Good Monday morning, Sweet Things! I hope you are well and prospering in your souls. I am, thank You, Lord Jesus. But it’s no contradiction that I’m also still navigating through a season of concurrent weakness – like my limbs all weigh a hundred pounds – and sadness – like my soul weighs a thousand pounds. I’m trying to get insight into it and gain whatever wealth God wants to give me through it. I wouldn’t be here if I had nothing to gain from it. Scripture assures us of that as children of God. I’m one of those weird people who – as a loose general rule – often wakes up in a buoyant and talkative mood so these days are madly rushing by at a maddeningly glacial pace. I decided last week that, if I wasn’t going to be ushered out of it as quickly as I’d hoped, I’d at least ask God as sincerely as I knew how to use it. To teach me through it. To grant me revelation through it. Growth through it. Dependency. Humility. Living words. I’ve also asked Him to shed light on an area of blackness in my heart that I really, really do not like. We’re working on that.
So, yesterday morning before church I felt Him prompt me to pray with added expectancy toward our church service. That’s not hard for me to do. I love my church so much. I’ve never found church life more fulfilling than in this young fellowship of believers. I pray consistently for God’s powerful, life-breathing Spirit to fall on our senior pastor (my son-in-law Curtis) and on our children’s pastor and our worship teams. That’s my joy. Countless others pray the same things and we often get to behold with great gladness God’s merciful responses to the pleas of our congregation. There is ripe fruit, red and plump, already hanging on the limbs of this toddler tree.
But this time, I felt like God also impressed upon my heart to pray with elevated expectancy for words specifically pertaining to my own condition. My own wondering and pondering. I prayed for everyone in our service but I made a special effort to ask God before I ever arrived in the parking lot that my own ears would be open and that I’d receive the Word wholeheartedly. I prayed that last week, too. And probably the week before. But this time I felt a more! from God. Go to the Scriptures like a starving man clawing for bread.
It’s a weird thing about pain. The deeper it goes, the wider it opens your mouth to the Spirit. Psalm 81:10 “I am the Lord, your God, the one who brought you out of the land of Egypt. Open your mouth wide and I will fill it!” I need Jesus right now. Like you, I always do but I feel its serrated edge against the grain of my selfishness right now. I need His strength. His joy. His hope. And that means that, if I want to, I can sing every word in our worship time as if my life depends on it. I can hear the phrases I’m singing echo somewhere down in my soul, looking for a place to land. I can mean them in a way I don’t have to mean them when life is less mean…if you know what I mean.
Isn’t that the way it goes? It is only in a season like this that I get what I constantly beg God for: an intense relationship with Him where I can sense His Presence and where His Word is life and breath to me. Where the Cross is so much dearer. Where His Spirit seems much nearer. Where I love Him more than anything I can see or touch. That glorious place of the thinning veil.
I couldn’t write fast enough during the sermon yesterday. Our pastor preached from 2 Kings 4 about Elisha and the Widow’s Oil. The widow was in need. Curtis told us that, in our humanness, we despise being in need yet without need, there is no room for the miraculous. He said miraculous provision is our birthright – that we were born again out of profound, unparalleled miraculous provision and that we are meant to experience it often and until our last breath.
He asked us the question, “Do you want to live in the midst of supernatural provision?” and I do! So I wrote down on a stick note, “I WANT TO LIVE IN THE MIDST OF SUPERNATURAL PROVISION.” Yes, Lord, I surely do. Curtis said so much of the time we live the Christian version of ordinary because we either have so much or are satisfied with so little that we can simply take care of ourselves. By all means let’s put to use what God has given us. That’s good stewardship. But let’s not get ourselves in such a self-sufficient rut that we end up missing the supernatural. Wonders can happen when we’re in a place desperate enough to look for them and have the patience enough to wait for them and the prayer life enough to ask for them.
Curtis also said that “If we look around our lives and we have everything we need, then we may need to live a bigger life and set better goals.” The God-nodding kind. The Word-believing kind. The Gospel-living kind. Nothing about Curtis’s quote is in opposition to Biblical contentment. We’re to be content in whatever circumstances we’re in. We’re talking here about fighting the urge in our excess to be content in our self-sufficiency. To see little of God because we need little from God.
And, Girl, it hit. I HAVE A NEED. And I left church yesterday strangely appreciating it. I don’t know how I’ll feel about it by Wednesday but for right now, I’m thinking that an acute need is a good thing. A hard thing. But a good thing. I have never wanted to live a self-sufficient life with purely natural, utterly explainable provisions. I want to live in such a way that I know – I absolutely know – after a long, hungry spell that, when the sun comes up warm and gold and the ground shimmers with manna, only God could have done that.
That’s glory.
Total, unabashed, unspared, unshared credit.
