This week, one of our ladies suggested that we have Communion,
especially since it is an important part of God’s healing. I totally
agree, so I ask you to prepare your hearts and let’s take communion
together this coming Sunday at our Sunday Service. Prepare a bit of
grape juice and either a wafer or unleavened bread and bring it with you
to the computer. We may take it at different times, but God’s Kingdom is
not bound by time. We will still be “together”. The most important thing
is to prepare our hearts.
Tonight I want to speak about DECISIONS…FROM THE Book of Ruth.
There is so much in the Book of Ruth to learn from. Most of all, it is a
book about decisions and their consequences and rewards.
THE
DECISION: Ruth 1:1-3 (Amp) 1 IN THE days
when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land. And a certain man
of Bethlehem of Judah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he, his
wife, and his two sons.
THE CONSEQUENCE: 3But
Elimelech, who Naomi's husband, died, and she was left with her two
sons.
The things you do---the decisions you make---don't just affect you; they
affect your family, your friends; those you love most in the world.
Sometimes decisions you make for you and/or your children affect their
whole lives. Let me say also that the decisions you let other
people make for you will affect you just as much.
The Book of Ruth tells a beautiful story of redemption and the love
between a Godly mother and her amazing daughter-in-law--- but we mustn't
forget these first few verses---they tell a different story.
These verses tell a story of a man who made a decision (based on fear)
to run away from the place of God's blessing because his circumstances
were hard. So were every other Godly person's circumstances. But,
they didn't run; Elimelech did. And where did he run? To a
place so full of sin that they killed their own babies as a sacrifice to
their god.
Elimelech decided it would be better to raise his sons in a land that
killed babies, sacrificed to idols and committed all sorts of
atrocities than it would be to raise them in a Godly land where there
was a temporary famine. Adverse circumstances are always temporary and
subject to change. Everything in life “comes to pass” except God His
Word.
But, what Elimelech saw was that it was difficult to get food and
sustenance. His mind turned “difficult” into “impossible”.
He didn't have the faith and courage to wait for the Lord to
provide---so he RAN. A contemporary equivalent would be losing a job or
having difficulty finding one, so we run from the place where WE KNOW
God has called us to because we're too scared, impatient, or lacking in
faith to wait on the Lord. And so, we go to a place that is wrong for
us--into a situation that's ungodly, but tempting because it seems to
provide an answer. And of course, we would rationalize in order to feel
"good" about it.
Any time you leave your VISION to seek supposed PROVISION—you will lose
both. If God is in the Land of your destination (spiritually)—you will
find sustenance, if He’s not, millions of dollars won’t save you.
NEXT BAD DECISION: Now, here is something else that we have to be
especially careful of—THE WORDS WE SPEAK OVER OUR CHILDREN, OUR SPOUSES,
AND OURSELVES.
IF WE LOOK INTO THE
HEBREW MEANINGS OF THE NAMES OF THEIR SONS WE FIND A SAD FACT.
RUTH 1:2 The man's name was Elimelech and his wife's name
was Naomi and his two sons were named Mahlon [invalid] and Chilion
[pining]; they were Ephrathites from Bethlehem of Judah. They went to
the country of Moab and continued there.
This was another thing that Elimelech did and perhaps Naomi agreed to
it: he named their children "INVALID" and "PINING". Can you imagine
putting that kind of nametag on your own kids? How about on ourselves?
We cannot define ourselves by our illnesses or our circumstances. Yes,
we may have Chronic Fatigue, Fibrommyalgia, Multiple Sclerosis, or
something else—but THAT’S NOT WHO WE ARE! We may be sick—but that’s not
our name. That’s a condition we are dealing with. We may be financially
strapped at the moment, but our names aren’t Poverty
THAT OUR WORDS ARE IMPORTANT IS A FACT TAUGHT IN SCRIPTURE:
Proverbs
18:20-21 20A man's [moral] self shall be filled with the fruit of his
mouth; and with the consequence of his words he must be satisfied
[whether good or evil]. 21 Death and life
are in the power of the tongue, and they who indulge in it shall eat the
fruit of it [for death or life].
