Beth Moore has written a new book. 

Have you heard about it yet?

So Long Insecurity: You've Been a Bad Friend To Us

She is hosting a book club/Bible study over at her blog beginning today!  If you don't have a copy, get the book.  Visit the LPM Blog and sign up to read along with thousands of other women who are kissing insecurity GOODBYE!

HUGS! Blessings... And all that Jazz.

Also, visit my new blog when you get a chance.  http://www.belovedsdance.blogspot.com

WOMEN! Part One

A few of the sweet ladies of CTBC that I worked with daily and decorated the

church with on an annual basis.

Our last Christmas party. Look at these beautiful women. I still

can hardly believe they trusted me with the privilege of leading them

to the Throne of Grace.

One night at Bible Study...
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These pictures are of the dear women I served with, learned from, led in ministry and still love after servign them for four years at Chisholm Trail Baptist Church. Truthfully, Chisholm was classic small town church in some ways --- and PHENOMENALLY different in others. These women are one of the ways it was different.

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At Chisholm, the church was made up of the standard 20-30% of people who always volunteered, always showed up and always gave of themselves, their time and their resources for the church and the furtherment of God's Kingdom. But, what marked this church as remarkably phenomenal was and is its heart to help people who have no relationship with God at all to find, believe in, grow in, serve in, love one another in, and become passionate about! The unchurched, the "fire insurance" brand of Christian, the lost and lonely prodigal and the chronic pit dweller are welcomed with open arms and loved unconditionally.

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We found this little church in September, 2000. We were drawn their by the awesome After School Program that was hosted by the church and directed by the Pastor's Wife, Claudia. I worked in the elementary school where the program was hosted, and my girls became regular weekly attenders there when I had after school acitivies for my job or the PTA.

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Before long, those little girls were dying to go to "Bibleville" after M.A.S.H. on the church van. But, being the sound, Biblical mother that I am. I replied, "Not until I visit that church and see what they're about. Just because it says church on the outside - doesn't mean there is church going on on the inside."

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OH MY GOODNESS. I was so "baby" in Christian terms, I really thought the only reason I should go was because my husband and my children had never met Jesus. BOY, did God have other plans for me.

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We walked through those doors that fall about 20 minutes early for the church service and about in the middle of the adult Sunday school. By the way, did I mention that the church met in two locations! Not bad for a small rural church. The children were shuttled up to a small old church building off the main drag through town for Sunday School while the adults met for the early services at the "High Tech Modular Building" on the new 5 acre church site that would soon house a "state of the art" worship facility.

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That church is there, and has a $1,000,000 Family Life Center sitting behind. A miracle I had the privilege of witnessing and praying through.

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At Chisholm, my family met Jesus through its people. We were welcomed with warm hugs, loving people and eventually we found out most of them were just like us. Broken, hurting and riddled with difficulties, struggles and needs. By January 2001, my husband and my two oldest children had accepted Christ as their personal Savior. We were early to church on both Wednesdays and Sundays. The Pastor was once heard to say that we beat him to the church every week. We began to grow and that is when our choices and the enemy's plans took us to the desert. I'm pretty sure the Holy Spirit was directing from the arm's length we held Him, but alas, the desert it was. We went to live with my parents for a year. During one of the most tragic and difficult times in this nation's history we were living with family and commuting back and forth to work every single day.

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My husband, new in his relationship with God, gave up taking us to church quickly. But, a year later we had a chance encounter with the sweet Pastor of Chisholm Trail Baptist Church who said these words to us: "Every day since you left we have been praying for you to come back."

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The next week my husband said, "We're going to church."

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That first day back the Pastor asked, "What do we have to do to get you back permanent?"

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"We need a house that we can all live in."

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Three months later we were back. Renting a early 1900s BRIGHT BLUE (Bear in the Big Blue House Blue) house that had belonged to one of the most beloved, deceased member's family. We had a home.

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This church loved us that first year back into the family and our hearts began to grow deeper and more in tune with God and His work amongst us. My husband and I began to volunteer in youth ministry and our children began to thrive. We were finally where we belonged.

