Notes from Deeper Still, Birmingham

My daughter and I went to our first Deeper Still together this past weekend.  That, and a hamster (God help me), are all she asked for for her 10th birthday.  What a blessing it was!  Not only the time away together, but the worship, the visiting and talking with friends, and most certainly the speakers.  Even my sweet girl took five pages of her own notes.  Kay Arthur, Priscilla Shirer, and Beth Moore each spoke to our group of 14,000 women and 4 men.  Several friends have asked for copies of my notes from the weekend, so I thought, "Hey, I have a blog now.  I'll put my notes on the blog."
Genius, I know.

I'm strictly typing up the notes I took from each session.  No personal commentary yet.  For the sake of time on this post.  There are several nuggets of pure gold that spoke to me from what each person had to share, but I will save that for another post soon.  Maybe by simply reading what was said, and looking up their scripture references, God can speak to you in His own way through each of these 3 speakers....

So here we go:


Kay Arthur


(I've only heard Kay Arthur speak one other time, at a Deeper Still here in Atlanta two years ago.  I kid you not, she covered the entire book of Hebrews in just under two hours that day.  This time she did not disappoint either.  She went through the entire book of Matthew between 7:30 and 9:15 pm Friday night.  I took four pages of notes. I'll condense them for you though....)

What is the future going to look like for America?
Christians are ill-prepared and inadequately equipped for what lies ahead.  
We need to each be praying: 
"God, give  me ears that hear, eyes that see, and a heart that believes."  
"God, I want to hear and understand Your Word."
"Expose to me anything in my life that is not pleasing to You."


There are 310 million people in The United States.  
9/10 of these people say they believe in 'God'...
3/4 of these people claim to be 'Christian'...
7% of those say they are 'evangelical'...
The highest concentration of these people are in the South.
Weekly attendance in church is highest in Birmingham, Alabama... 67%.
SO WHY AREN'T THINGS DIFFERENT IN OUR CULTURE???
What does real 'Christianity' look like? 


In Matthew chapter 1, God is speaking after being silent for 400 years.  What is it He wants to say to us after being silent for so long?


There are four critical truths we need to understand:
1.  Who is The Christ, and what is His call?
2.  The cost of the Cross -- do we understand what it means to follow Jesus?
3.  The gain or the loss in our lives in our relationship with Jesus -- the rewards (what we get v. what we lose)
4.  The commission -- what would happen if we actually did it??


Matthew 1:21
The Messiah = Jesus Christ


Those who commit sin become a slave of sin.  
But those that the Son sets free, are free indeed.

We now,because of Christ, have the power to say NO to sin.  If you change your mind, your direction will change.  

Don't walk in religion without a Relationship.

Malachi 3: The Messenger is coming to prepare the way.

Matthew 3:1

John the Baptist told us, "Repent, for the kingdom of Heaven is near."

Get those things in order that are not in order... examine your life...  what are you doing with your time?  your money?  as a wife?  as a mother?  

We need to repent for the things we do that don't honor God.  Repent = a change of mind.  (she made a sound here, a loud creaking, while she crooked her neck around in an opposite direction from where she was heading... every time Kay mentioned the word "repent" after that, she would make that sound and turn her head in another direction).  

Jesus is NOT something you add to your life (like salt to a meal).  Christianity is not "adding" Jesus to your life.  He is not an accessory.  Christianity is embracing Him and making the necessary adjustments.  
It means He becomes your life.  


Matthew 5:20
Matthew 5:48
Beware of practicing your religion before people to be noticed by people.... it's to be done before God and only God. 


Matthew 6:19
Do not store up treasures on earth.  Why do I have things sitting on shelves when there are people who can use them?  No one can serve two masters. Why are you worried?  Why are you worried?  Why are you worried?  (she said this 3 times, louder each time) HE WILL TAKE CARE OF YOU.  We are to serve God, not wealth.


Matthew 7:20 
He will know the true from the false by their fruits.  


Matthew 10:22
"You will be hated by all because of My name."  (are you willing to be hated because of Jesus Christ?)  Is He the Supreme Ruler of your life right now?  "He who loves someone more than Me is not worthy of Me."  (this means even your kids, mamas!)


Matthew 10:34  
He does not come to bring peace, but a sword.  Before Jesus Christ comes again, wrath will be poured out on this earth by God.  Revelation 15/16 We need to bear fruit in keeping with repentance.  Peace on earth is for whom God is well pleased.  
Like preparing to chop down a tree, God has already laid His ax at the root of the tree.  He's laid His ax at the root of America.  He knows where He's going to strike.  (she demonstrated taking an ax to the base of a tree).  
Why is He not the supreme ruler of my life right now?  


