Michael Youssef passionately proclaims uncompromising truth from God’s Word. Learn more at LTW.org.
#Religion;Series
#Faithfulness
#Grace
#Foolishness
#Prosperity
#Seek God
#Intimacy
#Obedience
#Visions/Dreams
#Love of God
#Michael Youssef
#Ruth 1:1-22
Closed captions
Show Timecode
Michael Youssef | A Match Made In Heaven | June 9, 2021
- ...
- 00:00:00.633 --> 00:00:01.150
- male announcer: Coming up next on "Leading The Way."
- 00:00:01.283 --> 00:00:03.085
- Dr. Michael Youssef: Short circuiting God's plan
- 00:00:03.285 --> 00:00:04.153
- can take you far away from your home in Christ.
- 00:00:05.621 --> 00:00:08.524
- But thank God that his grace always calling you to come home.
- 00:00:08.524 --> 00:00:14.196
- Whenever I've tried to short circuit God plans in my life,
- 00:00:14.196 --> 00:00:18.033
- I go through unnecessary pain and discontentment.
- 00:00:18.033 --> 00:00:22.971
- Short circuiting and shortcuts never works for me,
- 00:00:22.971 --> 00:00:26.041
- and I know they don't work for you Either.
- 00:00:26.041 --> 00:00:28.077
- announcer: Coming up next.
- 00:00:28.077 --> 00:00:29.578
- ♪♪♪
- 00:00:31.680 --> 00:00:34.983
- Dr. Youssef: I am delighted that generous partners
- 00:00:34.983 --> 00:00:37.920
- of this ministry are making a June gift challenge.
- 00:00:37.920 --> 00:00:42.191
- That's the end of our fiscal year.
- 00:00:42.191 --> 00:00:44.526
- In order to finish the fiscal year strong,
- 00:00:44.526 --> 00:00:47.262
- and I hope that you will be challenged to help us so that
- 00:00:47.262 --> 00:00:52.668
- they can match your gift.
- 00:00:52.668 --> 00:00:54.503
- Would you pray with me about what God would have you do?
- 00:00:54.503 --> 00:00:58.307
- And thank you in advance.
- 00:00:58.307 --> 00:01:00.476
- God bless.
- 00:01:00.476 --> 00:01:02.144
- announcer: Dr. Youssef is pressing on to reach more people
- 00:01:02.144 --> 00:01:04.246
- with the gospel than ever before through
- 00:01:04.246 --> 00:01:06.582
- "Leading The Way's" strategic Vision 2025 initiative,
- 00:01:06.582 --> 00:01:10.018
- and you can be a part.
- 00:01:10.018 --> 00:01:12.754
- This month, generous ministry partners have committed to match
- 00:01:12.754 --> 00:01:14.823
- up to $1.2 million given to "Leading The Way"
- 00:01:14.823 --> 00:01:18.160
- dollar for dollar.
- 00:01:18.160 --> 00:01:19.795
- Through this June gift challenge,
- 00:01:19.795 --> 00:01:22.131
- you can double the impact of your giving.
- 00:01:22.131 --> 00:01:23.932
- Will you join us on the front lines of this
- 00:01:23.932 --> 00:01:26.335
- crucial ministry through our June gift challenge?
- 00:01:26.335 --> 00:01:28.437
- Contact us to give a generous gift today.
- 00:01:28.437 --> 00:01:31.106
- ♪♪♪
- 00:01:31.106 --> 00:01:34.143
- ♪♪♪
- 00:01:36.111 --> 00:01:46.121
- CC by Aberdeen Captioning 1-800-688-6621 www.abercap.com
- 00:01:46.121 --> 00:01:51.193
- Dr. Youssef: Whenever I tried to short circuit God plans
- 00:01:55.364 --> 00:01:58.100
- in my life, whenever I tried to short circuit God's purpose
- 00:01:58.100 --> 00:02:01.170
- for my life, whenever I tried to short circuit God's vision
- 00:02:01.170 --> 00:02:04.273
- for my life, I go through unnecessary pain,
- 00:02:04.273 --> 00:02:09.745
- unnecessary suffering, and discontentment.
- 00:02:09.745 --> 00:02:11.813
- Short circuiting and shortcuts never works
- 00:02:13.749 --> 00:02:17.252
- for me.
- 00:02:17.252 --> 00:02:18.921
- And I know they don't work for you either.
- 00:02:18.921 --> 00:02:21.056
- Short circuiting God's plan can take you far,
- 00:02:21.056 --> 00:02:25.961
- far, far away from your home in Christ.
- 00:02:25.961 --> 00:02:30.899
- But thank God that his grace, always,
- 00:02:30.899 --> 00:02:34.970
- always, how many times?
- 00:02:34.970 --> 00:02:37.005
- Always, always calling you to come home,
- 00:02:37.005 --> 00:02:40.842
- always calling you to come home.
- 00:02:40.842 --> 00:02:44.246
- In the book of Ruth, you find a reminder of the incredible,
- 00:02:44.246 --> 00:02:49.151
- indescribable, unfathomable grace of God.
- 00:02:49.151 --> 00:02:54.823
- We see a reminder of how his grace overruled
- 00:02:54.823 --> 00:02:59.661
- the foolish decisions to take matters into their own hand.
