Author: Evangeline

PREPARE for Your Miracle! Here are 7 Helpful Tips

When I worked in a corporate setting, I always tried to be prepared for any situation I found myself in– especially in meetings with my boss and other managers. Even though I couldn’t have been prepared for a season of infertility, I look back on that time knowing that a level of preparedness and expectancy were indeed possible. Not for the infertility itself, but in how to deal with negative situations that arise in life. There’s a framework that can be utilized that incorporates the power of God’s Word.

Now, many years after being done with working for others, I still am wanting to be prepared for challenges that come up in my personal life. And I continue to find that my best method of getting prepared is to consistently go to God’s Word and look for His promises that are applicable to my specific situation.

When you’re in need of a miracle, it’s always good to have a heightened level of expectancy. Expect that miracle! One of the ways to increase expectancy is to PREPARE your mind and heart for that desire/miracle to come to fruition.

7 Tips – P.R.E.P.A.R.E.

As you prepare your heart and mind, here are seven tips to consider:

Praise God in advance. Even before you see the manifestation, assure yourself of His goodness and His willingness to do good for you. Be grateful and tell Him “Thank You” that He has already made a way.

Renew your mind to the truth and power of His Word as it relates to healing, finances, relationships, etc.

Expect God to be faithful and to do what He said. He always keeps His promises. Visualize what you find that His Word says about your circumstances. PREPARE by waiting with faith and patience.

Post His promises where you can see them in your everyday environment. Doing so will help you include His faith-words in your prayers so that you can be more specific in your requests to Him.

Advance toward the miracle by consistently doing small things that align with it. Align your everyday conversational words with the promises in His Word. Confidently speak the powerful name of Jesus to your circumstances.

Repeat God’s promises aloud. Hearing them builds your faith and it continues to point your faith to the miracle. Consider them your personal pep talk!

Expect/anticipate your miracle to manifest how God desires. Wait for it with gratitude in your heart and in your mouth.

WHETHER YOU’RE FACING INFERTILITY, A HEALTH CHALLENGE IN THE MIDST OF COVID-19, OR A STRESSFUL FINANCIAL CONDITION, you can continue to have an expectancy for good things to happen in your life.


Continue to look to Jesus– focus on His love for you.

PREPARE for His greatness to be revealed in your life!

No other gods are like You; only You work miracles.
-Psalm 86:8 CEV


Click here to discover more about how to prepare.

Love yourself

Loving Yourself Because of God’s Unending Love :: Dr. Monica Debro

Over the last couple of years, I’ve had the pleasure of getting to know Monica Debro through a Mastermind group for coaches that we’re members of.  She has a doctorate in Nursing. Every week, I get to see the compassion she has for others. She has a group that ministers to women on Facebook  called “Love Yourself to Life”. I believe one of the most influential things she does is to speak out on domestic abuse.

All of these factors are key in how she views life–that it should always be lived through the lens of God’s love. It’s an honor to have her share her wisdom here.


But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8

I remember being in high school and not liking myself, let alone loving myself. As a teenager I wanted to fit in and be liked by others. Developing friendships was important to me because I thought it would bring value to my teenage life and help me to like myself even more. Well, I graduated high school, still not liking myself much and my actions definitely didn’t show love for self.

Fast forward to my adult years, I’d learned to like myself and if I can be honest, it was mostly because of my accomplishment of becoming a nurse. Little did I know that I still hadn’t learned to love myself. It wasn’t even a thought of consideration and definitely didn’t take up space in my heart’s desires. How could it? There was no thought of loving myself and embracing the second half of the scripture ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ Mark 12:31 NIV. It was easy to love my neighbor and doing for others. However, the “as yourself” part took years to become activated in my life.

My Journey of Love and Self-Discovery

For me to emerge from darkness into His light, I had to make necessary, specific, dedicated, and realistic actions daily.

  • Submerging myself in God’s Word
  • Spending quality quiet time with God
  • Writing scriptures on index cards and reading them daily.
    • This especially helped during moments when Satan was badgering my thoughts.
    • I keep handwritten index scripture cards by my bed to read every night.
  • Reading daily devotionals and affirmations out loud over myself every day
    • Remember, the devil flees at the name of Jesus, so we must speak His name and His Word for Satan to flee.
  • Praise and Worship music
  • Paying attention to my environment, what I listen to and the conversations that I have with others.
  • There were days that I shut off television and social media because I needed to focus on my healing.

