This lesson does a masterful job in pointing out how frequently we try to slake our thirst or quite our heart hunger in means that leave us emptier–hungrier–thirstier than when we began.
Our hearts were made for the LORD. He placed a God-shaped hole in them. Yet, like the proverbial round peg being hammered into a square hole, we keep trying to fill the God-shaped voice in us with other things. Even believers do this! We are not immune!
The woman in the scripture tried to fill the voice in her with relationships with men, only to find herself needier than before.
What are some of the things you and I turn to, trying to fill that God-shaped hole?
Certainly, food is one of them. Looking for approval of others is another one for me. To finally conquer the horsemanship issues I have with my horses (and that they have with me! LOL!). Somehow I tend to go to these things, investing myself in them, to get satisfied–but they don’t fit the God-shaped hole inside of me. Running to them leaves me with hopes dashed, disappointed, and the hole seems bigger than ever.
The point of this section of scripture (or at least one of the points) is to turn to JESUS, the LIVING WATER–to invite Him to flood full the hole in my heart that only he can fill. In fact, he alone can fill all my empty places in my life.
Mike Cleveland says: Did you know that you could cease overeating by beginning to drink? Learn how to quench your thirst in Christ and you will also satisfy your soul hunger. I can tell you that drinking of the Living Water is so pleasing to the taste and so filling that it removes the need to eat sinfully. If we think about this, it just makes sense. We had turned to food for all the wrong reasons, because of a “thirst” within our soul. A “thirst” to be loved, or because we were empty and unfulfilled, or because we needed comfort, or because we were lonely, bored or stressed. These and many more, are all “thirsts” within the soul of man and food was not designed to quench the thirst of the soul. The Lord’s Table, p. 28 Summary: There is a void in my heart that God designed to be filled with him alone. I must stop looking elsewhere for satisfaction and feast on Jesus, the Bread of Life. Drink of Jesus, the Living Water.
Application: To what do you look to silence the ache inside, to fill the emptiness? What will you do today to change this tendency? To begin to let Jesus and Jesus alone satisfy you. He is the only thing/One who can.
Hi, all, just a summary of one of the two messages last night…just highlights as I don’t want to spoil any of it for when the DVDs come out in Fall of 2009!!!
Beth did a great job teaching about the woman in Luke 8:40-48 who was desperate for healing and was willing to do anything…ANYTHING it would take to be made whole. She crossed the line of the expected, of “proper behavior.” Beth pointed out that if I am over here in my sickness and Jesus is over there with his healing, I am going to cross that line…blast through any “expectations” that others have for my behavior and grab for the hem of his robe! Do the crazy thing, be a little “radical.” GO FOR IT! I WANT HEALING period! Get outta my way! She also pointed out that we have a mistaken view of repentance…that we tend to think of repentance as our punishment! It is our right in Christ. It is our gift! We have to change our view of repentance!
One of my favorite things that Beth said and I have heard her say it in other bible studies (or maybe it is the original Breaking Free) is that often God allows a wounding…not just to hurt us, but to heal us. That by the wounds of Jesus we are healed…so too many other wounds can bring healing if we will avail ourselves to His intentions.
Wow…WOW! The introductory session of Beth Moore’s Breaking Free taping was last night and it was…well, incredible.
It got off with a rousing start when Lisa Pierre led us in singing “Break these shackles off my feet so I can dance! I just wanna praise you, I just wanna praise you!” I shared the way God used that song in my life here at the blog a couple of months ago (including a link to the YouTube video). So I was into it for sure! 🙂 From the looks of the other 999 women here in New Orleans at the Franklin Avenue Baptist Church, they were too!
Some thoughts…first and foremost, when God speaks to me about the same thing numerous times in just a few days, I know I need to take note. The thought “Renewed Mind” has come up again and again. I wasn’t suprised to hear it here relative to the Breaking Free study–having gone through the BF study years ago and leading a couple of groups through it, I know that renewing the mind is a vital part of breaking free. Well, that and the fact that I have seen it in my own life.
But I know God is doing another new thing! It has come up enough times that I know he wants me to catch something new. So it is my quest to be still and know that He is God and what He has to say about the renewal of my mind. It was mentioned in Freedom From Emotional Eating bible study by Barb Raveling which I started last week. I hope to share my journey through that material here after I finish sharing The Lord’s Table.
The thought of the renewed mind was also the focus of the bible study we did at our Neighborhood Fellowship Group — the focus verse being Romans 12:1-8. We talked about what it means to renew the mind.
In any event, God is up to something. I am here at this video taping. 11 intense BIBLE teaching sessions!!!!! Never have I been through something this intense…and with Beth Moore no less who is big on truth and grace…
So here are some thoughts I jotted down this morning as I reflected back on the introductory session:
The focus verse is Isaiah 61:1-4. You will probably want to look it up in your bibles. Check it out and then ask God to bring it home to your own heart.
