Ruth Chapter 1:1-22

Welcome to Cross the Bridge with David Magee. David is the senior pastor of the Bridge in Kernersville, North Carolina. Jesus modeled an others-centered life for us, and through the power of the Holy Spirit, we can also live to serve. Today, Pastor David challenges us to live outside of ourselves, as he continues in the book of Ruth chapter 1.

But before we begin today's teaching, many people think Christianity is a list of do's and don'ts, an impossible standard that beats you down and robs you of joy. But the truth is, God's Word is a lifeline of hope and troubled times. We want to help you rise above the difficulties of life by sending you a copy of Pastor David Magee's four-part teaching series, Living Life by the Book. This empowering resource shows you how to walk with God through everyday life and learn to experience joy, even in hard times. Living Life by the Book is our thanks for your generous gift today to help more people hear God's truth on this station and beyond, so they can cross the bridge from death to life. Please visit crossthebridge.com today to give and get your copy of Living Life by the Book.

Now here's David Magee with part three of his teaching, Running. Turn with me to the book of Ruth. We're actually beginning a new book, and the author's not named.

Ruth did not write this. We believe that probably Samuel actually wrote this. It's really an incredible book. You're going to see some very interesting things, especially in the second, third, and fourth chapter.

Hopefully, you'll see some interesting things tonight there. And it's one of two books, of course, Ruth and the other book being Esther, that speaks of completely revolves around the life of a woman and her story of following the Lord. So let's jump on in here, Ruth, chapter one, verse one. 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 Bethlehem, Judah, went to dwell in the country of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons. The name of the man was Limilech, the name of his wife was Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Malon and Chilean, Ephrathites of Bethlehem, Judah. And they went to the country of Moab and remained there. Then Limilech, Naomi's husband, died, and she was left and her two sons. Verse four, now when they took wives of the women of Moab, the name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other, Ruth, and they dwelt there about 10 years.

Then both Malon and Chilean also died, so the woman survived her two sons and her husband. Then arose with her daughter-in-law that she might return from the country of Moab, for she had heard in the country of Moab that the Lord had visited his people by giving them bread. Therefore, she went out from the place where she was and her two daughter-in-laws with her, and they went on the way to return to the land of Judah. And Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, go return each to her mother's house.

The Lord deal kindly with you as you have dealt with the dead and with me. The Lord grant that you may find rest each in the house of her husband. So she kissed them, and they lifted up their voices and wept. Verse 10, and they said to her, surely we will return with you to your people. So there's a recognition with them that they were now part of Naomi's family and would go with Naomi back to her people. Verse 11, but Naomi said, turn back, my daughters, why would you go with me? Are there still sons in my womb that they may be your husbands?

Now she wasn't being hard, she wasn't being callous. There was what was called a levirate marriage. And what that was is that any male children that Naomi would have would care for these widows, actually marry these widows and have children with them.

And she continues, verse 12, turn back, my daughters, go. For I am too old to have a husband. And if I should say I have hope, if I should have a husband tonight and should also bear sons, would you wait for them till they were grown?

Would you restrain yourselves from having husbands? No, my daughters, for it grieves me very much for your sake that the hand of the Lord has gone out against me. Verse 14, then they lifted up their voices and wept again.

And Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her. So guys, you're going to have to use your imaginations a little bit here. They're obviously having like this big hanky moment. They're all crying and so that's what ladies do sometimes. And it's a good thing. And sometimes I wish, as a man, I wish we could do that more. Amen?

Or old me. Because we're told this, big boys don't cry. That's baloney.

That's baloney. We should show our emotions. Matter of fact, most of us struggle to show our emotions because we grew up under that kind of nonsense. And now you can watch a movie and every guy in here has done this. You probably won't admit it, but you know, you watch a movie and it's a sad movie.

You know, I watched White Fang last night. You know, it's a sad movie and then, and you start to tear up and then what do you do? What's wrong? Nothing. Nothing.

Got something in my eye. You crying? No.

No. Crying. You shouldn't be like that. You should be more transparent.

But we have this big boys don't cry nonsense going on. So they're obviously having a big hanky party. So in this, Naomi is doing something. She is what? She's not thinking of herself. When she tells these girls to go back to Moab, she's thinking of them. And while she stumbles with this statement, the hand of the Lord has gone out against me, I have to see that that's a very unselfish thing that she's doing. I mean, it would be within the realm of possibilities for her to say, well, yeah, you know, since you were married to my sons, you really need to go help me and you need to go with me.

And then we're going to get a place and we'll, we'll fix it up and whatever. But she doesn't do any of that. She's being unselfish.