- 00:02:59.661 --> 00:03:05.701
- And I'm beginning the short series today.
- 00:03:05.701 --> 00:03:09.605
- I hope you're not gonna miss any of it.
- 00:03:09.605 --> 00:03:12.774
- This is a story of a nice Jewish family who lived
- 00:03:12.774 --> 00:03:19.381
- during the wild days of the book of Judges.
- 00:03:19.381 --> 00:03:22.751
- In case you don't know about the book of Judges and the time
- 00:03:22.751 --> 00:03:25.387
- of the judges, I want to tell you a few things about that.
- 00:03:25.387 --> 00:03:28.624
- It was a period of time after Joshua died,
- 00:03:28.624 --> 00:03:34.796
- who is the successor of Moses, and before the coming
- 00:03:34.796 --> 00:03:38.333
- of the Prophet Samuel and the ushering
- 00:03:38.333 --> 00:03:40.902
- of the period of the kings.
- 00:03:40.902 --> 00:03:43.672
- Those were terrible days for God's people.
- 00:03:43.672 --> 00:03:46.908
- There were days not unlike our days.
- 00:03:46.908 --> 00:03:50.345
- Those were the days of which the Bible says everyone there
- 00:03:50.345 --> 00:03:53.782
- was doing what is right in their own eyes.
- 00:03:53.782 --> 00:03:58.120
- Consequently, they got themselves into trouble again
- 00:03:58.120 --> 00:04:03.458
- and again and again.
- 00:04:03.458 --> 00:04:06.028
- And then they will cry to God.
- 00:04:06.028 --> 00:04:08.997
- And every time, God would send them a deliverer whom they're
- 00:04:08.997 --> 00:04:12.868
- called the judge.
- 00:04:12.868 --> 00:04:14.569
- But as soon as the trouble was over,
- 00:04:14.569 --> 00:04:16.605
- as soon as dangers gone, as soon as they begin to experience
- 00:04:16.605 --> 00:04:21.143
- peace and prosperity again, they turn their backs on Yahweh,
- 00:04:21.143 --> 00:04:27.182
- and turn to the gods, fertility gods of Canaan.
- 00:04:27.182 --> 00:04:31.320
- In the midst of this wholesale departure from biblical truth,
- 00:04:31.320 --> 00:04:35.857
- we read about this family, a family that tried
- 00:04:35.857 --> 00:04:39.795
- to short circuit their way into prosperity
- 00:04:39.795 --> 00:04:45.000
- in times of trouble.
- 00:04:45.000 --> 00:04:47.436
- But alas, they ended up in the dead end road of tragedy,
- 00:04:47.436 --> 00:04:53.041
- sorrow, and pain.
- 00:04:53.041 --> 00:04:55.711
- But again, bless God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
- 00:04:55.711 --> 00:05:01.016
- This story is not the end.
- 00:05:01.016 --> 00:05:04.152
- This part is not the end of the story.
- 00:05:04.152 --> 00:05:06.421
- You will see the amazing grace of God overrules and overrides
- 00:05:06.421 --> 00:05:14.763
- even our foolish decisions, and the shortcuts
- 00:05:14.763 --> 00:05:18.800
- and the short circuiting.
- 00:05:18.800 --> 00:05:21.002
- You will see how the grace of God brings good out of evil.
- 00:05:21.002 --> 00:05:26.942
- You'll see how the grace of God brings joy
- 00:05:26.942 --> 00:05:29.745
- out of bitterness and sorrow.
- 00:05:29.745 --> 00:05:31.980
- You will see, by the end of this short series of messages,
- 00:05:31.980 --> 00:05:35.550
- how the grace of God can bring out of pain,
- 00:05:35.550 --> 00:05:40.255
- grief, and sorrow.
- 00:05:40.255 --> 00:05:42.657
- The ancestor of the Lord Jesus Christ,
- 00:05:42.657 --> 00:05:48.096
- I trust that by now you all have the book of Ruth
- 00:05:48.096 --> 00:05:51.133
- chapter 1 open in front of you.
- 00:05:51.133 --> 00:05:53.602
- This family name was Elimelech.
- 00:05:53.602 --> 00:05:57.005
- Eli, that's the name of God, Eli.
- 00:05:57.005 --> 00:06:02.377
- Melech, king. God is my King.
- 00:06:02.377 --> 00:06:06.548
- That's the name of this family, God is my King.
- 00:06:06.548 --> 00:06:09.918
- And yet, alas, they did not live up to this name.
- 00:06:09.918 --> 00:06:14.956
- This family thought that they were buying their ticket
- 00:06:14.956 --> 00:06:21.530
- into prosperity, they're buying their tickets into paradise.
- 00:06:21.530 --> 00:06:25.734
- But they ended up in the graveyards of Moab.
- 00:06:25.734 --> 00:06:30.439
- Now here are some truth that you need to know.
- 00:06:30.439 --> 00:06:33.308
- If you think that you can become a discerning believer,
- 00:06:33.308 --> 00:06:36.978
- without spending time with the Word of God,
- 00:06:36.978 --> 00:06:40.081
- and in the Word of God, please think again.
- 00:06:40.081 --> 00:06:44.152
- If you think that you can be a godly man or a godly woman
- 00:06:44.152 --> 00:06:48.056
- without intimacy with God on a daily basis,
- 00:06:48.056 --> 00:06:50.692
- please think again.