Lord Jesus, you have been annointed and appointed to preach good news to the poor. Thank you for accepting that calling. You have been sent to bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners…all of this you’ve done aginst evil that has previously prevailed, Lord. YOU HAVE ENDED THE REIGN OF DARKNESS IN MY LIFE. Not only that but you are proclaiming the year of the Lord’s favor. Oh, I praise you that I stand in your favor!!! You also proclaim the day of vengance of our God. The enemy will get his! You are comforting those who mourn, providing for those who grieve, and bestowing on us all a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. You are changing us — me — to be an oak of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of His splendor.
We will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated; we will renew the ruined cities that have been devastated. Oh, Lord! How appropriate that this taping is here in New Orleans in a church that was just rebuilt after the Katrina devastation! Lord, please help me not to miss what you want to do in me today, this week, through this bible teaching time with Beth Moore. To preserve copyright and all of that, I won’t share my notes from the session. But she used Isaiah 9:4…to speak about how there is a pattern that God sees in us before freedom and how he chooses to break us free from bondage, from the yoke, just as He did the Israelites from Midian.
She took us into the scriptures in Judges chapter 6 all the way through verses 1 through 24. If you walk through the passage, you will see the parallels, too. Here are some questions to get you thinking about it all.
1.) Who are the people that are in bondage? 2.) Describe the nature of this bondage. 3.) Go to Lifeway’s Bible Tools at http://bible.lifeway.com/crossmain.asp. Click on KJV with Strongs. Then type in the little box that says “Books” the following: Judges 6. Find verse 6 and click on the word “impoverished.” How would you describe the state of God’s people when they were under the oppression of the Midianites based on the definition of the Hebrew Word (which is what you just found if you followed these instructions)?
Beth pointed out that bondage is anything that hinders me from being what God wants me to be. I am meant to bring Him glory by the producing of much fruit (John 15:8). The oak of righteousness mentioned in Isaiah 61 produces many many acorns!
4.) Look in the Judges 6 passage. The Israelites weren’t looking for freedom. What had they done instead? Can you identify with this?
5.) What does God do with this? How does this relate to 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 and your life?
I trust Beth and Lifeway won’t mind my sharing some of the words I jotted down near the end of the session. They are powerful…
Whatever it is that God calls you or me to give up…let’s not be afraid to give it up. Let’s instead be scared to miss what God has for us if we cling to something instead of releasing our hold on it. Beth pointed out so eloquently that sometimes we have no idea how oppressed we’ve been until we’ve been set free.
She closed with words like these:
What future do you want? Will you choose to grow old and die in your bondage?
I wanted to let the visitors to the blog know, I am heading off on yet another trip…leaving early tomorrow. I have never in my life traveled as much as I have this year. I think it is a product of finally having a rear that fits in an airplane seat!
I am actually looking forward to this trip! The others were still warm-ups, I guess! LOL!
I am meeting a friend at the Dallas Fort Worth airport where we will fly the rest of the way to New Orleans together. We are attending the video-taping of Beth Moore presenting her Breaking Free material. Lifeway has re-released a new version of “A Woman’s Heart God’s Dwelling Place” and I guess they are doing the same for this series.
Years ago, the Lord used this series powerfully in my life. Going to this is like a dream come true for me, but I have a feeling that this will be quite a challenging experience, too. I covet your prayers!
I will likely have some internet access while I am gone and hope to post a bit about what I experience as I know it will apply to this journey. Definitely!
I have been struggling. Writing about TLT lessons and experiencing a passion in my heart about the Lord and this journey in the wee hours of the morning…and by evening, throwing my care to the wind and being rebellious. It isn’t about the food…it is about the heart. I have been saddened by what has been revealed to be in my heart.
The enemy also accuses me. “You are such a hypocrite and fraud! You spout off about ‘holiness’ and ‘humility’–but LOOK at you! You are arrogant and prideful and your attitude PROVES that! Why don’t you just admit that you will NEVER be all those things that you claim to be and just give it up?”
The battle is very real. In fact, I thought about not sharing today about TLT lesson because of it. But this is the VERY lesson I *should* share. It is so profound, deep, and life-changing. (Even now I battle hearing the voice of the enemy “Yeah, like *your* life has really changed, you liar!!!”)
I will ignore it…2 Corinthians teaches me I have divine power to demolish strongholds. I can tear down anything that stands against the knowledge of God and take captive any thoughts and make them obedient to Christ. So right now I choose to do so.
TLT – Day 8 – The Cross
Here is what I wrote in my journal about this day in The Lord’s Table material.
—-
This is a powerful lesson. Lord, please help me to experience all you have in mind. Let it settle in my mind and make it through to my experience. I want to live, breathe, and apply your Word to my life.
First, Mike Cleveland defined overeating: “Overeating is defined as continuing to eat past the point of receiving all we need to sustain our lives.” I have shared this thought with others before and found that people sure don’t like this definition. When I want to define it differently, I am:
“invent[ing] a god of my own making, to my own liking, a god that tolerates sin and overlooks continual indulgence of the flesh. I am very lenient with myself…” (p. 24 TLT)
I don’t want to create god in an image I can “tolerate” or who tolerates me! I want to be in relationship with the one True God!
