"Dear Lord, I have felt alone and forgotten. I have wondered if any of my spiritual experiences were real. I’ve gone back to what’s familiar because it was all I knew to do. But I know You don’t want to leave me there. I want to see You when I scan the horizon. And when I do, help me to have the courage to run toward You as fast as I can. I trust that You still have a plan for me. And that plan involves going forward, not going back. In Jesus’ Name, Amen."
-Taken from Back to Fishing from Marybeth Whalen (Proverbs 31 Ministries)
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Monday, September 5, 2011
Confidence
“So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.” Hebrews 10:35-36 (NIV)
"One night I was cleaning our kitchen and found this little rubber thingy on our countertop. It wasn’t until after I threw it away that I realized it was the power button for our TV remote control. As I dug through the trash to find it, I regretted how quickly I’d thrown it away.
Then, as I reached to pull it out, I sensed God showing me that’s how easily I throw away my confidence—without recognizing it.
It’s usually very subtle. Sometimes I’ll be thinking about something I want to do or sense God calling me to, and a feeling of uncertainty comes over me and whispers to my heart, You can’t do that. You’re not good enough. Out of the blue, I’ll just get that awful, insecure feeling.
Too many times in the past I’ve gone along with it, tossing my confidence into the trash without even thinking.
For years, I didn’t tell anyone about my lack of confidence because I figured if I told them all the reasons I doubted myself, they’d see my flaws and agree with me. Honestly, I was convinced I was the only one who struggled with doubt.
However, I didn’t call it doubt. Maybe you don’t either. Sometimes I called it worry—worry that I was going to disappoint someone, worry that I might make a mistake and get criticized for it, worry that I might start something but not be able to finish.
Other times I’d call it fear—fear that I wouldn’t measure up, fear that I’d look stupid, fear that I’d look prideful thinking I could do something special for God. What I’ve realized over the past several years is that these feelings may end up as fear or worry, but their source is self-doubt.
Looking back, I see a pattern in my thinking that led to the pattern of my doubting.
As a child I thought I wasn’t worth keeping. My insecurity kept me from riding the carousel at an amusement park, because I doubted my dad would wait for me. In school, I thought I wasn’t smart enough. I avoided some great opportunities because they came with the risk of failure.
Even as a young bride, I doubted my worth in my husband’s eyes. Although he gave me no reason to fear he’d ever leave me, our newlywed memories include a lot of arguments based on my insecurities.
What about you? Do you ever question your worth as a woman? How often do you agree with the whispers of self-doubt and throw away confidence that should be yours as a child of God?
I’ve learned to ask God to show me when I’m tempted to throw away my confidence and then depend on Him to help me throw away my insecurities instead. Want to join me? Let’s hold onto God’s promises and depend on His truth for the security we need and the confidence we long for:
• When self-doubt whispers, 'I can’t do that. I’m going to fail and look foolish.' Throw away that lie away and hold onto this truth (even say it out loud): 'The Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?' (Hebrews 13:6, NIV 1984)
• When self-doubt whispers, 'I’ll never change.” Throw away that lie away and claim this truth: “For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in [me] will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 1:6, NASB)
• When self-doubt whispers, 'This is too hard for me. I don’t have what it takes to…' Throw away that lie away and hold onto this truth: 'No, in all these things [I am] more than a [conqueror] through him who loved [me].' (Romans 8:37, NIV)
Lord, I want to become a woman with a confident heart in Christ. Will you help me recognize when I throw away my confidence, and remind me to throw away my insecurities instead? I want to persevere in Your truth so that when I have done Your will, I will receive what You have promised. When doubt or insecurity tells me I can’t do something, I will remember that all things are possible to her who believes. In Jesus’ Name, Amen."
-Renee Swope, Proverbs 31 MInistries
Lord, WE want to become women with confident heart. Help us to live our lives in Light of Who You are and not who we think we are. Give us confidence to Stand and to Fight... IN JESUS' NAME, AMEN
"One night I was cleaning our kitchen and found this little rubber thingy on our countertop. It wasn’t until after I threw it away that I realized it was the power button for our TV remote control. As I dug through the trash to find it, I regretted how quickly I’d thrown it away.