- 00:06:50.692 --> 00:06:52.727
- If you think that you can make good and wise decisions
- 00:06:52.727 --> 00:06:56.264
- for your life without obedience to the Word of God,
- 00:06:56.264 --> 00:07:00.068
- I'm begging you, think again.
- 00:07:00.068 --> 00:07:03.638
- The book of Ruth is a magnificent little book.
- 00:07:03.638 --> 00:07:07.476
- It was not called the book of Naomi.
- 00:07:07.476 --> 00:07:09.811
- It was named after a Gentile woman, Ruth.
- 00:07:09.811 --> 00:07:15.016
- I'm gonna explain this as we unfold
- 00:07:15.016 --> 00:07:16.718
- the series of messages together.
- 00:07:16.718 --> 00:07:18.820
- It's an amazing grace of God because it teaches us a great
- 00:07:18.820 --> 00:07:22.924
- deal about how God cares for an ordinary believer.
- 00:07:22.924 --> 00:07:30.365
- It teaches us that our extraordinary God can do great
- 00:07:30.365 --> 00:07:34.469
- and extraordinary things with an ordinary believer.
- 00:07:34.469 --> 00:07:38.640
- Three things I want to share with you
- 00:07:38.640 --> 00:07:40.575
- from chapter 1, three things.
- 00:07:40.575 --> 00:07:41.943
- Write them down if you're taking notes.
- 00:07:41.943 --> 00:07:46.648
- Whenever you short circuit, or you try to short circuit
- 00:07:46.648 --> 00:07:51.219
- God's plan or God's will for your life,
- 00:07:51.219 --> 00:07:53.722
- there is an initial comfort in that process.
- 00:07:53.722 --> 00:07:58.493
- There's an initial comfort.
- 00:07:58.493 --> 00:08:00.262
- I'm gonna come to this.
- 00:08:00.262 --> 00:08:01.930
- Secondly, there is an inevitable consequences to short circuiting
- 00:08:01.930 --> 00:08:09.271
- God's plan for your life.
- 00:08:09.271 --> 00:08:11.039
- Thirdly, there is an indisputable cure.
- 00:08:11.039 --> 00:08:14.009
- Initial comfort, inevitable consequences,
- 00:08:14.009 --> 00:08:17.245
- and indisputable cure.
- 00:08:17.245 --> 00:08:19.214
- Listen, there is a euphoria.
- 00:08:19.214 --> 00:08:22.317
- There is an initial comfort in getting away
- 00:08:22.317 --> 00:08:26.555
- from the will of God and doing your thing.
- 00:08:26.555 --> 00:08:29.558
- I'm not gonna deny that.
- 00:08:29.558 --> 00:08:31.927
- Elimelech's family thought that the grass was greener
- 00:08:31.927 --> 00:08:38.099
- on the other side of the septic tank,
- 00:08:38.099 --> 00:08:42.103
- show they left the house of bread.
- 00:08:42.103 --> 00:08:45.140
- That's what Bethlehem means.
- 00:08:45.140 --> 00:08:46.541
- Beth, house.
- 00:08:46.541 --> 00:08:47.976
- Lehem in Hebrew, bread.
- 00:08:47.976 --> 00:08:49.778
- The house of bread.
- 00:08:49.778 --> 00:08:51.580
- They left the house of bread and went to Moab.
- 00:08:51.580 --> 00:08:54.583
- Why, why?
- 00:08:54.583 --> 00:08:57.018
- Because they ran out of food, and when they run out of food
- 00:08:57.018 --> 00:09:03.124
- in Bethlehem, they looked for solutions outside
- 00:09:03.124 --> 00:09:07.395
- of God's promises, outside.
- 00:09:07.395 --> 00:09:10.632
- They looked for solutions outside of God's people.
- 00:09:10.632 --> 00:09:13.702
- They looked for solutions outside of the land of promise.
- 00:09:13.702 --> 00:09:17.872
- Don't miss this.
- 00:09:17.872 --> 00:09:19.774
- Don't miss this. Don't miss this.
- 00:09:19.774 --> 00:09:22.444
- How you act and what you do when you are facing crisis
- 00:09:22.444 --> 00:09:30.352
- situation in your life says a great deal about
- 00:09:30.352 --> 00:09:33.788
- your spiritual discernment.
- 00:09:33.788 --> 00:09:36.992
- Elimelech did not take the family into another
- 00:09:36.992 --> 00:09:40.662
- part of the Promised Land.
- 00:09:40.662 --> 00:09:42.364
- That would have been fine because this is
- 00:09:42.364 --> 00:09:44.265
- the land of promise.
- 00:09:44.265 --> 00:09:45.800
- God promised it to Abraham.
- 00:09:45.800 --> 00:09:47.602
- God promised it to Abraham's descendants.
- 00:09:47.602 --> 00:09:49.704
- They could have gone to another part of the land of promise,
- 00:09:49.704 --> 00:09:52.207
- but they didn't.
- 00:09:52.207 --> 00:09:53.575
- They went to enemy's territory.
- 00:09:53.575 --> 00:09:56.511
- They went to the pagans.
- 00:09:56.511 --> 00:09:59.514
- Let me tell you about Moab.
- 00:09:59.514 --> 00:10:02.117
- See Bethlehem?
