Isaac Mwaniki Rewa

The Philosopher is the author of these wise and timeless words..."Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up! Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves". Ecclesiastes 4:9 - 12.

These words have been used by many people to describe the a situation of marriage or any close relationship. While this is true, it is not a complete picture. Companionship will always win over loneliness and solitude. It is very important to involve other people in our lives. Whether it is in the context of a relationship or marriage, there is need to involve others in our lives. Loneliness is a state that God never ordained for anyone. We were created to enjoy each other's company. This entails a teachable spirit and a willingness to learn from other people. It includes what Paul admonished us to, "in humility view other as better than ourselves". Accountability is virtue that is seriously missing in our world today as people feel they can walk it alone. We need to open  our lives and be vulnerable to other people. That is how another person can sharpen us just like, "Iron sharpens iron".

For all in committed relationships, let us seek what we can give more than what we can receive. We also need to be open to learn from other people and be willing to introduce new perspectives to our lives.

Finally one can not walk alone in life without God. We must always choose to walk with the Lord as "two are better than one".

Choices

A time comes in life when we have to make choices. I am convinced that we are a sum total of the choices we have made in life. History is made of today choices. A choice is defined as, “a decision to choose one thing, person, or course of action in preference to others”. Our choices determine the life we lead. The book of Ruth is full of people who had an opportunity to choose. We will explore the choices of Elimelech, Naomi, Orpah and Ruth individually in the coming days. We begin by exploring Elimelech.

Ruth 1: 1 -2 In the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land, and a man from Bethlehem in Judah, together with his wife and two sons, went to live for a while in the country of Moab. The man’s name was Elimelech, his wife’s name Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Kilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem, Judah. And they went to Moab and lived there.

Elimelech chose to leave Jerusalem and go to Moab. This was in the circumstances of famine that prevailed in the land of Jerusalem. He chose to move for a while to the land of Moab maybe to seek for better conditions. While his original idea might have made sense, Elimelech made three wrong choices:

 

1) He chose to leave the Promised Land: when things got tight in Jerusalem, grass became greener the other side. This was the first mistake committed. God had promised abundance to His children at all times. While Moab looked like a smart idea, he never came out of it. So did his children. The only person who came back was Naomi but with a lot of bitterness. If you read the book you will notice that those who never left and trusted God prospered.

Lesson: no matter how tough things become, one should never contemplate leaving the kingdom of God.  All good things are found in the Lord.

2) He chose to live in a polluted land: After leaving the Promised Land, Elimelech and the family decided to live in Moab, a polluted land. In choosing to do this, they did not have time to be a part of worship of God as commanded in Jerusalem. They might have justified that they would change the place, they however got transformed and within a short time, they were acting like the Moabites.

Lesson: We need to jealously guard our worship to God. We should ensure that we do not expose ourselves to corruption. sometimes we fall, but we should arise immediately. Someone said, "I might not be able to prevent a bird from landing on my head, but can prevent it from perching". We sometimes fall but should come back to God as soon as possible.

3) Lastly, he chose to linger in the prodigal land: The initial plan was to move for a short time. After they got there, they must have realized that Moab was not as bad as people said. They began understanding the Moabite culture. They not only learnt the Moabite culture but Moab also became a part of them. Within a short time it was ten years.

Lesson: Sin is very ensnaring. We should never think that we are just testing . One try leads to many more and one slides to abyss. We should not the devil is not a worthy opponent. That is his scheme.

 

Concluding remarks:

Our future is in our hands. We have the power to shape it with the choices that we make today. Whatever the situation, do not leave the Faith. If you had left the faith as a result of discouragement, come back. God awaits ….

Tomorrow we focus on Naomi and her choices.

 

 

 

Adversity

Ruth 1:1 - 5

In the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land, and a man from Bethlehem in Judah, together with his wife and two sons, went to live for a while in the country of Moab. The man’s name was Elimelech, his wife’s name Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Kilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem, Judah. And they went to Moab and lived there. Now Elimelech, Naomi’s husband, died, and she was left with her two sons. They married Moabite women, one named Orpah and the other Ruth. After they had lived there about ten years, both Mahlon and Kilion also died, and Naomi was left without her two sons and her husband.

Yesterday we reflected on ancestry and how it should not limit our perspective of the future. Ancestry is about the past. The present can also limit us, which is why we focus on adversity today. Adversity is defined as "an extremely unfavourable experience or event". The story of Ruth is a sad one. Elimelech and his family left Jerusalem and went to Moab, and settled down there. We do not know for how long, but we are told that, "Now, Elimelech, husband died and she was left with her two sons". The two sons married Moabite women and also seem to settle down. I am sure this consoled Naomi. We do not know for how long they were married but we are told that after a sum total of 10 years, the sons also died. This must have been devastating for both Naomi and the young brides. They had not yet had children which was a mark of womanhood and continuity of the generation. it was also sad that Naomi did not have another son who might have inherited them to propagate the family line. Naomi looked as a family line being cut.

