Our Inspired Journey

First of all, I apologize for not writing this update on Sunday as I promised. As you can imagine, when a mother of 3 is gone for 24 hours, so much needs to take place when she returns, and because of my incredibly selfless husband (the one I was telling you about in the past post!) I'm not talking about the house needing cleaning! I called him from my hotel Friday night before I went to bed, just to check in. With a chipper voice, he reported that all was well at the house! "Things are great!" he said..."The kids are in bed, I made apple crisp, cleaned the house, and am doing laundry right now while I read..." Okay, now why don't I have that kind of report for him whenever he's calling to check in on me???!!! Ahhh...I choose to believe it's because God wants me to go on trips like this one more often!!! Ha, Ha...we'll see, but I can't say that I would mind one bit! A 24 hour (nap time Friday to nap time Saturday) is the perfect "Mom-retreat" length of time...just enough to feel refreshed, but not so long that Dad gets burnt out and kids start forgetting what you looked like :)...especially when the little princess decides she'll boycott her bottle and wait 'till Mommy returns home instead...stubborn little thing!

I wish I could have taken each and every one of you with me. I really do. Even if we don't know each other very well, I would never have passed up the chance for any of you to hear and be changed by the Word of God. The Bible is a living, breathing, always applicable, life-changing body of words...scripture says it is "God-breathed" and I have to tell you, I have never been more sure of the fact that God STILL changes lives, heals wounds, and saves people through the truth of His Word, which is the Bible. He inspired it, and still moves through it to all who read it. We are so blessed to live in a country where gathering in His name is permissible. I am changed, empowered, blessed and stand more confidently than ever, a daughter of the King of Kings.

I could tell you about the trip, hotel, trying to sleep in a room with 4 women and 2 full beds, and how the city of Springfield did not quite seem ready for 8,800 women to descend upon it for the weekend! (Only one Starbucks for all those women!!! Really???) While sharing about those details would make for some good laughs, I am bursting at the seams to share with you how the Spirit of God spoke to my heart. For those of you who think that it sounds presumptuous to say that God would speak to ME...I hear you...and no, I don't believe I'm worthy of that kind of intimate treatment from the One who tells the stars when to shine, but we serve a God of grace who chooses to draw near to me, and to you...if you ask Him to. It is not because of something I've done that I've earned His favor. He's already chosen every one of us...I was filled with JOY as I drew nearer to God this weekend, and praised him with tears streaming down my face for stopping the business of life for a while so I could stop, be still and listen...

I can't tell you how blessed I was by choosing to spend the weekend at His feet. I signed up to go a year ago. Cora was still in my growing belly, and we had just found out Cole was deaf. When the opportunity came up to hear from the Word of God away from home for 24 hours, without the adorable distractions that sometimes prevent me from focusing for more than 5 minutes...I knew it would be a good thing! I wasn't sure about all the details and how I'd make it all work, but I signed up knowing that if the Lord wanted me there, everything else would fall into place. What a faithful God we serve. John and the kids had a fun time together, and I got to spend some time away with the my friends, and I heard such powerful words from the Lord...amazing.

From the very start, I was struck with an authentic spirit of humility from everyone involved, from those handing out the programs, to every person on stage. This was not a production, it was a bible study. It was as "un-produced" as a gathering with 8,800 women can be. The applause was never for anyone but the only One worthy...the worship team even left the stage in the middle of the last accapella worship chorus, not giving anyone the opportunity to applaud them. And let me tell you something...they could've claimed all the applause in the world since they were AMAZING! What incredible voices they had, though much of the time they sang off mic....true worship leading. There was no STAR but Jesus. When Beth Moore took the stage, she spent a few minutes in greeting, telling us that this was the largest crowd this building had seen since Elton John in 1998, to the glory of GOD....then we dug right in...

I will do my best to give you an overview of her teaching from the weekend that blessed my heart in ways I could never describe. Before I even begin, I must also say that it was not because of her, but rather her willingness to be used by GOD as a mouthpiece as she unwrapped HIS story in the pages of scripture through the life of John the Baptist. I know she's be the first to say we must be careful to place our praise where it is due. I'm thankful for her obedience to be used, but all PRAISE goes to the One who wrote the true story...

• They heard the words of Malachi 3:1a "See, I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me."
• Isaiah 40:3 described him this way, "A voice of one calling: "In the desert prepare the way for the LORD; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God."
• Since Isaiah said this messenger of God would come from the desert, they moved to the desert and lived there in caves from 138BC-68AD.
• I loved their example of "passionately seeking God"...for them it meant researching the scripture and believing God's promise that his messenger would come from the desert...they were SO hungry to hear God's voice after such a long silent period, that they moved to where he said he'd next show up. They poured over His promises in scripture until he fulfilled them...sending the one He said would "prepare the way of the Lord!"

