Encouragement

By Mark Jennings

PROVERBS 27 17: AS IRON SHARPENS IRON SO ONE MAN SHARPENS ANOTHER. 

NUMBERS 13

The lord said to Moses Send some men to explore the land of Canaan which I am giving the Israelites’. 

So Moses sends in 12 men. All of them are leaders representing each of the 12 tribes. Among them are Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun.

Moses assembles the men and he says to them go up into that land. Check out the people that live there. Are they weak or strong? What kind of land do they live in, is it good or bad, is it fertile or poor? What kind of towns do they live in? Are they unwalled or fortified. Tell us if it has trees and try your best to bring back some of its fruit.

So the spies go in and they get to the valley they call Eshcol.Here they find fantastic clusters of grapes. One cluster is so big they throw it over a pole and 2 men carry it. After 40 days of exploration they return.

We see this picture of the entire Israelite nation all assembling, excited at the return of their leaders. VERSE 27     “ We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey. Here is its fruit.” The fruit must have been enticing for people who had been in the desert. But 10 of the spies start to relate to the nation that the people that live there are powerful and that their cities are fortified and large. They then start to tell the Israelites’ about the nations who live there, painting a dim picture that possession is futile. The crowd starts to murmur and becomes agitated.

Caleb throws his hand up. WHOA!  He silences the entire assembly. We CAN take it he says. We should go up and take possession of the land for we can certainly do it.

But then the rest of the spies start to stir up, and incite the crowd. They say,

“The land we explored devours those living in it. There are giants in the land. “They finish off by saying we seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes and we looked the same to them.

We have a situation here where some people see grasshoppers and some see grapes.

THE ENCOURAGER HAS COURAGE. The encourager is willing to go for the fruit.

STORY OF THE WOMAN WHO HAD RECEIVED SOME BAD NEWS FROM THE MEDICAL CENTER IN THE RESTAURANT. I WANTED TO PRAY FOR HER BUT TOO CROWDED, NO COURAGE. THE LORD EMPTIED OUT THE RESTAURANT......WE THEN WENT AND PRAYED FOR HER AND I GAVE HER THIS VERSE

                                          JOHN 16 24 UNTIL NOW YOU HAVE NOT ASKED FOR ANYTHING IN MY NAME. ASK AND YOU WILL RECEIVE AND YOUR JOY WILL BE COMPLETE.  

SHE WAS TOTALLY ENCOURAGED!!    

                                                 

THE ENCOURAGER ALWAYS SEES THE BIG PICTURE AND WILL LEAD PEOPLE THROUGH IT.

Encouragers have total faith in Gods sovereignty. They not only see the big picture, they understand the full picture. They draw on their faith and they use it. Because of this they will help lead people through difficult territory. In NUMBERS CHAPTER 14       it talks about that night all the people raised their voices and wept out aloud. They start to say it would be better back in Egypt. Moses and AARON fall on their feet and Joshua and Caleb out of frustration tear their clothes. In verse 8 they plead with the crowd and say the Lord will lead us into that land do not be afraid for the Lord is with us.

Encourages have the faith to see past the present difficulties and problems. Joshua and Caleb understand the full promise that God has given them. They only see a positive outcome no matter what. HE WILL LEAD US INTO THAT LAND, A LAND FLOWING WITH MILK AND HONEY. They see the grapes, they see the milk, and they see the honey.

Their faith helps them understand and have confidence in the big picture. As the Lord leads them they will lead people. If you are going to encourage people out of a desert you have to believe you have a good place to take them to.

 STORY OF THE ALCOHOLIC. ENCOURAGING HER TO LEAN ON A LONG LOST FAITH TO GIVE UP DRINKING. LETTER IN POST, A YEAR LATER SAYING SHE HAD STOPPED DRINKING AND NOW WAS A CHRISTIAN.

A simple word of encouragement can bring a person out of a dark pit. It can lift that person to a higher place and move them ahead stronger than ever. When someone is encouraged, they are inspired; they are activated and have confidence.

PROVERBS 16:24, Gracious words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the body.

PROVERBS 25:11 A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in a setting of silver.

PROVERBS 12:25 Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs him down but a good word makes him glad.

ENCOURAGES ARE ALWAYS LOOKING FOR PEOPLE TO ENCOURAGE.