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In the summer of 2003, I discovered Beth Moore's in-depth Bible studies. I thought my head and my heart might explode from all the goodness I found there. For some twelve weeks that summer, I sat in my "office" with my Pastor's wife and we became intimately acquainted with the life of the apostle John and the Jesus he grew to love so deeply and write about so passionately. I fell full on into the embrace of the love of God. "Beloved Disciple."

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At the end of that summer, I was invited to come to the church to co-facilitate Bible study with the women there. That first session of study, God gave us eight women. And if I recall correctly, one of them was not a member of our church. We walked through the pages of Scripture beside "Jesus, the One and Only." We learned about His family, His mother, His life and His ministry. I began for the first time in my life to personally identify with and relate to my Lord and Savior. My heart and head were so full. My heart was actually catching up with my head. That Christmas we spent a great time fellowshipping and sharing a meal over the Christmas story and a gift exchange. The handful of women who attended were a blessing and I was so anxious to see what God would do next among us.

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The following spring we did so many things I can barely recount them. We dove into the life of David in "A Heart Like His." To my delight we had twelve women on the roster. It was during this study that I learned that my calling was to women, not youth. I was terrified. At not even 35 years of age and with a couple of seasons of good solid Bible study under my belt, I was facing the potential to become the women's minister at my church. WHAT?

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I invited the women to accompany on a trip to San Antonio for the National Women of Faith Conference over Spring Break and you'll never believe... eight Women made the trip.

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We had a blast. Those eight ladies came back dog tired and fellowshipped and fed. We were officially heart sisters. Oh The Lord is so good. We left under a cloud of uncertainty about that $1,000,000 we had been praying for together. The money that built the Family Life Center.
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Upon our return we learned that Pastor was going to pick up a check from the generous benefactor who had offered to help build the Family Life Center. There was great rejoicing in our hearts. And we learned the power of prayer to be sure.

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We finished out the spring study with "When Godly People Do Ungodly Things." This study, as I have previously written was the start of something revolutionary in my life. My heart began to change in those days of digging around in God's Word about the assaults and schemes of the enemy against the godly and how to stand and fight in the attack. I saw myself and my role on the front lines of Spiritual Warfare pounding a rhythm in my cadence that God's heart beats to in my life still.

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I spoke that year at the Mother-Daughter Banquet when our speaker backed out at the last minute. My ability to teach and draw practical application from Scripture surfaced that day. God used that half hour to teach me and my friends something about Beauty Inside and Out.
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That summer was a fabulous time. We began planning and looking to host a women's conference at our church. It worked out to be a one day conference of "Life in the Spirit." The women of my little Bible study group rallied around the vision for this event and we hosted 40 women as the Lord came down and ministered through eight breakout sessions on the nine qualities of the fruit of the Spirit and one very gifted speaker who used her artistic abilities and the gift of teaching to illustrate the way spiritual growth releases the flow of the Holy Spirit in our lives. I was stunned and amazed and my heart to create first class experiences for the women of our church was born.

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We journeyed through the study, "Believing God" that fall and traveled back to San Antonio for the Lifeway Women's Conference. We heard Beth Moore and Jennifer Rothschild along with Mary Kaissian that weekend. And I learned to value the hearts, the growth and the differences that I shared with my sisters in Christ. A few week's later we had a fabulous Crock Pot Christmas Party.

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By the end of the Holiday season we were ready to step into "Living Beyond Yourself." And my family stepped into 2005 to face by far the most difficult and tragic time of our lives. I felt like I might have to step away from ministry as my son's problems not only surfaced but came to a rolling boil. His choices and dysfunction was threatening to undo me. I prayed hard and often. Eventually, I realized I had to trust God and move forward until God showed me different. Oh, and we did.

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I hosted a vision casting luncheon that spring. I also developed a much needed ministry plan for our ladies. Back door ministry opportunities require some time to catch up. I called myself the "Women's Ministry Administrator" because I felt surely inadequate calling myself a minister.

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I had an opportunity to interview some dynamic speakers as we began planning the fall conference again. I was excited about the speaker potential and the women God was raising up as leaders in our group. I invited the ladies to join me in the ministry. My heart longed to see them own it, and God had arranged for just that opportunity.

