WEBVTT 00:00:20.079 --> 00:00:21.679 How many of you have ever done this? 00:00:21.760 --> 00:00:26.719 How many of you have ever been in your car and you're just on autopilot? 00:00:27.199 --> 00:00:36.719 Where you literally you're going where a similar route, maybe it's to where you normally go to work or normally go to school or normally go to and and you're not going there, but you end up there. 00:00:36.960 --> 00:00:40.880 And when you get there, you're like, this is not where I was going. 00:00:41.600 --> 00:00:43.280 But but you just end up there. 00:00:43.359 --> 00:00:44.479 It's autopilot. 00:00:44.640 --> 00:00:47.359 How many of you uh how many of you shower naked? 00:00:47.520 --> 00:00:48.079 Raise your hands. 00:00:48.159 --> 00:00:50.560 If you shower naked, okay, it's most of you. 00:00:50.719 --> 00:00:52.880 Really, the rest of you use clothes in the shower. 00:00:53.119 --> 00:00:53.759 Really? 00:00:54.159 --> 00:00:55.679 No, it's it's unconscious. 00:00:55.759 --> 00:01:02.240 We just, you know what, I'm gonna bathe, I get in there, and then I'm alone, and that's good, and naked is a weird word, but that's we do we just do that. 00:01:02.320 --> 00:01:06.480 And then all of you here today, everyone, every person I've seen today, you have clothes on. 00:01:06.640 --> 00:01:08.400 And that's a good thing. 00:01:09.680 --> 00:01:16.319 And some of you, some of you really spend a lot of time thinking, wow, I'm gonna put this and it's gonna match, or this is some of you are very standard. 00:01:16.400 --> 00:01:18.799 You know, these are my jeans, and I got anything with that and going on. 00:01:18.879 --> 00:01:21.760 Some of you, some of you obviously didn't put a lot of thought into it. 00:01:21.840 --> 00:01:24.640 And um, we're not gonna point you out. 00:01:24.719 --> 00:01:27.519 Uh, you pretty much stand out on your own. 00:01:28.879 --> 00:01:31.680 But yeah, no fingers, don't point at people. 00:01:32.000 --> 00:01:33.519 That's not nice. 00:01:34.400 --> 00:01:39.359 But we we make just a mountain of decisions every day. 00:01:39.599 --> 00:01:42.000 Every day we're in this mode of just making decisions. 00:01:42.159 --> 00:01:45.680 Many of them are literally just unconscious or very normal. 00:01:45.840 --> 00:01:49.359 We're just making them, making them, making them, making them, and it's just what we do. 00:01:49.680 --> 00:01:58.959 But the truth is that we're the real joy in life, the greatest fulfillment, is the foundation of the decisions that we make. 00:01:59.200 --> 00:02:11.759 There's a group of girls, ladies today, that very separately, different parts of the country, they made some decisions years ago that they were gonna follow a certain path, and these paths brought them together. 00:02:11.919 --> 00:02:16.240 And then as a group, they made a decision that we're gonna do something. 00:02:16.400 --> 00:02:25.680 We're going to make a commitment and sacrifice so that we can accomplish something that is incredibly rare. 00:02:25.919 --> 00:02:32.319 And today at 2 o'clock, if you're by a TV, I would encourage you, it's one of the few things worth watching, is that the U.S. 00:02:32.479 --> 00:02:35.520 women's soccer team will be playing for the World Cup. 00:02:35.680 --> 00:02:41.039 And it's a base of, I'm a huge sports nut anyway, and I'm not a soccer fan. 00:02:41.199 --> 00:02:48.479 But I would I have been glued to these games, just going, oh man, you know, cross leg, dude, oh, yeah, no, no, you're kidding me. 00:02:48.560 --> 00:02:52.639 And just I'm into it. 00:02:52.879 --> 00:03:05.599 And it's such a joy, especially in our culture, whether you're a faith or not a faith, there's something about we recognize people that have decided to accomplish something that is not normal. 00:03:05.840 --> 00:03:16.319 And we we even look at that, and today, if you watch the game, you're gonna see a group of women that are just synced up and are totally devoted to what they're doing. 00:03:16.479 --> 00:03:28.719 And because of that, I have a firm belief that they're gonna accomplish something that we will never forget, and they will have the culmination of decisions that they have made. 00:03:28.960 --> 00:03:34.000 I share that to set up the foundation of where we're going to be for the next couple weeks. 00:03:34.240 --> 00:03:36.400 The book of Ruth in the Old Testament. 00:03:36.560 --> 00:03:39.280 If you have a Bible, I want to strongly encourage you twofold. 