Taking You To True Woman '14

Leslie Basham: Last weekend, women from all across the country began to experience greater freedom, fullness and fruitfulness in Christ.

Lauren Chandler Praying: Thank You that You know every story in this room.

Jani Ortlund Praying: Thank You for being the kind of God that welcomes needy daughters.

Leslie: On October 9, the True Woman '14 conference began. And right from the opening moments, the focus on the conference . . . was prayer.

Leslie Bennett Praying: Father, we come to You tonight to drink from the fountain of living water.

Kimberly Wagner Praying: Father, I thank You that Your Word is firmly established.

Kristyn Getty Praying: Father, we thank You for this time together. May we take full advantage of coming away with You.

Mary Kassian Praying: Father, we commit this time to You. We commit every moment to You.

Janet Parshall Praying: Father, what really stirs our hearts more than anything is that this conference is about You.

Susan Hunt Praying: We thank You that there is now therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, but we have been set free—free from sin and decay and death—and brought into the glorious freedom of Your children.

Leslie: This is Revive Our Hearts with Nancy Leigh DeMoss for Friday, October 17.

I know we all want to be experiencing greater freedom, fullness, and fruitfulness in Christ. That was the theme of True Woman '14. Today we'll hear highlights from the conference and hear what God did in the lives of speakers and attendees.

Woman 1: It was so unique and special to hear the Christ-exalting, spoken-word poetry from Blair Linne.

Blair Linne (speaking at the conference):

Jesus . . .
In the pre-existent Godhead three in One
All praise to the Father and Spirit
and . . .
Can I take a moment to exalt the Son?

Blair Linne: Thursday night as I walked up to the platform and had the privilege of looking out and seeing 8500 women. What was on my mind was thinking about these individual women and their specific story and what's going on with them and just prayerfully asking God to help them and minister to them.

Blair Linne (speaking at the conference):

I KNOW why the caged bird sings . . . because Jesus broke the chains.
And the nightingale hums a glorious tune which echoes through eras of doom.
It's the only hope, why we couldn't elope; had to patiently await our Bridegroom.
Son of God. Son of Man.
Worthy of all Praise!
It was prophesied The Root of Jesse would come . . .

Blair Linne: And my desire was just to pour out Christ to them, because I know we have so many needs, but our greatest need is Jesus. He's the one who can take care of us—right where we are.

Blair Linne (speaking at the conference):

So dear Alpha and Omega
please completely captivate us
show us Your glory so that we may rightly revere You our Faithful Friend
be utterly amazed by Your wonder
Your Righteous Word, a roaring thunder
we bow before You now. Hail Jesus, our Amen.

Mary Kassian: One of the most exciting things to me about the True Woman Movement and about this year's True Woman [conference], is just seeing the explosion of the whole True Woman Movement into different parts of the world.

Helene: My name is Helene, and I'm from Denmark.

Danielle Hurley: My name is Danielle Hurley, and I'm from Uganda.

Jenn Cupp: My name is Jenn Cupp, and I live in a village in Uganda.

Retha: It's sixteen hours from South Africa to Atlanta.

Danielle: It's about twenty hours in the plane—not including the layovers.

Helene: I chose a sixteen hour . . .

Danielle: It definitely is worth it.

Jenn: I'm just so excited to be with fellow believers in a concentrated time of just enjoying the Lord and His Word.

Retha: I'm not here just for myself. I'm here for the women of South Africa. We really need the message of Revive Our Hearts.

Gettys singing at the conference:

To every kindred every tribe on this terrestrial ball.
To Him all majesty ascribe, and crown Him Lord of all.

Trillia Newbell: Being here at True Woman is always a great time, but it beautiful because we see a glimpse of heaven.

I'm from Nashville, Tennessee. Women from all over the world and the country come—diverse in nationalities, diverse in age. We are all gathering, worshipping the same God together. So I think it's almost a taste of heaven on earth.

Bob Lepine: We also have folks joining us at True Woman from Guam, Puerto Rico, Bermuda, Bulgaria, Canada, Denmark, Dominican Republic, India, South Africa, Switzerland, Dubai, the United Arab Emirates. Plus, we've got folks watching the LIVE stream from all around the world in both English and in Spanish.