This must have been heartbreaking. The worst of all adversities is when the present and even the future do not inspire hope. Many people today are living with hurts. Others are living with bitterness. Others are entertaining un-forgiveness. All these maybe can be justified. You might even feel that God is a part of the conspiracy to make life difficult for you. You might conclude that God does not understand or even if He does, maybe he doesn’t care or is not able to effect the required change. Naomi even requests to be called Marah or bitterness because she felt that God had afflicted her. However after keeping true to God, both Naomi and Ruth end up blessed lives.

Why is there pain in the world? Is God in control? These are difficult questions that we struggle with when afflicted. While no simple answers can be given to these, I wish to finish with story. One person was so mad with God after their mother passed on even after a lot of prayers. The person asked God the same question we ask God when in adversity, “where were you when this happened?” God answered, “I was the same place I was when they nailed my Son on the cross”. God in essence was saying that He knows our pains and feels them.

Concluding thoughts

What shall separate us with the love of God? Shall ancestry or adversity do? NO. We will go over the adversities we meet if we introduce them to our Big God. May we convert our adversities to be the launching pads for our testimonies… Amen.

Introduction

The book of Ruth is one of the two books in the Bible named after women. The other one is Esther. The book of Ruth tells of a story of a woman who refused to let her ancestry and adversity to determine her destiny, but chose to live her ambition. She refused to let the challenges in the present limit her options but makes a serious commitments that saw her life change to be one of the most celebrated women in the Jewish history.

 

Life is not always what we want it to be, and sometimes we feel as if it is not worth living. However I wish to state that our future will only influence our destiny if we let it to. I wish to invite you to walk with me through the book of Ruth where we will explore the bold words in details to learn how to move to our destiny regardless the challenges. I will be exploring each idea every day. I will appreciate, any questions or comment in the process. We will be focusing on Ruth 1: 1 - 22.

Today, I begin with ancestry.

 

Ancestry:

The dictionary defines ancestry as “the former generations of somebody’s family.” Science tells us that we get a lot of who we are from the people who came before us. We therefore share a lot of genetic material with the our parents and grandparents. We thus share in their good traits but also do not escape from others like hereditary diseases or weaknesses. Can we rise above our ancestry to make a difference in our generation? YES.

 

Ruth was born in Moab. Moabites were a generation that arose from an incestuous relationship between Lot and her daughters in Genesis 19:37-38 and were cousins to the Ammonites. Both were subject to God’s judgment and were not accepted in the congregation of God’s people. They were a proud people noted for their lawlessness, immorality and brutal violence, Lev. 18:24-25; Deut. 9:4-5; Isa. 16:6; Psa. 60:8. They attacked and opposed Israel, seeking to destroy the people of God, during Israel's wilderness wanderings, Num. 23-25. God’s verdict is clear as He tells the children of i, “No Ammonite or Moabite or any of his descendants may enter the assembly of the Lord…do not seek a treaty of friendship with them as long as you live” (Deuteronomy 23: 3 - 6)

 

This is where Ruth was born. From God's Judgment, one would easily conclude that she, and indeed all Moabites did not have a future. Ruth, when offered the opportunity, made choices (we will explore these in subsequent studies) which made her break from her ancestry. She was able to overcome her past and be able to be one of the channels that the same God who had condemned the Moabites used to give us our Lord and Saviour (See Matthew 1:5 )

 

Concluding lesson

Our past defines where we have come from. While this has potential of putting some limitations on us in the present, with commitment and right choices, we can not only change our destiny but shape destinies of other people.

As you venture in the day today….choose to be who God says you are and not what the ancestry says.

 

What is trust? and what is the difference between believe and trust? These are two different phrases which only find a common use in God. When referring to God, believing and trusting can be used interchangeably. To believe is "to accept something as true" or "to accept someone as truthful". This is normally based on the facts provided. For someone to be believed they have to substantiate the facts related to the issue at hand. When one had convinced us that all the facts concerning the story of interest are addressed, then we can say, "i believe you". Believing might not be based on any historical relationship as long as facts pertinent to the allegations made are adduced.

On the other hand Trust is, "confidence in and reliance on good qualities ...of someone". Trusting is based in character such that one does not necessarily have to wait for all the facts to be adduced if they are dealing with a person they trust. Trust believes before all the facts are made clear. When Proverbs 3:5 tells us, "Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight", the challenge is to put our faith in an unchanging character of God and not look on the current facts to determine whether to believe him or not. Trust is based on experiences. It is difficult to trust someone who you have not shared some experiences with.

