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.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
God has dealing with me in this same exact area. In Nov of 2012 as I looked around our large women’s bible study group the thought flashed through my head, ‘this is becoming a christian woman’s social club and I have no interest in preserving it’. It has been a hard and I have felt alone and misunderstood. But I know that I know that I know God is calling me to go to the unsaved, to reach them through the avenue of business and speaking. How that all pans out I am waiting to see but I too have my ear to the ground and while I’m down there I’m praying my heart out.
Thank you for confirming what God is doing in His kingdom.
“I am too old anymore to let the bullies boss me. And I am too young to quit.”
That I could even find the words to simply utter the emotion welling in me. I burn with a love for Him….I burn with pride, and I burn with sorrow. Pride for how much my heart adores Him and sorrow for the ways I continue to fail Him. Sweet redemption; oh how He loves us…..
I want to obey Him too. More and more and more and more. May my heart stay the course on a one way, resolute path and may my feet cease their steps until He calls me home.
Beautiful post–down to the very last sentence. Glory to God.
Oh my dear Sister, how wonderful it is to hear this. God has been challening my heart the very same way. It’s not about another Bible Study (no matter how wonderful they are) but its about touching other lives who aren’t part of our normal “circle”. To focus on ways to make a difference in a life that normally wouldn’t be touched through “church” activities. Thank you for the encouragement that this brought to my heart. I have told God that I am willing to go anywhere He leads … even if it means relocating to do it! 2014 is going to be an awesome year and there are hearts ready for revival! Praise His Mightly Name! I am looking forward to hearing more of how He leads you! Thank you for being obedient and being an encouragment to me to continue stepping out in faith! Be blessed in the days the days that lie ahead. I’ll be praying for you!
There is a website that is giving away 16 free Beth Moore ebooks. Is this legitimate? The site is: echristainresources.com
Can you confirm if this is legitimate?
Yes ma’am, until Jan. 10th most of her e-books are free for download! Be blessed!
I’m very happy for you Beth. Now you’re unstoppable.
Dearest Beth,
Move forward!! I can’t wait to see what God has in store for you. Many blessings sweet siesta. I’ll being praying for you.
Dearest Beth, I thank God for your sincerity, your devotion and love for Him. I appreciate your taking the time to share your heart and how God is leading you! I must say that I’ve felt that pull to make this year one in which God receives glory most of all. I am thankful for your bravery, your example and your voice.
I am also thankful beyond words for your generosity in giving your books on kindle! I have shared your gift with many women, people are first shocked, then excited and thrilled as they download your treasures. I am seeing women, young and old, filling their ipads….and I am praying for the millions of women, who might not be willing to do a Bible study but are willing to read a book….that God will pull them to Himself, that He will captivate their hearts and they will experience life change. What you have done is HUGE, beyond imagination and I know that God is pleased, blessed, honored and glorified. May He be High and lifted up, may many come to call Him Savior. Thank you for your giftedness and ministry! I thank God for you! It was 12 years ago that I did my first study that you wrote….Jesus the One and Only. I’ve known Him since I was a little girl, but that study marked a new chapter in my life….thank you for bringing us closer to Him! Prayers on your behalf.
You go and serve as He is leading, we will back you up!
Thank you for sharing this Beth! Boy, did it grab me in some things I’ve been wrestling with; thank you for continuing to lead by example. I’m praying for you.
This spoke to me directly and powerfully. I printed it off and read it to my husband and we both sheds some tears because it is so personal to us. We have been struggling with these same issues for a few years now, and really feel the Spirit moving us in a fresh direction away from the legalism that we are currently steeped in. We feel the movement of the Spirit to let go of the familiar and starting “getting down to business” spiritually! This felt like a call to arms for us. Thank you for sharing your heart so openly. I pray God blesses your bravery (along with ours and so many others) beyond what no eye has seen, or ear has heard, and more than any of us could ever imagine! Love you.
Dearest Beth,
Thank you for sharing what God is doing in your life. God has truly spoken to my heart through your words!
Praying for you as you serve where He leads.
Thank you again for the free e-books. I am so grateful.
Looking forward to what God is going to do through you:)
Miss Beth… This letter encouraged my soul. Thank you so much.
I feel it to! It’s coming…whatever He wants He will make known…we just have to be ready! He’s tugging on our sleeves…I can feel it!
Be assured that you and your ministry will continue to be lifted up in prayer….I would never doubt that you would ever minister out of anything but His Word, that you have studied so well…and His Spirit, that anyone can see that you are so full of…and His anointing!! Be blessed as you continue to listen to what He is asking you…and thank you so much for being an obedient role model for all of us to follow! Thank you also for the blessing of 4 of your ebooks….such a treat! We’ll all be waiting and watching! May blessings abound over you and yours and the ministry as you go about His business! With His love…and mine, too!!
