Transformed By Ruth

Ken Williams

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Stay Committed

Ruth 1:1–5 NLT

1 In the days when the judges ruled in Israel, a severe famine came upon the land. So a man from Bethlehem in Judah left his home and went to live in the country of Moab, taking his wife and two sons with him. 2 The man’s name was Elimelech, and his wife was Naomi. Their two sons were Mahlon and Kilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in the land of Judah. And when they reached Moab, they settled there. 3 Then Elimelech died, and Naomi was left with her two sons. 4 The two sons married Moabite women. One married a woman named Orpah, and the other a woman named Ruth. But about ten years later, 5 both Mahlon and Kilion died. This left Naomi alone, without her two sons or her husband.

Pray

Confession of Faith

I am not moved by what I see or by what I feel. I am moved by what I believe. I believe the WORD of God! The victory is mine! I have it now! I can see it through the eyes of my faith! In Jesus Name

Intro:

The book of Ruth is an amazing book! Only 4 Chapters and packed with life lessons! Now when we typically think about the Book Of Ruth we ascribe it as being

A WONDERFUL STORY OF UNUSUAL LOVE Or many will focus on how it deals with THE GREAT CRISES OF LIFE and then we get to ultimately how it outlines our need for redemption, our need for DELIVERANCE and our need to be Rescued!

Those are all there, but I want to look at the book of Ruth from a different transformative perspective and talk about Being Committed!

In life, we are constantly making decisions! Everyday, all day long our lives are filled with decisions! What will I do today, what will i eat to day, where am I going today, what clothes will I wear today… etc

Somedays we make huge major decisions that will effect our lives for the rest of our lives...

Will I leave change jobs, will I marry this person, will I have children, will I move to another country, etc… Major decisions that impact our lives

In the book of Ruth we see a family make a bad decision!

The exchange one famine for three funerals!

I was reading this book - the Conduct of Life , by Ralph Waldo Emerson and in it he says - The efforts which we make to escape from our destiny only serve to lead us into it."

Here’s what you must understand - Giod gave you and me this gift called freedom of choice! You can ignore God, You can minimize God’s will in your life, You can argue with God’s will for your life, You can disobey God’s will, and you can spend your time fighting God’s will in your life

But here is what the bible says

Psalm 33:11 NLT

11 But the Lord’s plans stand firm forever; his intentions can never be shaken.

Daniel 4:35 NLT

35 All the people of the earth are nothing compared to him. He does as he pleases among the angels of heaven and among the people of the earth. No one can stop him or say to him, ‘What do you mean by doing these things?’

When you read the book of Job, Job even asked this question

Job 9:4 NLT

4 For God is so wise and so mighty. Who has ever challenged him successfully?

Here is what I realize, If we obey God's will, everything in life holds together; but if we disobey, everything starts to fall apart. Now in the Book of Ruth, we see this played out with this family! The Husband -Father is Elimelach and the Wife -Mother Naomi

Life Is Not Easy

We all know life is not easy - and life was not easy for Elimelach and his family

Ruth 1:1 NLT

Those were hard times - politically, just like today - it is challenging times politically!

There were Judges in political rule during that time and the bibles tells us in

Judges 17:6 NKJV

6 In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

Matter of fact - you read the book of Judges and the people of God, or the Children of Israel were at one of their lowest points in history,

let me see if this sound like something happening today

There was division among the people

Folks were just being cruel towards each other

People didn't really care to serve God - it was apostasy

There was a civil war - and today there are talks of a civil war

Today, just like in the book of judges,many of God’s people are being cruel, creating division in the church, operating in unbelief and living in disobedience!

The result is - today we the church is not v the fullnhess and enjoying the blessings of God!

In the midst of all this chaos, divisiveness, hate, confusion - God still loves those who have accepeted in only begotten son as their Lord and Savior!

Sometimes ya’ll we have to go through some transformative life experiences for God to reap the harvest of the Fruits of the Spirit!

Right in the middle of your tragedy, right in the middle of your storm, right in the middle of your confusion, right in the middle of your anger, right in the middle of your disappointment, God is reaping a harvest

And he is calling you right in the moment to be a laborer - even in your tragedy, even in you chaos, God can use that to reap his harvest!

What you are going through will produce a harvest!

There was a famine in Bethlehem! back in those days, that meant there was no food, or not enough food for peoples and they were likely starving!

Decisions, Decisions, Decisions

you might have a money famine today -

it could be a love famine

it could be a joy famine

it could be a peace famine

Now When trouble - famine, problems, lack comes to our lives, we can do one of three things:

1.endure it,

2. escape it, or

3. enlist it.

