Speaker 1: Slum and a blessed morning to you all, and you're
Speaker 1: warmly welcome to today's episode of the Morning Glory Devotion.
Speaker 1: This is Sarama and Rabels Jabbing from Harvest Chapel International, COMMASI,
Speaker 1: and it's our privilege to be facilitating today's edition. Let's
Speaker 1: share a word of prayer. Father, we thank you for
Speaker 1: the wonderful privilege to gather together at your feet to
Speaker 1: listen to your word. Please open our eyes and let
Speaker 1: us see wondrous things out of your word in Jesus' name. Amen,
Speaker 1: let us take our confession from Joshua one verse eight.
Speaker 1: This book of the Law shall not depart out of
Speaker 1: my mouth, but I shall meditate in it day and night,
Speaker 1: that I may observe to do according to all that
Speaker 1: is written in it. For then I will make my
Speaker 1: way prosperous, and then I will have good success. Today's
Speaker 1: episode of the Morning Glory Devotion has been titled Healing
Speaker 1: for Bitter Waters Part three Healing for Bitter Waters Part three,
Speaker 1: Getting Back to the House of Bread. A Bible reading
Speaker 1: text shall be taken from Ruth one, verse eighteen to
Speaker 1: twenty two. Ruth one eighteen to twenty two when Naomi
Speaker 1: saw that Ruth was determined to go with her, she
Speaker 1: said nothing more. They went on until they came to Bethlehem.
Speaker 1: When they arrived, the whole town got excited, and the
Speaker 1: women there exclaimed, is this really Naomi? Don't call me Naomi,
Speaker 1: she answered, call me Mara, because Almighty God has made
Speaker 1: my life bitter. When I left here I had plenty,
Speaker 1: but the Lord has brought me back without a thing.
Speaker 1: Why call me Naomi when the Lord Almighty has condemned
Speaker 1: me and sent me trouble. This, then, was how Naomi
Speaker 1: came back from Moab with Ruth, her morbid daughter in law.
Speaker 1: The barley harvest was just beginning when they arrived in Bethlehem.
Speaker 1: Amen Healing for Bitter Waters, Part three, Getting Back to
Speaker 1: the House of Bread. Have you ever made a decision
Speaker 1: to escape a painful situation only to find that the
Speaker 1: place you ran too, brought even greater sorrow. It is
Speaker 1: one of the quietest griefs a person can carry. You
Speaker 1: leave a hard season, or walk away from a difficult community,
Speaker 1: hoping to find relief, but instead of peace, you find disappointments,
Speaker 1: and to make matters worse, shame whispers that you have
Speaker 1: brought it all on yourself. You begin to feel that
Speaker 1: you have burned your bridges, that God is distant, and
Speaker 1: that you deserve the bitterness you now taste. This was
Speaker 1: the exact burden carried by a woman named Naomi. Her
Speaker 1: home was Bethlehem, a name that literally means the house
Speaker 1: of bread. But when his severe farmine struck the land,
Speaker 1: her family made the decision to pack up and move
Speaker 1: to the neighboring country of Moab to survive. It seemed
Speaker 1: like a practical choice at the time, yet while living
Speaker 1: a mob tragedy struck. Naomi lost her husband, and in
Speaker 1: time both of her sons died as well. She found
Speaker 1: herself destitute, far from home and completely broken. When word
Speaker 1: reached her that the Lord had visited his people and
Speaker 1: restored food to Bethlehem, Naomi gathered her remaining strength and
Speaker 1: begun the long walk back. When she finally stepped into
Speaker 1: her home town, the women of the city gathered around
Speaker 1: in shock, asking is this really Naomi, but Naomi replied,
Speaker 1: do not call me Naomi, which means pleasant, call me Marah,
Speaker 1: which means better. Because the Almighty has dealt bitterly with me,
Speaker 1: some of us may be leaving like Naomi. Today, we
Speaker 1: are walking around with the label Mara written across our hearts,
Speaker 1: convinced our story is over and our best days are
Speaker 1: behind us. But look closely at Naomi's story. The moment
Speaker 1: she set her feet on the path back to Bethlehem,
Speaker 1: her healing began. Notice that she arrived just as the
Speaker 1: barley harvest was starting. God was already preparing the future
Speaker 1: for her in the very place she thought she had lost.
Speaker 1: At the end of her story, we see clearly the
Speaker 1: testimony of God's restoration in her life. If you have
Speaker 1: wandered away from God, isolated yourself from a church family,
Speaker 1: or made choices that left you empty, do not let
Speaker 1: Shane keep you in more. Do not need to clean
Speaker 1: up your life before you retrace your steps. The Father
Speaker 1: is waiting at the edge of town, ready to remove
Speaker 1: the label of bitterness and restore your joy. Take that
Speaker 1: single step home today. Now, let us take our memory
Speaker 1: verse from Ruth four fourteen to fifteen. Ruth four fourteen
Speaker 1: to fifteen, the women said to Naomi, praise the Lord.
Speaker 1: He has given you a grandson today to take care
Speaker 1: of you. May the boy become famous in Israel. Your
Speaker 1: daughter in Law loves you and has done more for
Speaker 1: you than seven sons. And now she has given you
Speaker 1: a grandson who will bring new life to you and
Speaker 1: give you security in your old age. Amen, let us
Speaker 1: pray heavely. Father, you see the brokenness and quiet guilt
Speaker 1: we carry when our choices lead to hardship. Forgive us
Speaker 1: for running to places that could never nourish our souls.
Speaker 1: To day we put down our pride and our shame,
Speaker 1: and we take the step back to you. Wash away
Speaker 1: the bitterness in our hearts, restore us to the comfort
Speaker 1: of your presence, and let us taste your goodness once
Speaker 1: again in the land of the living in Jesus' name. Amen, beloved,
Speaker 1: thank you for being a part of to day's episode
Speaker 1: of the Morning Glory Devotion. Stay tuned to Radio HCI
Speaker 1: to day for more spirit fulled content throughout the day
Speaker 1: until we come your way to morrow morning. At the
Speaker 1: same time, have it blessed day, Ann sm