A Biblical Picture of Prosperity: RUTH, Part II

As we've begun looking at the life of Ruth, we have seen a picture of true repentance. Ruth was a Moabitess- from the pagan people of Moab (Moabites). They worshiped false gods such as "chemosh"- their national god whom they looked to for military victory and to whom they offered up child sacrifices. This was Ruth's spiritual background. And yet after losing everything- her father in law, brother in law, her husband, and then even her sister in law "Orphah"- Ruth chose to give up her home, her land, her people, and her blood relatives to follow Naomi and worship Yahweh. Even when given four chances to stay in Moab and go back to her family, Ruth refused. She turned in the opposite direction of all that she knew, and she followed Naomi, and ultimately followed the LORD.

The highway of the upright is to depart from evil; He who keeps his way preserves his soul. Proverbs 16:17

Repentance

That's what repentance is- a turning in the opposite direction. Ruth turned from false gods, to the One and Only True and Living God. She turned from her people to God's people. She turned from her family to God's family. She turned from her land to God's land. Ruth is the ultimate depiction of true repentance. She turned away from everything she knew, to embrace everything God knows and God is... even though the outcome of it was unknown to her. How many of us can truly say this for ourselves? Are we willing to let go of all of ourselves in order to embrace all of God? Are we willing to turn away from the things that hold place in our hearts that are not of Him, or do we try to hold onto them?

Let the wicked man forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, that He may have compassion, and to our God, for He will freely pardon. Isaiah 55:7

Trust

Ruth shows us trust. A man in a healthy marriage would trust his wife to blindfold him and lead him to an unknown destination, because he trusts her. He doesn't know the outcome, because he isn't depending on it. His dependence is on his wife and her goodness. Can we do the same? Can we follow the LORD at His WORD without knowing the details of the destination? Or do we only follow the WORD when we are able to see and control it's outcome in our lives? I encourage you to ponder this today... Is there an area of your life in which you know what God's WORD says, and yet you are not following His direction? May He reveal to you all things that must be revealed, and may He speak to any areas of mistrust in your heart today, in Jesus' name.

Trust in the LORD forever, because GOD the LORD is the Rock eternal. Isaiah 26:4

Fully Persuaded

And Ruth said,

Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee:

for whither thou goest, I will go;

and where thou lodgest, I will lodge:

thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God:

Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried:

the LORD do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and me.

When she [Naomi] saw that she was stedfastly minded to go with her, then she left speaking unto her.

Ruth 1:15-18

Ruth was fully persuaded in following Naomi and consecrating her entire life to the LORD. She could not be talked out of it, and Naomi eventually saw that when she realized that Ruth was stedfastly minded. She was fully persuaded in her heart that following God was worth more than everything she had left behind- mother, father, friends, houses, possessions, land, culture, all of it! Ruth showed up to the LORD with nothing, and she was fully persuaded that Naomi and the LORD were everything she needed.

This is where faith is born. A quickening happens in the spirit where God's WORD takes root in our hearts, and nothing can uproot that Word. That Word is alive and it leads us into the unknown of God's will. This is how Abraham had such great faith. Abraham received a word from God. That word was made alive by the Spirit of God and it penetrated deep into his heart, taking root and leading him on his journey to a land he did not know, a destination he could not see nor fully comprehend. Everything he could see with his own eyes screamed doubt, but the Word in Abraham's heart gave birth to faith, and this faith carried Abraham to a New Frontier in the hand of God.

Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as he had been told, “So shall your offspring be.” Without weakening in his faith, he acknowledged the decrepitness of his body (since he was about a hundred years old) and the lifelessness of Sarah’s womb. Yet he did not waver through disbelief in the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God was able to do what He had promised. This is why “it was credited to him as righteousness.”

Romans 4:18-22

Abraham received a word- "just as he had been told..."- and he stood on that WORD fully persuaded that GOD was able to do what He had promised. Despite Abraham's age, despite the deadness of Sarah's womb, the WORD in Abraham's heart birthed a faith that did not waver in disbelief. Just like Ruth, Abraham was stedfastly minded to follow the LORD at His WORD, regardless of being able to see and know all of the details on the pathway to the promise. Abraham and Ruth were both fully persuaded that GOD was willing and able to do what He promised, and that HE WOULD DO IT.

