Episode Transcript
[00:00:01] Speaker A: Welcome to the NUMA Church Podcast, wherever you are in the world. We are so glad you've joined us. Our prayer is that this message will reveal more of who our heavenly Father is as we all grow deep in intimacy with Jesus.
[00:00:14] Speaker B: Enjoy this message.
Well, you know, I really believe the Lord has given me a word, and the title of my message is Bitter to Blessed. Come on. We don't want to be bitter, but we want to be blessed. But we have to go from bitterness to the place of blessing. Amen.
So today I'm going to share with you a dream the Lord gave me. I don't know why, but God speaks to me prophetically through dreams. We can have a pizza dream, but we can have a God dream for those of us who are prophetic. And I really do believe this was a dream from heaven.
So in my dream, I was in a place where I walked into a room. And in the room, you can see these ladies up here in the room. I walked into a room, and there was a woman sitting on a chair. And as I was looking at her, she looked almost hopeless. I could just see hopelessness in her face. She looked like she had been through a lot in her lifetime. Come on. You know someone who's been through a lot, sometimes it shows on the outside. You can tell they've been through a lot. I mean, I know many of us have been through a lot. We've been through a lot. We can all attest to that. But this woman looked really hopeless. She looked like she had no hope at all. As I'm sitting there looking at her, I was thinking to myself, I wonder what she's going through. And as I was looking at her, suddenly she gave birth to a baby. The baby just slid out and was on the floor. And I was like, what? Almost like, what in the world's going on?
I really couldn't believe myself. I was standing there with my mouth open, wondering, what has just happened? How can this be? How can this have happened? She never had any birth pangs, but suddenly there was a baby there, completely normal, on the floor. I'm pacing back in the room in my dream, and I'm thinking to myself, what does this mean? What's going on? And I walked out of the room, and I walked into a second room. And would you believe it, there sat another woman again. Another woman that looked hopeless. Another woman that looked like she had been through a lot. Another woman that you can tell that she had walked through things in her lifetime. And as I'm looking at her, suddenly I Just looked at her stomach, and I could see the formation of a baby under her dress. It was like I saw inside what was happening. And the baby's head was down in the birth canal. And then suddenly again, she gives birth to this baby. It slides out on the floor. And I was like, what is going on? And in my dream, I'm saying, wow, wow, how can this be? How could this happen? No birth pangs, nothing. But here, two babies, you know, from both women. I love how God says things to us and speaks to us. You know, sometimes he says something to us, but when he says it twice, he gets your attention, doesn't he? God wants to get our attention today. He wants to get our attention with what has happened here. So again, in my dream, I'm walking back and forth thinking, oh, wow, this is crazy. This is amazing. Almost like Peter when he was on the mountain with Jesus, and he said, you know, should I build you a house? One for you, one for Elisha, and one for Moses? Like, he was speaking in the natural. I was thinking in the natural. God, what should I do? Oh, I better call an ambulance to make sure these women and babies are okay. No, not one ambulance, two ambulances. And then I woke up. I lay in bed for quite a long time, kind of bewildered about what I just saw and what just happened. And I said, God, what is this? What has happened?
And so as I was thinking this, I went back to sleep and I slept, and I woke up in the morning, and I went to make my coffee, start my day, grabbed my Bible, getting ready for my devotions for the day, just crying out to the Lord, you know, God, what do you have for me today? Preparing for the day, not thinking of the dream I had the night before wasn't even in my mind. So I picked up my Bible and I opened it.
And would you believe the scripture that I opened to was Isaiah 66, verses 7 and 8. It says, who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things? Shall land be born in one day? Shall a nation be brought forth in a moment? As soon as Zion was in labor, she brought forth children.
As soon as Zion was in labor, she brought forth children. Shall I bring to the point of birth and not cause to bring forth, says the Lord. Shall I who cause to bring forth? Shut the womb, says God. Isn't that amazing? I was like, I actually was sitting in my chair, and I said, whoa. This is like God is speaking. He's speaking something. What is it you're saying?
