August 31, 2009

Take-away lessons from the Beth Moore simulcast

For those of you ladies who couldn't make it to the awesome Beth Moore simulcast this past weekend, no worries! Here's the condensed version of what we learned:

1. The key verse for the weekend was Psalm 37:4, "Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart." She encouraged us to identify what it is we truly desire – i.e., what is it that you've been longing for, perhaps for a really long time? For some of us, those desires may seem pretty shallow when we shine a light on them. For others of us, we may not have a clue what we desire because our dreams and hopes died a long time ago. Awaken them. Figure out what they are. You do have desires.

2. Nothing dictates our lives (and the decisions we make) like our desires. Let's be honest: At the end of the day, we're all going to do what we want to do, so we need to examine our desires and what is really at the heart of them. We need to lay those desires out before God.

3. Delighting in God makes your desires inevitable. What does it mean to delight in God? It means to take pleasure in Him, to want to spend time with Him and His word, to be filled with wonder over Him, to be filled with joy. When we do these things, he promises to give us our desires. If you don't feel delight for Him, ask for it.

4. Nothing external can steal our right to delight. In other words, no one has the right to steal your joy, so stop letting them. If you lack delight, it is probably an internal issue you need to deal with – and it's usually rooted in jealousy, anger or worry.

5. To make room for delight you have to "commit your way to the Lord" (Psalm 37:5). Make up your mind about what you really want out of life and how you want this thing to turn out. Then get on the road that is going to take you to the life you want to live.

6. There is nothing passive about waiting for our desires to turn into delight. The scriptures describe this type of waiting as an anxious expectation, being still and patient and yet always looking for and expecting God to move. He is at work. Look for it.

7. Until faith becomes sight, trust God and do good. Faith will become sight. So while you're waiting, figure out "What good can I do?" and "Who can I help?" Speak faith to one another. Encourage one another. We were called to be mighty, not worried or defeated or self-focused. We were called to do some good. -- BW

1 comment:

  1. Michelle R. Thomsen8/31/2009

    I am so happy I went to this simulcast. I must have broken out in tears 3 or 4 times. Not because I was sad, but because I will filled. Ladies, if you haven't been to an event such as this, you really should check it out. You will be amazed about the way you feel.

    ReplyDelete

Verse of the Day