It’s our job to encourage. As we have been encouraged we encourage others. The act of encouragement is a responsibility that we all have as a follower of Christ. Joshua, who encouraged his fellow Israelites’ into the Promised Land, was a forerunner to Jesus who encourages us into the territory of GODS promises. Jesus spent his whole ministry doing this. So much so that it is estimated that 100 million bibles are sold each year. People want to read it. The messages and stories of JESUS are so encouraging THEY PRINTED it 4 times. Matthew Mark Luke and John.

Here is a wonderful opportunity I had.        Another story.

STORY      WOMAN IN TEXAS.  GAVE HER A CUDDLE AND ENCOURAGED HER WHEN SHE TOLD ME OF A CRUEL HUSBAND AND A SON WHO WAS DYING OF CANCER. ENCOURAGED HER TO CALL ON GOD TO COMFORT HER.

 HOW GOD ENCOURAGED ME ONCE.............  WHILE GOING DOWN TO THE   PUMPSHED ONE COLD STARRY NIGHT I LOOKED UP AND ASKED WHERE GOD LIVED, I WAS ZAPPED WITH AN ELECTRIC SHOCK THAT MADE MY HAIR STAND UP ON END. IT WAS PLEASANT AND LASTED A WHILE.  IT WAS GODS WAY OF SAYING I LIVE RIGHT HERE. STILL GET THAT TO THIS DAY, ITS GODS WAY OF ENCOURAGING ME AND I BELIEVE ITS HIS RIGHT HAND ON MY SHOULDER.   

$1300 DOLLAR STORY: I WAS BROKE ON THE FARM HAD 1300$ BILLS TO PAY, STRUNG OUT, TIRED REACHED MY LIMIT, DIDN'T WANT TO BUT I ASKED GOD FOR THE MONEY, $1300  ARRIVES IN POST NEXT DAY. INLAND REVENUE WENT  3 YEARS IN MY BOOKS TO FIND THEY OWED ME.

Romans 12 8 indicates that some people have a special gift to encourage. It says if it is serving let him serve if it is teaching let him teach if it is encouraging let him encourage.......... YOU MIGHT SAY IT’S ALRIGHT FOR YOU.............. You might have the gift of encouraging.   MY FRIEND A CONSERVATIVE CHRISTIAN FOUND THAT GIFTS CAN BE ASKED FOR, ASKED GOD IF HE COULD SPEAK IN TONGUES  GOD ANSWERED HIM AND PROVIDED THE GIFT...........................ASK FOR THE GIFT OF ENCOURAGEMENT

TRY AND ASK FOR IT.

Encouraging people is one of the easiest ways of spreading light into a dark world. We live in a world fixated on bad news and negative dramas.     STORY OF TV    SO WILD WITH BAD RUBBISH I THROW TV WHILE STILL WARM IN THE DUMP.

My story THROWN OFF A HORSE, PARALYZED ONLY CAN MOVE MY EYES SURGEONS OPERATE ON  VERTEBRAE TO LET  THE SPINAL CORD HAVE MORE ROOM, WALK OUT OF HOSPITAL IN 2 WEEKS. ENCOURAGED BY ISAIAH SEEING THE ANGELS IN HEAVEN. DID NOT ASK GOD TO HEAL ME, JUST PRAISED AND PRAISED HIM. MY FRIENDS AND CHURCH PRAYED FOR ME. THEIR ENCOURAGEMENT GAVE ME THE STRENGTH TO WALK AGAIN.

The sun is a 150 million km from earth. If we stay out in its light it will burn our skin. If the sun was a soccer ball the earth is the size of a match head. There is another sun out there, a star called ANTARES it makes our sun look like a pinhead.  Yet when we are in heaven, the sun and moon will not shine for the LORD is light enough.

When Moses came off the mountain with the 2 tablets his face was radiant and shone. The whole Israelite nation was shocked.

Wouldn’t it be great if our faces would shine, wouldn’t it be great if we reflected the glory of the lord. Wouldn’t be good if we could walk out that door, today, the ....... next week.... find someone to uplift, encourage one another and  encourage others to  taste the grapes and enter into the land of milk and honey.

MATTHEW 5: 16.

Eat God's Flesh and Drink His Blood

By Hayley Boud

^“Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.  Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.  For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them. Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.”

 John 6:53-58

How can we eat the flesh of Jesus?

In John 1:1 & 14, we discover that Jesus is God and the Word of God is God and here we find that Jesus is the Bread, so the bread is the Word of God.  Therefore, we have to eat the Word of God in order to have eternal life.