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They stepped up. By this time we had some twenty or so women attending on a weekly basis. It blessed my socks off to watch these women come into their own in Bible study. I could hardly believe what was happening. These women, a handful of them much senior to me in years, deferred to me and came to me for help, for counsel and for understanding. I barely knew what to do. I had to lean into God then and trust His Word to me. What did He say? Sometimes the maturity I'm looking for is Spiritual and not physical.

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A few week's before Justin's accident we began a study of "The Patriarchs." I remember those first couple of days after the accident that one of my friends and fellow Bible sojourners came in and said, "Get together all the stuff I'll need and I'll open the building and set things up for the meetings. Claudia and I will take care of things until you can come back."

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They did. Not only that, they showed up in droves with food every day at the hospital to pray with and for us and to just cry with me when I needed it. These women served faithfully at the funeral service and stopped by daily. They sent cards and flowers and they even gave me the much needed space that I was seeking in my grief. I returned to Bible study near November and don't quite remember what the Christmas party that year looked like. We worked our party into the Bible study sessions and used it as an opportunity to invite women who were not attending regularly and give them a taste of our Bible study along with a gift exchange and some fun, food and fellowship. The hallmark of our ministry. Facts, Food, and Fun.

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The last few studies we did were during the season when God changed my heart and began the process of moving us to Gateway. "Breaking Free" and "Daniel: Words of Prophecy, Lives of Integrity" covered three semesters of study. We finished up by studying the "Loving Well" retreat study over the last few weeks of spring 2007. We introduced worship to our weekly Bible study and took some time to unwind and just love each other well. That summer, God moved us to Gateway. I recently had the opportunity to visit their Bible study group, now under the leadership of the Pastor's wife. I was blessed to see nearly twenty women in attendance, and there were several absent. They were full on studying Esther and soaking up every word. The Glory of it all... God moved me into a knew arena of women and God moved them into a whole new arena of relationship and growth under new/old leadership.

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Women. I was scared to death to lead them, terrified to speak in front of them and blessed beyond measure when God introduced me to them and ramped up the qualities in me that I woudl need to learn how to serve them in His presence. He is so very good. I thank God for the women in my life.
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LPM Siesta Scripture Memory Verse #6

This time I'm memorizing a verse I prayed with a group of precious ladies yesterday. I've been praying with these women for a few weeks now and we've been asking God specifically to come and move at PINK IMPACT the women's conference that our church is hosting March 26-28th.

This verse just seemed to be highlighted and leaping off the page yesterday as we prayed.

"And He has made My mouth like a sharp sword; In the shadow of His hand He has hidden Me, And made Me a polished shaft; In His quiver He has hidden Me."
Isaiah 49:2 (NKJV)

As I was just even reading this Scripture something new become known to me. "In His quiver He has hidden Me." He sharpens and hones me, makes my words like a sharp sword, and a polished prized weapon. I'm one of God's secret weapons. Think of that.

I love it. There is also exciting news this week for the Scripture Memorization Siestas... Check it out at the LPM Blog.

Blessings,

Michelle

No Time To Tarry... Siesta Scripture Memorization #4

No time to tarry here this morning. I am pausing here to post my memory verse for the next 14 days. I heard this verse and it grabbed a hold of me during the first week of January. I told Scott I needed to memorzize that Scripture so here we are. God is so ever-lovin' good. I heard it used again as the Scripture God gave Jimmy Evans when he began the Marriage Today ministry.

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"So [as the result of the Messiah’s intervention] they shall [reverently] fear the name of the Lord from the west, and His glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him and put him to flight [for He will come like a rushing stream which the breath of the Lord drives]." ~ Isaiah 59:19 (AMP)

So what Scripture is grabbing your heart these days? I'm so ready to maximize this verse in my mind and move into a new level of understanding about what God has to say to us about our lives. You bless me so... I love you guys. Beth should have her post up today over at LPM, if you want to join we are memorizing two Scriptures [of our choosing] a month (New on the first fifteenth). So start listening and pick your verse --- then hop on her blog, add your verse to the twice-a-month post and hide His Word in your heart. He is so going to bless you for committing yourself to Him in this way.

