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LUCY'S INSPIRATIONALS FOR THE HEART!

  
(Page 24 of 24: Viewing entries 231 to 235)  
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♥Lucy- ♥

Mammas Princess!- I Love Virgie!- xoxoxo
 
 
Barked: Wed May 9, '12 8:43am PST 
May 9, 2012

Letting God Fill My Empty Places
By Renee Swope

"You God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water." Psalm 63:1, NIV

It was a source she'd come to depend on. A place she went to get her needs met. But it was never enough; every day she came back for more.

Filling her jar with water, the woman looked up and heard Him ask her for a drink. Then He offered her something in return: living water. Unlike the water she came to get that day, He said the water He offered would satisfy her so deeply she'd never thirst again.

But she had a hard time believing His promise. "You have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water?" (John 4:11) She asked.

What she didn't realize was that Jesus wanted to satisfy a deeper thirst in her heart — a longing He'd created to lead her heart to Him: the One and only Source that could satisfy her soul.

All He needed to draw with was His Spirit, for it would draw her near to Him. And as far as the depth of the well, it was her heart He was looking into. She was the only one who could stop Him from reaching the parts that needed Him most.

I know that place of needing Jesus to look into my heart and show me the emptiness only He can fill.

Like the woman at the well, I've depended on other means to get my needs met. Yet when I look to them, instead of Him, they are never enough.

I've looked to people: family and friends, bosses and boyfriends, teachers and mentors, my husband and kids. I've longed for their approval and the affirmation that comes with it.

I've also looked to possessions and positions and accidentally put my hope in recognition. I've thought "if only I had or could..."

But no matter how much I do or get, it's never enough to fill me up. And it's not supposed to be.

Why? Because the empty places in our hearts were created to be filled by God alone. The deepest thirst of our soul can only be quenched by Him.

We see this deep thirst even in King David, who had everything: the highest position, unlimited possessions, and great power, yet none of it was enough. He described himself as parched and thirsty for God:

You God, are my God, earnestly I seek you;
I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you,
in a dry and parched land where there is no water. (Ps. 63:1)

Then David went on to describe what he experienced when he drank deeply of God's love:

I have seen you in the sanctuary
and beheld your power and your glory.
Because your love is better than life,
my lips will glorify you.
I will praise you as long as I live
and in your name I will lift up my hands. (vv. 2–4)

And the same thing happened to the woman Jesus met at the well that day. She drank deeply of His love and was filled to overflow, and we can be too.

Just like the woman at the well, God put a longing in our hearts that was intended to lead us back to Him. Only His unconditional acceptance, approval and affirmation can fill the empty places in our hearts - the deepest thirst of our souls. Until God's love and acceptance is enough, nothing else will be.

Dear Lord, show me the empty places in my heart and ways I try to fill them. Then lead me back to You and show me how I can position my heart to be filled and fulfilled by Your promises and the power of Your love. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

Related Resources:
How can we let God fill the empty places in our hearts each day? Visit Renee's website/blog for a practical and powerful way to identify your empty places and let God fill them on a daily basis. You don't want to miss it!

A Confident Heart by Renee Swope. This best-selling book dives deep into the Living water of God's Word. Find more truths to fill the well of your heart by clicking here.

Letting God Fill My Empty Places a message on CD by Renee Swope

For more daily encouragement and powerful truths, join Renee's Confident Heart Facebook page.

Reflect and Respond:
Only God's unconditional acceptance, approval and affirmation can fill the empty places in our hearts - the deepest thirst of our souls. Until God's love and acceptance is enough, nothing else will be.

Ask God to help you identify your empty places and show you how HE can fill them. Click here for an illustration Renee shares of how she's learned to do this.

Power Verses:
Psalm 143:8, "Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I entrust my life." (NIV)

Jeremiah 2:13, "My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water." (NIV, 1984)

© 2012 by Renee Swope. All rights reserved.