So, you know, I was thinking again of the women, I was thinking, wow, you know, it's been a long. They look like they have been through a lot. They look like they have been going through something for a long time. And I think that's what their age represented in this dream. It's been something. You don't have to be old to go through something for a long time.
You don't. We can attest to that, and I'm sure you can, too. But anyway, as I was thinking, I began to pray and the Lord, you know, gave me a message to share this. The dream that I had was back in March of 2023.
So it's been a while. I've had a lot of time to ponder it, and I really haven't shared it publicly.
But, you know, I just love what God is up to. God is going to do something amazing today if you just open up your hearts. We're going to read from the book of Ruth. But before we read from Ruth, chapter one, pray. Amen. Come on. Can you stand to your feet and pray with me today? Let's just pray. Cry out to the Lord, Father, we thank you for this day. We thank you, God, for what you want to reveal to our hearts today. We thank you, God, that you are redemptive. Lord God, you are a God, Father, who gives, Lord, what maybe man takes away. God, you are a God that always restores and always gives to those who are faithful. So, Father, we thank you for your word and we thank you for what you want to do. Father, position our hearts to hear from you today. Come on. I encourage you. Position your hearts. Open your ears to what the Lord would say to you today. For God is a good God. In Jesus name can you say Amen?
Amen. All right, I'm going to read beginning at Ruth, chapter one, verse one. But, you know, Ruth is an awesome story, isn't it? It's such a beautiful kind of romantic story for the women who really like those romantic stories. I love the book of Ruth. She goes from nothing to being blessed and ended up with one of the greatest men in Bethlehem. God gave her maybe her knight in shining armor. It's such a good story, but, you know, I love the story of Naomi. Naomi is such a good story. She went from, you know, from loss and God blessed her as well. So the story that I want to share today is really about Naomi. It's Naomi's story.
So in the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land and a man in Bethlehem and Judah went to sojourn in the country of Moab. He said to his wife and his two sons.
Sorry. He and his wife and his two sons. The name of the man was Elimelech, and the name of his wife Naomi. And the names of their two sons were Mahlon and Chilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem. They went into the country of Moab and they remained there. But Elimelech, the husband of Naomi, died and she was left with her two sons.
Then these men took Moabite wives. The name of the one was Orpah and the other was Ruth. They lived there about 10 years. And both Mahlon and Chilion died. So the women were left without husbands. Her two sons and her husband died.
Then she arose with her daughter in laws to return to the country of Moab. For she had heard in the field of Moab that the Lord had visited his people and given them food. So she set out from that place where she was with her two daughter in laws, and they went on their way to the land of Judah.
So here, you know, Naomi was left without a son, without her sons or a husband. First of all, she had her first bitter blow was her husband passed away. Come on. When the love of your life dies, that is traumatic. That is a bitter blow that Naomi had to endure. And I'm sure she was grieving the loss of her spouse, the loss of her husband. But, you know, she may have said, you know, after a time of mourning and grief, well, I have two sons, you know, they can provide for me, thank God. And then what happens is the sons, they marry Moabite women, and so they marry Orpah and Ruth. And I'm sure she thinks, well, God is redemptive. He's going to give me a son to carry on the name of my late husband. God is good. But what happens, it says they were there for 10 years and then both sons died and they didn't leave an heir. So here Naomi was in a land that was foreign to her, without nothing, she had nothing. She had her two daughter in laws. But then she gets word there's. There's food back in Bethlehem. So she decides to go back to Bethlehem with her two daughter in laws. So she said, come on, let's journey. Let's go ahead and let's go to the land of Bethlehem because there's food there. What have I got to lose? I have nothing here. Come on. When you're with nothing, sometimes we just. God causes our situation, our wells to run dry, to move us on. Amen. He pushes us forward, whether we like it or not. And she knew if she lived there, she was going to just die there. So she said, why not go back to where I know, to my land where my God is served. And her two daughter in laws go on the journey with her. But on the journey, she's thinking, you know, why would I bring Orpah and Ruth? Come on. I'm not going to give them a son so they can marry and have children. I'm too old for that. So she looks at them and she says, you know, go back to your own people. Go back to your home. Go back to the culture that you're used to. Go back to your family. I won't be able to give you children, but you can find a husband there in your own land. And they cried. Orpah and Ruth cried and said, no, we'll go with you. But then when Ruth made her case, Orpah said, okay. She hugged her, cried and said, okay, I'm going to go back. Yeah, it's better for me. How many know? Sometimes it's easy to just go back to what we know. Sometimes it's easy just to hang on to what we know. To go back to things?
