Hey, you mighty warriors!
By the time you get this SSMT post, I will be on my way to Nashville for the videotaping of James: Mercy Triumphs. It almost makes me cry to see the actual (recently settled-upon) title in print. So much time and focus and prayer and frustration and second-guessing and bewilderment and wonderment – and learning and thrilling and growing and wallowing – go into the whole process of a Bible study journey. Many tears. Healthy laughs. Big eye-openers. Rich conversations. Moments of, “What on earth was I thinking??” Above all, so much desperation for Jesus. If God doesn’t pour His Spirit into it, it will fall flat like a collapsed pup-tent. That’s the God’s-honest truth. After 14 journeys similar to this one, I know just enough in advance to be dangerous. Enough to start shaking (not with anointing but mostly with anxiety) when the outline first goes on paper. I know now how life’s going to go on in the middle of it and how all sorts of unplanned ups and downs, woes and joys will mark its pages. I know now how I’m going to end up writing about things in my life and family that haven’t even happened yet. Some of them will be wonderful. Others will be painful. It’s kind of like starting a new journal. There is a certain amount of trepidation because you simply can’t guess what will fill those pages. It’s a stomach-knotting blend of anticipation and raw fear. But what I forget sometimes in that anxious moment when I know there’s no turning back is the grace. The goodness of God. The fact that I’m invited to believe He was the initiator of it, as He is in all things faith (Hebrews 12:1-3) and that I don’t have to assume complete control over it. I’m invited to remember what life the Scripture has and how much this woman has to learn.
Good grief. I’m sitting in a salon chair about to bawl my head off. (Writing this to you on Friday.) I’ll try to rein this one in and quit being so dramatic. This is no time to wear you guys out about the James Bible study because Melissa and I still need you to pray us through until the complete manuscript is turned in at the end of summer. The beauty of all the studies prior to Esther is that they were pre-blog and I didn’t gnaw you like a bone throughout the whole ordeal. It’s too late now.
Make no mistake. The studio audience, the LifeWay video crew, and I need your prayers like crazy this week. Yes, pray for us during the day when preparation is taking place but especially pray for us in the evenings on Monday (tomorrow) through Thursday. That’s when the actual sessions will be taped, two per night, back-to-back. And pray big things for the participants, too! They are so incredibly important in the process. Pray for them to get totally caught up in the Scriptures and in what God is speaking into their lives and be oblivious to the cameras. Pray for them to experience a powerful encounter with Christ through His Word and for Him to do something utterly remarkable in each life. THEN, pray for that anointing to also transfer just that heavily to the women who will one day watch the series on the other side of the screen. I requested a smaller group of participants this time (like I have at Life Today – the perfect size!) but that means the cameras will be much more obvious to all the ladies in the audience. Pray also for us to bond in the Spirit right from the beginning.
Thank you so, so much.
I won’t get a chance to blog much (if at all) while I’m in Nashville but Amanda and Melissa will chime in. I will try to get on Twitter a time or two a day perhaps so, for those of you who like that, we’ll stay in touch that way. (@BethMooreLPM – writing that kind of thing always makes me want to throw up in my mouth.)
After the sessions are complete, the video team and I will spend all day Friday doing some additional taping that won’t require an audience. Later in May they will come to Houston and we will do yet more taping. At that time (later in May), I’ll do the intros to the session and also an on-camera dialogue with Melissa over the project. She has been a huge part of this journey. In fact, she was the first of the two of us who felt drawn to this book of the Bible. She is not a camera hog and won’t let me add her name on the cover but it would be a crying shame for the women not to get a chance to connect with her on screen. She has zero interest in entertaining but she has a huge interest in studying. That’s enough to make her push past her discomfort and get on the screen. In case you’re not up to date on her part of the project, she is writing extra study portions 2-3 times per week of Bible study for the student that wants to go deeper.
I am always reluctant (as both my daughters are) to mention two of us instead of three. Amanda, Melissa and I are, as my people would say, thick as mud and we don’t like to pair off. As I mention Melissa often in this process, rest assured Amanda is cheering us on and praying for us every step of our way. She is not actively participating this time in the editorial process (I miss her so much) because her focus and energies need to be on her family but we three women are together continually.
SO, did you think I’d forgotten what we’re doing on here today???? No ma’am. I most certainly did not. All I’ve just told you led to the Scripture I’ve chosen as my ninth verse.
Beth, Houston. “Rely on the Lord! Be strong and confident! Rely on the Lord!” Psalm 27:14 The NET Bible
Yes, Sir! If this selection resonates with you, join me with it! I’d be honored to memorize with you. I will say it over and over this week. Maybe you will, too, and He will hear us each time and find joy in it. I pray with all my sappy heart that the Spirit of God loves to hover over this community.
OK, so what are your verses, Sisters??? DON’T YOU DARE QUIT!!!!!
I love you to pieces.
Pam Hendersonville, NC Hebrews 10:23-Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering: (for he is faithful that promised KJV
Wendy, Newmarket, ON “And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.” Deuteronomy 6:6-7, NKJV
“How great you are, O Sovereign Lord!
There is no one like you,
and there is no God but you,
as we have heard with our own ears.”
2 Samuel 7:22 NIV
Linda, Ft. Collins, CO
Psalm 118:1 Give thanks to the LORD,for He is good;
His faithful love endures forever. Holman CSB Beverly Elliott Ohio
Kristen Keeling from Covington, Ga:
“You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.”
2 Corinthians 9:11 (NIV)
“God has made us what we are. In Christ Jesus, God made us to do good works, which God planned in advance for us to live our lives doing.” ~Ephesians 2:10(NCV)
~Bobbie Jo
~San Angelo, TX
Barbara, Warner Robins, GA
Matthew 6:34
So don’t worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will have its own worries. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
11 “They surrounded me on every side,
but in the name of the LORD I cut them off.