Trillia: We are all different and bring unique gifts and cultures and colors, yet we are all sisters in Christ. We can embrace that and get to know one another.

Helene: Everywhere I go, women say to me, "This is so good. This is so true. You're in the right place." I think they are right. I am in the right place.

Trillia: All tribes, all nations and tongues that are going to be before the throne worshipping God, we get a little sense of that walking on earth.

Leslie: And on this opening night, Revive Our Hearts was able to thank Joni Eareckson Tada for her decades of serving the Lord from her wheelchair.

Nancy Leigh DeMoss: I don't know any other woman who better embodies what it means to be a true woman of God. So tonight, we had it on our heart to honor you and the Lord by presenting you with the first True Woman Award. (applause)

It says, "To Joni Eareckson Tada, thank you for giving us a picture of the loveliness of Christ; for stirring us up to pursue holiness; and for pointing us to the promise of the new heaven and earth. True Woman '14, October 9, 2014, Indianapolis.

Leslie: After receiving the award, Joni gave a moving message.

Joni Eareckson Tada: Thank You Jesus. I so wanted You to change my situation; I so wanted You to fix my problems; I so wanted You to heal me of my paralysis; I so wanted You to remove all the suffering, but You were so wise. You were so wise in the way You have squeezed those lemons.

Naghmeh Abedini: I think the message of suffering is what our world needs to hear. I'm from Boise, Idaho. I was born in Iran.

We don't know what to do with suffering, to just embrace it. I realize that suffering has revealed so much of myself to me.

Joni : A "no" answer has purged so much sin from my life. It has exposed in my heart so many things that I didn't even know were hidden in those deep recesses. But when You squeeze me, my goodness, out pours the complaining, the selfishness and the bitterness and the whining and the peevishness and the sour disposition and the arguing and the "waa-waa-waa." Jesus, You have done it.

Naghmeh: I have so much bitterness that is in it. I have to continually direct it back to God because it creeps up bitterness, selfishness, nagging, "poor me; why me?" my flesh. Joni was right. This is a message people need to hear.

Joni: Your "no" answer to my requests for You to remove me from my terrible circumstances has meant a deeper empathy for other people who suffer. It has forced me to depend on Your grace. It has increased my compassion for others who hurt. It has put complaining behind me. It has stretched my hope for heaven. It has pushed me deeper into Your Word. It has given me a lively, buoyant life of prayer. Most of all, it has drawn me so, so, so much closer to You—oh, You, my precious Man of sorrows, acquainted with my grief.

Nancy: "A man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not" (Isa. 53:3).

Janet Parshall: Opening night, when Nancy did over 200 verses right through the Scripture of who Jesus was . . .

Trillia: I couldn't believe that Nancy could memorize 200 Scriptures. What went through my mind was, "Nancy's in the Word!"

Woman: I don't think there is anything more powerful than the Word of God.

Naghmeh: I don't know how she intertwined the book and John, you know, "The Word became flesh," and then told the story and came back—the beautiful story, God's love story for us.

Nancy: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God" (John 1:1).

Janet: I stood there. I know the Word; I've read the Word. But as I listened to her talk, I thought, It's all about Him! 

Nancy: "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem!" (Zech. 9:9).

Janet: That's all it's ever been about. It's all about Jesus. From the first word to the last word—it's Jesus, Jesus, Jesus.

Nancy: "Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, 'Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!'

"And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying, 'To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!'

"And the four living creatures said, 'Amen!' and the elders fell down and worshiped" (Rev. 5:11–14).

Leslie: After a late night, Friday morning came early. But women were excited about what God had in store. Mary Kassian spoke on weak-willed women.

Mary Kassian: I always tell my kids, when it is in the darkness, when that sin is hidden and you cover it up and you keep it, and you don't share, and you don't tell anybody about it, and you are not honest about it, and you are not forthright about it, and you are not humble enough to confess it; that's when it has power. That's when the darkness has power over you.