- 00:10:02.117 --> 00:10:03.785
- Moab is today in modern Jordan.
- 00:10:03.785 --> 00:10:06.855
- I've been on both sides of the Dead Sea.
- 00:10:06.855 --> 00:10:09.691
- I've seen them from both sides.
- 00:10:09.691 --> 00:10:12.093
- You see, it's not very far, really.
- 00:10:12.093 --> 00:10:14.829
- Depending on how your travel, it's ten miles.
- 00:10:14.829 --> 00:10:17.766
- That's all it is.
- 00:10:17.766 --> 00:10:19.100
- It's a short trip, not too far geographically.
- 00:10:19.100 --> 00:10:22.504
- But listen to me, spiritually, it's the other side
- 00:10:22.504 --> 00:10:25.607
- of the world.
- 00:10:25.607 --> 00:10:27.742
- On a clear day, you could stand and see the fields of Moab
- 00:10:27.742 --> 00:10:32.380
- from the ridges of Bethlehem.
- 00:10:32.380 --> 00:10:34.616
- I've done it.
- 00:10:34.616 --> 00:10:36.217
- Oh, these green fields of Moab were beckoning.
- 00:10:36.217 --> 00:10:40.188
- They're all Elimelech and his family.
- 00:10:40.188 --> 00:10:43.491
- Day after day, day after day, he looks on the other side
- 00:10:43.491 --> 00:10:47.462
- and see the green land.
- 00:10:47.462 --> 00:10:49.197
- And he says, "This is where I should go."
- 00:10:49.197 --> 00:10:51.966
- These bright green lands were inviting him.
- 00:10:51.966 --> 00:10:55.737
- When things are not going well at home,
- 00:10:55.737 --> 00:10:58.907
- the allure of adultery and unfaithfulness
- 00:10:58.907 --> 00:11:02.377
- to your marriage always beckoning.
- 00:11:02.377 --> 00:11:06.214
- Elimelech could not resist the temptation anymore.
- 00:11:06.214 --> 00:11:09.517
- He just couldn't resist.
- 00:11:09.517 --> 00:11:11.419
- So, he packed the family camel wagon,
- 00:11:11.419 --> 00:11:14.255
- and they headed for Moab.
- 00:11:14.255 --> 00:11:18.126
- Question, why not wait for the Lord?
- 00:11:18.126 --> 00:11:22.063
- Why not just got to provide?
- 00:11:22.063 --> 00:11:25.433
- You read in the book of Deuteronomy
- 00:11:25.433 --> 00:11:26.768
- and all the promises of God that he gave to Moses,
- 00:11:26.768 --> 00:11:29.637
- all the promises of God that were to Israel.
- 00:11:29.637 --> 00:11:32.607
- Why not keep on trusting in the promises of God
- 00:11:32.607 --> 00:11:35.643
- that he never leave you nor forsake you?
- 00:11:35.643 --> 00:11:39.247
- Why do you have to go into enemy's territory?
- 00:11:39.247 --> 00:11:41.549
- Why not believe the promises of God
- 00:11:41.549 --> 00:11:44.953
- given to Israel through Moses?
- 00:11:44.953 --> 00:11:48.289
- Here's another question.
- 00:11:48.289 --> 00:11:50.625
- What's wrong with Moab?
- 00:11:50.625 --> 00:11:53.695
- Yeah, one city as good as the other,
- 00:11:53.695 --> 00:11:56.564
- one town is as good as the other.
- 00:11:56.564 --> 00:11:58.800
- It doesn't matter.
- 00:11:58.800 --> 00:12:00.535
- Yahweh why is everywhere.
- 00:12:00.535 --> 00:12:02.103
- What's wrong with Moab?
- 00:12:02.103 --> 00:12:04.372
- You see, everyone was thinking about Moab.
- 00:12:04.372 --> 00:12:07.909
- Eli did it.
- 00:12:07.909 --> 00:12:09.344
- He just went over there.
- 00:12:09.344 --> 00:12:11.646
- He didn't just think about it, he did it.
- 00:12:11.646 --> 00:12:15.283
- But what's wrong with Moab?
- 00:12:15.283 --> 00:12:17.485
- Well, the people of Moab had no moral compass.
- 00:12:17.485 --> 00:12:22.924
- Everything goes in Moab.
- 00:12:22.924 --> 00:12:25.693
- There was no preacher to rebuke people that they're
- 00:12:25.693 --> 00:12:29.464
- going the wrong way and need to come back.
- 00:12:29.464 --> 00:12:31.966
- As long as they don't forget about Yahweh way and remember
- 00:12:31.966 --> 00:12:37.872
- him on occasions or on the high end holidays,
- 00:12:37.872 --> 00:12:41.676
- they will be all right.
- 00:12:41.676 --> 00:12:43.611
- As long as they think that they're good people that belong
- 00:12:43.611 --> 00:12:46.815
- to the people of God, doesn't matter where they are,
- 00:12:46.815 --> 00:12:50.051
- they'll be okay.
- 00:12:50.051 --> 00:12:51.586
- As long as there is mutual consent, it's okay.
- 00:12:51.586 --> 00:12:56.291
- Elimelech and his wife and two boys were just
- 00:12:56.291 --> 00:13:00.795
- beginning to get comfortable in the land of Moab.
