Having Inward Assurance

"A confident heart is found in a woman who knows beyond the shadow of a doubt that she is loved NO MATTER WHAT. A confident woman trust this truth: Even when she falls, she doesn't stay down. Instead, she reaches for God's hand and rises again." (Proverbs 24:16)~ Renee Swope

How many of us struggle with finding confidence? I know I have often and still struggle with my confidence as a woman, daughter, sister, mother and friend. My confidence sometimes seems to come and go based on how I feel at the moment or what I have done or what has been done to me. I struggle with it so much so, that at times I have felt like I am not worthy, useful or wanted; let along needed. But I have learned that I'm not alone in my struggle. I have also come to realize that I and many of you may can relate to looking for lasting confidence in other people, positions and possessions. BUT, our confidence should be found in God alone! God gives us blessed assurance. He gives us lasting confidence.

We can sometimes get caught up into self criticism, being our own worst enemy. We find ourselves comparing what we have to other women because of what we think she may have going on. God does not want us to have the spirit of jealousy or covetousness. He wants us to be content with who we are in Him. Each of us were uniquely created. God had a plan for each of us before we were even born. In Ephesians 2:10 NLT it states: "For we are God's MASTERPIECE. He created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things He planned for us LONG AGO". The "long ago" in this verse really stands out to me because it gives an assurance to me that my God's got this! Even though I fall short, and I will because I'm human, God already knows before I mess up. In fact He knows every "mess up" before I do it. But it's up to me to reach for His hand and try again. Never give up! For He has assured me that He will complete the work that He started in me. And that makes my heart smile. That gives me inner peace. It encourages me to press my way on in this life. So this is why I stand before you today my sisters in Christ and walk with confidence because I know WHO I am and WHOSE I am. For you and I are daughters of the Most High, why wouldn't be confident? :)

Blessings,

~Liz~

What are you desiring?

"Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart" ~Psalm 37:4

Do you have a desire(s)? To desire means to long or hope for; to express a wish for per Merriam-Webster.

My next question is, what do you find yourself delighting in? For Merriam-Webster defines delight as a high degree of gratification; extreme satisfaction; something that gives great pleasure... hmm...

Well, I know I have some desires that I have been longing for. So much in fact, that at times I begin to wonder if God has forgotten me; I question why haven't you answered me yet??!! Last night in Bible Study, we were discussing that God is ETERNAL; meaning He always was, is and will be. Our feelings change, but God's stays the same. His love for us stays the same.

But what I have noticed about desires is, a true desire will be constant. It won't change according to how we may feel at the moment. So I say that to say this, we have to be careful of what we desire! Whoa... really, as my brother would say, lol. But yes, REALLY! If we are not careful we will focus on things that we make into small, idol gods. For the Lord our God is a jealous God; He tells us we are to "have no other gods before Him". (see Deuteronomy 5:7, 9) We have to have the desire within ourselves to want Him first. Not if we get what we want. We also have to be careful that we are not just saying we desire Him, just to see if He will give us what we want...for Matthew 4:7 says "You shall not put the Lord your God to the test". This can be scary. In fact it scares me as I write this, as it runs through my mind. So my prayer is, Lord help me to desire you fully. Help my soul to crave you. Help me to long for you. Help me to wake up in the morning eager to spend time with you in your word like when I first started studying and had that excitement in my heart. Help me to delight in you and your promises for me. Lord help me to seek you with all my heart, not just to receive a reward, but just because of who You are! Yes I want you to fulfill the desires of my heart, but I want to be complete in YOU so that when I do receive the reward I will know how to appreciate it and how to handle it. In Jesus name, Amen.

Ladies I hope this helped someone. It surely helps me to write it more than you know. It really does my soul good. Please fill free to comment if you'd like, if not just know I appreciate you stopping by. :)

Blessings,
~Liz~

Are you breathing or suffocating??

Life is so full of things; things that bring joy, things that bring hurt, things that give us hope, things that haunt us. I know a million thoughts run through my mind a day; sometimes it seems like in a few seconds. I mean literally I can be driving down the road and wonder sometimes how I even made it to my destination. Sometimes I can be on the phone or sitting at church and so many things run through my head that it seems like a conversation that is so real, I wonder if the person sitting next to me or in front of me heard it. Do you ever feel like this?

