Episode 249 – Finding Sanctuary in Jesus with Denise Hughes

“Christ is our sanctuary and we can go to Him wherever we are.” Today Stacy talks with author, speaker, and teacher, Denise Hughes, about cultivating a quiet heart in a noisy and demanding world. Listen in as she walks us through examples of sanctuary in the Bible and where to be cautious in our online culture that could draw us away from closeness with God and the ones we love.   SCRIPTURES Make it your goal to live a quiet life, minding your own business and working with your hands, just as we instructed you before. Then people who are not believers will respect the way you live, and you will not need to depend on others. 1 Thessalonians 4:11-12 NLT   They made the bronze basin and its bronze stand from the mirrors of the women who served at the entrance to the tent of meeting. Exodus 38:8 NIV   Then the word of the LORD came to him: “Go at once to Zarephath in the region of Sidon and stay there. I have directed a widow there to supply you with food.” So he went to Zarephath. When he came to the town gate, a widow was there gathering sticks. He called to her and asked, “Would you bring me a little water in a jar so I may have a drink?” As she was going to get it, he called, “And bring me, please, a piece of bread.” “As surely as the LORD your God lives,” she replied, “I don’t have any bread—only a handful of flour in a jar and a little olive oil in a jug. I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son, that we may eat it—and die.” Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid. Go home and do as you have said. But first make a small loaf of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son. For this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the LORD sends rain on the land.’” 1 Kings 17:8-14 NIV   But He said, “Truly I say to you, no prophet is welcome in his hometown. But I say to you in truth, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the sky was shut up for three years and six months, when a severe famine came over all the land; and yet Elijah was sent to none of them, but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow.” Luke 4:24-26 NASB   LINKS   Denise Hughes website   BOOKS   Sanctuary Deeper Waters   MOMS IN PRAYER ·       New to Moms in Prayer? How to get started ·       Moms in Prayer Shop ·       Support Our Mission ABOUT OUR GUEST Denise J. Hughes is a teacher at heart. She connects with women through inspiring stories and biblically-based messages that meet women right where they’re at in everyday life. Her newest book Sanctuary is a 31-day devotional that helps women find true peace among the noise, busyness, and pressures of life. With an M.A. in English, Denise has taught college composition and she currently writes for the First 5 app by Proverbs 31 Ministries. Denise lives with her husband and three kids in North Carolina, where she always finds time for old books, peach tea, and a good football game.     Extra Notes: 2 Quotes:  Christ is our sanctuary and we can go to Him wherever we are.   Being tethered to people and to actual places helps us remain anchored in God’s created world rather than man’s created meta-universe.    Has been a mom for more than 27 years; 3 children – 27, 19, 18. New devotional called Sanctuary. My heart’s prayer was that I wanted sanctuary from all the noise coming at us in our culture. Worldly pull that’s pulling us in another direction. Lead a quiet life (1 Thess 4:11) – what does that look like in our world today? Is it possible to lead a quiet life today?  (Stacy’s question to Denise) It’s possible with intention, because I think the current of our culture is going to carry us along  one direction if we’re not being intentional to swim upstream against the grain of culture. It has to be something we are intentionally pursuing. What can we learn from the topic of sanctuary in the Bible? Every single element that made up the tabernacle and later, the temple, all of it pointed to Christ. Christ is our sanctuary and we can go to Him wherever we are. We can have sanctuary with us wherever we go. Example: At the entrance to the tabernacle, the Levites/Priests had to go through ceremonial washing. Women donated highly polished bronze mirrors. The craftsman melted down the bronze mirrors to make wash basins. When the priest would lean over and wash his hands in the water, he would see his reflection. The wash basin and water reflected Christ and that we can’t enter His presence without being washed by Him.   Relinquish worldly mirrors and turn our focus from ourselves to Christ. History of screens – we went from a big screen to television (small screen) in our homes, to the micro-screens in everyone’s back pocket that we can take with us wherever we go. On the big and small screens, we’re watching actors portray a story, on the micro-screen, we now have become the main character in what has become the reality show of our lives. In many ways these micro screens have become modern day mirrors where we’re focusing more and more on ourselves in an unhealthy way. I love the idea of Hebrew women giving their bronze mirrors to Moses, having them melted away, so their focus was then on Christ. What about if you feel like you’re failing to lead a quiet life? Ask ourselves, how well are we tethered to people and places, in our homes, in our churches, in our schools? We can easily spend more time talking to people on screen which can lead to our relationships in our homes to atrophy. Being tethered to people and to actual places helps us remain anchored in God’s created world rather than man’s created meta universe.   Being in the Word with women in our church. Solidarity in being there for a woman who was losing her husband -  Elijah was on the run from a very corrupt, worldly king, he goes to a widow’s home in Zarephath. This was going into enemy territory. There had been a famine and widows were considered the poorest of the poor. When Elijah asks for a meal, the widow says all I have left… Elijah said, make me some bread. As long as he stayed as a guest in her home, the flour and oil in the vessels did not run dry. She was an ordinary woman living in a very ungodly culture and yet God used her in such a powerful way. Generations later, when Jesus stepped into the synagogue and read from the scrolls, announced His public ministry by referencing this widow. Someone considered not an influencer, yet Jesus used her story to introduce Himself to the world as the Messiah. These women sitting on the pew supporting their friend who was losing her husband, these women – they’re not on staff, they’re not considered online influencers, but they have so much influence and purpose in the people they’re ministering to in their local church. That’s what we need to be inspired by – women like that, more than the influencers we see on our micro screens. We’re so enthralled by lifestyles of the rich and famous, like Solomon in the Bible whose wealth was known throughout the kingdom. People heard about his wisdom and his extravagant lifestyle. Queen came and wanted to take a tour of His palace. Today, We tend in our humanness, to be drawn to the fancy, the elite, the powerful, the wealthy. Which tends to get a lot of capital online. In our humanness and in the world we live in, we’re so drawn to wealth & extravagance, but If we’re going to truly be committed to a quiet life, we need to live a life with open hands and not be consumed with the pursuit of more wealth & more things. It’s the pursuit of less. If we could summarize all of Paul’s letters, it would be Go saints go, don’t quit, no matter how loud the world becomes, there is eternal perspective beyond what we can see and hear with our eyes and our ears. To lead a quiet life is to know that we’re saints because Christ has imputed His righteousness to us. And Paul encourages us to go saint go and don’t give up! If you hear the verse from Thessalonians, I encourage everyone that leading a quiet life is not about your natural personality, but it’s about the spiritual condition of your heart.