Tag: believe

Tethered to Grace for this Race!

Posted on by Evangeline

 

Tethered to Grace

Recently, a loved one was telling me how tough it was being connected to a dialysis machine in their home every night.  While he was thankful for the technology that allowed him to do the treatments at home, he felt as if he was tethered to something that greatly limited his mobility. He didn’t like that feeling.

His experience caused me to do some introspection regarding what was setting boundaries/limitations for me, but on a mental and spiritual level rather than physical. Thinking through some things that were holding me back became a good lesson for me. And it helped me make a key decision:

I want my heart tethered to Grace!

Being tethered to God’s grace will mean that I am never without hope because He is always with me. And as His daughter due to the finished work of Christ on the cross, I am identified as His beloved. Due to the outpouring of His grace,

  • I am accepted in the Beloved.  (Ephesians 1:6)
  • He is well pleased with me because I am in (joined with) Christ. (Romans 8:1)
  • There is great confidence as we hold to the hope that lies before us. (Hebrews 6:18)
  • Hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls. (Hebrews 6:19)

Hope is a result of accepting God’s grace. So yes, I want to always be tethered to grace so that I can gladly be tied to the anchor for our souls! It won’t act to limit me in a negative way.

Believe You Can Reign Devotional

 

Helping others see their way to the grace of God is something I love doing. To  tighten your heart’s ties to Grace and to increase your hope for victory over your life’s circumstances, check out my latest book, Believe You Can Reign In Life, a 31-day devotional.

(Bonus–It’s on sale through this weekend!) Sale ends 9/27/21.

 

 

 

 

 

Being tethered to God's grace will mean that I am never without hope because He is always with me. Share on X
victory over infertility

3 Reasons to Believe You Will Get Pregnant

Posted on by Evangeline

Has it been difficult to believe you will get pregnant because you’ve been trying for a while and nothing has happened?

It’s so easy to believe all the negative reports about infertility. We humans are trained through our normal, everyday situations to focus on and remember the negative circumstances of life. But what if there were powerful reasons to believe something radically different from the medical reports and the advice/counsel you get from friends and family? Would you believe?

Believe What God Said

Here are three reasons to believe that you’ll get pregnant and that you are already blessed and empowered to overcome infertility:

  1. God said none should be barren/infertile, not male or female [Deuteronomy 7:14].
  2. God said ALL things are possible with Him [Luke 1:37] and impossible without Him[John 15:5].
  3. God said He is always with you and His Spirit bears witness to the Truth (what God has said) because His Word is truth[ 1 John 5:6; John 17:17].

We’re told in 1 Kings 8:56 that “not one word has failed of all the wonderful promises He gave.” God is truly a promise keeper. Believe what He has said.

Questions

It’s time to be honest with yourself:

Do you believe that God loves you the same way He loves Jesus (John 17:23b)?

  • Yes or No

Are you making requests based on His promises and then expecting Him to do what He promised (1 John 5:14-15)?

  • Yes or No

Are you speaking His Word out loud because He said that it is medicine to your body (Proverbs 4:20-22)?

  • Yes or No

Will you continue to praise Him in advance of seeing your desire come to fruition, trusting that His answer is always YES to anything He has promised (1 Corinthians 1:20)?

  • Yes or No

I hope you answered YES to each of these questions. If not, it’s okay. That just means you’ve got some spiritual homework to do! 🙂

Take time to read all the Scriptures included in this post. Read them out loud to yourself more than once. Read them repeatedly and frequently over the next few days so that they begin to resonate within you. Look for other scriptures that speak specifically to your situation.

Then ask God to show you how to trust Him more. He’ll be sure to say YES.

To help you get started, download my special report, 12 Affirmations of Faith for Fertility. It’s available to you when you request to join our private Facebook group, A Seed of Hope.  It’s a support group of like-minded women, looking to walk this season of infertility with a perspective of faith and hope. I’d love to see you there!

 

 

What Truth Do You Believe About Overcoming Fertility?

Posted on by Evangeline

What do you believe about overcoming fertility? It’s so easy to believe the negative reports about infertility. We humans are trained through our normal, everyday situations to focus on and remember the negative circumstances of life. But what if there were powerful reasons to believe something radically different from the medical reports and the advice/counsel you get from friends and family?

 Believe His Promises

Would you believe?

