"How Much Thanks Is In You?" By Brother Parrish Lee November 6th,
2016
You may be seated, Saints. Ain’t it good to be in the House of the
Lord? Congratulations to all of y’all
one-hundred-and-eight-years-old not having a World Series victory fans. Okay, got that out of the way. For everybody who’s been waiting, I’ve heard
so much… God bless you. God bless you, God bless you. Five million people, huh? Five million people showed up to hear a
baseball team, you know, lift a trophy in the air. And, that’s not a bad thing, because, if the Orioles
would have won it, I would have wanted to be there. So that’s not a bad thing. But, what would it be like, to have five
million people, gathered around, their hearts ready, and their hands ready,
their minds right, to give a praise unto the one true and wise God. To lift up that banner; what would that
be like? I heard, when it was a hundred
and twenty, and they were all in one mind and one accord, I heard God answers
with the sound of a rushing and mighty wind.
That’s what I heard, that’s what I heard. So, giving honor to God who is the
head of my life; our Maker, our Creator, our Sustainer, the lover of our souls,
our Alpha, our Omega, our beginning and our end, the Rose of Sharon, the Lily
of the Valley, that bright and morning star, He who makes a way where there is
no way, and in Whom there is no shadow of turning, nor failing. Giving honor to that God. Giving honor to Him. Giving honor to Him, giving honor to that
God. Giving honor to all of those who
have come and stood in the gap to make up the hedge; from our founding pastor
and his family to our pastor and his family, and all those who have stand in
the gap and made up the hedge. And,
giving honor to all of you, who present ourselves to none other than the only
one true and wise God, that he might answer according to your petition, because
He said, “According to your requests, let it be unto you.” (Psalms 21) Amen. This month is the month that is
set aside for Thanksgiving. And, actually,
that’s an inaccurate statement; actually it’s one day—Thanksgiving is just one
day in the month, but, it’s supposed to be, as Christians, take the
month—especially as this congregation—take the month, and set it aside as the
time to give thanks. And, with that, our
theme of the month is going to be: Mark 8:6 And he commanded the people to sit down on
the ground: and he took the seven loaves, and gave thanks, and brake, and gave
to his disciples to set before them; and they did set them before the people. That is our theme for the month,
our theme Scripture for the month: A
time to give thanks. But, our Scripture
theme for today—we’re going to do a little bit of reading today. We’re going to go through some Scriptures to,
actually, to set a tone, to set a tone.
Something that God has really laid on our hearts. From the Book of Ruth, chapter one: Ruth 1:1-17 Now it came to pass in the days when the
judges ruled, that there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of
Bethlehemjudah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he, and his wife, and
his two sons. And the name of the man
was Elimelech, and the name of his wife Naomi, and the name of his two sons
Mahlon and Chilion, Ephrathites of Bethlehemjudah. And they came into the
country of Moab, and continued there.
And Elimelech Naomi's husband died; and she was left, and her two
sons. And they took them wives of the
women of Moab; the name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other Ruth:
and they dwelled there about ten years.
And Mahlon and Chilion died also both of them; and the woman was left of
her two sons and her husband. Then she
arose with her daughters in law, that she might return from the country of
Moab: for she had heard in the country of Moab how that the LORD had visited his
people in giving them' bread. Wherefore
she went forth out of the place where she was, and her two daughters in law
with her; and they went on the way to return unto the land of Judah. And Naomi said unto her two daughters in law,
Go, return each to her mother's house: the LORD deal kindly with you, as ye
have dealt with the dead, and with me.
The LORD grant you that ye may find rest, each of you in the house of
her husband. Then she kissed them; and
they lifted up their voice, and wept.
