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Overview
For everyone who has ever been in a pit-or is in one now-Beth Moore urges readers in her book Get Out of That Pit not to believe for one second that God has forgotten them. It was a truth she could pass to them from her years of pit-dwelling. What she learned in being delivered from that muck and darkness-shared in that very personal book-are lessons for us all about the healing to be found in Jesus.
In this companion devotional journal, she continually points readers to the deliverance that awaits if they will lift their eyes, their voices, and their hands to the Power who can rescue them completely, as the psalmist did in Psalm 40. The scriptures, thought-provoking questions, prayers, and room for reflection within this lovely journal will assure fellow travelers that no matter how they got stuck, no matter how long they've been down, whether they think they deserve it or not, their Redeemer is waiting. And He has promised that they can begin this very day to Get Out of That Pit once and for all.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781418584702 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | HarperCollins Christian Publishing |
| Publication date: | 12/19/2023 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 89 |
| Sales rank: | 881,548 |
| File size: | 1 MB |
About the Author
Author and speaker Beth Moore is a dynamic teacher whose conferences take her across the globe. She has written numerous bestselling books and Bible studies. She is also the founder and visionary of Living Proof Ministries based in Houston, TX.
Read an Excerpt
GET OUT OF THAT PIT
A 40-DAY DEVOTIONAL JOURNALBy BETH MOORE
Thomas Nelson
Copyright © 2007 Beth MooreAll right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4185-8470-2
Chapter One
SECTION ONE: Life in the Pit
DAY 1
Come, Follow Me
From the ends of the earth I call to you, I call as my heart grows faint; lead me to the rock that is higher than I. —Psalm 61:2
You don't have to stay in the pit. Even if you deserve it. Even if you've known nothing else. Just call it a day. Maybe you're wondering why you can't get satisfied there. After all, didn't Paul say we should learn to be content in any circumstance?
A pit is one place you're not supposed to be content. Quit trying to make the best of it. It's time to get out. When Christ said, "Come, follow me," inherent in His invitation to come was the equivalent invitation to leave. The laws of physics tell you that if you try to get one place without leaving another, you're in for a pretty severe stretch. And you can only do the splits so long.
REFLECTION QUESTION
When Christ said, "Come, follow me," there was something inherent in His invitation. What was it?
________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________
"Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men." —Mark 1:17
PERSONAL APPLICATION
What hope do the words of Psalm 40 offer you personally in terms of the pit you may be in? ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________
But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him. —2 Corinthians 2:14
REACHING UP ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________
DAY 2
Bondage Blended In
Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, "Do you want to get well?" —John 5:3–6
No matter where we go, a pit can always fit. On any path we can spin our wheels and throw mud until we dig a ditch right into the middle of an otherwise decent job or relationship. Soon our hearts sink with the dismal realization that we're no better off in our new situation. The scenery around us may have changed, but we're still living in that same old pit. We start scrambling to figure out how we're going to dump an unpleasant person or position when the real solution may be to dump that pit we dragged in. The problem is the pit can be so close we can't see it.
REFLECTION QUESTION
For some people, a pit can be so close they can't see it. Why is this true? ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________
It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. —GALATIANS 5:1A
PERSONAL APPLICATION
Have you ever been—or are you now—a "mobile pit-dweller"? If so, what was/is the nature of your mobile pit, and where did/do you take it? ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________
Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. —Galatians 5:1B
REACHING UP ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________
DAY 3
A New Home
"No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch will pull away from the garment, making the tear worse. Neither do men pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved." —Matthew 9:16–17
We can grow so accustomed to the surroundings of our pit that we wouldn't think of moving on without it. Imagine you've been living in an old RV so small you can't stand up straight. There's clutter everywhere. The lavatory smells, but you've gotten used to it.
Now, imagine that you've been offered a brand-new home on a solid foundation with big closets and wide-open spaces. You rev up the motor of the old RV and plow it right into the new living room. A new place to call home! You settle back in your RV seat, take a deep breath, and poise yourself to feel something fresh.
But that breath tasted a lot like that old lavatory.
REFLECTION QUESTION
The amusing illustration of a person driving an RV into the living room of her new home makes an important point. What is it? ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! —2 Corinthians 5:17
PERSONAL APPLICATION
Some of us recognize our pits not by the degree of our badness but by the degree of our boredom. Reflect on the degree of boredom in your own life and whether or not it's an indication that you may be in a pit. ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________
Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. —Revelation 2:4–5A
REACHING UP ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________
DAY 4
You're in a Pit When ...
So they took Jeremiah and put him into the cistern of Malkijah, the king's son, which was in the courtyard of the guard. They lowered Jeremiah by ropes into the cistern; it had no water in it, only mud, and Jeremiah sank down into the mud. —Jeremiah 38:6
You're in a pit when ...
• You feel stuck. You feel you can only have a kicking and screaming fit or submit.
• You can't stand up. You feel ineffective and utterly powerless against the enemy's attack.
• You've lost vision. Unlike that rank old RV, pits have no windows. The darkness impairs your sight.
