Praying the Blessing of Asher, part 4

This series is a reflection of what I learned at a recent Beth Moore conference. This post could be read on it’s own or in context of the series. Click here to read more of the Blessing of Asher posts.

For review, In Deuteronomy 33, it says this:

1 This is the blessing that Moses the man of God pronounced on the Israelites before his death.

Then Moses went on blessing each one of the Tribes of Israel. When he gets to the last one, Asher, he says this:

24 About Asher he said:
“Most blessed of sons is Asher;
let him be favored by his brothers,
and let him bathe his feet in oil.

25 The bolts of your gates will be iron and bronze,
and your strength will equal your days.

Lord, let us bathe our feet in oil (verse 24b)

One of the reasons I am so amazed by Beth is for the revelations God gives her into the Old Testament. Upon hearing this, my first reaction would be, “Oh, how nice, their feet will be soft and pleasant-smelling!” But there is so much more here. As Beth explained it, I was struck by the glory of God-how his Word has layers and layers of truth that only He can reveal.

As each of the tribes was given land to occupy, Asher was given the land with the most plentiful olive groves. It was a very rich area, which produced much for her people. When the olive farmers pressed out the oil, they would walk on them with special shoes strapped to their feet. If they pressed a lot of oil, it would flow over their feet and “bathe them in oil.”

So this verse means to walk in the power of God’s anointing (oil) to bear fruit for His glory! One of the lessons here is to bear fruit in the sphere of influence you have, and not look at where you want to be. What is the fruit that God has provided on your land? This is especially pertinent to me as a SAHM. There are so many things that I want to do professionally, but right now, God has given me my family in which to produce fruit. I have been offered opportunities lately: looking into graduate school, teaching a Broadway Song and Dance class at a local studio, many piano and voice students on my waiting list. But I’ve had to turn them down, and sometimes I get resentful, because I am looking not to my own land, but to other pastures. The grass is always greener, right?

Part of the definition of Asher is to go forward, move on. What are some reasons we don’t move on in the Lord? Beth highlighted two. First, we want answers we won’t get. Hmmm. .. I can’t relate!

Second, and most importantly, fear! Beth talked about a “freak-out” zone, where it has to be the Spirit of God to get you through. A place where you could never succeed in your own strength. She said, “You will never bathe your feet by staying in your comfort zone.” This is so true! The benefits of allowing God to bring you through the freak-out zone are great. You get to know that what frightens you can be survived! I learned about this while teaching Vacation Bible School. I wrote about a little girl who faced her fear, and God brought her through. At the end of the week, I gave her the blanket (piece of material) that our group took with us to sit on, so she could remember how God helped her in her fear. Her mom says she carries it everywhere now. I learned so much about the true nature of God’s grace from Abby.

I haven’t been past the freak-out zone in a long time, and I don’t particularly want to. Still, I know I will see so much more of God when I do. So I’m praying that God will give me vision to bear fruit in my land, and to move on in Him, despite any fear that may rear it’s ugly head.

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Praying the Blessing of Asher, part 3

This series is a reflection of what I learned at a recent Beth Moore conference. This post could be read on it’s own or in the context of the series. Click here to read more of the Blessing of Asher posts.

For review, In Deuteronomy 33, it says this:

1 This is the blessing that Moses the man of God pronounced on the Israelites before his death.

Then Moses went on blessing each one of the Tribes of Israel. When he gets to the last one, Asher, he says this:

24 About Asher he said:
“Most blessed of sons is Asher;
let him be favored by his brothers,
and let him bathe his feet in oil.

25 The bolts of your gates will be iron and bronze,
and your strength will equal your days.

Praying God’s Word over our lives has tremendous power. For the most part, we don’t have to worry about whether it is His will, unless we are misinterpreting the passage. If it is in Scripture, it is true, and we can have unwavering faith in God’s truth. Of course, the way God works as a result of our prayer may be different than we expected. So before you ask God why he didn’t answer your prayer, ask Him to show you if you missed it.

