Page 6 - Back to Bethlehem

Bethlehem, and that is where it all begins.

Now, I am emphasizing the word “back” in “Back to
Bethlehem”. I am making a big deal out of that because Bethlehem
is a picture of Christ, a picture of fullness, a picture of abundance,
and every Christian starts out where they started out in Ruth chapter
one. You are already in Bethlehem. You start out in Bethlehem.
Some Christians have a mistaken idea that they need something in
addition to Jesus. They say, “Oh yeah, I have been saved. I have
trusted Christ as my Savior, but now I need something in addition to
that.”

Sometimes you hear people talk about a second blessing, “I
have been saved, and I have Christ as my Savior, but now I need a
second blessing or a baptism of the Holy Spirit or some additional
experience. There is no second blessing but there is a rediscovery
of the first blessing, and sometimes that rediscovery of the first
blessing is so dramatic that you might call it a second blessing.

When you receive Christ as your Savior, God has given you
His everything. He does not give you Jesus plus anything; not Jesus
plus power; not Jesus plus patience, not Jesus plus love. When you
receive Christ, you receive all of Christ and He is all of those things
in your life. You may not enjoy all of those things but you do not
need more of Christ; you need more eyesight. We need to see what
we already have in Christ.

Every time a person gets saved he is in Bethlehem. He is
totally blessed. If you are not enjoying fullness in Bethlehem it is
not because you have not received it; it is because you left it. The
Book of Ruth begins where every Christian begins; on level ground.
Nobody has an advantage with God. We have Christ, and that is all
we need, and sometimes we depart from that and we go off to Moab.

In Ruth 1:20&21 Naomi said,, “Do not call me Naomi; call
me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. I went
out full, but the LORD has brought me back empty. Why do you
call me Naomi, since the LORD has witnessed against me and the
Almighty has afflicted me?” Now if you have an NIV or a New