Beth started out by talking about this being a new beginning, that God has a tremendous plan for all of us. Don't let anything ever convince you that God cannot work a miracle out of you. He is a God of wonders.
We looked at Psalm 37:1-9
"Do not fret because of those who are evil or be envious of those who do wrong; for like the grass they will soon wither, like green plants they will soon die away. Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn, your vindication like the noonday sun. Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; do not fret when people succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes. Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret—it leads only to evil. For those who are evil will be destroyed, but those who hope in the LORD will inherit the land."
This is a psalm of David and was written as an acrostic, which means it was meant to be memorized. Beth seriously stressed the importance of memorizing scripture.
We act out of what we believe. (Referring back to the previous talk) If we keep believing the same thing, we will keep doing the same thing. It is not until something strategically changes our belief system that it starts to change our behavior.
Referring back to Psalm 37, we all have desires of our flesh, they can be daily struggles, but we're going to be looking at something deeper. The desire of our hearts. "Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart."
Beth went on to talk about 6 crucial things we need to remember when talking about our hearts.
1. Nothing dictates our lives like our desires.
You will be most driven by what it is you really want. You think, "what I need to do is the right thing - I'm not going to make that bad decision again." You cannot sustain the long term on what you need to do alone - it may help to get you out of a pit, but you won't stay out of it. In the end, we will follow our hearts, we will follow our desires. We will default back into what we want to do. Something in your heart needs to be healed or reformed because something in your heart will continue to lead you astray.
In John 1:38 the first question Jesus asks John is, "what do you want?" These are not cravings, not something you want in the next 2 hours, this is a sustained longing. Something unaffected by mood or surroundings. Psalm 38:9 says, "all my longings lie open before the Lord." What is it you long for? Beth gave an example of her grandson wanting chocolate cake, yelling, "I want CAAAAAKE!" We get fixated. Tunnel locked. I want a man, I want ministry, I want to be perfect, etc. What is is that is driving that?
2. Beneath the desire of our heart is the heart of our desire.
Okay, this gets a little tricky, try to follow, I'll try to explain it well.
In Psalm 37 the Lord says - you delight yourself in me and I will give you the desires of your heart. That is an enormous promise. We often view this as saying to God, "okay, I deserve this and this and I will delight in you and you will give me all of it."
God will either give you the desire of your heart, or the heart of your desire. He will give you one, and you want the heart of your desire to trump.
Some people have dreams of what they want to do or be from when they are very young. Beth shared about her daughter that kept changing what she wanted and where her life direction was. Thankfully, the Lord knows what it is that we really, actually want most.
This was Beth's example: if God did not listen to the heart of our desire, we would have married that guy when we were 13 (because that's what we WANTED!) But God goes beyond the desire of your heart because he knew that guy was not the heart of your desire.
If he is withholding the desire of your heart it is because he will give you the heart of your desire.
3. Delighting in God make our truest desires inevitable.
Psalm 37:4, 23-24 "Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart. If the LORD delights in a man’s way, he makes his steps firm; though he stumble, he will not fall, for the LORD upholds him with his hand."
This is a reciprocal desire. He delights in me.
God is not just a big boss. He is the biggest blast you will ever have!
Luke 10: 17-21, "The seventy-two returned with joy and said, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.” He replied, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” At that time Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit, said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure.
Sometimes God makes you do things you don't think you're capable of. God tells you what your capable of doing, but its mind blowing when you actually do it.
Beth Moore is terrified of public speaking.
Don't say you cannot do what you are just scared of doing. There is nothing like doing something you knew you were incapable of doing, because the spirit came and did it for you. Every single time you do something you thought you couldn't do and then the Lord does it with you, Satan falls like lightening from heaven. Some of us owe Satan some big ones. Make him sorry he ever messed with you.
Verse 21 in the Luke passage says, "at that time, Jesus full of joy..."
The Greek word for joy is chara - this is joy on steroids - can't keep this joy internalized. It is characterized by leaping and dancing. Christ is having a physical reaction to his joy.
Jesus delights in me. When I have a big victory, he is cheering right beside me. He is never unmoved. Yet you move him. We are a delight to him.
It's like when babies smile back at you, or laugh along with you. It is the same reaction with the Lord.
God is leaning over you saying, "do you have any idea how loved you are?" He brings us to a point where we smile and laugh back and there is delight. Mutual, beautiful delight.
That's how he feels when you smile back. There ain't no high like the most high! :)
Beth shared about going for walks with her ipod, singing along to the music. One time she stopped and played the air guitar. Sometimes you just can't help it. The joy and delight becomes a physical expression.
4. Nothing external can steal our right to delight.
Nothing circumstantial has the right to steal your delight. Only other emotions can take it from you.
What takes a bite out of delight? (all forms of desire) use the acronym JAW
J- Jealousy (Psalm 37:1)
it undercuts others
really not how we feel about them, but rather how we feel they make us feel about ourselves
something about that person that makes us feel something about ourselves that we do not like
will cheat joy out of your life
you're not meant to be someone else
A- Anger (Psalm 37:8)
we want to feel - be motivated (I know lots of athletes that would motivate themselves out of anger) - but it is meant to be holy passion. Anger is destructive passion.
anger is the antithesis of delight
anger is motivating, but it is destructive
what is it you're so mad about? sometimes we have reasons to be mad - Beth has a past of sexual abuse - she wanted to say to God, "it isn't fair. That wasn't fair." That is the destructive (unfair) side. But on the other side - there is nothing fair about grace. There is more grace to sweep you up in the river of God's mercy than you would ever need in a lifetime. There is nothing fair about the life he has planned.
I want to trade my anger for delight
W- Worry (fret) (Psalm 37:1,8)
worry is all wrapped up in control
at the root of our worry, we think we can control the situation. We can't.
it does not add one single second to our lives
fret - means to eat or gnaw into
our worry says Jesus may be Savior, but he is not Lord
our worry brings him no honor, no delight
trust is the cure for worry
5. To make room for delight, we've got to commit.
Psalm 37:5 "Commit your way to the Lord..."
We think we need to not commit to anything - keep our options open all the time - in order to experience delight
Commit your way to the Lord. The Hebrew word Galal - means to roll over upon, to roll yourself upon
Roll yourself over upon Him - dwell in the shadow of the most high. He's got a plan for your life. Perfectly suited for you. Even with your background, even with your failure in the past. He's got a plan that is perfectly suited for you - Commit!
It is time to commit.
6. Patiently waiting for desire to turn into delight is not passive.
Psalm 37:7 "be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him" - be still, and wait patiently - are not the same thing.
Be still - means shut up, be still, let him speak a word over you
Wait patiently - does not mean sitting and doing nothing. The Hebrew word means to twist or whirl, to dance or writhe in pain. Do it with anguish or delight.
There are times to be still and times to come before him and have a fit. Take every bit of anguish to him, and every bit of delight to him. Pour out your heart before him, he is a refuge for you. That writhing turns into a dance and you're free.
You can't beat life with Jesus for anything else in this world. He will be so good to you. He loves you so much.
Delight yourself in the Lord! And he will give you the desires of your heart.
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