00:03:39.360 --> 00:03:42.560 One, if you have a Bible, open to the book of Ruth. 00:03:42.800 --> 00:03:48.000 If you don't have a Bible, I want to encourage you to grab one, get one in the next week. 00:03:48.240 --> 00:03:52.719 There's something powerful about this book, and there's something amazing. 00:03:53.280 --> 00:03:57.039 And with technology, a lot of people go, oh, you know, I got one on my iPhone, and that's good. 00:03:57.120 --> 00:03:58.479 And it is good. 00:03:58.719 --> 00:04:12.159 And I definitely look at my iPhone for references all the time, and I cross-reference and use different translations, but there's something about having your own copy of this book that we can write in and highlight in. 00:04:12.639 --> 00:04:17.199 There's probably not a page in my Bible that doesn't have something written on it or a note. 00:04:17.680 --> 00:04:30.720 I remember several weeks ago Steve was sharing, and I remember writing in the margin a couple things that Steve shared, and I can guarantee you I'll go years from now, and I'll be going through something, and God will bring me that passage and go, man, I remember when he shared. 00:04:30.800 --> 00:04:36.399 I remember this truth in that moment, and it will challenge me or encourage me or bring something back. 00:04:36.560 --> 00:04:38.160 That's the power of this book. 00:04:38.319 --> 00:04:42.399 With that being said, in Ruth chapter one, and we're going to go through the book of Ruth. 00:04:42.480 --> 00:04:46.240 It's one of my, she is probably my favorite female in the Bible. 00:04:46.480 --> 00:04:57.439 And this particular story today will really reveal to you and I the foundations of decisions. 00:04:57.519 --> 00:05:11.680 If we can grab these fundamental decisions and then choose to make them, we will, on our ongoing basis, literally experience what God calls the abundant or the fulfilling life. 00:05:11.920 --> 00:05:26.000 Without making these decisions, we will go through the motions and we will go on the path, and we will be like that drive during the day where we end up where we've always been and realized this is not where I want to be. 00:05:26.480 --> 00:05:31.759 So those decisions being told, let's look at Ruth chapter 1. 00:05:31.920 --> 00:05:40.000 I'm going to read the chapter, and then we're going to go back and we're going to break down a couple of these key decisions that are really prompted and made in the book of Ruth. 00:05:40.800 --> 00:05:51.199 In the day when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land, and a man from Bethlehem of Judea, together with his wife and two sons, went to live for a while in the country of Moab. 00:05:51.759 --> 00:05:57.120 The man's name was Elimelech, and his wife, wife's name Naomi. 00:05:57.439 --> 00:06:00.480 And the names of their two sons were Milan and Kilean. 00:06:00.879 --> 00:06:06.720 They were Euphrathites, say that three times fast, from Bethlehem of Judah. 00:06:06.879 --> 00:06:08.959 And they went to Moab and lived there. 00:06:09.120 --> 00:06:12.319 Now Elimelech, Naomi's husband, died. 00:06:12.480 --> 00:06:14.639 And she was left with her two sons. 00:06:14.959 --> 00:06:17.439 Watch verse 4, we're going to highlight this in a minute. 00:06:17.600 --> 00:06:23.680 They married Moabite women, one named Orpah, not to be confused with Oprah, and the other Ruth. 00:06:24.160 --> 00:06:27.199 And they lived there about ten years. 00:06:27.360 --> 00:06:30.560 Both Milan and Killian also died. 00:06:30.800 --> 00:06:34.879 And Naomi was left without her two sons and her husband. 00:06:35.120 --> 00:06:46.319 When she had heard in Moab that the Lord had come to the aid of his people to provide food for them, Naomi and her daughters-in-law prepared to return home from there. 00:06:46.639 --> 00:06:55.920 With her two daughters-in-law she left the place where she had been living and set out on the road that would take them back to the land of Judah. 00:06:56.399 --> 00:07:03.519 Then Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, Go back, each of you to your mothers' homes. 00:07:03.680 --> 00:07:09.279 May the Lord show kindness to you as you have shown to your dead and to me. 00:07:09.519 --> 00:07:14.959 May the Lord grant that each of you will find rest in the home of another husband. 00:07:15.199 --> 00:07:22.000 Then she kissed them, and they wept aloud, and said to her, We will go back with you to your people. 00:07:22.639 --> 00:07:28.000 Naomi said, Return home, my daughters, why should you come with me? 00:07:28.240 --> 00:07:33.600 I am going to have am I going to have more sons who could become your husbands? 