Sunday sermon by Pastor Rajesh Mathew, 22 August 22, 2021

Ruth 1:19-21-19 Now the two of them went until they came to Bethlehem. And it happened, when they had come to Bethlehem, that all the city was excited because of them; and the women said, “Isthis Naomi?” 20 But she said to them, “Do not call me [a]Naomi; call me [b]Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. 21 I went out full, and the LORD has brought me home again empty. Why do you call me Naomi, since the LORD has testified against me, and [c]the Almighty has afflicted me?”

• Step back into the original purpose and plan of God upon your life.

Miracle means an extraordinary event manifesting divine intervention in human affairs.

• The Holy Spirit is telling the church that God is going to get involved into your affairs. In my life, in my family, business, health, and finances, God Himself will step into my circumstances.

Miracle means a surprising and a welcoming event that Is not explainable by natural or scientific laws.

• The last word is always the Lords. God is not finished with you. God will intervene and work a miracle in my life.
• Miracles are viewed differently by three kinds of people - One group that calls miracles utter nonsense. It is just a term for them. Another group believes that God does miracles but because they have no personal experience of miracles in their own lives, they give up. The third group believes that he is a God whose Word doesn’t change and that He is an unchanging God. They believe that he can heal, restore, deliver. They believe and they see manifestations of blessings and miracles in their lives.

John 14:14- Whatever you ask the Father in My name, it shall be given unto you.

• The miracle worker is Jesus. Ask Him. Open your mouth and ask Him with an open heart. If you do so, He will send forth a miracle your way.

The Principle of First Action: Sometimes for your miracle, you have to make your first move. It is called the PRINCIPLE of FIRST ACTION. You act and God reacts.

• The blind man called out to the Lord and Jesus healed him. The woman with the issue of blood ministered to herself that She had to touch His garment. Isaac sowed in the season of famineand He harvested a 100-fold that very year. Even before you see your miracle, you must believeand act in faith in a manner that reflects your belief that God will do something for you. When you do so, God’s Hand will move favourably towards you. That is called faith without offense. You should not be empty in faith.
• In 1 Kings 5, Namaan heard that there is a prophet in Israel whose God could heal his leprosy. He reached Israel from Syria seeking the prophet and when he did get to the prophet, he was told to dip himself in Jordan 7 times. He took offense immediately and he got upset. Can you imagine that? It is called “A near success syndrome”. Namaan had travelled thus far, he reached the door

step of the prophet but just was he was told to do something, he got offended. The Word says he went out very angrily. Almost near to the fulfilment of the Promise but his emotions went hay wire.

Your emotions should never ever lead you away from your miracle.

• Some people are emotional people and the enemy will manipulate their emotions. Some people do not have emotional control, whether it is envy, anger, discouragement. Namaam got very angry. He focused on his feelings rather than his future.
• Even today many people are near success, they have reached the door step; but something offended them and they end up placing their feelings and emotions more highly than the things of God. “God forgive me. I want to keep my emotions under the control of the Holy Spirit. God, I want to get into everything that He has for me”.
• Some people even within the church get offended if they do not find a suitable car parking place, or a good seat or even if they couldn’t meet pastor even after standing in the queue for long. • I will obey, I will respond! There are many people who focus on their feelings. People say, “I feel for him or feel for her”. but that is not your destiny, that is just a feeling!
• Something that always made me thing- just because of an emotion, Namaan could have missed out on his miracle.
• How do you know if the enemy is manipulating your emotions? You are not worried about losing anything as long as you are happy and your pride is not hurt. There are people who give up on God given relationships, because of this. May that bondage be broken. If the devil has held you and controls you in the area of your emotions, may it be broken. Declare that I will not miss out on anything that God has for me because of my emotions.
• There are people that you ‘handle with care’ because you are so afraid that their emotions may be hurt.
• When you are under the spirit of manipulation, your focus is on your thoughts but not on God some people thing that their opinion should be heard, some of them want to blessed in such and such manner, or marry such and such person etc and when things don’t happen their way, they get disappointed. When you counsel some people, you know that you can’t teach them anything. Some people learn only when they crash or else you cannot resurrect them!
• Many people think that their idea is preeminent. They have this attitude “my way or the highway!” That is their attitude.
• We want to advise God on how to do things. Namaan was thinking, there are more significant rivers in Syria. He knew nothing about Jordan? It was the river where Jesus was baptised, It was the river where the Holy Spirit descended.
• Some people are very ‘Big’ in their own eyes. They want to advice pastor on how to run and manage the affairs of the church! Their own family members do not listen to them but they want pastor to listen to them. That is PRIDE. That’s the way some people think.