In order to eat physical bread, we need a mouth, teeth and patience to chew before to swallow.  The mouth represents the heart which needs to open in order to allow the Word of God in, in the same way our physical mouth needs to open in order to allow the physical food in. 

Our teeth represent the focus and concentration required to chew the bread.  We need to focus on the Word of God and chew over it, trying to break it down into pieces we can understand in the same way our physical teeth chews the physical food in order to break it into smaller pieces which can be swallowed. 

Then we have to be patient with our physical food.  We can’t swallow the food whole, or we will choke and even die.  We have to take our time with the Word of God and meditate on it and be patient or we will miss out on the life that is in it which can cause us to spiritually die.

There are different types of bread, some kinds of bread are really tasty and we usually buy those from the supermarket while there are other kinds of bread we don’t really like.  But it’s all bread.  We have to be careful with the Word of God that we don’t only eat the parts we enjoy, we need to read the whole Bible and not miss out on anything.  It takes me about 2-3 years to read my Bible from beginning to end, so I have read the whole thing more than 5 times now.  There are definite chapters I enjoy and then there are chapters that are boring...but it’s all good for me.  I would be in danger if I only ate croissants and never ate healthy bread and I would be in danger spiritually if I only read the New Testament, or I only read the gospels. 

In order to eat physical bread, it is a decision we make.  We have to decide to open our mouth, we have to make a decision to chew and we have to decide to swallow.  Once when Roda had a very upset tummy, I told her to eat some dry bread with nothing on it.  She complained and refused to do it.  I explained it would help, but she couldn’t accept.  She felt like dry bread would make her more sick.  Sometimes we are the same with the Word of God.  We know we need to pick it up and read it but we don’t feel like it.  Sometimes we are tired so we tell ourselves that we should go to bed and read it in the morning.  Sometimes we are discouraged and disappointed and we don’t feel like reading.  What I have noticed in my life is that the very times I don’t feel like reading the Bible, are the very times I actually need it the most.  So, we have to make a decision to take the Bible, to open it, to read it, to meditate on it and put it into practise.

Once we have decided NOT to read the word of God, or to not listen to it...we will be the ones to lose.  Our bodies will be the ones to suffer in the same way our physical body suffers when we don’t eat physically.  How many of you have gone without food for more than three days?  How does your body feel?  Weak, sick, depressed.  That is the same for our spirit when we don’t read the Word of God, we make ourselves weak and sick spiritually.

We can’t just read the Word though, we need to also concentrate and even memorise it.  How many times have you enjoyed a song so much that you have listened to it over and over until you know every word.  We should be the same with the Bible, we should love it so much that we read verses over and over until we know them off by heart.  Memorising scripture will save you in times of trouble...it really, really will.

How can I drink God’s blood?

Drinking is different to eating – all you have to do is put it in your mouth and swallow immediately.  The blood of Jesus is there to clean our sin and all we have to do is open our mouth and confess our sin and immediately we are forgiven and our sins are released.  We don’t have to spend a lot of time after we have sinned justifying ourselves or condemning ourselves or meditating on your sin.  Repent straight away and God will remove your sin immediately. 

Jesus said to drink the wine as a remembrance of His blood and when we drink wine, it can be smelt on our breath and people will know.  Those that repent, don’t have to feel shy to say sorry to the person they have sinned against, because people will know if we are sincere when we ask for forgiveness.  The blood purifies us when we have a problem with someone and we first fix it with that person before coming to Christ for forgiveness.

When we ask God for forgiveness, His blood takes away our sin and we move from being dead to being alive.  Once we are alive in Christ, do we need to keep asking God to make us alive?  Why do we have to keep asking God for forgiveness every time we sin?  If we are alive, then we don’t need the blood of Christ anymore.  The blood of Christ is to make us alive but once we become Christians we are no longer dead, we are alive so is there any need to keep asking God for forgiveness?

When we sin, we are dead spiritually but in blood is life so every time we sin, we make ourselves dead to God and every time we repent the blood of Christ cleanses us and brings us back to life.  Every time I sin, it makes me spiritually dead because the only thing that separates us from God is sin and when we are separated from life, there is death.  God doesn’t close His eyes if I have sinned just because I’m a Christian.  That is like saying, I once had malaria so I can’t get it again.  Jesus said, repent, repent, repent and He is able to forgive a million times and that is how we see the expression of His love...the fact that He keeps forgiving.

