Working Towards Your Greater

Working towards your Greater

Tory Spring

Today is the first day of Just for Christ and Tory delivers a powerful word from the Lord about “Working Towards Your Greater.” The message is taken from the story of Ruth, usually told a romantic tale, Tory places a spin on the famous tale.

The first element the Just for Christ covers is the undeniable truth that this year can be your year. As Christians we need to dispel the myth that we all get the same thing and position your thinking into this year, that year 2016 is between you and God. No one else. No one else can walk your path or live your life. Yes, in the end we work to bring God glory but the way we each go about it in some ways will be different. So looking at our story for today Ruth lets first read Ruth 1:1-4.

The first principle we cover.

      I.         If you are working towards your greater: you must understand as a child of God your past is irrelevant in determining your future. (Ruth 1:1-4)

Let’s be real a lot of us in here today are Ruth. We are not Naomi. Many of us were not brought up in the church, many of us are not preacher or elder kids, a lot of us did not even know who God is or believed in His power until we grew older. The same concept with Ruth, she was not an Israelite, she was a Moabite. An outsider, an outcast it was unlawful for Naomi’s sons to marry Ruth and Orpah but God allowed it. He saw Ruth’s heart before He saw her pedigree. In this day and age, the world is quick to okay someone’s resume if they look good. The world condemns us, we all at one point have been condemned or deemed as unfit or not worthy because of our skin color, our language, our faith, our sins, our bodies if your too thick or too skinny you’re your too short or not tall. The world has so many requisites to be accepted, and what makes it worst is that we all have our personal baggage we’re carrying or still battling.

a.     Jeremiah 29:11: “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.”

b.     Even though, Ruth was not an Israelite God did not harbor any ill intent towards her. Same thing. God loves you. I know you heard this time and time again but it is true. God’s ultimate expression of His love was sending His Son Jesus, Himself incarnate to do the job of reconciling us to Him. Sometimes as Christians we really need to stop fighting the truth that someone really loves you. You are not unlovable. Especially, as people trying to making this year, our year, your year, I encourage you to stop believing God has something against you, but believe He has greatness planned for you.

c.     Ask Question: What are great things God has revealed to you? He has planned for you in 2016?

    II.          If you are working towards your greater: recognize being a Christian comes with heartache. (Ruth 1:4-9)

Ruth was married to her husband for 10 years, long enough for her to be completely converted to the people of Israel, and fully dedicated to her mother. All the baggage Ruth had was gone, as God takes you into one great thing to another expect to lose parts of yourself that was useless to your identity. Mind you she also lost her Moab family in the process, Ruth could not be a Moab woman and an Israelite at the same time. Something had to give and it is evident Ruth chose to follow her husband. In the Bible, Ruth is not known as the Moabite woman anymore the same as Saul is not known as a murder of the church but Apostle Paul. Always remember as your allowing God to work and prune your character, He is redeeming your past and changing your reputation as well.

a.     2 Corinthians 4:8-10: “We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies.”

b.     Unwanted. Unloved. Uncared for. Widows were not looked upon favorably in the past. They had little to offer, except an added responsibility and a mouth to feed to the nearest relative by blood. Accepting Christ is not a get out of trouble card, trouble will look for you even harder now, affliction will be in your every way but you will not be crushed because your foundation is built on Christ. Jesus did the unthinkable He arose from the grave on the third day, in His crucifixion, He overcame sins, death, and Satan and all of his forces. There is nothing that can crush the life of Jesus which lives in you and I. Listen, you will be perplexed the more you live and there are situations, which occurred in 2015 that you do or did not understand. Sometimes you will never receive a reason from God as to why your past relationship did not work, why you lost a job, why a certain career path was not for you, or why someone close to you passed away. Life will perplex us, confuse us, and cause us to wonder why are we suffering, I know Naomi could not fathom why she lost both her sons, and her husband and it is even harder to reconcile the pain you are experiencing with a God who loves you.

c.      Your valley there is a reason for it, “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28) The purpose of your valley is four key things:

                                               i.     To remove all baggage: These could be old memories or regrets or actions you committed you are ashamed of in the past.

                                             ii.     To reposition your focus: Sometimes we are in valleys to put God first in our lives again and to center our focus back on Him.

