Tag: 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

Monday’s Marinade – Don’t Doubt

Posted on by Evangeline

Doubt plagues all of us in various forms and always at inopportune times.

Do you find that you sometimes doubt God’s love for you, or is it His willingness that you question?

We all need help in this area and I’ve been writing a new book that I think you’ll find helpful.

This is an excerpt from my upcoming book, Live to Win:

“Doubt is always a product of deceit and a consequence of distance. Doubt arises due to our being deceived into thinking that God is not on our side in the midst of our trouble. It increases when we have distanced ourselves from the Word; it also minimizes the role and efficacy of our prayer. It infiltrates our circumstances and reduces our trust because we are distracted from God’s promises. Doubt is our automatic response when we don’t look to Jesus and keep our focus fixed on His love for us.”

Monday's Marinade-Don't Doubt

Stay informed about the book’s release by letting me know you’re interested:

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

Focus Friday

Posted on by Evangeline

Image courtesy of criminalatt / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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. Use it as an affirmation. Speak this Word to yourself throughout the day. Personalize it by putting your name in it!

“Blessed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who did bless us in every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.” Ephesians 1:3 (YLT)

 

Image courtesy of criminalatt / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

 

Don’t Give Up

Posted on by Evangeline

It’s hard to maintain hope when it feels like nothing is going right. But we have a CHOICE. We can choose to give up to despair or give in to hope.

Each day, we get to choose what our attitude will be about the the things we’ll face. Each day, we get to choose blessing or cursing, life or death (Deuteronomy 30:19). When we choose life, it’s so much easier to maintain hope because we are depending on One greater than us, Jesus, to supply what we need and the blessings we desire. We are then empowered through Him to continually look with great expectancy for good things to come our way.

Here’s a word of encouragement from John Maxwell that I’m sure will help you toward maintaining a hope-filled focus.

Pray This

Posted on by Evangeline

As a follow up to Tuesday’s post:

Image from Facebook/ Godly Woman Daily
Image from Facebook/ Godly Woman Daily
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

An Affirmation

Posted on by Evangeline

From an old hymn of the church, comes a wonderful affirmation to not only sing but to whisper to ourselves throughout the day. It reminds me of John 15:5 when Jesus said, “I am the vine, you [are] the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.”

This song was written by Annie S. Hawes and Robert Lowry:

I need Thee,

O I need Thee.

Every hour I need Thee;

O bless me now my Savior.

I come to Thee.

A Blessing For You

Posted on by Evangeline

In Genesis 24:60, Rebekah’s family spoke a blessing over her as she was leaving their household to be married to Isaac. It’s a lesson in the power of the blessing. Her family had no idea that she would later face a struggle with infertility [Genesis 25:21]. But the blessing they spoke  her was irreversible. Those words put something into motion on her behalf that would not be thwarted. She did indeed give birth…to twins!

God’s blessing is the same way. Once He speaks it, it’s a done deal. Job 42:2 (Amplified Bible) states, “I know that You can do all things, and that no thought or purpose of Yours can be restrained or thwarted.”

So trust that the blessing of the Lord is for you. Speak the blessing of the womb that was spoken over Rebekah for yourself. Meditate on it daily as Truth, as YOUR truth from God. Find other scriptures that support that blessing and believe that what the mouth of the Lord has spoken shall indeed come to pass in your life.

Be blessed…

“And they blessed Rebekah and said to her, You are our sister; may you become the mother of thousands of ten thousands, and let your posterity possess the gate of their enemies.” Genesis 24:60