Beth Moore!

Today's tribute (my final tribute for the month of May) goes to my favorite Bible study teacher, Beth Moore!

To sum Beth up in one word, it would be PASSION!  She is excited about studying and teaching God's Word and passionate about really living out what she teaches.  She is emotional and real, and she teaches on things that have already helped her in her own life.  (Like Isaiah 61, which became the Breaking Free study).  I love Beth Moore. I love that she does not ever minimize pain or problems, but she always glorifies God above whatever has hurt her.

She is cute and fun and a definite girly-girl, and she has an outgoing, warm, Expressive personality.  She does a lot of research on whatever book or topic she is focusing on, but then she presents it in a way that connects with people at the heart level.  Through Beth's video teaching, I have studied the books of Daniel, Esther, Revelation, and James, as well as The Patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob), Breaking Free, and her audio book, Get Out of That Pit.  I have also read her books So Long, Insecurity and Breaking Free, and I read her blog pretty regularly.  I love knowing what she has overcome with Christ (much like Joyce, she was abused in childhood), and I love who she is as a wife and friend and mother and author and teacher.  I love that she is honest about her own struggles and shortcomings but is always striving to become more like Christ!!

(Beth with her daughters, Amanda and Melissa, and her grandson)

Beth inspired me to memorize Scripture, and she gave me the idea to choose a verse for each letter of the alphabet.  I can't pinpoint many specifics, but I really believe that having God's Word in my heart through that exercise has helped me grow closer with Him over the past couple years.

Top 15 Beth Quotes that have Impacted my Life:

1.  "Whatever you have to manipulate to get is rarely yours to keep!!"

2.  "You can hang on to unforgiveness - to something that could've been the death of you -- or you can hang on to your First Love, who is your life. Which will you let go of?"   

3.  "Satan works in big generalities (you're worthless, you'll always be..., you'll never become...) while the Holy Spirit uses specific conviction." 

4.  "An unsatisfied soul is a stronghold waiting to happen. Humans can't stand a feeling of emptiness... we will find one way or another to satisfy our soul."

5.  "Insecurity can result from a broken attachment of any kind, even one that seems relatively minor to others. If it translated as something huge to your heart, it is huge to God on your behalf...  If you've suffered a serious case of rejection, God knows exactly what happened and what a toll it took. He knows the number it played on your mind. Let Him bring you peace... Whatever you do, don't reject the only One wholly incapable of rejecting you." 
6.  "You are royalty... You are in the most literal sense possible the daughter of the universe's King. You have royal blood in a way that even Esther did not. The crimson bloodline of Christ flows through your veins. Right now, you are representing the King on official business in another land, but you are no less royal than the Queen of England would be if she visited the White House. Or the Bronx. She is queen regardless of where she is and how she is treated. Her status is secure. So is yours.  Not only are you royalty, but you also have been placed within your sphere of influence, regardless of the size you perceive it to be, "for such a time as this." Beloved, in the times of greatest struggle when you make the Godward decision over convenience, earthly comfort, or carnal pleasure, you too have come to a critical moment in the fulfillment of your destiny. A defining moment. A war is being waged over your head in the unseen realm, and a great cloud of witnesses is cheering you on. You have no idea what's at stake!"

7.  "Other people do not always understand our pain when we desperately want them to.  But God gets it. He understands your pain.  He's seen every tear you've cried into your pillow, and He gets it." 

8.  "Satan will try to convince you to make peace with your addiction... but until we sincerely HATE IT, till we are sickened by it and disgusted by what it has done to us and to our families... until we let go of our plan to find a way to "manage and control" it rather than having to surrender it completely... God will not deliver us from it, because we don't truly want to be delivered." 

9.  "God is the Ancient of Days, meaning that He is the righteous judge who sees everything and knows every heart ...and He will punish those who seemingly 'get away with' something terrible here on earth!"

10.  "What God initiates, He equips us to handle.... When we scratch and claw to dig information out of the dirt, however, we don't get the same kind of grace that accompanies divine revelation."

11.  "Never forget that time by itself does nothing to heal.  We must turn our hearts to God!"

12.  "Sadness is at the root of all anger.  Get vulnerable with God and cry if you have to and be honest about the sadness, because the anger quickly becomes toxic!"

13.  "God does not give us the grace to deal with imaginary events (all the things we fear and worry about ahead of time), but He always gives us the grace necessary when we call to Him in our time of real need."

14.  "A united house stands. A divided house falls. The devil has much to gain (by attacking Christians), but he also has much to lose. We are the Body of Jesus Christ and we have an opportunity to show His character. This is our watch. We stand for what is right not from our feet but from our knees." 
15. "Often, we will give God MOST of the things we love, but we won't give Him the things WE LOVE MOST."