Some days my written words come easily. Other days I need to show and tell you what’s on my heart. Today is one of those days.
Please {like pretty please even if you don’t normally watch video posts} click the arrow below 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. 🙂
Today’s Giveaway:
Two friends of mine who serve behind the scenes and are part of our online study, [thank you Donna & Veronica] have donated copies of my book to giveaway today. Together we created 5 gift packs for 5 of you. Each one includes a copy of my book, A Confident Heart {for you or a friend?} and my testimony/teaching message on CD, Letting God Fill My Empty Places.
Let’s Connect {and how to enter today’s drawing}:
I’d love to hear your thoughts about today’s message… and this is an easy way to enter today’s giveaway too. Just click “share your thoughts” right below this post and do just that – share your thoughts. {I love to read them! And pray over you when I do.} I’ll be there reading and sharing my heart with you too.
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I borrowed your prayer and Psalm 143 i feel this will help me very much, thanks for being what God made you to be.
Renee- I watched your video three (3) times and took notes- I so loved your analogy of Letting God Fill the Empty Places in Our Hearts! I especially so so so loved the empty jar being filled with Aster’s toys to replace what we look to. What stood out for me and finally made me get it and really get it is when you emptied the jar out of all those earthly things and started filling it with His Living Water- His unfailing Love! And I heard you say this: When we allow Him to pour His love and His promises into our hearts there are no empty places- by doing this we shift our dependence to the gifts to the Giver- and we can Thank Him for what we do have instead of longing for what we don’t have! I truly got it – and I finally understand, I really like show and tell – it really sunk in…. sorry I love your written words too- but I truly enjoyed this message. Thank you Renee for sharing your wisdom and knowledge and your Love for Jesus with us ladies.
Aloha from Hawaii oxoxoxox
Hi Renee,
Chapter 3 of the book and the video have helped me view myself and the relationships in my life differently… i usually feel like i invest a lot in my relationships and the other person doesn’t seem to care as much or work as hard at it as me … then i feel like there’s no point in even bothering to make new relationships because i assume everyone will end up ‘treating me the same way’…. so i tend to shy away from people … this message has made me realize that i have been putting too much pressure on my relationships …and the reason i feel this way is because what i need/ desire i can’t find in this relationships …. only God can satisfy me … this has definitely impacted my life in a big way … restored joy in my heart :).
This week’s message was powerful. I feel like I carry around an empty jar with me everyday. Especially with my husband and daughter. There are so many times I am afraid my husband doesn’t love me. There is a longing inside me to be loved unconditionally. I feel like whenever I make mistakes or disappoint people, I lose whatever feelings they might have for me. I know these feelings aren’t truth, but there is a constant battle inside me.
Dear Lord, I pray for your Spirit to fill the empty places in our hearts today. Help us to
see where our holes are and let us be open to You in filling them. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.
“I feel like whenever I make mistakes or disappoint people, I lose whatever feelings they might have for me.” Pam, I struggle with the same- such an awful fear to go through life with! I pray that you and I both will find freedom from this lie in Christ!
Nancy,
I am praying for you. You are a child of our heavenly Father, and He will give you better blessings to make up for “the years the locusts have eaten.” Jesus loves you. I break bread and have juice in the morning to have communion with Jesus and it has brought me peace.
Hugs, Elizabeth
Amen Sister!!!
I used to look to friends and my spirital mother to fill me up with love and His spirit. I didn’t have confidence that Jesus is also MY JESUS 🙂 Through His strength, revelation and guidance, (and of course with the help of your book!) I am no longer looking to others to fill me up! I am free to be loved and satisfied and secure and accepted by Him!!!!!!!!!!!!! It is so exciting to say that! I am so excited about Jesus, and love what He is doing in my life each and every day. Praise Him!!!!!! I would love to share this book with a friend if i win!!!! You are annointed Renee!!!
The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is upon me (YO)U, for the LORD has anointed me (YOU) to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me (YOU) to comfort the brokenhearted and to proclaim that captives will be released and prisoners will be freed.Isaiah 61:1
Thank you for aiding in releasing me from captivity!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
May God richly bless you, Chantell.
Hugs, Elizabeth
Thank you for your message today. I am seriously struggling with this because I have lost so much, having gone through a divorce from an abusive man. I keep praying that the Lord will show me what He wants me to do, but I still feel so empty and lonely most of the time. I know that things don’t satisfy, but having lost my family in the way it was and my home is so hard for me. I keep trying in my mind to figure out a way to get back just a part of what I had, but that does not seem possible now. I am thinking that somehow I need to surrender all that to the Lord. Will you pray that the Lord will heal this pain and emptiness and fill my heart with His unconditional love.