Then, as I reached to pull it out, I sensed God showing me that’s how easily I throw away my confidence—without recognizing it.
It’s usually very subtle. Sometimes I’ll be thinking about something I want to do or sense God calling me to, and a feeling of uncertainty comes over me and whispers to my heart, You can’t do that. You’re not good enough. Out of the blue, I’ll just get that awful, insecure feeling.
Too many times in the past I’ve gone along with it, tossing my confidence into the trash without even thinking.
For years, I didn’t tell anyone about my lack of confidence because I figured if I told them all the reasons I doubted myself, they’d see my flaws and agree with me. Honestly, I was convinced I was the only one who struggled with doubt.
However, I didn’t call it doubt. Maybe you don’t either. Sometimes I called it worry—worry that I was going to disappoint someone, worry that I might make a mistake and get criticized for it, worry that I might start something but not be able to finish.
Other times I’d call it fear—fear that I wouldn’t measure up, fear that I’d look stupid, fear that I’d look prideful thinking I could do something special for God. What I’ve realized over the past several years is that these feelings may end up as fear or worry, but their source is self-doubt.
Looking back, I see a pattern in my thinking that led to the pattern of my doubting.
As a child I thought I wasn’t worth keeping. My insecurity kept me from riding the carousel at an amusement park, because I doubted my dad would wait for me. In school, I thought I wasn’t smart enough. I avoided some great opportunities because they came with the risk of failure.
Even as a young bride, I doubted my worth in my husband’s eyes. Although he gave me no reason to fear he’d ever leave me, our newlywed memories include a lot of arguments based on my insecurities.
What about you? Do you ever question your worth as a woman? How often do you agree with the whispers of self-doubt and throw away confidence that should be yours as a child of God?
I’ve learned to ask God to show me when I’m tempted to throw away my confidence and then depend on Him to help me throw away my insecurities instead. Want to join me? Let’s hold onto God’s promises and depend on His truth for the security we need and the confidence we long for:
• When self-doubt whispers, 'I can’t do that. I’m going to fail and look foolish.' Throw away that lie away and hold onto this truth (even say it out loud): 'The Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?' (Hebrews 13:6, NIV 1984)
• When self-doubt whispers, 'I’ll never change.” Throw away that lie away and claim this truth: “For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in [me] will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 1:6, NASB)
• When self-doubt whispers, 'This is too hard for me. I don’t have what it takes to…' Throw away that lie away and hold onto this truth: 'No, in all these things [I am] more than a [conqueror] through him who loved [me].' (Romans 8:37, NIV)
Lord, I want to become a woman with a confident heart in Christ. Will you help me recognize when I throw away my confidence, and remind me to throw away my insecurities instead? I want to persevere in Your truth so that when I have done Your will, I will receive what You have promised. When doubt or insecurity tells me I can’t do something, I will remember that all things are possible to her who believes. In Jesus’ Name, Amen."
-Renee Swope, Proverbs 31 MInistries
Lord, WE want to become women with confident heart. Help us to live our lives in Light of Who You are and not who we think we are. Give us confidence to Stand and to Fight... IN JESUS' NAME, AMEN
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Today's Promises
I just wanted to post this as a note of encouragement to you today. Of course I was captured from the first sentence, but what has stuck with me is that single sentence about the middle of the page..
"For every step Abraham took, a ram on the other side of the mountain took a step."
Just a reminder and an ebeneezer stone to me, that when I feel like I'm drowning, that God's promises are moving forward on the other side of the moutain to meet up at the top.
Love ya,
J
“So Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide. And to this day it is said, ‘On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided.’” Genesis 22:14 (NIV)
"Have you ever been in a situation so desperate that it looked hopeless?
Have you ever sat at the kitchen table wondering how you were going to pay the electric bill? Have you ever stood at a door that’s been slammed in your face by an angry teenager and despaired at having a relationship with him again? Have you ever had your heart broken so deeply that you wondered if you would feel whole again?
Sadly, we live in a broken world where desperate situations happen every day. I know someone reading this devotion is wondering how she will make it through the day because her situation looks hopeless. If that is you, I encourage you to keep reading. I believe God has a message of hope for you today.
