Welcome Encouragement for Today friends! If you hopped over from my P31 devotion “He Cares About You,” Im so glad you’re here. I pray today’s post pours assurance into those places in your heart that just need to know you are not alone. You are deeply loved, pursued and cared for! Also, you can find details about the $40 in FREE Confident Heart Resources at the bottom of this post!
Chosen…I love that word. I don’t know a heart that doesn’t long to be chosen. Yet the disappointments of life and the criticism of others can cause us to forget that we are – chosen, loved, valued and called! “You are a chosen [woman], a royal priesthood, a holy [daughter], a [woman] belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of HIM who has CALLED you out of darkness into His wonderful light.” 1 Peter 2:9, NIV I have a song for you today! Please take time to listen and let your heart respond to these truths. Let these words remind you that you are CHOSEN and CALLED – your heart is spoken for. Oh sweet friend, please let these words soak deep into your heart. Watch it again and again until your soul knows it’s true!! Our Word for the week: Chosen Download our word for the week in a PDF or in MSWord. Be sure to print it and post it all over your house or office so you can remember you are chosen and loved. Let’s live loved in His PROMISE for us this week: “But you are a chosen [woman], a royal priesthood, a holy [daughter], God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light.” 1 Peter 2:9, NIV Let’s Connect: Is there anything about today’s song that your hearts needed to hear? Click “share your thoughts” below this post and do just that.
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“This one’s mine” and “my heart is spoken for” These are my favourite lines from the song. Thanks for posting the video.
Good Morning. I believe we as women are so BUSY taking care of everything and everyone that we forget not only who we are, but more importantly whose we are (JESUS); and this song just reminded me of that fact. No matter what happens to us or around us we must remember that we are covered by His love divine, a child of the risen LORD, to hear Him say this ones mine, my heart is spoken for. Those are POWERFUL words of TRUTH that we women need to hold on to close to our hearts.
As I listened to the “Chosen” song and when I first saw the Word for the week was :”Chosen” my heart skipped a beat. To realize that God chose me to be His child, I am a “Child of the King”. What an awesome privilege and awesome task to walk as He would want me to. Tell everyone that I am HIs and they can also become one of this children. This study is making me stronger, growing me closer to Him and has lifted my spirits. I was really down on myself but didn’t realize how much until I did this study. Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts so personally and making me realize that I am not alone in feeling this way. But I now know for sure who my hope is in, it is in the LORD Jesus. Thank you for your honesty and encouragement to never give up to go back to Him and His word for all that I need to be the one He has Chosen me to be.
I love this song and always enjoy and sing along with it. It is a great reminder that He has chosen me, He has my heart. The words “take this world from me, I don’t need it anymore” are true to me. So many times I try to chase what the world wants or requires or desires and it leaves me in turmoil and takes me away from God. When I am focused on God, I am at peace. I have learned especially in this past week that life is never certain and worldly things can be wiped out by a tornado but no matter where I am or what is taken from me, God is faithful and always there!
Thanks you for this song Renee.. sometimes there are things that are going on in your life that at not pleasant
and a message, song make a differences. God is good and I thank you very much for your words of wisdom & encouragement. Yes I’m chosen, by his love.
I will continue reading this book even when the study is over
Thanks for this song…I am weeping…I haven’t been following for awhile this bible study, my husband partially tore his achilles 4 weeks ago when we were on chapter 7. Since then I haven’t had time to myself at all. I’ve been waiting on him hand and foot taking him to doctors appointments while at times working 12 hour days at the most coupled with taking care of our 7 year old..and the house and the meals and trying to figure out how in the world did we get stuck with drug dealers living across the street from us……..I have been extremely grumpy and snappy. I just got done praying with our 7 year old before he went to bed and he asks mom what about our song just as I was going to at east lay down, when I in irritation said PLEASE!!! JUST GO TO BED!! I knew the moment it came out I could wound his tender heart and went in his room and apologized and started crying. See just 4days ago on Saturday while he was trying to help my husband who is on crutches cross the street ..they both were almost hit by a truck that ran a red light , my husband told me. My son knew nothing of it all he knows is that his dad got a liitle stuck in the street and before our son could go any further PRAISE GOD..my husband called his name and he stopped and turned around right when the truck zoomed by! So why am I snappy or grumpy when the 2 people I love the most could’ve been taken from me at the same time. I left my sons room to come to mine feeling bad about myself and thinking surely The Lord is disappointed in me and picked up the book to get back into the study ..right where I left off Failure Doesnt Have to be Fatal…I was just thinking I must be the worst mom ever! I read page 119 , then decided to ask for prayer which is how I came to website again and decided to see what song your were talking about Renee…which is why I am weeping…all I can say is Praise God and thank you. Please pray for me!