12 They swarmed around me like bees,
but they died out as quickly as burning thorns;
in the name of the LORD I cut them off.
13 I was pushed back and about to fall,
but the LORD helped me.” (Psalm 118:11-13)
Romans 8:38-39
For I am convinced that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height , nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord ( NASB)
Jennifer, Huntsville: “Rely on the Lord! Be strong and confident! Rely on the Lord!” Psalm 27:14 The NET Bible
Annie, Alaska, Psalm 136:5-6
who by his understanding made the heavens, His love endures forever.
who spread out the earth upon the waters, His love endures forever.
Sheila, Bethesda, MD. “For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.” 1 Corinthians 2:2 (HCB)
I have set the Lord always before me. Because he is at my right hand,
I will not be shaken.Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices,
my body also will rest secure.
Psalms 16:8-9
Andrea – Tulsa, OK. “He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.” Ecclesiastes 3:11
Cheryl, Austin: “Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness,and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” 2 Peter 1:5-8 (NASB)
Linsey D; Huntington Beach, CA
The Lord is good to those who depend on him, to those who search for him.
Lamentations 3:25 NLT
Debbie Freeman
Missouri
So then faith cometh by hearing,
and hearing by the word of God.
Romans 10:17 KJV
Sarah Noah, Canoga Park, CA: “My flesh and my heart fail; But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” – Psalm 73:26 (NKJV)
Molly, Rochester NY
“He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the alien, giving him food and clothing” Deuteronomy 10:18 NIV
Diane, Clay Center, KS
“Rely on the Lord! Be strong and confident! Rely on the Lord!” Psalm 27:14 The NET Bible
Tammy/Siloam NC: Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. Mark 12:30 (NIV)
Katie, Roanoke Tx “I will betroth you to me forever; I will betroth you in righteousness and justice,in love and compassion. I will betroth you in faithfulness, and you will acknowledge the LORD.” Hosea 2:19-20
Who is like you among the gods, O LORD?
Who is like you, majestic in holiness,
Awesome in praises, working wonders?
Exodus 15:11 NIV
Amarillo Tx
Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.
Put on the full armor of God so that you can take
your stand against the devil’s schemes.
Eph 6:10-11
Leslie
Alpharetta, GA
“Rely on the Lord! Be strong and confident! Rely on the Lord!” Psalm 27:14 The NET Bible
Kristin, Carlsbad, CA “You were running a good race. Who cut in on you and kept you from obeying the truth?” Galatians 5:7 (NIV)
Carla,Iowa,
Psalm 72:12 For He will deliver the needy when he cries for help, the afflicted also, and him who has no helper.
NIV
Troy, OH
Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.
Philippians 3:12 NIV
Hanni, Indiana:
Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes.
Nehemiah 4:13 ESV
Pamela, Lexington S C
“Rely on the Lord! Be strong and confident! Rely on the Lord!
Psalm 27: 14 The NET Bible
Lyli, Fort Lauderdale:
“A fool’s mouth lashes out with pride, but the lips of the wise protect them” (Proverbs 14:3, NIV.
Brittney San Angelo “And when He saw the multitudes, He went up on the mountain; and after He sat down, His disciples came to Him. And opening His mouth He began to teach them, saying,” Matthew 5:1-2 NASB
Katie, NYC, Micah 7:7 But as for me, I watch in hope for the LORD,I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me. NIV
Sherry ~ Dayton,NV ~”Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double minded.” ~James 4:7-8 NKJV
“I lift my eyes to you, the One enthroned in heaven.”
Psalm 123:1 (HCSB)
Walton IN
If my people, who are called by my name,shall humble themselves and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven,and will forgive their sin, and heal their land.
2 Chronicles 7:14
Marilyn, Mission Viejo, CA
Philippians 2:14-16a NIV
Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.” Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the Word of life.
Lorie, Rochester, MN Deuteronomy 6:6-7 “These words which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart; and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.” KJV
Hebrews 10:24, “And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works.”
Tess, Cartersville GA
Ephesians 4:29 ESV
“Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.”
Jordan – Reno,NV “Do not be deceived, evil company corrupts good habits” ICorinthians 15:33 NIV
Becky
Choctaw, OK
“Then Jesus said to him, “Begone, Satan! For it is written, “You shall worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only.” Matt 4:10)
I have set the LORD always before me. Because He is my right hand, I will not be shaken. Psalm 16:8 NIV
Diera, Austin
“And we know that in all things God works for those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”
Romans 8:28 NIV
Kristin from Kentucky:
Why is everyone hungry for more? “More, More,” they say, “More, More.”
I have God’s more-than-enough. More joy in one ordinary day than they get in all their shopping sprees. At day’s end, I am ready for sound sleep. For you, God, have put my life back together.
Psalm 4:6-8 (msg)
A. Wright, Columbia, SC
“Stand still and consider the wondrous works of God.” Job 37:14 (NKJV)
You have said, “Seek my face.” My heart says to you, “Your face, Lord, do I seek.” Psalm 27:8 ESV
Satisfy us each morning with your unfailing love, so we may sing for joy to the end of our lives. Psalm 90:14
Buffy
Rogers
My flesh and my heart may fail, BUT GOD is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
Ps. 73:26
NIV
And if you give yourself to the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then your light will rise in darkness and your gloom will become like midday.
And the LORD will continually GUIDE you, and SATISFY your desire in scorched places, and give STRENGTH to your bones; and you will be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water whose waters do not fall.
Isaiah 58:10-11 (NASB)
Carol Peavy
Jena, LA