ONCE UPON A TIME
there lived a woman named
RUTH
whose husband died
and whose father~in~law died.
What was the widow to do?
Marry another son of her husband's family,
as that was the custom.
But there were no more sons.
So what was the widow to do?
FOLLOW her mother-in-law, NAOMI,
to Judea.
But NAOMI did not want RUTH and her other daughter-in-law
to FOLLOW her~
“Go back, each of you, to your mother’s home. May the LORD show you kindness, as you have shown kindness to your dead husbands
and to me. May the LORD grant that each of you will find rest in the home of another husband”*
But RUTH had other plans
to
FOLLOW THE LEADER~
“Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you.
Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay.
Your people will be my people and your GOD my GOD.
Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried.
May the LORD deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me”*
Oh the COMMITMENT to FOLLOW another.
The sheer DETERMINATION
to make up your mind
to do what your HEART is telling you to do,
even it means LEAVING all that you know,
because you want BETTER.
RUTH wanted NAOMI'S GOD!
So who was RUTH really FOLLOWING?
You SEE GOD in another,
because you SEE something different
that you can't quite put your finger on,
but you WANT HIM~
GOD!
You will go to great lengths to
FOLLOW HIM,
because you know HE WILL
take you to a BETTER place
from where you are right now.
Oh to be so determined to go the extra mile
that will change your life
FOREVER,
as you leave everything that you know behind
because you are now
FOLLOWING THE LEADER~
"Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead,
I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which
GOD has called me heavenward in CHRIST JESUS"
(Philippians 3:13-14).
The sheer determination and commitment to
FOLLOW JESUS,
because you know that
you can't do life without HIM,
and no one is going to convince you otherwise~
"When Naomi realized that Ruth was determined to go with her,
she stopped urging her" *
UNMOVABLE to ever leave HIS side.
What happened to RUTH?
She married BOAZ.
And the rest is JESUS' story.
For they had a son named
OBED,
who was the father of
JESSE,
who was the father of
DAVID
and ...
then JESUS~
"The LORD GOD will give him the throne of his father David,
and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever;
his kingdom will never end” (Luke 1:30-33).
Hmm.
Did RUTH know that she was going to find LOVE again?
All she knew was that she WANTED to
KNOW
Naomi's GOD.
Oh to have the
FAITH like RUTH
that takes you to spaces and places
beyond where you are right now
because
you
FAST from
STAYING IN THE PLACE
by
reaching out with a
FAITH that wants to KNOW GOD
more because
"But without faith it is impossible to [walk with GOD and] please HIM, for whoever comes [near] to GOD must [necessarily] believe that GOD exists and that HE rewards those who [earnestly and diligently] seek HIM" (Hebrews 11:6)
TO KNOW GOD
so deeply
that you would go to great length's
to FOLLOW HIM,
wherever HE LEADS you,
even when it feels as if you are staying in the same place,
because
the more you
KNOW GOD
the more you
KNOW
that you can't do LIFE without HIM.
Therefore,
have a FAITH like RUTH~
A FOLLOW THE LEADER FAITH
that keeps
PRESSING FORWARD
with
PERSEVERING FAITH
that
TRUSTS GOD
and
WAITS PATIENTLY
and
WATCHES EXPECTANTLY,
that makes you
KNOW GOD so deeply
that
the ONLY WAY is to
FOLLOW HIM.
Who are you FOLLOWING
and
what are you FOLLOWING
that keeps you from
going DEEPER into the bosom of GOD'S HEART,
to that space and place
that you never experienced before,
because you never BELIEVED
that you could ever experience
GOD so DEEPLY
through
HIS SON
who never stops taking you
BEYOND where you are right now
to a place that
TRANSCENDS all understanding.
Oh FAST from
whatever is robbing you of your seconds
that is keeping your in the
SAME PLACE
by
FOLLOWING THE LEADER
and tell GOD,
"I, ____________, WILL FOLLOW YOU,
"WHATEVER YOUR PLAN IS"
(listen to the song below