Praying for you Kally!!! Praying the Lord will bring quick healing for your husband’s achilles and brings you rest and peace and know that you are not a bad mom, you are just weary from the chores of this life. I pray the the Lord wraps His loving arms around you and gives you a big hug!! If I were there I would give you one too!!! {{{HUGZ}}} to you sweet child of God!! ♥
Thank you sooooo much for praying for me, I felt the Fathers hug this morning and it brought peace and release…Nothing like a sister praying for another.
Having a hard time with this weekly word. I have “Chosen” tattooed on my leg. My ex husband wanted his name tattoed but thank God I had the sense not to do that! So he talked me into tattooing “Chosen” as he was the chosen one, the one I chose. Being young and naive comes at a price. Twenty years and four kids later he walks out to be someone other womans chosen one and hasnt looked back. This word has settled into my heart in the wrong way. This will be a struggle.
Darlene…take your husband out of that situation and place Jesus in it. There is a reason you did not place his name on your leg. You don’t belong to him…you belong to HIM. That is a beautiful word that can help lead you into healing around your husband leaving. You are much too valuable to NOT be chosen. Lean into Jesus and embrace the truth that you are loved & holy because of HIM…let HIS love wash over your heart & heal your wounds. Not your strength…your strength thru HIM. Praying for you.
Jenny, I really like that statement, ” You are much too valuable to NOT be chosen.” Wow! Thank you. The statements following the above statement are very meaningful, too. God bless you and Darlene richly!
I’m with Anna- I too am sad as I just finished reading Chapter 11 and have realized our time together is coming to a close for this study.
I’d love to continue with another Bible study!
Thank you Renee. Thank you for this study! It’s such a relief to read I’m not the only person who has struggled with confidence issues. Thank you Renee for the tools you’ve provided through Gods word to become a deeper woman of faith and to not let Satan steal my joy by whispering in my ears that I’m not worthy. Because I AM!
Blessings~ and I look forward to information for a summer study!
Rene, I’m finished reading Chapter 11 and realized we are almost done, I felt sad. I have so enjoyed this study. I have read and re-read the chapters, prayers, verses.
I feel I have grown so much as a child of Christ, I read God’s work in such a different way, I hunger for it. God brought life to His word, for me, through your book, God and you have blessed my life.
I am a child of God,CHOSEN, Beloved, Known, His Masterpiece. I have had such an awakening of my soul. I used to read my bible and yes I understood it, but now I read and absorb as much as I can, write down verses, write words that grab at me. I have started to read the book of John. I ask God daily to “Open the eyes of my heart” as the song says. I so want to hear Him. I see His beauty everywhere. I close my eyes and hear Him in the wind blowing, birds chirping, rustlings of the leaves :o)
The awakening of my soul has been powerful, and I love it. I find myself laying my burdens at the foot of the cross more and more, I do take things back and then re-set them at His feet….I am still struggling with being anxious, my heart is still healing, but as you write on page 204. “As you become confident in Christ, you will become a display of God’s splendor, He will use your transformed life to show off His Glory” That’s an AMEN.
I voice daily my surrender of all to my Lord, and that has truly helped me. I pray and talk to God more during the day, and trust Him so much more.
Thank you Melissa for sharing your story, Joshua for sharing your memories, Dylan for teaching me it’s OK to say “please wait”. Renee, thank you for the beautiful, confident woman you are, for sharing yourself with us.
I’d love to do a summer study!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I was a child with a memory I hide because it was painful, a teenager angry for a wrong done to me, angry at my mom for doing nothing about it. I am now a Child of God, surrendered into His loving arms, healing, free to grow and now I know ‘God is enough”
God bless You All
AMEN!!!! Very well said… God bless you!!!
I struggle so much with believing God truly loves me. me. I tell everyone else He is for them and will heal them but why can’t I believe it for myself? Crying now after watching that beautiful video and song. I want to be free. I want this freedom. I have confessed all known sin and try to walk in His light but the lies are still so strong. I’m afraid I’ll meet Jesus one day and I won’t get His love and peace. I’ll be thrown off to the side. I am a Christian. I am a mom. A wife. I say outloud “there is no condemnation for me because I am in Christ Jesus” but still struggle so. Hanging on…
You are not alone in this! I have the exact same problem in my thinking! We cannot believe satan’s lies! Whenever you feel these thoughts you KNOW they are from satan because God’s Word (which is ALWAYS truth) says differently. Don’t get angry at you, get angry at satan! Do I FEEL free? No. I do not. But I know that I know that I know God made me free, regardless of how I FEEL! God CHOSE me, regardless what thoughts go through my mind. Keep hanging on! Never give up!