In all relationships, trust takes time to develop, which is why broken trust is very difficult to repair. Interestingly, being believable consistently, builds up the in making us to be trusted...

Lesson: Always strive to be believable...and since trust takes time to build...take care of it...

 

Royal Tabernacle Church - Kilifi

Date: 17^th May 2009

Introduction

This year we are focusing on fruitfulness. This is our year of being fruitful. I do trust the Lord that we have already began being fruitful. Fruitfulness was one of the things that Jesus addressed very well in his Sermon on the Mount. This is because his main aim of coming was to ensure that we produced fruits, and frits that last. However in the process of producing these fruits, many times we collide with one another.

Has any of us been offended? How many of us like the feeling? How many of us have a gift of bearing with those who offend us? I know that we live in a world where offences come from all quarters. A sister told me that she stopped using a good dress when she saw an old woman wearing it. She could not forgive the old woman for wearing the same dress.

Today I want us to reflect on forgiveness. What is forgiveness? The dictionary gives us three meanings each of which is important.

1. stop being angry about something: to stop being angry about or resenting somebody or somebody's behavior

2. pardon somebody: to excuse somebody for a mistake, misunderstanding, wrongdoing, or inappropriate behavior

3. cancel obligation: to cancel an obligation such as a debt

Therefore even the dictionary recognizes that forgiveness begins with pardoning somebody, cancelling obligations but then finally stop being angry at something. True forgiveness will be deemed to have taken place when all these components are incorporated.

I however want to mention that forgiving is not forgetting. The famous quote, “forgive and forget” is not in the Bible. It is one of the famous quotes that have so widespread that they have been assumed to have originated from the Bible. It is just like, “God helps those who help themselves”. I think it makes forgiveness very simplistic. It makes forgiveness appear as something very simple to do just like switching off power.Forgiveness is deliberate while forgetting could be caused by many factors including illness. God calls us to stop holding other people responsible for the wrongs they did to us. He wants us to let it go.

Matthew 18:15 - 35

“If your brother sins against you go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector. “I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. “Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.” Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times? “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times. “Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him. Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.

“The servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ The servant's master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go. “But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded. “His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’ “But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. When the other servants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed and went and told their master everything that had happened.

“Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn't you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed. “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart.”

Peter must just have been like us. After Jesus addressed the question of what to do with a brother who has sinned to us, Peter realized that things were not easy any more. He therefore went to Jesus expecting a formula for acting. This would then allow him to react to the people who had offended him. He therefore came to Jesus with a very arithmetic question. When can I say enough is enough? He even had a rough idea. He asks Jesus whether it should be after seven times. Jesus, instead of giving him a direct answer, went ahead to give a parable. He actually tells him that if he was interested in counting, he should try seventy seven or seventy times seven times. Please do not try that at home. Can you imagine counting seventy seven times for every offender? This can only work if that is your only Job.

Why should we forgive?

1. We have been forgiven more than we are asked to forgive

This is a truth that escapes us very many times. Whenever we are angry we feel that we are justified to be angry. We feel offended. We feel we can justify our anger. We begin wondering, how could he do that to me? How could he splash water on me? How could he talk to me like that? We feel justified. We feel like asking God to strike down our enemies. We feel wronged. We feel misunderstood. However we forget the many times we have been on the other side expecting people's mercy and how we were silently begging for forgiveness.

This reminds me of Jonah in Nineveh. The people of Nineveh were not the best people to be sent to. They were good at killing God's prophets. They were not very receptive to anyone who came and reported anything they did not like. It is no wonder Jonah thinks it wiser to go to Joppa. Even if he survived and passed the message, he could not bring himself to accept that God could forgive people like those. Jonah says, "That is why I was so quick to flee to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity". Can you imagine that the vilest offender who truly believes receives a pardon from God? I know there are people we would wish would go through hell first before getting to heaven to at least pay for the wrongs done.

The only thing that can help us be on check is looking back and acknowledging what God has forgiven us. Most of us would not want to be reminded of what God has forgiven us. We would duck under our seats if God visited us here with a video to show others the things he has forgiven us. Some of us will have a bad day simply because somebody called you a dog. When someone comes to church in the similar dress to your very expensive new one, you find it difficult to forgive them for not giving you a chance to enjoy the moment. Imagine God has forgiven all the sins we have ever sinned and I dare say…even the ones we are yet to sin. God's mercies are that big.

That is why when he calls us to forgive those who have wronged us; he knows what he has forgiven us from.