YOU DID IT, LORD. YOU DID WHAT I COULDN’T DO. YOU DID WHAT NO ONE COULD DO. YOU GAVE ME WHAT I DIDN’T HAVE. MADE ME WHO I COULDN’T BE. TOOK ME WHERE I COULDN’T GO.
If I have presence of mind, I’d want to be able to whisper on my deathbed something like, “I’ve seen His wonders. Now, scoot over, everyone, and let me see His face.” Move and let me praise Him.
So, that’s my word from yesterday. I bless the Name of our merciful, patient God for His kindness to give it. Did you walk away from your church with one, too? Then, take a brief paragraph and tell us what it was. Get specific about one point and keep it succinct and direct. Wouldn’t that be a great way to build one another up around here this week? As we encourage one another in our pursuit of Christ, we want to encourage one another in local church life as an essential part of it. (Not the only part, by any stretch of the imagination but an important part.) Body life. It’s Christ’s way. If you didn’t get a particular word over the weekend – if perhaps you had to be out of church or you helped in the nursery or you were there but you just felt off and detached, you’re welcome to share one of ours today. They’re free for all. That’s God’s way. His Word is still alive on Monday.
No matter what yesterday was like, maybe today, after a long hungry spell, you might see the ground shimmering with manna and decide to bend down on those knees, scoop up a handful and eat.
Many, O LORD my God,
are the wonders you have done.
The things you planned for us
no one can recount to you;
were I to speak and tell of them,
they would be too many to declare. Psalm 40:5 NIV
After a season of lack (where God has sustained me), I heard God saying that he did not want me to go back to self sustaining ways and hang onto recent provision, but to release it to help others and trust him to DO IT AGAIN and continue to provide for me!
Oh my. This post spoke life into me. In a heart breaking season and have been struggling to hear from God amidst the chaos in my head. These sentences, oh these words, “Like you, I always do but I feel its serrated edge against the grain of my selfishness right now. I need His strength. His joy. His hope. And that means that, if I want to, I can sing every word in our worship time as if my life depends on it. I can hear the phrases I’m singing echo somewhere down in my soul, looking for a place to land.” Yesterday was spent with both hands in the air trying to grasp hold of those blessed words so that they could HEAL me. I hope it’s okay, i just copied this whole post over on my blog for my family… you know, links can be hard for my grandmother to understand! I’ve given you due credit for these soul salve words. Thank you thank you thank you. http://www.rhealanefamilies.blogspot.com/2012/06/im-pasting-this-whole-long-blog-because.html
LOVED THIS! Thank you Beth. I heard yesterday 3 John 1:2
Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in HEALTH, even as they south prospereth.
I SO NEEDED TO HEAR IT as my son and I had some health issues and me obsessing over the worst on everything is such an issue!
So, I’ve been focusing on this Scripture today which is helping HUGE.
God is GOOD!
XO! Genevieve
Thank you for sharing. It is always so powerful and much needed. Yesterday we finished a series UNDER CONSTRUCTION where we were looking at Joshua. The question was asked are we seeking God as a constant companion or only when everything is falling apart or only on Christmas and Easter. Todd told a story about 4 guys on the way up Mt. Killamajara. The wanted to save a little money so they made the climb in 5 days instead of 7 and saved $12! On the way up 1 guy got altitude Illness and had to stop . The other 3 could see the top but were becoming sick with high altitude illness. Todd stopped and talked to the guide about going back down and not making their goal. The guide said yes we can quit and go down. It will take 5 days to go around the other side of the mountain. Or we can continue up the mountain for 2 1/2 hours then go straight down. Sometimes we get so lose to walking with God, but as soon as we get out of our comfort zone, we want to quit. So close but just short of allowing God to get the glory.
Jan
Hey Beth, Thank you for your openness and vulnerability to share with us. I had the privilege of attending an Angela Thomas conference at my church this weekend. She was talking about the Valley of Baca (Ps. 84). Baca is a place of weeping, a dry desert. The Israelites had to go thru Baca to get to the temple. Angela told us that we all go through Baca, but to NOT pitch a tent there. To keep going. Also, in God’s mercy, He offers wells of refreshment, even in Baca when we dig down to get to the Living Water, we will be blessed and refreshed, even in the hard, difficult places. Oh my, haven’t we all camped out in Baca!!?? But seeking God and falling into His arms is the way out of that desert. 🙂
Thank you for sharing this. I am in Baca right now and am so tempted to set up camp and just stay here. It seems easier than trudging on thru the desert for an indefinite amount of time. It’s a great reminder to dig for the living water while here in order to have the energy to continue on to the temple. Just what I needed to hear, so thank you Donna for sharing, and thank you Spirit for revealing!
Our sermon was on the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. I was struck by the magnitude of sacrifices that poured into the Temple every day. Pentecost was a wheat/bread sacrifice, but I pondered the thousands of animal sacrifices that were done over the years. The Jewish people had such a clear picture of the cost sin brings: blood and death. I have the blood of Christ all over me, and I praise God for it, but I also realized that I take it for granted most days.
