him, building him up, etc.? ) Family relationships are important to our Father.
• What is my relationship with my child(ren)? Am I speaking blessings into their lives?
• As a woman of GOD am I honoring my husband, caring for my home and nurturing my child(ren)?
• Have I allowed the LORD to restore me from my past (especially for those who did not know the LORD as a young child?)
• Have I grown in my relationship with the LORD as the years go by?
• Do I listen to HIS instructions? Or do I follow the voice of my friends?
• Am I washing myself daily? Allowing the cleansing process to keep me pure before my Lord?
• Am I a sweet fragrance to my LORD?
• Am I clothed with HIS revelation of “Whose I am?”
• Am I willing to enter into His presence and die to self no matter what the cost?
• Am I willing to lie at HIS feet to encounter His love and receive my inheritance?
• Do I need to return to my first love and seek HIS Will for me as a leader?
• Will I be faithful in all that the Lord asks me to do during my time of service as a leader?
• Will I choose to bless instead of speaking ill of those placed over me during this time of leadership? (James 3:9-10, “with it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the likeness of GOD; from the same mouth come both blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be this way.”)
• Will I bring forth an abundance of grain during this harvest period of serving in leadership?
• What am I willing to lose in order gain intimacy with my Savior (title, position, friendships, etc.) ?
• Am I praising my LORD for all HE has done and is doing in my life?
• Will I honor Him in all I do for my family and the ministry?
• Am I determined to make a difference (as in the book of Ruth)?
Blessings
• May this year bring you closer to our LORD
• May you learn to lie at HIS feet and know who HE is and understand Whose you are
• May the LORD bring joy during your times of need
• May the LORD provide a clear and narrow path for your direction
• May your return to your first love
• May your relationship with your husband be rekindled and may the rekindling bring forth much love between the two of you
• May your love for your children bless you and May HE give you understanding on how to speak, pray and love each one of your children
• May you understand how you are uniquely made and know specifically what HE is calling you to do
• May you hear and see and understand the LOVE the LORD has for you
• May HE pour His wisdom, understanding, counsel, knowledge, fear of the LORD and delight in the LORD into your life
• May you know how special you are to Him
• May you understand how to use the gifts the LORD has given you for HIS Glory!
• May you carry your lamp and have extra oil to enter into the throne of GRACE
• May you love others more
• May you love HIM more
• May you learn to hate what is evil and love what is good!
• In Jesus’ Name, AMEN and AMEN