That message is found in the Bible, in the story of a man who was dealing with his own desperate situation. His name was Abraham and he faced the greatest testing of his life. After longing for a son for many years, God finally gave Abraham a boy, whom he named Isaac. Abraham never imagined God would test his faith by asking him to sacrifice his son. But it happened.
It had to have been the darkest day of Abraham’s life as he trudged up the mountain, with firewood strapped to his son’s back. Every step took Abraham closer to what he believed to be the sad ending of a hopeless situation—the death of his son. Yet in spite of his sorrow, Abraham trusted God. His heart wasn’t soaring with joy. He wasn’t dancing up the mountain. But he put one foot in front of the other. Walking through the darkness of the situation; obeying His God’s commands.
Unbeknownst to Abraham, something else was walking up that mountain. Quietly. Out of sight. On the other side of the mountain. Something else was putting one foot in front of the other. Only Abraham couldn’t see it.
For every step Abraham took, a ram on the other side of the mountain took a step.
All Abraham saw that day was his solitary journey of pain. As he got closer to the top of the mountain, his dread must have increased. I wonder if he asked himself any questions. I would have. I would have wondered why hadn’t God intervened? Why hadn’t God stopped this testing? Couldn’t God see that Abraham was a man of faith? Why test him in this way?
But there was no answer. There was no voice from heaven. And so Abraham kept obeying his God’s command. He put Isaac on an altar and prepared to sacrifice his one and only son.
And just at that very moment, at the very last second, when it looked like the end had come, God spoke, stopping the sacrifice. Abraham looked up and there caught in the thicket was a ram. Abraham took his son off the altar, replaced him with the ram, and offered the sacrifice to God.
Abraham named that place 'Yahweh-Yireh' or 'The Lord Will Provide.' And the story was written down for generations of God-followers to read. It was written so that you and I today would read it as we face our own hopeless situations. It was captured in print so that you and I would know that God is already planning for our provision. We don’t see it. We don’t hear it. But we can trust that our God is at work. On your behalf, and on mine.
I choose to trust God today. A ram is on the way.
Dear Lord, You know how desperate I am today. You know that my faith has wavered. Although I want to trust You, I’m having trouble doing so. I ask for Your intervention in my situation, and for an increase of my faith while I wait. In Jesus’ Name, Amen."
-Glynnis Whitwer, Proverbs 31 Ministries
"For every step Abraham took, a ram on the other side of the mountain took a step."
Just a reminder and an ebeneezer stone to me, that when I feel like I'm drowning, that God's promises are moving forward on the other side of the moutain to meet up at the top.
Love ya,
J
“So Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide. And to this day it is said, ‘On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided.’” Genesis 22:14 (NIV)
"Have you ever been in a situation so desperate that it looked hopeless?
Have you ever sat at the kitchen table wondering how you were going to pay the electric bill? Have you ever stood at a door that’s been slammed in your face by an angry teenager and despaired at having a relationship with him again? Have you ever had your heart broken so deeply that you wondered if you would feel whole again?
Sadly, we live in a broken world where desperate situations happen every day. I know someone reading this devotion is wondering how she will make it through the day because her situation looks hopeless. If that is you, I encourage you to keep reading. I believe God has a message of hope for you today.
That message is found in the Bible, in the story of a man who was dealing with his own desperate situation. His name was Abraham and he faced the greatest testing of his life. After longing for a son for many years, God finally gave Abraham a boy, whom he named Isaac. Abraham never imagined God would test his faith by asking him to sacrifice his son. But it happened.
It had to have been the darkest day of Abraham’s life as he trudged up the mountain, with firewood strapped to his son’s back. Every step took Abraham closer to what he believed to be the sad ending of a hopeless situation—the death of his son. Yet in spite of his sorrow, Abraham trusted God. His heart wasn’t soaring with joy. He wasn’t dancing up the mountain. But he put one foot in front of the other. Walking through the darkness of the situation; obeying His God’s commands.
Unbeknownst to Abraham, something else was walking up that mountain. Quietly. Out of sight. On the other side of the mountain. Something else was putting one foot in front of the other. Only Abraham couldn’t see it.
For every step Abraham took, a ram on the other side of the mountain took a step.
