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3 Qualities Godly Womanhood Requires | Ruth 3:1-18
Families are messy—every single one of them. Yet within those messes, God works powerfully to reveal His character and reshape ours. Drawing from Ruth chapter 3, this message explores three essential qualities of godly womanhood that actually apply to everyone seeking to follow Jesus faithfully.
The modern world bombards us with conflicting messages about who we should be and how we should live. With approximately 265 different voices reaching us daily through social media, websites, and other channels, how do we discern which voice to follow? Ruth shows us by example as she listens to godly counsel from Naomi. Though the specific advice may seem culturally strange to us today, the principle remains: we need godly community to provide godly perspective. As Proverbs reminds us, "wisdom is found in a multitude of counselors."
Character defines us far more than appearance or circumstance. When Ruth approaches Boaz at the threshing floor, both demonstrate remarkable godliness in what could have been a compromising situation. Boaz immediately recognizes Ruth as a "worthy woman"—using the same Hebrew word (gabor) that described his own character. This mirrors Proverbs 31:30: "Charm is deceitful, beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised." When life bumps into us unexpectedly, what spills out reveals what's truly inside us.
Perhaps most challenging in our instant-gratification culture is waiting with godly patience. The Hebrew concept of waiting doesn't mean passive thumb-twiddling but active abiding—continuing in worship and God's Word while awaiting His timing. Through powerful personal testimony we're reminded that "God is always doing 10,000 things in your life, and you may be aware of three of them."
Whether single, dating, married, or any other relationship status, these principles apply universally: seek godly counsel through community, develop godly character through relationship with Jesus, and practice godly patience while trusting His work behind the scenes. Your greatest blessing isn't specific outcomes but God Himself, working to reveal His glory in every messy circumstance.
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Make some noise if you're excited to be in church this morning. It is good to see everybody. Thank you so much for being here together as we get to study God's Word with one another. What an honor it is to get to be a church where our community can come together in unity as one family under one name, the name of Jesus, and we give Him all the glory. If you believe that, say amen, amen. It is good to see you here in all of your smiling faces as we get to all the glory. If you believe that, say amen, amen. It is good to see you here in all of your smiling faces, as we get to worship Jesus together.
Speaker 1:I want you to know we just had our great grill out just about a week and a half ago now. We told you last week there were some 87 plus first-time guests that were there, but there was one lady's name. Her name was Vicki and so apparently she and her kids were driving by the Great Grillout. Her kids made her stop and pull in and come because there's all the inflatables and all the food and everything, and then everyone started to get to know them and everyone started to invite them to become a part of everything that God is doing in our church. I want you to know that Vicki came back just this past Wednesday morning to be a part of our women's Bible study. She said to come back on Wednesday nights and even on Sunday mornings. Vicki, if you're here, we're so glad that you're here, but can we put our hands together one more time for just how God is working in everyone's life? Just some really cool stuff.
Speaker 1:Last Sunday we got to baptize an 85-year-old man in our first service. This Sunday got to baptize Amber, 17 years-old man, in our first service. This Sunday Got to baptize Amber, 17 years old, her mom. And God is just working in so many people's lives and we could not be more thankful. Let's just pray and give God all the glory. Heavenly Father, we love you. God, this is your church, god, this is your word, you're moving by your spirit and God, it's all for your glory. So we pray that you would continue to do the work, god for all of your purposes, and we pray these things in Jesus' name. And all God's people said amen. Open up your Bibles. To Ruth, chapter three. If you got a Bible, if you got your fake Bible on your phone or you can just watch the TV screen this morning, as we're in Ruth, chapter three, we are our third message in our series Bless this Mess. Look at somebody and say bless this mess. As we're studying the book of Ruth, it's all about what God wants to do within your family, because my family has messes in it and don't look at me, so spiritual so does yours. Every family is a mess. Every family has a mess.
Speaker 1:I remember when Michelle and I, when we first got married, found ourselves I found myself in a mess right, not her, but I'm gonna tell you about it. And so we first get married, we have this home and there's a room in our home that we don't have a closet. And so she picks out, kind of our first piece of home furniture as a married couple this armoire, and it was the perfect armoire. She shopped everywhere, she found it. It was actually at Ikea, which you knew came in like a billion pieces, and so so we went and got it. It was, it was the color she wanted and it had this really nice mirror right down the middle of it. Well, we bring it home and I just have it strewn all over the floor. You know it takes me hours to put together. It's like a massive puzzle. And I'm walking around and we had just been married just for a few months at this point. So you know, we're really still getting to know each other in terms of a marital couple.
