When I met her 3 and 1/2 years ago (yes, because I stalked her and caught her in a hallway), I told her that she's been mentoring me for at least ten years. She looked me in the eye, pointed that southern belle finger at me and said, "I don't take that lightly."
In recent years she has been under fire by what I call hate bloggers. When I was made aware of this and challenged to "do my homework", I read (aghast at the meanness with which they were written - often by other Christians) their accusations and had two recurring thoughts.
1. They don't know her. (Know in the sense of being familiar with her language...and more importantly, her heart.)
2. What are the credentials of these haters? (None of which were compellingly valid.)
I was pleased when in Beth's introduction Friday night, she addressed without saying so, the unfounded lies written about her on the internet and in print. Did I mention none of these writers (cowards) ever went to her for verification before going to print? A red flag if I've ever seen one. Not to mention unbiblical - but that's a post for another day.
Anyway, if you weren't aware, you wouldn't have noticed, but my antenna was up so I did. In my mind, she set all the exaggerations and accusations to rest when she told us what she's about, why her ministry exists and her constant direction to the Word of God for authority and the foundation of everything in life, including her teaching.
She started out talking to us note takers telling us how wonderful the paper in our program was to write on. Then she said, "Tell the truth, how many of you planned out which pen you were going to bring this weekend?" Oh my word. I may or may not have blushed a little. I definitely deliberately chose the three pens I brought. Does that further confirm my nerdiness? It was funny though and I was not alone by a long shot. Note takers, unite!
The theme of the weekend was "40 Days". I imagine if you are familiar with the Bible and church you might be able to think up some of these periods.
- Noah and the 40 day flood
- Jonah warned the Ninevites they had 40 days to repent of their wickedness.
- Jesus didn't eat or drink for the 40 days He was tempted in the wilderness.
- Jesus appeared after His death for 40 days until His ascension into heaven.
- Moses was with God for 40 days on the mountain receiving the Ten Commandments.
- Moses didn't eat or drink for those 40 days.
- Joshua and his men spied out the Promised Land for 40 days.
- Elijah traveled for 40 days after slaying the prophets of Baal.
Those are some of them. Two others are what I want to talk about today.
First, the fact that Jesus was tempted by Satan in the wilderness for 40 days AND second, that Goliath taunted the Israelites for guess how long? Yup, 40 days.
The lesson turned to the tidal wave of temptation to sin that we can face as believers. Have you considered the word harass? It means to wear us down. Can you imagine Jesus being harassed by Satan for 40 days? Can you imagine being an Israelite, taunted by huge Goliath for 40 days?
Have you felt this lately? Yeah, me too. A constant temptation/harassment meant to wear us down spiritually, maybe even to give up.
Beth encouraged us to become more proactive when we find ourselves here. How?
- Learn to identify the nature of an attack.
- Ask questions like:
- What makes me vulnerable? (If you don't know, ask a trusted friend who has your best interest at heart).
- Who is my Goliath (thing or person wearing me down)?
- What is my Goliath ( " " )?
"In spiritual terms, WHO we see dictates HOW we see and WHEN we're tested, WHAT we'll do."* That's a powerful mouthful, don't you think?
In other words, whoever is on my mind is coloring how I see my world and how I react to it. Well, THAT makes sense. When I'm seeking the approval of others, when I'm intimidated by anyone, when I'm tempted to feel shame, and on and on. When these are in the forefront of my mind, no wonder I see myself so opposite of how God sees me. No wonder I act the way I do which is usually defeated and weak, not at all like how I've been called to live - as loved, as equipped, as victorious, as an overcomer.
Harassed. For sure. That's the name for it. So now what?
We need a kingdom perspective. As usual, God knew our needs ahead of time and made a way for us. He sent us Jesus, our high priest who..."Himself has suffered while tempted, He is able to help those who are being tempted." (Heb. 2:18)
"For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin." (Heb. 4:15)
That means Jesus suffered when He was tempted. He gets it. He wants us to let Him get us out of it. To be victorious, we just need to hang onto Jesus for dear life. Know His Word and believe it. Pray it.
"Keep steady my steps according to your promise, and let no sin rule over me." (Psalm 119:133) YES! We don't have to give in to the temptation to sin.
Look at this from Psalm 119:89-96 in The Message -
"What you say goes, God,
and stays, as permanent as the heavens
Your truth never goes out of fashion;
it's as up-to-date as the earth when the sun comes up.
Your Word and truth are dependable as ever;
that's what you ordered - you set the earth going.
If your revelation hadn't delighted me so,
I would have given up when the hard times came.
But I'll never forget the advice you gave me;
you saved my life with those wise words.
Save me! I'm all yours.
I look high and low for your words of wisdom.
The wicked lie in ambush to destroy me,
but I'm only concerned with your plans for me.
I set the limits to everything human,
but the horizons can't contain your commands!" (italics mine)
I hope you noticed (at least) two of the things that jumped off the screen.
1. If God's Word hadn't been such a delight to the Psalmist, he would've given up when the hard times came. Maybe we won't give up so quickly if we find our delight in the Bible.
2. Did you catch that the wicked (our enemy and/or maybe some people we know) lies in ambush to destroy us? Oh he is mean and fights dirty but when we are only concerned with God's plans for us (eyes on Jesus), we will make it. Truth!
Change focus = changed perspective.
Now that's a good word! I hope it means something special to you today.
Oh and one more thing. So cool. At the end of the conference to drive home the point that we are to shine our one little light (our life) in the darkness of this world, Beth had all 7,000 of us hold up our phones with the flashlight app glowing.
*Beth Moore
1 comment:
I'm so glad you got to go! I love Beth Moore too! Hopefully, she'll put this in a workbook/bible study for those of us who weren't there. Thanks for sharing.
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