Wow Beth, super cool! I love that God is moving people into the world, more and more. I felt challenged and compelled in February of 2013 to “get out of my comfort zone”. To me, this meant going into a strip club with a ministry I was already involved with. I had always gone with our Love Justice group to bless the dancers in the club but I was one of the praying team that stayed in the car. In February I felt God tell me it was time to go in too. And in I went.
I’ve never liked the bar scene, let alone a strip club. But EVERY time we go the Holy Spirit shows up in mighty ways. I’ve been blessed to cry with the women we’ve gotten to know and to lay hands on them right in the middle of the club and pray for their situations. Many times these woman are crying buckets right in the middle of the place with other dancers on stage and customers lingering around. Amazing! I love how God shows up and shows them his love in a practical ways. They have been more of a blessing to me than I’m sure we’ve been to them. We love serving them and love sharing Jesus with them. If we don’t, who will?
I feel the same way. time to move on and get out of my comfort zone and do stuff different reach ladies too. see you in June… I live in biloxi, ms… see you soon beth. oh yes i go to Gulf coast blessings too…
I hear you. I am a grandmother too. I hear God talking about if i see the boundaries of churches i will miss my calling. i hear him talk about the restoration of the family. For how much further can revival go, if it has the fertile soil of generational family to fall into. god so blesses us by creating structure to absorb revival before he ignites it. I thank God for his wisdom and for teaching me to give up the I,I,I and say You lord it is you, let me align myself with your will. Let me b still in you. lord pls sort through the probable options and possible optiins and hand to us a desire to follow your chosen optiin only.
Thanku for sharing , it confirms to me to keep praying for this move of the hand of God in ths way.
I love how you encourage us not only in theory, but in the way you live it out. Thank you for the encouragement to obey, regardless of whether the command is in our personal comfort zone. You are a treasure and I thank God often for you and how you have pointed me to Him through many years of study.
Dearest Beth,
I read on Christine Caine’s post was from your blog about revival. It has stuck in my mind and spirit. We have all put God into a box and think He must do things the way we think he should. Not so, He is Lord and Lord alone. It is time to ditch our preconceived ideas and listen for His voice only.
My Dear Sister in Christ Jesus,
I cannot explain how your letter written on Jan. 1st, echoes exactly where I am in my walk. My husband Chris, a pastored our dear precious church for 6 and a half years, in a little farming community close to Midland Texas. The Holy Spirit moved and blessed week after week and our faith and ministries blossomed. We affectionately referred to our little community as a stream in the desert.
I type now with tears flowing. In July of 2012, while facilitating “Believing God”, at our local school to over 30 ladies (God was at work!), God spoke clearly to me that we would be moving to Houston as a transfer with my husbands job. I nearly fell out of my chair! My heart beat as hard as it could. Now I knew our time at First Baptist Church, Tarzan (yes, Tarzan) was coming to a close. My heart broke a little with each service as I waited on God’s timing. We announced our two week notice on May 5, 2013. May 19th was my husbands last sermon as Pastor.
God faithfully placed us exactly where He wants us, in Magnolia TX. No doubts about it. But we have yet to find our place of service. I know better than anything else that God is busy about His work and this is our “in the mean time”. It’s a scary place to be, but no place I’d rather be. Right in the middle of His will and timing. Although we can’t see how this is going to be we rest assured that the One who has begun a good work in us, will finish.
All that said, please don’t be dismayed, there are other faithful servants walking the same path, feeling the Spirit stronger than ever, yet things look so unfamiliar. Praying with and for you and your ministry.
Joyfully,
Cheryl Tyler
Amen sister. When He calls, and He will, go and you will have prayer and support because there are so many young ones that do not know the way and you most definitely have the teaching gift to show them. The Holy Spirit will do the rest.
Unexpectedly and unrequested, God gave me the word Courage for this year.
Many messages from many directions seem to be saying the same thing, including your message here. I suspect it is no coincidence.
Go with God! It was thru your Bible studies and God’s grace that I made my way about 17 yrs ago following a sad divorce and a relocation. Now, I look ahead, following the death of my dear 2nd husband to the rest of my life. You have inspired me to place my ear to the ground as well. I thank you for being such a blessing in my life. God speed.
Beth, just a thought…
Since you’ve been shepherding the well-taught for years, have you considered trying to teach them how to teach?
