Focus on this scripture throughout the day. It’s God’s Word about His promises being firm and true for you in Jesus’ finished work on the cross. It’s what He desires us to believe. Believe it is true for you because God’s Word is Truth.
Use it as an affirmation. Speak this Word to yourself throughout the day. Personalize it by putting your name in it!
If you feel like giving up on God in your hope for improved fertility and having a child, read on…
Recently, I shared with you that a woman who has been reading my book, A Seed of Hope: God’s Promises of Fertility, had become pregnant.
Camille and I first communicated about 2 years ago because she’d found my blog and posted a comment. In addition to responding to her comment on the blog, I sent her a personal email reply a few weeks later. I got a response from her (back in July 2012) that she has given me permission to share:
Hello Evangeline,
I hope you are well.
It was meant for you to send me an email just when you did. God knows what we need and when we need it. I have been reading A Seed of Hope and it is very encouraging. However, I have not been in the Word (the Bible or A Seed of Hope) the last few weeks. Things have been rough for me emotionally. I’ve been having feelings of questioning God and my faith, then feeling guilty for that.
I have received the news of so many people announcing their pregnancy within recent weeks. I am happy for them, but it makes me sad that it hasn’t been my time. Then I feel guilty because although we have been dealing with infertility, I have so many reasons to be grateful: life with all my faculties, a wonderful, loving and supportive husband, family, and much more. So much more it is impossible for me to name them all.
I also feel guilty because I don’t want my relationship with the Lord being only based on Him making this happen for me or for it to be perceived that way. I also feel guilty at times because I have let this infertility issue consume so much of my mind and energy instead of focusing on the Word and goodness of God. I then get mad at myself because I know it’s the trick of the enemy but I still fall for it.
Thank you so much for checking in because just reading your email has given me encouragement. The fact that you emailed me this day, during this time, at one of my lowest emotionally, confirms to me that the Lord hears my cry and he knows what I need and when I need it. Thank you for listening to God’s Spirit leading you to email me. BTW, I have recommended the book to other friends who are going through similar situations.
Thank you,
–Camille
Two years later, in July 2014, I “happened” to come across her email while cleaning out a file (I LOVE IT WHEN GOD SETS THINGS UP!). I decided to check in with her to see how she was doing. When I received her reply, my chin dropped to the floor—she was almost 38 weeks pregnant! More important than anything else in her journey, Camille’s heart had become fertile ground for the seed of God’s Word she planted (Mark 4:14-20). It grew and flourished in her life as she made the spiritual aspect of the infertility a priority. It enabled her to increase her trust in God and expect a miracle from Him.
Next week, I’ll share a part of her most recent email to me. I know that it will give you hope and inspire you to trust the promises of God.
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.
Start your week by meditating on this Word about why you can have courage. Repeatedly think about it and quietly say it to yourself. Marinate and season your week with hope and a confident expectation of good things happening!
In John 15:4-5 [MSG], Jesus says, “Live in me. Make your home in me just as I do in you. In the same way that a branch can’t bear grapes by itself but only by being joined to the vine, you can’t bear fruit unless you are joined with me. I am the Vine, you are the branches. When you’re joined with me and I with you, the relation intimate and organic, the harvest is sure to be abundant. Separated, you can’t produce a thing.“
If you look at this picture I took of a grapevine in Napa Valley, you’ll see a thick, strong vine standing at ground level. The vine is always firmly rooted, remaining in a fixed state. Above the vine, tied onto the trellis, are many tender and flexible branches filled with large green leaves and clusters of juicy grapes. They tend to be blown in the direction of any wind that comes along, thereby the need for the trellis so that the branches aren’t torn away from the vine by gusty winds. The branches get their nourishment through the vine, which transports energizing sap to each branch. The vine acts as the strong connector to the source of energy and nutrition—the root system in the soil. Because the vine imparts sap, each of the branches has the ability to produce leaves and fruit.
Jesus said that He is the Vine. As the Vine, He imparts His nature (the sap) to us. With His strength and power to stand against the winds of life, He brings stability to our lives as we choose to make a pointed recognition of Him in our everyday lives. Because He is connected to the Father (the roots), He is always giving to us whatever the Father gives to Him. The Father is the source of everything good and EVERYTHING the Father gives to Jesus is good (James 1:17). The blessing in that fact is that Jesus has finished the necessary work on the cross in order for us to receive all that goodness and favor from the Father. His answer to every promise that He made is “YES” (2 Corinthians 1:20).