Loving myself has been a journey of pain, forgiveness, healing, and restoration. It also involved remembering unhappy times that I’d suppressed deep in my memory. Why was this necessary? God had to uproot what was holding me hostage and not allowing me to see myself as the woman He created me to be. He needed to awaken my inner being to understand the value in loving myself unconditionally. I couldn’t be bound to past sins that had unknowingly been preventing me from embracing Romans 5:8 and God’s unending love for me.

Scriptures for Loving Yourself

God took me on a journey of self-discovery and healing. Through His Word, I discovered who I am in Him and what I can have through Him. Guess what? So can you!  Are you ready to go on a short, not all-inclusive journey of self-discovery? Trust me, there is much more to who God says we are than what I’ve listed below for us.

  • Fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:4)
  • More than a conquer (Romans 8:37)
  • Forgiven (Colossians 3:13)
  • Saved through faith (Ephesians 2:8)
  • Have power, love, and a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7)
  • I have perfect peace (Isaiah 26:3)
  • A light of the world (Matthew 5:14)
  • I AM A Proverbs 31 Woman!

God’s unending love helps me to believe His Word. It helps me to embrace Proverbs 31 even when I go astray from the characteristics of this woman. Reality check! We all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). So, do I miss the mark sometimes? Absolutely. And if you’re truthful with yourself, you do too. But as the open scripture says, “While we were still sinners, Christ dies for us.” He knew that we would need saving. He knew that a demonstrating of his unending love by sending His Son Jesus would help us to learn to embrace self-love and truly, authentically love who He created us to be.

An Action Plan for Loving Yourself

  • Quiet yourself and your environment for a few minutes. Close your eyes and take a few deep breaths. Calm your thoughts before we shift to the action plan.
  • Identify where you are struggling to embrace God’s love and desires for your life?
  • What is the root cause of the difficulty in believing who God says that you are and what you can do/be?
  • Is there someone you need to forgive, or do you need to forgive yourself in order to love yourself because of God’s unending love for you?
  • Take some time to reflect on these questions. Then write out your best realistic action plan to begin healing in whatever areas is holding you bound. Why? Because You Are WORTH IT!

Along your journey of self-discovery, remember that you are worthy of love and forgiveness. Remember to forgive yourself in the process because God forgave you a long time ago.


Monica DebroDr. Monica Debro, DNP, MSN, RN

Dr. Monica Debro, owner of Love Yourself to Life™, is a leader who is transforming the lives of women through inspirational writings, events, and speaking engagements. She is the host and keynote speaker for The Elephant in the Room and the Love Yourself to Life™ conferences. Dr. Debro also hosts the Always Wear Your Tiara™ event in which women have received intimate breakthroughs in their personal and professional lives.

As a practicing Nurse Educator and Life Coach, Dr. Debro engages in life-changing conversations and action plans to help women embrace the essence of who they are and not allow the past to interfere with their future.  Being transparent allows her to be influential in helping others identify current concerns and develop specific and realistic action steps to heal from their past and reach their goals.

Dr. Debro is a member of the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence and has been a guest speaker at several domestic violence and community violence awareness conferences. She is the author of Broken Believer No More and Love Yourself to Life. Broken Believer No More has received recognition at the Los Angeles and New York book festivals. Dr. Debro is also a co-author in Grace to Recover: How to Divorce Hurt, Addiction, and OVERCOME Trials with the Power of a Loving God.

 

Monica Debro

Bouncing Back from a Year of Grief and Loss :: Kendra Tillman

Kendra and I met roughly ten years ago at an event for small business owners. We’ve remained connected as friends, sisters in Christ, and fellow life coaches over that time. It’s my pleasure to share her words of encouragement about bouncing back from grief and loss so that you benefit from her wisdom.


“Grief work: a process of confronting a life where you expect one thing and get another,
a life that brings you the unexpected and unanticipated.” ~ Edith Eger

The above quote is from clinical psychologist and a holocaust survivor, Edith Eger’s book, The Gift: 12 Life Lessons to Save Your Life. The Gift  is about the healing work necessary to be free from the prisons of the mind. The quote is in the chapter on unresolved grief and it’s her definition of grief work. 

Is there any better description of the last 12 months?

HOPE for 2021

Our hope of a new year was especially high for 2021, because grief and loss defined 2020 for so many. There were multiple battles we weren’t prepared to fight. Some loomed larger than others. Some lasted for days and others for months. 