00:07:33.839 --> 00:07:35.360 Return home, my daughters. 00:07:35.680 --> 00:07:38.240 I am too old to have another husband. 00:07:38.480 --> 00:07:50.160 And even if I thought there were still hope for me, even if I had a husband tonight, then gave birth to sons, would you wait until they grew up? 00:07:50.480 --> 00:07:52.800 Would you remain unmarried for them? 00:07:53.199 --> 00:08:01.360 No, my daughters, it is more bitter for me than for you, because the Lord's hand has gone out against me. 00:08:02.000 --> 00:08:03.759 At this they wept again. 00:08:04.000 --> 00:08:10.240 Then Orpa kissed her mother in law goodbye, but Ruth clung to her. 00:08:10.560 --> 00:08:16.720 Look, said Naomi, your sister in law is going back to her people and her gods. 00:08:17.439 --> 00:08:18.639 Go back with her. 00:08:18.879 --> 00:08:24.399 But Ruth replied, Don't urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. 00:08:24.639 --> 00:08:26.079 Where you go I will go. 00:08:26.240 --> 00:08:27.680 Where you stay I will stay. 00:08:27.839 --> 00:08:31.759 Your people will be my people and your God my God. 00:08:32.159 --> 00:08:35.200 Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. 00:08:35.360 --> 00:08:40.720 May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates me and you. 00:08:41.360 --> 00:08:46.639 When Naomi realized that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped urging her. 00:08:46.799 --> 00:08:50.320 So the two women went until they came to Bethlehem. 00:08:50.559 --> 00:08:54.320 When they arrived in Bethlehem, the whole town was astir because of them. 00:08:54.559 --> 00:08:57.279 And the women explained, Can this be Naomi? 00:08:58.080 --> 00:09:06.240 She said, Don't call me Naomi, she told them, Call me Marah, because the Lord because the Almighty has made my life very bitter. 00:09:06.639 --> 00:09:11.759 I went away full, but the Lord has brought me back empty. 00:09:12.000 --> 00:09:13.360 Why call me Naomi? 00:09:13.759 --> 00:09:17.919 The Lord has afflicted me, and the Almighty has brought misfortune upon me. 00:09:18.159 --> 00:09:28.879 So Naomi returned from Moab, accompanied by Ruth, the Moabitus, her daughter-in-law, arriving in Bethlehem as the barley harvest was beginning. 00:09:29.200 --> 00:09:40.240 In that chapter, in these circumstances, we find some of the most fundamental, key decisions that you and I today have to make. 00:09:40.480 --> 00:09:44.480 And what prompted them, the first decision we have to make is simply this. 00:09:44.639 --> 00:09:48.879 We have to make the decision what is really important. 00:09:49.759 --> 00:09:51.039 What is really important? 00:09:51.360 --> 00:09:53.440 What are my priorities in life? 00:09:53.759 --> 00:10:03.200 Until we consciously determine what is important, we will continually function in dysfunction. 00:10:03.759 --> 00:10:05.759 We have to make the conscious decision. 00:10:06.000 --> 00:10:07.919 Priority, what is really important? 00:10:08.080 --> 00:10:15.919 And what happened in the story, if you and I will look at the very first part of that, we see that there's a famine and they move to a different land. 00:10:16.159 --> 00:10:17.519 Providing is important. 00:10:42.320 --> 00:10:43.519 Don't miss that. 00:10:43.840 --> 00:10:48.240 Naomi loses her husband and she pours into her two boys. 00:10:48.399 --> 00:10:53.039 She loses her two boys, and they begin to ask the question, what is really important? 00:10:53.519 --> 00:11:01.279 Maybe you're sitting here today and you've gone through a tragedy recently, and it's forced you to realize what have I decided is really important? 00:11:02.000 --> 00:11:11.679 Maybe in our economy you are like many who have struggled with a job or the loss of a job, and it's forcing us to say, what is really important? 00:11:12.879 --> 00:11:17.919 Or maybe maybe it's a relational situation where you're like, you know what? 00:11:18.639 --> 00:11:24.480 I've lost a marriage, or I've lost a spouse, or I'm single, and I don't have what I thought I should have at this point. 00:11:24.639 --> 00:11:30.000 And if only I could find that part, it would bring the fulfillment I desire. 00:11:30.639 --> 00:11:35.919 Bottom line is a loss is or we don't have what we seem want. 00:11:36.080 --> 00:11:40.720 Pain and problems force us to face what's really important. 