Thank you:)
Hi Christine,
Let me just tell you that you are a BEAUTIFUL WOMAN!!! I promise that you are NOT alone with these feelings. Yesterday if you read a little further up you’ll see where I put I have told myself “I give up”. Then He spoke to me and said I AM CHOSEN. I agree with Colleen, HOLD ON. We are encouragers… we encourage those we feel need to know the truth about how much He loves and has CHOSEN us, but tend to not think that same love, we do not deserve. We can not continue to allow the enemy to use these lies and disguise them as truths. I know it’s easier said then done, trust me when I say I go through the same exact thing. Example… my home life is a little crazy… we’re so not a normal traditional family.. I am a mom of 4 with a husband who is a believer in his own way. Frustrating when I want to connect with God and have my family connect as well and I have so many forces working against us. I forget whos I am and forget who is for me… I get depressed… all I want to do is give up and cry… Then He speaks to me… and consoles my heart!! You’re not alone we’re here for you but most important He is there for you, too!! God BLESS you always!!! (0:
Thank you so much for this:)
May 17-19 I went to a retreat center with ladies from my church. Before I went I was so dry and broken… just wanted to quit fighting cause I was so tired. While I was there I finally broke down and couldnt stop crying. It was everything from my marriage and my health issues (which is the biggest hurdles) to our van breaking, my house being out of sorts due to me being injured. I just couldnt take it anymore…. I felt the weight of the burdens ease a little. Then little while later we went to praise and worship. Finally God got ahold of me and all I could do was sob. All my brokenness, stress and worry God washed it all away! I felt him pick me up and heard him whisper in my ear “You are not alone… I will carry you just hold on and the Victory will be mine. It was the first time in my life I have ever felt that close to God! Its been a little over a week and I have spent more time in my Bible and other sources but the peace has not left me. I also pray frequently during the day. Its amazing that Jesus picked me up cause I finally let go!
Praise God, Tami! Thank you so much for sharing this with us. I especially like the last statement: ” Its amazing that Jesus picked me up cause I finally let go!” It gives more meaning to that old saying, “Let go and let God!” His love is so awesome! God bless you richly!
i am very glad that i have been chosen by God
Thank you Renee, That is BEAUTIFUL, and not only did this message and song bless me, but I feel encouraged; GOD’s Love that is poured out in me thru this song and message in the chapter, has filled my heart with so much JOY. GOD BLESS YOU!!!
CHOSEN….YES THANK YOU JESUS. I am chosen because of your sacrifice and selfless love toward me sinner. What wonderful song that was. Though, I am familiar with Mercy Me, this is my 1st time hearing this particular song. The words sung really blessed me especially the one that says ‘I am covered by HIS love divine, ‘my heart is spoken for’, REALLY? What a blessing. Often when I think of the heart, I think of what Jeremiah says in his writing ‘the heart is deceitful, and desperately wicked, and who may know it, and knowing that, and the fact….I am not HOLY and NOT yet transformed by the renewing of my mind–it blessed me to know God will choose me, and add me on to HIS family and call me ROYAL PRIESTHOOD. God also took me to another set of powerful verses in the Bible (Eph 1:4) When God chose us he made us HOLY and BLAMELESS in God’s Sight. WOW….LOOK HOW BLESSED AND SPECIAL WE ARE–((ONLY)) GOD’s GRACE, and HIS UNCONDITIONAL LOVE is able to do that.
Another statement that blessed me is ‘taking what was lost ‘me’ and made it fully yours’ Thank you Jesus for plucking me out of the world and making me fully yours– What a LOVING God we worship, who can call us CHOSEN, and adopt us into his family JUST BY confessing our sins, and accepting HIM as our LORD and savior. REALLY, think about it, if we are chosen and are adopted into his family, and can have JESUS to intercede for us (Heb 7:25), and we can be partakers of his divine being (2 Pet 1:4) as well as–God’s inheritance (Col 1:12) AND can freely worship HIM in SPIRIT and In TRUTH (John 4:24) for the SPIRIT lives and abides in us for we were sealed with HIM (Eph 1:13b) upon salvation–WHAT MORE DO WE NEED. Isn’t God enough? Don’t we have everything as it says and in the Bible.
Prayer : Lord father, thank your for your character that is long suffering for you are patient with me. Gracious heavenly father I ask you now, to please teach me to submit to you fully everyday (James 4:7) for I know the enemy of my soul will be defeated, and I can live in victory if I submit to you daily, in doing so, father I know, I can learn to live for you, by reminding myself I am created for you and am to serve you (Col 1:16b) for I bought with a price (1 cor 6:20) I know father, I am called to live in fellowship with you, for to live with you– is to live for you (Ph 1:21) I ask that you will grant my heart’s request and be with me daily I pray in Jesus Name. AMEN.