Philippians chapter two, verse three and four. Don't be selfish. Don't live to make a good impression on others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourself.

Don't think only about your own affairs, but be interested in others too and what they are doing. See, this should describe the body of Christ, that we take an interest in other people. Not just in what is going on in our life and not just about us, but about other people. And this will show.

And this is something that the world will recognize. The life lesson here is we naturally think of ourselves. We supernaturally think of others. We naturally think of ourselves. We supernaturally think of others. What I mean by that is you think about yourself. That's just what you do. But when you begin to think about other people, see, that's showing that the Holy Spirit, the Lord, is at work in your life.

Why? Because you don't naturally do that. We all naturally think of ourselves. And the case in point, and I've used it before, is the photograph phenomenon. You know, somebody hands you a photograph and you're in it, who's the first person you look at?

Everybody got real quiet now, didn't they? Who is the first person you look at? If you look at you, that's natural. What's supernatural is when you begin to think, you know, I wonder how so-and-so is doing. They seem like they've been having a hard time.

You know what? I'm going to pray for them. That's God at work in your life. That's the supernatural going on. Or I'm concerned about this one person.

They don't have enough to eat, or they're out of work, or this is going on. That's God's supernatural Holy Spirit manifesting itself in you to care for others. That is supernatural. And that's what we see going on in the life of Naomi. Now, she has no idea at this point that God is going to be using this tragedy in her life for her greater good.

But that's what's going to happen. In verse 15, and she said, look, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods return after your sister-in-law. This is the second little verbal thing we got a problem with Naomi. Because Naomi says to her, go back to Moab and follow those gods. Little g. See, this is revealing that Naomi's heart has gotten kind of hard towards the Lord. See, because rather than encouraging her in following the Lord, she's encouraging her to go back to this idol worship. And I think in this, we can see that Naomi's heart has strayed from the Lord. Verse 16.

But Ruth said, entreat me not to leave you or to turn back from following after you. For wherever you go, I will go. And wherever you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people and your God, my God. Where you die, I will die.

And there will I be buried. The Lord do so to me and more also if anything but death parts you and me. That's a beautiful passage. Even people that don't like the Bible will love the beauty of that passage.

And certainly we actually use these verses in some of the wedding ceremonies that we do here. These are two remarkable women, Naomi and Ruth, that Ruth is, she's understanding. She apparently is understanding even more than Naomi at this point.

She's not turning her back. Now, Ruth has lost her husband. She's lost her father-in-law. Those are the people in her family that she was looking towards for support and to love her. And now she's looking towards the Lord.

It's important for especially ladies to understand that God brings blessings through your husbands and through the fathers and guys, he brings them through our fathers as well. But the real source is not them. The real source is the Lord.

It's important to remember because the Lord never changes. And here you have this woman, Ruth, born in idolatrous nation, probably seen children sacrificed. And she writes these words, beautiful words. Verse 18, when she saw that she was determined to go with her, she stopped speaking to her. She just gave up. She said, well, she's obviously going. She just said this most beautiful thing I've ever heard. And so, yeah, okay, we're not going to talk about it anymore. You're listening to Pastor David McKee on Cross the Bridge.

He'll be back with more in just a moment. But first, there's so much waiting for you at crossthebridge.com. If you haven't visited crossthebridge.com yet, come by today and check it out. While you're there, you can sign up for Pastor David's free daily devotional. Listen to more teachings from Pastor David and read about what God's doing through your support to proclaim his word through radio, internet, and mobile technologies. Also, you can give online to help encourage more people in their faith on this radio station and beyond. And when you do, please request your copy of Pastor David's four-part teaching series, Living Life by the Book, as our thanks for your generosity.

Visit crossthebridge.com today. Now back to today's teaching. Verse 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, is this Naomi? Well, she'd been gone 10 years, so, you know, probably 10 years, and it was 10 hard years. Maybe they didn't recognize her in verse 20. But she said to them, do not call me Naomi. Call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. Again, Naomi is assuming that God has dealt her a bad hand, if you will, and nothing could be further from the truth. You see, God is setting her up to bless her beyond her wildest imagination, but she can't see that from where she is right now. Maybe you're in this place. Maybe you're in the place and you're thinking, man, God has just dealt me this really bitter hand.

You don't see the end. You don't know what God is getting ready to do, and you know what, 24 hours can change everything, and it's getting ready to change here. We won't see it tonight, but Naomi means pleasant or delight. Mara means bitter, and she's saying, you know what, God has dealt with me bitterly, so don't call me Naomi.