00:11:41.759 --> 00:11:44.399 It's not a tragedy, it's a part of life. 00:11:44.559 --> 00:11:46.559 Every one of us will go through it. 00:11:47.200 --> 00:11:55.919 But the key here is to answer that question, to make that decision consciously, to say, this is what's really important to me. 00:11:56.879 --> 00:11:58.799 Look at verse 4 there for just a second. 00:11:58.879 --> 00:12:06.000 And they said, They married Moabite women, one named Orpah and one named Ruth, after they have lived there about ten years. 00:12:06.720 --> 00:12:07.919 Look what happens. 00:12:08.159 --> 00:12:11.919 Both the sons die, and Naomi is left without her two sons and husband. 00:12:12.080 --> 00:12:14.559 The tragedy has happened, but it's after ten years. 00:12:14.639 --> 00:12:15.919 Let me ask this question. 00:12:16.240 --> 00:12:19.360 Where were you ten years ago? 00:12:19.919 --> 00:12:21.840 I can ask it very specifically. 00:12:22.000 --> 00:12:30.720 How many of you remember, and you can raise your hands if you want to, on September 11th, in 2001, where were you when you heard the news that the trade centers had been hit? 00:12:30.879 --> 00:12:32.240 Do you remember where you were? 00:12:32.480 --> 00:12:33.679 I do too. 00:12:34.000 --> 00:12:38.799 Go back to that time and think about your living situation. 00:12:38.960 --> 00:12:41.120 Were you married, single, kids, no kids? 00:12:41.279 --> 00:12:42.000 Were the kids at home? 00:12:42.159 --> 00:12:42.799 Were they gone? 00:12:42.960 --> 00:12:44.320 What was our situation there? 00:12:44.399 --> 00:12:48.559 And then ask the question, what was important to me? 00:12:49.279 --> 00:12:51.600 When you heard that news, what did you do? 00:12:51.840 --> 00:12:54.320 I had two little boys and a wife at home. 00:12:54.559 --> 00:12:56.399 I was headed to get my hair cut. 00:12:56.639 --> 00:12:59.039 When I heard the first tower had been hit and it was an accident. 00:12:59.200 --> 00:13:02.879 After I heard the news the second one was hit, I knew this is not a mistake. 00:13:03.039 --> 00:13:05.759 All I wanted to do was get home. 00:13:06.000 --> 00:13:07.200 I wanted to get home. 00:13:07.360 --> 00:13:10.960 I wanted to be with my family because I knew that's what was important. 00:13:11.039 --> 00:13:12.159 I wanted to protect them. 00:13:12.320 --> 00:13:17.279 I didn't have any clue what was actually happening, but I knew I needed to be there. 00:13:17.600 --> 00:13:21.120 It's when those times happen that we see what is really important. 00:13:22.320 --> 00:13:26.080 And how are we different today because of where we were 10 years ago? 00:13:26.399 --> 00:13:29.919 Think 10 years from now, where am I going to be? 00:13:30.320 --> 00:13:34.720 I can't tell you exactly where you and I are going to be in ten years, but I can tell you this. 00:13:35.120 --> 00:13:43.200 The degree of fulfillment of our lives ten years from now will be determined by the decision we make today of what is really important. 00:13:43.919 --> 00:13:53.200 The way we function today and our decision of what is important today will determine the fulfillment, the abundant life that we have ten years from now. 00:13:53.759 --> 00:14:01.759 That fundamental decision Ruth made when she looked, and she said, You know what's really important to me? 00:14:02.080 --> 00:14:02.960 Family. 00:14:03.759 --> 00:14:05.039 Real family. 00:14:05.679 --> 00:14:06.639 And faith. 00:14:07.440 --> 00:14:07.759 God. 00:14:08.480 --> 00:14:10.399 Look at what Naomi said. 00:14:10.480 --> 00:14:14.559 She said, go back to your people and your gods, little G. 00:14:15.200 --> 00:14:16.480 Mark that down. 00:14:17.039 --> 00:14:18.960 She's telling them, hey, you know what? 00:14:19.440 --> 00:14:22.000 She's not a really good at evangelism. 00:14:22.480 --> 00:14:23.039 You know? 00:14:23.360 --> 00:14:24.240 Punt God. 00:14:24.399 --> 00:14:25.440 Go back to your gods. 00:14:25.519 --> 00:14:27.279 My God stinks right now. 00:14:29.120 --> 00:14:31.200 And that was her approach. 00:14:31.759 --> 00:14:35.919 And you know, Orpa, who would go on to be a talk show host in Chicago. 00:14:36.080 --> 00:14:40.639 She decided, she decided, I am going to go back. 00:14:41.120 --> 00:14:42.159 I am going to go back. 00:14:42.480 --> 00:14:43.600 And we can't fault her. 00:14:43.679 --> 00:14:45.200 But Ruth saw something. 00:14:45.440 --> 00:14:51.440 For 10 years, she experienced a tightness in a family that she did not have before. 