We have been studying the Book of Ruth, and the sermon was on repentence. I never thought of Ruth in terms of repentence but when she tells Naomi, “from now on your people are my people, and your God, my God,” she is repenting from her past life and it’s false gods. Our pastor made the connection with us when we talk to others about Christ, we are also “repenting” and admitting that we are sinners. In order to receive God’s grace, we need to repent of thoughts and ways that do not measure up to our Christian calling. I was depressed and down when I went to church by myself this morning because my husband is a non-believer, my daughter away at a camp, and my 18 year old son whose faith has disappeared and refuses now to come to church. Still, the message this morning cheered me. Lord, i will continue to follow you…
Amen! I pray God will use your loving example to inspire others toward faith and obedience, and reward your faithfulness.
Our pastor made a wonderful analogy of a boxing match. The boxer is in the ring and he’s in the thick of the fight and the spectators are saying “put your hands up!” “Move your feet!” it’s easier for us on the outside to see what needs to be done than the fighter who’s in the thick of it. When the bell rings, the fighter goes into his corner and he has his “corner people”. They tell the fighter things he already knows, things he’s learned since he started boxing when he was a child, but they are there to give him the reminders when he is so thick in the fight that he’s just hanging on. God is our “corner man”, God’s Word is our “corner man” and we need to be each others “Corner people”.
We can faithfully water our gardens and keep them alive and, in contrast, God brings rain and they explode with life.
In the same way we can labor in His vineyard for months and years often just to keep souls alive, but He can pour out His Spirit in revival and cause growth in hours that normally would have taken years.
Oh, gracious Lord, send revival today in our lives and on our land.
Amen, Kay – AMEN!!
1 Timothy 4:15 Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress. 16 Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.
Our Preacher said anytime you see the word “save” in God’s Word you should pay attention – We just had a newspaper print an article about 2 churches that are at odds over a “church” issue. It broke my heart to see the article on the front page! The damage is done, what a shame – my son who is 26 just said, “That is what is turning my generation off of church.” I was heavy hearted going into worship Sunday morning, and after hearing the sermon on this chapter he brought out in vs. 13 says devote yourselves to reading of public reading of scripture. That is the what I pray to cling to…God’s Word, reading it out loud, memorizing it, soaking it up! Pray I listen to God, not mens opinions. I love how the text uses the words: diligent, wholly, persevere, devote… wow God has laid heavy on me – be about Kingdom work, not get bogged down in…the wordly issues of life.
Love your studies, love your heart, and I pray for your family.
I had a WONDERFUL Sunday yesterday!!! My husband and I got baptized!!! We both were baptized when we were younger and we rededicated our lives to the Lord as one when we got married, but the more and more we learn and grow the more and more we realize we had it all messed up before marriage and before The Holy Spirit Regenerated our hearts. This August we will be married 8 years. We have been blessed with THREE boys: Nolan-5, Griffin-3 and Mason-1. The Lord has revealed Himself to us both so much in the past year and we have grown so much in the process!! It is so exciting how the Lord is working in our lives. We decided it was time to Publicly announce our walk with the Lord once again as ONE!!! God is so good and His grace is sufficient!!! Thank you Beth for your faithfulness to The Word and Your Studies!!! I can truly say that the Lord has worked MIRACULOUSLY through your Fruit of The Spirit: Living Beyond Yourself Bible Study for me this year and your James Bible Study confirmed it all this Winter!!! Thanks Again!! I LOVE YOU!!!
Dawn This is exciting!! God’s Grace is Amazing.
Sending you Hugs & Prayers
Praise the Lord!
WONDERFUL!!!!! I am sooo excited for y’all!
Amen!!
Dearest Beth,
Thank you for sharing your thoughts and everyday walk with us. You are such an instrument of God and it helps us all with our walk.
The Word that God shared through Rock Harbor yesterday was on “rest”. Genesis 2:2-3. God rested. He didn’t rest because He was worn out or because He was finally finished with a To-do list. This spoke to me and I changed my day and rested and spent time with Him. I do this everyday already. But this time it was with the intention of resting with Him. In that time I heard Infinite and it was over and over. He is infinite in power, wisdom, love, grace, joy, peace, healing, goodness, mercy. Endless and eternal is Our God. So in resting we are trusting in Him.
I hope this helps someone today. Love to you all!
So very interesting. Was not able to “attend church” this weekend, but after I had transcribed Beth’s “Faith According to Romans 4” from 2007 broadcast, we had gone through the first half a few weeks ago. We decided to finish it yesterday together as a family. Beth, your blog today was a total confirmation of everything you taught back in that lesson. Do you remember? Do you remember the absolute certainty of praying for what God has initiated? Be re-blessed by what He taught you then and confirmed in your life again this weekend. He esteems your faith in HIM – :)!