And they said unto her, Surely we will return with thee unto thy
people. And Naomi said, Turn again, my
daughters: why will ye go with me? are there yet any more sons in my womb, that
they may be your husbands? Turn again,
my daughters, go your way; for I am too old to have an husband. If I should
say, I have hope, if I should have an husband also to night, and should also
bear sons; Would ye tarry for them till
they were grown? would ye stay for them from having husbands? Nay, my
daughters; for it grieveth me much for your sakes that the hand of the LORD is
gone out against me, And they lifted up their voice, and wept again: and Orpah
kissed her mother in law; but Ruth clave unto her. And she said, Behold, thy sister in law is
gone back unto her people, and unto her gods: return thou after thy sister in
law. And Ruth said, Intreat me not to
leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I
will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people,
and thy God my God: Where thou diest,
will I die, and there will I be buried: the LORD do so to me, and more also, if
ought but death part thee and me. If we could bow our heads for just
a moment: Lord, what an auspicious time
that You would bring us before. And,
God, we continually are in awe at Your majesty and Your power, God, at Your
omnipotence, and, yes, omniscience, God, and, then, You are ever-present; You
are always with us, God. You watch over
us, and, who, but You, could do all the things that You do? We thank You for a time that we could come
and bless Your name, in a body of believers together, to know You are the only
One, risen, true, and wise God. And, we
ask, Lord, that You add a blessing to Your Word, as we read and go through, as
we study, and as we learn, God, that You would give us the blessing that You
ordered for our lives, this day. And we
do, we do, we pray and claim in Your holy name, the name of Jesus. And every one said, amen. Amen. So, first of all, I want to talk a
little bit about the theme of the month.
From Mark 8:6, I’m going to talk just briefly about it. It’s very important that we know the pretext
of this Scripture. Mark 8:6 And he commanded the people to sit down on
the ground: and he took the seven loaves, and gave thanks, and brake, and gave
to his disciples to set before them; and they did set them before the people. So, the Lord has this multitude
there, that was following after Him, and they needed something to eat, after
those three days were come across. And
he said, “Well, what do you have?” and the disciples brought unto Him the seven
loaves. And that’s all this Scripture
right here talks about. There’s more
that talks about more, but this one talks about the seven loaves. And they brought Him the seven loaves; the
Lord said, “Oh, bring them to Me.” And,
as they brought the seven loaves of bread to feed thousands of people, He asked
them to it down. He gave them an order. He gave them a preparation to receive what He
had for them. He asked them to get
ready, He sat them down, and, then, the very next thing the Lord God did, He
gave thanks. He gave thanks. He didn’t talk about “Well, it’s only such a
little bit…” He didn’t say, “I don’t
even know if they’re fresh or moldy…” He
didn’t say none of that! He gave thanks,
and then He break it, and then He gave it to the ones whom He had called. He gave it those who He had called, and He
had them distribute to those who were without. The order of the blessing for God, and God’s
people. Because, first, there is a
preparation for the blessing that he wants to give. And, then, His people have to give thanks. It
doesn’t matter what it looks like, it doesn’t—this is not the message; this
could easily be the message, but God really laid something else on my heart.
This is not the message, but this has to be said: It doesn’t matter what it looks like. It doesn’t matter if it’s hot, cold; it
doesn’t matter if it cost a lot, or it cost a little. If God gave it to you, you have to give
thanks that it might accomplish His purpose in your life, and then, to the ones
whom He has called to do the job. This
particular job was seven loaves to feed the people, but, He’s called us all to
do jobs on our jobs, in our families, in our ministry. He’s called every one of us to do something,
to be faithful with Him. So, we prepare
ourselves. We give thanks to God for the
calling, and what He’s supplies us with.
We make sure we’re prepared, we give thanks, and then we receive what He
has, and then we distribute to those He has called us to minister to. That is God’s blessing. Without that thanks, without that blessing,
thousands of people would not be fed.
Literally, those are ours, those that He has called us to minister
to. If we don’t prepare ourselves, we
don’t give thanks, we don’t receive what He specifically has for us, we can’t
do His job that He wants us to do.
That’s not the message; it could be, but that’s not the message. It had to be said, though. You ever have something that just had to be
said, you know it just had to be said?
That had to be said. So, we read some from Ruth,
chapter one, verse one through seventeen, and, to provide a little bit of background
here, it’s important to know that there was a famine in Bethlehem-Judah, and,
so, because there was a famine, Elimelech said, “I got to move my family. We’ve got to get some food. We’re going to the place of Moab, because
they’ve got some food, and we can survive.”
And, that’s not uncommon.
Nowadays, if you can’t find a job, you go to someplace where you can get
a job. “If I can’t feed my family, if I
can’t feed myself, if I can’t put gas in my car, if I can’t catch the bus, if
I’m distraught and distressed, I gots to go to where I can take care of myself
and those whom I have.” That’s something
that’s common. So, this is where Elimelech
was. So, he moved his family over to
Moab, a place where they could get food.
