Couponing for the Rest of Us

Doubt Diet Day 5: But I don’t have anything special to offer.

If you haven’t signed up, don’t put it off – YOU are worth it. You’ll need your own copy to read (its free HERE) as I won’t copy each day’s entire devotion. We’ll go through the devotion each day together, sharing scripture, encouragement, doubts, fears, and insecurities that have taken up residence in our hearts. If this is your first time joining us, I want you to know I do not have it all together and I have faced doubts and insecurities my entire life. We are in this together it’s a “sharing” thing.

.

Day 5: But I Don’t Have Anything Special to Offer
Taken in part from Chapter 8
Food for thought: “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.” (Ps. 139:13 NIV)  

If we were all sitting in a group together and were asked to answer the following questions, what would your “soul” reaction be.

  • What do you love to do?
  • If finances were unlimited and failure impossible, what would your dream be?

Did anyone feel a little panicky inside?  Would you want to hear how others answered first?  In the introduction to today’s devotion Renee described a time when she found herself in a similar situation being asked those questions. 

She said one friend wanted to be the first female President while another wanted to be in a Christian Rock Band.  It was funny when she said she listened as her friends around her described their dreams so she could get some ideas.  I love the fact that Renee is real – I bet some of us would have done the same thing.  

She didn’t have an answer to those questions, instead it mattered more what others wanted or needed her to be.  Can  you relate?  God didn’t create us for the purpose of making others happy.  Instead, he has a plan and a specific purpose for each of us. 

So, here goes I’d like to introduce you to the real me.  I used to be very hard on myself and feel that my personality was “wrong” because I wasn’t like other people.  Now, I  just laugh at myself because there is always some kind of adventure.  I lose my keys and cell phone everyday.   I don’t like details, spreadsheets, numbers, strict rules or a black and white answer.  I prefer not to rent movies or check out books from the library because chances are they will end up lost or returned late.  I have a hard time paying attention, especially with long detailed stories.  My mind is always spinning, 

At the same time I don’t get bogged down with details.  It takes a lot to make me mad.  I’m very passionate about what I believe in.  I love making other people laugh, it makes me smile all the way down to my toes.  Giving is a part of who I am.  I makes me giddy thinking about  who I can give to, what they need, how it can be an anonymous surprise.

I used to feel so bad about myself and couldn’t understand why I lose everything.  my mom always made it sound so simple.  ”If you put things where they belong you’ll never lose them.”  You think I haven’t tried that?  The problem is that in my mind nothing has to “belong” to a certain place.  

What about you, have you been hard on yourself.  Turn it around - God wants to use it for his kingdom.  Don’t get me wrong, God is still working on me in this area.  I still have more insecurities than I can count.  I have however, accepted me for me. 

Okay, so I’ve spilled my guts.  What about you, what makes you – you.  Think about something that you’ve beat yourself up about – turn it around.  It was important enough to God to include that “ingredient.”  I think about baking a cake.  Does flour taste good by itself?  Not so much.  Chocolate Cake – now that’s another story.  Love it.  When I look at Chocolate Cake, I don’t think about the disgusting flour, I think about how wonderful it tastes once all the ingredients are combined. 

Next time Satan wants to whisper doubt in your ear remind him – you are chocolate cake.  I know that sounds silly but sometimes it takes that silly kind of thinking to get rid of our toxic thoughts.

Copied below is an excerpt from the 7-Day Doubt Diet.  Renee’ s Message.
 

The truth is: you and I were not designed to be whom others expect us to be, or even want us to be. We were created to become all that God planned for us to be. 

Let’s take the challenge and go hang out with ourselves for a while.  Below I have copied questions Renee challenges us to consider.

  • What do you love to do?
  • If finances were unlimited and failure was impossible, what would be your dream?
  • How well do you know the real you?    
  • Have you ever taken time to think about what you like to do?
  • What personality traits, abilities, or experiences do you have?
  • What would make your heart come alive if you had the confidence and resources to do it? 

    •  .

    Doubt Diet Tip:

    We all have a natural body shape. I’m shaped like a pear; always have been, always will be. Most of my life I didn’t like it. But this is the body God gave me and I’ve learned to work with it. In the same way God gives us a natural body shape physically, He also gives us a natural “body shape” spiritually, to equip us for His purpose in the body of Christ. Ask God to help you discover and love the “shape” He gave you! 

    

    Have you entered to win these giveaways? 
    There are lots of chances to enter, details are here. 

    Hint:  You can get one entry for commenting on this post. 

     


    Filed Under: Encouragment, Keepin' It Real Tagged With: , , , ,
    September 14, 2011 by 2 Comments

    7-day Doubt Diet: Don’t Throw Away Your Confidence

    .
    1
    Winner of a copy of A Confident Heart – melissa SAVINGMONEY09@LIVE.COM
    1

    Before we get started delving into our own doubts and insecurities together – I want you to know I’m just like you.”  I know I mentioned yesterday but if this is your first day joining this is meant to be a “sharing thing.”  So, before everyone runs off to your prayer closet to read by yourselves hang around for a while and fellowship.  Yesterday we laid down the foundation we’re going to build from.  Here’s day one, Are you ready to take God’s hand and trust His heart?