Proverbs 31 Ministries
616-G Matthews-Mint Hill Road
Matthews, NC 28105
www.Proverbs31.org



Love to ALL,
Hugs to ALL,
God Bless ALL,
Love,
Lucy big hughugbig hug
my page | msg me | gift me | become pals
♥Lucy- ♥

Mammas Princess!- I Love Virgie!- xoxoxo
 
 
Barked: Sat May 12, '12 11:15am PST 
He Changes Us

May 12, 2012

. . . that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel.
–Ephesians 6:19

The word “mystery” means beyond human knowledge or understanding. God’s mysteries baffle the unbelieving, but bless the believer. The mystery of righteousness, like some of the other great mysteries of God, we cannot comprehend, but we know it works. We stand amazed at this great mystery which enables God to change the human heart, its attitudes, its desires, and its nature.

God, a holy God, who loves righteousness and hates wickedness, through a process of redemption has refashioned us in the image of Himself. How marvelous! For generations He has been applying His righteousness to the hearts of men. Even in our time, with its complexities of living, God is in the business of changing men and women by the mystery of righteousness.

Prayer for the day

Give me Your boldness to tell others the secret of eternal joy in Jesus Christ.



Love to ALL,
Hugs to ALL,
God Bless ALL.
Love,
Lucy
big hughugbig hug
my page | msg me | gift me | become pals
♥Lucy- ♥

Mammas Princess!- I Love Virgie!- xoxoxo
 
 
Barked: Mon May 14, '12 9:50am PST 
May 14, 2012

Hiding My Tears
By Ali Smith

"You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book." Psalm 56:8b (NLT)

For years I kept my tears far from the eyes of anyone else. I simply refused to cry. Hiding my tears started with one little tooth.

"Just tilt your head back, close your eyes and I'll yank it out on the count of three ... ready? 1 ... 2 ... 3!"

I was only six, too little for that sharp surge of pain that rushed through my mouth. So of course it was only natural I burst into tears.

"You big cry baby!" That's my dad for you. The big heroic tooth extractor laughed.

All I could do was whimper amid muffled sobs, "But it hurts!" I nursed the gaping hole in my gums with a soggy paper towel. My historic moment of bravery turned into one pathetic flop. I had proved myself an official wimp.

That day sealed the deal. Crying became a strictly private and pretty much non-existent affair ... even into my adult years. Any time I felt tears coming, like a dam about to burst, I forced them to stay where I thought they belonged: hidden deep within my soul for no one else to see.

When I stumbled across these two treasured lines my perspective on crying changed: "You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book." Psalm 56:8b (NLT)

I couldn't believe it. Someone else wanted to store my tears! And in a far better place than the corners of my heart. Isn't it amazing to think each droplet we've shed over our years of experiences {including losing our first tooth} has been collected in a precious bottle? Held near and dear to our Father's heart.

You see, God doesn't laugh when we cry. He doesn't tell us to toughen up or turn the page on our tears like they don't exist. Instead, He picks us up on His lap and wraps us in His loving arms as we pour out our hearts to Him. Our Lord loves for us to let Him in on our deepest felt emotions.

I wonder what might cause your tears to flow right now—unanswered prayers ... unmet promises ... uncertainties of life—they are seen and saved by the One who comforts and cares for your every need.

Whatever is holding you back, may I encourage you? Open the floodgate of your heart and release your tears, sit quietly with the Lord and listen. Journal. Or take a walk and give your tears to Him. His arms are open and He is waiting for you to come to Him.

Dear Lord, thank You that You created me with tear ducts and all. Keep me from hiding my emotions out of fear of what others might think. Grant me the courage to cry, knowing that You will be there to comfort and console my heart in all of life's circumstances. Your love never fails and I am so very grateful. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

Related Resources:
Have you turned to Jesus as your Comforter?

{w}hole: An Honest Look at the Holes in Your Life and How to Let God Fill Them by Lisa Whittle

Ali Smith serves as a contributing writer for She Seeks, our division for 20'somethings! If you're in your 20s or love someone who is we hope you'll stop by today!

Reflect and Respond:
Was crying an acceptable thing in your family growing up? Reflect on ways in which your perspective on tears was shaped based on your upbringing.

What keeps you from expressing your emotions fully and freely around those you love? Ask God to show you what might be blocking or hindering your ability to be vulnerable.

Power Verses:
2 Corinthians 1:3-4, "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ...who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God." (NIV)

Psalm 62:8, "Trust in him at all times, you people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge." (NIV)

© 2012 by Ali Smith. All rights reserved.