His wife, his two sons. Moved
there a little bit, doesn’t even say how old they were at the time. After they were there for a little while, Elimelech
dies, the patriarch dies. They married women from Moab in the land of
Moab, they married, and the story goes on for a little while, ten years later, both
of the two sons are dead. And, if we
were to look at the story on face value, we would say, “What a sad story. Everybody’s dying. What a sad story.” But, that is not the end of the story. It goes on to say in verse six,
Naomi decides to go back to her country, go back to Bethlehem-Judah. She decided to go back, because she heard,
“Oh, God has returned, and He’s blessing the people there.” So, she decides to go back, and, before she completely leaves, she says, “Well, I’m
going to send my two daughters-in-law away.
Well, they were kind of sad at this.
Because, obviously, they had been with her for ten years or so. They were kind of sad that they had known
Naomi all this time, and now there was a breaking up. And she tells them something specific: She tells them, “Go back to your people. Go back to your god.” We’re talking about thanks. The title of the message today is, “How Much
Thanks Is in You?” How much thanks is in
you? So, she tells her two daughters-in-law
to go back. Because, you see, at the
time, Naomi could only see, she could only hope, she only had a vision for what
was in front of her. She couldn’t trust
in the unseen, only in what she could see, and, what she could see was, “I
don’t have a man here to provide for me and my family. Okay, ladies, you’ve got to go. Why do you have to leave me? Because,” and she goes on to say, in verse
nine: Ruth 1:9 The LORD grant you that ye may find rest,
each of you in the house of her husband. Then she kissed them; and they lifted
up their voice, and wept. And, then, in verse twelve, she
says: Ruth 1:12-13 Turn again, my daughters, go your way; for I
am too old to have an husband. If I
should say, I have hope, if I should have an husband also to night, and should
also bear sons; Would ye tarry for them till they were grown? would ye stay for
them from having husbands? nay, my daughters; for it grieveth me much for your
sakes that the hand of the LORD is gone out against me. So, Naomi could only see what she
had; she could only see what was in front of her. She couldn’t trust in what she couldn’t see. So, she was sending the two away. And, they both were sad about this. Orpah, and Ruth, they were both sad, and they
both said, no, initially. They both said,
no, because, see, Naomi knew that they had what was called ''levirate
marriage", a levirate marriage, which means, back in those days, if a wife
had a husband, and the husband died and she had no children, his brother was to
raise up children in his (brother's) name, so that she wouldn’t be alone. A levirate marriage. And, that’s why she said, “If I did have children,
would they wait for them? It wouldn’t be
fair to you. Go home.” Well,
that whole promise of everything tells her, “This is the only hope I can give
you.” Part 1: Levels
of Thankfulness So we have the three. We have the three here, we have Naomi, Orpah,
and Ruth. Naomi, Orpah, and Ruth. Levels of thankfulness; levels of being
thankful. Now, we can call it levels, we
can call it degrees, we can call it shades of being thankful, but, the truth of
the matter is, not everyone has the same level of being thankful. Not everyone is thankful the same way, or the
same amount. Everybody knows this: You can give everybody the same gift at
Christmas, and, some people, they’re just going to hug your neck and be real
thankful, and some people are just going to say, “Hmmmph,” and push it off to
the side. The people that want to say,
“Hmmmph,” you kind of want to, you know, exercise a little bit of—yeah, you
want to slap them. There ain’t no other
way to say that. You want to just say,
“Hey, I spent my time, my money, for you, and this is what you give me?” So, there’s different levels of thankfulness;
something--a point we’re all familiar with.
And, so, let's talk, first, about Naomi.
She was old, older than everybody else.
She was the oldest one in this story.
And, so, she felt like, “Hmm. I’m
the oldest one, even if I got married now, I probably couldn’t have kids, but,
even if I did have sons, what would that be to you two ladies? I’m the oldest, and, you know what? I’ve had a miserable time. The hand of the Lord is against me, because I
can’t get what I think I need.” So much
so, her thankfulness dropped so far down, that when she went to return—if we
were to read on, and read into the next chapter, she did go back to
Bethlehem-Judah, and the people saw her, and they said, “Hey, this is
Naomi! Isn’t this Naomi?” and, before
they could call her and greet her, she said, “Don’t call me Naomi! Naomi means pleasant; don’t call me that! Call me Mara. Call me bitter. Call me blecch! I ain’t got nothing to be happy about! I ain’t got nothing to be pleasant
about! Talking about—Naomi,
nothing!” And, many of us have been
there. Many of us have been at the place,
because of the circumstances of life, “Don’t tell me I’m blessed. I’m going to do something. Don’t tell me God’s good to me! You don’t know how I feel! Don’t tell me those things! Just look at me and see how miserable I am. Hmmmph.”