Speaker 1:And so she's upstairs, I'm downstairs, I of a marital couple, and so she's upstairs, I'm downstairs, I'm walking around putting it all together and I step accidentally on one piece of the entire thing and I heard something crack. I'm like you've got to be kidding me Out of all the wood. The one thing I stepped on was the mirror. I turned it over, it was the mirror and it was all split in half, right. And I'm thinking, you know, I really don't know her Like she really could be a serial killer. I don't know it's possible that she's an ex-murderer, right, and I don't know what's about to happen.
Speaker 1:She had her heart set on this thing. She was coming down and checking on it and I lied to her like everything's fine, just go back upstairs, right? I'm calling like can we get another mirror? And so finally she comes back down and she says how's it going? I've got it all put up, but there's no mirror. And she's like, well, where's the mirror? And I said, babe, sit down. And I told her. I said I stepped on the mirror and I broke and I'm thinking, you know, I'm dead, I'm dead. And so she looks at me and she says it's okay, we'll just get another one. I'm like, thank you God, I married a godly woman, thank you God, thank you God. And so I learned, I learned just in that moment, the importance of godly character in a marriage, because there are so many unexpected things, so many little unexpected messes that can happen in our life, in our family, and that God loves to bless us when we're in the middle of the mess.
Speaker 1:Last week I talked about how godly men must lead from Ruth, chapter 2. This morning, ruth, chapter 3 in our sermon is this morning, three qualities godly womanhood requires. So, ladies, I'm gonna challenge you this morning, just like I challenged the men last week. Now listen some pastors. They don't wanna come within, challenging a woman from a 10-foot pole. You know what I'm saying. Like sometimes we just we steer clear.
Speaker 1:But here's what I love about First Baptist Church, powder Springs. I love that we have godly girls, godly teenage girls, godly young adult women, godly wives, godly moms, godly grandmothers, godly great grandmothers. Men, can we put our hands together for all of our godly women here in our church. We are so thankful in everything and all the ladies that God has provided here, and I believe that a godly woman desires to be challenged because you love the word of God and you want to live the word of God in your life. In fact, women of the word. These are my three points this morning.
Speaker 1:Spoiler alert. Here you go listen to godly counsel, live with godly character, wait with godly patience. That we're gonna learn from Ruth's life, from Ruth three. But let me just remind you that also, your other option is to be a woman of the world and instead of listening to godly counsel, a woman of the world just follows their feelings and whatever they feel they're gonna do, instead of living with godly character, living in independence nobody tells me what to do and wait with godly patience. No, I'm going to go and I'm going to get whatever it is I want and I'm going to make sure that it's mine, right, and we you are called, not we, I'm not a woman, we you are called to be a woman of the word. So here we go, we are going to look at Ruth Now. Number one is listen to godly counsel. Everyone say counsel. Listen to godly counsel.
Speaker 1:Just to remind you the book of Ruth, we start with a man by the name of Elimelech. In Ruth, chapter one. He takes his wife Naomi. He takes his sons, malon and Kilion. He says I am going to provide for my family, not God. He moves his family away from the people of God to a pagan land called Moab to provide for his family. There in Moab, elimelech dies. He leaves his wife Naomi. They leave their sons Malon and Kilion. So there's Naomi, malon and Kilion In Malon and Kilion. Unbiblically, they get married to pagan Moabite women who don't believe and who don't worship the one true God. So, sure enough, actually, malon and Kilion then die.
Speaker 1:Ruth, chapter one says so now what we have left is Naomi, as she's a widow, and we have Ruth, who is a Moabite. We have Orpah, who's a Moabite, and Ruth decides I'm gonna go back to the people of God, bethlehem and Judah. And Orpah says I'm gonna stay here in Moab. And Ruth. Ruth says Naomi, I'm gonna come with you, and we see Ruth's conversion experience. Ruth says I'm gonna go where you go, I'm gonna lodge where you lodge. And here's what Ruth says and your God shall be my God and your people shall be my people. What Ruth is saying Naomi, for all of these years you've been telling me about your God, yahweh, the one true living God. That's the God that I wanna give my life to. So Ruth says I'm going back to you, going back with you. So last week we talked about how they get back to Bethlehem. So, so last week we talked about how they get back to Bethlehem. So now you have Naomi and you have Ruth.