• In Luke 1, Zechariah had been praying for a long time that his wife Elizabeth would have a son. He grew older, and began to think God had forgotten his prayer.
• God NEVER forgets our prayers, even those we have prayed for have been praying for decades. DO NOT GIVE UP PRAYING...they are like smouldering coals on the alter before his throne, never burning out or going cold...
• The angel Gabriel appears to Zechariah one day, and tells him that he and Elizabeth will have a son! This prayer had been smouldering for a long time!!! But God's timing is always perfect. Zechariah's first reaction is disbelief, and because of this, his ability to speak is taken from him for the duration of Elizabeth's pregnancy.
• Luke 1:57-64 tells us how Zechariah's tongue was loosened when the priests asked him what his son was to be named. Elizabeth had said, he was to be named John, though they were confused since no one in their family had that name. They turned to Zechariah for his confirmation, and he spoke in faith, "His name is John." These were the first words he spoke after a 9 month silent period. Words of obedience and faith, and because of this, he was given back the ability to speak.
• John becomes a picture of the open mouth of God to His people, after a 400 long period of silence.
• John 1:67-80 tells us how John was blessed by his father, and then when he was older, he went to live with the group who was waiting for God's voice to speak in the desert, just as God had promised in Isaiah. John goes to them to be raised.
• We must HOLD ON to HOPE and keep praying...just as he promised in Isaiah 40, He promises for us today..."I am doing a new thing!" What an incredible day for those in the desert who had been waiting for the fulfillment of God's promises to them, when John walked up to join them and be raised. Their steadfast patience and diligent clinging to his promises had finally been rewarded! God was getting ready to speak to them through John and end His period of silence. Amen!
• In Matthew 3:1-12 it tells us how John the Baptist began to call people to confess their sins and be baptized. Verse 11 says, "I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire."
• What an incredible sight to see huge crowds of people coming to repentance...and confessing publicly, what sins they needed to repent of. It also says that tax collectors and pharisees came but had to get over their pride in order to repent. Pride and self-righteousness keep people from true repentance. Confession is beautiful and produces freedom and forgiveness! Freedom always shows...John commented to the pharisees that they did not have fruit in their lives to show for the repentance they claimed. Freedom always shows fruit! Fruit comes from a pivot turn of repentance.

• In Matthew 3:13, JESUS is baptised by John! Can you imagine John's surprise when among all the sinners wading through water, confessing sins and being baptised, he sees his cousin, Jesus...the only one he KNOWS has no sin to confess. Verse 14 says, "But John tried to deter him, saying, "I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?"
• What an incredible picture to think of Jesus being baptised in the same water so many sinners before him publicly confessed their sin. It's as if he foreshadowed His work for us on the cross, by being baptised in the waters of sin, and then rising from them, clean in the power of God's forgiveness.
• He publicly declared his approval for John in that moment, "This is my son for whom I am well-pleased!" Much like His Father, God says about Him years later as He obediently hangs on a cross for OUR sanctification to be made complete.
• Just as baptism is our public declaration of our love for Christ, the CROSS was Christ's public declaration of His love for us.

• When denominations begin to compete with one another, we are in need of an EGO check.
• Satan had a jealousy problem. We are never more like the devil than when we are jealous or territorial...Satan's problem was that he wanted to BE God.
• There is a word in Hebrew used in the Bible to describe John the Baptist. The word translated into English, means friend or attendant of the bridegroom. Like John the Baptist, our BIGGEST responsibility as followers of Christ is to bring the bride (people) to the groom (Jesus). A true friend of the bridegroom realizes..."This bride does not belong to me...it belongs to the bridegroom."
• John the Baptist said in John 3:29, "The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom's voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete."
• That same passage in The Message (Eugene Peterson's paraphrase) says it this way,"The one who gets the bride is, by definition, the bridegroom. And the bridegroom's friend, his 'best man'—that's me—in place at his side where he can hear every word, is genuinely happy. How could he be jealous when he knows that the wedding is finished and the marriage is off to a good start?"
• The more competitive we are, the less JOY we'll have! The more our hearts are turned toward others, sharing in their JOY rather than feeling competitive and jealous, the more JOY we can share with others!

