Tag: Jesus

Big Believing in 2014

Posted on by Evangeline

“In Your strength I can crush an army; with my God I can scale any wall. God is my strength and power, and He makes my way perfect.” 2 Samuel 22:30, 33

“…God, who is able, through His mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.” Ephesians 3:20
 
Image courtesy of Stuart Miles / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Image courtesy of Stuart Miles / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Happy New Year!! We’ve made it to 2014! Let’s celebrate by believing BIG this year!

Do you believe those verses of scripture are true for you?

Will that take some “big believing” on your part in 2014?

I encourage you to adopt this viewpoint–of God being with you, accompanying you in all that you do, loving you every minute of each day. Then you will see how, through His strength, you’ll be able to overcome challenges. Through His love, you’ll be able to love the unloveable.Through His guidance, your path will be secure. Through His power, you’ll experience more good than you could ask or think.

I pray that you’ll choose to wrap yourself in Jesus’ love and believe big in 2014 so that you’ll crush the opposition, jump over any obstacle, experience peace along your way, and enjoy the miraculous!

Who Dat?

Posted on by Evangeline
Image courtesy of by Jeroen van Oostrom / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Image courtesy of by Jeroen van Oostrom / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

 

No, this post is not about the New Orleans Saints and the Who Dat Nation. It’s about deciding where your focus will be in 2014.

If Jesus appeared in your living room today, would you recognize Him or would you have to say, “Who dat?” If He showed up at your place of employment, would you have to say, “Who dat?”

Make a decision today, 12/31/2013, that no matter what challenges lie ahead, your focus will be on Jesus and all His goodness, strength, and unconditional love for you. Then, when He appears, you won’t have to say, “Who dat?” You’ll know Him for sure and you’ll enjoy the favor, wisdom, and peace that only His presence can give you.

Focus on the presence of the Champion. That will be the best decision you’ll ever make as you plan for advancement in 2014 and beyond!

“We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. ”

Hebrews 12:2 (NLT)

Focus Friday

Posted on by Evangeline
Image courtesy of Dan / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Image courtesy of Dan / 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!

“For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves.” Colossians 1:13 (NIV)

Focus Friday

Posted on by Evangeline

Success Habits

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!

“Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it: for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have GOOD success.”

Joshua 1:8 [Paraphrased from NIV and KJV] (emphasis mine)

Celebration Time

Posted on by Evangeline
Salvatore Vuono/ FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Salvatore Vuono/ FreeDigitalPhotos.net

I’m learning how to celebrate the little things in life.

I’m learning how to pause and enjoy the moment of an accomplishment.

The accomplishment I’m celebrating today is, drum roll please… having posted 200 times on this blog site! Woo Hoo!

Thank you for being here. I’m thankful for all your comments, votes, prayers, and suggestions over the past two years. I hope you have enjoyed reading my thoughts, gotten encouraged, gleaned much from the Word of God, and seen how life can be positively transformed when you’re focused on Jesus.

Over the next 200+ posts, I pray that you’ll continue to be inspired to live life with a hope-filled focus. Tell a friend to join you here so you can share encouragement with one another.

How do you take time to celebrate the small successes of life?

JOY1- rainbow people by vectorgirl -Fotolia

www.EvangelineColbert.com

Day 5 of 7 Days of Joy

Posted on by Evangeline

Experience joy even in the midst of difficult circumstances. Be empowered by focusing on the One who can change your circumstances.

joyoftheLord jpg

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

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.

5 MORE Bible Verses Every Infertile Woman Needs to Know

Posted on by Evangeline

Sunset CloudsI paused as I wrote the title of this blog, wondering if I should give it a different title. As a big proponent of making sure that the words you speak about yourself are positive, typing “Infertile Woman” in my title gave me pause. The Bible tells us that the words we speak (and the labels we attach to ourselves) carry the power of life or death (Proverbs 18:21).

If you are struggling with infertility, do you label yourself as “an infertile woman?” I think we need to come up with some other label that designates you as a someone who is filled with hope for becoming a mother, not someone who dooms herself to endure barrenness.  Got any suggestions? I’d love to hear about them. Please put them in the comments section below.

Back to the Bible verses. I wrote a post in February listing five verses that would be helpful in developing or maintaining hope for having a child. Here are five more that should be helpful:

John 17:23 (NLT)- “…you love them as much as you love me [Jesus]”

Lamentations 3:26 (NKJV)- “It is good that one should hope and wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.”

Hebrews 13: 5 (NLT)- “For God has said, “I will never fail you. I will never abandon you.”

1 John 5:4 (NLT)- “For every child of God defeats this evil world, and we achieve this victory through our faith.”

1 John 5:14, 15 (NIV)- “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.  

What other bible verses do you depend on to give you hope? Please share them below.

The Authority of a Little Yellow Flag

Posted on by Evangeline

This post is from a friend, Keith Rogers, who enjoys teaching about our authority in Christ. Thanks Keith for helping us SEE our authority.

Image courtesy of arkorn / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Image courtesy of arkorn / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Not long ago, I heard a good analogy of what spiritual warfare is all about. Picture an NFL football field. On each side of the ball, there are 11 guys who are in perfect condition. They’re some of the strongest and fastest people on the planet and few, if any, can stop them.

Ah, but there are some weaker people out there on the field. These guys are slower, not nearly as strong, and quite a bit smaller. But they have a whistle and a yellow flag, and all they need to do to control those big strong men is to simply throw that flag or blow that whistle.

These people, the referees, have little power on their own. But the power they do have comes from the NFL, and that makes all the difference on the field.

In the same way, you and I may have little power on our own against the dark enemies of the invisible world. But the power we do have comes from another source:  Jesus. And on the spiritual battleground, that power is what makes all the difference.

In Christ, you fight not for victory, but from victory. Because of that, you have every bit of authority you need to defeat the enemy at every turn!

 “Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you.” Luke 10:19

 IN CHRIST, YOU’RE FIGHTING THE ENEMY WITH ALL THE AUTHORITY YOU NEED.

LIVE IN VICTORY BECAUSE OF THAT WONDERFUL TRUTH!