My beloved sisters,
I am so blessed to ring in a new year with you and to anticipate God’s goodness and faithfulness in the coming 12 months. Let’s allow 2014 to be more than the next number on a calendar. Let’s deliberately enter into a fresh season and invite Jesus to do something brand new in us and thank Him in advance for what He has planned. His ways are always right. Always fitting. Without having a clue what is ahead in 2014, you can have unshakable confidence that your God will be good to you. He holds you securely in the palm of His hand.
I am deeply thankful for you this day and all you mean to His Kingdom. You are staunch servants. Mighty, mighty women of God. I am amazed by all you do in His Name and for the beauty and creativity of His holy calling displayed and parceled among you. You sharpen me and keep me running my race at full speed toward the one and only goal worth setting: the finish line where Jesus stands, urging us forward and waiting to welcome us home.
I have a simple truth on my heart this new year but it is washing over my soul like a waterfall.
I want to obey God.
In mid-November of 2012, God dropped a word so convicting on my heart through another teacher’s lesson that my face instantly burned. You’ve had those times, too, when you look around the room sheepishly to see if everyone is glaring at you, hoping you got it so that the congregation can all move on to the next point. This was the word:
Stop sowing over and over in the exact same field.
I wasn’t looking for it. I didn’t ask for it. I was happy where I was. Like many of you, I like things to stay the same. I loved my circle of relationships and the familiar places I got to serve. I’ve never lost a passion for those places and have often wept with thanksgiving to God for the privilege of walking through some of the same doors again and again. I have a history of long relationships and staying put and that’s how I like things. But I knew God was talking to me. It burned like a branding iron.
Every single day for nearly 14 months, that same word has reverberated in my soul and troubled my feet.
I have made some strides and taken some steps. The Living Proof Live event team and I felt the urging of the Holy Spirit almost simultaneously to continue to do what we’ve been doing – calling people to worship and the Word – but to become very proactive about reaching the lost and the less-discipled. You will hear us become vocal about this initiative in the coming months leading up to our new LPL calendar year that launches in April. We are passionate to still serve women who know Christ well but we’re also hoping they will join us shoulder-to-shoulder in the accelerated outreach effort that God is blazing in our souls. We are praying earnestly that women will come bringing the lost and the searching and the broken and the untaught. A dying world surrounds us. One that Jesus loves. One that He died and rose again to redeem.
The process of change is not simple. It takes forethought and prayerful preparation. We are, for instance, deliberating on ways to make tickets available because we know that lost people aren’t prone to buy tickets to Christian events. We’re trusting God to show us what to do and how to do it. The free ebooks that we’re putting out for the first 10 days of January are part of this initiative. We’re very aware that, when it comes to reaching the unreached, free is key.
So strides have been made but they are only first steps.
I shared with you the date in 2012 that this word came to me so that, if you needed it, you’d have some assurance that I’m not knee jerking or reacting impulsively. I have had all these months to pray and study and listen to Jesus and ponder His leadership.
Fast forward 12 months exactly to the most recent November. A year after hearing from God so clearly about sowing further than the field that I’d loved and served in for so long, I had a very disturbing dream. I can count the significant dreams I’ve had through the decades on one hand so I’m not prone to look for messages in my sleep to keep from having to actually pray and read the Bible. That God can speak through dreams is clear in our own Bibles, of course, but for many of us it is unusual. I don’t feel the release right now to describe the dream though I may someday. What I do feel is a strong compelling to share with you what I knew beyond a doubt it meant. I believe that I can either be obedient to God in the faith walk He is setting before me or He will take my voice. I do not feel that it was a rebuke. I felt that it was a warning.
I was saved in childhood but I was 18 years old the first time I ever had a vivid encounter with God and it accompanied my calling. Christ has been so merciful to remain with me through harrowing ups and downs, fears and failings, and flaws and frailties. Good grief, what grace He has poured on my life. What forgiveness flows from His wounds on the cross. I’ve been so foolish at times and learned many things the hard way but I am not new to the believing walk. I don’t look to the air for my words from God. I look to the Scriptures. It is my daily bread. I want revelation any way Jesus wants to give it but I’ve been around long enough to know that, if it is unrecognizable in His Word, it is not of Him.