Here are three powerful reasons to believe that you are already blessed and empowered to overcome infertility:

  1. God said none will be barren/infertile, not male or female.
    • “You will be blessed more than any other people; none of your men or women will be childless.” Deuteronomy 7:14 NIV
  2. God said ALL things are possible with Him  and impossible without Him.
    • “For nothing is impossible with God. Luke 1:37 NLT
    • “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” John 15:5 NIV
  3. God said He is always with you and His Spirit bears witness to the Truth (Truth=what God has said). His Word is truth.
    •  “And Jesus Christ was revealed as God’s Son by his baptism in water and by shedding his blood on the cross–not by water only, but by water and blood. And the Spirit, who is truth, confirms it with his testimony.” 1John 5:6 NLT
    • “Make them holy by your truth; teach them your word, which is truth.” John 17:17 NLT

Be assured that no word from God will ever fail or be void of power (Luke 1:37 NIV and ASV). We’re also told in 1 Kings 8:56 that “not one word has failed of all the wonderful promises He gave.”

Will you believe that His promises of fertility are your truth?

 

Monday’s Marinade- I Believe

Posted on by Evangeline

Believe for something better in 2016.

Now that the new year is well under way, I hope that you’re expecting something better to happen in your life than what you experienced in 2015. What are you believing for?

Here are some of the typical things most people think about and desire at the beginning of the year:

      • Improved health
      • Peace of mind
      • A promotion or raise on the job
      • An upgrade in lifestyle (car, house, wardrobe, etc.)

But there are a variety of things that could be viewed as more influential on your quality of life than those desires listed above.

Are you open to allowing your thoughts to marinate on something more impactful? Print the following graphic so you can verbally affirm what you believe as you move forward throughout 2016. Be sure to read the Scripture verses  that are shown so you can build your confidence in what you affirm!

Monday's Marinade- I BELIEVE

 What else will you believe in 2016?  Share your thoughts below. 🙂

 

Thoughts Get Stuck in the Muck

Posted on by Evangeline

thoughts in quicksand

Sometimes you get stuck in the muck and mire of your own mind.

Do you ever find yourself thinking renegade thoughts? You know, those thoughts that really don’t line up with what God has said about you as a believer in Jesus and as a possessor of what He died to give you. Sometimes thoughts can come to mind for the sole purpose of bringing you down.  You know where those thoughts come from…right? NOT from God! They come from your enemy, Satan. They come to make you feel stuck in the muck of your circumstances. Think about them long enough and you’ll find yourself  believing that your situation can never change.

But there’s a solution to this problem. There’s a way to become unstuck. How? By resting in God’s promises, trusting that what God has said is what will come to pass in your life. Use His words as your tool and weapon. Here are a few of the many important things God has said about you. Begin to shape your thoughts around them so you won’t get stuck. Believe what He’s said, act as if it’s true, speak your agreement with His words,expect them to come to fruition, and be determined to stand with gratitude until they do. Trust that what He has said is your unshakable truth [Isaiah 55:11].

God has said:

You’re loved by Him just as much as He loves Jesus. [John 17:23]

You’re forgiven. [Colossians 1:13-14]

You’re healed, by Jesus’ stripes. [1 Peter 2:24; Psalm 107:20]

You’re an heir to the blessing of Abraham (which includes having children). [Galatians 3:13-14; Deuteronomy 7:14]

You’re already victorious, because you are in Christ, the ultimate conqueror. [Romans 8:37]

 

What do you say to your renegade thoughts?

Release your faith and say what God has said!

 

 

Monday’s Marinade – Don’t Move

Posted on by Evangeline

Monday’s Marinade is provided to you as a means of “soaking yourself” in the hope-filled Word of God at the beginning of your week. 

There is an account in the Bible about the blind men who came to Jesus asking to be healed:

As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed Him, screaming loudly, “Have mercy and compassion on us, Son of David (Messiah)!”  When He went into the house, the blind men came up to Him, and Jesus said to them, “Do you believe [with a deep, abiding trust] that I am able to do this?” They said to Him, “Yes, Lord.”  Then He touched their eyes, saying, “According to your faith [your trust and confidence in My power and My ability to heal] it will be done to you.”  And their eyes were opened. ~Matthew 9:27-30 AMP

Rest in knowing that God can be trusted. He wants you to believe His Word is true. He doesn’t want you to move from the stability and power of His Word. 

Here’s your spiritual marinade about believing God’s Word:

Monday's Marinade - Don't Move - Believe

Focus Friday – Believe It

Posted on by Evangeline

Believe - FaithBelieve.

It means to be fully persuaded by someone or something. Are you fully persuaded by what God has said and what Jesus has done about your situation? Have you cut off all other options and decided  to believe that God’s Word is your truth?

Focus on the following scripture throughout the day because God’s Word is Truth. Speak this Word to yourself throughout the day– by doing so, you’ll encourage yourself!

“I have sworn by my own name;

I have spoken the truth

I will never go back on my word.”

