Tag: faith

build your faith

Sticky Note Thought–Use Your Senses to Build Your Faith

Posted on by Evangeline

Use your senses to build your faith??? I know, it sounds counterintuitive. But maybe it’s time to #StartAsking God how to do that!

We’re told to walk by faith, not by sight. We’re not to let the negativity that we experience through our senses  affect how we experience God’s love. Our senses tend to distract us and color our belief in His capability, power, and willingness. Faith involves rising above what we see, hear, feel, taste, and smell with our senses and living with a belief that something better has been done/given to us by God.

So what do I mean by “use your senses to build your faith”?

Use your sight to read God’s Word and see your answer in His promises.
[2 Corinthians 1:20]

Use your hearing to listen to God’s Word repeatedly.
[Romans 10:17]

Use your mouth to speak life to your life, speaking the promises of God.
[Joshua 1:8]

Use your sense of smell to enjoy a fragrance during your daily prayer time with Him.
[Revelation 8:3,4]

Use your hands to touch someone else’s life and provide the practical help they need.
[Proverbs 31:20]

These sensory activities each help to build your faith because you’re not distracted by what your senses are telling you about any problems you’re facing. You’re actually directing your senses to help you focus on God, your loving Heavenly Father. When you do these things, there’s a powerful spiritual result. Your spirit–your inner man–has taken charge over your flesh (the natural you). That’s as it should be. Your flesh should be subject to your spirit, because your spirit is the part of you that connects with God.

Be encouraged! Your spirit was created to rule– to tell your senses how they can honor God. He’s the One who is the source of your answer to any problem in life. And the best way to honor and please Him is with your faith (Hebrews 11:6).

 

Original image by Boykung|FreeDigitalPhotos

Monday’s Marinade :: Your True Source

Posted on by Evangeline

We all tend to look in a lot of different directions for the source of something good we’d like to have.

Today, start your week by meditating about how God is the unfailing Source of everything that is good.

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.  Repeatedly think about this and quietly say it to yourself.  Marinate and season your week with hope and a confident expectation of good things happening!

Here’s your spiritual marinade to remember your true source:

Monday's Marinade Ps 37-7

How to Mix Expectancy with Your Faith

Posted on by Evangeline

Faith in God is required to live a life filled with His love and His blessings. Faith in Him means we believe He exists and that what He says is what will be. The more we focus on Him and believe in what He has said in His Word, the more we change how we think.

But simply believing is not enough. We must mix expectancy with our faith. We must expect that God will do what He said He will do. Expecting God to come through on our behalf means that  we trust what He has promised. And when we trust His integrity about His promises, we  can live anticipating that His promises will be manifested. What is that expectation called? Hope.

hope - H.O.P.E.

Hope is having positive, confident expectations. Hope is vital!

Live everyday expecting good to come your way.

Look forward and anticipate God’s wonderful promises being manifested in your life. Psalm 7:13 encourages us to do so:

“What would have become of me if I had not believed to see the goodness of the Lord?”

“…believed to see.” That’s expectation. Notice the order of the words– it’s not see to believe, it’s believed to see. Believing with expectation comes first and then seeing/manifestation comes afterward. Expectation is a high level of confidence that something will happen, in this case, that the goodness of God will be manifested. Instead of having a fearful attitude about your life’s circumstances, maintain an expectant mental attitude when it comes to what you desire to receive from God. It’s always helpful to focus on Jesus’ love and integrity and not allow fear to diminish your hope.

When you pray, do you expect to receive what you’ve requested from God? Expectancy should be mixed with your faith. Not only are you asking God to do something that He has already promised in His Word, you are also mixing expectancy with your faith in His promises. You do so by looking forward to the fulfillment of the promises and by acting as if that fulfillment will occur.

I once read a story of a little boy whose town had been experiencing drought conditions for quite some time. He asked his mother if they could pray together and ask God for rain. She did so willingly, excited that her son wanted to Faith and Expectancy - umbrella and raincommunicate with and trust God. Later that day, as they left home to run errands, the little boy walked out of the house with an umbrella. His mother asked him why he was taking  an umbrella when there was not a cloud in the sky. He replied, ” Because we asked God for rain.” He expected God to answer his prayer!