” Lord, let us be favored by our brothers and sisters.”(verse 24a)

Favored means: “a pleasure, delight, enjoyable, lovable, reconcilable, pardoning.” Don’t you love being around someone who is reconcilable and pardoning? One very important point Beth made is that we can choose relationship over being right. This is hard for me, as I am a very “black and white” person. I need to keep in mind that God’s love for others is more important than me being right.

One good example is a former pastor of mine. He came out of the hippie movement, and after accepting Jesus, figured that God was OK with smoking pot. After all, it seemed normal to him, since he’d been doing it so long. He served Jesus for a while before being convicted that Jesus did not want him to alter his mental state. Coming out of the fog he was in, he began thinking clearly, and no longer needed marijuana to relax. When he first came to the Lord, if someone had said, “OK, now that you’re a Christian, you must do _____ _____ _____, and stop doing _____ _____ _____,” expecting him to change all his ways at once, he may have run screaming the other way. As I’m sure other Christians prayed and gradually shared the truth with this man, God set him straight in His time. Remember Mark 2:16-17:

16When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the “sinners” and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: “Why does he eat with tax collectors and ‘sinners’?”

17On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

I am not advocating letting a brother or sister continue in destructive sin, but let’s love each other, sharing the truth in love, with God’s love and grace being the most important.

I know someone who did run the other way when confronted with the laundry list of do-s and don’t-s. He went to a pastor seeking Jesus, and got a list of rules he had to follow. He came away saying, “I just can’t do this.” I was very sad when I heard this, because it took him 2 more years, and a lot more heartache, to come to Jesus “just as he was.”

If we are filled with true happiness, the awakening to God’s work in our lives; and we are favored (by being reconcilable, pardoning) by others, God will show His glory to the lost through us. This is truly the chief end of man.

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Praying the Blessing of Asher, Part 2

This series is a reflection of what I learned at a recent Beth Moore conference. This post could be read on it’s own or in context of the series. Click here to read more of the Blessing of Asher posts.

From Deuteronomy 33, Moses blesses the 12 tribes of Israel. Asher is the last one, but is described as “most blessed.” The Hebrew word for blessed is asher, or “happy.”

Asher, son of Jacob, was born to Leah’s servant. You remember Leah, Jacob’s first wife, the one he got stuck with before he finally married his true love, Rachel. Leah desperately wanted to be loved, and she thought the perfect way to earn Jacob’s love was to bear him children, especially since Rachel was barren. Rachel and Leah went so far as to give Jacob their servants to sleep with in this insane battle for Jacob’s affection. (Gen 30) Here is how Asher got his name:

12 Leah’s servant Zilpah bore Jacob a second son. 13 Then Leah said, “How happy I am! The women will call me happy.” So she named him Asher. ^[j]

Have you ever been in Leah’s place? I have lived there! How many times have I said, “if only…..then I would be happy.” I even said it a few weeks ago when we were struggling to finish building our house. That is why the definition of Biblical happiness has been so important to me. It does not depend on my circumstances, but God’s goodness! I need to constantly remind myself of this.

What have you done to try to make someone love you? Before I knew Christ, I desperately wanted someone to love me. There were many ways I thought this could be accomplished, and I will tell you that I did just about every one of them. Did I ever feel loved? No, just empty, lonely, wrong. I can feel Leah’s heartbreak even now, desperately desiring what you cannot have.

How many times have you said, “the women will call me happy?” I have done so many things for earthly glory rather than God’s Glory. I have tried to do certain things so other women will call me happy, want to be my friend. It feels like middle school all over again sometimes. And God is so grieved, because he delights in His children, if only we will see it! Zephaniah 3:17 says

The LORD your God is with you,
he is mighty to save.
He will take great delight in you,
he will quiet you with his love,
he will rejoice over you with singing.”

The greatest thing about this is that in the midst of all this craziness, Asher is the MOST BLESSED of all the sons! This gives me hope because I am just as crazy, if not more, than Leah, but God loves me enough to rejoice over me with singing and bring blessing, no matter where I come from.

