chayil: strength, efficiency, wealth, army 2: 12: 1Now Naomi had a relative on her husband’s side, a man of standing from the clan of Elimelek, whose name was Boaz. 3: 113: 11And now, my daughter, don’t be afraid. I will do for you all you ask. All the people of my town know that you are a woman of noble character

Our Lord never insists on our obedience. He stresses very definitely what we ought to do, but He never forces us to do it. We have to obey Him out of a oneness of spirit with Him. That is why whenever our Lord talked about discipleship, He prefaced it with an “If,” meaning, “You do not need to do this unless you desire to do so.” If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself...” (Luke 9:23). In other words, “To be My disciple, let him give up his right to himself to Me.” Our Lord is not talking about our eternal position, but about our being of value to Him in this life here and now. That is why He sounds so stern (Luke 14:26). Never try to make sense from these words by separating them from the One who spoke them. - My Utmost of His Highest, November 2, Oswald Chambers

Jesus’ If As the Father has loved me So have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obey my commands, You will remain in my love Just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands And Remain in His love

What are His Commands? I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other As I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends If you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, Because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends For everything that I learned from my Father I have made know to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit-fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. This is my command: Love each other. Christ is concerned with our Joy! [redemptive joy] Jesus is very clear that his command originate and are the same as His Father’s commands. His Command is love and the greatest expression of love is self sacrificial love for your friends. [expression] We are friends if we obey his command [conditional] We move from servants to Christ’s friends through knowing God’s business. Jesus is revealing to us what he has learned from His Father. God’s business has been made known! [Same message] We are included, by knowing and obeying. [conditional] The result is reception [conditional] The conditional nature of this inclusion is based on God’s knowledge, love, and invitation to know and obey. The command is centered in Love of other!

So What are His Commands? It seems that all of Jesus teachings would be about: Loving each other Bearing fruit Going The conditional nature of choice and our response. If we love Jesus  We will listen (obedience) If we listen  We Do Love for Jesus produces obedience as disciples

Following Jesus is Ultimately an “IF” Us  God Repentance Us  God Rebellion Mt 7: 13“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. 14For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.1314

How Did Ruth get the right “IF”? Boaz understands: God Calls, God Includes, God Redeems Naomi went home: Love  Listen, Listen  Do We have to know who God is because we tend to invite others into whatever we are instead of what God is.

-God is. -The God who is, His name is YHWH, the God who is -This God who is, calls strangers and includes them and in doing so uses those who are included to include others: This is the story of Abram who became Abraham: Blessing, Blessing So that All Peoples of the earth will be blessed - In calling the stranger he provides opportunity for us to enter into covenant by demonstrating our faith in his ability. - This God then calls his children to include other strangers: Israel coming out of Egypt all who chose to align themselves could -In the beginning God… -"I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: 'I AM has sent me to you.'" -“Go …I will show you… I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, so that in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” - A mixed multitude also went up with them,… - If a stranger shall sojourn with you and would keep the Passover to the Lord, let all his males be circumcised. Then he may come near and keep it; he shall be as a native of the land.

This God who calls and invites is also a God of Mercy and enters into and invites others to enter into this covenant loyalty. He provides an “If” to all This God who enters into covenant loyalty also responds gracefully when those in covenant fail, even though He himself the God who is, never fails. This God who is, demonstrates Mercy and Grace and expects that those who follow him demonstrate this to others as well Inclusion with the God who is, is a conditional choice. 99Therefore keep the words of this covenant and do them, that you may prosper in all that you do. 1010“You are standing today all of you before the Lord your God: the heads of your tribes, your elders, and your officers, all the men of Israel, 11your little ones, your wives, and the sojourner who is in your camp, from the one who chops your wood to the one who draws your water, 12so that you may enter into the sworn covenant of the Lord your God, which the Lord your God is making with you today, 13that he may establish you today as his people, and that he may be your God, as he promised you, and as he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. 14It is not with you alone that I am making this sworn covenant, 15but with whoever is standing here with us today before the Lord our God, and with whoever is not here with us today Deut 29

Our Response is Conditional “I am Ruth, your servant. Spread your wings over your servant, for you are a redeemer.” And he said, “May you be blessed by the Lord, my daughter. You have made this last kindness greater than the first in that you have not gone after young men, whether poor or rich. And now, my daughter, do not fear.”

Law Law is Good because it shows us a God who Calls, Includes and Redeems. Love  Listen Listen  Do Belong, Believe, Behave Behave, Believe, Belong 5:17“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. 19Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven

- And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. - All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. - Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. -The God who is, because flesh and dwelt among us to both demonstrate more fully -this calling -inclusion - and to REDEEM Though he lived a sinless life, he took on our sin so that him who knew no sin, might become sin and so that we might therefore be included in His righteousness. Jesus came to call, include and redeem. -The God who is, became a human and taught. His message was clear, if we love him we will keep his commands. If we love him and keep his commands we are included with him and remain in his love for us! -Being in God is a conditional response

Love  Listen : Listen  Do As the Father has loved me So have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obey my commands, You will remain in my love Just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands And Remain in His love You are my friends If you do what I command. This is my command: Love each other.

Our Lord never insists on our obedience. He stresses very definitely what we ought to do, but He never forces us to do it. We have to obey Him out of a oneness of spirit with Him. That is why whenever our Lord talked about discipleship, He prefaced it with an “If,” meaning, “You do not need to do this unless you desire to do so.” If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself...” (Luke 9:23). In other words, “To be My disciple, let him give up his right to himself to Me.” Our Lord is not talking about our eternal position, but about our being of value to Him in this life here and now. That is why He sounds so stern (Luke 14:26). Never try to make sense from these words by separating them from the One who spoke them.

The Lord does not give me rules, but He makes His standard very clear. If my relationship to Him is that of love, I will do what He says without hesitation. If I hesitate, it is because I love someone I have placed in competition with Him, namely, myself. Jesus Christ will not force me to obey Him, but I must. And as soon as I obey Him, I fulfill my spiritual destiny. My personal life may be crowded with small, petty happenings, altogether insignificant. But if I obey Jesus Christ in the seemingly random circumstances of life, they become pinholes through which I see the face of God. Then, when I stand face to face with God, I will discover that through my obedience thousands were blessed. When God’s redemption brings a human soul to the point of obedience, it always produces. If I obey Jesus Christ, the redemption of God will flow through me to the lives of others, because behind the deed of obedience is the reality of Almighty God. - My Utmost of His Highest, November 2, Oswald Chambers

Leader: On this mountain the L ORD Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples, a banquet of aged wine— the best of meats and the finest of wines. 7 On this mountain he will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples, the sheet that covers all nations; 8 he will swallow up death forever. The Sovereign L ORD will wipe away the tears from all faces; he will remove his people’s disgrace from all the earth. The L ORD has spoken. 9 In that day they will say,

All: “Surely this is our God; we trusted in him, and he saved us. This is the L ORD, we trusted in him; let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation.”