    1
    Day 1: Don’t Throw Away Your Confidence
    Taken in part from Chapter 1 and 61 1

    Did ya’ll totally relate to Renee’s story?  (Get your free devotion here.) I can totally relate.  Several years ago, a friend was helping me clean out the playroom.  We were on a serious mission to get rid of junk – if anything looked like a Happy Meal Toy, part of a toy we coudn’t find or something totally random it was going in the trash.  Fast forward a couple of weeks, we have a blow up bed that we set up when our families visit.  Guess what?  One of those “totally random” pieces that we threw away.  Well, not so much……..it was the valve.  (We had to buy a new one)  Much like Renee’s example, I thought that little piece was insignificant and threw it away without a second thought.  It may have been small compared to the size of the rest of the bed however that valve determines the beds future.  Without it, the blow up bed was just a flat rubber rectangle.
    .
    Renee heard God speak to her that she tosses her confidence away the same way she tossed that piece of rubber away without a second thought….. What about you?  Ouch…..Guilty as charged.  I too, have thrown away my confidence more times than I can count without realizing what was happening.  If you haven’t received day one yet of the devotion, the rubber piece was the power button to the remote control.
    .
    It doesn’t take much, it could be one word from a loved one that triggers insecurity.  Everything Renee listed – the worry the creeps in and says I’m not good enough, no matter what I do I’ll never measure up. Then worry changes to fear – fear of the disappointment that is sure to follow, fear that I’m going to mess up, never finish what I started or lose something   Fear, worry, disappointment, insecurity they all lead me to one place, the road of self-doubt.1
    1
    Then, when Renee said,” I see a pattern in my thinking that led to the pattern of my doubting.”  It hit me, I do the same thing every time I go to Chattanooga, or Georgia to visit my mom.  I usually take the same route without thinking  about it.  I just hit autopilot and go.  Sure there are other ways, but they aren’t familiar as least I KNOW what to expect.  I do the same when fear, insecurity,worry, disappointment whatever you want to call it begins to creep.  When someone says something that hurts me, or I feel rejected what do I do?
    1
    What about if I make up my mind one morning determined that I’m going to change everyone’s sheets and somehow life happened and I never got started.  I know what emotions are coming.   Do you?  I know that even though I home schooled my kids, washed a load of clothes AND put them away, worked, then cooked dinner it’s not those accomplishments that my mind surrenders to – it’s the one thing I didn’t do.  I’ll tell myself I’ll do better tomorrow, why can’t I be more organized, if I would just stay focused then I’d get everything done.
    I know myself well enough that - no matter how much I do I always think I can do it better next time.1
    1
    The Challenge:  Recognize when we start turning down that familiar path of self doubt to TURN AROUND!  Just like a GPS God is whispering in our ears Recalculating turn right in .8miles on Promise Lane follow it to your destination, A Confident Heart.
    1
    1. Recognize the power I give self doubt.
    2. Stand up to it and claim the confidence God has already given me.
    3. Pray and ask God to show me when I turn around to toss my confidence in the can.
    1
    1
    The following is an excerpt from The 7-day Doubt Diet:
    When you start a diet or physical training plan, experts recommend you complete a Body Mass Index analysis to determine if you are overweight, underweight, or in a healthy weight range.
    Food for thought: So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. Hebrews 10:35-36, (NIV)
    1
    “I’ve created a FREE “Doubt Index Analysis” to help you identify your most common doubts, see how they affect you and determine just how much self-doubt could be weighing you down by. There is a link to download here.”  Renee Swope

    1
    A Message from Renee:
    “Please don’t get discouraged if your score reveals that self-doubt is weighing you down more than you realized. I used to check “always” on all of them. But I didn’t want to stay there, and I don’t want you to either. That is why I wrote my book     A Confident Heart , and why I’m offering “The 7-day Doubt Diet”- a week’s worth of devotions from my book for FREE.”
    1
    By the way I scored 146 on the Doubt Index Analysis.  How did you do?
    154 – 110: Self-doubt comes and goes for you. When it’s present, it keeps you from all God has for you.

    ___________________________________________________________________________________________

    A Personal Prayer Request from Kasey
    1
    God is calling me to walk this journey out, please keep my family in your prayers today.  My husband is a pharmaceutical rep and his main drug just went generic.  To make a long story short – we’re waiting on a phone call today to find out his job will be eliminated.  My heart screams with doubt – we’ve already been through this twice in the last 8 years, you have got to be kidding me.  At the same time, I’ve heard God gently whisper in my ear all day – remember where I’ve brought you from.  I did not forsake you then and I won’t now.  He’s calling me to take HIS hand and trust His heart.
    1
    I hear you God, I really do……..but to be 100% honest I’d rather you just answer my prayer that he won’t lose his job.  Why do I automatically trust more in the security of a job, than the security of God’s promises?
    Filed Under: Encouragment, Keepin' It Real Tagged With: , , , , , ,
    September 9, 2011 by 7 Comments