Speaker 1:And Ruth goes out and she's got to provide for Naomi. So she goes among the fields and she's gleaning the wheat, which is often what the poor would do because they don't have any money and they don't have any man to be able to work to provide for them. So Ruth goes out and the Bible says she just so happens to go into the field of Boaz, who is Boaz? Boaz is one of the men in that culture that was able to rightfully, legally and lawfully marry Ruth. And the Bible says that they catch eyes with one another and they have their first date. Right, you didn't know that dating was in the Bible, but go back and listen to last week. And they have their first date Now. If you look with me in verse one of chapter three.
Speaker 1:In verse one of chapter three, naomi, ruth's mother-in-law, said to Ruth, my daughter, should I not seek rest for you? That it may be well with you? Right, naomi? She wants the best for Ruth, and so she's about to give Ruth some counsel. Now the reason is is because three months have gone by and Boaz has not asked Ruth out for a second date. Can you believe? He's not called Ruth. He's not texted Ruth. He has not even slid into her DMs. He has not Facebooked her. He has not sent her a message. He has not Facebooked her. He has not sent her a message. He has not defined the relationship. He is completely ghosting Ruth at this point. And Naomi says I'm going to take things into my own hands. Verse two Naomi says is not Boaz our relative with whose young women that you were with just a few months ago? Boaz, this is now the end of the harvest.
Speaker 1:So what all of the reapers, all the harvesters, would do? They would go down to the threshing floor and what they would do is they would thresh the wheat, they would throw the wheat into the air. The wind would drive the chaff away and the seed would come down, and they would be there to collect all of their grain. And so it was literally the time that they were collecting all of their wealth, what they had been working hard for for months. Now, what you need to know that the Bible's not going to tell you. But culturally, this would be a very worldly environment. These are some rough men that were down there. This was a party-like scene. They're eating, they're drinking. Women of the night would come down and try to be with these men. I mean, it was a very corrupt environment. It was a very corrupt culture, and Naomi watched the advice that she gives to Ruth.
Speaker 1:Naomi says I want you to wash up, ruth. Go get a bath and anoint yourself, put on some perfume and put on your cloak and go down to the threshing floor, but do not make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating and drinking. What is Naomi doing? Naomi is giving her daughter-in-law dating advice. Okay, so step one of going on a date go get a bath. Can I get an amen? Go get a bath.
Speaker 1:And so what she is saying here look, you have been in mourning over your husband's death. It is time that you go and you clean up. It's time that you smell good. It's time that you put on some nice clothes. It's time that you go and talk to Boaz about the relationship, because he isn't reaching back out to you.
Speaker 1:And what a reminder. What a reminder for us, first of all, that the most important part of you is not the way that you look, is not the way that you smell and it's not what you wear, because the word of God tells us in the New Testament that we need to be people that are washed in the water of the word. The New Testament tells us that we are to be anointed with the Holy Spirit. The New Testament tells us that we are to put on the clothing of Jesus Christ. Can I get an amen? And so the most important part of you is not your appearance, it's not your attractiveness, it's not your physical capabilities. It is what is within you, that God has placed in you spiritually, it is your character.
Speaker 1:But also we see from this it's interesting the importance of a man and a woman that are in a relationship, that they are continuing to get to know each other right. We know that in America today, half of Americans adult Americans are single. Half of adult Americans are married. So this applies in a lot of different ways to a lot of different people. First of all, if you are single, if you're single, it is so important, like Ruth and Boaz, that you are looking for someone, first and foremost, with godly character. With godly character, you wanna find somebody that is following Jesus. You wanna find somebody that loves God more than they love you. And the Bible talks about spending time with one another to get to know one another. The Bible actually never says how long you should date.
Speaker 1:As a pastor, I've had people ask me how long should I date before I know whether or not to get married to this person? There's not an answer biblically, but I would just tell you, by wisdom, at least give it one year, one trip around the sun, so that you experience an entire year together, because you never know what someone's trigger points are. But full disclosure I didn't practice what I preached. I married Michelle in 11 months, just so you know. Just so you know. But also when we're married, I want you to see this as well. Someone gave me this years ago and, man, I love this, you know. When you're married, I want to encourage you to see this as well. Someone gave me this years ago and man. I love this, you know.
Speaker 1:When you're married, I want to encourage you to be dialoguing daily. Make sure that you have a meaningful conversation every day and that you go out on a date weekly with your spouse, or maybe you're dating someone, you're single and you want to make sure that you're spending quality time together in a dating-type setting at least once a week. And singleness to get to know one another. And married, because married people drift apart and you need to reconnect again, over and over again, right? Just last night, my mom and dad came into town. They drove in about 4.30. Michelle and I were in the car, leaving by 5.30 by ourselves to go out on a date. Right, because we didn't want to miss out on the opportunity to spend time with one another.