What is the WORD of the LORD that is quickening you right now? What is GOD speaking to you that is taking root and coming alive in your heart right now, birthing faith that does not waver through unbelief and is fully persuaded? If you don't have a WORD from GOD, then GET IN THE WORD and STAY IN THE WORD until He speaks it to you. You will know it is of GOD because it will come alive in you, it will take root in your heart, and it will produce a faith in you that does not waver.

For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Hebrews 4:12

Decrease is the Path to Increase

Ruth's path to prosperity began with loss and ultimately decrease. She emptied herself of everything, to be filled with everything of GOD.

Peter began to say to Him, “Look, we have left everything and followed You.”

“Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for My sake and for the gospel will fail to receive a hundredfold in the present age—houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and fields, along with persecutions—and in the age to come, eternal life.

But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.”

Mark 10:28-31

Ruth lived this. Abraham lived this. And believers today are called to live this. Ruth gave up all for CHRIST's sake, and the gospel. Her decision to leave everything, brought her to the outcome of being grandmother to King David and in the lineage of Jesus Christ! She did not know that outcome when she forsook all, nor could she even begin to see parts of it! But she was stedfastly minded and fully persuaded that Naomi's GOD was all that she needed. This is trust. This is faith. This is becoming a living sacrifice to the LORD. Because in the kingdom of GOD, when you give up, GOD FILLS UP- His way, in His timing, with His filling.

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

Romans 12:1-2

When we pour out our own lives to become lives lived unto the LORD, we become a living sacrifice. Both Abraham and Naomi said,

God, You choose my future.

You choose how I make money.

You choose how I put food on the table.

You choose where I live.

You choose my friends.

You choose my family.

You choose my spouse.

You choose my children.

You choose the timing of it all.

I put it all in Your hands.

Do it Your way. I give up my way.

This is the first step to us even knowing the will of God for our lives. When we are still walking in our own ways & our own will apart from GOD, we can't even begin to know HIS will let alone follow it and fulfill it. For when we still abide by our own ways and not by God's ways and His WORD, we are conformed to the ways of this world. The scripture tells us that the only way to even begin to prove what God's will is, is to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. The only way to do that is to live according to God's WORD and abide by HIS leading, not our own. So many believers live their entire lives here on earth never getting close to finding God's good, acceptable, and perfect will for their lives because they live their entire lives for themselves totally conformed to the ways of this world. Ruth and Abraham both understood that the way to go up, is to give up.

O my son, give Me your heart. May your eyes take delight in following My ways. Proverbs 23:26

God's Prosperity

As Ruth ventured into the unknown with Naomi, she walked in the blessing, the favor, and the prosperity of God the moment she dedicated her life to Him. However, this was not seen by the carnal eye at first. Upon relocating to Bethlehem with Naomi at the beginning of the barley harvest, Ruth gathered food for them by gleaning from the grain fields. This is what poor people did in Israel- The Mosaic law required landowners to leave the edges of their fields unharvested so the poor could come and gather the leftover grain. This process was known as gleaning and it ensured that the poor and sojourners could eat from what was left in the fields (Lev. 19:9–10) without starving. Ruth had just stepped into God's Prosperity, and yet she was gathering her food by the same means as the poor. Does this mean that the promise of blessing and favor did not apply to Ruth? No. This merely means that God's way of prosperity does not always look carnally prosperous to the physical eye. This is why we must always look with the eyes of the spirit- focusing not on what is seen but on what is unseen, because what is seen is temporary and subject to change (just like Ruth's situation) but what is unseen is eternal (2 Corinthians 4:18). However, even in Ruth's experience, she never lacked. She showed up to the fields with nothing, and she left filled.

So Ruth gathered grain in the field until evening. And when she beat out what she had gleaned, it was about an ephah of barley.

