Power Walk Ministries

Guest (Male): We welcome you to the Power Walk Ministries broadcast. Thank you for joining us today as Pastor Paul Cannings continues teaching from the book of Ruth, chapter 1, in his series titled, "The Measure of Love." Of course, Ruth is the center figure in the book of Ruth, but today, Pastor Cannings takes us back to chapter 1 to talk about the kind of person Naomi was. Her daughter-in-law wanted her to embrace God. Here's Pastor Cannings now with today's message, "God's Got You."

Dr. Paul Cannings: The safest place to hide is in God. I know that sounds very churchy and it sounds like he's a preacher and that's what he's supposed to say. No, I really sincerely mean it. The safest place to hide our minds, our emotions, our insecurities, is in God. As a matter of fact, I once told some people, I said to them, the best place to lose your mind to is God.

The Lord God is always looking out for our best, and He is the one that protects us every day. Paul would tell us in Colossians chapter 3, verses 1 through 3, the process of losing ourselves to Him since Paul obviously did that, to the point where he says, "I no longer live" in Galatians chapter 2, verse 20. There's a lot of reasons why God would say to us, "I'm your Father." In Romans chapter 8, he would say we are His adopted children.

That's why many times when it comes to the difficulties in our relationships and all that is taking place, the best person to hide in is God. Today, I want us to see in the book of Ruth that this is exactly what they did that led to a transformation that brought with them lots more joy than they ever thought they would have, lots more food than they ever expected to have, and gave us a legacy that becomes a blessing to us forever.

So let's take a look at how many times the Lord shows up. Please be careful to note that God shows up, but Lord shows up. They are depending on His covenant. They're depending on His relationship. They're depending on His power. They're depending on His legacy with Israel. They're depending on the fact that the Lord God has always been the person who's Adonai, who fights for them. So when they're coming to this passage of scripture, they're careful to keep saying, "Lord."

Jesus Christ on Calvary's cross made a covenant for us, so that once we are accepted into the kingdom of God because we believe that Jesus died for our sins, rose from the dead, and we believe that in our hearts, we are willing to surrender to turn our lives over to God and to give Him our best. Once we decide at that level where our hearts are open to Him and we are not letting thornbushes and rocky soil dominate how our hearts go over to Him, then He's found fertile soil. He comes in and He transforms us into a brand new creation.

When that has taken place, the Bible just says our names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life. That covenant causes that relationship to be so engaged in God that He deposits His Holy Spirit into our lives, into our bodies, so our bodies become the temple of God, the dwelling place that He remains. He said He's going to stay there until the day of redemption. When the Holy Spirit comes into us in John chapter 14, verses 16 through 17, He is there forever.

It is so forever that we now have eternal life. It is sealed for the day of redemption. It's a seal that nobody can break because God is the one who sealed it. The King of Kings and Lord of Lords has put His stamp on it. That's why we now are His children. So God is saying that His relationship with us is that solidified, that on Calvary's cross He would say, "It is finished."

He's given us His Word. Second Peter chapter 1, verses 3 through 4, he says he's given us everything we would need for life and godliness through the Word of God, so we can become just like Him. We can have His divine nature and never stumble. We never walk in the dark. So if I walk in the light, as John would say in 1 John chapter 1, verses 5 through 7, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another.

That's why this Lord, understanding how that relationship works, is significant to how other relationships work and how important that is for that to remain the centerpiece of all we do, the spindle in the wheel to all the spokes that life causes us to adjust to in order for us to keep moving this wheel down the road. That's exactly what we find here in the book of Ruth; they never dethroned the Lord.

Beginning in verse 13 of chapter 1, he says, "Would you tarry for them till you are grown? Would you stay for them from having husband? Nay, my daughters; for it grieveth me much for your sakes that the hand of the Lord is gone out against me." The only reason that we are in this place and under these circumstances, we were not supposed to leave and go to the Moabite land and live there.

Judges ends by saying this: people were doing what was right in their own eyes. Naomi's husband most likely was one of those who did what was right in his own eyes. And as a result of that, they went to the wrong place and she came back depleted. But what does she say? She first accepts that the will of God is still in play; I just am not on the good side of it.

She doesn't dethrone God. She doesn't throw God to the side and say, "You know what? Bump this God thing. I'm going back there and going to die and we're just going to go on about our lives." Many people do that when they're on the side of God that they don't like, whether they obeyed God and are on His side where He's loving them by chastening them, by disciplining them, by taking them through some disciplinary processes.

What do you mean? He's driving us to obey His Word because we take it for granted. So now we're looking in the Word of God to figure out what to do. He's driving us to our knees because we didn't pray that much. We just went through our day doing what we have to do because we're used to doing what we're supposed to do. We're good mathematicians, so we go and teach the kids at school. We go and have devotions and we know the passage we're going to study. We didn't pray over that stuff. We jump in our cars, may have a good car, and therefore we just drive on down the road.

We may never pray for protection. So the Bible is saying sometimes God has a way of taking us through a disciplinary process where He drives us to pray, drives us to His Word, messes up our money and says, "I still want you to give while it's messed up." He forces us to come to His Word and take His Word seriously. So in the midst of it, we see a person like Abraham or Daniel.