As the branches, we are in constant need of spiritual contact with Jesus in order to live the abundant life He died and rose to give us. Believers will always have Him living inside their spirit but, with no pointed commitment to fellowship with Him, we don’t bear much fruit–there’s not a lot of evidence of His favor working in our lives. Abiding in Him is the difference maker in our personal harvest.
Abiding is an act of faith in His grace. It means we choose to depend on Jesus and rest in His finished work. It means receiving His “no matter what” kind of love over and over again everyday. A branch separated from the vine cannot produce leaves or grapes. By remaining connected with Him, we branches receive the Vine’s sap, the stream of supernatural Life flowing from the Father to Jesus to us. Abiding provides for greater production of fruitfulness/good things in our lives.
As a believer in Jesus, you are never out of His care because He said He would never forsake you (Hebrews 13:5). After salvation, it is our choice whether to make daily fellowship with Him a priority so that we take advantage of the Life flowing from Him to us. When we have the combination of Him in us and us abiding in Him, then we bear much fruit and enjoy the abundant life Jesus speaks of in John 10:10.
We have free will to choose whether to abide in Him today. We get to decide whether we will look to Jesus throughout the day and abide in Him or be distracted by the gusty winds of life and feel disconnected.
What will you choose?
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.
Start your week by meditating on this Word about fear and anxiety. Repeatedly think about it and quietly say it to yourself. Marinate and season your week with hope and a confident expectation of good things happening!
It’s God’s Word about standing firm in your faith about His love for you. It’s what He desires us to believe. Believe it is true for you because God’s Word is Truth.
Use it as an affirmation. Speak this Word to yourself throughout the day. Personalize it by putting your name in it!
Earlier this year, I attended a retreat that I hoped would help me gain more focus in business-building activities and in personal matters. As an activity, we wrote on a smooth stone the one thing that would be our target for the remainder of the year. I wrote, “FINISH” on mine because I was finding that there were a number of things in my life I would start but didn’t finish.
A couple of months passed and as I thought more about how to finish the things that I start, I realized I also needed to target some other issues as well. Going through this thought process brought other “F-words” to mind. No, not the bad “F-words.” 🙂
I wrote the new F-words on stones and placed them on my desk as a tangible reminder of what I’m doing—FINISHING STRONG!
In June, I decided I’d put some energy behind one of these words each month for the remainder of 2014. Hopefully, as I do so, I’ll be building some good habits along the way. This month, I’ve been concentrating on Fellowship.
Fellowship= sharing; participating with another; constant companionship; communion
My desire is to fellowship more with friends and family, as well as, and most importantly, with Holy Spirit.
I became more intentional about spending time with my daughter while she’s home from college for the summer. I’ve been intentional about getting together with each of my sons, individually. Making sure that I schedule date nights with my hubby became a priority again. Phone calls to extended family members who live back East have become more frequent, just so I can say, “I’ve been thinking about you.”
How would I increase that time and experience more enjoyment out of it?
I made a decision to just do it. I started using my afternoon PIT Stop everyday to spend “extra” time with Him. I made a list of things I wanted to be sure to do with Him.
Just like I scheduled time with each of my children, with my husband, and, for the phone calls, I put God on my schedule. I made an appointment with myself so that I could not only talk to God and read the Bible, but to also hear from Him.
“My fellowship with God enables me to gain a victory over the evil one.” 1 John 2:14b (MSG)
Guess what happened! I began to feel less anxious about things in my life. I’m experiencing greater peace about the challenges I face because I know He’ll get me through them. I’ve begun to glean more wisdom from Him through His Word. Maybe the best thing is that I‘ve grown to really look forward to that time with Him because I’m excited about what He’s going to show me about His love for me! I protect this time from the distractions life throws at me.
Want to join me on this quest of filling each month with an “F-word?” You can. Just make a decision to do so (which means cutting off all other options and excuses). Then let me know you’ve joined the movement.
What are some of the things you do to fellowship with others and with God? Please share!
Next month’s keyword is FOCUS. I’ll be sharing my thoughts about that in August.
If you’ve been thinking that you need to get to the iHope Fertility Retreat, you can now put it on your calendar for this fall. Registration details are coming soon but until then, let me know you’re interested by sending an email to Evangeline@EvangelineColbert.com.
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. Start your week by meditating on this Word. Repeatedly think about and quietly say it to yourself. Marinate and season your week with hope and a confident expectation of good things happening!
It’s God’s Word about Jesus’ love for us. It’s what He desires us to believe. Believe it is true for you because God’s Word is Truth.
Use it as an affirmation. Speak this Word to yourself throughout the day. Personalize it by putting your name in it!