How/Where can I hear this teaching from Romans 4? This is the exact scripture the Lord is currently using in my life and I would love to hear what Beth has to say about it.
Thank you, Beth! You echoed my own prayer and helped me gain perspective.
Ditto, Kim.
What I have is enough – physically, spiritually, materially in every way – because what I need is Jesus and He is enough – everything beyond Him is icing on the cake.
Thank you so much for sharing Beth!
We talked about loving the sinner. We as Christian’s sometimes judge people and forget that reaching out to the lost is what we are called to do. It slapped me right in the face I will tell you that!
On a totally unrelated and sill note:
I have to share a story with you ladies that I hope makes you laugh, it is something only a woman can really appreciate.
So I FORGOT to wear makeup today! I got to work and was going about my day, I had no clue that I was walking around with a “naked face”. In almost four years of working at my job, I have never come in to work without makeup on! This morning was pretty hectic with getting kids ready and I ended up changing the outfit that I had out to wear so my routine was a little off but I still cannot believe that I did it! After being at work for over an hour, I went to the restroom and washed my hands, there is a mirror right above the sink which of course I always look at out of habit. I about screamed out loud when I saw that I did not have any makeup on! I practically ran back to my office and shut the door. I immediately called my sister-in-law who commutes to work with me and asked her why she did not give me the heads up this morning that I was not wearing any makeup. She started laughing and said that she thought maybe it was a new thing I was trying. I told her that for future reference I will NOT be going in public without makeup and should she see me that way she should warn me. If I would have known then I would have brought my makeup bag and put it on in the car while she was driving. So, I am hiding in my office all day today!
Thankfully I am able to laugh about it, but seriously ladies, how do you FORGET to put makeup on???
Have a great week everyone!
Oh Sweet Siesta,
There was a time when I was right there with you…but I am older and just forget more then I remember. I am sure you are stunning without “your” face so you just go out there boldly and show those folks you didn’t forget…you just remembered how Beeee YOOOUU ti FULLL you are in Christ…
You really made me laugh with your “no make-up” story. Just wanted you to know you brightened someone’s night!
Makeup – what’s that?
My son once told me he was glad that he knew what I really looked like! (I don’t wear makeup – I’m cheap & lazy) He said his friends mother was scary when she didn’t have her makeup on!
This Sunday God really moved on our family’s behalf. It was only our second Sunday at this particular church. We had a bunch a inner city kids with us that we take to church. We’ve been looking for an inner city church that is suited to minister to these kids. We had a few problems bringing in high risk kids to another church and learned our lesson, however painfully, that though it is fun to talk about reaching people, actually doing it can be too messy for some church folk.
To be honest we were determined as a family to take communion and earnestly pray about the pattern of warfare we had faced on a continual basis. It seemed many of our outreaches would have a miraculous, glorious start and then end either abruptly or have some sort of strange confusing twist by the end of it. And I mean we noticed a pattern. And it made us want to cry out to God about our need. Obviously , satan had a foothold that only God could deliver us from.
It just so happened that some people who are “known to pray” were visiting the church this past Sunday. After communion my husband and my older children, who also minister to inner city kids, all sought prayer. I actually had made a list before I arrived to church of the pattern of circumstances that seemed to plague us. I held it in my hand as I did communion and I took it with me as I went to pray.
This sweet, elderly couple motioned us over to them when they saw we were seeking prayer. How do you describe warfare to strangers? I wanted them to know how strongly God had moved, how gloriously things were moving and then BANG! The finish never matched the beginning. Isn’t the ending of the matter suppose to be more glorious than the beginning?
I couldn’t explain to them the depth of warfare or the depth of need. But I didn’t have to. The lady starting praying as if she had shouldered with our family our entire lives. She prayed into our situation so powerfully. And then her husband prayed. And there was something that her husband prayed that caught my attention. He prayed against a spirit of abortion. And that is exactly what it felt like. Like the enemy was wanting to put an end to something that God was wanting to birth.
The depth of warfare and our depth of need compelled us to draw near the one who calls Himself Savior. He wore the crown of thorns. He hung on the tree. He bore the curse that we deserved and that time of communion and prayer is just what our family needed. At the end of the prayer the lady grabbed my list and tore it up. She placed it back in my hand and told me to take it to the altar and leave it there.
O, Lord, do not remember me according to the sins of my youth, but with your loving kindness remember me.
We left there free.
PRAISE GOD!!
Beth, thank you for allowing God to speak through you during this difficult time. The Word is far-reaching and impactful to those of us who are also in a difficult season. Your recent post on “throwing” our cares upon the Lord was such a vivid depiction for me.
