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.
Julia from Beaufort, NC
“Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.” Romans 12:12 NIV
Medina, Oh
May 1
Joshua 22:5
But be very careful to keep the commandment and the law that Moses the servant of the lord gave you: to love the lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, to keep his commands, to hold fast to him and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.”. NIV
May 1, 2011
James 4:8a
Come near to God and he will come near to you.
Margie
Hilton Head Island, SC
Tammy, Fayetteville, AR
“Rely on the Lord! Be strong and confident! Rely on the Lord! Ps. 27:14 NET
Deb, Pierre SD “Everything is permissible for me”-but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible for me “-but I will not be mastered by anything. 1 Corinthians 6:12
Karyn, Elberfeld, IN: Wait for the Lord; be strong and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for the Lord. Psalm 27:14 (NASB)
Zan from Franklin, TN
“Rely on the Lord! Be strong and confident! Rely on the Lord!” Psalm 27:14 The NET Bible
Beckie, Florence, SC
Psalm 103:1-5 (NAS)
Bless the Lord, Oh my soul, and all that is within me bless his holy name.
Bless the Lord, oh my soul, and forget none of His benefits;
Who pardons all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases;
Who redeems your life from the pit, Who crown you with lovingkindness and compassion,
Who satisfies your years with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle.
Stacey in Midlothian,VA
We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain. Hebrews 6:19 ESV
Lisa, West Des Moines, IA “Keep on asking, and you will be given what you ask for. Keep on looking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened.” Matthew 7:7 (NLT)
Marsha, Knoxville, TN
No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.
1 Corinthians 2:9 NLT
Wait on the LORD; Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the LORD!
Psalm 27:14 NKJV
Lord,
In each of our situations we are waiting on you. We know that in our own strength, we can do nothing but fail. We take courage in the fact that we are in Your will and that You desire us to succeed and will enable us to succeed even down to strengthening our own feeble hearts to trust and rely on You. You are so gracious, Lord.
We pray for an overwhelming sense of Your presence and Your joy as the LPM team tapes this week. Please cause all of those involved to be so overwhelmed by Your love for us and Your incredible grace and mercy that everyone will be so intent on hearing from You, on glorifying You, and on worshipping You that the participants will not even notice the cameras. I pray everyone, expecially Beth will see You, Lord, high and lifted up and setated on Your throne. You are so worthy of all praise and adoration, Father. Thank you for using us, as fragile and cracked pots as we are…we know we were fashioned by you for a particular purpose and we are safe in the Potter’s hands. Thank you that you will be with each of us today whether we are in front of a camera, a classroom, a diaper changing table, a screaming toddler, a back mouthing teen, an angry boss, a sink full of dirty dishes again, or a judge.
We wait on You Lord, we rely on You. We will “Fear not: (but rather)stand and see the great wonders of the Lord, which He will do this day.” (Ex. 14:13)
Prayers will be with you, Beth, and with all those who work with You in any capacity over this coming week.
Blessings to all the Siestas today.
Tammy, Sugar Land, TX
“Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.”
Psalm 34:8 (NIV)
“Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.”
Matthew 26:41 (NIV)
Vicki-Burton, Michigan
“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”
Hebrews 11:1 (NASB)
Colleen, Lyndonville NY : Understand [this], my beloved brethren. Let every man be quick to hear [a ready listener], slow to speak, slow to take offense and to get angry. James 1:19, Amp.
Christa, Greeneville, TN:
“Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?” Psalm 139:7 (NIV)
Lori – Syracuse
Deuteronomy 30:6 (MSG)
God, your God, will cut away the thick calluses on your heart and your children’s hearts, freeing you to love God, your God, with your whole heart and soul and live, really live.
Rely on the Lord! Be Strong and Confident! Rely on the Lord! Psalms 27:14
Kathie, Kalamazoo MI
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast.
Ephesians 2:8-9 NIV
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be pleasing to You, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. Ps 19:14 (NLT)
As each one has received a gift minister it to one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.
1 Peter 4:10
David says the same thing when he speaks of the blessedness of the man to whom God credits rightousness apart from works: “Blessed are they whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him.” Is this blessedness only for the circumcised or also for the uncircumcised? We have been saying that Abraham’s faith was credited to him as righteousness. Under what circumstances? Was it after he was circumcised or before? It was not after, but before! Romans 4:6-10 NIV
5/2/11 Suzanne, Summerfield, Fl.
Ps.40:5
Many O Lord my God are Your wonderful works which you have done; and Your thoughts toward us cannot be recounted to You in order; If I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered. NKJV
Brandy Fox, Siloam Springs, AR
Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you.
Hebrews 13:5 NIV
Anna, Indiana
What causes fights and quarrels among you?
Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you?
James 4:1 (NIV)
1 Corinthians 13:4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
Mary, from New Hampshire. Beth’s chosen verse really spoke to me to:
“Rely on the Lord! Be strong and confident! Rely on the Lord!” Psalm 27:14 The NET Bible
Melissa, Waco
Isaiah 55:8, NIV
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD.
Robin Landing, NJ
“Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.”
Philippians 4:9 KJV
Jennifer, Denham Springs, LA
For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God. 2 Cor. 1:20, NIV
Allison – Warrenton, Va
“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”
Romans 15:13
Crystal, Columbia “Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him.” Psalm 34:8 NIV
Emily – Fairburn, GA
“As a father shows compassion to his children, so the LORD shows compassion to those who fear him. For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust” (Psalm 103:13-14 ESV).
Hebrews 11:6
And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
Debra, Gentry, Arkansas Daniel 2:20-21
“Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever; wisdom and power are his. He changes times and seasons: he sets up kings and deposes them. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning…”
Karen, Orillia ON Canada
“He who fears the Lord has a secure fortress, and for his children it will be a refuge.” Proverbs 14:26 (NIV)
Denise, Fresno, CA
“Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always.” (Psalm 105:4 NIV)
Natalie, Indialantic Fl – Psalm 27:14 “Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.”
Tracey Knight ~ Arkadelphia AR:
The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. Lamentations 3:22-23 ESV
Denise, Walton, Ky
Colossians 3:23-24 NIV
Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.
Bettie, Wendell, NC
1John 4:21 “And he has given us this command: Anyone
who loves God must also love their brother and sister.”
Amber, Lincolnton, NC
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him and He will make your paths straight.”
Proverbs, 3:5-6 (NIV)
Christina, Egenhausen: “…while the son was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion 4 him…” -Luke 15:20 NIV
Nancy, Oxford, Florida, I Thessalonians 5:16-18 (NIV)
“Be joyful always; Pray continually; Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”
Donna, Grosse Pointe Shores, MI: “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2 Tim.3: 16-17)
For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline.
2 Timothy 1:7 NASB
I am always joyful, I will never stop praying, I am always thankful in all circumstances for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for me. 1st Thes. 5:16-17
Michele, Edmond,Ok.
“For we walk by faith, not by sight” 1 Cor.5:7 NKJV
“Rely on the Lord, be strong and confident, Rely on the Lord.”
Ps. 27:14 NET
D
Loganville, PA
“Rely on the Lord! Be strong and confident! Rely on the Lord!” Psalm 27:14 The NET Bible
One thing I ask of the Lord, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple.
Psalm 27:4 (NIV)