On September 2, 2009
Beth Moore was teaching on
Life Today with Betty and James Robison on
Wednesday's with Beth... about being a refuge in the storm. She taught on some very good points that I would like to share with you.
- Every single one of us can become a refuge of God to people.
- Every single thing we've been through can be used of God to make us a refuge.
- Every single one of us must take heed not to let Satan pervert our shade into darkness.
What if you are too worn out to be anybody's shelter when they need to be comforted?
Isaiah 32:2b...a shadow of a great rock in a land of exhaustion.
What if I'm the one that needs the refuge? What if I'm the one that is living in a land of exhaustion?
If you and I are to become a hiding place to people; a shelter in a windy, windy season of life, you and I need to learn when to hide. (In a place of safety away from all distractions, except God)
Isaiah 32:2a KJV...And a man shall be as a hiding place from the wind...
People who become a hiding place to other people who have learned when they themselves better run for cover. You need a daily hiding place. We have to have our own time with Jesus. Before you can minister to others, you need to have your own needs ministered to; before you can pour out a cup, you have to have yours filled. We have to have something to give. We need to have the first part of the day to rest in Him and to be filled with just Him.
If you are a person who has a heart to help people, what our trap will often be is that we get a little from God and try to give a lot to people, from the little we got. We are going on empty continually in a land of exhaustion.
The Main Point: You and I have got to have some concentraded hiding...a little time out.
We need to know what are the warning signs when we are warn out, if we are going to live a life wanting to be a shelter to people in a storm of tribulation. If we want to be a shelter to the them, we have to learn when and how to take a time out for ourselves and be refueled. The Bible has the answer for this. Being burned out is not what God intends for us. We are not getting there with His permission. He wants us to be affective in what He has called us to do. When you are dying of thirst, you don't have a cup to give to somebody; we need to go to Jesus and take a sip. We got to get back in the shade of the Great Rock and sit down and collect our thoughts!
Mark 6:30-31 NIV...The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all that they had done and taught. (We need to be profoundly effective fruit-bearing followers of Christ)...Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, "
Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest."
We need to learn how to take time out and get some rest. We have been so busy that we are going to go over the edge, if we do not stop and take stock in our own relationship with the Lord Jesus and just sit in the shade and sense His presence.
Palm 32:7 NIV...You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance.
When was the last time we just sat in our hiding place that we felt
permission to hide from everybody on the planet, but Jesus. Can we just disconnect ourselves from responsibilities, just for a little while and run to our hiding place just because we need repaired. We need Jesus to minister to us. We cannot be a shelter to others if God is not our shelter. Some of us live on the edge of exhaustion at all times. Something has to change. You have to take time out with no distractions. We need permission to hide out. We need permission to hide out from the very people we love the most, because nobody is wearing you out like the people you love the most. (Say it isn't so). How do you know when it's time to take a time out?
Warning Signs: We need a hiding place...
When we do it and no longer feel it. (You need a rest)
In 2 Corinthians chapter 3 it talks about the ministry of the Spirit.
2 Corinthians 4:1a NIV...Therefore, since through God's mercy we have this ministry...
This is talking about you and I having been called to be people that minister the mercy of God to others through us.
2 Corinthians 4:1 NIV...Therefore, since through God's mercy we have this ministry, we do not loose heart.
There is nothing the enemy wants to go after faster in an affective person's life than the heart. When you have a big heart for others, there is no estimating what you would do in the call to follow the Lord, Jesus Christ. But, when you loose heart, you are still trying to get through the physical thing some how. We need to have some mercy come to us in a cry for some time out. We need some tending to in the shelter in the hide-out of God. We need somebody to give us permission and the God of the universe is saying, you need a vacation. Find a safe place in the arms of God.
...To be Continued
To visit Life Today:
http://www.lifetoday.org/To watch this teaching:
http://lifetoday.tv/swf/2009/09/90902.htm
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