Confident Heart Devotional , livre ebook

© 2013 by Renee Swope
Published by Revell
a division of Baker Publishing Group
P.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287
www . revellbooks .com
Ebook edition created 2013
Ebook corrections 10.01.2015
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.
ISBN 978-1-4412-4492-5
Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com
Scripture quotations labeled AMP are from the Amplified® Bible, copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.
Scripture quotations labeled CEV are from the Contemporary English Version © 1991, 1992, 1995 by American Bible Society. Used by permission.
Scripture quotations labeled GW are from G OD ’ S W ORD ®. © 1995 God’s Word to the Nations. Used by permission of Baker Publishing Group.
Scripture quotations labeled Message are from The Message by Eugene H. Peterson, copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations labeled NASB are from the New American Standard Bible®, copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.
Scripture quotations labeled NLT are from the Holy Bible , New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
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Contents
Cover 1
Title Page 3
Copyright Page 4
From My Heart to Yours 9
1. Turning Points 11
2. How Did I Get Here? 14
3. When Life Is Hard 18
4. Getting Past Our Past 21
5. My Image of God 24
6. From Wimp to Warrior 27
7. Sometimes I Have to Boss My Heart Around 30
8. Becoming the Woman God Created You to Be 33
9. Because God’s Love Is Perfect 36
10. How Are You, Really? 40
11. When Your Feelings Don’t Tell the Truth 44
12. Sin Doesn’t Get the Final Say 47
13. When You Don’t Want to Be a Burden 50
14. I Haven’t Got Time for the Pain 53
15. It’s Over 56
16. Praying with Confidence 59
17. Away from the Crowds 62
18. Giving In or Getting Up Again? 65
19. How Forgiveness Sets Us Free 68
20. More Than Breadcrumbs 71
21. Set Apart 74
22. When Helping Others Helps Us 77
23. Letting God Rebuild Your Confidence 80
24. When Fear Paralyzes Our Faith 83
25. The Things We Do for Love 86
26. When You Feel Like Damaged Goods 89
27. Who Told You That You Were . . . ? 92
28. If God Is for Me . . . 95
29. Living in the “Hear” and Now 98
30. When Hurt Steals Your Hope 101
31. I Just Don’t Have It in Me 104
32. When You Feel Empty 107
33. Dealing with Disappointments 110
34. Measuring Up 113
35. You Are Good Enough 116
36. Before the Battle Begins 120
37. A New Pattern of Thought 123
38. No More Guilt-Induced Doubt 126
39. He Cares about You 129
40. Dare to Hope 132
41. You’ve Got Something Special to Offer 135
42. When You Feel Far from God 138
43. Freedom from the Grave 141
44. Pursued 144
45. Changing Your Mind 147
46. Shipwrecked 150
47. His Compassions Never Fail 153
48. Peace-full 156
49. Remind Me Who I Am 159
50. Words for the Weary 162
51. Because You Are His 165
52. Failing Forward 168
53. Compelled by Love Alone 171
54. Mistaken Identity 174
55. Surrender 177
56. Talking Trash or Talking Truth? 181
57. I’m beyond Hurt 184
58. He Bends Down 187
59. Turning Worry into Worship 190
60. A Lifetime Heart Warranty 193
Appendix A: Personality Summary 197
Appendix B: When You Say, God Says 199
Notes 211
About Renee 207
Also by Renee Swope 208
About Proverbs 31 Ministries 209
Back Ads 214
Back Cover 215
From My Heart to Yours
As I imagine you reading this page, I wish we were sitting in a coffee shop chatting. I would love to talk with you about things that may be weighing you down. They always seem to lighten when shared with a friend. I would tell you about the times I let my doubts pile up, and how the weight of my worries almost took me down.
And you just might hear the story about the time I accidentally took my dog’s medication. Yes. I sure did. Hopefully, knowing that little fact about me would make you feel a little better about yourself.