Lord, do not allow me to turn away from the door because of my emotions I need my miracle!

• Naomi looked different. There is a look that she had had in the past, chubby, happy, smiling always; but now she did not look like that.
• God has a look for you but because you left the House of Bread and Bethlehem, your look has changed. You moved away from the purpose and path of God, due to the battles and challenges of life, you look different now.
• You got to step back into the purpose of God. If you read the Book of Ruth, it’s amazing, chapter 1 says that it was the time when judges ruled the world. Judges are supposed to judge and not rule.

When people who are supposed to rule, do not do so, that’s when famines occur. When you try to get your pastor out and have someone else play his role, famine hits the church.

Bethlehem means House of Bread. There was a man called Elimelech which meant Jehovah is King. His wife was Naomi, means pleasant one. If Jehovah is king, then there is pleasantness. If you are married to Him (have a relationship with him), then His pleasantness, beauty will come upon you.

What does it mean when you say God is my king? It means that your plans are secondary. First, it is God and His plans. It is all about God and not you.

AFTER PAUL HAD AN ENCOUNTER WITH GOD, HE HAD THREE REALIZATIONS:

Romans 1:14- 14 I am a debtor both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to wise and to unwise. 15 So, as much as is in me, I am ready to preach the gospel to you who are in Rome also. 16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel [a]of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.

1. I am debtor--- You are a debtor means people around you should receive their blessing through you. God chose you not to become a tiger that eats grass but to fulfil his purpose for you. You owe somebody something with your life. As long as I am alive, I need to know that God chose me so that somebody through my life is saved, healed and delivered. Somebody’s healing, deliverance and salvation is dependent on you. If you understand this, you will say that I am a debtor. Somebody needs to be blessed through my prayer, the city I live in is blessed through me. Most people are living only for themselves.
2. I am ready--- Whatever price it takes, I am ready. Even if I need to pray the entire night, I am ready. Even if I have to give everything I have to God, I am ready. Even if I have to fast and pray, I am ready.

• What does it mean to be ready? Moses saw an Egyptian kill a Hebrew. He immediately murdered him. Egypt is where Moses was raised and Israel was where he was born to be in. He was born to be an Israelite. Most times, we look at our circumstances.

We look to where we are raised, our family, parents but we need to know that we are born with a mandate from God.

• He brought you to life, with a purpose. The day you understand this truth, that’s when you will start walking His purpose. Just because your father did something, you don’t have to do that same thing.
• Susanna Wesley had 12 children and yet walked with God. Enoch had sons and daughters and he walked with God. Business, children, family lives are just excuses for not praying. All of us have 24 hours including the American president, Taliban, our PM and CM, Pastor everybody has just 24 hours.

But what is your priority? What was I born to be? That is the way you need to prioritize your time.

• Ask yourself, “do I spend time and invest time in what I was called to be?

3. I am not ashamed---God told me today, even if the devil and men try to destroy the one with a calling from ME, nobody can do anything. The one with the calling will go forward in God’s plans.

• No matter what the devil has taken away from you, if you are still alive, God is not finished with you. Naomi lost her sons and husband but she recognized that God had a plan. • If my heart is beating, God is not finished. You may have a long list of all that you have lost in your life, no problem. God is still not finished you.

Jehovah is KING, even in scarcity! Not just when you have everything and all is well! Even when it isn’t, he is King.

Scarcity cannot extinguish royalty.

• In Jonah 4, we see the prophet Jonah sitting under a tree. The tree came up in 4 hours (which would have otherwise taken years). 24 hours is too much for God to work in your lives! If you surrender your 24 hours to the Hands of God, HE can restore everything back to you. 24 hours is too much for God. Let go of your discouragements and defeats Jesus is my King. Lord, I am your child. I am royalty!
• Don’t let the battles of your life define you. No matter what the challenges of your life are, they are temporary. There was no bread in Bethlehem. It was a temporary problem. Don’t worry! Don’t take difficult decisions looking to the temporary circumstances. No temptation and battle is forever.
• If God is your King, His miracle working presence will descend upon you. • David and Saul in the Old testament faced the same challenge of Goliath bit they both said very different things about the same situation. I have seen that two different families may be going through a similar struggle, but both of them react very differently to it! One is fully discouraged and another declare that Prayer will change the situation for them!
• Saul was intimidated by Goliath and David said, ‘My God is mightier’. David did not look at his profession (he wasn’t a soldier), he looked to the anointing.

In every situation, what you see and what you say is very important.

