The Place Of Blessing Series

The Place of Blessing

Ps 5:12 For thou, LORD, wilt bless the righteous; with favour wilt thou compass him as with a shield.

Ps 67:5 Let the people praise thee, O God; let all the people praise thee.

Ps 67:6 Then shall the earth yield her increase; and God, even our own God, shall bless us.

Ps 67:7 God shall bless us; and all the ends of the earth shall fear him.

Work on Ruth

I. Ruth 1:6 There was a famine in the land but the Lord was with the people of Bethlehem-Judah (House of Bread and Praise) in such a strong way that the

people in surrounding nations heard of it.

A. 1:7) Sometimes before you can receive the blessings of the Lord upon your life… you must leave the place where you are.

1. You leave where you are through divine revelation and further understanding of the Word.

B. 1:14,15,16,18) In the “process of success” sometimes there are hard decisions that must be made.

1. You have to leave the old ways behind even if your family and those you are close to don’t understand.

2. You must be steadfast in your decisions and not be influenced away from what you know is right. (God’s Word is always right!)

C. 1:21,22) Part of success is acknowledging where you are and realizing it’s going to take grace to get you out of where you are.

1. One of the beautiful things about God is that… if you leave (Him) full and return empty - His grace will still be sufficient enough to see you through!

God Loves You.

2. When Ruth and Naomi came back to Bethlehem-Judah they had no way of taking care of themselves.

a. 2:2)They were totally dependent upon grace and grace made a way.

b. They came back at harvest time. They were totally trusting the Lord that they would be taken care of.

c. Naomi went back to her father’s house.

II. The Blessing of the Lord was so ingrained in the lifestyle of the people of Israel that it was even in their speech consistently. Here are some examples in just one

book of the Old Testament.

A. 2:4) Boaz (an O.T. type of Christ) blessed the reapers and they answered “The Lord bless thee”.

1. Sometimes we get so caught up in the Lord blessing us that we forget that He delights in the praises of His people! He wants to be blessed too. David

practiced blessing the Lord and he was an extremely blessed man. If you don’t believe read the Psalms.

B. 2:12,15,16,19,20,3:10) Ruth was blessed of Boaz and Naomi in turn helped her recognize this and blessed Boaz in return.

1. It’s very important that we help each other recognize the blessings of the Lord upon our lives.

III. Redemption - We have been redeemed from the curse of the law. We no longer serve sin or the things which sin reproduces. (examples: sin, sickness,

poverty etc.)

A. 4:7) When God Steps In Your Shoes

B. 4:11,14) The “blessing of the Lord” was pronounced upon Ruth by the elders in the gate and the people immediately followed suit.

1. When she walked through Bethlehem-Judah (House of Bread and Praise) from that day forward people would say… “there goes that blessed woman…

highly favored of God!”

C. 4:17) She gave birth to a son and named him Obed (Worshipper). He was King David’s Grandfather.

1. No wonder David loved God so much… His Papaw was a worshipper!!!

IV. Ruth’s journey to the blessing.

A. Chapter 1 - Ruth had some decisions to make.

1. Was she staying where she had always been or was she moving to a place of blessing?

2. What about covenant?

B. Chapter 2 - Ruth served her way into favor.

1. Look for ways to serve.

2. Pride and arrogance die at the feet of servant hood.

C. Chapter 3 - She rested in faith that the blessing would come.

1. Notice the place of her rest (at the feet of her redeemer)

D. Chapter 4 - Here comes her reward!

1. The reward was total redemption.

2. She wasn’t even a Jew and now the blessing of Abraham was upon her.

3. She gave birth to a son who was a worshipper and her great-grandson became King of Israel!

What a blessing!!!