Isaiah 45:23a  [NLT]

How to Have Strong Faith

Posted on by Evangeline

Have you been wondering how to have STRONG faith?

strong faith

“Let us hold tightly to the confession of faith without wavering; for He is faithful that promised.” ~ Hebrews 10:23

The character of Jesus is such that He would NEVER lie (Numbers 23:19). His character, which is completely based on love, paves the way for having strong faith in Him because He would never make a promise and then go back on His Word or fail to fulfill it. Hold tightly– don’t loosen your grip on His promises. God’s words and His promises are true. Get into the habit of confessing your faith in them out loud.  The passage in 2 Corinthians 1:20 assures us that His answers to His promises are already “Yes” in Christ.

How can you have strong faith?

Romans 10:17 informs us that faith comes by hearing:

“So faith comes from hearing, that is, hearing the Good News about Christ.” (NLT)

“The Good News about Christ” is that He has finished all the work and fulfilled all the requirements necessary in order for the Father to say “Yes.” There’s no work left to be done except to believe in Jesus’ love and His willingness to bring good things into our lives (John 6:29). When we hear ourselves reading about His love and repeatedly hear ourselves saying God’s words, it builds our faith. When we hear ourselves speaking the specific promises God made about our personal situation, it builds our faith in those promises. It increases our confidence in God’s integrity, in His ability to do what seems impossible, and in His willingness to do everything He promised.

Doubt is the enemy that comes along to plug our ears to the Good News  so that we’re not hearing God’s promises. Doubt distracts us from looking to Jesus. When we’re enticed by the devil’s doubts to give up on God’s promises, we must react by speaking God’s Word to those doubts. By doing so, we choose to retain hope within our soul and expect God to do what He said He’d do. Our  soul, which consists of our mind, will, and emotions, must choose to believe the promise, speak the promise to the problem while undergirding that confession with hope, and “act as if” the promise is already true.

When we have confidence in God fulfilling His promises and we have only a strong expectation of a good outcome, that is when we are empowered and living with strong faith.

 

5 Ways to Survive the Holidays in the Midst of Infertility

Posted on by Evangeline

Holidays can be difficult to navigate when you’ve been declared infertile. I remember how easy it was to get caught up in all that was going wrong (infertility). It would have been easy to paint myself into a corner and neglect enjoying what’s meant to be a festive and fun time.  With the disappointment that comes month after month, it can become difficult to maneuver through the emotional drain of infertility, the possible health scares, the financial toll, and the marital problems that tend to stealthily creep in.

But during this week leading up to America’s celebration of Thanksgiving and the beginning of the holiday season, I encourage you to make a DECISION to look for the things in life you can be thankful for during the holidays and beyond. A thankful heart looks beyond its present negative circumstances to the positive possibilities that lie ahead.

You may be asking yourself, “What do I have to be thankful for when all I want is to get pregnant and it isn’t happening?”

Be Thankful

 

 Be thankful that God is with you. 

If you’ve asked Jesus into your heart, He has promised to never leave you and to always bless you with his unfailing grace. Be thankful that you can rest in knowing that God is for you and not against you (Romans 8:31).

 

Be thankful that there is nothing too hard for God, not even infertility!

Some people believe that we’re to thank God for putting us in tough situations because that’s how He teaches us something. I believe God is a better teacher than that. He can get his point across to us without putting us in tough situations. I believe that tough situations are brought to our lives by the devil but God can and will bring us out of them. Trust in God’s ability and willingness to make good come out of bad.

 

Be thankful for role models.

Be thankful that He has given so many examples of women who overcame infertility and that He has made promises in the Bible that relate to your fertility. Thank Him that you can count on Him to make good on those promises.

 

Be thankful that God hears you as you pray His promises.

“So is my Word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me [through your confession of it] without producing results. As you believe and speak it, My Word will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.” ~Isaiah 55:11 [paraphrased]

When you’re in the throes of difficult circumstances, life can become overwhelmingly sad and anxiety-laden. But remember, the One who has the power to change your circumstances is always right there with you in the midst of them, ready to display His power as you trust His love and His promises. God the Father wants to bring you out of the grip of tough times into His gentle caress of peace and rest. That’s what He planned for your destiny.

Giving thanks to God is the means of focusing on the solution rather than the problems we have. When we give thanks in the midst of our problems, we keep victory’s door open. Thanking God when we’re dealing with infertility or any other trying circumstance  is the best way to express that we expect Him to show Himself strong on our behalf and to make good things happen.

 

Be thankful that He loves you unconditionally.

God the Father loves you just as much as He loves Jesus (John 17:23)! To have someone who always loves you no matter how much you doubt His ability, willingness, and timing…that’s something to be thankful for!

 

What will you choose to thank God for today?

 

Focus Friday – Confidence in the Truth of God’s Word

Posted on by Evangeline

Focus on the truth of the following scripture throughout the day.

God’s Word is Truth. Believe it is true for you. Speak this Word to yourself throughout the day.

Truth - Isaiah 45:22-23