Even still, we can be confident of this: God didn’t leave us helpless!

I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord. Psalm 27:13,14

In His mercy we were given the secret weapon of resilience. Resilience is a determination to thrive despite what we’re going through. It keeps disappointment, anger, and exhaustion from derailing our best plans and is solidified through a life of dependence on God’s grace, His wisdom, His truth and His love. 

We weren’t promised a pressure-free life. In fact, resilience is built through the pressures of life. When life is weighing heavy on us, we need the power of the Holy Spirit to anchor our souls and renew our minds by setting, then forgetting and meditating.

Setting our minds on things above. Colossians 3:2

Bouncing Back

We need the power of the Holy Spirit to help us set our minds on a God who is greater than what we have faced, what we are facing and what we will face.

Forgetting things that are behind and stretching towards the prize of God’s high calling. Philippians 3:13

When we are seeking to renew our minds about our circumstances, depending on how traumatic the situation, we may wonder how can I forget what happened?  By “forgetting” I mean shifting our focus from what happened to the One who can help us release the guilt, shame and worry of our circumstances. 

We then move our attention to rehearsing or meditating in our minds what is possible by God’s grace. 

Meditating on things that are true, pure and of a good report are all the ways God encourages us to think right thoughts. Philippians 4:8

Set, Forget, Meditate

When we spend time setting, then forgetting, and then meditating on what God reveals about Himself and His promises, we take on the mind of Christ. A mind that is humble, confident, and assured of its purpose.

Journaling is an engaging method to set, forget, and meditate. 

In your journal, write the responses to the following:

What did you not anticipate happening last year that you must confront this year, in order to keep moving forward with peace and purpose? 

Set: What are one or two scripture promises that remind you of God’s faithfulness, regarding this loss?

Forget: If you’ve been tempted to let it define you or mentally punish yourself for a mistake connected to it, how will you release any guilt, shame or worry about it?

Meditate: Utilizing the scripture promises, write how you will respond to the pain when it tries to keep you stuck.

Bouncing back from a year of grief and loss requires us to confront the unexpected moments that left us wounded. The simple practice of set-forget-meditate can help us in this healing process.


Kendra Tillman Kendra Tillman is an executive leadership coach, a ministry leader, an author and podcaster. As the founder of StrongHer.me Coaching & Consulting, she provides strengths-based leadership training and digital content creation services for business and ministry leaders.

She hosts #WorkYourPlan with Kendra, a podcast centered on helping women reclaim their authentic voice and overcome fears (and other mental barriers) tempting them to second-guess their calling.

She is the author of You Are Stronger Than You Think: Lessons of Endurance in the Race of Faith as well as the STRONG Womanhood Growth Journal, a self directed guide for women who want to be active participants in their personal transformation.

When Kendra’s not working with women to achieve their most desired goals, her best days are spent with Daniel, her husband of 23 years and counting, and their three children and their dog in Gilbert, AZ.

 

greatest hits - together

Greatest Hits – Sources of Encouragement

Thank God, 2020 is DONE! It certainly brought its share of challenges. Many people, including myself, lost family members due to COVID-19. Numerous jobs were lost. Social turmoil filled the streets. People needed encouragement more than ever before!

I’m honored to say that 2020 had some high points for myself and iHope Coaching. Clients were lifted up to their potential and experienced victory in the midst of downturn. Women who are struggling with infertility took advantage of my fertility coaching. My new book, Conceived by Grace Pregnancy Journal was released. My co-author and I hosted an online fertility event that encouraged numerous women. I attribute this success to the support of amazing blog and newsletter subscribers like you.

Greatest Hits

If you recently discovered this website, you may have missed some of my popular articles posted in 2020. Here’s a list of my “Greatest Hits from 2020” in case you’d like to glean some hope from them:

When You Feel Like Giving Up

7 Actions You Can Take to Build Your Faith for Fertility

Moving On or Moving Forward?

My prayer is that 2021 will provide a lot of hope and peace for everyone as we recognize that we’re in this together.

How will you encourage yourself in 2021?

Greatest Hits – Sources of Encouragement Click To Tweet

Moving on or Moving Forward? Mariaelena Mwangi

Today, I’m excited to share what my dear sister-friend, Mariaelena Mwangi, has written from the heart about overcoming so many trials in her life. The grief of suffering miscarriages is one of the experiences she tells us about. But the wonderful result of each of her heart-wrenching encounters with grief is that she overcame and is choosing to live life victoriously with joy.


