Breaking News!

My devotional "Carry An Umbrella When There's No Rain in the Forecast: 365 Days of Living by Faith" ($14.02) 2nd edition has arrived! The 1st edition of 3,000 copies sold out fast and now the orders for those of you who haven't gotten it yet can be fulfilled.

You can also find it at Lifeway Christian Store and Lemuria Books (both in Jackson) as well as Expectations in Brookhaven.

I received this note from a reader this week:

"My daughter gave me a copy of your devotional book Christmas. I am thoroughly enjoying it every day. I lost my husband 3 weeks ago to cancer and these devotionals have helped me get through some tough days. Thank you for this book and the strength and encouragement I get from it's words."-- J.Davidson

My first book, "Forecasts and Faith: 5 Keys to Weathering the Storms of Life" ($22.56) has less than 200 copies left. All that remains is it's 3rd and FINAL edition.

Should you not be close to Jackson or Brookhaven for these books, you can also order at www.barbiebassett.com and receive a discount on both books.

I continue to be amazed at what the Holy Spirit is doing through these books and enjoy hearing from all of my readers!

Big Things & Little Things

This past week has been a big one for me.
Mothers Day is always a big deal as my husband and children give me cards and do thoughtful things for me. And, I also celebrated a "big" birthday last week, too!

Frequently, we see incidents in life as “little things” and later we learn to our regret that God sees these same incidents as “big things.” And conversely, we often put our priorities on what we see as the “big things” only to find out we were wrong when God reveals to us that He sees the same as “little things.”

Being a loving mother to my children and my husband is a "big thing" and working hard to provide for them would probably be considered by myself as a "big thing." But nobody ever said on his deathbed, “I wish I’d spent more time on the job."

We know that God is interested in “small things”  because it's found throughout the Bible.

Zerubbabel rebuilt the foundation of the temple in Jerusalem after the Jews returned from Babylonian captivity. But then he was stopped for 17 years by the Samaritans who opposed the rebuilding of the temple. It seemed his small step forward would amount to nothing. But God didn’t forget. The Lord sent encouraging words to two prophets, Haggai and Zechariah, for Zerubbabel to finish the work. Zechariah 4:8-10 says, “Moreover the word of the Lord came to me, saying: ‘The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this temple; his hands shall also finish it. Then you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent Me to you. For who has despised the day of small things?’”


Rebuilding the foundation was despised and called a “small thing” by those who opposed rebuilding the temple. But God didn't see the rebuilding as a small thing. Being obedient to God is always a "big thing", even if it’s only a small beginning, like rebuilding a foundation.

Want To vs Willingness

There is a vast difference between wanting to and willingness.

I believe Moses wanted to do as God requested and speak to Pharaoh in releasing the children of Israel. However, he had the "paralysis of analysis" and the fear in himself talked him out of his anointing. He told God in Exodus 4:13, "O Lord, please send someone else to do it." Have you ever found yourself pulling a Moses on God? In your heart, you WANT to do what He's telling you to do, but you've found enough excuses that you're not WILLING to do what He's telling you to do. Meantime, Aaron's willingness was stronger than his want to.

Exodus 4:30 gives another glimpse into this. Moses and Aaron gathered all of the elders of the Israelites together: "...and Aaron told them everything the Lord had said to Moses." Notice who was willing to speak.

Because Aaron was willing, he threw his staff down on the ground before Pharaoh and God turned it into a snake which swallowed up the staffs of the wise men and sorcerers in Pharaoh's court. God saw how Aaron was willing while Moses only gave excuses. So in Exodus 7:19, God says to Moses "Tell Aaron.." Exodus 8:5, God says to Moses "Tell Aaron..." In Exodus 8:16, God says to Moses "Tell Aaron.." Are you getting my point? God knew who would join Him in His work and who would only want to do it.

But something begins to happen to Moses in all of this. He begins to see how God doesn't call the qualified but qualifies the called. Because Moses if'ed and but'ed his way out of his anointing at the time God needed him the most, Moses saw how God used Aaron to perform miracles that were initially meant for Moses!

Moses' "want to" had turned to him being willing to act. In watching all that God had done through Aaron, his faith in God had grown. While the children of Israel were at a dead end with the Red Sea facing them and the mountains of Egypt to their backs, Moses came face to face with the spirit of intimidation that had paralyzed him long enough. God asked Moses in Exodus 14:15-16, "'Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on. Raise your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea to divide the water so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground.'" Moses could either grab Aaron and say, "Here! You've done this before. God turned your staff into a snake in front of Pharaoh! Do SOMETHING!" But he didn't.