Without windows, you're convinced you have nowhere else to go. You could look up, but you're too busy looking at your sinking feet. You become what the Bible calls stiff necked. The confinement exhausts you with the endless echo of self-absorption. You can't see out, so you turn your sights in. Nearsightedness breeds hopelessness. You feel too buried in your present state to feel passionate about a promised future.
REFLECTION QUESTION
Often we don't recognize a pit when we're in one. What three signs characterize a pit? In other words, you know you're in a pit when ... ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________
I sink in the miry depths, where there is no foothold. I have come into the deep waters; the floods engulf me. —PSALM 69:2
PERSONAL APPLICATION
"The close confinement of a pit exhausts us with the endless echo of self-absorption." Do you resonate with this statement? If so, why? ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________
Even though we speak like this, dear friends, we are confident of better things in your case—things that accompany salvation. —Hebrews 6:9
REACHING UP ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________
Chapter Two
SECTION TWO: When You're Thrown into a PitDAY 5
You Can Get Thrown In
They saw him in the distance, and before he had reached them, they plotted to kill him. They said to one another, "Here comes that dreamer! Come on, let's kill him and throw him into one of the pits. We can say that a vicious animal ate him. Then we'll see what becomes of his dreams!" —Genesis 37:18–20 HCSB
You can get thrown into a pit. That's right, without doing one thing to deserve it and without wallowing your way into it. I'm not talking about a pit of sin here. This one's a pit of innocence— the kind a lot of believers don't realize exists. You can get thrown right into the miry deep before you know what hit you. Or worse yet, who hit you. In fact, those were the circumstances surrounding the first pit ever mentioned in Scripture. In a fit of jealous rage set up by their father's partiality, the older sons of Jacob threw their seventeen-year-old little brother, Joseph, into a cistern with the intention of leaving him for dead.
Let that sink in a second.
REFLECTION QUESTION
We can be thrown into "pits of innocence." Give some examples of ways innocent people are thrown into pits. ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________
When Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped off his robe, the robe of many colors that he had on. Then they took him and threw him into the pit. The pit was empty; there was no water in it. Then they sat down to eat a meal. —Genesis 37:23–25A HCSB
PERSONAL APPLICATION
If someone has thrown you into a pit of innocence, where are you now in terms of getting out and finding that "firm place to stand" that the psalmist talked about? Stuck in the mud and mire? Working your way out? Standing on a rock? Explain your answer. ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________
Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," says the Lord. On the contrary: "If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head." Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. —Romans 12:19–21
REACHING UP ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________
DAY 6
Complications
Then Jacob tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and mourned for his son many days. All his sons and daughters came to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. "No," he said, "in mourning will I go down to the grave to my son." So his father wept for him. —Genesis 37:34–35
Getting thrown into a pit by another person can be the most complicated scenario to deal with. Having someone to blame can eat us alive! Oftentimes, we know in our heart that it wasn't his or her intention. Take, for instance, a family member with mental illness, or a parent who neglects her healthy children because she can't help focusing on one handicapped child. What if we've been thrown in by the sin of another person—perhaps a family member? Joseph's brothers sat down to eat a meal while he surely screamed from the pit nearby. What about when the person remains close by, lives on as if nothing has ever happened, sees our distress and anguish, but will not hear us?
REFLECTION QUESTION
A pit we are thrown into can be the most complicated to deal with, emotionally and spiritually. Why? ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________
Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun. —Psalm 37:5–6
PERSONAL APPLICATION
Have you ever felt "comfortable" living in a pit? If so, why was this true for you at the time? ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________
Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes. —Psalm 37:7
REACHING UP ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________
DAY 7
From a Pit of Innocence to a Pit of Sin
Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. —COLOSSIANS 3:13
I hate to bring up this word, but I just don't have a choice: forgive. It's tough to do, but we've got to forgive, even—no, especially— those who don't care to be forgiven. Forgive them not only for their destructiveness, but also for their ignorance. They don't have a clue how much it affected your decisions and relationships. I'm not sure they would get it even if you told them in detail upon detail.
I started out in a pit of innocence, but eventually my bitterness rearranged the furniture until it was nothing more than a pit of sin. I thought forgiving my pit-throwers would make what they did all right. But it didn't. Forgiveness made me all right.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from GET OUT OF THAT PIT by BETH MOORE Copyright © 2007 by Beth Moore . Excerpted by permission of Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
Table of Contents
Contents
Acknowledgments....................viiIntroduction....................1
Section One: Life in the Pit....................5
Section Two: When You're Thrown into a Pit....................21
Section Three: When You Slip into a Pit....................37
Section Four: When You Jump into a Pit....................53
Section Five: Getting Out of Your Pit....................69
Section Six: The Three Steps Out of Your Pit....................85
Section Seven: Waiting on God for Deliverance....................101
Section Eight: Make Up Your Mind....................117
Section Nine: Singing a New Song....................133
Section Ten: Our Pit-Less Future....................149
Notes....................165