If you bring that sin out in the light and expose it to the light and just tell someone about it and have them struggle and wrestle and pray with you and confess that sin, then all of a sudden its grip is loosened over you.

So many of you women in this room are dealing with sins that are just piling up. You haven't confessed them. You haven't repented. You think, It's not a big deal; we'll just leave them there. A critical spirit, bitterness, resentments, unforgiveness, slander, envy, pride.

There's a verse that I love in James 5, verse 16. It says, "Therefore, confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective."

So here's my counsel to you in regards to sin—speak it. Identify it; say what it is. If you can, tell someone else.

Leslie: Janet Parshall explored the life of Mary Magdalene.

Janet Parshall: From the depth of her being, she's wailing the loss of her Jesus. She goes back to the tomb, and this time, she bends into the opening. My guess is she expected to see what Peter and John were seeing. She was going to see those linens. She was going to see the head cloth.

See looks in. She knew that that body of Jesus wasn't there, but I bet she sure didn't expect to see what she saw . . . whoa! There they were, not one, but two angels. Two angels clothed in white—one at the end and one at the front of the burial bench.

I love God the artist. I love the way God paints in His Word. Perhaps in the picture of the two angels in Mary's mind it was reflective of the cherubim at each end of the Ark of the Covenant. Maybe it was a picture of the mercy seat she was looking at. Was God showing this woman a profound truth that the Law had been fulfilled once and for all? We don't know. Oh, but what she saw!

Did Mary know that the veil had been torn in the Temple the day Jesus had been crucified? Did she know now that the Holy of Holies was accessible to all of us? No need to go to an earthly priest because we have access to a most high King. We have entrance into a throne room—any time, any day, anywhere! Amazing, access to a King! (applause)

So there she was. She didn't know. Could she comprehend that because of the completed sacrifice of the unblemished Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world, on the alter of sacrifice, that our sins had been paid for. Because of the unoccupied tomb, death has been conquered.

Listen to what it says in Isaiah, "He will swallow up death forever, and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of His people He will take away from all the earth, for the Lord has spoken."

Dear ones, the headline is not Ebola. The headline is not ISIS. The headline is God Wins; Death Dies; We Are Victors! That's the headline. (applause)

Leslie: On Friday evening, pastor Jim Cymbala from the Brooklyn Tabernacle spoke. He was joined by his daughter, Chrissy Toledo.

Chrissy Toledo: Satan is the father of lies. When we lie, it is like we are bowing before him, worshipping him. I was a living lie. I thought somehow that I would have this baby (this is how foolish I was), and it would be like a transaction one day like at a bank. That it would all just work out. Where is he? I need to be with my boyfriend. That will all work out. Well, time is going by.

I even travelled with my dad while I was pregnant—he didn't know. Then one day I'm at church, and I would see my mom sometimes looking at me for extended periods of time. She would look at me kind of funny. I would always turn or cover myself.

One day we were at church, and when the service was over she called my into the office and said, "Chrissy, I need to talk to you." I know she couldn't take it one more minute. She said, "Chrissy, are you pregnant?"

I said, "Yes, Mommy, I am."

"How far along are you, Chris?"

"The baby's due in eight weeks, Mom."

There was weeping. That drive home, my dad was weeping and weeping. "We've lost our daughter, and now she's pregnant. She's destroying herself. She's hurting herself. We can't control her; there's nothing we can do. She won't listen. All she does is lie. Who is this?"

Pastor Jim Cymbala: From the beginning to the end, we know one thing is true—God's ear is open when we cry to Him. Listen, if He gave us His Son when we weren't looking for Him . . . He won't help you with your child tonight . . . does that make any rational sense?

He loves me so much that Christ died for me while we were yet sinners. Now, we are His children. We are going to agonize for our children, and He's going to go, "I'm not going to help you"? He'll help us.

Leslie: And on Saturday morning, Naghmeh Abedini told the audience about her husband's imprisonment for sharing his faith.

Naghmeh Abedini: Saeed and I ended up working in Iran in an orphanage. The government had said, "Don't do house church anymore." They had monitored and allowed it years earlier. They said, "Don't do that anymore, but we want you to come to this country and help Iran. Why don't you do a humanitarian effort."