I KNOW THAT MANY OF US HAVE ENCOUNTERED
IMBALANCE IN THIS TEACHING, BUT THE ANSWER TO WRONG USE IS NOT NO
USE---BUT PROPER USE. JESUS SAID:
MATTHEW
12:36-37 36But
I tell you, on the day of judgment men will have to give account for
every idle (inoperative, nonworking) word they speak.
37For by your words you will be justified and
acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned and sentenced
The words we speak over ourselves, our family, and our situations are
important.
The next decision:
Because they had left the land of promise, the only possible choice for
wives for their sons was girls from Moab (heathens) . I think, however,
that this is where the Godly influence and teaching of Naomi shows.
There was something special about both of these women—especially one of
them—Ruth. I believe that this relationship was destined to be, but it
did not have to come as a result of unbelief and sin. The good cam out
of this bad situation because of God’s mercy—not because they had done
the right thing.
GOD WILL BRING GOOD OUT OF A SITUATION, BUT WE CAN’T TURN IT AROUND AND
SAY—SEE IT WAS A GOOD DECISION, BECAUSE SOME GOOD CAME OF IT. IF IT’S
MEANT TO BE, IT WILL HAPPEN THE RIGHT WAY AND THERE WILL BE NO BAD
CONSEQUENCES ALONG WITH THE GOOD.
4And they took wives of the women of Moab; the
name of the one was Orpah and the name of the other Ruth. They dwelt
there about ten years;
THE
CONSEQUENCE: THE CONSEQUENCE OF LIVING OUT OF GOD’S WILL,
SPEAKING WORDS OF DOOM, AND MAKING WRONG CHOICES
5And
Mahlon and Chilion died also, both of them, so the woman was bereft of
her two sons and her husband.
Well, because Elimelech ran from the place of blessing, he died in the
place of "false promises" and left his wife and children behind to deal
with the results. And because Naomi (who was a really a godly woman) had
followed her ungodly husband into this sinful place, she also had to
deal with the results. And so did her children.,
There she was---left alone by the man who had misled her--and now she
had to raise two precious sons who'd been named "invalid" and "pining".
They took wives of the Moabites but because Naomi was still a godly
woman, she influenced their choices. They chose good women. But the
reaping of the bad harvest was not over. The prophecy their father had
made over them came true. The boy named Invalid became an invalid and
died---and the boy named Pining followed closely behind him.
Now Naomi was left childless, in a strange land that worshipped false
gods and committed atrocities.
Of course, that's not the end of the story and, because Naomi truly saw
and confessed her sin. She was repentant and God turned the
circumstances around.
SOMETIMES WE GET SO DEPRESSED AND HOPELESS BECAUSE OF WRONG
DECISION—BECAUSE OF SIN. WHEN WE ARE SICK AND IN TERRIBLE PAIN,
DEPRESSION IS A REAL PROBLEM AND THEN WE CAN MAGNIFY EVERY WRONG DEED
WE’VE DONE. THAT’S NOT WHAT GOD WANTS. HE WANTS US TO REPENT—CHANGE
OUR COURSE AND THEN MOVE ON!
THE
DEVIL WILL TELL YOU IT'S TOO LATE..HE'S A LIAR!!
When Naomi realized her situation, she made another decision.
DECISION: REPENT AND GO BACK TO THE PLACE WHERE SHE LEFT HER BLESSING.
This may not be a geographic location—it might be a state of being.
God then brought great good out of the situation for her and her
daughter-in-law Ruth who loved Naomi and hated false gods---who did
exactly the opposite of what Elimelech had done. She left a place of
"worldly" pleasures to follow her mentor to the place where she could
serve the one true God---even though there "seemed" to be no hope (in
the natural) of a future, a home, a husband, or even sustenance where
she was going.
