Posts
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?