- 00:13:00.795 --> 00:13:06.467
- Remember, there is what?
- 00:13:06.467 --> 00:13:08.269
- Initial comfort, remember that?
- 00:13:08.269 --> 00:13:11.272
- When you short circuit the will of God and the Word of God,
- 00:13:11.272 --> 00:13:15.276
- there is initial comfort, initial comfort.
- 00:13:15.276 --> 00:13:20.849
- Can you say that with me?
- 00:13:20.849 --> 00:13:22.183
- Initial comfort.
- 00:13:22.183 --> 00:13:24.152
- In their newfound prosperity in Moab was just beginning.
- 00:13:24.152 --> 00:13:30.024
- Things are really gonna go good for me here.
- 00:13:30.024 --> 00:13:33.461
- And just as they were enjoying their new life of prosperity
- 00:13:33.461 --> 00:13:36.898
- in Moab, tragedy struck.
- 00:13:36.898 --> 00:13:39.634
- Remember, short circuiting God's plan has an initial comfort.
- 00:13:39.634 --> 00:13:47.475
- The Bible said sin is pleasurable for a moment.
- 00:13:47.475 --> 00:13:51.713
- See, the Bible doesn't deny that,
- 00:13:51.713 --> 00:13:53.815
- not for a moment.
- 00:13:53.815 --> 00:13:55.683
- But the consequences are the consequences.
- 00:13:55.683 --> 00:13:58.920
- And that's what I come to secondly here,
- 00:13:58.920 --> 00:14:01.422
- the inevitable consequences.
- 00:14:01.422 --> 00:14:05.727
- Please hear me right.
- 00:14:05.727 --> 00:14:07.829
- Any comfort outside of the will of God
- 00:14:09.364 --> 00:14:15.136
- for your life has deadly consequences.
- 00:14:15.136 --> 00:14:23.578
- I know it.
- 00:14:23.578 --> 00:14:25.680
- I've experienced it.
- 00:14:25.680 --> 00:14:27.482
- I tried to run away from God as far as I could.
- 00:14:27.482 --> 00:14:32.553
- Any comfort from the shadow and the shelter
- 00:14:32.553 --> 00:14:35.690
- of the Almighty has disastrous results.
- 00:14:35.690 --> 00:14:42.196
- And so, verse 3, 4 and 5, look at them with me please.
- 00:14:42.196 --> 00:14:47.535
- There is an immediate consequence,
- 00:14:47.535 --> 00:14:50.271
- and then there is a longterm consequence.
- 00:14:50.271 --> 00:14:53.207
- And here what I know from the Word of God
- 00:14:53.207 --> 00:14:57.845
- are from my own failures.
- 00:14:57.845 --> 00:15:01.316
- Here's what I know.
- 00:15:01.316 --> 00:15:03.885
- These consequences come as a surprise
- 00:15:03.885 --> 00:15:07.055
- to a sinning believer.
- 00:15:07.055 --> 00:15:09.390
- They really do.
- 00:15:09.390 --> 00:15:10.725
- "Whoo, what happened?
- 00:15:10.725 --> 00:15:12.060
- What happened?
- 00:15:12.060 --> 00:15:13.394
- What happened to me?
- 00:15:13.394 --> 00:15:14.729
- Why is this happening to me?
- 00:15:14.729 --> 00:15:16.064
- Where are you, God?"
- 00:15:16.064 --> 00:15:17.398
- He's never moved.
- 00:15:17.398 --> 00:15:18.733
- Did you know that?
- 00:15:18.733 --> 00:15:20.068
- You moved, he didn't.
- 00:15:20.068 --> 00:15:22.470
- Dear old Naomi, now she's a widow,
- 00:15:22.470 --> 00:15:25.707
- she's widowed.
- 00:15:25.707 --> 00:15:28.242
- And so, when she was widowed, she placed her hope
- 00:15:28.242 --> 00:15:30.745
- in her two sons.
- 00:15:30.745 --> 00:15:33.047
- They'll provide for her.
- 00:15:33.047 --> 00:15:35.550
- But the two boys were even more comfortable in the land of Moab
- 00:15:35.550 --> 00:15:40.855
- than their father was because they married two pagan girls.
- 00:15:40.855 --> 00:15:44.459
- The Old Testament is very clear not to marry
- 00:15:44.459 --> 00:15:47.595
- a non-Jewish person.
- 00:15:47.595 --> 00:15:50.932
- The New Testament is even clearer.
- 00:15:50.932 --> 00:15:53.668
- "Do not be unequally yoked with an unbeliever."
- 00:15:53.668 --> 00:16:01.442
- And so, short circuiting God's plan and God's purpose not only
- 00:16:03.511 --> 00:16:09.417
- has an initial comfort, but also has inevitable consequences.
- 00:16:09.417 --> 00:16:14.722
- Verse 4, they were there for ten years.
- 00:16:14.722 --> 00:16:17.959
- God waited and waited, then he waited some more.
- 00:16:17.959 --> 00:16:22.764
- Listen to me.
- 00:16:22.764 --> 00:16:25.800
- He may be waiting for you.
- 00:16:25.800 --> 00:16:27.935
- He may be waiting for you.