Are You Moving On or Moving Forward?

When someone said to me, “You need to move on”, the answer I wanted to give was, “So, why don’t I start moving on by punching you in the face?” But, that is not something a good Christian woman could say, at least not out loud (eye roll).

Recently, my son and I were talking about my weight journey.  He asked if I was a big girl in high school. When I thought about it, I answered, “Well, I thought I was, but I was about a size smaller than I am right now”. He then asked “So, when did you get big, Mom?”  When I really thought about it, it was after my first miscarriage at age 19.

Move on from Miscarriage?

I had just moved to Arizona from California so my fiancé and I could start our lives together. That didn’t work out so well and we called off our wedding. When I told him that I was pregnant, he said he could care less. I ended up alone and pregnant at age 19.  Then the miscarriage happened. I remember being so relieved that I lost that baby. I remember wanting it validated, wanting to hear the doctor tell me that I did in fact lose a baby. That that baby was gone.  I remember crying tears of sadness and yet utter relief.   

The doctor told me that no D&C was needed, that the baby was “complete”.  I asked, “What do I do now?” He said, “Your job is to move on.” I thought, “Ok, what the heck does that mean?” No counseling was offered, no pamphlet given, nothing!  Just for me to move on.  I did not know what grief was. I grew up in a family that mostly answered difficult issues with “Just give it to God.”  There was no one I could not talk to about how sad I was and I was confused about feeling glad that “the problem” was gone at the same time.   I did not have friends in Arizona yet, I had only lived here for 6 months.  My only friend that brought me comfort and was always there for me was FOOD!

Moving on from Violence?

In 2000 a friend of mine was murdered at work.  A man was waiting in the bushes to carjack someone and she pulled up in front of my car as I went for a last minute cigarette break that ended up saving my life.  Had it not been Sandy, it would have been me just a few moments later.  As I held her in my arms as she died, I remember thinking I was so glad it was not me but so sad it was her.  Again, no counseling, no talk of grief by anyone.  Plus, only people with “real” problems went to counseling.  As a Christian, I just needed to give it to God, whatever that meant. I stuffed the feelings away.

I remember a cousin asking me to go someplace and I declined.  She asked what was wrong with me.  I told her I was sad and scared to go out at night since Sandy’s death.  She said “Oh my God, that was like a month ago, you need to get over that and move on! She died, you didn’t.” I remember thinking, I must be going crazy!  What was wrong with me?  Why couldn’t I just move on? Food again was my constant, my friend who was always there for me. I stuffed the feelings away and my face with food.

Moving on from Endometriosis and Fear?

Three years later I met the man of my dreams, had gastric bypass surgery, and got married! I went from 315 lbs. to 165 lbs. and we started our Happily Ever After!  Or so we thought.  I could no longer eat my feelings since my stomach was now tiny due to the surgery. Even so, I still often overate and would be miserably sick in the bathroom. But hey!  I looked amazing!  We found out we were pregnant and I was finally living the dream.   That dream ended up a bloody mess on our bathroom floor.  Again, I was told to move on and just to keep trying for another one. They made it seem like that baby did not matter, just get another one! Simple right? More feelings/grief stuffed away.   After our next miscarriage, we were told we might not be able to have the family we wanted.  The endometriosis was not going to allow me to hold a baby to term.  More feelings stuffed away.

I was a complete failure as a woman, my only function different from my husbands was my ability to have a baby and I could not do that one thing!  More feelings stuffed away.  We did start the adoption process and found out we were pregnant again.  It was a traumatic, fear-based pregnancy. I was in and out of the hospital and ultimately on bed rest.  Our baby boy was born via emergency C-Section on July 4th. More feelings, fear and trauma stuffed away.   Just as I was getting my body back and blood levels normal again, we were blessed with our second baby boy on July 1st two years later, again by an emergency C-Section.  More feelings, fear and trauma stuffed away.   

Moving on from Widowhood?

Ken and familyKen and I had two amazing boys, a cute dog, and we drove a minivan.  Ok, now we were living the American dream, right?  We were about to celebrate our 13-year wedding anniversary on May 5th.  On May 1st, Ken had a stroke and died on May 17th.  I was 41 years old and a widowed mom of a 7- & 9-year-old.  What the heck was I supposed to do now?  My focus was my boys and their mental health.  By July 1st, I moved us from Texas back to Arizona to live close to my mom and family. Ken had been the primary parent; he was a very hands-on daddy.  I worked weddings and events, so I was at work most weekends.  My poor babies also lost the only home my youngest remembers living in, the school family that my boys started pre-K at, all the friends that came over daily as we were “that house” on the block that all the kids came to play at.

