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Renee Swope

Encouraging and equipping moms to parent with God's grace and confidence.

Getting Up Again

“Failure can be hurtful but it can also be beneficial
because failure produces wisdom when we ask for it
and maturity when we learn from it.”

In my Proverbs 31 Ministries devotion today, I shared this truth and how God’s used it to teach me how to “get up again” when failure threatened to keep me down. I also shared about a fun give-away I have today but before we get to those details, I want to invite those of you who are new to my blog to sign up for my FREE “7-Day Doubt Diet” devotions in my sidebar.

These devotions are for friends like you! They include a week’s worth of encouragement and practical ways to lose the weight of self-doubt. And they’ll also give you a peek inside my book before it releases because they include some of my favorite parts of A Confident Heart.

I also wanted to give you some promises that will help us re-define our perspective! As I shared in my devotion, following Jesus is not about avoiding failures and being perfect. It’s about accepting our weaknesses and becoming more dependent on God’s perfect love and power at work in us.


In Chapter 12 of “A Confident Heart I’ve included a chart of thirty-one promises to replace our defeating doubts with God’s empowering perspective. Here are a few for you to print and carry with you when you need His help to get up again – in your heart and in your thoughts:
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Perspective-Changing Promises

 

When I Say: I don’t know what to do.
God Says: I will direct your steps. Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. (Prov. 3:5–6, NIV)

When I Say: My life is too hard.
God Says: Let Me help you. I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him. (Ps. 91:15, NIV)

When I Say: I can’t do it.
God Says: Rely on My strength and you can do all that I’ve called you to do. I have strength for all things in Christ Who empowers me. (Phil. 4:13 AMP)

When I Say: I’m too afraid.
God Says: I have not given you a spirit of fear.For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline. (2 Tim. 1:7 NLT)

When I Say: I can’t forgive myself.
God Says: I forgive you. God is faithful and reliable. If we confess our sins, he forgives them and cleanses us from everything we’ve done wrong. (1 John 1:9 GW)

______________________


I hope you’ll print and carry these with you! Why not put a copy on your mirror, in your car and in your purse? Also, I hope you’ll enter to win my “Getting Up Again” give-away (a signed advance-release copy of A Confident Heart, aGoBible®to listen to God’s Word on the go, and a copy of the 31-verse promise chart from my book.) To enter, just sign up for the doubt diet and invite a friend or two to join you!

Just like a regular diet, having someone else to pray and encourage each other is so good, especially when it comes to losing the weight of self-doubt! And, here’s an invitation you can send them via email or post on your blog or FB page:

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Invite a Friend, it’s easy!

Do you want to join me in losing the weight of discouragement and self-doubt?Renee Swope, from Proverbs 31 Ministries is offering a FREE “7-day Doubt Diet”. Just click here to enter your information in her sidebar, and you’ll receive a week’s worth of devotions from her upcoming book, A Confident Heart. Let me know so we encourage one another the week they come out.

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Enter the “Getting Up Again” give-away:
  • Sign up for the doubt diet – it’s easy to do in my sidebar.
  • Encourage a friend(s) to join you via email, FB, Twitter, etc. You can use easy invite above.
  • Click on the word “comments” below this post.
  • Let me know your name, that you’ve signed up for the Doubt Diet and invited friends.
  • To find out if you win, leave your email in your comment, sign up for email updates or follow me on Facebook. I’ll announce the winner next Monday.

The “7-Day Doubt Diet” releases June 27th. For more details click here.

A Confident Heart releases August 1. You can pre-order it here or anywhere you love to buy books. All pre-orders through Proverbs 31 Ministries will be signed by me and book proceeds go back to P31. If you have any problems ordering on our P31 site, you can call our office at 704-849-2270 and they’ll be happy to help.

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Comments

  1. Love your devotion. Very excited about your new book. I always can use all the encouragement I can get! I also signed up for your promotion, either way I'm ready for your new book. Congratulations.

  2. Signed up and posted it on Facebook!

    Thank you so much for doing this. Currently my mom is suicidal and my little ( teenage) brother just started chemo, and on a blessesd note, raising my two toddlers with the help of my wonderful husband, so I'm seeking all the God-ly encouragement I can.

    [email protected]

  3. The scriptures you included in this post were so timely for me. I'm not sure where he is guiding me. I know that there is something he is preparing me to do. He has the plan and I guess I will know when I get there! I signed up for the devotional diet and am inviting others via facebook. Keep on touching our lives with your words. Blessings, jody ([email protected])

  4. Hi my name is sandy hackworth and i signed up for your 7 day devotional diet and posted the invite on my facebook page to invite others. I am recently starting my life in gods word and get excited any time someone wants to share his word or teach me how to become closer to Him. Thank you for caring enough to help the rest of us and listening to what GOD wants you to do.

  6. I can't wait for your new book! I neeed it so bad. I just lost my precious husband suddenly on April 25. I know he is in Heaven and that I'll see him again, but his wife he left behind is having a hard time here on earth! I've signed up for 7 day diet and have encouraged friends to do the same.Thanks for all that you do and share with us! God is Good!

    kearley75860 at yahoo (dot) com

  8. I signed up… So excited!!
    I've been struggling the past few years with my weight and
    Trying to look internally on what's holding me back!!

  9. Renee,

    Thank you for "The Doubt Diet." Also, thank you for the dedication you have put into your soon-to-be released book. I KNOW that many will be blessed!

    I have spent the last few weeks alternately agonizing, berating myself, having a burst of confidence, only to have the devil attack my confidence, and leave me reeling.