38 years have come and gone since that day I received my calling.
And I have rarely – if ever – received clearer orders from God.
I share this with you because I love and esteem you so much and want you to know that I haven’t lost my footing or had a dramatic change in my theology as I tread into a wider perimeter than I’ve served before. I say this to you before I have a single invitation on the docket that is out of the ordinary. I’m not manipulating you in advance of announcing some big plan to you. No such plan exists. No such invitations have yet come that I know of. But when they do, I will take them prayerfully before God and if He says go, Sister, I’m going to go. I must.
For lack of a better way to say it, I am not picking up and moving across the fence. I think this is more about dismantling a fence anyway. I’m not leaving Living Proof Ministries. I’m not departing from our mission statement of many years: to encourage people toward knowing and loving the Lord Jesus Christ through the study of His Word. I’m by no means leaving my beloved church, Bayou City Fellowship. I’m not saying goodbye to the blog or this community. On the contrary, we have an active year before us and summer Bible study right around the corner. I hope to enjoy many more years of fruitful friendship and partnership with LifeWay through in-depth Bible studies and Living Proof Live events. They have been so gracious and willing to exceed denominational boundaries. I praise God for them.
We must all be willing to exceed denominational boundaries. Revival is at stake. Nearsightedness will trip us and disunity will slay us in the perilous days to come. We can prioritize our denominations over the Scriptures if we want to but we will shrivel up and die on the vine if we do.
We who are called to teach must teach the Scriptures even if – and especially when – they differ from our long-held stance. That we will answer for.
These are days for bravery.
To avail ourselves to the Holy Spirit and a fresh work of Christ in our midst, our healthy fear of God must far exceed our fear of man. I say this with tremendous love. Those who refuse to rock the boat when Jesus is tossing the waves in their faces will never know the thrill of the water beneath their feet.
For without faith it is impossible to please Him. Hebrews 11:6
Change is on the horizon and certainly not only where I live and serve. The winds of the Holy Spirit are picking up. We can dig our feet in the ground and demand to stay right where we are. We can toil to maintain things just as they have been for years. And we can be left out of a coming awakening that could one day be recorded in the annals of Christian history.
We can throw our boundaries up at God, keep stacking our divisive bricks, and insist that He obey us.
Or we can obey Him.
God help me, that’s what I want to do. I am too old anymore to let the bullies boss me. And I am too young to quit.
Out of the stunning grace of God, I have had the joy of serving among some of the most well-discipled women in the Bible belt. Many of them take notes each week as their pastors preach. They listen to podcasts in their cars on the way to work. They serve their local congregations, feed the poor, and minister to the sick. Many of them have done every Bible study on the market by every teacher available. They keep their faces in the Scriptures. They memorize and evangelize and sacrifice. They are warriors. I’m not worthy of them but I so dearly love them. I have no words to convey how honored I am to have served among them and I deeply hope to serve among them still. But to serve them only – or even primarily – lacks stewardship. God is telling me to get my ear pressed to the ground for opportunities to serve in environments where women are less commonly studying the Bible in-depth. Some of those places may look very different from those I’ve visited before. I make this promise. I will hold tight to the Word and seek with everything in me to teach it soundly. I will hold onto Jesus as the love of my life. I will pray hard and you’ll never waste a prayer on me.
The days are short. The times, urgent. For all of us.
Need is a part of what steers a call.
I have no idea what the future holds. I have no idea where God will send me or if those places will seem different to many of you. But this I do know: if I do not tell Him wholeheartedly that I am willing to go anywhere He leads and serve anyone He says, He is going to do His good pleasure anyway. And without me.
I have to go with Jesus on this or my soul will collect an inch of dust on the lifeless, wooden altar of safety and sameness.
Thank you for your patience. You have been so gracious to bear with me through this lengthy letter. When all is said and done, I pray with my whole heart that this post will turn out to have been more than just about me. That’s so nauseating. I could have done that at home by myself and saved you the time. But maybe God wants to say something similar to someone else. Maybe it’s time for your next step, too, even if you have no idea where your foot is going to land.
Maybe you’ve been raised to keep your faith to yourself…and it’s time to start sharing it.
Maybe you’ve studied and studied for years…and it’s time for you to get up and teach.
