Ruth 1 Step 1 Pray & Step 2 Survey

Ruth 1 Step 1 Pray & Step 2 Survey

by | May 21, 2024 | 1-22, DISO studies, Ruth 1

 NEW TO THIS STUDY? START HERE.

Welcome back, I’m glad you’re here, my friend! I just want to remind you I’m sharing my answers in these posts to provide an example of the treasure that can be discovered in this passage using the DISO study steps. If you’re working with the Holy Spirit and are seeing different results, know that you’re on the right track, even if your findings are different from mine.

That’s because He knows what each of us needs in our faith journey. How awesome is God that He provides our own personal Bible tutor—and the more we study, the more we will develop the skills to hear the Holy Spirit’s voice. So, let’s keep studying!

Last Week’s Work

MY PRAYER
Here’s the prayer I created and plan to pray before digging into Ruth 1:

Thank You, Lord and Father God, for another chance to dig into Ruth. Thank You for sending the Holy Spirit to help me see, understand, and apply the principles here to my life. Remove the scales from my eyes and the plugs from my ears and unburden my heart so I can see all You want me to discover here. Give me wisdom to recognize Your good counsel and courage to follow it no matter what. In Jesus’s name I pray. Amen.

If you’re studying along with me, feel free to use this one or the one you wrote: God hears us no matter what we say!

HUH? and WOW! MOMENTS
Next, I slowly read through the study text, focusing on my reactions, and noting the parts that caught my attention. Here are my responses:

  • HUH? What’s the significance of Elimelech’s family being identified as “Ephrathites from Bethlehem?” v2.
  • HUH? How far is Moab from Judah?
  • HUH? What does “it is exceedingly bitter to me for your sake” v13, and “call me Mara,” v20, mean?
  • WOW! What would make a woman who didn’t know anything about God until she met and married a Jew want to leave everything she’d ever known to go to Judah with her mother-in-law? v16 In fact, she made a vow in the name of that God she hadn’t even known before joining their family! v17.
  • WOW! “… I went away full and the Lord has brought me back empty” v21.

Was your list longer than mine? I have studied this book before. I am pretty amazed at how much came back to me as I re-read this chapter. I do plan on sharing some of that with you as we dig further. If you’re not able to study along right now, hopefully you’ll still benefit from checking in each week, my friend!

Dig-In Challenges

Next week, I plan to:

  1. PRAY: Read my prayer as I start studying this passage.
  2. MINE: Identify which aspect of this study I feel the Spirit leading me to dig deepest into right now. It could be one (or more) of the Huh? and Wow! Moments I wrote about this week, or some other item the Spirit hasn’t yet called to my attention.
  3. MINE: Focus specifically on the setting of the scene in Ruth 1 (who’s involved, where and when did the action take place), and note anything the Spirit emphasizes.

See you again soon, I hope!

GO TO WEEK 3 >

Ruth 1 Step 1 Pray & Step 2 Survey

Ruth 1 DISO Study Introduction

by | May 14, 2024 | 1-22, DISO studies, Introduction, Ruth 1

Welcome, and thank you for joining me for this Digging into Scripture Ourselves (DISO) Bible study!

Let’s Study Ruth 1! 

I’m so excited to dig into Ruth again with this process! It was one of my very first DISO studies and it took me more than a year to get through it. Now my plan is to complete all four chapters in a little over six months. Tall order! But as we saw with Acts 1:6-11, DISO is self-paced, so if it takes a little longer to get through it all, we aren’t sweating it!

This week, I’ll work through two of the five steps in the process. If you want to work along with me, here’s what I recommend you start with:

  1. A copy of Ruth 1, plus access to the entire book of Ruth.
    I copy the text from www.blueletterbible.org, paste it in a word processing program (Google docs or MS Word), change the formatting to suit my preferences, and print it out. If you want to use the ESV translation, here’s a copy I created with plenty of room for doodles and notes.
  2. A study journal.
    Step five involves revisiting what you’ve discovered throughout this study, so plan to record at least some highlights from Steps One – Four. I’m old-school and like the pen/pencil and paper method for journaling my studies, but it’s okay if that’s doesn’t work for you. If you don’t have time to physically write or type your notes, consider dictating them into a notes app or recording audio files, instead.

If you just don’t have the bandwidth to study right now, no problem. You’re welcome to just read the posts I publish here. They’ll help you become more familiar with the process and show you how the Spirit speaks to my situation. I’m praying there will be enough similarities between my life and yours that you’ll find it worth your while to keep checking in with me, even if you can’t study on your own yet.

Dig-In Challenges

So here’s what I’m going to do this coming week:

  1. PRAY: I’ll be creating a prayer that I can pray every time I study Ruth 1. I’m going to write it in my study journal, so I’ll have it handy each time I study.
  2. SURVEY:  And then I’ll read Ruth 1, noting anything that makes me say, “huh?” (as in, “I wonder what that means?”) or “wow” (as in, “that is so awesome!”). I’ll record these and ask the Spirit to reveal which one He would have me dig more deeply into right now.

I’m looking forward to sharing what I discover in this process with you—I hope you’ll keep checking in with me each week!

GO TO WEEK 2 >