Oh how I am LOVING reading so much about each of you. Gosh I wish we could all meet!! What an amazing group of women of all ages and from all places God has gathered here in HIS name! Makes me just about burst with joy! And now, I’m so glad today is here. Some days my written words come easily. Other days I just have to show and tell you what’s on my heart. Today is one of those days.
{If you are reading this via email, click here. You can only see the video on my blog, not in an email.}
Please {like pretty please even if you don’t normally watch video posts} click the arrow to “hear” today’s message from my heart to yours. I don’t want another day to go by without you knowing this…
{Are you a note-taker? If so, I created “Video Message Notes” in a PDF and in MSWord just for you. Even included blanks to fill in. 🙂
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Such a wonderful message.Thank you for this, it is helping me tremendously.
I just loved this video! When you were putting everything into the jar all I was thinking was I do that, I try so hard to fill up my jar in order to be loved or accepted. It’s hard to acknowledge that I do that. I feel so guilty just knowing I do that and wonder how can God love me so much when I push him away so much. I loved how you filled the vase up with water. I just had a smile on my face thinking, God can do that for me, he can fill me completely! What a wonderful feeling. Thank you for sharing! I am loving this study.
Love this video! I give a lot of safety trainings so these types of demonstrations always speak to me! It is similar to the demonstration of putting rocks, pebbles, sand and then water in a jar. It always seems full but there proves to be room for more each time. But this demonstration dumps that out and puts it in perspective: fill it up with the water first! Seek Him and he will provide!
Reading this chapter was powerful enough, but this video really brought it home (especially since I am a very visual person!). Seeing all the things that we try to fill our lives with. I do this all the time, though I know it’s wrong. I’m an “addiction” type person. Not bad addictions per se, but then, anything that takes me away from focusing on God is pretty bad. This is usually electronic related, or even regular books, food and coffee. In themselves they’re not bad, but I tend to turn to them more than my Bible when I’m feeling down or tired, even though I know how good I feel when I am in His Word.
I seek approval from others. I look to them to tell me, “Well done, good and faithful servant” instead of living my life waiting for Him to tell me. This is something I have realized about myself previously, and something I have been working on. It’s a matter of wanting others to tell my I’m doing a good job, that I’m needed, that I’m special, that I’m important. I want to be sought. And yet, I’ve already learned that HE sought me. That why I am where I am today. Washed in the blood of the Lamb. He has filled me, yet I still slip.
I would also like to say that I am so very thankful for this Bible study. I feel comfortable sharing my real thoughts and feelings. Plus, It takes me a while to get all my thoughts together, so having a place to come and really think about the message, and then being able to write it here (I’m a writer, it’s so much easier for me!) is amazing.
Renée, your video message put the story of the Samaritan woman into a simple and real message. Even though I know that there is only one source that fills my heart, mind, and soul and fulfills my desire to love and be loved, sometimes I receive a gentle nudge or a big shove if I don’t turn to Him right away. God has great plans for me! He satisfies my deepest longings and desires and all I have to do is rely on Him in faith and trust with hope and love! Thanks for the imagery!
WOW!!!! What an amazing perspective!!!! I have never thought about my heart as a jar. But like other people (which is quite comforting to know that I am not alone in my thoughts, feelings and actions), I have struggled for so long, struggled with happiness, feeling alone, feeling not good enough, feeling like I am never going to get ahead, always wanting better, always wanting that acceptance from people and things that I missed out on alot of time, precious time with my family, friends and most importantly God. I never felt good enough, smart enough, to the point it was self abusive. But when God blessed me with a very supportive, understanding, loving husband, and the most wonderful, understanding and beautiful daughter, he gave me a taste of what true unconditional love is and I can’t thank him enough for that. Now I need to shift myself into being more appreciative and grateful to him for HIS LOVE, HIS UNCONDITIONAL, UNFAILING love and so I can see the beauty that he sees in me, someday.
Some of my favorite thoughts from this chapter:
…”God put a longing for unfailing love in our hearts because He knew it would lead us back to Him”
…”by being honest about her life and the lies she believed, she could start turning toward the truth”-lies keep us from the truth. Believing in the lies is why we haven’t been able to feel His unconditional love. It’s been there all along yet we haven’t been able to connect to it because of believing in the lies.
…”She could bring the thirst of her heart to Him”- that’s how I want to change
…”seeking satisfaction in Christ”- this is the main message for me that I have gained from this chapter
I have learned that I:
* constantly look at my performance, judging myself and not being happy about it, never good enough
* looking to my husband for love, acceptance and approval
* look to food when I don’t feel good, when I feel empty inside
No wonder I struggle with having a steady stream of happiness. I have been looking for happiness in performance, my husband and food. A great eye opener. I guess that is what this chapter was meant to be- an eye opener for us, to see where we are looking to get our needs filled and to realize that we’ve been looking in the wrong places-it’s in Him where happiness lies.
I love this book. It really makes me stop and look at myself, what I really want, where I am in my walk with the Lord. I look forward to getting deeper even though I know I may not like what I see in myself.