If we allow him, satan will invade our mind by taking over our thoughts; that's why we have to wear the helmet of salvation at ALL times. We have to "take every thought captive to obey Christ". (See 2Corinthians 10:5) We have to make a conscious choice to NOT believe His lies. We have to "lead every thought and purpose away" (AMP)to God. Bring it up against His truths, what He promises us, who He says that we are. I wrestle with this more than I like to admit. I find myself sometimes listening to him belittle me for my past failures, for things others have done to me that have left me bruised from hurt, which in turn makes me feel like I'm no longer good enough. Have you felt this way? Are you feeling this way right now?

You see this is the trick of the devil. In John 10:10 it says "The theif (satan) comes only to steal, kill and destroy". He comes to steal our joy, happiness and peace. He comes to make us believe that we are not worthy to receive love or to even give love. He wants us to be stuck in our pits. He wants us to fall into the sin of self pity, and it's okay if we do fall into it. But guess what... God will lift us out of the pit, if we allow Him to.

If we don't give in and surrender to Him, we will suffocate! We will suffocate from the negative thoughts, the past failures, the broken hearts, the shame... you name it, whatever it is that has a stronghold on you. But God, does not want us suffocating like this! He wants us to LIVE and LOVE. Jesus came so that we can have life and have an abundant life filled by His provisions of love, joy and peace. He didn't promise that we would have an easy road on this journey, but He did promise He would never leave nor forsake us. That promise right there alone should give us comfort and allow us to breathe freely.

I hope you ladies are having an awesome week; if it's been one of those long ones just know it will get better. Mine was interrupted with my sick baby at the beginning of the week but he's all better now. Sometimes we need God to interrupt us as Lysa Terkeurst would say :)

Blessings,

~Liz~

Love is...

Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails. {1Corinthians 13:4-8}

My Pastor's sermon on Sunday was about Love. It was right on time too. He came from 1 Corinthians 13:13 "And now abide faith hope love, these three; but the greatest of these is love". Love a simple four letter word and to some its just simply that: "a word". When I read this I imagine Paul writing a love letter so to speak to you and me. He wants to open our eyes to see how we can easily fall into the trap of temporary things to fill us. I love this chapter 13 in 1Corinthians because it helps keep me grounded and focused on truth. As we get ready to celebrate this Valentine's Day let's not get so focused on the chocolate, flowers and edible arrangements. Instead let's focus on the true meaning of love. Loving God and accepting His unconditional love for us. Let's show kindness to someone. Give someone a smile. Pray for our neighbor. Do something unexpected to help someone out who may be going through a rough patch right now. What I'm trying to get at is, let us not focus on what we can get out of or from someone. Let's be the example of love that Christ is. I love when Paul states that "Love BEARS all things, BELIEVES all things, HOPES all things, ENDURES all things. Love NEVER FAILS." Love is love; it's constant, love is considerate. Love is there through the good and the bad. I've been doing a study by Renee Swope that teaches about "finding love that won't fail even when I do" (A Confident Heart). You and I will fail sometimes; we will make mistakes. But God already knows our hearts inside and out; He examines our hearts; therefore He knows us completely. He still loves us just the same. We have to be satisfied with Him first. He already paid the ULTIMATE price to show His unconditional love for you and me. I'm so glad that I have come to know Him for myself and have an understanding of His love just for me. I hope you have too, if not, it's not too late for you too, to taste and see that He is good and He does give living water so that we will never have to thirst again.

Now don't get me wrong I do love me some chocolate :). But I'm just not focused on all that like I used to be. I feel like love is an action word and it takes more than one day set aside by man to show true love. I hope all you ladies have a wonderful Valentine's Day. And may my God feel your hearts with His true love.

Blessings,

~Liz~

Searching...