00:14:51.600 --> 00:14:57.440 She experienced a faith in a God that was real, not man-made. 00:14:57.919 --> 00:15:09.600 And she said, despite all the circumstances of what I'm going through right now, what's important to me is what little family I have left, and it's you. 00:15:09.919 --> 00:15:15.200 And it's the God that I have experienced through you. 00:15:15.519 --> 00:15:16.480 He's real. 00:15:17.279 --> 00:15:20.720 And it's amazing if you flip over. 00:15:20.799 --> 00:15:22.639 I want to just take a quick look at it. 00:15:22.799 --> 00:15:30.799 Too often, or so often we hear Ruth chapter 1, verses 16 through 17 is just we hear it at weddings. 00:15:31.039 --> 00:15:32.559 And it's so great. 00:15:32.879 --> 00:15:35.840 Your people will be my people and your God my God. 00:15:35.919 --> 00:15:36.960 And where you go, I will go. 00:15:37.039 --> 00:15:38.240 Where you sleep, I will sleep. 00:15:38.320 --> 00:15:40.000 And it's so romantic. 00:15:41.759 --> 00:15:44.320 Do you realize that that is not from a husband to wife? 00:15:44.399 --> 00:15:47.279 That is from a woman to her mother-in-law. 00:15:50.399 --> 00:15:56.720 Which is proof that there is a God and He makes a huge difference right there alone. 00:16:00.320 --> 00:16:03.600 Which brings us to the second decision we have to make. 00:16:03.840 --> 00:16:11.440 Not only do we make the decision, what is really important, we have to make a decision, what am I going to trust? 00:16:11.919 --> 00:16:13.440 What am I going to trust? 00:16:13.679 --> 00:16:17.279 And it's in those difficult times where we have that fundamental decision. 00:16:17.519 --> 00:16:19.279 Can I make a confession to you this morning? 00:16:19.360 --> 00:16:34.720 It's only been in the last two or three months that I have realized one of the greatest frustrations of my faith for decades is now one of the greatest freedoms that I've experienced in the last couple months. 00:16:34.879 --> 00:16:38.720 And it is in this concept of what am I going to trust? 00:16:38.960 --> 00:16:51.200 And we see it in chapter 1, in verses 12 and 13 in Naomi, tragedy has happened, and she, look at how many times she says this, starting in verse 12. 00:16:51.440 --> 00:16:53.200 Return home, my daughters. 00:16:53.519 --> 00:16:56.480 I am too old to have another husband. 00:16:56.639 --> 00:17:08.079 If I thought there was still hope, even if I had a husband tonight, he says, it is more bitter for me because the Lord's hand is against me, me, me, I, my. 00:17:08.880 --> 00:17:13.359 She's looking completely and totally from a circumstantial and a natural sense. 00:17:13.519 --> 00:17:14.799 She goes, What am I gonna do? 00:17:14.880 --> 00:17:17.599 Am I gonna get married tonight and have other kids so you can have a husband? 00:17:19.039 --> 00:17:21.599 And here's the here's the the bottom line. 00:17:21.759 --> 00:17:23.519 Who am I gonna trust? 00:17:23.839 --> 00:17:25.119 It's not me. 00:17:25.759 --> 00:17:27.680 I'm not trusting me anymore. 00:17:27.920 --> 00:17:30.480 I'm not trusting what I can figure out. 00:17:30.720 --> 00:17:35.039 Because here's what I'm learning: the answer to the trust is not me. 00:17:35.279 --> 00:17:36.720 I'm not the answer. 00:17:37.039 --> 00:17:38.000 God is. 00:17:38.720 --> 00:17:41.599 There's times where God will choose to use me. 00:17:41.920 --> 00:17:44.559 And there's times that He will choose to use you. 00:17:44.799 --> 00:17:54.960 But even when those come across our paths going through a difficult time, and as much as we can be there and be used by God, we are not the answer. 00:17:55.680 --> 00:17:57.039 I'm not the answer. 00:17:57.279 --> 00:17:59.759 On my best day, I'm not the answer. 00:17:59.920 --> 00:18:11.599 The best we can do is what this family did for Ruth, and that is live the presence of God and point to the fact that he is that answer. 00:18:12.079 --> 00:18:14.400 That is our response. 00:18:14.559 --> 00:18:16.160 It's not us, but it's him. 00:18:16.480 --> 00:18:18.000 Now look at this in verse 14. 00:18:18.079 --> 00:18:22.319 Don't miss this because this is critical in this decision of trust. 00:18:23.359 --> 00:18:24.720 Verse 14. 00:18:25.039 --> 00:18:26.240 At this they wept. 00:18:26.400 --> 00:18:30.880 Then Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her. 00:18:31.599 --> 00:18:34.400 The decision of trust is a very simple one. 00:18:34.559 --> 00:18:40.480 It is either going to be we're going to trust what circumstantially and naturally we can figure out. 00:18:40.880 --> 00:18:43.440 Orpa had lived there her whole life. 00:18:44.000 --> 00:18:47.279 She knew that circumstance. 00:18:47.759 --> 00:18:51.279 She knew those gods of her country. 