I am honored to welcome good friend and author Betsy De Cruz to kristinebrown.net today. You will love Betsy’s wisdom and unique perspective. Let’s read and enjoy this week’s devotion by Betsy.

I hadn’t seen such a beautiful face in a long time. The dark circles under her eyes couldn’t extinguish their bright glow. A messy bun and no makeup only highlighted the joy on her face. My friend Emma came into the room proudly carrying the reason for her joy: her newborn girl! We gasped in wonder that she actually made it to our meeting just a few short days after giving birth.

On Mondays, I have the privilege of sitting around the table with a Moms of Preschoolers group. Many moms come sleepless, nerves on edge from too many hours with a crying baby. Some days they can’t take a shower, but something about our meeting makes it worth it for them to fight exhaustion and come.

They come because sitting around a table with friends renews strength and joy. When they leave our meeting, they walk out with just a bit more spring to their step.

Even if you don’t have a baby or small children, you probably have plenty of things to wear you down. Children at any age can deplete your energy. Work can sap your strength, and worry can steal your joy.

How can we find renewed strength and joy when we’re running low?

Getting together with friends and taking time for ourselves are important; they help us recharge. However, we’ve all had weeks when friends are busy, and a packed schedule doesn’t allow for time off. What then?

Thankfully, our Source of strength and joy never leaves us.

God has all the resources we need. His Spirit renews us from the inside out, and His power rests on our weakness. Yet just as my mom friends have to pack up the kids and pull out of the driveway to come to our moms’ meeting, so we have to make an effort to open our Bibles or turn our hearts to God in prayer if we want renewal.

Scripture encourages us: “Seek the Lord and His strength; seek his presence continually!” (1 Chronicles 16:11)

We can easily read these words and get discouraged because we lack the time, energy or the “want to” to seek God. Yet He rewards even the smallest steps we take towards Him.

Small efforts like these work wonders in our souls: reading a few verses of Scripture in the morning, stopping to thank God for a small blessing, whispering a prayer, or just remembering He is with us during the day. He hears and responds to even a quick prayer when we get in the car or fall into bed.

When we seek God’s presence, two blessings come: renewed strength and restored joy.

God renews our strength.

“He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.” (Isaiah 40:29)

“The LORD gives strength to his people; the LORD blesses his people with peace.” (Psalm 29:11)

When we call out to God, He gives us the strength we need. The Holy Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead lives in us, and He will certainly strengthen us for the day ahead when we open our lives to Him.

God restores our Joy.

“You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.” (Psalm 16:11)

“Your statutes are my heritage forever; they are the joy of my heart.” (Psalm 119:11)

God’s presence and His Word bring joy. His presence restores peace and touches us with the grace we need in any situation. His Word renews faith and joy when hard circumstances cause us to doubt. His joy is our strength.

Friend, if you need renewed strength and joy today, look heavenward. Ask God for the strength you need to face the day and grace to abide in Him. Ask Him for fresh joy. The Spirit living in you will renew you day by day.

Betsy de Cruz writes and speaks to help overwhelmed women take small steps to invite more of God’s presence and power into their lives. Her book More of God is a distracted woman’s guide to more meaningful quiet times. Betsy and her husband José have two young adult children and live in Austin, Texas. Connect with Betsy and get a free Quiet Time Renewal Guide at FaithSpillingOver.com.

Welcome Janet Hines to kristinebrown.net today with this bonus devotion celebrating the launch of her new book, Between the Valley and the Mountaintop: Glimpses of God in the Middle Places.

How Big Is Your Love?

Every part of this picture I took while flying over Glacier National Park in

a helicopter shows me how big God is. His presence in every piece

is reflected from the clouds in the sky to the

peaks of the mountains, through the waterfall to the

tree line to the forests, river and valley below.

How big is your love? How big are you loved?

My three year old grandson was telling me goodbye. His new thing is all about how big he is loved and how big he loves. His dad picked him up from preschool the other day. “Dad, did you know God loves me and He loves you?”

Standing on my tiptoes I reached for the ceiling. Opening my arms as far as I could and making circles, “Buddy, I love you this much”. He stood there watching and his eyes got bigger with every circle I made.

He is grasping the concept of love. We hugged and off they went.

There have been times in my life when I have forgotten how big I am loved. Giving love

comes easy for me. Life is hard when we forget we are loved.

There is a love balance for our hearts that keeps us healthy. But there is a never-ending

intention the world sets against us to remind us daily we are not loveable.

Experiencing much loss through divorce and the loss of my parents, I have felt deep

despair as I asked “am I worthy to be loved”? My parents did not choose to leave me

but their exit from this world changed me. I can’t wait to see them again. Divorce is

another story. The depth of loss nearly destroyed me. Every single belief I had rooted

my concept of love in was shattered.

In time, God, who never changed His love for me, never left me or changed his mind

about me, began to show up and remind me in the tiniest of ways of His beautiful and

tender presence.

Sunsets prompt me to reflect back on my day. I look for God in situations I encountered.

Conversations where God showed up as a prompt to bring Him in are evident.

I never take Him for granted. Praising Him and being loved by Him

is my favorite place to be.

This scripture reminds me that I am significant in His eyes.

Psalm 8:3-4

When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which

you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that

you care for him?

God does care for me. God is extremely detail oriented - His creation reveals that to us.

God cares for you.

This scripture fills me up. God’s love for us is very present in these words.

Psalm 147:7-11

Sing to the Lord and give thanks to him. Make music to our God on the harp.

He covers the sky with clouds. He supplies the earth with rain. He makes grass grow on

the hills. He provides food for the cattle. He provides for the young ravens when they

cry out. He doesn’t take pleasure in the strength of horses. He doesn’t take delight in

the strong legs of men. The Lord takes delight in those who have respect for him. They

put their hope in his faithful love.

God delights in us. Haven’t we all longed for a relationship like that?

Love is evasive when we put all our efforts into being loved by humans.

So, when I am feeling the loss of love, I turn to these words and I know taking a step closer to God, envisioning myself being held by Him, brings me to the very place I need to be.

God is fully present in the valleys, on the mountaintops and in every middle place in between. Learning this has been the gift I have received from living this life of mine.

Deuteronomy 31:8

The Lord himself will go ahead of you. He will be with you. He will never leave you. He’ll never desert you. So don’t be afraid. Don’t lose hope.”

Joshua 1:9

“Here is what I am commanding you to do. Be strong and brave. Do not be terrified. Do not lose hope. I am the Lord your God. I will be with you everywhere you go.”

I end with this verse from the new testament. The first scripture I remember memorizing as a child was Psalm 23. The second is John 3:16 - God making “big circles” to show me how much He loves me and you, He gave the ultimate gift and the knowledge of that even as a young child planted a seed deep in me that would sustain me.

John 3:16

“God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son. Anyone who believes in him will not die but will have eternal life.

“Lord, please come close. Fill us up when we feel the barrenness of being unloveable. Show us Your presence. Comfort us through these words of Yours. Thank You, Father God. We love You. We love You. Amen”

Janet Hines is a photographer and author on a journey of restoration and learning to be grateful for brokenness. Through photography, travel experiences and writing, she brings together pieces of life in ways that connect with the hurting people who need to know they are not alone. Her heart’s desire is to build a community of hope through sharing Christ all of her days.