Proverbs 31 Ministries
616-G Matthews-Mint Hill Road
Matthews, NC 28105
www.Proverbs31.org


Love to ALL,
Hugs to ALL,
God Bless ALL,
Love,
Lucy big hughugbig hug
my page | msg me | gift me | become pals

♥Lucy- ♥

Mammas Princess!- I Love Virgie!- xoxoxo
 
 
Barked: Wed May 16, '12 11:35am PST 
May 16, 2012

If God Loves Me, why...?
By Renee Swope

"'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'" Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)

Soon after I surrendered my life to Christ, I started struggling with painful things from my past that made me doubt God's promises for my future. I wondered: If God loves me, why has He allowed so much pain in my life?

If He loved me, why did God allow my family to be broken by adultery and divorce, shattered by confusion and chaos, shaken by alcohol and drug addictions and so much more? And why didn't He stop me from the pain I brought on myself, or keep me from the darkness of depression?

One afternoon I found the courage to tell my friend Wanda about my doubts and questions. I was surprised she didn't give me a pat answer, but looked at me with understanding in her eyes and told me she was sorry. Then she shared her story, which included many disappointments and heartbreaks. Yet, I didn't sense doubt or pain in her words. Instead, I sensed confidence and hope.

Turning the pages of her Bible to Jeremiah 29, Wanda read today's key verse as a promise to me: "'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the LORD 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'" (v. 11)

She then told me God wanted to heal the pain of my past and use what I'd experienced to pave the way to His plans for my future. But I didn't want God to use my pain or my past. How would any of it do anything good for anyone, especially me?

Have you ever felt that way about your pain or your past? Have you ever asked: "If God loves me, then why...?"

These are the kind of questions that can linger in our hearts when we've been wounded and disappointed. And hurts that aren't healed can lead to bitterness and bondage.

Yet, in the security of a relationship with Jesus, God invites us to ask hard questions and look for answers that usher us into the depths of His redeeming love and healing power.

Can I whisper some hope into your heart today? If you are living and breathing, your purpose has not yet been fulfilled. No matter what you have done or what has been done to you, God does have a plan for your life.

So, how can you discover those plans? Let's read the premise that follows the promise in Jeremiah 29. After God declares He knows the plans He has for us, He says, "Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart." (v.12-13)

We find God's plans when we surrender ours to Him each day. It's a moment by moment process of coming to Him, talking to Him, believing He listens and letting Him love us into a place of hope and healing.

God's love is not a quick-fix for our wounds, but it has the power to redeem and restore us into confident hope. When we allow the Holy Spirit poured out like Living water to go deep into our pain, He can heal our hearts from the inside out.

As we process the pain of our yesterdays and live through the disappointments of our todays, doubts may still creep up, threatening to steal our hope. But each time that happens, we can stop and seek God in that place. We can ask Him to show us His purpose by revealing what is true about who we are and what we have been through to make us start doubting.

Then we can ask Him to help us re-define our future, not through the filter of our past and pain, but through the power of His life-giving truth. And do you know what happens when we do that moment by moment, day by day, doubt by doubt? God tells us in Jeremiah 29:14, "I will be found by you...and will bring you back from captivity."

We find Him again and again. We find the One who longs to lead us out of captivity to our doubts into a place of freedom and hope. I know this is true because I have walked it, wrestled with it, resisted it and finally surrendered to it.

God's love is not only unfailing, it redeems and restores. His Truth cuts to the core of our struggles, bringing purpose to our pain, redemption from our past and hope for our future!

Lord, heal my hurts and give me hope as I learn to trust the plans You have for me. I'm coming to You and seeking You with all my heart today. Please set me free from my doubts and lead me into a place of confident hope. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

Related Resources:
Do You Have a Relationship with Jesus?

This devotion is based on Chapter 4 of Renee's best-selling book, A Confident Heart: How to Stop Doubting Yourself & Live in the Security of God's Promises.

Visit Renee's website/blog where she shares more of her story and a powerful way you can learn to process your past with Jesus and fully experience His healing and hope for your future! Enter to win A Confident Heart gift pack and gift card, too. Find out more here.

When you purchase resources through Proverbs 31 Ministries, you support the many areas of hope-giving ministry we provide at no cost.

Reflect and Respond:
"If you are living and breathing, your purpose has not yet been fulfilled. No matter what you have done or what has been done to you, God does have a plan for your life."