Ruth 2:17

(An ephah is about 29 pounds worth of barley)

Ruth was prosperous because her GOD is prosperity, not because of her means of gathering food or how much money her and Naomi had saved up. Ruth prospered because she was God's, and thus she walked in the special favor and the blessing of the LORD. She didn't have any money that made her rich at the time, and still she was walking on the richest path of life that she could have ever walked on. This temporary poverty still left her filled, and it led her to meeting Boaz- her future husband and the man who would redeem her and Naomi out of loss and poverty to abundance and prosperity.

The pathway to the blessing, is a blessed path.

The journey to prosperity, is a prosperous journey.

When we follow the LORD wholeheartedly, we do not get to know the details of the journey nor the timing & the designs of the outcome. We get to know Him. We get to trust Him. Our faith in Jesus along the path, and our trust in God upon the journey is what makes us righteous- just like Abraham.

Though the fig tree does not bud and no fruit is on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though the sheep are cut off from the fold and no cattle are in the stalls, Habakkuk 3:17

yet I will exult in the LORD; I will rejoice in the God of my salvation! GOD the Lord is my strength; He makes my feet like those of a deer; He makes me walk upon the heights! Habakkuk 3:18-19

Blessed and Highly Favored

Ruth "happened" to show up in the field of Boaz when she went to glean for grain. This man Boaz just "happened" to be the man who was "next kin" to Naomi. (Per Jewish Law, when men died, the family member who was next of kin was to marry the widow so that she would not be homeless & poor.) This was all the favor of GOD, not just coincidence. If Ruth had never been in a financial state of needing to glean, she never would have stepped into Boaz's field, and perhaps never would have met Boaz and married him. Ruth's temporary state of poverty, was actually God's Way of Prosperity.

Ruth's story shows us that Biblical Prosperity is not something we earn, but it is part of who we are as blessed and highly favored sons and daughters of the Most High GOD. The steps we take to God's Way of Prosperity in our lives is something that we cannot control, but must be something we surrender. When Ruth stepped onto Boaz's field, she received special favor from him right away. If Ruth hadn't of left everything to follow GOD, she never would've walked in His special favor and she never would've met Boaz. But Ruth was fully persuaded. She knew that the GOD of Naomi was El Shaddai- The LORD GOD Almighty and GOD of More Than Enough. Because of her faith, Ruth took the journey and ended up smack dab in the middle of prospering in the blessing of the LORD.

I will reflect on all You have done and ponder Your mighty deeds. Psalm 77:12

Take the Journey

Step out into faith. Ask the LORD to lead you by His WORD, leave behind what He does not have for you, and follow Jesus. Receive His WORD into your heart until you are fully persuaded and stedfastly minded to follow Him without wavering. When the path get's difficult, stand on the WORD and refuse to budge. When the way is narrow, remember that only the narrow way leads to life and the wide & easy way is the way that leads to destruction.

Lean upon His grace, because His grace is sufficient to get you through every difficulty, every trial, & every tribulation.

Trust in GOD. Trust that HE understands it all. Don't lean upon your own understanding. Acknowledge His ways, not your own ways. For His ways are higher. Let go of controlling the details of the journey, let go of controlling the timing, let go of controlling the outcome. The only thing you must maintain control over, is your own mind. Set your thoughts on Christ, and give the enemy no foothold.

Lean on Jesus. He is your Rock. He is your Redeemer just like Boaz was to Ruth. He will bring you through. You will taste and see His goodness. His grace is sufficient.

I would have lost heart, unless I had believed That I would see the goodness of the LORD In the land of the living. Psalm 27:13

Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight. Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and turn away from evil. This will bring healing to your body and refreshment to your bones. Honor the LORD with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your harvest; then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will overflow with new wine. My son, do not reject the discipline of the LORD, and do not loathe His rebuke; for the LORD disciplines the one He loves, as does a father the son in whom he delights. Proverbs 3:5-12

And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. 2 Corinthians 9:8

He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly in my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest on me. That is why, for the sake of Christ, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 2 Corinthians 12:9-10

Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. Because strait [small] is the gate, and narrow [pressing, difficult] is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. Matthew 7:13-14