Now , If we only endure our trials, then trials become our master, and we have a tendency to become hard and bitter.

If we try to escape our trials, then we will probably miss the purposes God wants to achieve in our lives.

But if we learn to enlist our trials, they will become our servants instead of our masters and work for us

Romans 8:28 NKJV

28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.

Elimelech made the wrong decision when he decided to leave home.

Elimelech was walking by sight and not by faith.

Abraham did the same thing when he encountered a famine!

Genesis 12:10 NKJV

10 Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to dwell there, for the famine was severe in the land.

Instead of waiting for God to tell him what to do next, he fled to Egypt and got into trouble.

No matter how difficult our circumstances may be, the safest and best place is in the will of God.

Many of us try to escape our problems and use

Psalm 55:6 (NKJV)

6 Oh, that I had wings like a dove! I would fly away and be at rest.

But we must learn to Isaiah 40:31 our situations

Isaiah 40:31 NKJV

31 But those who wait on the Lord Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.

We can’t run away from our problems

We must walk by Faith

How do you walk by faith? By claiming the promises of God and obeying the Word of God, in spite of what you see, in spite of how you feel, or in spite of what may happen.

It means committing yourself to Jesus Christ and relying wholly on Him to meet the need.

When we live by faith, it glorifies God,

When we live by faith we are witnesses to a lost world, When we live by faith it builds Christian character into our lives.

Romans 1:17 NKJV

17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.”

Hebrews 10:38 NKJV

38 Now the just shall live by faith; But if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him.”

2 Corinthians 5:7 NKJV

7 For we walk by faith, not by sight.

To keep this real and transparent - if we are not walking by faith and allowing God to move when he wants to , or when we refuse to trust Jesus , we are calling God a liar and dishonoring Him.

There is a wisdom of this crazy - fast food world that leads to foolishness, and ultimatey sorrow,

But the bible talks about a and there is a wisdom from God that seems foolish to the world but that leads to blessing

1 Corinthians 3:18–20 NLT

18 Stop deceiving yourselves. If you think you are wise by this world’s standards, you need to become a fool to be truly wise. 19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness to God. As the Scriptures say, “He traps the wise in the snare of their own cleverness.” 20 And again, “The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise; he knows they are worthless.”

James 3:13–18 NKJV

13 Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom. 14 But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth. 15 This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic. 16 For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there. 17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. 18 Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.

Elimelech focused on the physical and not the spiritual.

Every husband and father , Every mother and wife wants to provide for his or her family, but we can’t do it at the expense of losing the blessing of God.

even when the devil tempted Jesus the first thing he tried to get Jesus to do is take care of his own needs, rather than please God!

Matthew 4:1–4 NKJV

1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry. 3 Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” 4 But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’ ”

But It is in God that we live andmove and have our being

the bible telss us that in

Acts 17:28 (NKJV)

28 for in Him we live and move and have our being,

In difficult times in our lives, we must die to our needs and wants and put God first

Matthew 6:33 NKJV

33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

Here is what I know - he will either take us out of the trouble or bring us through.

Now Elimelech went 50 mile to the Land of Moab

He made the decision to abandon God! matter of fact the Moabites were enemies of the Jews He had more faith in the enemies of God than he had in God

Today, how many of us have more faith in the world , than we do in God! How many of us are running from our problems as opposed to waiting on the Lord!

How many of us are walking by sight and not by faith!

Because there are consequences.

When we don’t allow Jesus to be Lord and Savior in our lives! When we don’t allow Jesus to be King in our lives! When we make decisions and leave God completely out of the decision - there are consequences!

Elimelech gets to Moab and he dies and leaves his wife and two boys in the land of their enemies! The boys marry Moabite women and they die as well

Here is the irony of it all

Elimelech and his family had fled bethlehem to escape death, but the three men in the family met death just the same. They were only suppose to be there for a moment, but ended up in Moab for ten years!

That was ten years of disobedience! After that decade of disobedience, all that remained were three lonely widows and three graves in a heathen land. Everything else was gone (v. 21). This is what happens when we don’t trust God!

We can't run away from our problems. The foundation of most of our situations is unbelieving and a disobedient heart.

Listen in the midst of the storm - trust God, Stay committed to God! So many excuses now as to why people are not serving God, my challenge to you is don’t run from your problem - Cast your cares on the Lord amd wait! Trust God with all your heart and don’t lean on your own understanding!