Perhaps there are many or even some, like myself, who feel the terrifying prick of God and don’t even know where to start. I suspect even blogging with the eye to teach has its own art form. We don’t have to be “gifted to teach” to blog in meaningful ways or to try to use whatever platform we have to share what we’ve learned!
And I speak to myself but many need to stop leaving the teaching up to others (more gifted and talented) and look for opportunities to bless. Just sayin.’ 🙂
As for me I was just happily reading along until the line that spoke of those of us who want to be forever learners, maybe it’s time to step up and teach. Hmmm. I’m terribly afraid because I like a quiet unseen life, and especially because its safe and you’re less likely to mess up or get too proud, but perhaps like you said you end up missing the ride! Plus, there’s always more grace, right?
Thanks for sharing. You could have easily kept this to yourself. And missed an opportunity to bless us. Case in point, huh! 🙂
May God richly bless you as you continue in His will. Thank you for your many Bible studies. We are currently doing your study on The Tabernacle in our women’s Bible study group and are having a wonderful time learning more about God. Thanks for your stand for God.
Totally in agreement! A missions teacher once told a great analogy about fertilizing the garden….if all the “poop” is in one corner together the garden doesn’t grow – just a few plants get nourishment and flourish. How are the other parts to grow if the “poop” isn’t spread throughout? I say this with the most love and respect….”go be the poop”! Challenge us to do the same! We need to get out there! I bet there is a whole army waiting to be released…..one idea- make videos free. Most women can’t afford the prices so they have to do them within a church setting. The free books were AWESOME! So Long Insecurity for Free would be a huge draw to mainstream women. Very excited to see what God has in planned for your journey!!!
My precious, beautiful sister, I am so proud of you that I could literally burst! There is a lost and hurting world out here who needs our Jesus, and us, ALL of us. Get out here! We are with you all the way. I so love you.
Yes! I felt great encouragement in what you wrote. I think right now, I am facing a crossway..I can keep going this way or make a directional shift towards the things of God..and I am soo ready for a directional shift! I keep thinking about the road that is more often taken…of a more traditional path and i wonder if I will feel accomplished enough.you know as compared to many others..and I finally decided I needed to put Facebook down and stop looking around..that my life will indeed be different and I can relate to your sense of urgency on the matter too. It’s like..doesn’t have to be right this minute, but I shouldn’t wait too long. Anyway..thank you for being honest and sharing where you are..for the record, i think you would do very well in places where the lost outnumber the believers..during the simulcast last year, i kept thinking, those words you shared about grace..should be shared again and again. Peace to you
Hi Beth, I work at a church and our staff and church’s theme this year is ALL IN! When I read your letter it just resonated and encouraged me! So proud of you and your willingness to obey God no matter what the cost. Keep going, you are an inspiration for us to say “yes” to God and not stay in our comfortable, safe place.
Oh Beth, thank you for sharing what The Lord has certainly put into your heart. I am 62 years old and have done many of your studies. I was recently in Daytona Beach at LPL. God has been speaking to me about getting out of my comfort zone; He is making me uncomfortable about the many lost people around me. I am praying for how He would want me to share His Love with those who are lost here in my community. I do not know where He will lead, but I trust Him for He does not fail us ever! I will pray for you this year as He leads you into new and different areas of ministry.
Beth-
You are my encourager and friend. I’m praying for you as your ministry awaits God’s direction. I love that you are choosing to OBEY. Thanks for sharing your journey!
How well can a soldier soldier on in a social club/ladies bible study? Women’s bible studies tend to be safe and cushy places for middle-upper class women in the Sweet-Tea south. I came to LPL in Baltimore a few years ago, and I looked around and saw women just like me…..how boring! God is telling you (and me) to get UNcomfortable for Christ. Go get ’em, Beth!
A friend messaged me “Have you seen Beth Moore’s blog? This is what you’ve been saying!” I was overwhelmed with emotion to read your New Year’s blog. For a year and half I believe God has offered me a theme “The Urgency”. I’ve often wondered if my job would always be to teach believing women, and knew that it is a pretty nice calling to do so. But the welling of the “The Urgency” within my soul to reach the unbelieving has gained a momentum that has been held at the gates only from not knowing exactly what to do next. I believe the Lord is quietly growing an army for His name sake and when He gives us our marching orders, we will be ready to move (much like soldiers who have trained for years with no mission yet in sight).
It’s exciting to think of what is before us! The beginning of Ephesians 3 reminds me so much of this fabulous mission ahead of the joy of getting to be a part of God’s mysterious plan! So excited for you, Beth Moore, all the ministries you are a part of and the vision God has given! Know there are many who are feeling the same and are willing to go wherever God sends and are excited for the privilege to carry the Word!