Speaker 1:If you're married, I've heard depart quarterly, get away for a weekend once a quarter, deport annually, get away for a vacation once a year. And I want to remind you, for those of you that are single, maybe you're a teenager, maybe you're a college student, maybe you're a young adult or older, maybe you're single. Again, I wanna remind you what you date is what you get. People don't just get better when they get married, right, typically, they're trying to impress you on the date and then, when they get married, they become their real self. So just remember what you date is what you get. Never date for potential. Always realize you're dating. The actual what you date is what you get. Here we go. That's not in the Bible.
Speaker 1:Number four says this Naomi tells Ruth. She said but when Boaz lies down, observe the place where he lies. Then go and uncover his feet and lie down and he will tell you what to do. And Ruth said all that you say I will do. Can we all just be honest in the room?
Speaker 1:This is the worst dating advice I've ever heard in my life. If anybody ever shares this advice with my daughters one day, we are gonna have words, right? This is terrible advice in our culture. It's like telling a single girl today hey, you really like Billy Bob. Well, billy Bob is out camping in his tent right now out in the woods, so why don't you just go down to Billy Bob, wait till he has a beer and then go and go in his tent? Once he falls asleep, unzip his sleeping bag, lay at his feet and just say hey, whatever you want to do, I'm going to do. No, that is terrible advice. Right? This is not prescriptive, it is descriptive.
Speaker 1:It's a totally different culture here, a totally different thing going on, but it reminds us the importance of listening to godly counsel. Did you know that 265 times a day, we are getting messages thrown at us, Whether it's social media, whether it is maybe on a website, maybe it is a text message, maybe it's an email? And often those messages what you're seeing on TikTok, what you're seeing on the reels, what you're seeing on Twitter often it's people telling you over and over and over again how to live your life. This is the reason that we because we live in a godless culture. This is why we need to be in a godly community in order to listen to godly counsel.
Speaker 1:You can write this down Acts 17, 11 says the Bereans were more noble, hear me, because they tested everything they heard with the scriptures. Whatever they heard, whatever they read, they went back to the word of God and asked themselves was that true, what I just heard, what I just read? Proverbs 11, 14 says wisdom is found in an abundance or a multitude of counselors, meaning you don't just want one person telling you what to do all the time. You wanna make sure that several different godly counselors in your life. The other day, I had something going on in our church and I needed to make the right decision, god's decision and so I called about 10 different godly people and I just explained to them the situation how do I need to lead as a pastor with this? And I listened to every single one of them and no two people said the same thing.
Speaker 1:Right, but when we have godly counselors, we're able to discern God's voice in our life. Because the Bible says you realize this, the Holy Spirit is your ultimate counselor and Jesus is the great prophet and he's the one that gives you all truth by filling you with his Holy Spirit, so that you know what to do in every situation of your life. Because you have the Holy Spirit, you have Jesus, you have the word of God and you have the Holy Spirit, you have Jesus, you have the word of God and you have godly brothers and sisters around you to help you. Can I get an amen? So here's what I want you to see Godly counsel requires godly community. Godly counsel requires godly community. You are not meant, you are not created to live your life alone. You need godly men. Men need godly men around them. Godly women need godly women around them.
Speaker 1:Because we live in a culture that we are being inundated, we're being bombarded with all of these different messages, all of these different tips, all these different life hacks, all these different things and ways to live and to do, and you need to know how it is that you're called to live as a godly woman, as a godly man, in our culture day. That's why we do groups here. That's why we have Sunday school. That's why we have small groups. That's why we have Bible studies. That's why we have Wednesday morning women's studies. That's why we have Wednesday morning women's studies. That's why we have all of our Wednesday night groups. That's why we have a marriage group starting this Wednesday.
Speaker 1:If you need to grab your spouse, or maybe you're about to get married, you grab them, or you are married, y'all. Get in the marriage group this Wednesday so that you can be surrounded by other couples that are seeking to live for God too. That's why Pastor Buddy is starting a sermon application group, getting in and saying let's dig a little deeper and how did God speak to you and how do you apply this to your life? That's why our ladies, our women's ministry, is having Mingle Monday tomorrow for all of our ladies at 6.30. Ladies, come back to Mingle Monday. Men, keep the kids right. Keep the kids, ladies, you come, and it is a time that we get to just be in godly community together, learning from one another.