The Lord revealed something to me yesterday during an afternoon hike; I was taking pictures and my pictures had a blurry look to them. I then realized that the lens needed cleaning. When the lens was clean, the pictures were sharp, clear and beautiful. The scripture that came to mind was this:
“We don’t yet see things clearly. We’re squinting in
a fog, peering through a mist. But it won’t be long
before the weather clears and the sun shines bright!
We’ll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God
sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us!”
(1 Cor. 13:12 The Message)
I, for one, need to be reminded that, what I see now isn’t the whole truth. I need HIS eyes to see beyond what I can see.
Love, Michelle
BATTLE WEARY and worn out cannot wait to see you this thursday Beth. Been fighting the “good fight” against the surge of contemplative prayer which led to “breath prayer” which led to labyrinth prayer etc.. onslought in my home town. The churches are under attack – I know of 4 pastors here alone who have “fallen” and been kicked out of the church for trying to stay true to His Word. So tired from trying to figure it all out but am convinced that this form of meditation\prayer etc.. is literally teaching people to open up the “channels” into the spirit world and the evidence is growing. Stay true beloved Beth you are the only hope for so many of us voiceless as we watch so many fall to the winds of demon inspired doctrine and to only hearing what they want to hear. 2 Tim 4v3 For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.
I surely did get a word from the Word yesterday! i am in a season of unexpected growth professionally and I have been fighting it. Yesterday my pastor preached on Joseph and his continual and unexpected rise to higher positions. Joseph was faithful in every single step he took on the path God laid for him. God put me in josephs sandals in my mind and reminded me that not only do I not have to do this job on my own, but He is right here to help me walk into this new role . I couldn’t breathe at times because the message was so personal and specific to where i am at right now. What a mighty God we serve!
Beth:
Thank you for sharing. I have been praying for your current storm since last week. God is able in all things. Put on the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness. Our message was the 5 th in a series entitled “Free.” They are based on the book of Galatians. This weekend was chapter 5, teaching us how to walk in the Spirit. I thought of you because December 1 of last year, I completed “Living Beyond Yourself” for the second time. I told the ladies that I still did not feel that I had accepted and received self-control in one area. However, March 16, our church went on a 21 day spiritual fast. I chose the Daniel Fast. God used that to prove to me that I did have self-control and victory in that area. I am FREE! Beth, thanks for all you do. Be Blessed!
The Lord amazes me so many times with this blog. Today’s post was a confirmation of what the Lord did for me yesterday. I was scheduled to teach a class for a small group of women. The topic was baptism, a step of obedience.
I had been asking the Lord what to teach and felt like the whole week had been such a struggle for focus and study time. Saturday evening, I broke down and confessed that I needed him (desperately) to teach the class and that I would be happy to be is vessel,but that I know nothing except Him. He showed up and had me use the struggle I had at work to talk about the importance of doing everything as unto Him and that is obedience. We work for Him not our bosses. Sure enough, our pastor brought up the same topic in the service. . .
When I confessed my need and asked for mercy, he just plainly covered me with it. Your post reminded me that when we are desperate for him, we are exactly where he wants us because we are no longer self-sufficient. Don’t you just love Him.
I did get a Word yesterday, Praise the Lord!!! We had a time of reflecting back on what the Lord has done, how He has provided, how he has lead and let me tell you it was awesome and I left so thankful for the God we serve and encouraged by how He has used our Church to do His work.
Dear Siestas,
I know just what you mean about going to church and really asking for word from God. I have a need of my own that has been going on for some time. The type of thing where, as Beth wrote, it will come together and will only be because of God’s miraculous work. In the meantime, I am waiting and praying.
Yesterday, our pastor spoke on Ezra chapter 1. Cyrus gives the exiled Jews permission to go back to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple. And those whose hearts the Lord had moved prepared to go. His teaching focused on this idea: that sometimes our situation or problem or circumstance prevents us from seeing God’s dreams for us. That there is more to see, but we need help looking past our need as it is so large. This is not to say it is invalid.. but that there is MORE.
Only some of the peoples’ hearts were moved to go in Ezra. Many others had life circumstance, situations and whatnot that caused them to stay where they were. The word to me was this. That my need, which is a valid need, is not being met just yet. But that I need to keep praying and trying to see through it – to see through the need to what God’s dream actually is for this time in my life. For his supernatural provision and plan, not just what would alleviate the situation.