So we have done orphanages since 2009. I dropped him off at the airport in June of 2012, and that's the last time I saw my husband. He's my best friend. We process everything together. But he actually called me in July. He was supposed to come back, but he said, "They are not letting me leave the country. I don't know what's going on. They said they have some questions for me."

So we were just praying for him to come home. In September of 2012, he was put under house arrest. Then five revolutionary guards came and attacked the house he was staying at with his parents in Tehran. The kids and I were in Idaho in the U.S.

At midnight I get a call from his mom saying, "They've taken my son. I don't know where they've taken him." She was just horrified. She was crying hysterically. I couldn't believe that was my life. Someone who was very fearful and anxious about everything—I couldn't believe I was hearing that correctly.

We didn't know where he was taken for the first week. I kept calling his number to hear his voice, and I couldn't. I realized, This is how it feels to lose a loved one. You want to hear their voice one more time and you can't.

Khalilah Shelton: The highlight for today's portion was the testimony of Saeed's wife. Having small children of my own, I couldn't imagine having to go through that. To see her go through it with such grace and joy and knowing that the struggle is real and the God she serves is real, it allows me to know that, Lord willing I won't have to go through that, but if He does take me down a path that is similar in any way, shape, or form, there are people who have overcome that hatred. And it has not stunted their growth in Christ. That was very inspirational, and it reaffirms God's grace and His faithfulness.

Leslie: Nancy Leigh DeMoss brought True Woman '14 to a close.

Nancy: God knows what it takes in each of our lives to put us to the place where we say, "I'm at my wit's end. I can't handle this." That's exactly where He wants us to be, at our wit's end. A place where all our skill, all our smarts, all we can throw at this problem is worthless. It's not working.

You may be in a situation right now where you are at your wit's end. You can't fix the problem—you've tried; you've manipulated; you've cajoled; you've tried to control; you've tried to fix everybody and everything around you. Stop it! You can't. And God wants you to come and realize that you can't handle this.

It may be a financial situation. It may be a difficult marriage. It may be a prodigal child. It may be a health issue. Your little, tiny boat that you thought was so safe is being bounced around on the waves, and you are terrified. You are in trouble.

So in these four instances we see God's people in trouble. That's the first word that outlines this psalm [Ps. 107]. What was the second word? Cry. So here they come out of their distress and verse 6 tells us, and it is repeated throughout this psalm, "Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble."

When did they cry to the Lord? When they were in trouble. Why didn't they cry before they were in trouble? Because they didn't think they needed God. Now they know they need Him.

Look at the wanderers in verse 5, "Hungry and thirsty their soul fainted within them." Verse 6, "Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble." Their unfulfilled needs, their unfulfilled longings, their weakness drove them to Him. It drove them to look upward.

Blair Linne: Looking back on all of these days that we've had and we've been able to soak in the Word of God, it's been about pointing us to Jesus. I think that has been the overarching theme—our need for Christ. Through Him we can be a true woman.

Salina Turner: This was like an experience that I will never forget. I think that over 8000 women together who were praying and praising God together, I've never been in a situation like this.

Sabrina Aslan: It was just a precious gift to me. I'm coming from California, but I'm originally from Iran. I was born in Tehran, the capital city of Iran. Every moment is like a gift from God to me.

Stephanie Jean Bolls: Psalm 107:32 says, "Let us also exalt him in the congregation of the people and praise him in the assembly of the elders." That's what we've been doing all weekend. Yeah . . . that's what we've been doing—exalting and praising Him.

Leslie: It was a very full three days. But what really matters is what happens now, as women return to their homes, their churches, and their communities as they live out a greater sense of freedom, fullness, and fruitfulness in Christ!

We've been hearing about some of what God did last weekend at the True Woman conference in Indianapolis. We only got a taste of some of the messages from that conference. But over the months ahead, we'll be bringing you many of those full messages here on Revive Our Hearts.

On Monday Nancy will pick back up on an in-depth look at the life of Joshua. Please join us then for Revive Our Hearts.

 

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