1. Before a fall manifests, it is already birthed in us.

• Elimelech and Naomi had two sons, Mahlon means diseased and Chilion means on the point of death. Both these were not Israelite names but Moabite names. That tells us that Elimelech, even when he was in Bethlehem, his eyes and thoughts were always towards Moab. Even before he went to Moab, he was already there!
• That is how we fall, even before we sin, sin is conceived in us. What is inside of us is what comes out. The children of Israel still desired the cucumbers of Egypt and were not interested in the land that is flowing with milk and honey! That’s how an entire generation missed the promised Land.

This morning let the thoughts of backsliding be broken.

• The ‘giving-up’ attitude was already there inside of you before you backslid! We are full of Moab! Who are you trying to bluff?

2. Being in the right place: The names of the children were Moabite but they hadn’t died while they were in Bethlehem. No matter how difficult our situation is, if we are in the right place they will be set right

Sometimes your problem is not your condition but your location. It is said that 70% of your issues will be resolved if you are in the right place.

• Wrong associations can’t help you to walk in miracles. The moment you believe and speak of your miracle, somebody will talk you out of it. This morning, ask God to remove all company that is not of Him.
• In every believer’s life there are the Kissers and the Cleavers. Naomi kissed her grandchildren. It was just a mere outward act. Kissers show off on the outside. Cleavers are not people who show off, but they are loyal. Even in the church, there are these two categories- Some people are full of show but no loyalty within. Some are quiet but they stay faithful.
• Orpah means the hinder part of the backside, means they speak well of you in in your presence but behind you, they aren’t. Ruth, on the other hand, had no show off, but she was faithful. She said, wherever you go Naomi, I will go. God rewards the Ruths and not the Orpahs. • Orpahs have the power to talk, Ruth has no power to talk but she is loyal.

We usually surround ourselves with people who make us feel good but we need to be around with people who make us feel GOD.

• That is the right surrounding, the right location, people who make you feel God. Wrong associations can block your miracle.
• Ruth was a part of the book. Some chapters in our life may be dark. Ruth’s chapters were marked with loss but her life became beautiful because she stepped into her future. She stepped into her destiny in God.
• That is what it means when we say I found my destiny. It is not just about getting your miracle. Mathew 1:5- 5 Salmon begot Boaz by Rahab, Boaz begot Obed by Ruth, Obed begot Jesse,
• There was Godly purpose for Ruth. It was written in the BOOK. There may be some dull and ark coloured pages in your life but step into God’s destiny, have the right associations and you will step into your miracles.
• Though she went through losses, there was a seed within her, sometimes you can lose things because of what you carry. I lost many friends in my life, because of the seed I was carrying inside of me. I am not invited for many functions but I knew that was because of the seed in me.

The battles of your life are determined by what you carry. There is a divine plan for your life. There is a seed of greatness inside of you.

Ruth 1:8- After a short while on the road, Naomi told her two daughters-in-law, “Go back. Go home and live with your mothers.

Mother is a model. Naomi says, ‘Go to the mother’s house’. Mothers gave birth to you. The church is called the Bride of Christ. We need to go back to the original plan and the church of God. God’s miracle over your life doesn’t work to take you back into Egypt but to take you to the Promised land.

THREE THINGS RUTH SAID:

1. WHERE YOU GO, I WILL GO: Where you go, I will go. Ruth was a woman with a destination. She recognized that there was a goal, a destination that she needed to go towards. She wanted to take the necessary steps accordingly. I stand with in your journey towards your destiny.

Nobody follows a parked car!

Some people think that their life has come to an end. At the end there is always a bend when you say, “Lord I want only your purpose in my life”. Say this loud, “I am going somewhere”!

2. YOUR PEOPLE SHALL BE MY PEOPLE: This represents relationships. There are people who hinder our journeys. When Lot left, God said to Abraham ‘lift up your head and see’.

Genesis 30:27- 27-28 Laban said, “If you please, I have learned through divine inquiry that God has blessed me because of you.” He went on, “So name your wages. I’ll pay you.”

• If somebody is not adding to your life but only taking from your life, that is not from the Lord. Through joseph Potiphar ‘s house was blessed. Through Jacob, Laban was blessed. Declare that “Through me, others will be blessed”

3. YOUR GOD SHALL BE MY GOD: Will any daughter-in-law say this to a mother-in-law? On the contrary, they will perhaps want to move churches to avoid the MIL. But live your life in such a way that will attract people to God. Your character, your words, your attitude should want people to get connected to your God. Live your life in such a way that people will want your God.

Our life should be evangelistic and it should not reduce the kingdom of God.

Naomi, you have faced losses, but still you are holding onto your faith and I see God’s pleasantness in your life. I should not reduce the kingdom of God. I will go with you---RUTH

This is evangelistic.

DON’T STAY AT THE DOOR, MOVE INTO YOUR MIRACLE.