I can’t wait to see what He does!
your post today truly ministered to my heart…deep crying out to deep. i am in the midst of a divorce (i did not want it, and God has granted a clear conscience in it), facing a move to another state, full time single parenting, and many around me with needs so much greater than mine, even. He. Is. Here. Now. Emmanuel – the With Me God.
i am learning the walk in peace. to discipline my mind and heart to focus on Jesus, to keep fear at bay.
i attend housechurch. yesterday, we took turns sharing a favorite story from scripture (or passage) and what we’ve learned from it. my 16yo daughter shared that very story of the widow and her oil. she shared that God isn’t in to “parlor tricks”; He always performs His miracles in ways that also meet the very practical needs of His people. what a rhema for me. and then to read your post here and know that the very same story was preached by Curtis, and ministered to you as well! you always say that our God is a blast – and my heart bursts with Him now 🙂
Recently I have received a Word, not from my wonderful pastor, but from Pete Wilson and his book “Plan B.” My husband and I have been wrestling with the option to move to Ghana and if it is what God wants for us. We have been trying to sell our house for 3 years now and it’s tough. This impending move puts pressure on this sale, but Pete has helped me see that God is so much more in the process than the final outcome. Regardless of how God chooses to work, selling the house in time or not, He will be with us as we navigate the next steps.
I was out of church yesterday. I went camping over the weekend with my husband. (Pray He will accept Jesus). On Saturday, I was lamenting missing having to miss church on Sunday. But then…what do I hear, a Christian youth group over one camp-site singing praise songs to my heart’s desire. All of my favorites. What a precious blessing to not miss my praise time, but have it right there in the campground. I love Jesus and the way He works things out for us. Reading my bible on Sunday morning and my husband asks me what is God saying today. So I told him about the passage I was reading in Col. Ch. 3. Plus being surrounded by the beauty of the Shenandoah (VA) River and mountains. Praises Lord.
Beth and team – this blog is part of ‘my daily bread’. Thank you.
“Ask God for the names of two people that He’s entrusted you with today — to be His representative in sharing His love. You don’t need to have gone to evangelism school for that.”
Lately (yesterday included) God has shaken me up out of my slumber of unbelief. I’ve been in a serious dry spell for so long that it’s offensive. I am ashamed to admit I have spent more of my Christian life in unbelief rather than belief. Occasionally I’ll have moments of pure faith but they are too spread out to be consistent. Fed up with my ineffectiveness, I’ve asked God, “What am I missing?!?” His answer: belief. Oh, LORD! Help me believe! Not just some of it – all of it!
Diane! Diane! Diane!
Just from a sista out here having gone through a bit of unbelief…
Have you had the time or pleasure to do the Believing God Bible Study with Beth? I am on the last week and boy, I Believe in God! I Believe God is who He says He is! I Believe God can do what He says he can do! I believe I am who He says I am! I believe I can do all things in Christ and the Word is alive and active in my life! I BELIEVE IN GOD!
I bought the workbook and audio CDs and have flown through the Bible Studies in a month. I can not put it down and my faith has increased so much that I stand here telling you about it – I am bold with assurance. I truly Believe in God!
I hope you have the time and can go through this Bible Study because it is a sure fire way to grow in faith! I love it and will miss it when it is over!
God bless you! : )
Vikki,
No, I have not done the Bible study. I am going to need to check that one out. I have always thought faith was something you feel and that you have no control over it – either you have it, or you don’t. I have always felt like I wasn’t meant to have faith. That faith was meant for other people, but not me. People like Moses and Joshua. I have to admit I’ve had a pity party with it. Woe is me! I don’t get to have faith! As though it’s my predestination to be a faithless believer.
Thank you, thank you for the tip. I don’t want to be this way anymore! I wan’t to believe so badly. I believe IN God and know I am saved, but I want to believe ALL of what He says in the Bible, and to know that it applies to MY life just as much as it applies to the heroes of the faith.
Thank you. The weight of my daughters’ health issues, particular the older one who just turned 7 feels huge right now. And that combined with everyday life and homeschooling is making things feel more difficult than they really are. Trying so hard to lean on the Lord, rely on HIm, and give Him this weight. I just struggle with praying fervently without feeling the weight of the situation, if that makes sense.
So you sharing your struggle and what you are learning was very helpful.
Thank you.
Beth, here is something that stuck with me from my Pastor’s sermon on Sunday. I feel like everything I’m thinking of and doing is how to get over all my physical troubles. He talked about how God told the Israelites when they were in Babylon to settle down, grow gardens, have families. He said to settle down wherever God has you, that’s what I’m gonna do. I’m gonna settle down. I’m gonna accept this is how it is and God loves me, is my helper and guide and he will one day bring me out of exile. Oh girl, this world is not my home, I’m “just-a” passing through!. : )
Selina, Kentucky
Amen Sister !!!!!!! I’ve been going through some things and I too need to “settle down” and accept that this is where the Lord has me and no matter how satan tries to convince me that I need more, I know deep down that this is where God has me and I have been placed there for a reason. Thank you for that good word!
God has been working hard on me and lately I feel him calling me to something new and exciting! Your words today filled me with insight and hope!
Dear Beth,
What an amazing post. I have goose bumps on my goose bumps just reading all the wonderful words from our Siestas.