Speaker 1:Number two, here we go. Live with godly character. Everyone say character, character. Live with godly character, ladies. Are you living from the godless culture or are you living with godly character in your life?
Speaker 1:Verse six so Ruth went down to the threshing floor and did just as her mother-in-law had commanded her to do. Verse seven and when Boaz had eaten and drunk and his heart was merry and he went to lie down at the end of the heap of grain, then Ruth came in like a ninja and softly, in stealth mode, tiptoed and uncovered his feet and she laid down and her heart was probably pounding. This is not what you would do as a godly woman. Back then. She was a Moabite, he was an Israelite, he was a mature Christian, she was a brand new believer, he was a wealthy man, she was a poor woman. Women would not be, did not make this kind of initiative back then, and so. But she did everything that her mother-in-law said to do, and this is a very sketchy scene Because, again, this is what women of the night would do with these wealthy reapers.
Speaker 1:So here we have Ruth and Boaz and at midnight Boaz was startled and he turned over and behold a woman lay at his feet. And the Bible added an exclamation point I just love that. A woman laid at his feet. Some of you single men are thinking I wish a woman would lay at my. You know, I'd find a woman in the middle of the night at my feet. Some of you single men thinking that better not ever happen to me, because verse nine, we'll move on. And he said Boaz said who are you? She answered I'm Ruth, your servant. Spread your wings over your servant, for you are a redeemer. This is actually very beautiful Ruth.
Speaker 1:Here she's not proposing to Boaz, she's proposing that Boaz would propose to her. To be honest with you. It's kind of like, ladies, what do you do when you like a man and you think he likes you and maybe you want him to ask you out, but he's not asked you out and you know, obviously the culture says well, you just ask him out. Well, you want the man to initiate, you want the man to lead. But one thing you can do biblically is go and say hey, I'm not asking you out, but I just want you to know, if you ask me out, I'll go out, right. Or maybe y'all been dating for a while and you're like man, I'm just waiting on him to pop the question and maybe you just need to remind him. I'm not proposing. I'm just proposing that you ought to propose, because if you propose, I'll say yes, right, this is what we see Ruth doing.
Speaker 1:But Ruth says spread your wings over your servant, for you are a redeemer.
Speaker 1:What is a redeemer? Redeemer is a restorer. Ultimately, what this is pointing us to, you to and me to, is Jesus. The Bible says in Ezekiel, chapter 16, verse 8, ezekiel 16, 8, god says that he spreads his garment over us. In other words, god is saying I love you and I'm going to protect you and I'm going to provide for you and I'm going to claim you as mine. And what Ruth is saying that Boaz should do is the same thing. It was very cultural back then that they would do this. And she's saying Boaz, if you spread your wings over me, then I will be up under your leadership and I will gladly submit to you. In the same way that we're saying God. I gladly submit to you it's this beautiful picture of us as men, men in the room. We are called to be protectors, as we talked about last week. We're called to be providers.
Speaker 1:The Bible says in Ephesians, chapter five. The Bible says to love your wife like Jesus loves the church. Notice here that Ruth is saying I want you to protect me as God protects me. And so that's what we're called to do as husbands. That's what we're called to do as dads. That's who we're called to be as men and ladies, like I encouraged you last week, encourage your man in his godly character. You want him to love Jesus more than he loves you. You want him to follow what Jesus says more than he follows what you say. It is his godly character, what you're supposed to be attracted to him most. And, ladies, your godly character is what your husband, your man, is to be attracted to you most. Verse 10,. And he said Boaz said, may you be blessed by the Lord, my daughter, you have made this last kindness greater than the first, that you have not gone after rich men, after young men, whether poor or rich.
Speaker 1:We see here they use the word kindness. That word in Hebrew is hesed, it's translated kindness, but it actually means more than that. It means kindness, it means love, it means loyalty, it means submission, it means all of these beautiful things. In other words, this is the tone that is supposed to be in our home. This is the tone that's supposed to be in our speech. This is the tone that is supposed to be in our life. This is the tone in which we talk to one another as husbands and wives. This is the tone that is supposed to be in our life. This is the tone in which we talk to one another as husbands and wives. This is the tone that we're supposed to use with one another as parents and children. This is the tone that we're supposed to use with one another in terms of brothers and sisters in Christ, and even the way in which that we speak in and we speak to the world.
