So excited to start this “Confident Heart” journey with you!
The first thing I want you to remember: This is YOUR journey. You’ll be reading the chapters, listening to God speak to your heart, highlighting sentences, promises and quotes you want to remember and apply. You’ll be answering reflection questions and interacting with the group.
You’ll be doing the work of believing God!
I’ll be shepherding, leading, encouraging, connecting and pacing us. I’ll be sharing my heart and more of my story…because I want you to see you are not alone and give you courage to see and share yours. I’ll be praying for you and challenging you – but you’ll only get out as much as you put in.
Today, I asked the Lord what I needed to give up – so I can give more to Him – and this study. I immediately sensed Him whispering “work.” And I knew it was Him. I love my job and I’ve been working too many late night hours after the kids go to bed. So I’m cutting back the next several weeks to consecrate more of me TO HIM and to you!
What will you cut back on to make time for Him and yourself these next several weeks? I’m really going to challenge you and give you permission to block out at least a little bit of time each day to concentrate on replacing the OLD with the NEW He has for you! Ready? Here we go:
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A Confident Heart Online Study (Day 1)
Read the Acknowledgements (I’ll explain tomorrow why I wanted you to do this).
Read Chapter 1. Please highlight verses and sentences that grab your attention or tug on your heart. What is God saying to you though this chapter? Write down what you sense God speaking to your heart in the margins of your book, or in a journal/notebook that you’ll use throughout this study.
A video message from my heart to yours is coming later tonight. I’ll post it on my website later since I’m not quite ready to post it yet. But I wanted to go ahead get this loaded so you can get started!
I’ll send an email and post on our Confident Heart Facebook page to let you know when the video is up and ready for viewing.
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GROUP CHAT: What sentences in Chapter 1 resonate with you or tug at your heart?
Click “Share Your Thoughts” below (or click here and scroll to the bottom of this post) if you’re reading this via email).
Also, please share one or two on our Confident Heart Facebook Page or on Twitter (@reneesswope) using the hashtag #AConfidentHeart.
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I have been cut down so many times by other, my confidence level is low. I like your shadow illustration, never thought of it that way. I am looking forward to God doing great things.
I am praying for you Nina….You are a special daughter of a King!!! His Princess…love to you…Peggy
“doubt and hope cannot live in our hearts at the same time,” wow, stated very simple; however, very profound. Those two feelings are extremely contradictory, you can’t hope for a closeness with God if you doubt yourself and intentions. These words really put a new perspective of what I really want in my heart, basically coming to the realization that there isn’t enough room for both, so I need to make the choice to have hope in my heart and get rid of the doubts. Thank you for a great chapter and eye opening thoughts and feelings.
I am so thankful for this study, in fact, I am passing it on to a few others who are struggling. From young to old, this matter of insecurity and lack of confidence plagues women, in particular. I pray for all the women involved in this study, that God may implant His great hope in our hearts and that we may look to Him for our confidence and security and that we may be women that can step out to what He would have us to do, especially out of our comfort zone. Doubt hits me hard by telling me to give up, throw in the towel when things get too painful. I’ve suffered a lot of loss in the last two year, from my parents both dying within 14 months of each other, to a teen who left and is living a life not of God, to my husband leaving me in July. God is slowly and tenderly teaching me that He is my comfort, the one who will never leave, but I’m still struggling with the insecurity and looking to others to fill that need. I am looking foward to this adventure!!
Oh barb…i am so sorry for your losses!! They are huge and somehow it makes my issues seem small, but I cannot minimize my pain. I can thank you for being here and for sharing your heart. What a weapon the accuse has against us!!! They are lies from the pit and I thank God for every woman writing here that is a testimony to the goodness and love we women all have. god made us special and we need each other. I thank you for sharing your heart and am grateful that you are on this journey with me…love your sister in Christ, Peggybythesea
“Self-doubt blocks the promises of God’s power and truth to change from the inside out so that we can live with a confident heart”. This pretty much sums up where I am at right now. In 2000 God put in my heart to do something, at first I was soooo excited, doors were being opened that would have financed the start-up of this adventure. I was to quit my job, God said that He was going to supply all of my needs. I shared this with a few people (what a mistake). Out of all the people I shared this with, one person encouraged me and even to this day asks me about when I was going to get started, and she was the only one not saved that I shared this with.:). So of course the thoughts and voices I heard always told me that I must be crazy to think that I could do this, and I was not hearing from God, but these were my own desires. Well eventually a situation gave me a chance to leave my job, and the thing God told me to do would come up again and again every time I would start out to get started something would come up. Then I started telling myself that I must have been trying to do something out of my own desires. After much thought I realized that the thing God put on my heart to do was defintely something I was not equipped to do in my own strength, my patience for it was not there, and this is something I would not pick for myself to do. After coming to these conclusions DOUBT has flooded me in every area of my life. I am very thankful for this Bible Study, because I have decided I need to get to a place where I face all of my doubts and fears so I can do whatever it is God asks of me.