Isaiah 59:2, “But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear”.

In Ex 12, the Israelites were told to put blood on the doorframe and without it, when the angel of death passed, you would die.  So they needed that sign of blood and we also need that sign of blood on us so that when Jesus comes close to us, He can know if we belong to Him or not.  We need repentance and forgiveness and we need also to forgive others in order to be forgiven.

Help free a wrongfully arrested pastor in Kazakhstan

Help free a wrongfully arrested pastor in Kazakhstan!‏

Although it rarely if ever makes the headlines in the Western world, Kazakhstan is home to one of the most brutal regimes in Central Asia. Under a government that traces its roots to the Soviet Union, religious minorities face harsh restrictions on their activities and any missionary activity is completely forbidden. Churches must be registered to operate, but the government rarely grants a church registration, leaving the majority of Christians to worship illegally or not at all.

In October things took a turn for the worst when police stormed Grace Church in the capital of Astana. They detained members for questioning and soon hurled wiled accusations at the church pastor, Bakhytzhan Kashkumbayev,  accusing him of putting hallucinogens in the communion juice. The charges were simply an excuse to harass the church until last month when police decided to arrest Pastor Kashkumbayev and lock him away in Astana's "Temporary Isolation Prison" where he will remain for at least the next two months as charges are brought against him.

Kazakhstan has an infamous reputation for treating their prisoners terribly. Conditions are horrible and some prisoners die after sustained beatings by guards. We must do everything we can to ensure Pastor Kashkumbayev is released immediately. The longer he remains imprisoned the greater the chance he will be tortured, beaten, and mistreated. Lend your voice to ours and call on the Kazakhgovernment to release Pastor Kashkumbayev today!  

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God's Favor is Always Unfair

By Odon Bulamba

Ruth 2:10, “At this, she bowed down with her face to the ground. She asked him, “Why have I found such favor in your eyes that you notice me—a foreigner?”

For those who want to know the story of Ruth:

Naomi and her husband and her two sons were living in Bethlehem and from nowhere; hunger struck – no food, they tried to survive but it was impossible and so they decided to leave their nation to find food.  They went to Moab where they found food.  Their sons reached the stage where they should marry and they married women from Moab.  One married Orpah and one married Ruth.  Naomi’s husband died; God is good, sometimes he takes people while we need them.  Maybe Naomi thought, I still have my two sons and I can manage. So maybe God said, “oh, you put your hope in your two sons” and maybe because of that, he removed them too.

Without a husband and children, Naomi wondered how she will survive without men to work for her and feed her so she decided to go back home to Bethlehem.  Ruth and Orpah decided to go with her but Naomi advised them to go back to their families and remarry.  The two ladies decided to go with her anyway.  What a courage, to leave your country and follow an old lady and go to a country you don’t know.  To follow a lady who doesn’t have a husband and to go to a country that the old lady left for a reason.  We as human beings would think twice.

Naomi tried to encourage the two girls to return home but Ruth said that she had to come, “please let me”.  The more that Naomi insisted for the girls not to go with her, the more that Orpah started to take think about going back...maybe she was afraid of the future wondering how she will take care of this old lady; better to find a husband to take care of her.  So Orpah cried, hugged Naomi and said good bye.  Was that cry a sincere cry or was it a cry of freedom?  Many people today in the church are trying to follow Jesus just because others are doing it, maybe to give the impression to other they are a part of Jesus but in their heart they want to drink, party, just like those in the world but they don’t have the opportunity because maybe a Christian might see them and maybe someone in church will talk and judge so better not to.  They fear human beings and they try to impress people more than the Lord.

Ruth said, “wherever you go, I’ll go, your people will be my people, where you die, I die”.  When Jesus says, follow me, do you really follow him or will you be like Peter in the gospels and deny Jesus?

Naomi walked with Ruth back to Bethlehem which means house of the bread of God.  In that Bethlehem which is the house of the bread; there is no food.  It sounds strange.  Food was there but the people didn’t open their eyes or didn’t try to push their hands deeper to find food.  God gave to Israelites everything they wanted, heat, water, food and clothing in the desert.  Here, now because of famine, Naomi could not feed herself or her daughter in law.  Naomi advised Ruth, “there is no men here, you have to find food”.  If someone tells you to find food and you have no money, where would you go?  Police, neighbors, family?  For Ruth, she thought, harvest is taking place, let me go there and she walked onto someone’s farm. 