God never intended for Aaron to lift up his staff at the Red Sea. God wanted Moses. Moses had been encouraged by what he had seen Aaron do. Moses had learned to let God encourage his heart.

God's promises are contingent upon your obedience to what He's called you to do.

(Barbie will be the guest speaker at the Univeristy of Mississippi Medical Center's Hospital Week forum Tuesday, May 8.)

Do You Have a Slave Mentality

In studying more of the life of Moses, I had questioned why he seemed afraid and intimidated by Pharaoh. After all, he was raised among royalty after being found by Pharaoh's daughter floating in the Nile.

God told Moses in Exodus 6:11, "Go, tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the Israelites go out of his country." But Moses said to the Lord in verse 12, "If the Israelites will not listen to me, why would Pharaoh listen to me..?"

I believe the reason why Moses felt like he could speak to Israel, and not to Pharaoh, was because they all were slaves together. Slavery was comfortable to Moses; it was his arena and something he could handle.

Moses had a slave mentality. The Israelites were on the same level as he. But when the children of Israel didn't agree with him in Exodus 6:9, it brought back the spirit of intimidation to him. Rejection is always linked or connected to intimidation. The reason why Moses couldn't do the big things for God was because in his mind, he was little. Having a spirit of intimidation creates positions God never ordained. God had ordained Moses to tell Pharaoh to let Israel go, but Aaron had to do it. Moses' destiny was to be a deliverer, but he was so fearful in himself.

Whatever God puts in your heart to do, you have to be completely dependent upon Him. If not, YOU are confident in yourself and not God.

What Are You Afraid Of?

Has God ever told you to do something and you let intimidation get in the way?

In Exodus 3:10, God told Moses "So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out Egypt." Moses replied in verse 11, "Who am I, that I should go..?" Moses had the spirit of intimidation. When you feel worthless, you feel valueless and sometimes despicable. Moses told God again in Exodus 4:10-13 how useless he felt.

Fear and intimidation will hinder your walk with God.

When God imparts upon your heart to do something, He will be patient up to a point with you. After that, His patience runs thin. If you're not willing to do what God asks, He will find someone else to do it. Moses wasn't willing so God tapped Aaron to do it and replaced Moses.

What Moses wasn't willing to accept was that God would do the talking for him (I hear you God, but I'm not listening to you!).  God does not use people who know how to minister and preach because that is the ministry of man. Those who have the ministry of the spirit, God uses.

The devil has done his homework on you. Although you may not turn your back on God, he will still try to immobilize you to where you feel powerless. If you are fearful or intimidated by what God is calling you to do, you'll never move in faith. It's time to move forward in victory in Jesus name!

(Barbie will be the guest speaker at First Assembly of God in Pelahatchie womens luncheon Saturday. She will also present Rodan + Fields in Carthage at 2pm.)

Barbie is away for a while and will return on Friday, April 27.

Feel free to browse the blog and read her previous entries.

Theological or Genuine Faith?

Monday I blogged about the Canaanite woman who asked Jesus to heal her daughter who was ill in Mark 7. We've read the story many times, but have you ever noticed her faith?

Matthew 15:21 tells the same story. Except this time, we learn how persistent she really was. Verse 22 says the lady cried out, "Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is suffering terribly from demon-possession." Even the disciples noticed her tenacity and told Jesus, "she keeps crying out" (verse 23). Then she came and knelt before Jesus and said, "Lord, help me!" (verse 25). And a third time, she shares her heart and why she needs a miracle (verse 27).

There are 2 kinds of faith in this world: theological and genuine.

Theological faith wants a quick fix. When faith isn't working, theological faith gives up, quits and eventually dries up.

Genuine faith doesn't care what others say about the situation. It doesn't care what others think or what others do. Genuine faith keeps praying, keeps believing, keeps asking. Genuine faith won't quit!

Sometimes we must go through a test of faith to determine which one we have. This test of faith can often shine the light on what's wrong with us and reveal which faith we honestly have.

Could it be that Jesus was testing this mother's faith? She came back 3 times and even then, she had no intention of leaving. She cried out to Jesus, she humbled herself, asked for mercy, and knelt before him. Jesus saw the outward display of her faith and also saw her inner spirit. Jesus commented, "Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted." And her daughter was healed immediately (verse 28).

Which faith to you find yourself having when you're in your darkest hour: theological faith or genuine faith? Only one gets Jesus' attention.