Many of us have been there, and this, this is the plight of Naomi. Her level of thankfulness had dropped so far,
“Can’t look around and see what I’m thankful for, because I’ve lost so much.” Next, we have to talk about Orpah.
Now, Orpah was raised a Moabitess. She was a daughter of the children of Moab, a
Moabitess. And, all you really know about
Orpah was that she married one of the sons of Elimelech, of Naomi. She married a son, one of the sons of
Bethlehem-Judah, and he died, somewhere in that ten-year period, somewhere
around there, and he was gone. And, they
presented it, now, Naomi’s leaving, and she tells Orpah, “Go home.” And, at first, Orpah says no. At first, she says no. She weeps, and she doesn’t go. At first, when she starts to resist, when she
starts to resist, something happens. And
we can identify with this, too. Sometimes,
when you go, when you’ve got your mind made up to do something to do something
for God and in God, sometimes something comes along to push you off-track, to
try to dissuade you. “I’m
thankful!” But, we have to measure how
thankful. “Well, you know what? You done prayed for a long time, anyway, you
might as well stop, and get something done.
Well, you know, you’ve been giving thanks for a while, you ain’t got
time for all that. It’s time to think
about what’s really going on.” So, Orpah,
because of Naomi, was convinced. Naomi laid
out a great argument. “Orpah, I ain’t
gonna be having no more kids, and, even if I did, you ain’t gonna be waiting
around. You may as well leave, go to
your people, go to your god.” Now, let
me tell you something about the Moabs, the Moabites. They did not have the God that the Children
of Israel did. They did not have that
God, the great Jehovah. They did not
have the great I AM. They did not have
Him whose name is Jealous. They did not
have Him who splits the Red Sea. They
did not have Him who came and delivered the people from Egypt. They did not have that God! They had other gods, but their main one was a
god Chemosh. Chemosh. Yeah, and they had figures, and they had
images, but Chemosh was kind of an angry god.
And, one of the things that you did for their god, of their nation, was
you gave human sacrifices. People would
offer their children to Chemosh. That’s
the god that she left, that Naomi convinced her to go back to. That’s the god that Naomi said, “Return!” And she went, knowing what that god had to
offer, and what Naomi’s God had to offer, but she was convinced to go,
convinced to leave. That’s Orpah, and
the sad part about this is that, when she left, that’s the end of the story, a
far as Orpah’s concerned. It doesn’t
continue on, as far as, when somebody left from following after that true and
wise God. That’s the end of Orpah, as
far as the story goes, not as far as the message goes. But, as far as the story goes, that’s the end
of Orpah. Now, she didn’t realize, as so
many people do, that she just left too early; that God was working something
out. She didn’t realize that. She didn’t realize that God had it in His
hands, if she would just trust Him, if she would not listen to everybody else,
and just trust Him. Orpah. So, she leaves. And, next, we have, of course,
Ruth. The book is named after her. Now, whereas Naomi did not know to be
thankful for her situation and for what she had, Ruth, on the other hand,
did. And Ruth entreated her, she said,
“Don’t even tell me, don’t even mention—where you go, I’ll go; where you stay,
I’ll stay; your people is my people; where you die, I’ll die; and, where you go
with your God, I go, with you and your God.”
Because, you see, Ruth knew where she came from. She knew that this God was different from
everything else she’d ever came in contact with. Ruth knew that, “I’d rather have every single
problem you have, Naomi, and have a God who can deliver, than to go back, and
have spoiled onions, and garlic, like they did back in Egypt, and all the
things in Moab. I’d rather be poor in
God’s house, than rich with the things of the world. Naomi, I’m with you, whether you like it or
not. Whether you like it or not. I’d gladly go through it, as long as I can
have God!” And so many of us know that
story. Many of us know that on a
personal level. Temptations, battles,
trials, people talking down to you—I know I ain’t alone. You know that you had to make a decision,
somewhere along the line, it’s either Jesus or everything else! And the very fact that you can come, and
raise your hand, and say, I choose Jesus.