Matthew 16:24
"Whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for Me will find it" -- God will repay everyone according to his deeds.  We should say to Him daily, "Whatever You have for me, that's what I want."


Matthew 19
Keep his commandments if you want to put Him first in your life.  
We know this is important to Him, because what was the very first commandment He gave us?  
You Shall Have No Other Gods Before Me.
Guess what?  When you allow the culture to influence you and effect you, you have bowed down to It. 
He promises us, "Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness -- theirs is the kingdom of Heaven."


Revelation 22:12
another promise that everyone will be given according to their deeds....


Matthew 6:1
Beware of practicing your righteousness before people to be noticed -- you will have no reward.


2 Corinthians 5:10
We will be asked to give an account for our deeds and how we handled the Word of God.


Matthew 28: 18-20
1 John 5:9
In society today, we love the prince of man more than the Almighty God.  He's got our back, and He's waiting to see us face to face!  Will you hear, "Well done, My good and faithful servant"?  


Watch yourselves. 
A day is coming.... Revelation 11:16-18






Priscilla Shirer

James 2
Faith without works is useless.  Don't ride the coat tails of other people's testimonies.  There are more than 8,000 promises in the Bible to us -- placed within our reach, NOT WITHIN OUR HANDS.  Faith living and active in my life will not work unless I get out there where I can use it.  Put faith into action!  Christians beg God for miracles - to show up in our circumstances - and yet we try to stay out of the context in which a miracle would be required.  
What are your weak areas?  The enemy looks for these areas.  

2 Kings 13
Elisha was the backbone of faith and they were being rescued because of his prayers. 
verse 15:  Instead of concentrating on what we don't have, why don't we concentrate on what we DO have... what we already have at our disposal?  God said, "It doesn't matter who you are, because I'm going to go with you..."  
What is it that you do have??  Concentrate on this, on what God has already given you!
Don't dismiss that little bit you do have as unimportant... consecrate it to Him and see what He can do with it.  God will put His hand on it and sanctify it.  And do something incredible with it.


Sometimes we're waiting on God's hand, when He's actually waiting ON US to pick up what He's already given us.  example:  Someone's hurt you, wronged you, and you didn't deserve it.  That little apology from YOU, with God's hand on it, can have a radical impact with a ripple effect.  another example:  spending your time on someone or something... your emotional energy... even something so small as $5 in the offering plate... can make a huge difference to someone.  What do you already have that you can use for His kingdom?  to bless other people around you?  
I may not have all sorts of fancy weapons... but what is the bow and the arrow that I do have?  Try using it and watch the supernatural effects of it.  


2 Chronicles 16:9
He who needs nothing has His eyes peeled to find somebody who will listen to Him and obey His Word -- that will give their heart completely to Him.  Hear the Word of God and respond in obedience.  When you feel the conviction -- that's God stirring you to action.  
example:  Luke 24 - on the road to Emmaus - their hearts were burning within them...
That burning?  That's God speaking to you.  Take Godly mentors who've already been through whatever you're going through now.  Listen to them, learn from them.  Your peers can only help you so much because they're going through the same things you are now.  Try to find a verse that relates and speaks to you -- God will never let you down.  Be on the lookout for when the Word of God speaks to you.


2 Chronicles 20:12
Concentrate on Him and you will see Him come through for you.  We must think we're God too, the way we try to control circumstances and lean on our own understanding.  He loves His people to see Him work.  Let Him.  Put yourself in the position to get to see His Book work. Watch who you put around you as your circle of influence.  What kind of people do you have hanging around you?  Ask God for friends who will challenge your faith.  
verses 18-19:  3 arrows = 3 victories 
What you invest will be what you receive. When God compels you to do something, use everything you've got.  Hold nothing back!  God knows when you're empty, THAT'S when He is strong.  We believe little because we see little, and we see little because we believe little.  If my 'quiver of arrows' is empty, it's the perfect opportunity for God to fill it, to show His glory.  


Psalm 20:7 
"We trust in the name of the Lord our God..."
It's better to have a little with God's presence than plenty without Him.  We need a life that's so full of God it attracts the world.  So we can show them how to operate with an empty quiver.  We don't do things too often because we don't want to look foolish -- we don't want to stick out like a sore thumb.  Don't be so afraid of what people may think!  
Matthew 6:1  Try to please God, not people.
Don't keep your arrows in your quiver.  Use them.


Jeremiah 1:5  Pray for a Holy Courage, a Holy Boldness to be obedient to God.  
Don't turn attention to yourself, turn it to Jesus.