Yes. Like to Egypt, to go back where it's comfortable. I know it's going to be okay. And. And not that it was wrong for Orpah, but she decided, I'm just going back. But what did Ruth say? She said, no. She clung to Naomi and she said, no, I will go with you. And Naomi said, no, go back. And she said, no, I'm going with you. She said, your God will be my God. Your people will be my people. I will go to the land where you are, and nothing but death will separate us. Come on. She loved Ruth means a loving friend. A friend that almost sticks closer than a brother. That's what her name means. She was a friend. She saw Naomi. Come on. When you're with someone who really knows the Lord, you can sense that something is different coming from her culture, what she knew different gods and the land that she lived in. She didn't serve Jehovah in her land, but she recognized there was something about Naomi. She said, no, nothing but death will save separate you. Come on. We have to cling to the Lord in these times. Amen. We have to cling to the Lord when we are struggling. But Ruth and Naomi. Naomi stopped arguing with Ruth, and she said, okay, come on. I don't really have anything to give you, but if you're going to stay with me, I know I'm not Going to change your mind? So they went on. Apparently the journey was about 25 to 30 miles, which would be about 40 kilometers on foot.
Seven to 10 days, some scholars say. But it depends on the weather. Was it dusty? Was it hard? But it was also not a safe journey. It was a journey that was a difficult journey. So Naomi was really serious about what she was doing. She had to get back home. Sometimes our journey isn't pleasant. It's not pleasant. But God takes us on that journey. He wants us to trust in him. And as they journeyed to Jerusalem, God kept them. He kept them safe. He watched over them. And they came to Bethlehem. And what happens when they came to Bethlehem?
They were coming up to Bethlehem and some of Naomi's friends and people of the town were looking.
Is that Naomi? Is that Naomi? Can you imagine? Her countenance must have changed. It had been at least 10 years that she had been a Moab and her countenance changed. She had been through a lot. She even says that the Lord has raised his bitter fist against me.
Yeah, she felt like God had raised his fist against her. When the women came up finally and said, is this Naomi? And she said, don't call me Naomi. Call me Mara. Why did she say Mara? Because Mara means bitter. I went away full and I came back empty. I went away and I had my son and I had my husband's and we still had our land. But now I'm coming back and I don't have any of my bloodline with me. I have my daughter in law who's been faithful. But I have nothing. I have nothing at all. Don't call me Naomi. Don't call me pleasant. That's what Naomi means. Pleasant, joyful. I'm not that woman anymore. Just like those women in my dream.
They didn't look very joyful, you know, they looked like they were worn and torn by the storms of life. How many of us go through those situations and times where it just. You say to God, why God? Why? Have you ever said, why God? What is happening? I don't understand. I don't understand what I'm going through. This doesn't make sense. What about the things you've shown me? God has a plan. God has a purpose. But Naomi was faithful. Even though she'd been through a lot, she still went back to the land where her God was. To a land where her people were. Glenn And I know what it's like to go to a different land. As you can tell, we're not from here, but you know, born In Canada. We've lived in Canada, America and Australia.
First time we lived in Australia was 2014, 15 to 19 in Perth. And then we went back to North America. And now we're here again. God has brought us on a long journey. Some of it didn't make sense, Some of it in the natural, still doesn't make sense. But God is a God who we can put our trust in. Like Glenn said at prayer today, something Bill Johnson said about faith. You know, we have to have faith, people. We can't look at our circumstances. We can't look at the way things look in the natural, because that's not the way of the Christian. That's not the way that God designed us to be. We have to look at things supernaturally. Amen. God is a God who doesn't lie. And you know, sometimes I just laugh at God because he knows no time. He said, I'll do it and I'll do it soon. And years later you're saying soon come on. Like soon to him and soon to me is two different things. Soon is like tomorrow, right? We want it tomorrow. But God uses our times of distress and our times of difficulties to build character. He wants to build his character in us so we don't become like Naomi and become Amara, so we don't become bitter. We don't want to be bitter. We want to be better. We want to be blessed. Amen. So we have to put away bitterness.