I choose Jesus, over and over—I chose Him this morning, I’m choosing Him
now, and, later on today, I’m choosing Him again. I chose Him thirty years ago, twenty years
ago, ten years ago; I chose Him last week, this week, and, I’m choosing Him
next week if I live that long. Now, Ruth knew that she couldn’t
see what was going to happen, but she knew, “If I had God, I’m going to be all
right. I don’t know how all right it’s
going to be, but, he will be able to keep me.
I’ve seen Him do it. So, her lot became that she was a
gleaner, a gleaner. She was a gleaner. The attitude of a gleaner has to be
super-humble. Now, in the Book of
Leviticus, chapter nineteen, it talks about gleaning. Now, gleaning—in the Old Testament, they
weren’t—when they had a field, and they had crops and everything, they
weren’t—by a commandment of God—they were not supposed to harvest the entire
crop. They weren’t supposed to take it
all for themselves. In the
Bible it says when one had plenty, they were not to glean their field. In fact, this is where the edict comes: Leviticus 19:9-10 And when
ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not wholly reap the corners of thy
field [You had to leave the corners of your field untouched.], neither shalt thou gather the gleanings of
thy harvest. [Gleanings means every little scrap on the ground. They weren’t supposed to take every little
thing and make it so that it’s bald and bare.] And thou shalt not glean thy
vineyard, neither shalt thou gather every grape of thy vineyard; thou shalt
leave them for the poor and stranger: [and then God follows that up by:] I am the LORD your God. “This is a commandment; this, you
will do it. I gave it to you, and I’m
telling you what you can do with it. You
leave some for other people, for the poor, and the strangers!” And those sacrifices and offerings continued
in tithes and offerings; you find yourself that have to give, and you give to
others. That is the same principle. God set up the first charity. God set it up, made sure that people were
going to be taken care of. But the
attitude of a gleaner had to be very humble.
“I ain’t got nothing for myself, all I can eat is—gather the scraps that
they left on the ground from when they harvested, I can only get the little bit
that’s left, and that can be enough.
That can be enough to keep me, today.
Tomorrow I’ll have to glean some more.”
So, this attitude of gleaning, of
humility, of bowing down to get the scraps, you had to make a choice in
that. Either you were going to be
humble, or you were going to be mad.
“Why is God not giving me my own field?”
Or, you can be “…thankful to get the little bit I can get, to help
myself, or whoever else I come in contact with, so that we can have
something. God has provided.” And He let them know, “I am the Lord your
God. This is what I leave for you.” So, people everywhere have
something to be thankful for. If you’ve
got any blessing at all, that’s a, “Thank You.”
Anything at all. “It wasn’t a
whole lot, thank you Lord. Well, I wish
I had more. Thank You, God, for what You
have given me. Lord, I start there,
because that’s where the blessing starts.
It starts at, “Thank You.” And,
all of us, I could be feeling a little better.
Brother Andy, I could be feeling a little better, but, I’m good enough
to be in the House of the Lord, and say, “Thank You, Jesus!” That’s enough to get me started, right
there. “Well, I ain’t got a whole lot of
gas, but I got enough gas to get to work and to the gas station. Thank You, Lord!” “Well, my electricity might not have made it
all the way, but, it was a warm day today.
Thank You, Lord Jesus.” I’ve been
there. I’ve been there. I’ve been there. I don’t know if anybody else has been there,
and, if you don’t be thankful for what you think is a little, let God take that
away. Let God answer you according the
rebelliousness and stubbornness, and then, maybe, you’ll talk—I knew—I’ll tell
this story right quick: I knew a
brother, once, he complained about having a job for ten dollars an hour. Complained so much, didn’t like it so much,
he quit the job; threw it back in the face of the employer. And I watched him look for a job for weeks
and weeks, until, finally, finally, we had a prayer, and he said, “You know
what? I complained about making ten
dollars an hour, and God is showing me, I would take that, and I wouldn’t
complain, if He would give it to me, right now.” That’s where God was trying to get this
particular brother. And you know
what? Because he prayed, and sought, and
humbled himself, God gave him a job making double that, and we told him,
straight up, you better start in the altar and say, “Thank You.” You better start there, unless we have to
teach this lesson all over again. So, there’s people that, we have
to say we are thankful, today. If you
had a blessing in your family, it’s enough to say, “Thank You.” If you have a blessing in your health, you’ve
got to say, “Thank You.” If anybody has
ever been snatched back from the hand of death, you know what? You should never stop saying, “Thank you,
Lord,” unless you have to teach again.
