Beth Moore said WHAT?!?!

Haha, what a title!  Beth Moore said WHAT?!?!  Sounds so controversial, doesn't it?

Last Saturday, I attended the Beth Moore Simulcast with several ladies. There is just something about the impact of worshiping with a small group. I would like to thank each of the ladies I went with.  I did not know them; yet, they made me feel right at home.

I have studied with Beth Moore for several years.  I love her passion for the Lord and her zeal for life, and we can't forget that hair!  If you have followed her, you know that her studies have over the years, grown in depth and shall we say volume?!  I love diving into my bible and researching with both feet, but there was a simplicity about this particular simulcast that Beth did last Saturday that was wonderful.  

The theme, "Being Female Well."  The goal was to equip us for the way we do womanhood for the rest of our lives.  She shared 7 key points:

1. One gathering of many women yearning for God to speak - I believe this day there was 190,000 women gathered.  
2. Jesus changes the story of every woman he meets - Beth looked up every story of every woman in the bible where a woman interacted with Jesus.  Every woman's life was impacted.
3. Jesus wants a woman to know who she is and what she is not - She offered an identity declaration: I am a woman of God, Redeemed by Jesus Christ, Loved, pursued and chosen, Equipped with words of life, Clothed with strength and dignity, Commissioned here and now, Gifted by the Spirit, Forgiven and unbound.  Blessed is she who believed.
4. Sometimes a woman needs a clean sweep to find what she is missing - Get a broom and and sweep all that "gunk" of the past out!  Get it out of your life and start anew! Christ has forgiven you; time to move on.
5. A woman's joy is not the same without a girlfriend to share it with -  I loved this section.  It is so true, we need girlfriends.  I love my sisters-in-Christ!  She also said, stop all this comparison and competition. Beth asked the question, if 50% of us, if you are keeping count, 50% of 190,000 or 95,000 (a lot) would stop comparing ourselves to each other and stop allowing ourselves to be in competition with each other, can you imagine what an impact that would make?  But as Paul says, I do what I don't want to do and don't do what I want to do.  And shortly after the simulcast we went downtown, there was a concert that evening, young beautiful girls were all dressed up, fashionably to go to the concert....does anyone see where I am going with this? :)  It is so hard!!  But this is our prayer and our goal.
6. All of heaven rejoices over a lost woman found - Ladies, men too, I pray we can all strengthen ourselves to speak boldly of what we have seen and experienced of our Lord Jesus Christ, so that when the time comes that the Lord can open the heart of any lost soul and use us as a vessel, we will be ready and equipped.  
7. Every woman is well able to see how Jesus is changing your story - May God's character shine through our behavior.

For me, this was my favorite Beth Moore lesson of all.  It had a simple message.  My biggest learning point of how I need to "Be a Female Well," is to ensure that I am a woman that others can TRUST.  I need to pray over and live out the scripture that helped inspire this blog: James 1:22 says, " Do not merely listen to the word and so deceive yourselves.  Do what it says."  I want to be a better woman, a woman others can TRUST because I:

• yearn to speak to God and I know others do too, and I want to help those who desire to, yet are struggling to do so.  
• recognized that Jesus Christ has changed my life! I owe my eternal salvation to him and I so desire to be a woman who is willing to share what I have seen and experienced with my God in hopes that others can see and know that he is LORD.
• now know I am a woman of God redeemed, forgiven....blessed.....I want to be a light for others.
• had so much baggage, I am still sweeping.  I am still trying to let my guard down, to be willing to share....no, I DESIRE to share so that those who know me will trust that what I say is truth!
• need my girlfriends.  I didn't think I did.  I had been hurt before and had decided I was better off with friends that I never let in.  Well that is not how God intended it.  I am ready to love and love fully so that others may fully trust that my heart is true and that what I tell you about my experiences with Christ are truth.  
• have a heart that weeps over lost souls.  And if I can be used by my LORD in any capacity to move the heart of a lost soul not only will the heavens be rejoicing, but so will I!
• desire that all who see me, can see that I am a Christian first.  That God's character shines through me.  

While I am working on "Being a Female Well."  May God Bless you and keep you until we meet again.