Scripture Memorization and a Note to Beth

Hey Ladies,

Well it is February 1st and the Siestas over at Living Proof Ministries Blog (LPM) for short are armoring up again with a memory verse. I don't think it is too late for you to join in and get yourself tuned in and geared up for a "Jesus Year," as our Beth so lovingly put it.

My Scripture for the 1st - 15th is "And this I pray that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and discernment, *(10) that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense til the day of Christ." Philippians 1:9-10 (NKJV)

**NOTE TO BETH: (You can read along if you aren't Beth, but this is for her.)

My beloved Teacher, Sister, and Friend:

As I read these words at your blog (LPM BLOG) this morning, I knew God had been listening to me as I voiced my woundedness last night.

"Keep reading them, meditating on them, examining them and echoing them and I give you God’s Word that you’ll sense divine power welling up in you. You’ll win a battle you cannot even see before it makes it from the heavenly realms into your earthly experience. With each verse abiding in you, God is thoroughly equipping you for every good work He foreordained for you. Our paths are hard but God’s plan for us is good. Nothing that really matters a hill of beans is easy. You, young lady, are a warrior. Keep holding up that Shield of Faith and wielding that Sword of the Spirit and the victory will be yours. I am so honored to march on this battlefield beside you."

Thank you for this word of encouragement, Beth. Not even 12 hours ago I was grousing while I mopped the bathroom about how hard the current season is and how unhappy I am about certain things to God. This morning reading your post has given me an extra umph! Sorry to go on... Your words this morning reminded me that God is indeed hearing my prayers and showing me great and unsearchable things that I did not know - Like I have a sparkling, spit-shined house this morning to wake up to... Because I got down in the floor and sopped my knees last night to get the thing done. That is what I am having to do in the Spiritual Battle as well... Get down on my knees and wash His feet with my tears, and sop my knees in the process so He can redeem them with His glorious light!

I love you. (And all of you who may be reading along.) I thank God for you (all of you.)

LPM Memory Verse #2

Just keepin' it real folks... This is me just out of bed at 5:45 AM! ;o)

Beth Moore has invited us to join her in memorizing/meditating on two Scriptures per month. Today is the second installment of this glorious exercise. More than 3,000 women have joined Beth in this endeavor at her LPM Blog. If you would like to sign up hop on over and check it out!

My Word to close out last year was PEACE. My Word to begin this year is TRUTH. I have been listening for Scriptures that speak truth to me...

On the first of January, I selected Psalm 15:1-2 "Lord, who may abide in Your tabernacle? Who may dwell in Your holy hill? Those who walk uprightly, And work righteousness, And speaks the truth in his heart." (NKJV)

Oh Glory, I typed that from memory! As I faced uncertain realities and difficult truths about myself... As the temptation to carry on as if nothing had happened, or to take revenge came upon me in the last 15 days... God's Word was working its way in my heart in mind. I would hear these words bouncing off the walls there... "IF you want to abide with God you must walk in your identity in Christ, do the work of righteousness as it has been administered to you, and you must speak the truth in your heart. Michelle, if you want to stay close to God as you need to do you must admit what your reality is and seek His truth to cover anything that hurts." Tell the truth in your heart.

This day I have chosen a very important Scripture as God has begun showing me a vision for the restoration of the relationship I have with my husband and what the future holds for us. Jeremiah 33:6 (AMP) "Behold, [in the future restored Jerusalem] I will lay upon it health and healing, and I will cure them and will reveal to them the abundance of peace, (prosperity, security, stability) and truth."

Thank you, Jesus, that Your mercies are new every morning and Your Word is true. I glory in you greatness and your love this day. You alone are God, You alone are worthy to be praised.

How About You? What Scripture has God placed in your heart today?

RENEW Your Mind...

Beth Moore has a great tutorial for Scripture Memorization up at her LPM Blog. She has encouraged her readers to join her in memorizing two verses a month through the year 2009.