When I gave in to the temptation to overeat in my past, I allowed a wall to be built between the Lord and me. I resented the Lord, in fact, for insisting that I surrender this to Him.
The Lord offered himself on the cross, though not *just* for the forgiveness of sins–which is HUGE–a BIG deal!–But also so that I might no longer wander away from Him–so that I could stay close to Him.
1 Peter 2:25 says “Rof you were continually straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls.”
I no longer need to stray. He has provided me a way to stay close. Thank you, Lord.
“The purpose of Jesus’ death is two-fold: first, that He might remove my sins from me and second that He might heal me from going astray and bring me back to God. It is God’s work to remove our sins from us, it is GOD’s work to heal us from going astray, and it is GOD’s work to cause us to return to the Shepherd and Overseer of our souls.” (p. 25, TLT)
I am reminded that I have been called for the purpose of suffering willingly like Jesus. (1 Peter 2:21)
“There is no other way to solve the sin problem than Jesus. There is no other way to be reconciled to God, to be changed from his enemy to His friend, to cease from going astray, than through Jesus.” (p. 25, TLT)
The author states that it is vital to see that overeating is a sin. We can’t hate ourselves into change as one Thin Within participant said so eloquently…but we can hate our SIN and must hate our sin!
“We must begin to detest [our sinful behaviors] with all of our being and to think of them as sin against our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, in order to truly turn away from them and find victory. If we minimze them, we will continue to flirt with them and treat them as no big deal. Begin to seek the Lord about giving you a heart that hates all sin, including your sinful eating habits.” (p. 27, TLT)
Summary: Jesus provided payment for my sin and a way that I can no longer go astray. He did this by the cross. As I ask Him to do so, he will help me to detest my sin of overeating and enable me to turn from it and stay close to Him. God provided Christ out of his compassion and love for me. I want to embrace all that He has done through the cross for all I am worth!
Application: Have I asked the Lord to help me to detest all my sin? Do I agree with TLT conclusion that overeating is eating more than I need to sustain my life? Or do I think a few bites more than that is ok? Who is my authority in this? Am I willing to be humble about it? Am I willing to hear what God may clearly say about it, or do I resist? How will I choose to live differently in light of these things?
Lord, please help me to be open to whatever the truth is about this issue. If my mind and heart are closed, please show me. Whatever YOU define as sin in my life…that is what I want to detest. Lord, please work this in me. Thank you for the cross. You have poured out compassion, grace, mercy and love through offering Jesus on the cross for me. I don’t have to fear calling overeating a sin. I am not condemned! Jesus took the condemnation for me that I might be saved through Him. Thank you for the cross. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
This lesson is one that is near and dear to my heart. In fact, if I were to boil down my journey to just a few “valuable principles,” the heart of this lesson in TLT would be near the top of the list.
In a nutshell…it is that there is incredible value in humility.
This is a teaching throughout God’s Word, of course, and it is also foundational to Thin Within. In fact, the word “release” used by the Hallidays in Thin Within to refer to letting go of extra weight is connected to humility. As I choose, in humility, to release my unmet needs, my unmet wants, my “rights,” my “way,” my food, my body, to the Lord’s more capable hands–as I do this, which requires humility–I not only release all of these things, but I will release other things as well…wounded emotions, resentment, bitterness…. In fact, I learned that doing this is connected to releasing extra weight my body carried. VERY connected. 100 pounds worth of “connected!”
This lesson in TLT teaches that blessings come from being willing to be humble–from being willing to esteem the LORD above all things and to crucify pride in self.
When it comes to the food, overeating, and body issues, we may be better at being prideful than we realize. We plan to do it ourselves and take into our own hands the diet that will do the trick. We will embrace the prescriptive eating plans and if we overeat we will, again, take it into our own hands that we must somehow make up for it…we manipulate to make it all work out our way.
Instead, I will cease my striving. Join me. Let us lay it all down, all plans, all tactics we have for defeating this thing. It is bigger than us and the Lord is bigger than it! In humility we say, “Lord, only you have the answer.” In the moment when I am tempted, I say “YOU know best. I do not have the ‘right’ to this ______ (whatever you are tempted to have).” Let us invite the Lord to BE Lord in our lives and to have his rightful place on the throne…he RULES and REIGNS in my life. NOT me.
Day 7 Summary in Short: Humility is vital to walk this path. God will honor a humble heart. I have great need for HIM. I am impoverished apart from Him. He alone has the answer. He IS the answer.
Practically speaking: How will I allow this truth to affect me today? In what way have I, in pride, yet been clinging to my will, my way, my “rights,” my food, my body? What must I, in humility, release to the Lord? How can I–in the moment–affirm that HE is Lord and I am not?