If you see a stranger on your farm, what will you do?  You will ask yourself who is the person and why are they there.  We have to present ourselves somewhere in order to be identified.  People will only identify us when we walk near the farm (God’s work).  God says there is a harvest but there are no workers.

Ruth went onto the farm and started to collect what remained behind from the wheat.  How much do you think was left behind?  To leave behind means you will lose so unlikely you will leave too much.  Boaz walked in and he was told her identity is Ruth and he allowed her to work and told his workers to leave a handful of food behind...put it on the ground and go.  When it was time for lunch, Ruth came and ate with the workers and she put aside a small portion of food to feed Naomi.

God’s favor is unfair:  Ruth is coming from nowhere, she is a foreigner, they don’t know her and she met with harvesters who are not allowed to take without permission and suddenly Boaz lets her; give her the chance to collect food.  How many times has God done such a thing in your life where you don’t have right to do something and God does something for you.  E.g. you wake up and you are alive, you are thirsty and there is water, you go outside and the sun is shining.  In other parts of the world, people are crying because their brothers are dead, they don’t have sun and they don’t have all the blessings and privileges that we have here in New Zealand…God is not fair.  But, the more you are blessed, the more you need to bless others.

The church is like Ruth, God asks us to pick up what others have left behind and you will have enough provision for you and your family.  You read the Bible, what did you get from it?  Most will say, “nothing really”.  We are encouraged to make notes when the preacher brings a message but what do we do with those notes?  Ruth was in a position to collect.  To collect is not easy, to pick up from the ground you have to bend down and put the grain in the bag.  Collecting can give pain to your back but God will ask you regardless of your pain; blessings are here, it’s up to you to collect them.

In your life, when you are blessed like Boaz, how often do you purposefully give others blessings?  It is a shame for the church to day, when it’s time for offering…I’ve seen people, open their wallet and find the smallest bank note and if they don’t have a small one, they won’t give it to the church.  Others believe they have their own needs and forget that the church building has to be paid for and the church has many needs.  When you don’t give, how do you expect God to give to you?  The measure you give, that is the measure you will get from God.  If you choose a big bowl, great but if you choose a small bowl…shame on you.

In the book of James we are told that we don’t have to only be talkative, we also have to be doers; your actions are important for Jesus.  Ruth collected what others had left behind and suddenly, life started to change; she had much food and could enjoy the meal.  When God blesses you, do you really know that others deserve it but they don’t get it.  Others have been working so hard to achieve what you are getting but they don’t get it.  For example, there will be people who grumble, “Colleen gets it all and she doesn’t deserve it, how come she can have it?” and we start to judge her but God says, “I know what I am doing, my favors are always unfair”.

Tyrone is there asking God for a handful of blessing and God gives it to Tyrone and Tyrone is able to pick it up and his bag fills up and I say jealously, after praying for years and  working hard, “why do You give to Tyrone?”  How many favors have you received this morning? Your stomach works, your heart is beating, everything about you is a favor and all those favors that you get, how many people are jealous about them and how many people are crying, Lord our God.

Ruth was collecting the food and later she becomes the owner of the land; God made her someone special. She moved from a to z without having to go through b, c, d, e and f.  I was asking myself the other day, “for how long will I continue to live this life, God I don’t want to be stressed” and suddenly a thought came into my mind and so I started to google mansions and I could see all those beautiful houses and I asked God, is this what I will have and the more I looked, the more I found the best ones and then I looked at the prices and the cheapest was around $40M and I asked God is this is a joke.  While I was looking, someone past by and said, “If you can’t pay the power bill, how will you afford such a thing?”  “If you can’t even pay your power bill how will you pay for such a house?” but I felt joy in my heart and I know that for God it is possible

Tell God, I need to get what you have for me.  God leads us to the levels.  When Naomi went to Moab and lost her husband, she learnt not to put her trust in her husband anymore.  Sometimes we put our trust in something and God shuts that door.  I was saving for a house but God shuts that door.  I was studying so I could become something, and God shuts that door and when that door is shut…God opens a door in your heart.  You find things hard with your job and then suddenly there is no job and you wonder how you will live but God finds a better way.

God gives us stairs and we go up them.  The first stair for Ruth was the loss of her husband, the next step was collecting food, the next step was to lie next to Boaz, the next step was to marry Boaz and then finally Ruth is the owner of land.  Who doesn’t know the name of Ruth from the Bible?  God has given her favor to be known.  You and me have a favor, our names are in the book of life and therefore we should move with God.  If Ruth couldn’t accept to go up and up, the stairs, Naomi could not benefit, the church could not benefit (we learn from Ruth’s experience and also, Jesus comes from the line of Ruth). 