“The Whispers of Doubt” Oh yes, I know those little voices. They have deflated me more times than I would like to admit. I also loved it when I read “Whose I am and Who I am in Him, I have a confident heart.” As you can see, I like so many of you stand tall in Christ, completely trusting Him and then the next thing I know I am drowning in the Sea of Doubt. I am ready for this journey and to stand on even ground in Christ and serve Him in a confident heart.
You took the words right out of my mouth. Sometimes, i feel like there is two of me.
This is my second time reading through the book. I’m so excited about studying it with Renee. The line that resonated with me this time was “when I choose to dwell in the assurance of Whose I am and who I am in Him, I have a confident heart” (p.24).
I was going to do this study when Melissa was doing it last time and didn’t have time to do it; but saved all the emails. 🙂
When I first came across it I was excited not only to do it for me, but thought what a great study to do with some of the ladies at our church. I am part of the leadership team for our women’s ministry and we had done a bible study in the fall with with one of the ladies in our church leading it. Our pastor’s wife asked those on the leadership team a couple of weeks ago if one of us felt there was something on their heart to do as a bible study and this book/study immediately came to my mind. I stepped up and told her that I felt that I would like to lead this study with the ladies that sign up for it. Talk about a leap of faith!! I definitely struggle in this area and then to say yes I’ll head up the study in an area where I struggle, well you know that I will be relying on the Lord big time for this! We won’t be starting the study until a couple of weeks from now so I’m looking forward to being able to get a head start by doing this study with you online and then leading it with the ladies. I’ve told the ladies that we’re all on equal ground here and I’m doing it along with them. I am really looking forward to what the Lord is going to do in my life as I know He wants me to come up higher and go deeper with Him so that He can equip me for what He has for me this year, and I know He has great things in store for all of the ladies who do it along with me. Thank you, Renee!
That’s awesome Suzanne!
“Doubt keeps us from believing things can get better. Doubt convinces us that it’s not worth the effort.
This is where I have been living for so long…50 something years of it! I have more head knowledge than I know what to do with …Tell my heart, Lord, tell my heart! I have beat myself up over things for no reason logically for so long.It is what I have done, it is what I have known….I raised three sons, it seems the only good thing I have ever done. Now they are busy, married and far away ..My self worth is in the pits, and I have been trying to live out of their lives as it is where my worth lies. My worth is in Christ, my head knows that…My failing marriage and my insecurities tell me different…I am tired of fighting, I am weary from the Battle…I pray this is just not one more study, one more maybe this will work…I know I have to do the work and I will…I strive to walk with God…Thank you Renee…
Peggy By The Sea, I’m praying for you. Trust your journey – it is the way. I’m a few more years into life than you and yet know you, kind of am you. Growing closer to God seems like it is going to take A Confident Heart. Love, Sandy
Oh Sandy thank you….I just woke from a nap, I fight taking those because i wake up so anxious. Be anxious for nothing, says the Lord but the mind is a terrible thing that brings me to the most awful places…i so appreciate your responding to me. I know by reading all of these women’s responses that i am not alone and now i have a friend and sister in you Sandy and in Linda below. Thank you, thank you…God helps us move forward with wonderful women like you in our lives…God Bless you my sweet sister!! I pray your journey in this life gets better daily also!!! <3
Me Too! I am praying for you also. You are at the right place in life and journey. Just think, Peggy by the Sea, everything we go through makes who we are in Christ. You are in the process of becoming one beautiful jewel through this refinement or you can think of it as a rose just beginning to bloom! Either way, it is just the beginning for you. Your friend in Christ, Linda
Thank you Linda….I replied to Sandy above and I say the same to you….I am grateful for new sisters in Christ!!! You also helped me through another day of doubting who I am in Christ!!!
Too often I’ve been discouraged and disappointed because I’ve relied on things or the people in my life to give me hope and confidence.
Jeremiah17:7 says “But blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence.”
This verse really spoke to me as I was tackling the questions at the end of chapter 1. It encourages me to be hopeful and confident not only in my everyday circumstances, but also as I step out beyond my comfort zone to do more of the things that I’m too often afraid to even try.
I was actually about a third into the book but decided to stop and go back from the start to do this study. Different things have struck me this time. Like so many, I can’t even remember when I started self doubting, it seems like it’s been me all my life.
” As God’s girls, we need to know and believe that change is possible. We need to hope that life can be different. Otherwise, doubt will win every time and our hearts will be eroded by attitudes and emotions of defeat- but this is not supposed to be the way.”
This is exactly how I feel. I’m looking forward to learning more as we go along.
The section of the chapter that talks about praying to become a mother & then doubting you have what it takes describes my life perfectly. It’s so encouraging to know that others struggle with this as well. The sentence that spoke the most to me is, “…when I choose to dwell in the assurance of Whose I am and who I am in Him, I have a confident heart.” How I pray that my confidence comes only through HIM and who HE has created me to be.
“if God calls you to do something, shouldn’t you feel confident about it? Shouldn’t you want to
do it? Shouldn’t self-assurance be part of God’s equipping?”