I’ve been there. I’ve been
there. I’ve been there. To trust in God one hundred percent; I don’t
know how this was, but I was driving, and there’s no way to drive a vehicle,
when it’s in the air, and rolling around.
There’s no way to drive; you are along for the ride. And God told me I am one hundred percent in
His hands. Thank You for the lesson,
Lord, I remember it every day now. Every
day, unless You have to teach me again.
We have people who are thankful for everything that’s been happening in
their lives. And, we have to make sure
that we do deliver a thank You to God. Right quick, I want to mention
something: I had an opportunity to go to
Baltimore, two weeks ago, and, my nephew had asked me to marry him and his
fiancé. And, I told him, “You know I am
a Christian minister.” And he said,
“Yeah, I do, Uncle Parrish, but I want you to do it. I think it would be kind of neat.” “Neat,” he said. Well, we’ll see. And, so, I went back to Baltimore, now,
right quick: many of you know that God saved me from being Muslim, and many of
you also know that I come from a family where the father and mother weren’t
together. Yeah, that’s the
household. So, that made for a very
interesting environment. What happened, here, was, as I counselled my nephew
and his fiancé, I told them, “This isn’t going to be a Muslim wedding, or one
of those who, everything you say goes. I
call on only one God, the Almighty God, and I ask Him to bless this. That’s the only way—if you’re calling me as a
minister, that’s the only ministering I do.”
And they said, “Oh. Well,
okay.” So, we talked about how, “Marriage
is something that’s holy and sanctified before God! He chose it, He ordained it! He blesses it! And this is where you’re walking to. You’re asking for God to lead you and guide
you in this.” And they said, “We never
heard this before.” “That’s okay; you’re
hearing it now. And, furthermore, when
we finish this counselling session, we’re going to pray.” And my nephew said something very interesting
to me: he said, “Uncle Parrish, I’m
twenty-six years old; I have never prayed.
Never. I don’t know what that is,
and that’s why you can’t ask me to do it.”
And I said, “My nephew, that’s why I’m here, to help you.” And then I led, and he prayed, and it was the
humblest and most sincere prayer, as he asked for God to touch his family, God
to touch him, give him the things he didn’t have, and then his wife, with
tears—well, she’s his wife, now—but his fiancé, with tears in her eyes, said, “I’ve
always wanted a family in God. Now, this
is the beginning. This is the
beginning.” Amen. But, I had prayed for this, and, what
happened was, at the rehearsal for the wedding, the groomsmen, and the
bridesmaids, they didn’t know what to do.
They were all in their twenties, and they didn’t know what to do. Why?
Because, almost none of them had ever seen a wedding, because that’s not
the custom, now. The custom, in that
neighborhood, is not to get married, it’s just to live together. And I told them, “Okay, I am the Christian
minister, here, this is how it’s going to be.
I’m going to tell you groomsmen how to act, and you bridesmaids how to
act. This is a marriage before
God.” And they listened like they were
in class. And, afterwards, they said,
“You know what? We’ve never heard that
before. Please tell us if we’re doing it
right.” And then my nephew said, “Uncle
Parrish, everybody wants you to come back and help us.” And, then, that isn’t the end of the
story. And, so, I performed—and I’m
saying this, because of Ruth—performed the wedding; it was a beautiful wedding,
beautiful wedding. And, after the
wedding—and, yes, I have no shame in my game.—“I call on the one true and wise
God. I don’t care who you are. We call on Jesus. You are the One who blesses, You are the only
one.” And, after the whole ceremony, the
Muslim part of my family, wanted to challenge me, but I think they really
understood, “He really calls on a real God.”
And, I got a phone call, I got a
phone call from somebody. This phone
call was from somebody I don’t have the greatest relationship with, for many
years, for many, many years. And, as I
got this phone call, they made comments about the wedding, and how it was, and
they made some different points about what happened here, why was this, why was
that? And, I was wondering why they were
calling me, when we really don’t have the most fantastic relationship, and I
asked God, “Really, what’s this about?” and then, they got around to asking
me—in a round-about way, do I love them?