It’s such a shame I cannot see any of the video messages, because I do the study on my down time at work, things get a little too complicated at home, with 4 babies 4 and under. I have fallen a little behind and am working on catching up but wanted to say this. I have subscribed to Proverbs31 ministries devotional and all I can say is… with God there is no coincidence. I am fighting a battle that feels like I’m on my own. Having recently accepted Christ as my savior. Trying to bring my family to Him as well. My home life is chaotic and at times very depressing. I don’t like to think of it that way but if I have to be honest (which I’ve learned from this study) I am not OK. I was to the point, I felt, of no return. I was ready to give it all up. I said to myself “what is the point of changing, when things are still the same?” “Why is it that I’m fighting this fight alone and I feel no progress has been made? I want to change but I see nothing!!” I know crazy people talk, right!? Well I came in and sat at my desk, all after professing these outrageous things to myself, I opened my e-mail… to see my devotional and my study for today… Devotional I fell behind so I had to read yesterdays Birth, Behavior or Bloodline… really… then to top it off today’s study topic “CHOSEN”… my heart feel light with happiness. All the worrying, all the fussing, all the doubting. I BELONG TO HIM WHO CREATED ALL!!! I am CHOSEN for Him… I know many who are more qualified less broken but still He chose me. I was privileged enough to meet Him. He felt I was worth fixing and for that I AM TRULY BLESSED and GRATEFUL… He is consistently speaking to us… ssshhhh… just listen…. LOVE YOU LADIES… GOD BLESS YOU ALL!!!!! (0:
Yes, yes, yes, Jerica! Thank you for sharing this. This reiterates what i (and others) have been hearing from Father God about the necessity of hearing His voice. Praise Him! I pray that you will be strengthened in your inner man and enabled to keep your eyes, heart and mind fixed on Jesus, the Author and Finisher of your faith. Use that weapon of praise, too! 🙂 God bless you richly!
Cindy,
Thank you for your kind words. It’s hard…. boy is it hard to keep my eyes fixed on Him always… something I am learning how to do. I need to especially do it when things seem so bleak. When I just want to breakdown and cry out of sadness. I know I’m not alone in this world I have Him but it’s hard when you feel like you’re alone. I don’t want worldly friends but it would be nice for me to have at least one godly friend I can maybe confide in. I know confiding and trusting Him triumphs all but to feel not alone even just for little while… is so what I need! But again THANK YOU SO MUCH… GOD BLESS YOU BEAUTIFUL SOUL!!!! (0:
You are welcome, Jerica! I will pray for a special Christian friend for you, one with whom you can pray and in whom you can confide and vice-versa – be honest with one another, encourage one another and correct one another as needed. I have one friend like that – she now lives in Germany and has moved many places since we first met. God has enabled us to stay in touch via telephone and it is such a blessing. Of course, it would be nice if we could see each other, and lived near each other once again. 🙂 God knows best. God bless you richly!
Thank you for that beautiful reminder that I am chosen-sometimes I have a tendency to forget how much my Lord and Savior loves me and I pray that I may continue to be blessed to pass it on!! Keep up the beautiful work!! Be blessed!!!
I love this song but it is still hard to think that God wants me when I struggle so hard with a stronghold that I continue to fail at so many time I am embarrassed to continue to ask for forgiveness. I cannot imagine why He would want me but I also know that God uses all things for His purpose and I praise Him in my weakness for I know that this too he will use for his purpose in some way.
That song was beautiful! Thank you so much for this book and study. I feel like you are one of my good friends Renee and I will miss your words of wisdom and encouragement in your videos! I felt like you have been talking to me directly. I can so identify with all of your struggles with self doubt and it is good to know I’m not alone and there is hope to overcome the doubt. Thank you again!
I am so loving this study. But like others I have fallen behind some. Taking my time to catch up and really listen. Love this video. Renee I am so thankful you are leaving the videos up for a couple of weeks. I plan to go back and watch each one. Also, I would love to be in on the next online Listening to God. I believe satan keeps our minds and lives so busy we can’t focus on God much less hear His quiet voice. I want to break the walls around my heart down so that all that fills my heart is JESUS..
Thank you so much for all you are doing in this study. I plan to order your DVD when it comes out.
God Bless
Thank you for this song!! God has been speaking the word “delight” to me over and over for a few weeks now. I have not been able to keep up with reading your book, but I am planning to over the summer. This song ministers to my heart in such a deep way. Thanks for sharing it.