- 00:16:28.002 --> 00:16:30.505
- And you are here by divine appointment because God wants
- 00:16:30.505 --> 00:16:33.608
- to say, "I'm not gonna wait forever."
- 00:16:33.608 --> 00:16:36.978
- You are in your own Moab, whatever your Moab is,
- 00:16:36.978 --> 00:16:43.451
- and it's different for every one of us.
- 00:16:43.451 --> 00:16:47.321
- You might be comfortable in Moab now.
- 00:16:47.321 --> 00:16:51.726
- You might have thought that God had forgotten
- 00:16:51.726 --> 00:16:53.428
- where you are spiritually now.
- 00:16:53.428 --> 00:16:57.265
- But he hasn't.
- 00:16:57.265 --> 00:16:58.900
- He doesn't.
- 00:16:58.900 --> 00:17:00.802
- He loves you too much.
- 00:17:00.802 --> 00:17:02.170
- He loves you too much to leave you in your Moab.
- 00:17:02.170 --> 00:17:07.775
- Let me ask you this, what is your Moab?
- 00:17:07.775 --> 00:17:11.546
- What is your Moab?
- 00:17:11.546 --> 00:17:14.615
- Your Moab could be a relationship that is
- 00:17:14.615 --> 00:17:17.251
- not honoring to the Lord.
- 00:17:17.251 --> 00:17:19.720
- Your Moab could be a friendship that is
- 00:17:19.720 --> 00:17:22.590
- dragging you down spiritually.
- 00:17:22.590 --> 00:17:25.626
- Your Moab may be a distrust in God's promises.
- 00:17:25.626 --> 00:17:29.097
- Your Moab might be your placing of your feelings, your ideas,
- 00:17:29.097 --> 00:17:33.434
- and your thinking and your emotions above what God said.
- 00:17:33.434 --> 00:17:38.372
- Your Moab may be unfaithfulness with God's blessings.
- 00:17:38.372 --> 00:17:41.843
- Your Moab may be a complete self-absorption.
- 00:17:41.843 --> 00:17:47.415
- Whatever your Moab may be, you can come home to Jesus.
- 00:17:47.415 --> 00:17:52.920
- Let me tell you a couple of things about spiritual Moabs,
- 00:17:52.920 --> 00:17:55.756
- just in case you don't know.
- 00:17:55.756 --> 00:17:58.159
- Figuratively speaking, Moab has a way of making a short
- 00:17:58.159 --> 00:18:03.631
- stay to be a longterm one.
- 00:18:03.631 --> 00:18:07.368
- Figuratively speaking, Moab has a way of saying to you,
- 00:18:07.368 --> 00:18:13.174
- "Do it just this once, and then once it's over,
- 00:18:13.174 --> 00:18:17.512
- you don't have to do it again."
- 00:18:17.512 --> 00:18:19.780
- And then before you know it, you are in Moab's clutches.
- 00:18:19.780 --> 00:18:23.584
- Figuratively speaking, Moab has a way of saying there's
- 00:18:23.584 --> 00:18:28.156
- plenty of time to live holy and pure life.
- 00:18:28.156 --> 00:18:31.792
- There's plenty of time only to discover that time has gone.
- 00:18:31.792 --> 00:18:36.597
- Here in Moab after ten years, Elimelech, Naomi,
- 00:18:36.597 --> 00:18:43.871
- and their two boys, intended to go to Moab
- 00:18:43.871 --> 00:18:47.275
- for a short period of time just for that one bad crop year.
- 00:18:47.275 --> 00:18:53.014
- But they found themselves entrenched in Moab.
- 00:18:53.014 --> 00:18:57.585
- Verse 5, after the father died, in rapid succession,
- 00:18:57.585 --> 00:19:03.257
- both boys die.
- 00:19:03.257 --> 00:19:05.893
- Now, try to put yourself in Naomi's place.
- 00:19:05.893 --> 00:19:08.829
- I really do, I try.
- 00:19:08.829 --> 00:19:11.065
- She comes into this utopia with her husband and two sons.
- 00:19:11.065 --> 00:19:16.938
- She loses all of them, all of them.
- 00:19:16.938 --> 00:19:22.944
- There is no support for her.
- 00:19:22.944 --> 00:19:25.713
- Back then, as you heard me say many times,
- 00:19:25.713 --> 00:19:28.182
- widows who have no male members to support them were really
- 00:19:28.182 --> 00:19:34.522
- worse than being destitute.
- 00:19:34.522 --> 00:19:37.024
- And here you find Naomi in a strange place,
- 00:19:37.024 --> 00:19:44.232
- a stranger, and she felt it for the first time now that
- 00:19:44.232 --> 00:19:48.302
- her support base gone in a strange country.
- 00:19:48.302 --> 00:19:54.275
- The first thing you do is what?
- 00:19:54.275 --> 00:19:55.910
- Initial, there is inevitable.
- 00:19:55.910 --> 00:19:59.780
- But praise God.
- 00:19:59.780 --> 00:20:02.183
- Say, "Praise God."
- 00:20:02.183 --> 00:20:03.651
- Praise God there is the third.
- 00:20:03.651 --> 00:20:06.320
- There's indisputable cure, indisputable, indisputable.
- 00:20:06.320 --> 00:20:10.024
- And those of us who've experienced it
- 00:20:10.024 --> 00:20:11.525
- can testify to you.