Maybe you’ve been mentored so well that you know it all by heart…and it’s time for you to mentor others.
Maybe you’ve been the focal point of much compassionate ministry and you thank God for it…but it’s time now to pay it forward and minister to others.
Maybe you’ve been breaking free for 10 years…and it’s time for you to live free and show somebody how it’s done.
Maybe all our risk-free living is not really living.
And maybe I’ve missed it. But I am about to take that chance.
Ecclesiastes 9:17 NIV
The quiet words of the wise are more to be heeded than the shouts of a ruler of fools.
Thank you, Beth, for sharing with us. More importantly, thank you for obeying God and setting an example for the rest of us. This past year I have felt The Lord working in my life in major ways as far as not waiting for a husband and child for my life to really start, but that this blessed life I have of singleness is His calling for me. And not in a temporary way like it have viewed it for the past 15 years (I turned 40 this year). I’m not saying God can’t or won’t provide a husband and/or (adopted) child, because He can and will if that’s what He wants for me. I’m just saying for the first time in decades, I’m starting to see how I can be complete in this calling of living by myself, but never alone, with Christ. Like you, I feel like there are big changes on the horizon, but I don’t know what they look like. I do know, though, that God is in control, and we can trust Him. Nothing that happened in 2013 surprised Him, and He’s got 2014 under His sovereign control as well. So, here’s to listening, to releasing my limits on what I thought my life was to look like. Bring it on, 2014! And many blessings to you, Siesta Mama! 🙂
Thank you for the continuing lesson of listening to the Holy Spirit and obeying His commands. I really want to be obedient to His leading and your words continue to confirm how to understand His will and plans for my life. I need to be reminded to listen and check what I hear in holy scripture.
I know that in my heart but often my head needs to be reminded.
Amen … come, Lord Jesus. My heart is jumping in anticipation – just as I recently saw my grandchildren excitedly and anxiously waiting to open their Christmas gifts. First – I feel you have called me to give witness to what I have found is necessary in my life – and my prayer is now that God will put women in my face who I need to be inviting to join the studies!! And, I pray that the Spirit will have them hear the invites in a way that opens their hearts. The Lord knows I am one who feels like I would do the cave woman style – just knock them over the head and drag them there. Part B of ‘first’ … I need to listen to God to be lead to invite those who are doubters or have no relationship with CHrist.
And, second: I will grab one corner of the pallet that you are kneeling on; and, with others who also pray for your work, I will take you, my friend, to Jesus’ feet. We may take you to the second floor, and open the ceiling and lower you next to Christ. Your letter is filled with so much!! Trust the Lord to winnow the requests, to direct the plans, and to give you JOY. He has provided you with abundant seed – sow generously!! His Word returns bountifully.
Thank you for a praise worthy New Year’s start. With the sandals of peace moving me on … Jan Kreie
Oh, Beth, I am so with you! I want to live it, not know it. I don’t want God to do anything in me that is not eventually used to reach the world, to keep nothing for myself. I am tired of safe. Tired of comfortable. Time is a wasting.
Mrs. Beth Moore, you are one of the most wise, compassionate, gracious, passionate women of God I have ever ‘met’. And as a young woman who’s feeling the call of God on her life (soon to be eighteen!), I deeply admire you. May Jesus show himself in tremendous new ways to you this year. Your ministry has blessed so many of us – myself, included. (And ‘blessed’ is an understatement). I’m so glad you are not going away! Sincerely wishing you all the best in what God is calling you to do. You write so well – thank you for this word.
A wise woman in the Lord once shared a Francis Frangipane quote with me: “When we are baptized in the criticism of man, we become inoculated to the praise of man, so that we die to the control of man.” Following Christ is the greatest adventure. And that’s the key…following Christ. A few of your staff have become my dearest friends because of your faithfulness to His name over the years. Praying for all of you as you take a new step on this great adventure. He won’t let you down. He’ll make Himself known. May His miracles abound, fear flee, and may His presence be so powerfully evident. Jesus is always more, and I believe that’s exactly what you’ll find. I respect, honor and bless you in the name of Jesus!
thank you for your transparent sharing of God’s continued call on your life and ministry. as a prayer partner of yours, I appreciate the update so that my prayers are specific. We will watch and pray together as His plan unfolds…
Thank you, Beth! I love this resolution – this prayer: “Lord, I want to obey You!”