Have to put away bitterness.
So Ruth, like I said, means compassionate friend. I love that compassionate friend. We all need a compassionate friend. We all need people to come around us who really care for us. They don't have anything in their hearts that they want. They just want to be your friend. They want to bless you, they want to be there for you. They want to pray for you. Surround yourselves with people like that. If you don't have someone pray, God will put someone in your path. He will give you that compassionate friend.
So how many know God is a God of restoration? Amen. God is a God of restoration. Even when Sarah prayed over me today, it was really interesting. The word she used, she used redemptive and restoration. It was very prophetic. So God is speaking today Reformation. He wants to give us reformation.
So here Ruth and Naomi are there and in Bethlehem. And Ruth says to her mother in law, Naomi, I gotta do something. We have to eat. Why don't you allow me to go to the field so I can glean for some wheat and we will have food. Amen. We'll have food to eat. So Naomi gives her her blessing, and I love that too. She didn't just run off. She was submissive to Naomi. You know, she was submissive to her mother in law. Sometimes we have to be submissive and, you know, listen to the Lord sometimes. So anyway, she goes to the field, Ruth gives her her blessing, she gets dressed, she goes to the field, and she finds herself in the field of Boaz.
She begins to glean. And then, sure enough, Boaz comes that day and he's in the field and he looks and everybody's greeting him. You know, a fair manager, a fair guy who treats his people well, they love him. And then Boaz looks and he sees Ruth, the Moabite. And he said, who is that woman? Oh, that's the woman that came back with Naomi. She was her daughter in law when they lived in Moab. And she came back and he said, oh, I've. I've heard good things about her. Come on. God will speak your name into people's ears at times and he will say, you know, he'll speak, I heard good things about you. I've heard good things about you. God is a God that so directs our steps. Even though she stepped out in faith, I'm sure she was just thinking, I'm just going to get food for us to survive, right? But God is a God who sets us up. He's a God who takes our paths and makes the crooked ones straight and the rough places smooth, no matter what it looks like. So she gleans that day. And then Boaz gives his men a warning. Don't let anybody harm her. Don't let anyone touch her. Leave extra grain for her. She found favor in Boaz eyes. God will cause you to find favor in other people's eyes and even in his eyes. And he will pronounce a blessing. Amen. If you're faithful, if you don't give up, if you stand. Yes, she was bitter. She been through a lot, but still Naomi was faithful. And Ruth is serving here.
And so Naomi goes back with the basket full of bread because he gave extra food for her mother in law.
And she said, where were you today?
Oh, I was in a field by the man named Boaz.
She goes, wow. Her eyes open up. Boaz, Boaz. And you know when you see the light at the end of the tunnel, that's where I believe Naomi was that day. She's like, you know, her countenance begins to change. Maybe she begins to smile. That forlorn look, that bitter look, the, you know, the hopelessness begins to Leave. Because she says, boaz, he is one of our kinsmen, redeemers. He's one of our close relatives. And she said, he told me, Ruth tells her mom, don't go in any other field. Stay here. That's what Boaz said. And she goes, listen to him, my daughter, for God is up to something good. Come on, you know it. When God is up to something good, everything else might not look good. The bank account might not look good. Your health might not be in a place where you wish it was. You know, things happen. Things happen. Life happens. Your children may not be where you think they would have been, but God is a God who's faithful, and so there's hope. So Ruth continues during this season, and this is a restoration season.
Amen. We want to walk into restoration. Amen. God wants us to walk into restoration. So she continues to work in his field.
And one day, Ruth, I mean Naomi, says to Ruth one night, she says, it's time to take a bath, put on your best dress, put on your nicest perfume, and go to the threshing floor. I heard Boaz is there.
