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!
“You have granted me life and steadfast love, and your care has preserved my spirit.” Job 10:12 (ESV)
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!
“For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.” ~John 3:17 (NIV)
Sometimes, during the struggle, it’s hard to see God’s love. BUT…
God IS Love and He, like the father of the prodigal son will always be eager to run to us, no matter the barriers that have kept us at a distance. He has already done everything necessary, through Jesus, to remove ALL the barriers so that we can rest in His love. Today, continuously choose to rest in Him because He continuously seeks to impart His love to you, in you, and all around you.
“Love recognizes no barriers. It jumps hurdles, leaps fences, penetrates walls to arrive at it’s destination full of hope.” –Maya Angelou
God’s love is the BEST! There is nothing that compares to His love for us. Even as we attempt to show our love in return to Him, it does not begin to reach the height, depth, and breadth of His inexhaustible love .
Here are some good reminders:
Ephesians 3:17-19-“Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.” [NLT]
John 17:23-“I am in them and you are in me. May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me.” [NLT]
Romans 5:8-“But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.” [NLT]
How will you enjoy and bask in His love for YOU today?
Winter is usually not too cold in central Arizona. But this year’s winter has been decidedly different. Most of the plants in our front yard took a hard hit from below-freezing temperatures a few weeks ago. Take a look at this 7 foot tall victim:
If you look near the bottom of this plant, you can see that it had been a large and rather lush green bush before the freeze. But now, because it did not have what it takes inside the bush to keep it from reacting to the extremely cold desert temperatures, it appears to be close to death. Major pruning will be required to bring it back to its once verdant and healthy state.
But just 10 feet away, in the same freezing temperatures, sat this pot of flowers:
These flowers emerged victorious! They weathered the storm VERY well—something inside of them kept them strong and almost non-reactive to the harsh circumstances.
Our lives can be the same way. We can weather the storms of life and come out damaged, messed up and not having anything that looks appealing about us. BUT, if we have something inside of us, or should I say Someone inside of us, we can weather the storms of life and come out victorious, looking unscathed and healthy, like these flowers did. We can continue flourishing and give others joy through the beauty within us.
We’re blessed to have a God and Savior who loves us and puts His Holy Spirit in us to aid us in all our times of need. It is He who enables us to weather the storm and yet flourish so that others will see that His exceptional love, attention, and grace are just what they need in their lives.
Matthew 16:13 tells us of the time when Jesus had a discussion with His disciples about their beliefs and how they verbally expressed those beliefs. The scripture reads, “When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?” Some disciples only said what they had heard other people say. But when Peter answered that Jesus was the Son of God, the Anointed One, Jesus applauded him. Peter had let the right words come out of his mouth!
If you’re dealing with infertility right now, who do you say Jesus is in your situation? Would you say He’s not listening or that He’s a distant, unwilling healer? Would you say He’s being judgmental and imposing infertility on you as a punishment? Well, this may sound weird but, I want to encourage you to say that He is your “fertilizer”.
Hold on…I’m not being disrespectful to His divinity. I am honoring His ability to be whatever you need in the moment of your need. If your womb has been declared infertile by doctors, then why not make your own declaration that Jesus is the one Who can make it fertile? In fact, because of His complete work on the cross on our behalf, He has already addressed this issue [2Peter 2:24] and made complete healing available for you to receive! He really is the Fertilizer of your womb.
Believe in His love for you.
Look to Him to fulfill every need you have.
Trust in His grace and favor that He pours out for you.
Let the right words come out of your mouth by declaring that Jesus is whatever you need Him to be!
Will you believe and say that He is your Fertilizer?
For the last 6 weeks I’ve been teaching at my church about God’s Favor in our lives. It has been a transformative time as I have learned more about being accepted by God purely by what Jesus did on the cross and not by my efforts/works. Here’s one of the props I’ve used in the class:
I know, it looks ridiculous, but when God gave me the idea, I knew it would be effective in getting this point across…
Did you know that God is “cross-eyed?” He sees the believer only through the finished work of Jesus on the cross.What Jesus did on that cross on our behalf was so important. At the cross is where He established our value to Him. It’s where we find assurance of both His love and His desire to bless us with His unearned favor/grace.
Do you know how God sees YOU? Well, He’s “cross-eyed” all the time so when He looks at you, He ‘s still looking through the lens or filter of the cross. No matter what you’ve done or are doing at this moment, if you’re a believer in Jesus, God’s viewpoint of you is always through Jesus’ shed blood and complete work on the cross. That’s why He can love you unconditionally, the same way He loves Jesus (John 17:23), because He sees you clothed in Jesus’ righteousness, fully and eternally cleansed of any sin because of His sacrifice on the cross.
God’s blessing, healing, delivering and prospering believers is all because of Jesus’ perfect obedience/efforts/work at the cross. There’s nothing we can do to earn His love and there’s nothing we can do to lose it. As the old hymn goes, “Jesus paid it all!”
Being loved by a “cross-eyed” God is the best way to be loved! Can you think of any better way to be loved?
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If you’d like to study more about Jesus’ finished work and His favor to us, our resource text for the class has been Unmerited Favor by Joseph Prince. I highly recommend it!
Some scriptures to encourage you:
“And so, Lord, where do I put my hope? My only hope is in you.” Psalm 39:7 NLT
“I wait for you, O LORD; you will answer, O Lord my God.” Psalm 38:15 NIV
“And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.” Romans 5:5 NLT
Please watch this 30 second video and be encouraged to keep hope alive during this struggle with infertility.
Here are some of my thoughts based on John Maxwell’s video on being GRATEFUL:
I choose to celebrate that God loves me and blesses me, even when circumstances around me are teeming with reasons to not be grateful!
KEEP AN ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE!
You can view John Maxwell’s video here: http://johnmaxwellteam.com/grateful/
Pity parties only happen in the pit of despair. I hate it when I stumble into that pit.
The only way I know to shut down the pity party is to focus on the goodness of God, praise Him for all He has done for me and remind myself that He constantly and intently loves me.
Psalm 40:1-3 NLT
I waited patiently for the LORD to help me, and he turned to me and heard my cry.
He lifted me out of the pit of despair, out of the mud and the mire. He set my feet on solid ground and steadied me as I walked along.
He has given me a new song to sing, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see what he has done and be amazed. They will put their trust in the LORD.