Call me Mara. Now, it's amazing to me, and certainly she's been through some stuff, but it's amazing to me to see. You know, I see some people that go through a lot of stuff, and they just love the Lord.

They never have an attitude problem. They're just, oh, I'm just so grateful. God still loves me, and I'm still walking with the Lord. And they're just going through all this stuff, and that's such a blessing and such a testimony to see. And then, you know, other people can go through just the smallest thing, and they just throw their hand. Oh, I'm done. I'm finished.

It's amazing to see. Be careful that you don't get bitter over anything, whether it's a small, insignificant thing or a huge tragedy. Don't allow yourself to get bitter, because, guys, I've seen in people's lives the fruit of that bitterness. It is not a pretty thing to see people bitter and cynical and hard-hearted later in life because they started down this path. See, we have a decision every day.

The next life lesson, we have a decision every day to be a Naomi or to be a Myra. You can either be pleasant or you can be bitter, and you get to make that decision. God has given you plenty enough to be pleasant about.

If you're here tonight and you've asked the Lord to forgive you of your sins, He has forgiven you of your sins. What an awesome thing. That's something to be happy about. That's something that if tomorrow your house burns down, you lose your job, and you wreck your car, you can still be happy. Why? Because your sins are forgiven. Remember that.

Or the smallest little thing can go wrong, and all of a sudden, you're... The 11th commandment, thou shalt not whine. You make the decision.

You make the decision. Now, she continues, verse 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 the Almighty has afflicted me? Well, she did go out full, and the Lord did bring her home empty for good reason. You know, as I pondered that verse, I remembered somebody else that went out full and came home empty.

Prodigal son. A lot of parallels in the story, actually. Oh, he went out. He had a lot of stuff when he left, right? Had lots of money. Had lots of friends. Blew the money. Lost the friends, came home empty. Is that something God did?

No. Something he chose to do, and that's something that Naomi chose to do. She chose to leave the land of promise, and from where she's sitting right now, she just can't see the blessings of the Lord.

And again, you know what? Maybe that describes some people in here tonight. Maybe you can't see the blessings of the Lord. Maybe you're looking at your life right now going, this is not right and that's not right and my family's not right and my kids aren't right and my parents aren't right and my husband's not right and my wife is not right. Be still and know he's God, and he's a good God, and he loves you, and if you'll sit for just a moment, perhaps he will remind you how much he loves you, even as he's doing tonight.

See, but here's the thing. At this point, Naomi's complaining so quickly, so verbally, she can't hear how much God loves her and wants to bless her. She can't recognize that God is getting ready to, again, going to bless her beyond your wildest imagination.

And we're going to tie some things together in this book that you're going to see this. Out of all the things that she could, well, let me ask you, was she empty? She said, I've been brought home again empty. Was she empty? No, she had Ruth, and Ruth was a treasure. I mean, I don't know how many, have you ever had anybody say those words to you? I mean, Naomi had a treasure. You know, they say, if you find one good friend in your life, you've found more than most.

She had a treasure, but she didn't recognize it. Let me run through some verses real quick. First Thessalonians 5, 16 through 18 says, rejoice always, pray without ceasing, and everything gives thanks, for this is the will of God and Christ Jesus for you. In the New Living Translation, it says, always be joyful. Keep on praying.

No matter what happens, always be thankful, for this is God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus. Philippians 2, 14 says, do all things without complaining and disputing. You know what the word all means in the Greek? Means all.

That's right. So you're supposed to do everything without complaining and disputing. Or in the New Living Translation, it says, in everything you do, stay away from complaining and arguing. I challenge you to do something, and I do this every now and again. I challenge you to try to go 24 hours without complaining. Now if you've got a friend or a spouse in here, you're accountable now, man. Try to do this. Here's what's gonna happen.

You are probably totally unaware of how much you complain. You do it so frequently that you're unaware of it. I promise. When Ashley was growing up and she was doing something and she grunted everything she did, she like would move a pillow and go, uh. You know her move this and go, uh. And I was like, why does she always do that? You know, and I asked my wife, Nora, I said, why does she always do that? Nora looked at me real funny. I said, what? I said, I don't do that. I started noticing. I mean, just silly.

I mean, I'm not talking about pumping iron. I'm just talking about I've got a book and go, uh. I don't know why I did that. I don't know. Maybe my dad did that.

I don't do it anymore because it was silly, but I didn't recognize I did it. Try not to complain for 24 hours. I said this one service, it amazed me. I'd said this one service. I walked out there to greet people after and this woman came up to me and I said, how are you doing? She said, well, it's late and that sanctuary was cold. Okay, you got about, you made it about six minutes, honey.