Has the pain of your past made it hard to believe God's promises and plans for your future? Renee shares the process of learning to let go of the pain from her yesterdays so she could live with confident hope and healing in her todays and tomorrows. Click here for more of her story.

Power Verse:
Psalm 71hi5, "For you have been my hope, Sovereign Lord, my confidence since my youth." (NIV)

© 2012 by Renee Swope. All rights reserved.

Proverbs 31 Ministries
616-G Matthews-Mint Hill Road
Matthews, NC 28105
www.Proverbs31.org



Love to ALL,
Hugs to ALL,
God Bless ALL,
Love,
Lucy big hughugbig hug
my page | msg me | gift me | become pals
♥Lucy- ♥

Mammas Princess!- I Love Virgie!- xoxoxo
 
 
Barked: Wed May 23, '12 11:00am PST 
May 23, 2012

When Hope Feels Distant
By Samantha Reed

"The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul." Psalm 23:1-3a (NIV 1984)

The chair creaked as she shifted her weight. Its arms, too close for comfort, seemed to intentionally squeeze the pain right out of my clients who came to see me in the counseling center. And the same thing seemed to be happening to my friend who was visiting that day.

I watched her tears fall, hoping they would somehow lighten her heart's heavy load.

She'd been carrying the joy of what she thought was a new life on the way. But this was a hope to be deferred. It wasn't time, not yet. Not for quite a while.

And then one day she joined us at my home for dinner. We feasted on good news as we stood in the kitchen, arms and elation wrapped tight around each other. We cried again. This time, it was time.

I remember the day this much-anticipated baby was born; a day when life was squeezing the pain right out of me.

A decade's worth of waiting on the hopes of marriage had worn me thin. I feared I'd been left out of God's goodness. I shared my hurt with a friend on the way to the hospital. "You must believe He's faithful. He's good. Don't let the days slip by in fearful doubt, no matter how long this hope is deferred," she said.

That day I held onto my friend's words as I held that sweet baby, Sophie Brooke.

Her name means wisdom and peaceful waters. And aren't those lovely things for when the load is painful and hope is put on hold?

Wisdom whispers to our weary hearts, The Lord is my Shepherd. He leads me well as I journey through this pain. In Him, I won't miss out or be in want. It reminds us that our Shepherd is good and He has not left us.

And those peaceful waters? This is where the Lord leads us to restore our soul; to restore the hope we've lost in the waiting, in the valley of our pain. When weariness sets in, He invites us beside refreshing waters in His presence, to rest by and find a calm place to escape.

It's been four years since Sophie Brooke was born. In that time I've discovered that days pass by easier and hope seems attainable when I listen to my Shepherd, rather than my fearful doubts.

For every season and stage of life, I've realized God is there offering wisdom and peace and leading me back to hope.

And on those days when hope feels distant, seems nowhere to be found, I remember the words my friend gave me: "You must believe He's faithful. He's good. Don't let the days slip by in fearful doubt, no matter how long this hope is deferred."

Dear Lord, seems like life has squeezed the pain out of me and hope is nowhere to be found. I am at a loss for what to do. Please guide me to pray, seek and wait on You through this season. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

Related Resources:
Letting Go of Worry: God's Plan for Finding Peace and Contentment by Dr. Linda Mintle

Visit Samantha's site for hope in the waiting.

We'd love to share daily encouragement with you on our Facebook page. Click here to join us.

Reflect and Respond:
Have you waited a long time on a dream? Does hope seem distant? Take a moment to listen to your Shepherd, rather than your fears.

Clear your mind of every racing thought and know that these words have been prayed for you: "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope" (Romans 15:13 NIV).

Power Verses:
Isaiah 40:27-31, "Why do you say, O Jacob, and complain, O Israel, ‘My way is hidden from the LORD; my cause is disregarded by my God'? Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.

He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint." (NIV 1984)

© 2012 by Samantha Reed. All rights reserved.

Proverbs 31 Ministries
616G MatthewsMint Hill Road
Matthews, NC 28105
www.Proverbs31.org



Love to ALL,
Hugs to ALL,
God Bless ALL,
Love,
Lucy big hughugbig hug
my page | msg me | gift me | become pals
  (Page 24 of 24: Viewing entries 231 to 235)  
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