- 00:20:11.525 --> 00:20:14.695
- Indisputable cure.
- 00:20:14.695 --> 00:20:17.765
- You know what the cure is?
- 00:20:17.765 --> 00:20:20.801
- Honestly, there are only two words.
- 00:20:20.801 --> 00:20:24.338
- All the mumbo jumbo and big theological terms and everything
- 00:20:24.338 --> 00:20:28.309
- else is fine, but I'm a simple guy.
- 00:20:28.309 --> 00:20:32.346
- Two words, the indisputable cure: go home.
- 00:20:32.346 --> 00:20:38.352
- Say it with me.
- 00:20:38.352 --> 00:20:39.687
- congregation: Go home.
- 00:20:39.687 --> 00:20:41.455
- Dr. Youssef: I know people say you can't go home again.
- 00:20:43.724 --> 00:20:47.028
- Well, in the physical sense, yes.
- 00:20:47.028 --> 00:20:50.431
- But spiritually, it's the only way.
- 00:20:50.431 --> 00:20:53.968
- Home is your only place to go.
- 00:20:53.968 --> 00:20:57.071
- It's the only cure to you soul.
- 00:20:57.071 --> 00:21:00.875
- It's the only spiritual healing that you can receive.
- 00:21:00.875 --> 00:21:03.577
- It's the only way to happiness and joy and peace.
- 00:21:03.577 --> 00:21:07.448
- Come home, come home.
- 00:21:07.448 --> 00:21:10.885
- Naomi was not just at the bottom of the barrel,
- 00:21:10.885 --> 00:21:14.588
- the barrel actually crashed on her.
- 00:21:14.588 --> 00:21:17.992
- And it was an overwhelming force.
- 00:21:17.992 --> 00:21:21.929
- In her experience of bitterness, she wanted to go home.
- 00:21:21.929 --> 00:21:28.602
- Look at verses 8 and 9.
- 00:21:28.602 --> 00:21:31.305
- She asked both of her daughters-in-law to go
- 00:21:31.305 --> 00:21:34.475
- back to their homes and find other husbands.
- 00:21:34.475 --> 00:21:37.745
- One of them decided to just do that.
- 00:21:37.745 --> 00:21:42.350
- Oh, but Ruth, beautiful Ruth, lovely Ruth,
- 00:21:42.350 --> 00:21:48.022
- loyal Ruth, would not leave her mother-in-law.
- 00:21:48.022 --> 00:21:52.993
- But Ruth made an ironclad commitment to Naomi
- 00:21:52.993 --> 00:21:58.432
- and to Naomi's God.
- 00:21:58.432 --> 00:22:01.936
- Beloved, listen to me.
- 00:22:01.936 --> 00:22:04.405
- God honors those who keep their word and keep their commitments.
- 00:22:04.405 --> 00:22:09.110
- And the truth is this, Naomi's faith was such that it made
- 00:22:09.110 --> 00:22:14.415
- an impact, made her faith attractive to Ruth.
- 00:22:14.415 --> 00:22:19.720
- Naomi's testimony and her truthfulness led her
- 00:22:19.720 --> 00:22:23.057
- daughter-in-law into wanting to follow Naomi's God.
- 00:22:23.057 --> 00:22:28.162
- Ruth saw God, Naomi's God, to be a loving God,
- 00:22:28.162 --> 00:22:34.535
- to be a forgiving God, to be a restoring God,
- 00:22:34.535 --> 00:22:37.438
- to be the God of new beginnings, to be the God of second
- 00:22:37.438 --> 00:22:41.108
- and a hundred and a thousand chances.
- 00:22:41.108 --> 00:22:45.780
- Although Naomi, whose name means pleasant--if your name is Naomi,
- 00:22:45.780 --> 00:22:50.751
- now, this is a freebie on the house.
- 00:22:50.751 --> 00:22:53.988
- Your name means pleasant.
- 00:22:53.988 --> 00:22:56.123
- That's what Naomi means in Hebrew.
- 00:22:56.123 --> 00:22:58.926
- But then she said, "Don't call me Naomi anymore
- 00:22:58.926 --> 00:23:02.496
- because I'm not pleasant.
- 00:23:02.496 --> 00:23:04.198
- I'm a Mara."
- 00:23:04.198 --> 00:23:05.533
- Mara from remember when the kings came
- 00:23:05.533 --> 00:23:07.034
- from the east and brought three gifts to Jesus gold,
- 00:23:07.034 --> 00:23:10.271
- frankincense, and myrrh?
- 00:23:10.271 --> 00:23:13.874
- Bitter, and that was to predict his cross, bitter.
- 00:23:13.874 --> 00:23:22.516
- And the word "Mara," it's the same in all
- 00:23:22.516 --> 00:23:25.753
- three Semitic languages--
- 00:23:25.753 --> 00:23:27.922
- Arabic, Aramaic, and Hebrew--bitter.
- 00:23:27.922 --> 00:23:31.692
- Naomi was in pain, but she does not stop caring.
- 00:23:31.692 --> 00:23:39.467
- Verse 9: She prayed for her daughters-in-law.
- 00:23:39.467 --> 00:23:45.206
- She might have been coming home without a husband,
- 00:23:45.206 --> 00:23:50.644
- without two sons, but she was coming home with a faithful
- 00:23:50.644 --> 00:23:57.117
- daughter-in-law.
