Today was the culmination of a journey I've been taking with God the last few months. Today was the live simulcast for "So Long Insecurity." I read the book by Beth Moore entitled, "So Long Insecurity"...you've been a bad friend to us. It was life changing. Studying what the scripture says about my security in Christ along with wrestling the thing out with my best friend and accountability partner has proved monumental in my faith walk. I didn't even know how much I was a slave to it until God made it evident...then I saw it everywhere I went. Once God has shown you the grace to set you free from bondage, you suddenly have mercy for those around you who act the same way. This wasn't just another bible study with a pithy message...it was transforming. I am not the same person I was before, I am a new creation in Christ...the old is gone, the new has come. (2nd Corinth 5:17). I was a greeter at today's event. While standing at the door welcoming the over 900 women in our town (out of 300,000 nationwide) who attended, I was overwhelmed. When I thought about how God had worked in my own life and what he could do for all the women attending nationwide worshiping Him together, I got choked up. Then I thought, "Get it together girl!, you can't be a greeter standing in the doorway and crying." But I know today blessed God's heart and it definitely blessed mine.
TODAY this new woman plans to be SECURE; it is the only way to fulfill my calling. Now Beth always tells us that the battlefield is the mind and to be secure will only happen with intention. So daily I have to take off the old, and put on the new. This will help me to act secure even when I don't feel like it; then the actions will produce feelings. It is not the other way around. If you wait to act secure until you feel it first...you never will be. We don't live in a world like that. Besides you have an enemy who does not want you to walk in the truth of your foundation in Christ. Today we learned that a SECURE woman is 6 things:
1. S : She is saved from herself. Not by herself, nor for herself, but saved from herself. Trust me when I tell you I have been my own worst enemy on numerous occasions and girl have I acted the fool. I needed a Savior to save me from myself...that pretty much sums up why I turned my life over to Christ. It wasn't working so well when I was running the show.
2 E: Entitled to Truth. We learned the farther you live away from Christ the more deceptive your thinking becomes and this hardens your heart. In a world that grows darker and brings more and more deception I need to stay connected to the truth; this is God's word. I need to know it....by heart.
3. C Clothed With Intention As a woman, you don't get dressed by accident and you certainly won't be secure by accident. You have to "clothe yourself with dignity and strength"; insecurity wants to take your dignity. I am determined not to let that happen...anymore.
4. U Upended by Grace Beth taught us that if we really were convinced that we were forgiven...and believed it..we would not withhold grace from others. Most of our un-forgiveness and what we view as offenses root from our insecurities. If you want to be secure, you have to practice forgiveness. Ephesians 4:32..we have to grace others just like Christ graced us.
5. R Rebounded by Love. I can never really be a secure woman until I fully accept that I am completely and unfailingly loved by God. Everyone has the need to know there is someone who will unfailingly love them and will not leave them. Beth told us that insecurity is not a weakness....it is unbelief. I realized this is the one area I am still struggling. I know God loves me, but I'm pretty sure I don't know it with the confidence I need to. If I did, I wouldn't be needing others to love me to meet my needs of security or depend on others to make me feel good about myself. Lord, I do believe you love me, help with me with my unbelief.(Mark 9:23-24) When it comes to God, it always comes back to love.
6. E Exceptional in Life. We all have a need for significance...to matter. God has shown me during this last week through a wonderful illustration that you will never matter more or be more exceptional than when you are fully executing your spiritual gift. A secure woman in this culture stands out...she is exceptional. I want that. "As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God." Manifold in the original language means multicolored. When God gives you your spiritual gift it is like he clothes you with a multicolored coat that shows the world you are his "most loved and highly favored child." This is exactly like what Jacob did for Joseph. God showed me this week that when I am 'wearing' my gift, I am really being 'clothed in the strength and dignity' that the world and my own insecurities would choose to rob me of. My worth comes from God's manifold grace flowing through me, not from anything or anyone else. This so touched my heart.
If you haven't read this book, I cannot recommend it any more highly. What a journey. What a day. Lord you are such a wild ride.
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I bought the book a while back, but I never made the time to read it...Reading your post touches me...It makes me want to be a better christen! Thank you for all you do! I am going to start the book and finally deal with my own insecurities! XOXO!
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