Lord, thank you for Beth and for her faithful ministry, and how You have used her to speak to us, challenge us, teach us, and draw us closer to You. Continue to guide, direct, and reveal Your will and good pleasure. To You, Lord, be all the glory and praise. Thank you that you have good planned and you will keep us from falling. Make our love abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment, that we may approve the things that are excellent, and we may be sincere, without offence till the day of Christ, filled with the fruits of righteousness, walking in a manner worthy of You. May we walk day by day, step by step, in complete obedience and dependence on and to You, in the fear and love of You, to serve, to love, and walk in Your ways with all our heart, soul, and mind. We love You, Lord! Keep our eyes from worthless things, keep us from self-seeking pleasure and “good works” – that are done to serve our needs. Burden our hearts with Your burdens, place Your desires on our hearts and help us to live like we we hear the cries of the lost falling over the precipice into Hell. The days are short. Awaken our ears. Awaken our hearts. Teach us Your will and make all our love, obedience. Take us and use us for Your glory. Consume us. Remove anything in our lives that is blocking Your power and Holy Spirit. Come Lord Jesus! We adore YOU!
Amy Carmichael, “Things As They Are” (ch. 6) “Then I saw forms of people moving single file along the grass. They were making for the edge. There was a woman with a baby in her arms and another little child holding on to her dress. She was on the very verge. Then I saw that she was blind. She lifted her foot for the next step … it trod air. She was over (the precipice), and the children with her. Oh, the cry as they went over!”
Lord, help us to hear the cry of the lost, and live like we hear it! Lord, open doors of opportunity and ministry where You are working. Take us and use us for Your Kingdom and Your glory. Help us to surrender all. Deliver us from evil and destroy the works of the Enemy – In Jesus’ Mighty, Merciful and Saving name, we pray. Thank You, Lord.
Thank you for sharing with us what the Holy Spirit is speaking to you. I know we will all be praying, and waiting with anticipation to where he leads! I pray that all of us will follow your example….Listen, and obey with courage.
Beth~ Thank you for sharing. When the Spirit within us leads and when we get our head and heart in-line to follow, AMAZING things happen. I look forward to seeing Living Proof of those amazing things from you and your team in the year to come! Thank you for the free and reduced-price e-books, and thank you for following the Spirit within you!
Your bravery will bless new hearts.
The Lord called me to walk an entirely new path at age 50 – scary but the right thing to do.
We will guard and cover you with prayer!
Love you.
Dearest Beth, be assured that your words are falling onto ears that hear your passion to first serve God then serve Him again. Your message of holding onto the coat tails of Jesus and going where He goes is encouraging and exciting. Any woman who has not been discipled will be blessed under your easy to understand teaching forevermore. Fear not for the Lord your God is with you!!
Praying hard over you as you step out into “a new thing,” a new direction of obedience. I love the determination I hear in your voice, driven by a deep calling. It’s in the air isn’t it? That God is doing something, pulling together His bride. Yet the enemy is ever on our heels, may we be diligent to recognize him. Thanks for the challenge….it most definitely was not about you.
Excited and will be praying for you!!!! You make us brave Mama!!
Wow, just wow and yes oh yes Lord!
Dearest Beth,
Thank you for sharing your heart! All I can say is that my Spirit witnesses with what you said. YES..we MUST get out to those who need us and will not come to a “Christian” event. It is time to use all the knowledge and mentoring we have had from you and others for so long. We do not have to feel ready or perfect….just willing. Then God can MOVE and we will KNOW that it was Him, not us, who did the work and should receive all the glory.
My prayers for you and your family and ministry will continue. God bless you and yours!
I sit here reading this post, tears streaming. I selected my “one word” to focus on in 2014 earlier this week. It is “Faith” & the verse the Lord had brought to mind & which made me pick Faith as my word was “For without faith it is impossible to please Him.” Hebrews 11:6 Thank you for sharing these thoughts with us all as this morning the Lord used this post to confirm to me that I had heard clearly from Him for my own life.