All Abraham saw that day was his solitary journey of pain. As he got closer to the top of the mountain, his dread must have increased. I wonder if he asked himself any questions. I would have. I would have wondered why hadn’t God intervened? Why hadn’t God stopped this testing? Couldn’t God see that Abraham was a man of faith? Why test him in this way?
But there was no answer. There was no voice from heaven. And so Abraham kept obeying his God’s command. He put Isaac on an altar and prepared to sacrifice his one and only son.
And just at that very moment, at the very last second, when it looked like the end had come, God spoke, stopping the sacrifice. Abraham looked up and there caught in the thicket was a ram. Abraham took his son off the altar, replaced him with the ram, and offered the sacrifice to God.
Abraham named that place 'Yahweh-Yireh' or 'The Lord Will Provide.' And the story was written down for generations of God-followers to read. It was written so that you and I today would read it as we face our own hopeless situations. It was captured in print so that you and I would know that God is already planning for our provision. We don’t see it. We don’t hear it. But we can trust that our God is at work. On your behalf, and on mine.
I choose to trust God today. A ram is on the way.
Dear Lord, You know how desperate I am today. You know that my faith has wavered. Although I want to trust You, I’m having trouble doing so. I ask for Your intervention in my situation, and for an increase of my faith while I wait. In Jesus’ Name, Amen."
-Glynnis Whitwer, Proverbs 31 Ministries
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
En Gedi Beginnings
Ask me and I will tell you remarkable secrets you do not know about things to come.
~ Jeremiah 33:3, NLT
This verse has been one of those verses that has hung in my heart and my mind for a very long time. God tells us to ask him for whatever we are in need of and that He will provide for us. I remember praying this specific verse asking God to tell me things that I don't know about... things yet to come, and since that time He has done just that... Thank you Father that you do answer our prayers. You are great and greatly to be praised.
~ Jeremiah 33:3, NLT
This verse has been one of those verses that has hung in my heart and my mind for a very long time. God tells us to ask him for whatever we are in need of and that He will provide for us. I remember praying this specific verse asking God to tell me things that I don't know about... things yet to come, and since that time He has done just that... Thank you Father that you do answer our prayers. You are great and greatly to be praised.
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Faith
He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform. --Romans 4:20-21
"My faith does not rest on God's promises. My faith rests upon God's character. Faith must rest in confidence upon the One who made the promises...."
-A.W. Tozer
Father, this is our prayer today... That we will not waver in unbelief, but as a band, as En Gedi, Lord, we believe that you will do what you have spoken to our hearts and we will walk in that today.
"My faith does not rest on God's promises. My faith rests upon God's character. Faith must rest in confidence upon the One who made the promises...."
-A.W. Tozer
Father, this is our prayer today... That we will not waver in unbelief, but as a band, as En Gedi, Lord, we believe that you will do what you have spoken to our hearts and we will walk in that today.
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Banner for Today
I am a forgiven child of God. (Romans 3:24)
I am a set-free child of God. (Romans 8:1 – 2)
I am an accepted child of God. (1 Corinthians 1:2)
I am a holy child of God. (1 Cornthians 1:30)
I am a made-new child of God. (2 Corinthians 5:17)
I am a loved child of God. (Ephesians 1:4)
I am a child of God. (Ephesians 2:13)
I am a confident child of God. (Ephesians 3:12)
I am a victorious child of God (Romans 8:37)
I am a set-free child of God. (Romans 8:1 – 2)
I am an accepted child of God. (1 Corinthians 1:2)
I am a holy child of God. (1 Cornthians 1:30)
I am a made-new child of God. (2 Corinthians 5:17)
I am a loved child of God. (Ephesians 1:4)
I am a child of God. (Ephesians 2:13)
I am a confident child of God. (Ephesians 3:12)
I am a victorious child of God (Romans 8:37)
Friday, April 29, 2011
Important Words for Today
"Dear Lord, I am filled with thankfulness as I remember how You pursue me with Your love. Thank You for loving me first, even before I was aware of You. Thank You for each person and situation You put in my life that lead me to You. Reignite the fire of my love for You, causing it to grow stronger than ever. Let everything I am, do, and say point to Your unfailing love. In Jesus’ Name, Amen"
-Melanie Chitwood, Proverbs 31 Ministries
-Melanie Chitwood, Proverbs 31 Ministries
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