Our message yesterday came from Nehemiah. Friends had invited us to their church and it was a joy to be with them. It is a relatively new congregation and is just exploding in its growth with people on fire for God’s story. The preacher seemed like a boy just barely out of high school until he opened his mouth and wow…just WOW!
He preached from Nehemiah and how the book speaks to more than just foundation laying for rebuilding the temple…that it also speaks to foundations for our lives as believers and how God can use us if we have certain characteristics, ( that He provides for us but we often don’t access).
The characteristic that struck me was the abiltiy to trust God in impossible circumstances. The preacher spoke of Nehemiah being a slave…who went to the King and basically asked for his freedom to leave, rebuild the walls of the city that in the past had caused problems for this very empire and also, would the King FINANCE the trip! Talk about impossible and Bold!
So yeah…that was the word…and it was very effective…(and we have 8 new brothers and sisters in Christ because 8 people got baptized yesterday)
So I am praying for boldness and trust and shaking even as I type…
Leslie
I heard a message on Elisha in 2 Kings. God told them to dig ditches because HE would bring water and fill the valley.
We are so dependent on ourselves and the programs that others lay before us. My friend, Deb, refers to our spiritual indulgences like ‘feeding troughs’. Our heads are always down in that comfortable position chewing away without much thought about if this is HIS provision for us. It’s comfortable to consume along side a majority of peers. We like the ‘belonging’ feeling of the herd and we love to consume.
Am I ready to step out of the feeding trough and grab my shovel and dig? Look foolish and prepare for what seems impossible? Hope for the unseen?
I am in need. I am hungry for HIS provision that only HE can supply. I will be temperant and wait on Him. I will pray for the impossible. I will look to the hills. From whence cometh my help? It comes from the LORD.
Thank you for giving me a place to share the treasure I found from Sunday. : )
Our pastor has been preaching some powerful “thus saith the LORD” messages lately. This past Sunday was on unforgiveness. When we don’t forgive we stop our emotional growth. So if you had an offense as an 8 year old and don’t forgive, even though you are in church every Sunday and look spiritually mature you can be emotionally immature as an 8 year old. But the things that he said that we’re the most powerful were that if you harbor unforgiveness you stop the blessings of God. He also talked about how the resurrection and everything that came with it, the beginning of the church, the day of Pentecost, everything that has happened since then in Christianity was reliant on Jesus saying on the cross, Father forgive them for they don’t know what they are doing. He talked about how forgiveness and faith are intertwined. How unforgiveness can leave a root and we must uproot it. It was a powerful message.
I got a word early this morning and I don’t believe it was just for me so I posted it on my blog at 3:35 this morning. This was it ….
‘Then those whose lives honored God got together and talked it over. God saw what they were doing and listened in. A book was opened in God’s presence and minutes were taken of the meeting, with the names of the God-fearers written down, all the names of those who honored God’s name.
[Then] God-of-the-Angel-Armies said, “They’re mine, all mine. They’ll get special treatment when I go into action. I treat them with the same consideration and kindness that parents give the child who honors them. Once more you’ll see the difference it makes between being a person who does the right thing and one who doesn’t, between serving God and not serving Him.” Malachi 3:16-18 MSG
Praise God!
Jesus is coming back!!! In the end…HE wins and rules for all eternity… Praise HIM!
Dear Beth,
I found at the library a book “The Lazarus Life,” by Stephen W. Smith, which is about how Lazarus was DEAD in that tomb, and could do nothing, it was totally God’s power that rasised him from the DEAD when Jesus called his name with so much love and power.
Totally God Who brought that book to me, even as I am reading Colossions, and now you sharing your word.
I so love that and so want to live and stay in that place of God’s Power and Love, no matter what……….
karen:)
My sweet Beth, I was longing to hear from you this morning, so I prayed for you and LPM and your family and your church instead! Then, here you are as if you read my mind. Yesterday, our message was about preaching the gospel to yourself so that you can live it out for others. I am constantly amazed at how God directly speaks straight into my heart and how perfect His timing is. I have been struggling to pray for the biological parents of the babies I am hoping to adopt. I can only see through my own humanness when I look at their life. They seem woefully unable to do a good job and they don’t know my sweet Jesus. All of which I sinfully worry about. So my sweet pastor
was talking about recognizing how much God has forgiven us for so
that our heart would overflow with love for others, a love like Jesus’. After service, it was much easier to pray for my babies and their family even if they never live in my house. I will trust Jesus and His provision for me and them. I can love them like Jesus does by sincerely praying for their salvation and the salvation of their parents. And I do already love them. I felt a whole lot better on my drive home. Isn’t Jesus the most wonderful friend! Thanks for sharing your heart with us. Love
you so much!