Do I love them? And I was really taken
aback, but I was not ashamed to say, “Yes, I do love you.” And then, God showed me that they asked me if
I loved them, because, to them, I represent this Christian Almighty God. And if—they have been Muslim for many, many,
many, many years—is it possible that, if I love them and could ever forgive
them for everything that had ever been between us, then maybe, just maybe, the
God that I served, as an example, He could love them, too, and can forgive their
estrangement, and not knowing, and attacking the principles of Christ. The point is, Naomi didn’t even realize, she
was the representative of the one true God, and the scraps that she had, when
she was pushing everybody away, even the scraps that would fall from the table,
was more than enough for Ruth to take, and there’s a Book in the Bible called
Ruth. The book isn’t called Naomi. It isn’t called Orpah. It isn’t called Boaz. The Book, forever, is called Ruth. So, what a huge victory this has been, to be
in her family. And, lastly, last thing: Part 2: Lost the
Fight You see, I’d like to make the point
that Naomi had the same thing that can hit people who have been around for a
while; she had, what they call, "lost the fight.” She lost that vision and that newness, and
that happiness, and that enthusiasm, and that joy, and that preciousness that
God gives, and was swept away by other things and she was at the place where
she was throwing up her hands, saying, “I have nothing to offer,” discounting
that God. We call it lost the fight, because, so many
people, especially if you’ve been around for a while, it’s easier to receive
that spirit. “I can’t get as happy as I
used to, and, praying, it just makes me tired.
I’m tired of people talking about it.
You wear me out!” And, the truth
of the matter is, in Daniel 7:25, it says the evil one, he’s the one behind
trying to wear you out, so, the message here is, get your fight back. Get your fight back. If the devil has stolen it, has deceived you,
put you in a situation where you made mistakes and messed up, God will receive
you back every single time. If we
confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and cleanse
us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9), the Bible says. We turn around, come to God, “Come to Me,” He
said, “all ye that are labor and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.”
(Matthew 11:28). “Take My burden upon
you, and find rest to your souls,” (Matthew 11:29) the Bible says. Get your fight back. “I don’t have the compassion I used to
have.” Get your compassion back. “Well, you know what? I don’t have the joy that I used to
have.” The Bible says the joy of the
Lord will be used for (Nehemiah 8:10)—get your joy back. “Well, you know, I lost my zeal. I used to study, and I used to really love
it, but I’ve been out of that whole realm for a long time.” Get you study back. Whatever the devil tries to take from you,
don’t give up the fight. Pick back up
your sword! Pick back up your shield! Encourage somebody, who else has lost the
fight, and let Naomi know—which is what Ruth did, this is what Ruth did—she let
Naomi know that, as much as she cleaved, when she found Boaz, and that whole
situation—we’d have to read on a bit, and we’re not going to get into that, we
don’t have time—that whole situation that transpired, Naomi finally saw,
because somebody didn’t let go, that God had this thing, all the time, all the
time. She just didn’t know how it was
going to happen. And, so, at the end,
Naomi begins to bless the Lord for what He shows her, through Ruth. So, they say, “What do you get
when you play country music backwards?” They say—anybody ever heard that one
before?—“You get your wife back, you get your dog back, you get your truck
back, you get your car back, you get your house back, you get your job back,
when you play it backwards. I heard that
some ties ago, but I have a different question, I have a different question: What happens when you remember the rock from
which you were hewn and the hole of the pit from which you were dug? What happens when you remember what God did
for you? What happens when you remember
victory, after victory, after victory?
God, He never fails. What happens
when you say, “Man, every time I turn to Him, and I got serious about it, God
answered me according to my needs—not my wants, but my needs.”? What happens when you say, “God, You’ve never
stopped being good to me.” You get what
the prodigal son had, where it said he came to himself (Luke 15:17). You get what happened to David, where his men
talked of stoning him, where he encouraged himself (1 Samuel 30:6). This is the path I’m supposed to be
going. This is what Ruth taught
Naomi. And the promise is, if we strive lawfully we
shall be crowned. And last Scripture, Apostle Paul wrote
it, but many people have been living it, both before and after: Philippians 1:6 Being confident of
this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it
until the day of Jesus Christ: As the Lord has begun His work in His
children, He will finish it. Give the
Lord a praise.
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