This year, God gave me John 8:32 just before New Year. "You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free." I already had that verse down in my head so my first verse had to be something new: "Lord, who may abide in Your tabernacle? Who may dwell in Your holy hill? He who walks uprightly, And works righteousness, And speaks the truth in his heart." Psalm 15:1-2 NKJV

I cannot tell you how many times in the last fourteen days that a new realization would come to me that would bring me pain. I would say, "If this is the truth, then the truth shall make me free." Or if that realization would be one I would like not to accept, or maybe one I would like to act upon and take revenge about.... I would remind myself: "Those who abide with God walk uprightly, work righteousness and they TELL THE TRUTH IN THEIR HEART." I must accept what has happened before I can move forward in this process. Pretending something didn't happen or that it was less than it was is not telling the truth in my heart. It is deceptive, it is futile and it brings destruction. Denial is the worst form of deception because we do it to ourselves.

What "WORD" has God given you for 2009 and how are you applying it to your life today?

Thank you Jesus that in spite of our realities, You alone are the Truth that sets us free. I love you so.

Deeper Still - Joyful 2 from on Vimeo. Okay I "borrowed" this from the All Access blog... well just cause it made me smile and remember that God enjoys us when we are enjoying Him! GLORY! Go Beth! Go Beth! And WHOO Priscilla be gettin' down!

Love IT!

Living Proof...

Beth Moore is living proof that God does amazing things in the lives of women who are 100% sold out to their God, their calling and being the woman God created them to be! She is and He is and that's all I can say about that.

Friday night, she started out by playing Psalm 16: 1-11 up on the screen before us. It is a beautiful testimony to God's faithfulness and His promises as written by King David.


She had us focus in on Psalm 16:5-7 in the English Standard version. Her emphasis - our beautiful inheritance. She shared that God's inheritance always involves three things:

1. Presence - His among us (Genesis 26:23, Joshua 1:9)

2. People.... God loves people (Genesis 12:3, 22; 22:17-18; Deuteronomy 4:20; Psalm 16:3; Revelation 7:9)

3. Property - a material something to possess or have (Numbers 26:52-56, Matthew 25:34)

She shared that Redemption is tied to Inheritance, because Jesus died not only to redeem us but also to make us co-heirs with Himself. To drive the point home - she shared the following 8 points:

1. I am an heir of God. My life is not left to chance. There is not casting of lots or scheming to steal our inheritance. We are sealed by the Holy Spirit in Christ Jesus and a co-heir with Him in His Father's kingdom. Our entire lives even before we knew Christ or dwelled in a pit of sin --- It all can be tailored to make a beautiful inheritance. (Psalm 16:5)

2. I am an heir of God. I am inheriting a kingdom. (Matthew 25:34, Daniel 7:18, Colossians 1:12) A real, tangible kingdom.... It will nt be boring. Paris Hilton was quoted as saying she is not a boring heiress... As God's heiresses we will not be called to a boring kingdom. It will be a thriving kingdom with life, responibility and possibility all lived in the presence and power of God.

3. I am an heir of God. He is my portion and I am HIS! (1 Peter 2:4-5, Psalm 73:25-26, Psalm 19:57, Lamentations 3:24) Did you get that? We are Christ's inheritance. She took us to Ephesians 1:18 ... Read it and see for yourself. We are the blessed inheritance of our Lord. We inherit Him and all of His kingdom as well.

4. I am a n heir of God. The down payment has been made. (Revelation 22:4, Ephesians 1:14, 2 Timothy 2:13, Romans 8) Christ made a deposit of His own Spirit in us and sealed us in the Spirit for the day of redemption. We bear a mark, His name is written upon our foreheads and all of heaven recognizes us as God's chosen redeemed. The down payment or deposit is our guarantee of the inheritance God has promised.

5. I am an heir of God. My boundary lines form a pleasing place. (1 Peter 1:4, Romans 8:18)

These boundaries represent the what shapes not only our destiny but our inheritance. Our past is the rear boundary - we don't have to live there but it shapes who we are. Our intimacy with God is our top boundary - if we do not grow in our relationship with God our top boundary remains low. Our bottom boundary or the place where we walk out what we are experiencing with God and those around us. And the forward momentum is our Spirituall giftings. Those things, within ourselves we cannot do on our own. If God is occupying all the territory within our boundaries - because if He is not the enemy is standing on our land. We must choose to be with Jesus, allow Him to work through our past, our experiences and our giftings to accomplish the purposes of the kingdom. It is a pleasing place to have our faith and walk it out in the center of God's will. God cannot do you wrong... "He comes to take over only to His glory and only to do you good." He can even use a little dirt in our past to make good soil for planting seeds.