That's an important key. Is waiting on the Lord for his timing. We have to wait on the Lord for his timing. If we get ahead of the Lord, we might mess it up. We might miss out. But Naomi, I believe, heard from God, and she said, it's time, Ruth, go to the threshing floor, put on your best dress, and when you see him, watch for him after he's drank, after he's eaten and he goes to sleep, go and lay at his feet and tell him, I am your servant, Ruth.
So she does exactly that. She goes to the threshing floor, she watches Boaz, and she waits for the right timing. I mean, if she would have ran up to him, then it wouldn't have been good.
But God gave Naomi wisdom. She came and she laid at his feet. And in the night, Boaz woke up, and he said he was startled. Who is this? Who is this? And Ruth says, it's me, Ruth. And she said, you are one of our closest relatives. You are one of our kinsmen, redeemers. And Boaz was really touched by that. He said, you could have went to someone who was young. You could have went and found someone younger than I, maybe more handsome, maybe it would look better. But you are a woman of integrity, Ruth. And because of this, be sure of this one thing. Because of your integrity, because of your faithfulness, I won't let anything happen. And nothing will let me rest until the promise is fulfilled. I'm going to talk to the other kinsman, redeemer. There was another one that was closer than he. I have to talk to your other relative. Because if he wants to buy your land and take you as his wife, that's his choice. If not, Boaz says, don't worry, I'll do it. Amen. I'm going to do it for you. Can you imagine, like, when you finally get that breakthrough, when you know you're on the verge of something good, you just like, God is faithful. His promises are true. The prophetic word wasn't in my imagination. The things that God had spoke to me, maybe myself, when I was praying and seeking the Lord is true. Maybe it's a prophetic word someone gave you years ago. Remember? You know, Naomi was old at that time. Doesn't matter our age, we can still see the promises of God fulfilled. Young or old, God wants to do it again. He wants to prove himself to you. He wants you to know that he hasn't left you. He's by your side. He's a good God. Amen.
So what happens? We know the story. Boaz gets up and he, you know, Ruth stays the whole night. He said, stay here. But when it's. When it's dawn, sneak out and don't let anyone see that you are at the threshing floor. Let it not be said. A woman came to the threshing floor. So he protected her. God will protect us. He'll cover us. He'll watch over us. In those times when it seems like we're not protected, you know, God is faithful. So Boaz goes to the city gates, and he speaks to the one man. He just happened to be there when he got there. And he said, I have something to talk to you about. So they sit down, they have a discussion and a meeting. And he said, have you heard about Ruth the Moabite? Yeah, I've heard about her. Well, her land's for sale. You're next in line to buy it. Would you like to purchase the field? Would you like to purchase their land? He said, yes, I will redeem it. I'll redeem it. And he said, okay. Just so you know, when you redeem the land, you also take Ruth the Moabite as your wife. He goes, oh, well, that's not gonna work for me because it will jeopardize my inheritance. So you take her, Boaz. You have her as your wife. So God is such a good God. Amen. God is so.
He's so detailed. He's so in the details, you know, God is in the details. We say sometimes the devil's in the details, but God is in the details. God wants to be in your details.
So Ruth marries Boaz. He takes her as his wife. God is a God of redemption. God is a God who restores. He's a God who brings things to pass. We have to wait on the Lord. And we know that Ruth gave birth to Obed. Obed was. Naomi raised him herself like it was her own. So even as the woman in my dream, when I think about that, wow, God wants to bring restoration to you today. He wants to restore the promises, the prophetic words. Naomi was granted her petition. She has a son now. To take on the family name, to take on the family inheritance, to let the bloodline keep going. We know Obed gave birth to Obed. Sorry, Father Jesse and Jesse. Father David and David. What did he do? Jesus came out of David's inheritance. Amen. Out of his lineage. Wow. Now that's a redemptive story.
So redemptive. You know, again, the women in my dream, God didn't just say it once, he said it twice. It's not just for me, it's for you today. This story of hope, this story of redemption, this story of God fulfilling his promises is for you today. What is it that you're wanting God to do? What is it he's promised you? Don't give up, friends. God wants to do it again and he wants to do it for you.