Beth Moore

"Only God knows what drew me to so much defeat.  You can revert to destruction or you can go deeper still."
"The Lord Jesus wants me to know I am whiter than snow, because of Him"
(quotes from Beth's opening video entry)


Luke chapter 2
verses 19, and 51:  at age 12 Jesus asked her, "Why were you searching for Me?  I had to be in my Father's house..."   "...but Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart."


Rediscover the lost art of Treasure.
to 'treasure up' in the Greek is 'syntereo':  to guard, to keep, to preserve, to protect, guard and defend it... 
The Lord does things in your life that are treasures, and the enemy does everything he can to tear it down and nullify it. We need to treasure up these things.  We have the ability to treasure because we're made in His image. and He treasures me.  


Exodus 19:5
Deuteronomy 7:6
Deuteronomy 26:18
I am a private and intimate possession to my God.  He has preserved me through Jesus Christ.  


Genesis 37:11 
In this culture today, we are losing the art of treasuring.


1.  There are treasures out there.
The Word of God assures us God has treasures on our path.  There's a big difference in being amazed by something, and treasuring up something. 


2.  They're not my treasures until they make it past my defenses.  
Matt 6  It's in my reach, but I need to lay claim to it.  verses 20-21:  for where your treasure is, there your heart is also.  What we treasure is intellectual and also emotional.  Something of our heart is wrapped up in what we treasure.  
example:  BIRG-ING (Basking In Reflected Glory)... ie:  if they're a winner, then I'm a winner too.  An example of birg-ing would be name dropping... another example would be sports fans.  People get so wrapped up in whether their team wins or loses, because they get to bask in the glory if they 'win'.  


3.  Treasures strung together can bring healing.
'symballo' means 'to throw things together'
Luke 2:50  They did not understand what He was saying
'suniemi' means 'understand'... the assembling of individualized facts into an organized whole.
To put the puzzle pieces together.  To see how the concepts relate to one another.  
Matthew 13:15  The secrets of the Kingdom of God have been given to me.  
There's a turning and a healing that comes from putting the pieces together.  
Romans 8:28  Not even the whole puzzle -- just a few pieces coming together into focus can make a difference.  Hang around just long enough with Jesus to see some healing.  If we never learn to treasure then all we're left with is the obvious.  We can live with pain a whole lot easier than we can live with purposelessness. We can endure the pain if we can see the purpose.
Luke 2:21-35


4.  Our treasure gets lost in the same trash as our time.  
It takes time to treasure.  Treasuring takes time.  There's got to be a 'God margin'.  
(margin = space that once existed between ourselves and our limits)
What does your page look like?  Is there any room for God to work on you in?  Time to sit and reflect on what the Lord has done?  Our productivity greatly increases with our stress TO A POINT.  Then fatigue sets in.  Take time to think beyond the obvious.  Slow this freight train down.  Don't miss the treasures.  Where there's no margin, there's no treasure.  Get rid of some stuff!


5.  We'll miss our most expensive treasure if we look past the hardship and pain.  
Don't wait for the smooth sailing to look for your treasure -- you'll miss it.
Isaiah 45:3  And a sword will pierce your own soul too.  There's some risk of heart.  We don't treasure people and we're not close enough to them until we can be hurt by what hurts them too.  When we hold everyone at arm's length, we're missing treasure.  Are there treasures in your barren fields?
***We've got too much offense stored up in our storage units -- there's no room for treasures***
2 Kings 24:13  When the enemy carries away your treasures, that's captivity.  Too many offenses held in your storage unit is a stronghold.    


verses 41-52:  Everyone was amazed at His understanding.  But Mary treasured all these things in her heart.  
'sunodia' means caravan/company/traveling party
Let's be careful not to lose Jesus in our traveling party!


6.  When you feel like you've lost the treasure, look for Jesus.
Look for Him, because He's got it.  
verse 47:  Jesus is 12.  People were amazed at His understanding.  The ability to bring the puzzle pieces together.  Where are the other puzzle pieces?  HE'S GOT THEM.  Look to Him.  He will work them together for your good.  Until then, we walk by faith and not by sight.  
And it comes out beautifully if we live in Christ.  
All the lines of your poem will rhyme.  
There are treasures there...

Here are my daughter's notes she took in each session.  

For being almost 10 years old, I am so proud of how well she paid attention, 

and the things she chose to write down in her book.  She loved every bit of the weekend!  

 pages 1, 2 (above), and 3(below, left) of Kay Arthur's notes

 her half page of Priscilla Shirer's notes above right 

(my girl got only 6 hrs of sleep that night before, so was a little 

more 'tired' you can tell by her notes in the morning session! :)

her 2 pages of notes from Miss Beth (sorry, it's in pencil so more difficult to see)

Since coming home, she has referenced 'treasures' to me a couple times... 

I love that she really got something from each session, even at her young age.