Do you leave a handful of food behind for others?  If your offering is an issue, how will you give to others or give to God as a favor?  Many families and marriages have been broken because of tithing.  The husband says, “I can’t give this month” while the wife says, “God says we must and we have to because it is God’s money, it’s no ours, it belongs to God”.  The husband justifies, “We can pay God back later”.  We can even give from the little blessings we have; we need to teach others the Word of God; how to play the guitar if you know how; share your knowledge…rather than criticize others, teach them.

There is an African song that says, “my God is goodo”.  These people are not aware that the word “goodo” is not english and no one tells them.  We have to teach our children, our nieghbours and community and by giving we also will receive.

Ruth became the wife of Boaz and gave birth and at the time she gave birth, Naomi was old and her job was to nurse the baby.  Miraculously God provided milk for Naomi to be able to breastfeed.  You should never say, “I am too old to look after the drunkards or spiritual babies”.  They need you to feed them.  When God blessed Ruth, others started to complain that God was blessing her while she is a foreigner.  People can take distance from you and talk against you but God will never leave you. Count your favors and from them, how many do you leave behind?

I have a friend who loves burger and once was asked for his expensive shoes in exchange for a burger.  He ate the burger and then his boss came and he had to represent the company at a meeting.  My friend now had no shoes and when he walked in front of people with his tie and jacket but no shoes; imagine what impression people had.  He started to apologize and tell lies but couldn’t admit the truth about the burger.

There are other things that attract us and lead us to shame and we don’t have to exchange our knowledge and faith with those things.  Naomi could easily could get the chance to ask Boaz to help since he was a family member of her husband but she didn’t because she wanted God to do what He wanted in his own time.  Naomi is like us, we are called to show people the right way, “Ruth go to Boaz and do this and that”. 

At the gym there are trainers to motivate you. I once went to Te Rapa gym to do the cycle fit and the majority of people were women and I am a man so I believed that I could defeat them.  On the bike, my heart was pumping and 15 minutes felt like 15 hours and when we finished, I couldn’t walk.  After a few hours, pain was everywhere.  What type of women is this, she can make us suffer while she didn’t even look strong?

When God gives us preachers and brothers and sisters...their job is to motivate us, push us to another level.  Most Christians want to stay at the same level but your potential can make you go higher if you are supported.  How much do you want to read the Bible by yourself and interpret it?  When we read it by ourselves there is the temptation to pull what we want from it and leave the rest.  If you go to church, if you try to share your message with others…you will become stronger.

If Ruth could not accept the advice of Naomi, you could never hear about Ruth in the Bible.  Imagine being told to wake up in the night and sleep next to another person.  Are you crazy? In our head, we have a preconceived idea but for God it is different.  Sometimes God will tell you to stand up and talk to those people.  We need to be open. 

You go to restaurants and you make your order of food.  Some choose based on the price and make an order for the most expensive but the next day there is no money for offering.  If you want to become dark skinned, there is only one solution…jump in fire and get burned.  If you want to become extremely white/red, jump in fire.  If you want to know what hell is, jump in fire.  If you are in fire, people will rush and save you but you can die.  Fire has a lot of meaning.

Naomi pulled Ruth and told her what to do while Naomi didn’t do any work.  Who shows you the way, your husband, daughter, yourself, who do you talk to?  Be careful, because you might be misled. 

I went to Animates, I see a lady in her early 40s and she looked at me and said, “oh” and I wondered why she did that.  I thought I might sin so I said, “hello”.  I asked her why she said, “oh”.  She answered, “oh, no I was thinking about your car…” the girl next to her said, “just tell him”.  The friend said, “no she loves your car but she doesn’t love black people”.

Why do people love you, why does God love you?  He loves you because he loves you with a pure heart. Sometimes people love you because of the interest they have in you.  Find someone in your life that you have to pray for and ask God to make that person to love you like Naomi.  Ruth followed Naomi because she was living a Christian life.

We will praise God for the favors and tell God we want to be changed to see how great God is in my life and I want also to feel strong when I am weak, see when I am blind, rich when I am poor.  Lord this is the time to increase.  Don’t limit yourself, tell God what you need.