When you pray using God’s Word, having faith in His promises, walk away from that time spent with God expecting Him to come through on your behalf. Do so even if it means expecting Him to make a way where there seems to be no way.

The Bible is clear, nothing is impossible with God! What good thing will you expect God to do on your behalf today?

Focus Friday – Difficult Days and Faith

Posted on by Evangeline

Have faith today, even if it’s a difficult day.

Don’t worry about tomorrow, just have faith for TODAY. No matter how difficult today may seem, have confidence that God loves you and that all will be well because He is right there with you.

For God has said, 
“I will never fail you.
I will never abandon you.”

Hebrews 13:5

Will you acknowledge His presence, have faith in Him, and focus on His love for YOU today?

 

Difficult days and faith

You Talkin’ to Me?

Posted on by Evangeline

  The problem that you’re facing right  now may seem like a tough guy that won’t go down easily. You may feel overwhelmed, like there’s no hope of victory. But have you considered the account of David and Goliath? David spoke with confidence, telling the giant that he was “going down” because he was approaching Goliath in the unquestionable and unbeatable authority of the God of Israel. Have you read about the event where Jesus spoke to a tree and it shriveled up at its roots (Mark 11:12-21)? Jesus told that tree that its deception would not be tolerated. Perhaps the details of the battle between Israel and the Amorites (Joshua 10:12) will encourage you—that’s where Joshua spoke to the sun, telling it to stand still. Amazing! The account of Jesus speaking to the storm is also a good reminder of how our words can be instruments of peace in our lives.

Whatever you’re facing today may seem hard to overcome. It may even feel like the situation is standing before you taunting you, saying, “You talkin’ to me?” But don’t be fooled! Jesus has told us that when we have faith in Him, even the thing that seems like an immovable mountain must move.

“I assure you: If anyone says to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him.”

Mark 11:23 HCSB

Be encouraged! Turn the tables on your tough situation and become tough in the face of the mounting evidence that seems insurmountable. Be swayed not by what you see or what you are experiencing, but only by what God has promised. Faith speaks. Keep speaking God’s Word to your circumstances. His words, spoken through your mouth in faith and acted upon with confidence, will always work to fulfill His good plan.

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.

 

Focus Friday – It Takes a REAL Act of Faith

Posted on by Evangeline

Faith is believing God’s words.

Having faith in God’s promises means you allow the words in His promises to become influencers of how you think and act.

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 your circumstances because God’s Word is Truth. Act like it is your truth.

Real Act of Faith

iHope Infertility Teleseminar

Posted on by Evangeline

iHope Fertility Game Plan Teleseminar

 

Does the despair and stress of infertility make it difficult for you to maintain hope while you wait for your breakthrough to have a baby? Has it become an all-consuming thing in your life? Is infertility robbing you of your peace of mind?

If you’ve been encouraged by my book, A Seed of Hope: God’s Promises of Fertility, you know that I overcame infertility and I believe God is faithful to His promises, especially the ones related to fertility.

On Saturday, 9/13/14, I will host a teleseminar for women struggling with infertility. You can access this infertility teleseminar simply by using your phone. During the call, I’m excited to share with you a fertility game plan that will help you to effectively address the spiritual aspect of infertility. I hope you’ll join me for this time of encouragement and prayer. Your access to the call is FREE.

This call will help you learn crucial strategies to:

  • Transform your despair into hope
  • Release your stress
  • Know God’s Truth as your truth
  • Activate your faith

Get access to this free call HERE.

Infertility's roller coaster
Are you riding infertility’s roller coaster?

If you’re tired of being on the drops, curves, and loops of infertility’s emotional roller coaster, this call is for you.

If you’re feeling like God has forgotten you, this call is for you.

If you’re about to give up on God coming through for you, this call is for you.

If you’re walking strong in your faith, but need a little pep added to your step, this call is for you.

 

 

I’m looking forward to sharing with you some very simple and easy, yet crucial keys that can help you if you put them into action.

Join me on the call; it’s absolutely FREE.

One more thing, would you please share this post with friends who are in this season of infertility? Let’s encourage as many people as we can!

Here’s where you’ll get the call’s access details.

Focus Friday-Faith

Posted on by Evangeline

Focus on this scripture throughout the day.

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!

Stand Firm in Your Faith

 

Focus Friday-Believe

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!

Evangeline Colbert Focus Friday Affirmation