Try doing this. Try doing it and you'll become acutely aware of how much you actually complain because here's the thing. Here's the last life lesson. We are not to complain and we are to be thankful. We are not to complain and we are to be thankful. Do you understand those things are mutually exclusive? What I mean by that is you can't be thankful while you're complaining.

You can't do it. If you give somebody something to eat, hey, how's that? Fries are cold and the burgers not done.

Thanks. Are you feeling appreciation at that point? No, you're just, oh, I'm sorry.

The fries are cold and the burger wasn't done. You know, I mean, try this and we are to be thankful. Not to complain. See, because God is orchestrating events in our lives and he knows what he's doing and you can rest in that and you can rest in the fact that he loves you. He loves you and when you begin to complain about your circumstance and your situation, you understand what you're really doing. You're looking up to Father God who has specially organized and orchestrated the things in your life.

You're looking up at him and you're going, you know what? You have no idea, Father, what you're doing. I know better what should be going on in my life. Is that really what you want to communicate to your heavenly father?

I hope not. Loved one, there'll be times when you won't know and won't understand what's going on in your life and that's okay. We're not told in there to understand all things. We're told to be thankful in all things. And looking up and saying, Daddy, Father, I don't know what you're doing. I really don't understand what's going on in my life, but I know that you're in charge and you're in control and somehow this can work out for my good. And I can choose, Father, to either be better by this or to be bitter about this. But Father, I want to choose to be better.

Everybody in here has that decision tonight. To either look up at God and say, God, you got no idea what you're doing or say, Lord, I don't understand it, but you do know what you're doing. And if you make the decision, like Naomi and her family, to leave because of a problem and walk away from that house of praise and the house of bread, well, friend, you're going to leave full and you're going to come back empty because that's the way that it works.

Or you can endure and actually have victory in the midst of these things. And even for the missteps, Naomi ends up blessed. Verse 22. So Naomi returned and Ruth of Moabitess, her daughter-in-law, with her, who returned from the country of Moab. Now, they came back to Bethlehem at the beginning of barley harvest. Barley harvest was a special time. It was a very sweet time. It was a time of hope.

It was a time when they were looking towards the future. It was a time of celebration, and that can be the time it is tonight in your life. Even in the midst of going through things. Perhaps some of you tonight have been reminded, well, I am going through things. I'm not stuck here.

I'm not stuck where I am. I'm going through them. Being reminded of how much Jesus loves you and how God has a plan for your life. Friend, do you know for sure that your sins have been forgiven?

You can know right now. I want to lead you in a short, simple prayer, simply telling God you're sorry and asking Him to help you to live for Him. Now, God wants you to pray this prayer so much that He died to give you the opportunity and the ability to ask Him to forgive you.

Please pray this prayer with me out loud right now. Dear Jesus, I believe you died for me, that I could be forgiven, and I believe you were raised from the dead, that I could have a new life, and I've done wrong things. I have sinned, and I'm sorry. Please forgive me of all those things.

Please give me the power to live for you all of my days. In Jesus' name, amen. Friend, if you prayed that prayer, according to the Bible, you've been forgiven. You've been born again. Jesus said He would not turn anybody away who comes to Him, and He came for those people who knew they needed forgiveness, those who were sick, not the righteous.

So congratulations, friend, you just made the greatest decision that you will ever make. God bless you. If you prayed that prayer with David for the first time, we'd love to hear from you. You can call us toll free at 877-458-5508 to receive our First Steps package with helpful resources to help you begin your walk with Christ. Do you ever feel beaten down or even crushed by the difficulties of life? We all do sometimes, but Jesus offers a life of hope, and we want to help you embrace it. Discover how Christ empowers you to rise above life circumstances with Pastor David's four-part teaching series, Living Life by the Book. This uplifting resource takes you through the Book of Ruth to reveal how the simplicity of living for Jesus can bring you joy even in the darkest times. Living Life by the Book is our thanks for your generous gift today to help more people hear God's truth on this station and beyond so they can cross the bridge from death to life. Please visit crossthebridge.com today to give and get your copy of Living Life by the Book. You know each day comes with its share of stresses, so what better way to wake up than with an encouraging word from the Lord? Visit crossthebridge.com and sign up now for David McKee's email devotionals. Each devotion includes a scripture and a message from the heart of David McKee. It's easy and it's free. Sign up today at crossthebridge.com. Thanks again for listening. Join us next time as we continue in the Book of Ruth.