There will never be words to express what this post means to me. May God bless you & use you even more mightily in 2014 as you obey Him & take that chance!
Blessings,
Joanne
Thanks for sharing the upcoming LPM “adventures”. so here I am to follow. I know the journey may not be easy but it will be spirit led and God centered.
And Thank you for the gift of the books.I will share the link for the free books and hope seeds of faith will grow.
Let the fun begin!
The Lord has so graciously given me the opportunity this year to feel “the thrill of the water beneath (my) feet.”
I thank you for the encouragement LPM has been to me over the years as I’ve stepped out and followed the Lord’s leading. The Bible studies in the morning have put me in the Word and allowed the Lord to speak exactly what I needed for that day. Amazingly, if something odd happened and I missed one morning, I learned not to fret because there was a reason. I still said my prayers and worshiped in the car on the way to work. The following day, the message in my study would be exactly what I needed for that day. God’s Word is living and right on time. There is NO WAY any of us can plan out how this all happens. Only our Maker who had all of the details in place from the very beginning could be the one to plan such details of our everyday lives. I trust Him to get me through each day and I thank you for the blessing you have been to me, my family and the people I minister to each day.
I am on week 9, day one of Breaking Free. I have lived in such defeat. I want 2014 to be different. I read this post right after completing the Day 1 lesson of week 9. I so want Jesus to be victorious. Your post has given me more confirmation that I’ve GOT to go where he leads…no matter how difficult it may seem.
Praying for you. Thank you for your service to Him and through Him so many others.
May the LORD bless you and keep you. May His face shine upon you and be gracious to you. May His face turn toward you and give you peace.
Thank you for sharing! I’m so excited to have my eyes land on these words. And right now, too. I couldn’t begin to explain why this timing is so perfect. But it IS. Just know He gave you the word at a time and today’s blog at a time that perfectly lines up and intertwines with what’s going on with me. And I’m only one person. I bet it’s thousands. I’m very glad of where you’re at and only wish you knew to what extent and why. But HE knows. And for whatever you’re about to do, Jesus, I praise you now. Because it’s gonna be GOOOD!
Happy new year
I was so searching this am and books are a blessing – thank you
But I have only three words ” You Go girl” or as the kids say “ride and Die”
God is with you and we are too.
Prayers and peace
Oh my, God is most definitely at work here in many hearts. I believe His Spirit is moving and calling many of us into different zones. His zone.
Thank you so much for sharing. I am sharing it with my husband, as we feel Him calling us to prayer, fasting and following Him to be His servants as we serve others.
Selina
I spent last night in church singing, praising and finally praying the new year in. I got up early this morning with a sense of urgency to serve God with more zeal than I ever have. I know there are things I should be doing that I have not been. Like you Beth, I want to obey God. I have spent prayer time this morning talking to Him about this very thing. My prayers are with you and all who seek to serve God. He is so worthy!!!! Your prayers will not be wasted on my husband and I as well, as we go out to serve The Almighty God. You are in our prayers.
Thanks so much for sharing, Beth. I’d already been talking to the Lord this morning about having a heart to do what He wants me to do and be where He wants me to be, and your words today inspire me even more to truly want that for my life. God bless you as you step out and do all that He leads you to do!
Blaze a new trail in 2014, Beth – and God be with you!!! Set sail past all you know…how else is there to really live? How do you know his faithfulness, his love, his provision, his care – until you’ve walked on the waters with him? How do you know he catches you – until you jump? Loved, loved, loved your post – but I love your life, your leadership, your example, your commitment, your steadfastness, your gentleness even more than your post. Thank you for all that you are. Thank you for waking up each day and putting one foot in front of the other and continuing to serve Him. My prayers are with you. May you experience God in 2014 – literally – like never before. Tons of love.
ps – No regrets…you got this…be brave…enjoy the journey & IT’S SO WORTH IT!!!!
So excited! The winds of His Holy change are blowing everywhere….including my life where I was so resistent. Bless my heart, it’s time for Him to move and move He is.
Praying always for you…
* moving He is *
Got to love autocorrect!
Beth,
You need not apologize for following the heart of God for you! I pray blessings upon your ministry and all that God is calling you to do this year! Happy New Year to you, your family, and staff at LPM!