I had read the chapter at the beginning of this week, but did not watch the video until just today. The video really helped to give a visual to the meaning of “filling our hearts” with Him instead of everything else in life. After having read the chapter and discovering the main point, I really tried to use/reflect on that main point throughout the week – especially when I was feeling stressed and went to fill myself with food, instead of Him. Unfortunately the food won out sometimes, but I keep trying; it’s a work in progress, as I am, too.
You know lately, I have been thinking…I want a bigger house…should I get a bigger house, can I afford a bigger house. This video reminds me, I don’t need a bigger house. God has provided me this house and it is sufficient. I loved the video and the illustration of the jar to remind me, I can only feel full, if I’m taking in Jesus.
I know this from the past, when I walked closer with God than I do right now. I have allowed life to take over and put the “stuff” as a higher priority than my God.
This Bible study is a start of trying to get things back in order and it seems everything in this study is exactly what I need to guide me back to where I need to be and lead my children by example.
Thank you!!
Thanks Rene – reading Chapter 3 really resonated in heart, but watching the video really helped. I need to ask GOD to show me what is taking up space in my heart instead of me just telling GOD, because I can truly miss items. Thank you
Thanks Renee! This is a great visual reminder of this concept. It’s a great reminder that we should be filled by God alone.
Great reminder for me.
PS—–I wished you lived next door !! or at least within driving distance. I sometimes hear a pity party calling—–& it’s hard to resist the devil. I retaliate by turning my praise music up on the radio.
I’ a LITTLE behind with the lessons, So I’m just now on this lesson & it’s probably to late to enter on this give-a-way, BUT I still want to thank you Renee. You have brought so much insight into my life. My life is so empty now & lonely, I’m trying to on purpose not fill it with other things. Gradually the Lord is filling it with Himself, if I just be patient & stay faithful. I know from experience that other fillers are fake.
I loved the visual of the jar and thank you for the video this week. The older I become the more I realize that God fills my empty spaces much more completely than people, places and possessions ever could. I wish I could have know this earlier in life yet I am a work in progress.
Very beautiful depiction of the difference between how the world fills us and how Jesus fills us:). I think I might do this for my middle school Sunday school class! 🙂
First of all thank you so much for allowing God to work through you to write such a wonderful book. I loved your illustration on how we use eartly things to fill us and what a conviction that was for me as I have been going through a really hard time recently, I have been sick for about 8 yrs with auto immune issues and that has been hard but I always knew that God had a plan for my life and that He would use it somehow in my life, but recently my kids (16 & 13) have been turning on me and turning to their dad whom i’m married to. Problem is that we don’t stand united with them. He has not always been there for them, I am the one who has done everything for them and my youngest is just rude to me and says that i’m just sensitive but she loves her dad. But even through all that I have realized that I have relyed on my family to fill my jar for the love that I was looking for. Even though I read my bible and pray I don’t know how to depend on God i guess the way I a suppose to. I never really had an earthly father, my real dad left when I was little, when i was first born he was mad that I was a girl and whe he came to visit he would ask for just my sister so he didn’t come around much. Then I was molested by my grandfather and my stepfather. I have gone through forgiveness however going through this study I have realized that I have been holding onto self doubt for a long time. Its funny I did this study for my 16 yr old daughter who has been bullied and realized that it is helping me. I’m sorry that I am probably rambling but I feel like I can share without being critisized. Anyway, thank you again for this study and sharing gods word you have been a true blessing and it is great reading what others have written to know that we are not alone.
God bless
Nikki,
I too have had difficulty at times with my husband and children being “nice” to me. I know that sometimes I am overly sensitive also. Put those two things together and it can crush the happiness of being a wife and mother.
Unfortunately, moms tend to be the dumping ground for frustrations. You mentioned that you don’t know how to depend on God’s love. Something I do when a family member is being rude…I either leave the room or stand up for myself and say “I don’t like to be yelled at” and then leave the room. Then I spend a few minutes by myself, to pray and read a few verses or sing a hymn to reconnect to God’s love for me personally. When this happens, the sadness and hurt feelings go away. Then he puts joy and forgiveness in my heart. That’s how I have learned to depend upon God when I hurt…run to Him and tell Him how you feel and ask Him to change the way you feel, then start reading His words.
I admire and applaud you for choosing to forgive. In order to be able to forgive you must know more than you think you do about depending upon God.
Maybe your children are needing their father’s love and at the same time may be taking yours for granted.
Remember they love you and will someday honor you for all the things you have done for them.
Charlene,
Thank you so much for your encourgement. I appreciate it. Thank you for the example on how to depend on Gods love, I will try and use that.
You are probably right about my girls needing their dads love, they have probably been missing that and desiring that for quite some time so the fact that he is paying attention to them, they are eating that up, and I love that he is doing that I just don’t understand why we can’t just be a family and do that why it has to be him and them or me and them.
I know that they love me and just hope that someday they will remember the things that I have done for them when they are older.
Thank you again you have encouraged me more then you know.
God bless.
Nikki
Loved this message and analogy of God’s love – great reminder to hold on to….
thank you for the beautiful visual of such a simple truth. Yet I forget to do just that over and over again.