"It is a rare soul indeed who has been sought after for WHO she is, not because of what she can do, or what others can gain from her, but simply for herself"~ John Eldredge and Brent Curtis

I first read these beautiful words last year while reading A Confident Heart by Renee Swope for a Bible study. I just re-read themlast week while re- doing this study. The first time through this statement didn't really catch my attention BUT this time it did the very first time I read it. It was so beautiful to me because I realize that's who I want to be, that's how I want to feel and that's how I want to be treated. In fact I believe that's what we all desire deep within. We all want to be loved and accepted for who we are. We desire to be wanted. So much so that we set out looking for someone or something to make us or help us fill this longing inside. We desperately search. Some try a career or certain college degree. Some turn to drugs or alcohol. Some turn to the opposite sex. Some turn to the label of being someone to somebody. We feel like if we can just get in that position we will feel all that we are looking to feel. We will feel complete, yea that's it....complete. And so we search.

But I have come to learn that NOTHING or NO ONE can ever make us feel this wholeness and completeness BUT God and Him alone. Not only have I learned this but I believe this with all of me. I believe this because no matter if I get all these things I will still want something more later. Why? Because all these things that we are desiring are temporary. If we could get that reality to sink in we would be much more receptive to God's plan for our life.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying its wrong to have desires; in fact God made us to desire and he said we can have them IF we delight in Him. See psalm 37:4. So that's what I'm doing. I'm allowing myself to fall in love with Jesus and all He has for me. I know that He loves me unconditionally. He won't stop loving me or turn away from me because of my past. He will be right here with me walking with me through each trial and each victory. He will deliver me from my enemies. He will hold me when I want and need to be held. He will just be there for me. And knowing all this makes it worth while loving Him. People will walk away. People will hurt you. People will disappoint you. But God can't and will not fail you. So I pray and hope that we all search for God to complete us. NO ONE or NO THING can compare to Him and His love.

I hope you ladies have a blessed work week. I will spend Monday celebrating my Birthday Lord's will :)
Please feel free to post a comment.

Blessings,
~Liz~

Go ahead and stick it out!

Tough words huh? Yeah I know. But its what we need from time to time. In Lamentations chapter 3 we're told in verse 27 of the message "It's a good thing when you're young to stick it out through the hard times." Life is hard and unfair at times. We get the feeling of defeat and being overwhelmed sometimes. It's ok to feel that way sometimes but its not good to stay stuck there. We have to change our perspective. Look at the situation ,think and ask God ok what is the good that's coming out of this? If you can't see it right now just wait patiently and in the mean time stay in continual communication with our Father. In His time He will show you. Often times we mistake the material things for "the good". But the word teaches us all those temporary things shall (meaning will) pass away. We can have money in the bank but if we don't have Jesus we are lost. We have to put our hope and trust in God alone. He is the only one who can bring us through and stick with us each step of the way. I'm reminded of the words of a song that was rendered in church service today. When we don't know what to do in the tough days it is then we need to go to our secret place and pray. Do you have a secret place? If not I encourage you to make a point to find one and use it. God will come near and hold you and comfort you. How do I know? Because I have tried him for myself!
I hope you ladies have a great work week! Keep the scripture Lamentations 3:27 in your heart and mind this week.
Blessings :)

When God is for you

I love when I pray to God about something that may be heavy on my heart and I make a decision to leave it with Him, He gives me confirmation/ a sign that He is there for me. It allows me to have peace in the midst of that storm/decision. Recently I was battling with something that I wanted to finish. I did NOT want to start my year with the same old mess. I said Lord what can I do? How can I  handle this?  I talked to my pastor about it and he gave me some incite on how to handle it. One evening that week, monday to be exact, I read my devotional from my Jesus Calling book. It read "I am with you and for you. When you decide on a course of action that is in line with My will, nothing in heaven or on earth can stop you. You may encounter many obstacles as you move toward your goal, but don't be discouraged-never give up". The author also gives us a reference scripture of Romans 8:31! This scripture was EXACTLY what had been running through my mind during this time! All I could do as I RE-read the devotional and the scripture was whisper Thank You Jesus over and over. Why you ask? Because I knew in my heart and soul that was my Father speaking to me, his daughter telling me that I made a good decision and He is with me on it and will be with me through it. Have you ever experienced that? It feels so good and comforting to know that Emmaunel "God is with us". Just wanted to share with you ladies. Please feel free to comment/share some of your "ah ha" moments with us here. I'd love to hear from you :)
Blessings,
Liz