Girlfriend, you go do what God has called you to do! I have been feeling this same thing rising up in my soul for the last couple of years and have been stepping out in faith and obedience, though I’ve had no idea what the big picture looks like. This post spoke directly to me. You have been able to put into words what God has been whispering over me. Thank you for being obedient. It is such an encouragement to know that The Lord of the Harvest is STILL raising up fellow workers to help with the harvest. It is a joy to call you my Sister and to work beside you in His Kingdom. Praise and glory to God!
Let the Future begin dear Beth….Let the Future Begin
I’m so excited because God has been whispering a similar message to me. And I have heard similar rumblings from others. God is up to something! I’m praying that this is perhaps the final push before He comes for us! Maranatha, and may we bring many more with us.
Beth, I am so encouraged by this post. Thank you for so honestly sharing these words with us. “Obey” has been the word on my heart recently. I am with you, I want to obey Him in all things. I am excited for 2014 and will be praying for you and your family.
Excited to see what this new year holds for you and the Living Proof family…. I will pray that your hearts are led completely by Jesus…. Lori
Dear Beth, I have been doing your bible study classes now for about three years and I love them. The class I attend is large about 80 precious women all longing to learn the Word of God. However, I have been feeling like an outsider for some time and I don’t know if this is the typcial dynamics of a bible study class or whether its just me. I want to learn God’s word and I enjoy the class because I love the women but I can’t help feeling like there’s an executive clique and those of us that don’t make the grade, aren’t included. Is this in line with Jesus’ teachings?
Thank you so much. No more safety and sameness. Lord Jesus is our champion.
I praise God for all that you do and continue to do for the Kingdom.
Jesus came…in my life I have beheld His glory…The glory to forgive and forget! The glory to have joy! The glory to talk about Jesus in regular conversation, because He is our bestest friend! The glory to know over & over how protected we are as we walk on the Breathe of God! The glory of expecting miracles for our grandchildren. The glory of knowing we will be with him one day! Come quickly Lord Jesus!
Thank you, Beth.
For sharing these words. This message.
Thank YOU, SPIRIT.
For stirring.
For affirmation of the stirrings I have been feeling.
I am willing to step outside of boundaries.
I have made intentional effort to remain untied.
I find myself standing in small boxes.
(I am a minister at a church. As a woman. In a conservative church. The box is small.)
But I have always felt that I would be called out of the box.
I am rooted in HIM and blessed with beautifully rooted community in my church family.
But I know the world is bigger than what I can reach.
And I want HIS Light that HE has placed in me to touch more.
This year HE showed me the smallness of my prayers and the selfishness tainting the dreams HE has planted in me.
Since then, I’ve been praying bigger.
Without words, just big, open prayers to HIM.
About whatever HE has in mind as HE stirs me.
For the world. For the church. HIS Kingdom.
Men. Women. Boys. Girls.
Broken. Lost. Searching.
For redemption.
For LIGHT.
For Truth and Love.
I want to be another warrior for HIM in what is coming.
I see and feel glimpses.
I have no idea what GOD is preparing me for.
But I’ve been learning to trust without borders.
To anticipate. To be free to embrace now and walk forward in peace, even without understanding.
I wish we were friends, Beth Moore. 🙂
It would be exciting to be in a community with people who feel and see the glimpses I am feeling and seeing.
Know that I, too, am watching for HIM.
I desire to be a part of HIS movement to bring revival.
If you ever need someone in Huntsville, AL to help, let me know! 🙂
I needed that. God has been gently prodding my heart about something. Satan has been telling me it’s all my imagination and who would listen anyway.
God wins.
Thank you, my dear sister.
For me & our little community of Edisto Island, SC you have been such a blessing. Thank you for all you do to further God’s kingdom and to bring women into the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ! God will steeer you in the right direction as we allllll are praying for you this Jan. 1, 2014! Happy New Year!
Resonating ….