Beth, lifting you up in my prayers. Just finished a difficult season myself and He proved to be enough and you already know that. It was so bad a one point I was actually going to write you a “real” letter with big letters PERSONAL and CONFIDENTIAL. Begging you to tell me what I already knew “Will I survive and if I survive will I be sane?” My husband of 30 years who affectionately calls you “Bethmoooooorrrre” (spoken as one long word) said he was even ready to write you. But wouldn’t you know it, I made it through…changed and blessed with my cup running over. My son graduated from college,(after seven years of bad choices) became engaged and we fell in love with him again and were thankful for our additional 18 months we had with him in our home. Our second son began dating a precious girl and she made our third son, who is special needs”, the subject of her college class video project. She called us “a special family” that she had the privilege of getting to know. So many more blessings, all because I stayed in God’s word, tried to be obedient, ask him to be gentle as he changed me and he was kind and showed mercy. “Those who sow in tears shall reap with shouts of JOY! He who goes out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of JOY, bringing his sheaves with him.” Psalm 126:5-6 Amen amen! Thank you for being obedient and what your ministry means to so many.
Thanks for sharing a bit of Pastor Curtis’s message. We visited your church in the fall and loved it. I was frustrated with our church and was ready to join yours…but that wasn’t what God had in mind…so then I was frustrated with Him for a while! But, He has changed my heart toward my church SO much that every Sunday is the highlight of my week. I get so much joy from my church family 🙂 Along with all that has been a season that sounds similar to yours – and in the same way…it’s so hard but yet, I almost don’t want it to end…because I don’t want to lose that craving for Him, that desperate need to hear His voice…
My Pastor spoke on following Jesus – no matter what society/culture says about your choices 🙂
Since last Sunday was Pentecost Sunday, my pastor has begun a series of messages on the Holy Spirit. At one point he quoted from Francis Chan’s great book “Forgotten God:”
If the Spirit were to leave us, would our lives look any different?
That really hit me. If living in my own power is living apart from God, then what keeps me from surrendering it all to the Spirit? FEAR that He will drop me. Desire for CONTROL. DOUBT that His promises are true and He is faithful to keep them.
I definitely have a need, too. A need for the Spirit!
Our youth pastor preached yesterday for senior Sunday. He reminded us of some of the great heroes of faith and how they walked with God…Moses, Abraham, Noah. And he reminded us that while they walked with God, God walks within us. And to remember that powerful Holy Spirit within us when we face the trials that are sure to come. Certainly a blessing to be reminded of God’s power living within us!
Our pastor preached out of Exodus 13 & 14
By God’s provision we live, by God’s power we’re led and by predicaments we learn.
Exodus 14:14 The Lord will fight for you; you need only be still.
I got to church feeling insignificant and very needy. Knocked down and left out kind of feeling and I hate it when it carries over from one day to the next when in reality I have been abundtly blessed by my Lord. Anyway, my Sunday school teacher brought an unforgettable lesson comparing me/us to the lowly postage stamp.Hope it lifts someone else up just like it lifted me up:
1.I represent my country 2. Like the postage stamp I must be always ready for service 3. I go where I am sent 4.I must stick to my task until I am done 5.I don’t give up when I’m licked (smile)IICor. 4:8,9 and last of all 6.I may be small, but I carry great messages!!
Isn’t that good?!!
I have loved you, said the Lord. Yet you say when have you loved me Malachi.
This hit me Sunday like a ton of bricks. I have been so guilty.
My word: that to glorify God by loving Him and my neighbor IS my purpose and focus; my “job”. So helpful when a coworker today told me the things I was doing wrong loudly and unkindly in front of others. Not only did the Spirit remind me of my “job” but brought me peace and joy within the situation. I was given the power to love my coworker and to witness to another later on when she asked me how I could refrain from lashing back. Oh Father, praise you for Your sanctifying grace!
Psalm 100 and Psalm 148- Praise Him! He is worthy! Read 148 in my devotions before I headed to church and then Pastor talked through Psalm 100- enter his gates with thanksgiving. Praise Him no matter what.
And, on a side note, I was blessed as I watched my 9 year old trying to keep up with the sermon on the Bible on his Ipad. God is so good…
Last week was Rom 12:1-2 about being a living sacrifice. This week was about how that humbles us (v3) because we’ve already surrendered fully to him. I am who I am only b/c of His gift of grace (1 Cor 15:10). So then when verses 4-8 come along, about using gifts, we see them as just that–gifts from Him. That we’re responsible for pouring out to others IN THE MEASURE WE’VE BEEN GIFTED! Then, in v9+, like in 1 Cor 12-13-14, He links up LOVE with GIFTS. Our gifts are meant to be poured out for the benefit of the BODY(not my own) in LOVE!
Our pastor spoke on Eph. 1:15-23. When he got to verse 17 & 18, I saw them in a new way. “I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so you may know Him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incompararably great power for us who believe.” Our pastor said we are to pray for each other that the eyes of our heart may be opened to God’s word, and obey it. I wa schallenged to pray for others in a new way.