Tag: confidence

Expect the Unexpected!

Posted on by Evangeline

I recently received an email from a reader of my book, A Seed of Hope: God’s Promises of Fertility. She gave me a bit of exciting news.

She’s pregnant! YEA!!!

What Should I Expect?

I’ve been sharing my thoughts through this blog for 3 years and I’m still surprised when I get a note like hers.

But why am I surprised? Shouldn’t I EXPECT to receive news like that on a regular basis? If I’m praying that someone receive the gift of a child from God, shouldn’t I expect that it will happen? Should I anticipate and look for it to happen?

According to 2 Corinthians 5:21, I should.

“For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God.”

2 Corinthians 1:20 NIV

God’s answers to His promises are a  resounding “YES” in Christ because Jesus has done absolutely everything for us to be able to receive the promise. He has made us righteous so we can stand before the Father with no shame and no self-condemnation, having only an expectation of good. He took every punishment that was meant to come our way so that we could take every blessing that was meant to come His way. He did it all because He valued us above His own life.

Jesus did everything it takes for us to experience and enjoy every promise the Father made. That’s why we can confidently expect good gifts and perfect gifts to come our way as we put our faith in His promises.

 

What are you praying for today? If it’s based on the promises of God, are you EXPECTING it to happen?

 

 

Image courtesy of vectorgirl-fotolia.com

Confidence Boosters

Posted on by Evangeline

SONY DSC

 

How’s your confidence in God today? Is it higher than it’s ever been?

Are you finding it to be easy to trust that His promises are true for your life?

Or are you needing something to boost your confidence in His love for you as you struggle through infertility?

The best thing I’ve found that builds my confidence in God is — wait for it — God’s Word. Does that surprise you? The Bible tells us that everything we need in life can be found in God’s Word, we just have to search the Scriptures for the promise that applies to our specific situation.

“By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know Him.” 2 Peter 1:3 NLT

We come to “know Him,” as that verse points out, by reading the Bible, relying on the Holy Spirit to help us understand the Word and how to apply it to our lives.

Here are a few scriptures that should build your confidence in God. I pray that as you read them and say them to yourself out loud (because faith comes by hearing – Rom 10:17),  you’ll be empowered to rely on Him even more than you do now.

“You love them as much as You love Me.”  John 17:23

For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God. 2 Corinthians 1:20 NIV

The LORD replied, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” Exodus 33:14 NIV

So do not throw away this confident trust in the Lord. Remember the great reward it brings you!” Hebrews 10:35 NLT

Confidence Collage.jpg

 

Focus Friday

Posted on by Evangeline

Focus on this 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!

Psalm 100-5 by Tanatat.jpg

Focus Friday

Posted on by Evangeline

Focus on this 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!

Rest

March Madness 2014

Posted on by Evangeline

March Madness 2014Have you gotten caught up in the Madness? Did you do a bracket hoping to win the $1,000,000,000 contest?

There are only 16 teams left to play for the college basketball championship so I thought I’d share this previous March Madness post with you.

 

I enjoy watching basketball games. It was especially fun to watch when my 2 sons played at the YMCA and later for their high school teams. Whenever the college basketball tournament, known as March Madness, rolls around, I get excited. At the very beginning of the 3-week tournament, I print out the bracket sheet that shows all the team match-ups. I like to use it to predict (more like guess!) who’ll be the winner of each game and the overall champion at the end. It’s fun, especially when my husband and children develop their own bracket sheet to predict winners because we can compare who made the best guesses as the tournament progresses. Of course, whatever we predict at the beginning does not have to necessarily come to pass by the end of the tournament.

This is slightly similar to how God does things. He declares the end of things from the very beginning, except of course, what He says ALWAYS comes to pass, it is not a guess. Isaiah 46:9, 10 states, “For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me; declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, And I will do all My pleasure.'”

I’m grateful we can count on God’s ability to always perform what He has promised. His words are power-filled and He has spoken so that we can experience his best. His faithfulness is truly a blessing for which to be thankful because He has made a way, through Jesus, for every believer to be a champion in life by maintaining confidence in His promises and predictions.

What promises of God do you declare and count on Him to perform on your behalf?

 

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

Background image by nuttakit | FreeDigitalPhotos
Background image by nuttakit | FreeDigitalPhotos

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!

“So the promise is received by faith. It is given as a free gift. And we are all certain to receive it, whether or not we live according to the law of Moses, if we have faith like Abraham’s. For Abraham is the father of all who believe.” ~ Romans 4:16 (NLT)

Believe (Fall colors)

Infertility and Your Mind

Posted on by Evangeline

Infertility can play tricks on your mind.

It can make you entertain thoughts and feelings that reduce your confidence in God and your self-esteem to nearly nothing. Here’s a tip to help you avoid or get out of that pit of despair:

Practice—on purpose—replacing those negative thoughts with positive thoughts.

(See Philippians 4:8 and 2 Corinthians 10:3-5)

Here’s a wonderful reminder that in Christ you are deeply loved, fully accepted, highly valued, and not forgotten.

Image courtesy of A Coffee Break with God
Image courtesy of A Coffee Break with God

Yes, No, Maybe, Wait

Posted on by Evangeline
Image courtesy of Stuart Miles / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Image courtesy of Stuart Miles / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Do you have confidence in anyone who tells you to have faith in them to do something for you and then they tell you, “No.”? I find it hard to trust people who have been that way with me.

What about you? Do you trust people who seem to be hesitant in following through on what they’ve promised?

I’ve heard many people say that “Yes, No, Maybe, and Wait” are the answers God gives to His promises and our prayers. I respectfully disagree.  I think that way of thinking opens the door to being in a position of doubt. If we are praying/asking for and believing the promises of God, then we should not make room for doubt or any wavering in our faith.

I know that doing so can be difficult when we are faced with seemingly insurmountable challenges. But that is why we are instructed to “look to Jesus.”  To look to His love. To look to His complete and perfect once-and-for-all sacrificial work on the cross. To look to His life-source—His word.

God’s promises and His will are His Word. His word is His bond. He sticks to it and does not “flip-flop” in His position of faithfulness. That’s why we can be encouraged to not “flip-flop” in our faith and trust in Him and His answers.

We are reassured that God’s Word is trustworthy and that the answers to His promises to us are “Yes”  in 2Corinthians 1:19-20 (ESV) — “For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, whom we proclaimed among you, Silvanus and Timothy and I, was not Yes and No, but in him it is always Yes. For all the promises of God find their Yes in him (Jesus). That is why it is through Him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory,” (emphasis mine).

First John 5:14-15 tells us we can have confidence in God if we know His will and ask accordingly. Again, His will is his Word.

14- “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. ” (NIV)

15- “And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.” (ESV)

How do you boost and maintain your confidence that God will answer your prayers which are based on His Word/His promises? Do you have a firm belief that He hears you and answers His promises with “Yes”?

Here’s a book that I found very helpful on this topic:

What to Do When Faith Seems Weak and Victory Lost by Kenneth E. Hagin Hagin book

Day 3 of 7 Days of Joy

Posted on by Evangeline
Original image by johanna muhlbauer/ fotolia.com
Original image by johanna muhlbauer/ fotolia.com