Speaker 1:And there is something here that Boaz is saying. Boaz is somehow telling Ruth Ruth, you can have any man, and we don't know how that is, if she was just very beautiful, or if she was just so different from all the other women, or she was just out of town, we don't know but he's saying you could have had any other younger man, a poor man, a rich man. And Boaz is saying but you chose me. What did Ruth see in Boaz, his godly character, his godliness? Why? Because there's something different about a person that is filled with the Holy Spirit of God. That person loves differently. That person loves differently. That person leads differently. That person has different goals and relationships and different goals in life. It seems like because this was during the time of the judges, it seems like that it may have been that Boaz was the only godly man around and Ruth was the only godly woman around.
Speaker 1:And we see here in verse 11, boaz says and now my daughter, do not fear. And we see here in verse 11, boaz says and now my daughter, do not fear. And men, that's our job. Your job as a man is to love your wife and love your kids in such of a way to work, in such of a way to pursue Jesus, in such of a way to pray, in such of a way to speak to them, in such of a way to protect them, in such of a way to pray, in such of a way to speak to them, in such of a way to protect them, in such of a way to provide for them in such of a way that they should have no fear in life. We absorb the fear as men so that our wife and our children feel safe. Can I get an amen? He said. And now my daughter don't fear, I will do for you all that you ask for. All my fellow townsmen know that you are a worthy woman.
Speaker 1:Everyone say worthy. As a reminder from last week, the word worthy is the Hebrew word is gabor. Gabor means that she's a woman of character. If you remember with Boaz last week, it means wealth and position and status. But Ruth didn't have that, even though the Bible uses this word for her. In other words, wealth and position and status isn't just physical, it is most importantly spiritual. Spiritually she was wealthy. Spiritually she has this high position of being seated with Christ in the heavenly. Spiritually she has the status before God and so, just like he is a worthy man of character, she is a worthy woman of character.
Speaker 1:Proverbs 31, verse 30, talks about women, ladies. Charm is deceitful, beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. That's why we see in verse 12, and now it is true, boaz says I am a redeemer, but there is a redeemer nearer than me. We see this. Now they have this problem that comes up in their relationship that they weren't expecting. Like every relationship, like every family, like every life, a mess pops up and now they don't know what to do. Boaz is saying I am a redeemer, I am legally, lawfully able to marry you, to become your husband, for you to be my wife, but the problem is that there is another man in this culture, in this law, who is legally, lawfully able to marry you before me. In other words, he's got dibs. And so Boaz is saying there is another redeemer than I.
Speaker 1:What is God trying to teach you in this passage? I believe what God is teaching us in this passage is aren't you thankful that there is no other redeemer nearer than Jesus in your life? Can I get an amen that Jesus is your only redeemer? Because Jesus is your only redeemer, because Jesus is the only redeemer, as the world believes in all of these different gods and all of these different deities and all of these different religions, but yet we know the one true, only living God is a God who is loving, is a God who's gracious, is a God who's merciful, is a God who is saving, is a God who is for you and is a God who wants gracious, is a God who's merciful, is a God who is saving, is a God who is for you and is a God who wants to bless you even in the middle of all of your messes. If you believe that, Say yeah, we believe that. And he is not only the only redeemer, but he is near you and he promised to be with you in your life. And the more time you spend with him and the more time you spend with him, the more time you spend with Jesus, the more you grow in your godly character.
Speaker 1:One of you sent me an illustration this week and I loved it. The illustration is if you are walking around with a cup of coffee, someone bumps into you and you spill the coffee. The question is why did you spill coffee Not? And they said the answer is not because someone bumped into you and you spill the coffee. The question is why did you spill coffee Not? And they said the answer is not because someone bumped into you. The reason you spilled coffee is because there was coffee in your cup. If there was tea in your cup, you would have spilt Very good class. If there was Coke in your cup, you would have spilt Exactly, you would have spilt Coke.
Speaker 1:The question is, when you get, get bumped, when you get rattled in life, what comes out of you? What comes out of you is what was in you. So if what comes out of you is joy, what comes out of you is thankfulness, what comes out of you is peace, what comes out of you is hope, what comes out of you is faith. Right, that that's our godly character within us. But if we see what comes out of us when we get rattled is that godless culture, then we know that we need to continue to be growing in our godly character, because it is that godly character that we are called to be living in. And just a reminder godly character requires godly counsel. In other words, get in the word of God and let the Holy Spirit counsel you. Get in prayer and allow God to speak to you, even in your prayer. Get in one of these groups that we have offered. We don't just do groups because we're a church. We do groups because the Bible tells us to. We do groups because it's good for you, right, and so you get into a group and you see how God wants to grow you spiritually in your life and your godly character.