They went through a trial of discipline to the point where Daniel said, "Throw me in the lions' den. I've looked at Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and they came out of a fire. Do what you've got to do." So Daniel became this great man who became a prince in a foreign land where people hated his guts, but he still came out of it productive and strong, to the point where Ezekiel would say Daniel is an impeccable man.

So that's what you're seeing by the end of the book of Ruth. You're seeing Naomi has hope. Ruth is excited; she's found a husband. Boaz has lost his mind when he saw Ruth the first time. And now we have a legacy of Christ. That's why when you look at the next thing you see, the influence of Naomi on her daughters-in-law. They clearly have left their gods, because she's constantly saying, "You're going to go back to your gods, you're going to go back to your gods."

Ruth is saying, "No, they're nothing. I don't have any connection with them. Even though I see what has happened to you because you have come this way and your God has put you this way, I still see so much God in you, I would rather worship your God." What a testimony to Naomi, that Ruth in the worst of the worst still sees how this woman looked up to God.

She says, "I will go where thou lodgest. I will lodge with thy people and shall be my people and thy God my God." In verse 17 she says, "Where thou diest, will I die, and there I will be buried." She says, "You know what? This person that never leaves you, never forsakes you, is going to take me to stay with you until death." She even saw how the Lord shapes, structures, delineates how life is going to work.

So I now need to stick with this Lord in order for me to be able to stick with you until we die. She's seeing herself from the eyes of the Lord God. I said this statement to Living Word and I've always tried my best to live this: no matter how hard life hits me, I do my best to never bring God down to me. I always seek my best to keep Him high so there's hope to be lifted.

What do I mean? I could say, "Where is God right now? Look at all that's happening. God doesn't care about me. Look at what I'm going through. Look at the financial struggles. I'm in pain. I'm crying out to Him. Why doesn't He answer me? God doesn't listen to anybody." I don't bring Him down. I keep God high. I say, "God, I will trust You, even though I don't get this. I'm in so much pain, but You promised me to listen to the groans of my heart."

"God, I feel alone, but You promised You would never leave me or forsake me and You live inside of me. And if I commit to keep walking with You, Your angels will cover me." So even though I go through the valley in the shadow of death, I will fear no evil because God, You promised to never leave me nor forsake me. After a while, you find yourself praising God even though your circumstances are the same because you never brought Him down to your level.

You kept Him high. You allowed Him to remain Lord God. This is what you see take place here in verse 4 of chapter 2. He says, "And behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem and said to the reapers, 'The Lord be with you.' And they answered him, 'The Lord bless you.'" Now you're connecting to a person, Ruth, who's going to have the same convictions that you have. And that's why you're going to have a good marriage.

When the Lord is Lord of people's lives, the husband becomes Christ. When the Lord is a Lord of people's life, the wife is committed to be the church. When the Lord is continued to direct all that is taking place in the home, the children start seeing a passionate love for God and guess what they end up doing? Having a passionate love for God.

Boaz now goes to the law. You start seeing that Boaz is responding to Ruth because of the Lord God and seeing the Lord God in her life and the love she has for a mother-in-law must come from the Lord God in chapter 2 later on. When we come to life issues and it's difficult and it's hard but we don't dethrone God, God lifts us, He repairs, He restores, He strengthens, He gives us hope.

He brings darkness to light. He brings our perplexity to wisdom. He brings our pain to joy, so that we could move around each and every day experiencing that the joy of the Lord becomes our strength. So no matter what you face in this life, don't bring God down. Keep Him high so that you'll be like David. I will make it my focus in Psalm 34 that I will always, even in the worst times dealing with Abimelech, I will always commit to boast in the Lord. Praise the Lord. The Lord is my strength, my shield, my balm in Gilead. No matter what you face in this life, let Him always be Lord because He will rescue you. Stay focused.

Guest (Male): Thank you, Pastor Cannings. These ladies had every reason to be discouraged, but Naomi recognizes that God is the one who is working in her life and chooses to move forward. To obtain a copy of this message series, call us at 281-260-7402 or log on to powerwalkministries.org.

And when you contact us, would you come alongside us today and become a Power Walk partner, committing to pray for us and also supporting us financially? You're hearing Power Walk on this outlet because of the faithful donations of others. Won't you join us? To get in touch with us, call 281-260-7402 or log on to powerwalkministries.org. Our mailing address is Power Walk Ministries, PO Box 920517, Houston, Texas, 77092. We would greatly appreciate your support.

Dr. Paul Cannings: You know, Power Walk Ministries seeks to support itself by the books and the materials that God has blessed us to be able to minister to your life and to strengthen and to equip you spiritually to be productive. And that's the way we develop support for this ministry. We feel that if we touch your life, then that will lead to us touching other lives.

So go to our website at www.powerwalkministries.org and participate in our ministry, because when you do so, it goes to serving other people, not just on radio but around the world in conferences, in terms of equipping pastors and their wives, etc. So join us, partnership with us and be blessed at the same time by going to our website and become a part of our ministry.

Guest (Male): And if you live in the Houston area and you don't have a church home, you're welcome to visit Reverend Cannings and his congregation at Living Word Fellowship Church. It's located at 7350 T.C. Jester Boulevard in Houston. And now remember to not be consumed with your pain and suffering, but rather wholeheartedly seek God through each step of your journey.