Refer Isaiah 1:18, John 15:13,

2. The Lord forgives us even as we forgive those who trespass against us – the same measure is applied on us

As we think about grace, God has promised to give us exceedingly abundantly above all we could ever ask or pray. However as Jesus taught the disciples how to pray he told them to pray, "forgive us our debts/trespasses as we forgive those who have sinned/trespass against us. Math 6:9 – 14. Jesus is in essence saying that if you cannot be able to forgive those who trespass against you, then you might have no basis of asking him for forgiveness.

The measure used on us will reflect on the one used on others. This is heavy. It reminds me of a story of a man who used to deliver yeast to a bread making factory. After delivering it for a while, the company noted that it was not attaining their required weight. They thus set a trap and captured him. They took him to a panel and asked him why he was cheating them by selling them less weight of yeast. The weighed what he had delivered that morning and true it was less. The man was given a chance to defend himself. He just requested the bakers to give him one of their one kilogram bread. When they weighed against it, the scale balanced. He told them that he was a royal customer of their bread and so thought now that it was the same company, why not use the same scale? The bakers were very annoyed because they knew that their bread never attained a kilo. God is using our standard to measure our forgiveness. It is therefore expected of us to forgive.

If we want God to forgive us for all the wrongs done, we should be open to forgive others. If we do not forgive those who trespass against us, we in essence are denying ourselves a chance to be forgiven by God. We therefore MUST forgive.

Read Luke 6:37 – 38, Mark 11:25 – 26

3. It frees us of heavy loads

Not forgiving is very expensive. It eats us up from within. It makes us develop resentment from within which exposes us to conditions like blood pressure and even ulcers. By the way have you noted that that there are some people who have perfected the art of just annoying us? Somebody will either say a bad thing to us or mess us up in a way. My friends, such people are not worth developing ulcers for. Releasing them frees us to be used by God. Sometimes actually the people who offend us do not seem to know that they are doing it. It is therefore bad to develop ulcers over someone else who is having fun and rejoicing somewhere. You might lack breakthrough in worship because somebody came in the service with a similar dress or shoe to yours.

I learnt something about some tactics on saving electricity. I learnt that even when we switch off electrical gadgets, and switch off the power, there is still some residual electricity that flows within the system. Therefore the way to ensure that you do not spend more money on electricity is disconnecting the appliance from the power source. Even though we do not know it, un-forgiveness taps a lot of energy that could be utilized for other noble causes. We need to disconnect with our past offenders if we are to enjoy the move of God’s power in us.

It is no worth developing ulcers over the offenses people have done against us. It does not matter the number of time a person wrongs you. Jesus tells us in Luke 17:3 – 4, “If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him. If he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times comes back to you and says, 'I repent,' forgive him."

How do we forgive?

1. When offended, be proactive

When offended, some of us feel that people who have offended us should see where they have wronged us and come to ask or beg for forgiveness. If this happens, these people will be at your mercy. You will feel important and they less important. In the real world that we live, this does not happen. People sometimes will offend you and continue coming to the same church. Jesus teaches us that if your brother sins against you go and show him his fault. You need to take the first step.

Jesus is in essence saying, when offended and when feeling very annoyed and misunderstood, it is still your role to approach your brother. Why is it like this? God desires us to be free as early as possible. The way to be free is to offload any baggage that we might be carrying. On the other hand, if we appreciate that we have been forgiven more, we also are willing to give our friends a chance. Do not sit there offended by the way a particular brother leads worship; go and talk with him. It will enable you to enjoy the worship better.

As often as it is possible, try to deal with offenses directly. While we are advised to take everything to God in prayer, if the offending person is in your reach, talk with him or her. Please do not share the story of the offense to all the members of your bible study group on the excuse of soliciting for prayers. Face the person.

2. Just do our part

People are always not responsive to the good gestures we extend to them. Sometimes they will refuse to reciprocate. There are times people will even accuse us of interference with their lives. Somebody might even as you who you think you are. The point is, always remember that forgiveness is not complete when the other person tells you they have forgiven you. It is complete when you choose to release the other person of any wrong they have done to you. Stephen did not wait for the people stoning him to stop so that he could forgive them. Neither did Jesus. However both people declared their forgiveness as their tormentors continued even to kill them. After they died, it is when some people were touched by the way they had died.

Release that person who has offended you. Do not have sleepless nights on their account.

3. Forgive ourselves and move on

It is very difficult to forgive others if you cannot forgive yourself. Always be open to the fact that we will always offend people. And this when someone comes to you alerting you on an area of offence, just be open to it.

Conclusion

We will be offended for sure, however God expects us to forgive. The measure we use on others will be used on us. If you want more forgiveness, forgive more.