Speaker 1:And number three, and I'm done wait with godly patience. Everyone say patience. You know they always say don't pray for patience because God will take you through something, that you'll have to get it right. But what if we prayed for patience in terms of God, fill me with your Holy Spirit and help me to be more patient as I'm waiting for you to work out your will in my life, because that's what Ruth had to do. Now Ruth has fallen in love with Boaz, boaz has fallen in love with Ruth, but yet there's another man in the picture that Boaz has got to go and deal with.
Speaker 1:Look at verse 14. So, ruth, as we're talking about waiting and godly patience, ruth laid at his feet until the morning. Can we first of all just see the godly patience they had here sexually? Do we notice here that they were laying together and she stayed at his feet all night and they did not get mixed up in sexual promiscuity, but they made sure that they were faithful to sexual purity. This is the godly character as they are in this godly culture, as all their godly culture would tell them, it's okay to be sexual before you're married. No, they were different. They said we are going to live our lives in purity. So Ruth arose before one could recognize another and Boaz told his reapers do not let it be known that the woman came to the threshing floor. In other words, he's saying protect her reputation, I don't want anyone to get the wrong idea, because she is a worthy woman.
Speaker 1:Verse 15. And Boaz said bring the garment, ruth, that you are wearing, and hold it out. So Ruth held out the garment and Boaz measured six measures of barley and put it on her. And then she went back to Naomi in the city. In other words, boaz gave Ruth 60 pounds of barley. Ruth did crossfit you know what I'm saying Like she was able to carry 60 pounds of barley. This would have fed her and Naomi for a month. This was worth $2,400. And you thought your grocery bill was high. This is crazy, right. And there they are in verse 15. And she goes back to Naomi, and I love this. This is crazy, right. And there they are in verse 15. And she goes back to Naomi, and I love this. This is so awesome.
Speaker 1:And when she came to her mother-in-law, naomi, she walks in the door. Naomi's been staying up all night. She gave Ruth the terrible counsel. Ruth did it. She came back. Now Naomi can't wait to hear what happened.
Speaker 1:Ruth walks in the door. Naomi says I've already put a pot of coffee on. You're gonna sit down, girl, and you can tell me everything. How did you fare, my daughter? Then Ruth told her everything that the man had done not to her. Ruth told her everything that the man had done for her Men.
Speaker 1:That's why we're here, that's why we exist.
Speaker 1:We're not here to do things to people, we're here to do things for people. Jesus has called us to be protectors. Jesus has called us to be providers, just like him, saying these six measures of barley he gave to me. For he said to me you must not go back empty-handed to your mother-in-law. You know, one thing that we learn here from this passage is guys, if you're going out with a girl and you really like her, make sure and buy dessert at the end and tell her to take the dessert home to your mom. Right, if you really like her, because you want mom to like you too. Right, because you're not just marrying the girl, you're marrying the family. But also here's what I want you to see spiritually when Naomi in Ruth one was coming back from Moab, naomi said don't call me Naomi, call me Mara, call me bitter, because I'm coming back empty handed. And look at how God is working in Naomi's life and he is filling her hands again. You must not go back empty handed to your mother-in-law and that's what God brought you here this morning to hear the mess in your life that you are going through, all that you are dealing with in your family, all that you're dealing with in your relationships, all that you're dealing with in your life, and you feel so empty. I want you to see that Jesus is your redeemer and Jesus is working to fill your soul. He's working to fill your heart. He's working to fill your hands.
Speaker 1:It says in verse 18,. Naomi said wait, my daughter, until you learn how the matter turns out, for the man will not rest, but he will settle the matter today. This is absolutely incredible. Naomi told Ruth to wait. Wait does not mean to twiddle your thumbs, to tap your foot, to check your watch. Hebrew wait means to sit, to dwell, to abide, to continue. In other words, while you are waiting for God to work out that mess in your life, right now, what are you called to do? You are called to worship while you wait. You're called to be in the word of God and spend time with him while you wait and here's what he says because the man will not rest until he settles the matter. Today, in other words, boaz is going to work it out he is her redeemer and Jesus is going to work it out in your life.
Speaker 1:In the first service we sang way maker. It was that reminder that, even though you don't see it, he's working, even though you don't feel it, he's working. You don't see it, he's working, even though you don't feel it, he's working. He never stops. He never stops working. Godly patience requires godly character. I want you to see this. God is always doing 10,000 things in your life and you may be aware of three of them.
