living proof

This past weekend I had the opportunity to attend the Beth Moore Living Proof Live conference in Columbia with a couple of my friends. I told another one of my friends that going to a Beth Moore conference was not at the top of my to-do list, but everything just fell into place for me to go. I have been struggling with some trials and discouragements lately and I told my friend that I EXPECTED God to speak to me this weekend. As the first session began at James 1, all I could do was smile because I knew God had showed up:

Each of us gets one mortal life.
Each one life is marked by multiple seasons.
Each season is colored by different trials.
For believers, every trial is assigned divine tasks.
Trials are permitted by God for a reason.
Trials are unplanned and undesired.
All trials are to complete God's workmanship (a portrait). The picture begins as black and white and our trials bring color to the picture.
Every trial evokes a test of faith...you will be tempted to doubt.
Every trial will expose a need of a new wisdom.
Ask for wisdom. If we don't pray, certain things will not happen.
Perseverance is courageous endurance.
Courageous perseverers are greatly rewarded.
God takes away our perversity and gives us back our dignity.
The one who falls is not always a fraud, but an idiot.
Distraction leads to addiction which leads to destruction.
Our number one motivator should be that we are madly in love with Jesus.
God did not create you to stifle your feelings - He wants you to be PASSIONATE.
Give the divine seed a clean soil by having a confession life.
Humbly accept the Word planted in you.
Renew your mind day in and day out.
You can't just "hear" the Word, but "do" it.
When God exhales his Word, we've got to inhale.
If you feel like there are no answers in the Bible, look intently and God will speak to you.
The higher God has placed you in ministry, the more of a servant you are called to be.
God can humble a proud person.

And in the words of Beth Moore, "Can I get an AMEN?"