Thank you Renee for this wonderful illustration. I am using this study to help myself learn to be more confident as a person and more confident in God’s promises. I am also using your wonderful resources to try to help my son to be more confident in God’s promises. He is going through a really rough time in his college years and is doubting God’s love and promises. I plan to share your video with him tomorrow as I feel that he is looking for love, acceptance, and confidence in all the wrong places and just needs to think about how and with what he is filling his jar. My heart breaks for him in his struggles and he is losing faith as he feels that God does not hear him when he prays. My hope and prayer is that God will fill this emptiness inside of him and that he can gain confidence in himself and the truly amazing person he is and rely on God to give him true confidence. I struggle with some confidence issues myself, but right now my heart is heavy for my son and I have already shared with him the chart from your lesson notes in Chapter 1…When I feel…God says…Thank you for helping me try to help and encourage him. God bless you and your work!
Wow! (tears)
This so explains all the unhappiness in our world today. The culture has tried to fill these places with everything but God and nothing but Him will satisfy. Loved the post!
I’m learning so much about how God is the only one who can satisfy all my desires. I loved your analogy with the kids toy’s. It puts a picture in my mind of how when we are filled with God vs. when we try to fill our hearts with the things of this world. Thank you for this post as well as all your other posts!
Satisfaction has been tuff for me to find too – I am always looking for the wrong things to fill my jar and I now know it so now I am trying to consistantly seek GOD to fill me not all the other that never truly fills me. I dont like the empty feeling and dont want to live missing out on filling myself with God any longer. I love your book and its very helpful for me as I am working on myself. Thank you!!
Yes Lord! How I praise your awesome Name!
“When we allow Jesus to pour His love and promises into our hearts, there are NO empty places.” WOW!
(I wish I could BOLD that)
How your words spoke volumes to my heart.
This is confirmation!
The message is such a transformation as I put the gifts from God back into the proper priority. I am so extremely blessed but because my priorities have been displaced, life has been rather “chaotic” and everyone in the family suffers. I have felt so alone even with many great people around me as I fill the needs of others. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 2 Corinthians 12:9
The past couple of months, my refocus on Christ is slowing bringing daily life into proper balance. And I thank our Heavenly Father and your reaffirming words that…our hearts will become more and more confident through our relationship with Him. And the lasting security we long for will come each time we bring the empty well of our hearts to Jesus and ask Him to fill us with the promise of His unfailing love.”
A receptive heart…
Renee..what a powerful message. I think we all LOOK for things or people in our lives to fill our emptiness. I have been married for 21 yrs and I just have realized because of my bad relationships with my fathers I have always looked for my husband to fill that sadness and emptiness in my heart. I know no one but God can feel that void and emptiness. No worldly thing, no person, nothing but God. I battle depression because of guilt for holding others responsible for my unhappiness and neglect and abandonment from my fathers. I want so bad to put it all behind me and for God to heal and fill my heart. I know the only way to healing is through Him so I am praying that he will fill my heart with healing and forgiveness for the sad things stored in my heart. On the outside everyone thinks I have the perfect life, I work out, I dress nice…but if they only saw the inside. I don’t let anyone know my hurt. To everyone else my life is perfect. I pray that God will fulfill my heart and for the other ladies that need that too I pray for you that he will fill your hearts too. Let me remember he is not just a one time fill but a lifetime fill. When I feel empty he is the one I need to turn to. Thanks to all the ladies that share. Its nice to know your not alone in your feeling and we are all on this journey together!
Went back to listen again to the message, and when you put all the gifts back into the box was a great visual for me to keep, and then to focus on the Giver not the gifts goes along with the visual of dumping the gifts and focusing on the Giver~~~~Thanks for the great visual
Thank you Renee for this illustration. I am always trying to fill the empty places with people & get so disappointed with them & lose confidence in myself. I want God to fill my life & all the empty spaces & put Him first! I want to stop expecting people to fill my life when only God can do that!
Renee, Honestly I haven’t been doing a great job at reading this book, but since the beginning Iheard a message from Jesus telling me to go to AA for my alcohol struggles. I have been going reluctantly and tonight someone said something….”For our purpose there is but one ultimate authority-a loving God” I have always known God since I was a kid but this differnt. Then I got home and listened to your video…Ask God to show us how to let him pour himself into our lives. Hmmmm I didn’t ask but I think God is trying to tell me something. Thnaks. Still struggling but trying to stay positive that with God I can do this.
I thank you Renee for this wonderful, right on time message. The illustration resonated so well with where I have been and where I desire to be. This week I was actually struggling with feeling empty, unfulfilled & lonely. Your messsage gave me prespective…..I honestly thank you again.
This message reminded me of Romans 1:25 “They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.” If the gifts we have in this life are wonderful, how much more wondrous is our God, the Giver!?! Thank you for sharing this message 🙂
Thank you for the verse!
Thank you, Renee for the creative way of demonstrating how I attempt to fill the void in my heart, soul, and in life with things of this world rather than with God’s love.