Speaker 1:Life is often a roller coaster and we tend to remember the downs and we tend to forget the ups of what God's doing. I told you just this past week a little mess that my family's going in, that just a week or two ago I went to the doctor and they found a little spot skin on my back and it ended up being cancerous melanoma. And I'm going in. It's a zero out of four. We're thankful for that. Going in tomorrow, going to have my surgery and, lord willing, just get it all cut out and everything. And so we've just been really processing and praying and like God, what are you doing, what does this mean, what's the result going to be and all of those type things, right. And so we've just been kind of reeling over it.
Speaker 1:This past Monday, as life's a rollercoaster, my wife invites me to lunch and so I go to lunch with Michelle. She hands me a little gift bag and she says here you told wives this past Sunday to encourage husbands and so I just wanna encourage you. So I open up the gift bag and it's a card and I pull out the tissue paper and down at the bottom was a positive pregnancy test. We are having our fourth baby. We're just, we're just, we're blown away. We're blown away. We're so thankful. You might say this will be our fourth kid. You know. You might say, man, pastorship, you love kids. No, I just love my wife right Now.
Speaker 1:We know what causes these things and had a lady in her 80s in the first service. A lady in her 80s. She came up to me after the service. She said do we need to put a TV in y'all's bedroom. I loved. I thought that was awesome. I thought that was awesome, but here's the point. Here's the point. We've been married 11 years. Our first nine years were nine years of infertility and we'll never forget all the struggle. We'll never forget all the doubt. We'll never forget all the pain. We'll never forget all the questions and all the confusion.
Speaker 1:And in that journey of infertility, god had to bring us to a point to say, if he does not bless us with children, he is still good and he is enough. Because often, when we talk about God blessing our life and blessing our mess, we want God to do something specific. Here's what God is telling you today he's your greatest blessing. He wants to bless you in your mess so you can see his greatness and his glory in your life, no matter what you're going through, that he is with you and there is nothing better that you can experience in your life. With every head bowed and every eye closed, no one looking around.
Speaker 1:Maybe you're here this morning and maybe God's just speaking to you in your heart and God's working in you and you just need to be reminded of that, that you are going through a mess right now and you need to be reminded that Jesus is your redeemer, he is your restorer, he is working it all out for your good and for his glory and he is working in the background. And maybe you just need to be real and be honest with him right now. Jesus, help me to see you as my greatest blessing, and maybe you're here this morning and you've never given your life to him and you want him in your life to forgive you of your sins, to save you so that you can be with him forever in heaven. And right here, right now, I wanna help you with that. You can give your life to him, and the Bible says that he will take you and he will never leave you and he will never forsake you and he will never disown you.
Speaker 1:Right here, right now, you can pray to him in your own words, in your own heart. He can hear you. And you can pray to him in your own words, in your own heart. He can hear you. And you can just say dear Jesus, I believe in you and, jesus, I need you. And you can say Jesus, I believe that you died on the cross for my sins and I'm asking you to forgive me of all my sin. And you can tell him dear Jesus, I believe that you rose from the dead, you're alive, you're real, and I wanna turn from my sin and I wanna follow you. I can't do it perfectly, but I'm just gonna follow you for all of my life.
Speaker 1:And the Bible says that if you call on the name of the Lord, you will be saved. Call on Jesus right now and say Jesus, be my Lord, be my savior, be my God, be my redeemer. And, jesus, we thank you for that truth of salvation. We love you and we pray these things in Jesus' name. And all God's people said would you put your hands together for anybody that gave their life to Jesus? We are so thankful. We just wanna say welcome to the family. There is no greater decision in your life. In fact, we've got a decision card there at every seat. Our next step card in your life. In fact, we've got a decision card there at every seat. Our next step card. Maybe you received Jesus today. Just check that box on there. Maybe you need to get baptized, like Amber and Linda this morning. Maybe you need to join a group, like we've talked about. You can indicate that on the card. You can turn the card into me, pastor James, or our next step stations out there.
Speaker 1:But right now I want to ask Pastor James just to come on out. I want to pray one more time and let's ask God just to bless all this. Heavenly Father, in Jesus' name, lord, you are so good. God, we give you all the glory. And God, we just pray, lord, as we are going through difficult seasons in life and trials in life and sufferings in life and confusion in life, and God where it looks like that we're just standing still or going backwards, god, may we continue to remember and learn from your word, lord, that you are working among us, in our midst, in our background. You're working it all out. God, for your glory and our good Lord, we thank you for blessing us even in the midst of the messiness of life. In Jesus' name, in all God's people said