00:18:51.519 --> 00:18:54.319 They were empty, they were powerless. 00:18:54.559 --> 00:18:58.960 She had seen the same joy and fulfillment that that family, but she knew that. 00:18:59.039 --> 00:19:03.440 And what was most comfortable for was for her to just stay there. 00:19:04.240 --> 00:19:05.519 To do nothing. 00:19:06.720 --> 00:19:08.160 I don't have to do anything to trust. 00:19:08.240 --> 00:19:09.920 I'm just going to keep here. 00:19:10.960 --> 00:19:12.880 And she kissed her mother-in-law as she stayed. 00:19:12.960 --> 00:19:14.079 But look what Ruth did. 00:19:14.240 --> 00:19:15.359 She clung. 00:19:15.599 --> 00:19:21.039 She took not the natural route, not the logical route, but the supernatural route. 00:19:21.279 --> 00:19:28.400 She saw something that was bigger than herself, bigger than her mother-in-law, bigger than her circumstances and what she knew. 00:19:28.640 --> 00:19:30.000 She saw God. 00:19:31.039 --> 00:19:32.960 And she said, I'm not trusting in you. 00:19:33.039 --> 00:19:36.880 I'm trusting in the God that I've seen in you. 00:19:37.119 --> 00:19:38.799 It's the supernatural. 00:19:39.599 --> 00:19:42.240 And you and I have to make a fundamental choice. 00:19:42.720 --> 00:19:44.240 A fundamental decision. 00:19:44.880 --> 00:19:58.000 Is my trust going to be in the circumstances I see, the situations I'm in, or am I going to trust in something I can't see, but that I can experience as I move forward? 00:19:58.319 --> 00:20:01.920 2 Corinthians verse 4, verse 18 puts it this way. 00:20:03.039 --> 00:20:09.279 Paul writes, So fix your eyes not on what is seen, but what is unseen. 00:20:09.839 --> 00:20:14.240 For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. 00:20:15.599 --> 00:20:16.880 Now that seems so crazy. 00:20:17.039 --> 00:20:20.880 How do I fix my eyes on something I can't see? 00:20:21.279 --> 00:20:22.720 How do I do that? 00:20:23.759 --> 00:20:31.279 Let me give you very specific examples from my life that I've struggled back and I think back at the moment I thought, this is crazy. 00:20:31.440 --> 00:20:34.400 How do you fix my eyes on something I can't see? 00:20:34.640 --> 00:20:42.559 Twenty years ago, actually about 22 years ago, I came to a point in my life where I was like, okay, God, show me anything in my life I need to change. 00:20:42.640 --> 00:20:46.319 At that time I was over$22,000,$23,000 in debt. 00:20:46.480 --> 00:20:48.400 And I don't know where your circumstances are. 00:20:48.480 --> 00:20:49.759 I don't know if you've ever been there. 00:20:49.920 --> 00:20:50.319 I don't know. 00:20:50.400 --> 00:20:51.279 Maybe you are there now. 00:20:51.440 --> 00:20:55.039 Let me just tell you, my prayer was, God, rapture, lottery. 00:20:55.200 --> 00:20:56.079 Either one's fine. 00:20:56.160 --> 00:20:57.839 I just want to get out of this. 00:21:00.319 --> 00:21:03.119 I could not see how to get out of it. 00:21:03.359 --> 00:21:11.279 How do you make$28,000 and get out of$23,000 in debt? 00:21:11.440 --> 00:21:12.319 How does that work? 00:21:12.480 --> 00:21:14.640 I make$28,000 a year, I got$23,000. 00:21:15.359 --> 00:21:16.079 How do you do that? 00:21:16.240 --> 00:21:19.359 God, I don't see how this is going to happen. 00:21:19.759 --> 00:21:28.319 But to fix my eyes on that which is unseen, the fact that God says, I got a plan. 00:21:28.720 --> 00:21:31.359 I didn't get you into debt, but I've got a plan to get out. 00:21:31.519 --> 00:21:36.240 I've written a really cool book that is not just a good book of ideas. 00:21:36.400 --> 00:21:38.559 It is living and active. 00:21:38.960 --> 00:21:50.799 And Ken, if you'll look at my truth and you'll come and you'll seek me, you'll see that I have over 2,000 verses on how to work and be diligent and on finances. 00:21:51.279 --> 00:21:54.640 And I will tutor you personally through my word. 00:21:54.960 --> 00:21:57.119 And I will guide you through this. 00:21:57.359 --> 00:22:03.839 And when I put it on paper, if I were to Focus on that piece of paper, I would have quit the first day. 00:22:04.160 --> 00:22:08.480 Because it was going to be seven to ten years before I could get out of debt. 00:22:08.720 --> 00:22:11.359 And I'm not making that up, and I'm not exaggerating. 00:22:11.440 --> 00:22:18.480 And I looked at that, I'm like, God, I don't see how it's going to happen, but God, I trust you, continue to teach me. 00:22:18.559 --> 00:22:24.400 And I begin to go through a course called Crown, and I begin to pray and seek God daily and look at these masses of verses. 