Category: blessing

Staying Inside of God’s Circle of Blessing

Posted on by Evangeline

Do you sometimes feel that going through infertility is like experiencing famine in the land? Today, I’m sharing an excerpt from my devotional, A Seed of Hope: God’s Promises of Fertility, that addresses that issue.

This devotion is entitled “God’s Circle of Blessing“–

circle of blessingThe Living Bible Translation of Psalm 25:13 says, “He shall live within God’s circle of blessing, and his children shall inherit the earth.” To whom is this passage referring? The previous verse tells us…the person who reverences God.

Living in God’s circle of blessing enables us to enjoy the best in life even when circumstances around us tell, and sometimes yell, otherwise. Isaac, Abraham’s son, was a great example of living in the circle of blessing. The Bible’s account in Genesis 26:1-13 tells how there was a famine in the country where Isaac lived and he wondered if he should leave like so many others and go to Egypt where there was no famine.

God told Isaac to stay and that He would be with him in his obedience. God promised him increase in all areas of life, including children. So in the midst of his country’s famine, despair, lack, and death, Isaac was blessed with extreme abundance because he stayed where God wanted him—in His circle of blessing. Infertility is like a famine—extreme hunger and despair—except it’s for a child. Just as Isaac experienced great bounty in the midst of famine, so can you, when you choose to remain in God’s circle of blessing even as your circumstances scream “famine.”

How to Stay in the Circle of Blessing

You can live in God’s circle of blessing by keeping the ears of your heart open to His Word. Hear Him as He speaks to you through it. Receive the Word by faith, as personal promises from God to you. Receive His wonderful blessings by saying “thank you” to Him for the promises you find in his Word for your child. Repeatedly speak His Word, His Truth, over your life. When we speak the Word, we’re in agreement with God. Receive His blessings by living in His Word and resting in His grace.

No matter what the doctor’s reports say, you don’t have to be stuck in the famine of infertility. Declare that you live in God’s circle of blessing because famine can’t exist there. Jesus is God of abundant joy! Nothing is too hard for Him to change; therefore He can change your circumstance of infertility. His Truth, His Word, can bring extreme abundance in its most wonderful form—the blessing of a child.

Speak the Word: I choose to stay in God’s circle of blessing.  He is my source of everything good.

More Encouragement: Galatians 3:14; Hebrews 6:14

If you’d like to have more devotions like this at your fingertips, so that you can encourage yourself on a daily basis,

click here to order A Seed of Hope.

A Seed of hope

America — You Can Choose to Bless God

Posted on by Evangeline

God Bless America

God bless America. It’s a familiar refrain. Sometimes it’s used without even thinking of Whom we’re speaking. Here’s an alternative to asking/begging God to bless America. We can choose to bless God by declaring His Word with confidence about Who He is in our lives and in our country.

In return, we’ll see that He graciously blesses our nation.

 

God of America

You’ve Got to Get the Kinks Out for the Blessings to Flow

Posted on by Evangeline

In an attempt to save a bush in my front yard from the scorching heat wave we were having, I pulled our water hose over to it to give it a good soaking. It did not turn out to be a quick and easy task. The hose had knots that I had to untangle (a sign that my husband was the last one to use it since he hates to neatly coil it when he’s done). The hose also had kinks in it, places along the length of the hose where it was bent and would restrict the flow of the water.

I tried to get as many knots and kinks out of the hose as possible, but it was 110 degrees outside and I was not going to take the time to make it perfect! When I turned the water spigot, water came out of the hose but not at the free-flowing rate I expected. The remaining kinks in the hose were restricting the flow to a trickle.

Life can be like that hose. Distractions and hardships in life (for example, infertility) can make us think that we have to do all we can to make something happen. They cause great stress in our minds and bodies.  Even our muscles can be like the hose and get kinks and knots in them when we are stressed. When we’re focusing on the problem and looking to ourselves or other people as the source of our solution, the resulting stresses can close off the supply of what we need, even though the supply is still freely flowing from the source, or should I say Source.

God really wants us to be blessed abundantly and He, as our Source, has made provision through Jesus to give us every good thing.  The Bible instructs us to look to Jesus– to move our attention away from the troubles and fix our attention on His love and provision (Hebrews 12:2). His supply is always flowing from Him but the kinks that we allow in our lives can restrict the flow to a trickle, or even just a drop, by the time it gets to us.

water hose kink

What would happen if we just relax in God’s arms and trust Him? What would happen if we rest in Jesus’ work as being sufficient? Could we more fully receive and enjoy His peace, faithfulness and provision? Surely the kinks in our lives would relax, opening up the channel of supply from our Source so that we can receive abundantly!

What kink will you remove from your life today so you can enjoy the blessings that are already freely flowing in God’s pipeline to you?

The Good Thing I’ve Enjoyed For 33 Years

Posted on by Evangeline

I’ve enjoyed a good thing for 33 years…being married to the guy that God gifted to me through “holy matrimony” in 1982.

good thing - wedding

 

These 33 years of married life have had their ups and downs but we’ve been blessed to experience a very high rate of ups!

Here are a few of the downs:

good thing - downs

  • The death of my father 6 months after we got married. My biggest regret about his death is that my children never got to know him as “Granddaddy.” He would have made a  wise and fun one!
  • My layoff from my job.
  • INFERTILITY
  • My mother’s bout with cancer.