There is nothing more reassuring for a woman than realizing she is not the only one who struggles with doubt, fear, or any array of emotions and imperfections she’s convinced herself that other women don’t have.
And in that moment we sometimes wonder if maybe just maybe that friend who let us know she struggles too could walk beside us as we try to find our way out of the shadow of our doubts.
I have had that kind of friend, and I would love to be that kind of friend for you.
But since we can’t chat in a coffee shop, I’m hoping we can meet right here on the pages of this book for the next sixty days. I’d love to tell you just how normal and wonderful you are, and help you take hold of truths that will unfold the plans and promises God has for your life.
Over the past several years, God has been changing me and rearranging me, using His Word and His unconditional love to lead me to what I call God-fidence. It’s a deep-down soul-security that has little to do with what we do or don’t have but everything to do with all God is and all that He offers us each day.
Through stories of men and women in the Bible who battled insecurity and fear, I’ve discovered it’s possible to stop doubting myself and to start living, by faith, in the security of God’s promises, no matter what my circumstances or emotions tell me.
Using powerful promises from His Word, I’ve created a new thought-map. And I use it every day to redirect my thinking, to make sure my heart is being led by truth. At the end of each devotion I’ll share one of these promises that ties in to the topic of the day, so you can use His thoughts to redirect yours all day.
I’ve also asked a few friends to share their stories throughout the book, so you can be inspired by their journey and learn from their process of finding confidence in Christ.
Each morning, I hope you’ll grab your Bible and meet with me here. I can’t wait to encourage you and walk beside you as you step out from the shadows of your doubt and learn to live with a confident heart!
1 Turning Points
You are a chosen [woman], a royal [priest], a holy [daughter], God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light.
1 Peter 2:9
I stood in front of my bathroom mirror, getting ready to travel to a large event while begging God to zap me with confidence or send Jesus back before it was time for me to speak. I had been struggling with paralyzing self-doubt that week and it was making me question everything.
When I turned to put something in my suitcase, which was behind me, I noticed a huge nine-foot shadow on the wall. I was surprised how big the shadow was and how much it distorted the image of my five-foot-two-inch frame.
In that moment, I realized my uncertainty had also created a huge shadow a shadow of doubt that was distorting my thoughts and overpowering my emotions.
As I stood there looking at that humongous shadow, I sensed God telling me I could only see the shadow because I had turned away from the light.
Slowly I turned back toward the light above the mirror, and I was no longer standing in the shadow. But the fact that I had created the shadow by blocking the light taught me a powerful lesson a truth that became a turning point for me.
Shadows are created all around us whenever something blocks the light. And so it is with the shadow of doubt. When we focus on how inadequate we feel, or what others are thinking about us, we cast a shadow of doubt in our minds by blocking the light of God’s truth in our hearts.
Yet we were not designed to block the light or to be the light. We were created to live in the light, by finding our confidence in what God thinks about us.
Before that day in my bathroom with God and my shadow, I saw doubt as an annoying weakness, a lapse of faith, a dip in my self-confidence. And I just wanted God to take it away. But through my doubt, God led me to dependence on Him and taught me a powerful lesson that became a turning point in my life.
A shadow of self-doubt had been cast over my thoughts and emotions when I turned my attention away from God’s perspective and promises. By taking my eyes off the light of God’s truth, I ended up paralyzed by the darkness of defeat.
How about you? How often do you agree with the whispers of doubt and find yourself living in discouragement and uncertainty?
That day in my bathroom was a turning point where God equipped me with a powerful way to process and conquer self-doubts. And, as we take this sixty-day journey together, I want each day to be a turning point for you . . . As you turn toward God, so you can know who He is and His heart toward you. As you turn toward His truth, so you can listen to what God says about you and what He can do through you as you learn to depend more on Him. As you turn toward the light of God’s promises as a woman, a friend, a leader, and a follower of Jesus so your life can be about living, loving, and leading others to the light of God’s truth as you walk it out in your everyday life.
When we turn our focus away from feelings of inadequacy and uncertainty and intentionally tur