00:22:24.720 --> 00:22:28.640 And in less than two and a half years, that debt was gone. 00:22:29.039 --> 00:22:33.119 And it wasn't because it just magically disappeared or a clerical error. 00:22:33.279 --> 00:22:36.960 It was because God showed and worked and taught me. 00:22:38.000 --> 00:22:41.440 It was my relationship, and I did the single series here this past year. 00:22:41.599 --> 00:22:43.759 It was going, God, I've had 19 roommates. 00:22:43.839 --> 00:22:45.279 I've married off 18 of them. 00:22:45.440 --> 00:22:46.480 Why not me? 00:22:46.720 --> 00:22:47.920 I want to get married. 00:22:48.000 --> 00:22:48.880 What's wrong with me? 00:22:49.039 --> 00:22:52.319 And I started going, God, I don't see how this is going to happen. 00:22:52.559 --> 00:22:57.359 I've tried everything I know to try, but God just said, hey, stop looking outward. 00:22:57.519 --> 00:22:58.720 Start looking here. 00:22:58.960 --> 00:23:00.400 I've got a way. 00:23:00.559 --> 00:23:03.599 I want to mold and change you through my truth. 00:23:03.839 --> 00:23:10.640 One of my favorite parts of this book is in the very back, right before the maps. 00:23:11.279 --> 00:23:16.640 It's called the Concordance, where it's got a lot of words and verse references. 00:23:16.960 --> 00:23:23.119 And I have spent more time in that part of the Bible than any other going, God, I don't even know where to start. 00:23:23.359 --> 00:23:28.799 Just show me a word and a verse, and I'll weave through it, and I'm like, God, I want to learn, teach me. 00:23:29.440 --> 00:23:31.200 And it doesn't change. 00:23:32.000 --> 00:23:36.400 And I hope that you do make it to the date night because one of my favorite parts is that we just get real. 00:23:36.559 --> 00:23:41.599 We play a big game in here, and then we do some stuff, and then we talk about just relationships with marriage. 00:23:41.680 --> 00:23:43.359 I've been married almost 16 years now. 00:23:43.519 --> 00:23:45.599 I have still not figured women out. 00:23:46.640 --> 00:23:48.400 Because women are just weird. 00:23:48.559 --> 00:23:50.240 They make no sense. 00:23:51.279 --> 00:23:52.480 But I can tell you what I do. 00:23:52.640 --> 00:23:55.759 I open this book and I'm like, God, help me. 00:23:56.079 --> 00:23:56.960 Show me. 00:23:57.119 --> 00:23:58.319 And I can tell you this. 00:23:58.480 --> 00:24:01.519 I made the fundamental choice, God, I'm going to trust you. 00:24:02.079 --> 00:24:08.319 I'm going to trust you, not what I think and feel, because if I rely on my logic, marriage is impossible. 00:24:08.799 --> 00:24:12.799 But if I rely on you, I find great fulfillment. 00:24:13.039 --> 00:24:14.480 I have great insight. 00:24:14.799 --> 00:24:19.839 You guide and direct me in a way that my wife is validated and honored. 00:24:20.000 --> 00:24:21.920 And I see her in a different light. 00:24:22.079 --> 00:24:24.799 But it's only because of you, because I choose to trust you. 00:24:24.880 --> 00:24:26.160 That's my foundational. 00:24:26.559 --> 00:24:34.559 Because here's the reality: real trust is proven in trials and conflict. 00:24:34.960 --> 00:24:37.119 That's where real trust happens. 00:24:37.359 --> 00:24:39.359 But we have to make that fundamental decision. 00:24:39.519 --> 00:24:43.200 I'm going to trust God, not where I am, what I think, what I feel. 00:24:43.519 --> 00:24:53.599 So if we make that decision, I'm going to decide that what's really important, God and my family and whatever else is on that list, and I'm going to say, God, this is what's really important. 00:24:53.680 --> 00:24:59.200 And God, I'm going to trust you, and I'm going to let your word speak to my heart on a regular basis. 00:24:59.359 --> 00:25:02.640 I'm going to trust this over what I think and feel. 00:25:02.880 --> 00:25:06.240 Then finally, I have to make it probably one of the biggest decisions of all. 00:25:06.400 --> 00:25:08.720 And Ruth made this decision. 00:25:09.279 --> 00:25:11.119 What am I going to do about it? 00:25:11.680 --> 00:25:13.119 What am I going to do about it? 00:25:14.160 --> 00:25:16.079 Because it's not all about up here. 00:25:16.720 --> 00:25:19.039 It's what am I going to change in here? 00:25:19.200 --> 00:25:22.640 And what am I going to do with my feet to do it? 00:25:23.279 --> 00:25:26.799 Look in verse 19 of Ruth chapter 1. 00:25:26.960 --> 00:25:31.119 So the two women went until they came to Bethlehem. 00:25:31.920 --> 00:25:32.880 They went. 00:25:33.119 --> 00:25:36.079 She left everything she knew and she made a fundamental decision. 