Ephesians 3 – When I think of all this, I, Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus for the benefit of you Gentiles[a] . . . 2 assuming, by the way, that you know God gave me the special responsibility of extending his grace to you Gentiles. 3 As I briefly wrote earlier, God himself revealed his mysterious plan to me. 4 As you read what I have written, you will understand my insight into this plan regarding Christ. 5 God did not reveal it to previous generations, but now by his Spirit he has revealed it to his holy apostles and prophets.
6 And this is God’s plan: Both Gentiles and Jews who believe the Good News share equally in the riches inherited by God’s children. Both are part of the same body, and both enjoy the promise of blessings because they belong to Christ Jesus.[b] 7 By God’s grace and mighty power, I have been given the privilege of serving him by spreading this Good News.
8 Though I am the least deserving of all God’s people, he graciously gave me the privilege of telling the Gentiles about the endless treasures available to them in Christ. 9 I was chosen to explain to everyone[c] this mysterious plan that God, the Creator of all things, had kept secret from the beginning.
10 God’s purpose in all this was to use the church to display his wisdom in its rich variety to all the unseen rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. 11 This was his eternal plan, which he carried out through Christ Jesus our Lord.
Beth,
Thank you for your courage and willingness to share what God has planted on your heart. Your Post encourages me to keep seeking what God has for me to obey. I am excited to see where God leads. I would love to learn of some more practical ways to encourage the women and families I have the privilege to work with. Many of them do not know of a personal relationship with Christ, they are bound by much hardship. Praying with you for wisdom.
Beth, Thank you for sharing your heart. I will pray for you. Jane
Exciting times, strap on your seatbelt. Let’s go!
Praying for you Beth and your ministry. You are an amazing woman and inspiration! I look forward to following along on your journey and seeing all the wonderful things you do to help bring women to their Heavenly Father. Hopefully one day I will have the nerve to do something like this as well! GOD SPEED SISTER!
Finally had the time to read this while waiting for my 84 year old mother at the dentist! So incredible how God speaks to us in such a real way! I want so much for my life to make a difference and I will be praying for you on this new adventure with God. Thank you so much for the free book downloads! I shared this opportunity with so many people.
Yes! Yes! Yes! March on!
Beth,
It was so gratifying to read your Jan 1 entry. Your thoughts have been the cry of my heart for the last 5 years. I work in our local Pregnancy Resource Center and have been telling people for years that rather than piling up more Bible studies, they should be out sharing Jesus. The response is so often “but I couldn’t do that!!!” My response back is,”yes you can, not using your own strength, but with God, all things are possible.” It has encouraged my faith to see our volunteers chat with our clients and overcome their fears of sharing Jesus. Pregnancy Resource Centers are an awesome place to share Jesus with women who are hurting and need help. For more information on the joys of being involved in this type of ministry, please check out my blog http://www.encouragingservants.wordpress.com. Beth, I am excited that God has placed this on your heart–I serve the ones who need a divine encounter with God. I can’t wait to see where God is going to take you with this new direction. BTW: Your “Fruit of the Spirit” Bible study encouraged and inspired me in 2013.
Just now read this post and wow Beth! Can’t wait to see where God leads you and the rest of us in this coming year. Everywhere I turn there are huge changes in peoples lives including my own. My husband retires after this month and a new adventure will begin for us. May God answer as you pray and may this year be filled with great things as you and your team walk in obedience.
Dear Linsee,
I could so relate to what you shared in your letter to us. I too had a word to go. It was 2 years ago when I came to Siesta Sisters for the first time. I stayed with my sister in Spring and knew in my heart it was time I did the right thing and it was coming soon. My sister works full time and takes care of her husband with Alzhemiers. the little help she did have slowly disappeared. I went home& told my husband what was going on his response was we should help. Even my kids in high school were willing to transfer from New England to Tx.
To leave my friends, job, church, & family was staggering at first. So we began the process. My husband ended up coming out first for months at a time,but I knew in my heart we were all meant to be together.
So I took a leave of absense and a leap of faith packed our bags and off we went, When you follow God’s leading he has so much to teach you and blesses you in ways you could never imagine.
So I am embracing your Texas weather and enjoying myself, like you said earlier its been your prettiest fall ever, heard back home was not so great this year. My sister still can’t believe we came. We are the ones who are blessed.
Praise our Father for your faithfulness to His LOGOS (blueprint for the ages), Beth. I pray He will continue to bring Himself glory through you, and give you His TRUTH to proclaim for all eternity….
