The Word: Part One

I wait for the Lord...to speak to Paula. Psalm 130:5 Oh wait, that's not in God's Word, that's in your head. (I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I put my hope.) You know the Lord is good to those who wait so He's gonna be good to you. The LORD is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him. Lamentations 3:25 (ESV)

I'm coming to you LIVE from my hometown...with some old news about the Good News. I'm not a whipper snapper when it comes to things I post on my blog so yes it's been over a week.

For an avid note taker, Beth Moore sure did give me a work out last Friday and Saturday at the Simulcast. I will not repeat all her notes but rather things the Lord led to my heart as I pondered on my notes and composed pivotal points of reflection in my own words made applicable to me and hopefully for all.

If I summed up the weekend in two simple words I would say the weekend was all about THE WORD. The central theme was about knowing and retaining the Word for a 100-fold harvest. Many of the thoughts and statements Beth made weren't all necessary "new" but yet the phrasing at times seemed to have a huge impact. (Most of the sub titles below are ones I created. Anything Beth said is in brown and ends with BM.)

HIDE AND SEEK the Word
Opening God's Word isn't just for the knowledge; it is for God to speak to us. (BM) We speak to God through prayer but He speaks to us through His divine Word. I have to disagree that God's Word isn't for our knowledge as we do need it to learn about Him and how to follow Him but she is right that it is God's primary means of speaking to us. We need to seek His Word and then hide it deep into our hearts. Beth's words brought to me the realization of the level of impact we allow God's Word to have in our lives. She challenged us to let it have full impact, the maximum impact.

Time of HIDE AND SEEK
Throughout my Christian walk, 9 out of 10 times, I've heard it said or suggested to have our quiet time in the morning. For years I had a morning time with God. Life changed and it is very hard for me to have that time in the morning. Then, I heard someone say in the last few months to have it whenever we're at our best and whatever works best for us. So, I let myself off the hook with having my time with God in the evening. Beth has challenged me to return to a time with the Lord in the morning. With baby steps of five to ten minutes in the morning, I'm trusting the Lord to increase it to solely be in the morning replacing the evening time. Scriptures used to support this convicted me further.

Sow your seed in the morning...Ecclesiastes 11:6 (Sow your seed by reading the Word.)

The Sovereign LORD has given me an instructed tongue, to know the word that sustains the weary. He wakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to listen like one being taught. The Sovereign LORD has opened my ears, and I have not been rebellious; I have not drawn back. Isaiah 50:4-5. She mentioned on those last five words to think about not drawing back our bed covers.

In addition to this, I thought about how we are to give God the first tenth of our money, first of our heart, first in our life, first of our time, first in our thoughts. Why not the first of our morning? Another convicting point is when we read the Word in the morning, we have "those" words to carry with us throughout the day. We never know what we read will explicitly be needed or applied that day at work or whatever we face. We also have more time to let the Word linger in our heart.

HIDE. SEEK. KEEP
We need to retain the Word. Merely reading it does not do the job at all. God has not ceased to amaze me how He's allowed me to retain of His Word more than I thought I ever could. Three of the scriptures referenced were already written on my heart. Ironically, one is Psalm 119:11 I have hidden Your Word in my heart that I might not sin against You. The Greek word Kateche means to hold in a vice grip. I love that. To me that is a very strong hold as I envision the vice grip my grandpa had in his garage on his work bench. May my heart be like a vice grip with God's Word clutched tightly in it.

God can't change your life if you don't let Him change your day. God wants to change your day. (BM) My response was "hmmm". There are things that I'm trusting God to change and I realize those things will take time. However, this made me stop and think how I need to allow Him to change my day, whatever that may entail. Each day will build on another and then He can change my "life"~that is the circumstances of those desires laid upon my heart.

Satan's plan is for us to lose our effectiveness not our salvation. (BM) Again, I remember simply thinking "hmmm". Very interesting. The way we begin to lose our effectiveness is when we are not in the Word and not in fellowship with the Holy One. We can't be effective if we don't know Him and commune with Him.

PROTECT YOUR HEART
Our heart is at the center of all we do. We are created with such sensitivity and vulnerability (as least I was) that we are naturally guarded especially when we've been hurt. When we hear the words "protect your heart", I'd suspect we'd all say "sign me up". Amen? Beth suggests the way to protect our heart is to hide the Word in our heart. There is no bigger offensive weapon than with the Word of God. (BM) Again, I was challenged that I need to be aware of satan trying to steal what I've hidden in my heart. I love how Beth told us to guard the Word in our heart and refuse to let the enemy convince us otherwise of things we know to be true from God. He can try to tell us we don't hear from God but we need to stand up and refuse to listen to his lies. Trust what you hear from God (in His Word, sermons, studies, conferences, etc.) and don't let him convince you otherwise. The enemy and I have gone round and round with this and I have bruises to show for it. But I refuse to give up or give in to him. I feel God has lead me down a very lonely road and one not understood by others. Satan tries to tell me to give up but I have to trust this road from the Lord until He changes it.

Put your hand over the Word in your heart to conceal it. Put your hand on your heart and say with faith of a mustard seed "my faith is not up for grabs. Let it take root and grow. It's my word to keep and you can't take it." (BM)

You've waited this long for my reflection of the Beth Moore Living Proof Simulcast. Do you think you can wait a few more days for the last half? There will be a test.... That's all I can say about the final part.

Hiding His Word,

(Picture is of yellow tulips from my yard this past spring.)