So in light of this truth I will be praying this:

Lord, I repent for trying to make myself and others happy with worldly things. I repent for all the self-destructive things I have done to try to make people love me, instead of filling my soul with Your unfailing love! I repent for thinking higher of what others will say about me than what You say about me. Open my eyes to Your Works around me, and let me praise you wherever I am, in whatever earthly circumstance. Fill me with Your love, and make my only desire to please and love You, and You alone!

Amen

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Praying The Blessing of Asher, part 1

I recently heard Beth Moore teach on this passage in Deuteronomy. I took a lot of good notes because I knew there was so much more than what my brain could absorb in a few hours. I am not a Bible teacher in the least, but I feel I have to write about it in order to process what is going on in my mind and heart. I hope you are blessed by it, and I hope you have a chance to hear Beth speak because she is so inspiring!

In Deuteronomy 33, it says this:

1 This is the blessing that Moses the man of God pronounced on the Israelites before his death.

Then Moses went on blessing each one of the Tribes of Israel. When he gets to the last one, Asher, he says this:

24 About Asher he said:
“Most blessed of sons is Asher;
let him be favored by his brothers,
and let him bathe his feet in oil.

25 The bolts of your gates will be iron and bronze,
and your strength will equal your days.

There are two words used in the Bible for blessed. The one used in verse 24 is barak, which speaks of position, identity. (is blessed) The other one is asher, used in verse 29, when Moses says: “Blessed are you, O Israel!” This one means to feel blessed. So while Asher is by position, blessed (barak) he also feels blessed/happy(asher)

Here is an excerpt from my previous post, Happiness is… , speaking on the definition of the Hebrew word Asher:

Well, as Beth taught about the Blessing of Asher (Asher means “happy”) in Deuteronomy 33, something inside me awakened. She defined happiness (asher) as “the psychological (soul) awakening to a work of God.” A specific work of God that your soul realizes, and emotionally reacts to. While Biblical happiness is circumstantial, she said, it is not bound by any circumstance. Confused? Simply put, there is no circumstance in which God cannot work! It is not dependent upon how we feel, but how we feel is affected by what God does!

Another definition of Asher goes like this:

• to be straight (used in the widest sense, esp., to be level, right, happy
• Figuratively, to go forward, be honest, prosper, be blessed (happy), to go, guide, lead, relieve

Why does God want us to feel happy? And does this mean He doesn’t want us to suffer?

First, God wants us to delight in Him because He loves us (Ps 37:4), but it is ultimately only for His glory! The Puritans said it this way: “The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy him forever.” John Piper said, “God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.” As we rely on God to give us true happiness, we will radiate His glory to those around us, inspiring them to want what we have! Who would want to be like us if we walk around defeated all the time? God will draw people to Himself through our satisfaction in him.

Having said that, the Bible is clear that Christians will not be spared suffering, but in some cases, our suffering will be greater because we follow Jesus. The beauty of Biblical happiness is that it is not dependent on our circumstances, but on how God is working in our lives. Thankfully, I have not had to go through a huge amount of suffering in my life, so I have not been able to internalize Asher happiness in the midst of great trials. One precious blogger that I have written about before, Heather, has. If you want to see how God can give you what Beth calls “Asher moments” in the midst of pain, read Heather’s battle with her daughter’s heart problems and her own brain tumor. See how God has been so powerful in her life during her trials.

I realize this is long, but I must end with one of Beth’s most important and profound points.

There is no such thing as the “pursuit of happiness.” We cannot pursue happiness, but happiness comes when we pursue God. Happiness is not something we can acquire, but it is a response to God’s goodness. If happiness becomes our life’s aim, we have made it an idol! Therefore, if we make our life’s pursuit Jesus and ask Him to open our eyes to His greatness, we will have asher moments regardless of our circumstance.

I have been deeply affected by hearing this biblical truth, and needless to say, my family has seen a much happier mom and wife! I believe God is going to use this in my life to bring people to Himself! In subsequent posts, I’ll share how Beth inspired us to pray this blessing into our lives and that of our children. It’s so exciting!