Beth – YOU GO GIRLFRIEND!!!!!!!!!!! I can hardly wait to see where God leads you and how He expands your ministry! Somehow I feel that His Spirit is moving more than just you in this. I think He is calling so many of us to step up now and be so much bolder and more vocal about our faith. To reach-out those who need Jesus more than ever. My friend who teaches her own fitness class has been increasingly using Christian music to work-out to and in her inspirational talks before each class uses more and more Biblical principles and straight out Bible verses and talks about her faith. I know it has cost her some students, but there are more who are drawn to her and the class because they see Jesus shining through her. You should hear how they try to describe that! Through that same friend, I have been leading a small Bible study for women since the summer. We are adding some new-comers this month – churched and not. And I also prepare a study for their children. The older ones (who don’t know Christ YET) lead it for the younger ones. And God has given me some really good opportunities at work to minister to a few women. He is moving and moving me! Love you, Sister!
Yes Lord! Yes!! I have the cheesiest grin on my face that won’t quit after reading this! It’s no accident LPL is coming BACK to Stockton this year. God is on the move like never before in our great city; our hearts cry is outreach. So excited for 2014 and so excited about the road ahead for the body of Christ!
I am so grateful I clicked on this and read. I am a mother of 3 in my late twenties, called to serve His daughters years ago in the most clear way He’s ever spoken to me. But lately, the winds have been changing and turning in an uncomfortable direction. I feel called to reach out to unbelievers by starting a soup kitchen that my city lacks. Me! Start a soup kitchen? With three little women at home and a house full of women every Wednesday night in an amazing study that I love and feel passionate about. But He has confirmed this calling in your letter. I’m excited to wait for The Lord in 2014 and accept His invitation.
YES YOU!!!! GO for it, Sister! Sounds like He’s been leading you to do exactly that!
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
So blessed to be a part of this journey! What if God uses us and all the women who have been studying to reach these ladies! So exciting to see what God will do with an obedient heart! PS 1:6a For the LORD watches over the way of the righteous. He’s got this! He will open doors and maybe shut a few too. Cannot wait to see what God + you will accomplishin 2014!
Praying and expecting great things! You are loved!!!
Exactly, Sharon! What if??? Can you imagine it? If each one reaches even 25 women in the coming few years, try to fathom the women God could raise up. That by itself would be a form of revival! Lord, make it so!
Oh yes! I am with you, my friend. As we build up to LPL Spokane this May we are thrilled to blanket our community with this personal invitation to the lost and marginalized among us… “Come sit by me!” My heart is for this invitation to encompass not just the event but long- lasting relationships will be birthed and a new season of discipling will overtake the Northwest and beyond. As I’ve prayed and waited on the Lord to show me what this looks like in my own life and how to lead others to do the same He has overtaken us with encounters and open doors into the world where we should be much more present that we are. They are not coming unless we go get them. We are going. In Jesus we are ready. Thank you for leading from a place of fierce courage and tender humility. Believing God for His bounty in 2014.
Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert. (Isaiah 43:19 KJV)
Praying blessings to abound in your “new thing!”
For me, the boundaries and the safeties I insist on have made me such a ridicules and fearful, lack of faith exuding, ‘fraid-y cat. I fear the unknown with passion. It’s debilitating my walk and my witness. A nudge from the Holy Spirit makes me go into “no, I can’t do THAT!” overdrive. Time to quit saying no, and know He has already equipped me for whatever He calls on me to do. May we all have the courage to pray for the strength and the desire to obey Him in this New Year.
Spot on, Beth. Spot on.
So blessed to read this today! I know God is at work in the world around me. I also know I want to join Him in it. I too have felt a stirring in my soul about God unleashing me for greater things. I still don’t know what my future looks like, but I will be obedient to what I know to do, right now. How God uses the obedience is for His glory alone. I am just excited to be called in His army. The battle is at hand and I am ready, as far as I know! Thank you Beth, as the Holy Spirit has used you mightily so that I would be equipped! To God be the glory!
Thelisa Nutt, Mansfield, Tx.
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth…And God saw that it was good.” Gen 1:1, 25 NIV
Dear Beth,
It amazes me the impeccable timing of Jesus with words of wisdom when not expecting it. I too am asked to go in a different direction, to step out of the boat! It is not quite clear where, but step by step I keep moving and find joy. This for me, as well, has been coming for a while. Knee-jerk reactions do not fare well for me….
I pray, we as the women of His Body, obey His call for what awaits us and serve faithfully.
Thank you Beth for your Blog and faithfullness to serve Him!