Beth Moore - "Audacious"

I was blessed to go recently to a Beth Moore simulcast titled, "Audacious."  I got the opportunity to share it with my bible study group, but we did not get to finish it completely; and many others have asked me, "What was her simulcast about?" I will not be able to live up to Beth Moore and her character, but I thought I could at least do my best to summarize her main points.  I hope I do you justice Beth!

She begins the simulcast with a familiar story from Gen 25:19-34; the story of Jacob and Esau.  We focus in on the section of the story where Esau, now a grown man, comes in from hunting, hungry. Meanwhile, his brother Jacob is cooking a nice pot of stew.  Esau is so exhausted and worn out, that he is overwhelmed by hunger.  All he can focus on is that pot of stew that Jacob is cooking...he wants that stew!  So much so, that he gives up his birthright (the lion share of the inheritance) to his brother Jacob for a pot of stew.  Beth Moore challenges the audience, "What is your stew?"

What in your life are are you "under valuing" because you are tired, worn out, exhausted?  What have you allowed the Father of Lies to gain a foothold on because you are just to pooped to want anything more than your....stew.  She refers us to Ephesians 4:26-27, "...do not give the devil a foothold."

If the devil can keep us exhausted, we stay hungry, we want our stew and we want it now!  We continually under value our own birthright which leads us right into the core verse for the simulcast Romans 8:13, For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.  Our birthright is in Christ!  We are his children!  He is our Redeemer!

This world has a lot of calamity.  Beth went through so many atrocities today: ISIS - killing of Christians, floods, bombings, earthquakes, Ashley Madison (a website designed for married people to commit adultery).  And we can sit and "stew" on these things and be a people of fear.  As Beth says, the world is "groaning for redemption."  2 Tim 3:1-4 But mark this:  There will be terrible times in the last days.  People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.   

Beth makes it clear that no one knows the day or the hour not even the Son. (Matt 24:36); however, we are closer today than we were yesterday.  And people are struggling and many are exhausted struggling daily with sense of fear, worry and anxiety.  When we should be living in freedom knowing that in our adoption were are in Christ.  He is our Prince of Peace!  He is our Hope!

Audacity is our Legacy!  Our birthright.  Audacity is boldness, with disregard to normal restraints. Her example was, her "normal" is being overcome by fear to present to an audience.  Audacity is being bold enough to go out on stage and do it anyway!  "Having the 'guts' to give the 'glory' to God.

So in this time of darkness, when things seem dim around you and fear may overcome you, STAND UP!  Put on an armor (Eph 6:10) of light in this darkness and be bold in your birthright -
We are called to be MIGHTY WOMEN OF GOD!

To aid you in your fight Beth has offered up 6 Mighty Makers.
1) The Audacity to make an unseen Savior the supreme romance of you life.
Give your heart to an outrageous love for Christ.  Love God first. See Ps 63.

2) The Audacity to live in the tension that comes with loving in truth.
Having the nerve to stay in the Word.  It is tempting to convince ourselves that it will be better if we are away from the word: for example staying away from words like "sin" or "repentance."  But we must walk in love and truth.  Beth tells us that the less we stay in the word, the less faith we have and ultimately, the less we pray....the less prayer is answered.  In times such as these God's word is key. If we remove God's Word, then we effect the Sword in the Armor of God (Eph 6:10) which is the Word of God, and ultimately it would be like fighting the enemy with a butter knife, not a sword.  Not cool!
2 John 1:1-3, Rom 10:17, Acts 4:29-30, 2 Tim 3:17, Jer 29:23-29

3) The Audacity to pray for astonishing works of the Holy Spirit.
Prayer is our communication with God.  He listens and he hears us. Pray over our pastors and teachers.  And she notes that if you are a teacher, if that is your calling, that you must study. Studying God's word is at the heart of teaching; otherwise you are just talking.  Journaling is great, but sometimes you need to just get up and "stomp it out."  Meaning yell if you need to, express your feelings.  Cry out, "Abba Father!" (Rom 8:15).  Ask for and expect the Holy Spirit to do remarkable things.
2 Tim 3:1, Act 2:17

4) The Audacity to forgive and live forgiven.
Beth makes known very quickly that this is a Mighty Maker that we all know, but rarely do.  It's hard. She turns us to the stoning of Stephen in Acts.  In Acts 7:60, as Stephen is committing his Spirit to God, he says, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them."  Beth had a great visual example here of her holding a book with a locked arm against another person on stage.  The book represented the book of "sins" that we were holding against that person, and the locked arm represented the distance we held that person at bay. Please note, this can be someone we refuse to talk to, but it can also be someone we deal with every day.  Even someone that does not even know the way we feel.  So step one of the visual was the book with the locked arm, step two was taking your arms (the book) and casting them into the air and "setting forth" the sins as to forgive. Beth makes it clear that we are "sending forth" to Jesus for forgiveness, not into nothing land.  He forgives us.  We forgive others.
Ps 31:5, Acts 7:54-56, Ps 31:5, Acts 8:1, Rev 2:1-4, Luke 5:24, Acts 22:2, Col 2:13-15

5) The Audacity to hold tight with all your might to Romans 8:18
I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.  Rom 8:18
We are not going to be just "alright," we will be a miracle.  We will be glorified in Christ.  Beth's husband was caught it a tragic fire as a little kid, one in which his brother (close in age) died.  Keith was young, under 5 if I recall correctly, was sent to a baby sitter the day of the funeral.  All his life he remembered that day as a tragedy.  Recently, at Keith's father's funeral, the woman who baby sat Keith that tragic day, came up to him.  She re-introduced herself and told him her perspective of those days so long ago. While Keith saw himself as "tragedy boy," she saw him as "miracle boy." You can imagine the impact it had on Keith and Beth.  In Christ, we are all "miracle children," our lives are not lost in Christ.

6)  The Audacity to walk in humility.
This is a day of "lovers of self" and narcissism.  It takes audacity to have 0% confidence in the flesh and 100% in the Holy Spirit.  If we humble ourselves before God, he will lift us up (1 Pet 5:6), in our humility, God will exalt us. (Jas 1:9).  Audacity is not needing to win or to take up for ourselves.  Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit.  Rather in humility value others above yourselves, no looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of others. Phil 2:3-4

That sums up the simulcast.  We ARE to be mighty women of God.  To be BOLD. To have the Audacity to not be restrained by normalcy.  To have the GUTS to GLORIFY God.  Go for it!