6. I am an heir of God. The will (as in will and testament) has been activated. (Hebrews 9:15-17) In our lives, a persons will cannot be activated unless someone dies. However God's Word assures us that His will has already been activated toward us. Our inheritance is secure. It is ours. Jesus died and came back to life so our inheritance would be secure.

7. I am and heir of god. I can be secure. (I crossed out "can" and inserted "am to.") It is now an affirmation of faith! I am to never live insecurely seeking and desiring the approval of others to establish my identity and my value. Christ established my value by the price He was willing to pay to redeem me. He established my identity in Him when I received Him as my Lord. My identity and my value does not debend on other people's opinions or approval of me. Beth said, "No one draws in people like someone who does not need them." and "Christ's fragrance comes forth as we are broken." (Galatians 3:29-4:? - think I forgot to write that down. Psalm 16:5-6)

One final Bethism from this point: "Our theology has not become our reality until we allow God to deal with our insecurity." Now that is a good, good word.

8. I am an heir of God. I have a beautiful inheritance. (Isaiah 61:7, 2 Timothy 4:6-7)
With this, she pointed out that Joy is the leading emotion of receiving the inheritance - to which I say AMEN! But, also, that we are not just heirs to the kingdom behind Christ as in traditional roles of royalty where the firstborn son inherits the right to the primary inheritance. Biblically speaking the primary inheritance or double portion goes to the firstborn. For God - that firstborn is Jesus Christ. We are not just heirs with Him - we are CO-heirs - equal heirs - we get a double portion. Christ is indeed our very great reward. It's not that He works miracles in circumstances to show off, but that He would reveal His glory by working miracles in people - so that we are the miracle. Let's never ask for an easier life, but instead press on and finish the race well. And there when we come across the line bloodied and bruised... beaten and battle weary - we will receive the Crown of Life and Victory which God has promised and we will cast them at His feet in Glory! In the 2 Timothy passage there is a Greek word, kalas, which means "a beautiful fight." Our lives will be a beautiful fight is one hard fought and that may be hard on us but it brings the victory just the same! A Beautiful Inheritance.

Of course, this is Beth's teaching mixed with my own thoughts in my notes... but I tried to write down as much as possible. She did this other neat diagram that maybe I will conjure up later in my trusty old computer so you can see how beautiful it really is. She brought it and God brought down the house when His Holy Spirit fell.

The meet up was precious and so special. God so blessed us this weekend... I'm almost in tears just thinking about it. To my new BFFs Lora, Nesha and Alexia... I. FLAT. OUT. LOVE. YOU. TO. PIECES. Flat Out. Thank you for yesterday morning and the entire weekend. But, most of all thank you for letting me walk alone in the rain, have some time to myself on Saturday afternoon and allowing me to pray with you, hear your story and walk a mile with you along this road of life. I'll never forget it.

Gayle, Cindy and Amy Beth - WOW! Beautiful women, beautiful hearts, beautiful writers... and Cindy - I should add that bit about housekeeping to my profile... cause a good housekeeper in this body - not so much!

Tiffany... I tend to agree the almost "insane" idea of traveling with someone you absolutely do not know for ten hours and entrusting yourself to them seems a little off, but even before we laid eyes on each other it is like God gave us a "knowing" about one another. A kindred heart you are my friend. A kindred heart and I love you.

Holly, Kim and Patty - Thank you seems inadequate - so YOU. ARE. THE. BOMB... and we're all Beth's "peeps!" I swear! She must have been reading Boo Mama's Blog! HA!

Okay... so a nap is in order... I'll link to blogs later ladies... I'm worn out. I had to tape my eyelids to my forehead to make this post by this hour! Love Ya!