00:25:36.240 --> 00:25:38.240 I'm going to go where I know God is. 00:25:39.119 --> 00:25:40.400 I don't know anything about it. 00:25:40.559 --> 00:25:46.559 If you do the study on it, it was about a five-day journey from where they were to Bethlehem. 00:25:47.039 --> 00:25:48.640 Let's make it real for just a second. 00:25:49.119 --> 00:25:55.119 Picture this getting out of these doors, going into your car, getting in your car and driving for five days. 00:25:55.359 --> 00:25:57.039 Eight to ten hours a day. 00:25:57.279 --> 00:26:00.079 When you get to Texas, you take a left and you just go. 00:26:00.400 --> 00:26:03.519 You end up in the south part of Mexico somewhere. 00:26:03.839 --> 00:26:04.960 Imagine that. 00:26:05.200 --> 00:26:09.359 And that's about what Ruth made a decision to do. 00:26:09.680 --> 00:26:12.799 Probably knew a little bit of the language, but not a lot. 00:26:13.200 --> 00:26:14.640 Had no standing. 00:26:15.039 --> 00:26:16.880 Nobody knew who she was. 00:26:17.359 --> 00:26:20.240 She had no source of help, but she decided to go. 00:26:20.400 --> 00:26:23.359 Not only go, but she decided to serve. 00:26:23.599 --> 00:26:25.039 Serve her mother-in-law. 00:26:25.279 --> 00:26:28.400 All I know to do is that this is my family and I trust God. 00:26:28.559 --> 00:26:28.880 That's it. 00:26:28.960 --> 00:26:29.759 Those are my priorities. 00:26:29.839 --> 00:26:30.960 That's all I got. 00:26:31.519 --> 00:26:34.480 And instead of looking inwardly, going, God, why have you got me here? 00:26:34.640 --> 00:26:36.480 She's like, what can I do? 00:26:37.599 --> 00:26:44.160 I can serve God that I don't know as best I can, and I can serve my mother-in-law. 00:26:44.720 --> 00:26:49.759 That is a choice, not for the natural, but the supernatural. 00:26:49.920 --> 00:27:00.559 And if you and I want to experience that supernatural, so that ten years from today, we are in a place where we look back and go, wow. 00:27:01.759 --> 00:27:05.680 God, circumstantially, maybe it's different, maybe it's not. 00:27:06.079 --> 00:27:10.160 But I have a fullness of life that I never thought would be possible. 00:27:10.720 --> 00:27:12.960 It's from those three fundamental decisions. 00:27:13.119 --> 00:27:13.920 What's important? 00:27:14.319 --> 00:27:15.519 Who am I going to trust? 00:27:15.680 --> 00:27:17.279 What am I going to do about it? 00:27:17.759 --> 00:27:19.279 That's the foundation. 00:27:19.599 --> 00:27:20.880 That's the foundation. 00:27:21.039 --> 00:27:24.559 I'm going to pray in just a second, but let me just encourage you. 00:27:24.960 --> 00:27:26.640 Take those decisions. 00:27:27.200 --> 00:27:28.720 It's up to you and I. 00:27:28.960 --> 00:27:31.440 What are we going to do with those decisions? 00:27:32.000 --> 00:27:33.759 Because we have no excuse down the road. 00:27:34.319 --> 00:27:38.799 Have I taken God at His Word and said, hey, I want to know what's really important. 00:27:38.960 --> 00:27:39.359 Show me. 00:27:39.440 --> 00:27:42.559 I want to know that I can trust you in where I am today. 00:27:43.359 --> 00:27:46.240 The places I don't know what's going to happen. 00:27:46.559 --> 00:27:48.400 The frustrating parts of my life. 00:27:48.559 --> 00:27:56.160 I'm going through one right now, and as I reviewed these notes, I got to tell you, I'm thinking, God, I thought I was preparing to communicate. 00:27:56.319 --> 00:27:59.759 What I was preparing for was to let you deal with where I am today. 00:28:00.400 --> 00:28:02.960 And then finally, God, what do you want me to do about it? 00:28:03.200 --> 00:28:04.960 What can I do about it? 00:28:05.599 --> 00:28:15.759 Because these next couple weeks, once we get that foundation, let me ask you two questions in prep for next week. 00:28:16.319 --> 00:28:22.480 Have you ever, or do you currently feel like, either one of two or both? 00:28:22.720 --> 00:28:26.079 Have you ever had the feeling, I don't belong here? 00:28:27.039 --> 00:28:30.319 I don't belong in these circumstances. 00:28:30.720 --> 00:28:32.559 I don't belong in this situation. 00:28:33.279 --> 00:28:34.720 I don't belong here. 00:28:36.000 --> 00:28:41.519 Or and what's the real purpose? 00:28:41.759 --> 00:28:43.599 What's the purpose of it all? 00:28:44.079 --> 00:28:50.880 Maybe you felt like I have on several occasions where I go through it and I am busy to beat the band. 00:28:51.279 --> 00:28:52.799 I don't have enough time. 00:28:53.119 --> 00:28:56.880 Always busy, but never moving. 00:28:58.720 --> 00:29:00.319