• Don't let the devil cause you to fall away.
• In Revelation 12, it tells the story of the enemy's rage against God and his people. Because he could not win victory over Jesus, he is coming after us. When we let something in our life become a stumbling block, we are allowing ourselves to be scandalized by the enemy who wants to destroy us.
• In Mark 6:17-29, we find John the Baptist in prison for telling Herod he was wrong to marry his brother's wife (the crazy things kings did back then!) Verses 19 and 20 say, "So Herodias (his wife) nursed a grudge against John and wanted to kill him. But she was not able to, because Herod feared John and protected him, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man. When Herod heard John, he was greatly puzzled; yet he liked to listen to him."
• John held his ground, though unpopular, with a heart of humility. We must have moral courage like him!!! Herod, though disagreeing with John, didn't want to kill him! He was strangely drawn to him and the truth.
• Echo (Hebrew word used in this text to describe Herod's wife) means, nursing a grudge; to be held in by something. When we hold a grudge against someone, we are enslaved to them!
• In order to seek vengeance toward John, Herod's wife devises a plan. She has her daughter dance before the King...this was an immoral thing to do. This is such a perfect example of the fact that when we are in bondage, it doesn't just stay with us, it affects our kids too.
• In Matthew 18, Jesus speaks about his protection over each and every one of his children. He can handle whatever we think we need to avenge ourselves! Let HIM do it.
• After Herodias' daughter dances for the King Herod, he is pleased with her and tells her she may have anything she wishes, up to half of his kingdom. (I know...it sounds pretty crazy but it was rather common for kings in this time to make this offer. It was uncommon, however, for the women to take them up on their offer!) Herodias tells her daughter to respond by asking for the head of John the Baptist on a platter. (I know! Crazy again!) Not wanting to go back on his word in front of his dinner guests and appear weak, Herod granted her request, and John was beheaded.
• Matthew 14:13 says,"When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place." When Jesus came to earth, he was both fully God and fully man. He knows what it means to experience great sorrow. It is only for God's purposes that are often beyond our ability to understand at the time, that we experience sorrow. He knows how it feels...our sorrow is precious...it's expensive to Him...He doesn't take it lightly...

• If there is something we feel God has spoken to us, but we can't figure it out...Sometimes, we need to MOVE ON.
• Romans 4:20-21 says in regards to Abraham, "Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised."
• We can claim anything as a word from God that he promises as a NEW covenant. Romans 8, Ephesians 1 and Philippians 4 all speak about the new law that was created through the death and resurrection of Jesus. God's promises to us are NEW since Jesus paid the price of our sin. We are no longer held to the old law...PRAISE GOD!
• In order to hear from God, we need to have confirmation, humility and discernment. Sometimes we want something so badly, we see an answer for it everywhere!
• Psalm 138:8 says, "The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me; your love, O LORD, endures forever—do not abandon the works of your hands." He will perfect that which concerns us.
• In Philippians 1:16, Paul tells us of himself (and the same is true of us) that he was put here for the defense of the gospel!
• Our timeline is not God's...remember how old Zechariah and Elizabeth were before God granted their request for a son? There are prayers of ours that may not even be answered in our lifetime, but it's not over until Jesus returns...HIS timeline doesn't end when WE do! Amen!
• Proverbs 8:34-35 says, "Blessed is the man who listens to me, watching daily at my doors, waiting at my doorway. For whoever finds me finds life and receives favor from the LORD." Be FAITHFUL to listen...we don't have very long, so let's do it STRONG!

• John completed the task set before him. He ran the distance before Jesus--to the death.
• DO YOUR JOB...COMPLETE the TASK God has given you! In Acts 20:24, Paul says, "However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the gospel of God's grace."
• The following word picture is NOT out of scripture, but simply a beautiful way to picture the end of John's life...He placed his head on the executioner's block, probably in completely shock that being the cousin of Jesus...the One who was performing miracles all around where he was imprisoned, bringing sight to the blind and making the lame walk... his life would end this way. Still, in humble obedience to the very end, John laid his head down for the One he loved, only to raise it again in heaven, gazing into the eyes of God as he heard the words, "Well done, my good and faithful servent...WELL DONE!!!"
• John IS the friend of the bridegroom...his life's purpose to prepare the way for the our groom who is JESUS. How beautiful to think of him in heaven, cheering Jesus on as he finished his life on earth, even to the death...and then to welcome Him home after he watched Jesus endure the greatest of ALL sorrow, hanging sinless on a cross, fulfilling HIS purpose. Then, as HIS "best man," can you see him saying a toast to JESUS as He is brought home to heaven...to his earthly cousin and SAVIOR to the world..."May the bride and Groom live happily ever after...and what an honor to have been your 'best-man'...I wouldn't of been anyone else for all the world..."