 

Here are the few of the ups:

good thing - ups

      • My mother lived to see, hold, and pray for each of my children.
      • JOB SECURITY!!! Freeman has never been laid off from his job.
      • Discovering Family Life’s “Weekend to Remember” getaway. It’s a booster shot for our marriage. We’ve attended this event more than a dozen times!
      • We OVERCAME infertility using God’s Word
        • Gave birth to 3 wonderful children
        • I became a stay-at-home mom 🙂
      • Cancer has no authority in our family anymore.
      • My in-laws love me!
      • Freeman’s in-laws love him! 🙂
      • I became an author (NEVER planned for that to happen!)

 

I’m so glad today is my wedding anniversary. But more importantly, I’m so thankful to be sharing life with a man who loves God and loves me unconditionally and allows me to return the favor!

gifgifs

In honor of Freeman and our 33 years of being married, I’d like to share with you something a wise woman passed on to our church in 2013. It struck me as one more way that I can be selfless and focus on the good qualities my husband possesses (and that I desire him to possess).

Daily Confessions For My Husband

(Original version shared by Glorya Huff at SonRise in 2013)

He has the Meekness of Moses

The Patience of Job

The Ear of Samuel

The Courage of Joshua

The Strength of Sampson

The Discipline of Daniel

The Integrity of Joseph

The Heart of Boaz

The Focus of David

The Peace of Paul

The Steadfastness of Peter

The Love of John

And most of all, he has the Mind of Christ.

Freeman is my Mighty Man of GOD!

 

Here’s a link to a PDF of this confession. Why not personalize it and use it to speak goodness over your husband AND to help you focus on the goodness that’s already in him?

Daily Confessions For My Husband TEMPLATE

 

Trash Talking

Posted on by Evangeline

Athletes do it all the time.

They talk trash to and about the opposing team in order to consistently gain a mental edge over their opponents. It can be fun to watch them as they get into each other’s head. Larry Bird has been crowned the #1 trash talker in the NBA in this report. I would not have expected him or Reggie Miller to be in the top five of NBA trash talkers.

Are you a trash talker? It can be fun to talk trash to friends & co-workers just out get a rise out of them!

But we have an opponent in life that actually gets us to talk trash to ourselves. It’s an insidious method the devil uses to get in our heads. He uses it to gain a mental edge over us by distracting us from the One who loves us most. He gets us to focus on ourselves and our shortcomings instead of focusing on Jesus and all He’s done for us. The devil gets us to consistently put ourselves down in various situations:

  • “I can’t even do the simple things right.”
  • “I always get sick from allergies this time of year.”
  • “My boss never gives me a break.”
  • “My body just doesn’t cooperate in getting pregnant.”
  • “All the men/women in my family get this disease. I guess I’ll get it too.”
  • Blah blah blah blah…

All of this putting down of self makes life a drag, filled with pity parties, bouts of anxiety, and excessive self-condemnation. It’s time for a change! Instead of agreeing with what the devil says about you in your thoughts and then activating those thoughts by saying them, choose to agree with God and speak His Word. If there’s trash that you’ve been talking to yourself about a particular situation in your life, it’s time to throw out the trash! Find a scripture that promises the opposite of the negativity you’ve been saying about yourself. Find a verse that clarifies how valuable you are in God’s eyes and then begin to say that to yourself.

Why waste time talking trash to yourself, putting yourself down with your own words? Allow yourself the freedom to speak peace and blessing to yourself so you can enjoy life more!

Evangeline Colbert

Your Blessings

Posted on by Evangeline

Ever doubt that the blessings of God are for YOU?

Well, rest assured, they are!

What have you asked Him for lately?

Go ahead, accept what is yours to receive from God.

Image courtesy of nuttakit / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Image courtesy of nuttakit / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Get more ways to build your hope in Evangeline’s book, ” A Seed of Hope: God’s Promises of Fertility.”

A Blessed Nation

Posted on by Evangeline

Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD! ~ Psalm 33:12

Original image courtesy of Salvatore Vuono / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Original image courtesy of Salvatore Vuono / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

 

The Sun Is ALWAYS Shining

Posted on by Evangeline

It’s been a chilly, wet and cloudy day today. The sun has been covered by grey clouds all day. When I went out to Zumba class this morning, there was no sign of the sun in the sky. Did that mean the sun had stopped shining?

Of course not! The sun is always shining, even on dark, dreary days. But because my view of the sun was obscured by the dark clouds, its presence wasn’t noticeable and went unacknowledged.

Life can be like that. When we look only at our surrounding circumstances, it can sometimes feel like a dreary and depressing life. Somehow, we begin to focus only on those “dark clouds” of life. We easily forget that the blessings of God are still swirling around us, ever-ready for us to grasp and bring the bright and abundant life God desires for us. His presence is an eternal promise to the believer in Jesus and brings nothing but grace to our lives. Like the sun, His blessings are always there, even when we don’t notice  them or take advantage of them.

I hope you’ll take time to remember everyday that the light of His grace is always available to brighten even your darkest circumstances. You just have to look to Him.

 

Posted on by Evangeline

I know you’ll find hope from this family’s story. God has done a wonderful work in their lives!

Focus Friday

Posted on by Evangeline

Focus on the following scripture throughout the day. It’s God’s Word and it’s what He desires us to believe. Believe it is true for you because God’s Word is Truth. Speak this Word to yourself throughout the day. Personalize it by putting your name in it!

“Blessed shall be the offspring of your body and the produce of your ground and the offspring of your beasts, the increase of your herd and the young of your flock.” ~~ Deuteronomy 28:4

Image courtesy of tungphoto / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Image courtesy of tungphoto / FreeDigitalPhotos.net