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Full Circle

In the last post, I talked about the Beth Moore conference I went to. She mentioned that a lot of times, God will take us full circle to a point in our lives, sort of like coming home. We sang a song that night that I had sung the night I gave my life to Jesus, and He changed me forever.
I felt like this was a “full circle” moment for me. I looked back at what the Lord has done in me for the last 13 years, and I was overcome by His power and goodness.

God brought another “full circle” moment to me on Sunday morning, as I served on the worship ministry at church. A year or two ago, we began singing a song in services called “I Sing the Mighty Power” by Brian Reed. It is an awesome song about God’s creation and redemption. There was a girl in our congregation, I’ll call her Kayla(not her real name), who had been diagnosed with an aggressive form of juvenile cancer. This little girl had the greatest faith I have ever seen and was so strong throughout her battle. It was heartbreaking to see her going through this at such a young age. One Sunday, we were praying a special prayer for the sick in our church. Kayla’s favorite song was “I Sing the Mighty Power,” so our worship leader put that in the service to bless her. During the song, God impressed upon me a spirit of intercession like I have rarely felt before. By the end, I was on my knees, unable to sing, praying desperately for her with tears streaming from my eyes. Many people asked me if I was OK afterward, because rarely does a worship team member do such a thing at our church.

Well, this Sunday, we sang the song again, and I thought of Kayla, completely healed from this beast called cancer, with a new little brother, and still a rock solid faith. It wasn’t until the next song that I was on my knees, unable to sing, praising God for His goodness and mercy. It was as if He was asking me to look back at the circle, and what He had done – in Kayla’s life, and in my life over the 13 years I have served Him. He said, “I am the Creator of the universe, I can heal a little girl of cancer, and I can redeem the soul of a sinner like you. I have loved you with an everlasting love, and I will never cease to amaze you!” Wow! I pray that will be true in your hearts as it is in mine, and that I will never forget what he has done!

I also thank God for Beth Moore and Travis Cottrell, who have allowed God to use them so mightily in my life and countless others’.

It would be great if you would like to leave a comment about something God has done in your life. Sharing God’s work is such a faith builder to the sharer and the hearer.

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Happiness is…

… not a bad word.

When Bible teacher Beth Moore said this last Friday night, I was taken aback, because since I began following Jesus, I was never taught that there was much use for happiness. JOY is the virtue you want! Unwavering, in the midst of circumstance. How un-spiritual to be affected by our circumstance or to desire to be simply happy.

Well, as Beth taught about the Blessing of Asher (Asher means “happy”) in Deuteronomy 33, something inside me awakened. She defined happiness (asher) as “the psychological (soul) awakening to a work of God.” A specific work of God that your soul realizes, and emotionally reacts to. While Biblical happiness is circumstantial, she said, it is not bound by any circumstance. Confused? Simply put, there is no circumstance in which God cannot work! It is not dependent upon how we feel, but how we feel is affected by what God does!

Nothing was more true for me than this weekend, and it was brought to me by my favorite thing: worshiping God in song. Friday night, led by Travis Cottrell, we sang the song “Give Thanks” an old praise chorus. My favorite part goes like this:

And now, let the weak say I am strong
Let the poor say I am rich
Because of what the Lord has done for us
Give thanks

I sang this song the night in March 1994 when I gave my life over to Jesus, and accepted His sacrifice for my many sins. As I sat in a church, broken and at the end of myself, Jesus fulfilled Psalm 40 in my life.

1 I waited patiently for the LORD; he turned to me and heard my cry. 2 He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. 3 He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and put their trust in the LORD. Psalm 40:1-3

As I sang it again in the arena, I was filled with joy for what God had done for me. I was overcome by God’s love and yes, I felt happy. I had just been telling my husband the night before that I thought I was giving way to some depression, and God met me right there and blasted it away with His goodness!

Sunday morning as I was singing on the worship team at church, God overwhelmed me again with His goodness and faithfulness. The laundry awaits, so I must also wait till tomorrow to write the rest. Oooh, I can’t wait!!

May you be blessed (asher) today.

“Blessed are the people whose God is the Lord.”
Ps. 144:15

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