So good.
So, interestingly, I looked up because Naomi said her name was Mara, so I looked up bitterness. What does it mean? The Cambridge dictionary describes it this way. Someone who is bitter is angry and unhappy because they cannot forget the bad things that have happened in the past. Come on. We have to let go of the past. The past is gone. We have to let go. We have to let go of those things that happened to us in order for us to move forward. We have to let go. Amen. So these. I have some points here that we can look at. We can ask ourselves. So today, as I go through these, just ask yourself, God, is there something in me that I'm not letting go of? Is there something that I'm just holding onto? So do we refuse to forgive or let go of things?
Do we refuse to let go of things? Maybe things that have happened. Maybe it was your father, maybe it was your mother, maybe it was your child, maybe it was your spouse, maybe it was life circumstances that just led you down this path, that you're just like, what is Going on like Naomi, the death of her spouse and children. Are we holding onto grudges towards others? We gotta let that go. Are we. This is interesting. Are we excessively negative or critical towards oneself or others? If you find yourself criticizing yourself, maybe there's a root of bitterness there. Or maybe if you're always thinking negative thoughts about others, it's time to let it go, Church. It's time. God wants us to have a spirit of rejoicing and joy in our hearts and in our lives. We don't want those negative thoughts. The Bible tells us to think on those things that are good. Think on those things that are lovely. Think on those things that are pure. We have to. You know, the word of God transforms our lives. Amen. It transforms it. It helps us. You know, when you think in things and you're going throughout your day, sometimes you know, I'm there myself and I'm like, okay, God, what are you doing? What's going on? And you begin to be over overwhelmed. But then when you pick up the word of God and you read it, just like that day I opened it to Isaiah 66, I'm like, wow. You know, God gives you hope again. He wants to give you restoration. He wants to fulfill your dreams.
You may feel resentful towards others who have achieved success or happiness. Maybe there's some jealousy there because of where we're at. But look, doesn't matter where we're at. Doesn't matter where we've been through, because God wants to restore. My journey's not your journey. You know, I wouldn't want to walk in Naomi's shoes. But you wouldn't want to walk in my shoes either. You wouldn't want to walk, and I wouldn't want to walk in yours. God gives us our own testings and our own trials and things that we have to walk. But it builds character in us. God wants to build his character in us. He wants us to love others like he loves us.
He loves us. Come on, Church, let's love one another. The greatest of these is love, you know, love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength, but love your neighbor as yourself. That's not easy. But that's what God wants us to do. And that's what a surrendered heart does. He gives us the strength to do it. Yeah.
So God wants us to let go of bitterness, embrace forgiveness, let go of past hurts, then God, then we can trust God with our future, no matter what it looks like. God wants to restore the joy and fulfill his promises.
Now, this is interesting. When you give birth, it might not look like what you expect it to look like. It might not be like. We put in our minds things, don't we? When God gives us a promise, like when he brought us to Australia, I'm just like, oh, awesome. This is great. Found an amazing ministry. We moved to Melbourne, and then all hell breaks loose. Like, what? Whoa. I wasn't expecting that. God, you know, he just. We can't put our hope in the circumstances or the situation we go through. No, God called us here. God has brought us to this land. We have permanent residence in less than a year and a half. That is God. God's stamp is on us. We are here, and God has brought us here. No matter what it looks like. Like, yeah, it's so good. I mean, I know what that's like. God is a promise of restoration. So let's not be bitter. Let's continue to trust God with the fulfillment of all his promises. And let's not put them in a box. You got to do it this way, God, this is what I'm expecting. This is what I want. I want this knight in shining armor. I want, you know, the big house or the luxurious car. Who cares? Who really cares about all that, you know, God is good. He. He will love you more than anyone will ever love you, no matter even your mother.
You know, the Word says, even if my mother and father forsake me, God will never forsake you. Your closest friend may forsake you, but Jesus will never forsake you, even if you've done things wrong. He's a God who forgives. He doesn't recount our sins to us if we've turned from them. He's so good.