Well said…scary, but well said…many of the comments have mentioned this urge to do more…and the uncertainty of what that more is…and I believe in the need of all people, not just women, to move-yes read scripture, pray, attend church, and read other texts that encourage us in the LORD-but I do believe that there has been a restlessness among us to be ready to serve and that the hour of service is upon us so be ready to move…GOD knows us, HE knows our hearts and HE is getting us prepared…I don’t know what for, but I do want to be ready for when the time comes…I want to be able to move and not look back or try to grab on to something to keep things the same.
My husband has been fighting cancer. He has now beaten it for the fourth time. But he is in pain. He has asked why? What is it GOD wants from this? Just the fact that he would ask what GOD wants from him, is huge.
My children are committing to GOD, or let me clarify, according to them (GOD knows their hearts). I am finally letting them off the alter-sometimes we as moms make our children our god and don’t some of y’all act like you don’t know what I am talking about either. I am telling them that it is great that they are committing to GOD. But it is not for me-it is for them. I am lifting them up in prayer to HIM. HIS plan for their life may not be mine. But HE is GOD, and HE is a jealous GOD.
So, there you go Beth. We are with you and feel the need with you. Life is a journey toward our final destination. When we get there, I will be in the choir room.
Sue
I will pray for you.
Vanessa, Johnson City
Memory Verse – 2014
Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Hebrews 12:2
Thank you, Beth, for sharing what God has placed on your heart!! I really needed to hear this!!
I have become so stagnant in my walk with God, suffering with worry and anxiety, that I fear(really)
I cannot be used by God anymore!! I work with Women’s Ministry at my church and have been so disheartened with women who do not want to come together to study God’s word.
Please pray for me to trust God to lead me in His direction in His time!!!
Thank you!! And, I am praying for LPM–y’all are such a wonderful ministry that touches the hearts of women!!
Johnnie W.
Beloved Beth,
Thank you so much for sharing this with us all! Two years ago I found my way back to church and, with a LOT of help from Living Proof Ministries, found a way into an intimate relationship with the Lord. I’ve spent the last two years studying the Word and growing in my relationship with Him largely on my own. This year, I’ve felt His call to finally take action. To finally start spreading His kingdom outside the walls of the church (or my own apartment).
There have been many times I’ve felt crazy to think we need to be ministering in that odd place between the church at home, where everybody knows the Lord and has a legitimate desire to grow with Him, and the mission field abroad where many have never heard the name Jesus before. While there are those who minister in local communities, it’s not often that (speaking for myself, at least) we hear it encouraged to spend a large amount of energy preaching to those who are very aware of Christianity and the bible, but who actively resist the Lord.
As I’ve felt Him calling me out into this odd middle place, I’ve been resisting Him with the mindset of “nobody else feels this same calling, I must not REALLY be hearing Him”. Thank you so much for confirming the feeling that maybe He wants to reach those who have heard of Him, but have never been given a fair chance to really KNOW Him. That maybe we need to do a better job of reaching those in our own back yard rather than writing them off as lost causes.
Thank you, again, for sharing this with us all. Have a blessed year.
Dear Beth, I can only imagine how many comments you have received in response to your letter; but I would be remiss if I didn’t tell you the inspiration you have once again provided to me. In January 2013, God, in his still small voice, told me to “Go Bigger.” I said “okay” to God not having any idea what he had planned for me. The exact plan still hasn’t been revealed but I have taken a few steps in the last 12 months that were never on my radar including returning to school at the age of 51, starting a blog and becoming involved with our local food pantry. I am feeling encouraged and affirmed but still anxious yet excited to know just exactly where this trip with God is going to take me.
Pam Bryant
Kountze, Tx.
Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.
Psalm 46:10 NJKV
Beth–I was so THRILLED when I read this lovely & thoughtful note from you. We’ve been living in Germany for 2.5 yrs. I’ve met lots of women who don’t know Jesus. I was SO wishing I had a ‘bible study’ of sorts that I could invite them to that wouldn’t overwhelm but would meet them where they are at.
I’m going to lead “Believing God” in my home this winter but knew I couldn’t really invite these unsaved gals 🙁 I’ve been trying to figure out what I can do other than just build relationships individually. But I know that the power of a group of gals learning & sharing together is huge.
I truly hope part of this “new field” are resources & studies we can use for outreach in our neighborhoods & communities. Your passionate, hilarious & deep love for Jesus would be so WINSOME to draw these lost sisters into the kingdom. Will be praying. Super Excited! Onward Princess Warrior 🙂
p.s. That Christmas pix of you & Queen Esther was pure awesomeness-ha! LOVED it.