                                            iii.     To help you make a decision: Valleys are there to help us deepen our walk with God, they increase our chances of listening and seeking God’s guidance.

                                           iv.     To show you what you’re made of: Troubling circumstances easily reveals a person’s character, if I had a time machine and I really wanted to know what you guys were like. I would punch in the most crucial moments of your lives and see if you weathered through the storm or buckled down under pressure. Ruth had a valley and at the end of this valley a decision had to be made. (Read Ruth 1:11-18)

  III.         If you are working towards your greater: realize you’re going to have to make a pivotal decision that marks the moment of no return. (Read Ruth 1:11-18)

a.     In Sunday School we talked about how Saul became Paul and on the road to Damascus, the Lord appeared to him and it was this moment where Paul became a witness to the Gentiles. It is not necessarily about the point of no return it is about the point of not going back, it is fully accepting your responsibility and the building of yourself up in Christ and in the present. Crossroads usually originate from a valley experience; they are important, whatever decision you make reveals the allegiance of your heart. A crossroad is a spiritual crisis, only God can bring you to crisis, it is a moment where your decision determines your future.

b.     Jesus says, in Matthew 6:20-22, ““Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” I don’t know if many of you today are at a crossroads but I know many of you do not want a repeat of 2015 and desire a closer intimacy with God. But there is more to it than that, people fail crossroads not because of their heart, but because we spend all our time storing our treasures in the wrong places. What are the treasures of your heart?

 IV.         If you are working towards your greater: push yourself to finish strong and well. (Read Ruth 2:1-3)

a.     When Naomi saw Ruth was not going to leave her, they returned to her home country, Bethlehem. There Ruth instantly busied herself, she did not stand idly by. A clear indication you made the right choice is when you enter into your new season with a purpose. Everyone here, is in a season of building and sowing, this is a season of dedication and hard work. How committed, dedicated you are to your purpose in 2016? How dedicated are you to the goals you have written down? Notice Ruth did not look at Naomi and say, “Now what?” Ruth the minute they entered the country, had a plan, an objective, to provide for her mother in law.

b.     Ecclesiastes 3:1-3: “To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven: 2 A time to be born, And a time to die; A time to plant, And a time to pluck what is planted;” Listen ladies and gentlemen there are too many people trying to pluck what they never planted. Stop expecting results from work you never put in. Timing is everything and sadly there are two common human mistakes we make either the timing is right in your life but you did nothing to sow the seed, or you put the work in and pluck what you planted too late or too early. Greatness does not happen overnight it is not a magical metamorphosis, there is a reason why we have a hall of fame or we admire the people whom we do.

    V.         If your working towards your greater: when you find it, your life will be a showcase of God’s glory. (Read Ruth 4:13-17)

a.     Boaz took Ruth as his wife and she gave birth to a son. Because of Ruth’s obedience and her commitment to her mother in law, she restored Naomi’s hope in the Lord God. The women sang about how blessed Naomi was and how the Lord never forsaken her, they blessed His name. Ruth was the cause of the Lord receiving glory and truly that is what your life is about. That is what all our lives is about we’re put on this Earth to point people to God. Not to ourselves Christians fall for the trap of Satan, numerous Christians point to themselves as the answer or as someone who is worthy of the Lord’s glory. Humble yourselves, I encourage you when you receive your greater do not boast about yourself, but testify as to how God has mercifully worked through and for you. No one in this room is greater or better than the next person we all may sin differently but all we needed and need Jesus Christ to rescue us from our sins.

b.     1 Peter 5:6-7: Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, 7 casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you. I know 2015 was the year when many of us saw what we wanted slip past our fingers and some of us believe God does not care about our concerns our loneliness, our grief, our low self esteem, confidence, our purposeless lives, our lost friendships. That is untrue. The Lord God cares about our desires but He prioritizes our spiritual conditions, our hearts over it. He is the God of order and God will not give you something you are not ready to handle. So I encourage you humble yourself under God’s mighty hand, admit you are not working towards your greater because you earned, but because God is gracious and loving is why you will receive it. Your greater has everything to do with God and absolutely nothing to do you.

How are you working towards your greater this year? In what ways has January challenged you so far?