So in closing today, I would just like to share these few scriptures in closing, God's promise for restoration. Psalms 30, verse 5 says, Weeping meander for a night. Joy comes in the morning.
And I've even found. Joy comes through the mourning, through our mourning. Joy comes. We mourn, we cry out, but then comes the joy. Proverbs 13:12.
Famous scripture. Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life. When we begin to see that light at the end of the tunnel, when we begin to see God shifting things, we rejoice because we know all we experienced was worth it. It was worth it, Church. It's worth it. It's worth it because one day we're going to stand before God and we're going to give him all the glory we're Going to bow the knee whether we serve him or whether we don't.
Finally, Isaiah 54, 7, 7 and 8. It says, For a brief moment, I deserted you.
But with great compassion I will rescue you in overflowing anger. For a moment, I turn my face from you, but with everlasting love, I will have compassion on you, says the Lord, your redeemer. He is your kinsman. Redeemer. We can go from being bitter to being blessed. Amen. We can go from our situation where we're at now to the other side. If we walk with him, if we look to him. You know, Naomi had 10 hard years, 10 difficult years. Some of you have had a lot of difficult years, things. But I'm telling you, it's about to shift. God saying, for some of you, it's about to shift. God is our redemption. He's our redeemer. He is the one we have to look to in our times of trouble. Don't look to man. We've tried. It doesn't work. When you look to man, you know, you think you got to scramble to figure things out. How many know. It just sets you back. It just sets you back. You have a setback and God waits patiently. God's not in a hurry. He's not a guy who. A God who is concerned about time in that sense, you know, he's not in a hurry to fulfill his promises. But it's like the people, the children of Israel, when they went through the desert, the wilderness, look how long it took them. Was that God's will? No, it wasn't God's will, but God was patient with them, long suffering with them. He went with them. He walked with with them. He provided for them in that desert place. He'll provide for you, but he wants you to come out of the desert. Amen. Into the promised land. He wants to fulfill his promises to you, whatever that looks like.
I'm going to play this song called Redemption Story. I just want you to, you know, feel free to do what you want. If you would like to stand, if you want to kneel, if you want to just pray and cry out to God and ask him, what is it he's asking you today? What is it? You maybe need to let go. Maybe you're in a good place and you just say, I want more of God. Tell him that he wants to give you more. He wants to give you everything that he has planned for you. He doesn't want you to stay where you're at. He wants to take you to the next level with God, you know, you get to a level and you think, oh, I arrived, I'm here, I'm doing great. But no, God wants to take you higher church. He wants to take you to the next level. He wants us to grow every day with Him.
[00:40:18] Speaker A: Thank you for joining us. We hope that you enjoyed today's podcast and we realize that not everyone has had the opportunity to respond to the good news of the Gospel. And for this reason, in all of our services and platforms, we want to extend to you the opportunity to follow Jesus. The Bible teaches us that we have been created for a relationship with God. However, sin, which is essentially disobedience, independence and disbelief, or us simply missing the mark, entered the world and separated us from God. Romans 6:23 says that the wages of sin is death and a debt was owed. And the Bible tells us that he demonstrated his love for us, that while we were still sinners, he died for us. Jesus paid the penalty for our sin. John 3:16 says, For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. God so loved the world that he gave us Jesus that whoever believes in him will be saved. All that is required of anyone is that they believe in Jesus, the Son of God who came, lived, died and rose again so that we could be forgiven, made right and given the right to become children of God and to have life forevermore. We see him today. You can begin a relationship with Jesus. To believe in him is to simply to respond with faith in our hearts and confess with our mouths that he is Lord. And we do that through a simple prayer.
Follow along with me. Dear Jesus, I believe that you are the Son of God. I thank you that you love me and came to forgive me of my sin. I repent from my old way of life and I turn to follow you. I receive the free gift of eternal life and I ask that you fill me with the Holy Spirit so that I can live a life of following after you. I thank you that I am born again as a child of God and that I am a new creation in Christ Jesus. Amen. If you prayed this prayer for the first time, we would love to connect with you and connect you to your next step and the local church in your area. You can contact us on our website at NUMA Church. Thanks for listening.