    A LOT of changes have happened in the last few weeks…an agonizing, then victorious time at a woman's retreat, followed by a time of intense depression/anxiety relapse, a period of encouragement, followed by temptation to do self harm, (and berating myself for entertaining those thoughts!!!), applying for two jobs (AND invitations for interviews for BOTH positions!), accepting a job, and then wrestling with the doubt that I could be stable enough to handle the new job…the list goes on, but I won't bore you…lol!

    Also, thank you for the devotion, "Getting Up Again." It is good to be reminded that God does not give up on us, despite the many times that we fall.

    On 11/21/10, I declared publicly, and then wrote, "I am thankful that God uses times of struggle and failure, (even after a breakthrough, to show me the contrast between who I am, and who He is in me." Nothing inside of myself is worthy of praise, except for the ONE who lives in me. He alone, in His grace, makes me worthy."

    Holding on to HIS truth,

    Rhea
    [email protected]

  10. I am excited to read your new book and the 7 day doubt diet. I have struggled with confidence and in doubting myself and the devotionals I have read so far have really spoken to me. I signed up for the 7 day devotionals and shared with my friends so they can have the encouragement too.
    Thanks!
    Teri

  11. I sooo need this. Self doubt lurks around every corner waiting for me. I neeeed this.

  13. I am excited about your new book and couldn't have come at a more perfect time. As the Lord is asking me to step out in faith. I have also signed up for the 7 day devotion, along with my friends.
    Jackie

  14. Especially on a day when I'm feeling a lack of confidence (though those are just feelings, when my heart knows the truth of Who I can have full confidence in), I'm thankful for these words of yours.

    I've signed up for the doubt diet and tweeted about this post. Thank you for this kind opportunity! I look forward to reading your book at some point in the future.

  16. I am so excited to be included in your 7 day Doubt Diet. I can't wait to start. I have so many self doubts that at times the weight seems unbearable. I would also love a GoBible. It would be wonderful to be able to carry it with me where ever I go. I know God has forgiven me my many sins, why can't I forgive myself? I want a closer relationship with God.I want to hear his voice leading me down the right path.
    I have invited my sisters to join me in your 7 day Doubt Diet. Thank you. Erma

  17. Thanks for doing this. I signed up to receive the 7 day "diet" of self doubt and am going to encourage one of my friends to do the same. I'm excited to see what a difference it makes.

  19. A friend of mine on fb posted something about your book and I wanted to read it asap – as a group of women we will actually study this book in the fall….would love to receive a pre release copy…..can't wait to start 🙂

    And a devotional diet sounds just like the thing I need right now 🙂

Getting Up Again

“…though a righteous man falls seven times, he rises again” Proverbs 24:16a
In the same way I don’t like failing, I also don’t like FALLING either. It’s painful, embarrassing and sometimes makes me want to quit trying. But God is teaching me about getting up again when I fall. He reminds me again and again that if I don’t, I’ll miss seeing Him and experiencing the amazing things and plans He has for my life. That almost happened last year during a ski trip with my family. I stood at the top of a mountain breathing in the beauty of God’s glory that morning, thanking Him for providing this trip for our family through a ministry event. Joshua stood beside me begging me to ski down a Colorado blue diamond slope with him I can’t even tell you how amazing it was – and how fast I was going. It was insane but seeing my very happy and daring son standing at the bottom watching and cheering me on made it worth it. That is, until I lost control and shaped my body into a human pretzel! I tried to stop but instead came crashing down into a barrier of un-groomed snow. I fell so hard my skis went flying, my neck jerked back, my head slammed into the ground, my legs were twisted and buried in a foot of snow, the wind was completely knocked out of me and I couldn’t get up! I decided that was it – no more skiing for me! I had fallen hard and it hurt – really bad – both my pride and my butt! I was too tired and I didn’t think it was worth it to risk another fall. I laid in the snow trying to breathe and figure out how to break the news to Joshua that the fun and adventure were over for me. I was calling it a day and heading for the warm lodge to get some hot chocolate. That’s when God whispered to my heart, “Renee, you will never see all that I have for you if you are not willing to get up from a painful fall and keep going.” Oooh, I hate it when He says something so poignant when I’m in pain. Yet I sensed He had something more for me. But I had to be willing to trust HIM by getting up again. So I got up, dusted myself off and started skiing again. I’m so glad I did! We had the most incredible day. You see, while I was falling God knew that JJ and Andrew were perfecting their skills and were ready to ski with us which they hadn’t done before. I got to ski with my whole family for hours and hours and see some of the most beautiful and breath-taking views I’ve ever seen. But more than that I saw God. I saw His provision and His desire for me to trust Him because He WANTS to bless me. If I had quit, I would have missed seeing God’s glory reflected in those mountains in a way I’d never seen before! I think about that day often – when I’m ready to quit. How easy it is to fall in life and get hurt and not want to get up and try again. Yet, what will we miss if we are not willing to get up, get back on our feet and trust Him by trying again? And again. If you need encouragement to get up again and keep going, I’ve got just the thing for you! Next week there’s an amazing on-line conference from the comforts of our own homes, to connect and inspire women in their walk with Christ and in all that He’s called and created them to be! If you can’t make the conference you can download the sessions as part of the registration! I’ve got FIVE FREE TICKETS to give away to A Woman Inspired On-line conference! All you have to do is leave a comment below this post with your email and you’ll be entered. I’ll announce the winners tomorrow afternoon! And even if you don’t want to win, I’d love to hear your thoughts on getting up again. I’ll be praying God whispers to your heart that He’s worth it – and so are you!
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The ticket winners for A Woman Inspired On-line conference are…

Timestamp: 2009-04-05 02:11:35 UT – Random numbers:

2 – Chrissy 1 – Angie 7 – Jenny 4 – Lindsey 27 – Elaine

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