How many times have I run from doing something because of my people fears and lack of confidence? I’ve questioned God’s calling and believed the very fears were a confirmation NOT to go! Yet I feel like such a failure because I see little fruit in my life. Am I to be satisfied with the lack ? Am I not satisfied with what He has granted me? Am I limiting God’s best in my life? I do want more of Him but I’m afraid of the cost and the agony of self doubt. Yet I long to hear “Well done, My good and faithful servant.”
I cannot remember a time when I have not be filled with self doubt. I am SO tired of it and I long not to be this way any more. It has crushed my spirit and I am now ready to fight and get it back. What resonated with me was when you spoke of all the things that you went to to try and get them to fill your cup. I so do that. Even though I know God is the ONLY way, I still look for other things to fill that cup. What spoke to me the most from this first day and what I want to hold on to is that I don’t want to just believe IN God, I want to believe Him!!!! That is my prayer.
Janice this comment that you made sounds sooooo like me. I know that God is the only way but look to other stuff to make me feel better. I am not sure I know where to start!! Also, just a little off the subject info you have the same name of my aunt!!! I thought that was really cool! (sorry I just had to throw that in there too!!!)
On the first of the year I made a commitment to do DAILY bible reading and more focused prayer. When I read about this bible study I was moved immediately to buy the book and join the study. Since I have been praying for God to lead me in the direction I should go and to open my heart to hear his voice, I jumped on the opportunity. I tend to over think everything, worry that I may be doing something wrong or offensive, worry that others will think I am silly or whatever and often end up doing, or saying nothing. That is my shadow.
I was moved by your line “We can be confident we are praying God’s will when we are praying God’s Word”
We actually just talked about this in our Sunday School class.
Thank you for leading this!!
Thank you Renee. I appreciated your recalling when and how your Mom reminded you that you had a purpose in Life to fulfill. I pray for all of us who are still discovering our God designed purpose.
How lonely I often feel when I struggle with doubt and insecurities — Believing that other women have it all together and I just don’t measure up! Reading all of the comments posted here tonight helps me to realize that #1 – I am NOT alone. #2 – “Believing” such things tells me that I definitely need to recheck my belief system. Growing up in the church I “knew” a lot about God and the Bible but I can honestly say that I haven’t learned to really, I mean, REALLY believe in His love and promises. In the first chapter where it says that our doubting thoughts weasel their way in and disguise their voices as our own – that just gets me everytime! I’ve always wondered why I get so confused when today’s thoughts are completely different from yesterday’s thoughts. I believe that God has given me this opportunity to find clarity in the midst of those voices so that I can truly BELIEVE in Him. And He has opened a door showing me that He is there with me and so are all of you. I am exciting about what He is going to do! 🙂
The first part of the verse in Hebrews 10: 35,, “So do not throw away your confidence; struck me so hard the first time I picked up the book several monthsths ago. My husband passed away a little over a year ago and since his death I have struggled so much in the areas of confidence, insecurity, and self doubt. One thing I haven’t ever doubted was God and His faithfullness, but the other issues have been big.
My husband was always such an amazing encourager and I never realized what a powerful. positive thing that had been to me (even through his long illness he was an encourager).
The more I read that verse the more I could sense God telling me that I had to begin to find my confidence in Him, and that has begun to turn me around with all those areas of insecurity. So to narrow down just one passage from that first chapter would be impossibleas I have three forths of the chapter underlined, but the verse has made the difference. When you mention in the chapter about praying Gods word that stuck out. That is something I have found comfort in, journaling prayers from the word all through my husbands illness!!
Renee, everything you talk about in chapter 1 speaks exactly what I feel, doubts always whispers in my mind and heart. It’s true that I avoided some great opportunities because they brought the risk of rejection (page 20). Insecurity has convinced me that I’m not smart enough or gifted enough (page 21). We will always be struggling with self doubts and this on line study would be a great help in my daily living with God-confident heart. One thing that hinders me most is lack of self discipline to study and reflect God’s words that would strengthen my faith, maybe you can guide me as well in this area. Thank you.
p. 23 – As God’s girls we need to know and belive that change is possible. We need to hope that life can be different. Otherwise, doubt will win everytime and our hearts will be eroded by attitudes and emotions of defeat.
I am trying hard to “fight” the erosion of my teacher’s heart with this hard school year. I have to constantly keep my attitude and emotions from feeling defeated…I am full of doubt about staying a teacher – my calling upon my life; I have been in education for 15 years. It’s hard for me to beleive that I feel like this after all this time. I am holding onto the promise the beginning of this chapter: Hebrews 10:35-36
What you wrote about not just believing in God but believing Him really resonated with me. I’ve sensed God gently nudging me in that direction recently. It’s like He’s saying, “Ok, you’ve heard and read and studied My Word, now it’s time to launch out and put Me to the test. Do you really believe my promises? Are you ready to embark on the most exciting adventure of your life–truly trusting Me?”