AND RUTH MADE THE
BEST DECISION OF ALL TIME. She left the place of idolatry, the place
where the Living God was not worshipped, and went with her mother-in-law
to the place where God was honored--the place of blessings and destiny.
ALL SHE KNEW IS THAT SHE WAS GOING WITH GOD AND WITH THE PERSON SHE WAS
CALLED TO FOLLOW AND SHE BELIEVED THAT GOD WOULD SUSTAIN HER. AND DID HE
EVER!
DECISIONS AFFECT OUR LIFE AND WE DO SUFFER CONSEQUENCES—SOME GOOD, SOME
BAD. BUT EVERY SITUATION CAN BE TURNED AROUND. NO MATTER WHAT WE’VE SAID
OR DONE, WE CAN BE RESTORED AND ENTER OUR PLACE OF BLESSING AGAIN.
THE DEVIL WILL TELL YOU
IT'S HOPELESS...HE'S A LIAR!!
Naomi heard that the land she
and her family had run away from was being blessed again. It was a
bitter pill to swallow, but it was also an opportunity to change her
horrible circumstances; it was time to make a new decision.
Ruth 1:6
Then Naomi heard in Moab that the LORD had blessed his people in Judah
by giving them good crops again. So Naomi and her daughters-in-law got
ready to leave Moab to return to her homeland. 7With
her two daughters-in-law she set out from the place where she had been
living and they took the road that would lead them back to Judah.
This time, Naomi made a GOOD
decision---she was going home to the place where God's blessing was. Her
daughters-in-law wanted to go with her, but all Naomi could think of was
the future that lay ahead for herself and the effect it would have on
the two young women. So she told them to go home to their families. At
first, neither wanted to go home. They loved her and wanted to go with
her. But, she told them the cold hard facts.
11But
Naomi replied, "Why should you go on with me? Can I still give birth to
other sons who could grow up to be your husbands? 12No,
my daughters, return to your parents' homes, for I am too old to marry
again. And even if it were possible, and I were to get married tonight
and bear sons, then what? 13Would you wait for
them to grow up and refuse to marry someone else? No, of course not, my
daughters! Things are far more bitter for me than for you, because the
LORD himself has caused me to suffer."
The
thing is, facts are not the same as TRUTH.
It was true that Naomi had no
sons and no further prospects in the natural, but GOD had another
plan. God always has a plan to
bless us if we will follow Him and make a decision based on faith---not
fear!
14And again they wept together, and
Orpah kissed her mother-in-law good-bye. But Ruth insisted on staying
with Naomi. 15"See," Naomi said to her, "your
sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods. You should do
the same."
Orpah did not have the faith
her sister-in-law Ruth had. She listened to the facts, weighed her
options, and decided to go back to her family and their gods. And, we
never hear about Orpah again. Her decision cost her a place in
History and an inheritance as one of God’s children.
Ruth, however, did not
hesitate. She saw the same facts but saw beyond them to the
TRUTH. She followed her faith and said these words that have echoed
across the centuries:
16But
Ruth replied, "Don't ask me to leave you and turn back. I will go
wherever you go and live wherever you live. Your people will be my
people, and your God will be my God. 17I will
die where you die and will be buried there. May the LORD punish me
severely if I allow anything but death to separate us!"
And, Ruth’s decision would
bring redemption not only to herself, but to her mother-in-law and to
her descendants. Ruth took her first step toward becoming the
great-grandmother of a king and, more importantly, an ancestor of the
Lord Jesus.
18So
when Naomi saw that Ruth had made up her mind to go with her, she
stopped urging her.
Naomi made a decision too. She
chose to honor her daughter-in-law’s faith and loyalty and assume the
responsibility for this young woman who was about to become a stranger
and sojourner in a land she was totally unfamiliar with.
And, with that decision Naomi changed her own future. She took her first
step toward coming back to God’s protection and bringing about the
redemption of her own family.