- 00:23:57.117 --> 00:24:00.621
- And in verses 19 to 22, mark it in your Bible.
- 00:24:00.621 --> 00:24:04.291
- You see, the two women make the only decision
- 00:24:04.291 --> 00:24:10.231
- that pleases God.
- 00:24:10.231 --> 00:24:12.633
- Let me tell you something.
- 00:24:12.633 --> 00:24:14.268
- You might not be sure if your decisions,
- 00:24:14.268 --> 00:24:16.237
- pleasing God or not, is one decision you can
- 00:24:16.237 --> 00:24:17.905
- make that I promise you, on the authority of God's Word,
- 00:24:17.905 --> 00:24:22.343
- that pleases God.
- 00:24:22.343 --> 00:24:24.545
- Come home.
- 00:24:24.545 --> 00:24:26.814
- Say it with me again.
- 00:24:26.814 --> 00:24:28.883
- congregation: Come home.
- 00:24:28.883 --> 00:24:31.986
- Dr. Youssef: And so, they come home, and we're gonna see
- 00:24:31.986 --> 00:24:36.390
- the unfolding of how God honored that decision of coming home.
- 00:24:36.390 --> 00:24:44.431
- Now, beloved, please listen to me.
- 00:24:44.431 --> 00:24:46.600
- I'm about to finish.
- 00:24:46.600 --> 00:24:50.371
- Jesus the Son of God came all the way from heaven for you
- 00:24:50.371 --> 00:24:56.610
- and you and you and you and you.
- 00:24:56.610 --> 00:25:00.414
- God's Son shed his blood on that cross for you.
- 00:25:00.414 --> 00:25:06.754
- Wherever you are, whatever you've done,
- 00:25:06.754 --> 00:25:11.892
- however long you've been away, Jesus is saying to you,
- 00:25:11.892 --> 00:25:17.598
- come home.
- 00:25:17.598 --> 00:25:19.300
- His arms open on that cross is an indication of his longing
- 00:25:19.300 --> 00:25:23.771
- for you to come home.
- 00:25:23.771 --> 00:25:25.472
- ♪♪♪
- 00:25:25.472 --> 00:25:32.880
- female announcer: Do you want to grow deeper in your faith?
- 00:25:32.880 --> 00:25:34.615
- Then check out ltw.org, "Leading the Way's"
- 00:25:34.615 --> 00:25:38.419
- online resource center.
- 00:25:38.419 --> 00:25:40.888
- Begin the journey today at ltw.org.
- 00:25:40.888 --> 00:25:45.326
- male announcer: The sun never sets on the work
- 00:25:49.330 --> 00:25:51.565
- of "Leading The Way."
- 00:25:51.565 --> 00:25:53.801
- From the US to the UK, from the Middle East
- 00:25:53.801 --> 00:25:56.604
- to Australia, from China to Canada,
- 00:25:56.604 --> 00:25:59.840
- Dr. Youssef and team are sharing the gospel of Jesus,
- 00:25:59.840 --> 00:26:03.143
- passionately proclaiming uncompromising truth.
- 00:26:03.143 --> 00:26:06.647
- This month, Dr. Youssef is pressing on to reach more people
- 00:26:06.647 --> 00:26:10.517
- with the gospel than ever before through
- 00:26:10.517 --> 00:26:12.720
- "Leading The Way's" strategic Vision 2025 initiatives.
- 00:26:12.720 --> 00:26:16.624
- Expanding to new stations, increasing navigator
- 00:26:16.624 --> 00:26:20.194
- distribution, growing embedded field teams,
- 00:26:20.194 --> 00:26:22.663
- advancing the kingdom sat.
- 00:26:22.663 --> 00:26:24.598
- These are just a few of the many areas where "Leading The Way"
- 00:26:24.598 --> 00:26:27.835
- is intensifying its work,
- 00:26:27.835 --> 00:26:29.403
- and you can be a part this month.
- 00:26:29.403 --> 00:26:31.605
- Generous ministry partners have committed to match up
- 00:26:31.605 --> 00:26:34.808
- to $1.2 million given to "Leading The Way"
- 00:26:34.808 --> 00:26:38.879
- dollar for dollar.
- 00:26:38.879 --> 00:26:40.748
- Through this June gift challenge,
- 00:26:40.748 --> 00:26:43.083
- you can double the impact of your giving
- 00:26:43.083 --> 00:26:44.418
- and help "Leading The Way" deepen its ministry
- 00:26:44.418 --> 00:26:46.453
- during these critical days.
- 00:26:46.453 --> 00:26:49.123
- Amid increasing chaos and confusion,
- 00:26:49.123 --> 00:26:51.091
- you can help bring the good news of Christ's love
- 00:26:51.091 --> 00:26:53.394
- to a lost world.
- 00:26:53.394 --> 00:26:55.696
- Will you join us on the front lines of this
- 00:26:55.696 --> 00:26:57.631
- crucial ministry through our June gift challenge?
- 00:26:57.631 --> 00:27:01.435
- Contact us to give a generous gift today.
- 00:27:01.435 --> 00:27:05.239
- ♪♪♪
- 00:27:05.239 --> 00:27:15.215
- ♪♪♪
- 00:27:17.184 --> 00:27:30.990