I was at work a week after Ken’s funeral closing out my job, packing our home, and dealing with things the only way I knew how– I DIDN’T! I got busy with “work mode” and devoured glasses of wine that easily turned into bottles then boxes of wine. Stuffing away the feelings and grief.

Poof, our life looked nothing like it did just a month and a half before.  Nothing was recognizable.  We went from a 3000 square foot house to two bedrooms in my aunt’s house in Arizona.  We started family grief group counseling and I had the boys in weekly individual counseling. My focus was my boys and I put all my “feelings” in my pocket throughout the day and let wine deal with those feelings later at night.  Wine was my new BFF since food was not really on table so much after gastric bypass.  

One drunken night my uncle made some moves on me that were not appropriate.  I swore I would take this to my grave.  When I did finally tell my mom, I opened Pandora’s box. My family flipped the script on me.  I really did think I would have support, but instead they blamed me, shamed me, threw my drinking at my face and decided the family was better off without me in it.  So, the people I moved to Arizona to be with were gone.  Ken had been gone a year and now I lost what seemed like everyone.  More feelings, grief, and rejection heightened the drinking and I was on a spiral in the wrong direction. For two years I drank wine to pass out at night, to not feel the pain I felt. I sucked it up in my attempt to just “move on”.

Moving on or Moving Forward?

I HATE the phrase “move on”!  It is like those words somehow dismiss the person or the experience.  For me, it is no different than saying “Get over it” Each pregnancy, each miscarriage, each death has defined the person that I am today.  You never “move on” from these experiences and relationships, but you do, however push forward with them.

2-year sobrietyI am now just over 2 years sober (Whoot! Whoot!) and I am dealing with all those feelings that I used to put in my pocket.  The 12 steps of sobriety opened my eyes to all the experiences and grief that I tried to move on from instead of pushing forward with.  I was faced with no outlet for these feelings without wine or food, so I had to finally deal with them.  With the help of counseling, widow support groups, church, friends and AA, I am learning how push forward.  I now feel the, as I call them ,“Freakin feelings”.  That is not always the language that I use, but this is Evangeline’s blog and I would not want to cuss on her page.😊  I am like the Christian comedian Anjelah Johnson who says, “I love me some Jesus, but I will cut you” LOL . It is part of my charm. That is my story and I am sticking to it! But I digress…

Moving FORWARD!

I am not the woman I was 4 ½ years ago when I got the title “widow”, and I am not the woman I was 2 years ago when I admitted I was an alcoholic and I had a problem.  Oh, the SHAME in that!  It is like I was going to forever wear a scarlet letter.  It should not be, but it is.  Funny, because people feel comfortable saying “let’s not talk politics or religion” but, will not even utter the words sobriety, infertility, miscarriage, death, eating disorder, “me too” or mental health.  It is an unspoken rule that we do not talk about these topics.  Well, that needs to change!  I wish I knew I was not alone when I had my struggles with trying to become a mommy.  I cannot change my past nor can I change my story.  I can only push forward and help as many people as possible along with way.

The more truth I share about my experiences, the more people reach out to me saying that they were struggling with the same.  We need to put a new face on the stigmas, we need to take the shame out of peoples struggles.  We must start with ourselves and stop the gossip and shaming of women.  Fix your sister’s crown, do not stomp on it.

I think a mental check up should be as common as a pap smear.  Currently, I am in therapy, AA, have a wonderful fiancé and a group of sister-friends that keep me in check and hold me accountable.  I by no means have it all figured out, but I am doing my best in pushing forward, feeling the freakin feelings, and staying sober.  COVID sure shook that up for me!

Moving Forward with Joy

My boys and I do our best to live in each moment, be present with each other and enjoy life.  Joy is truly a choice that I have to make daily as I know my attitude towards life is what my boys will remember and mimic in their own lives.    

So, do not try to move on from what has hurt you or caused you grief.  Take it, hold it, feel it, sit with it for a while, decide what you want to learn from it and then push forward with the lesson.  Accept the new you it has created and push yourself to move forward, stronger and better for having made it through it all.


Conceived by Grace bookMariaelena Mwangi is co-author of the  Conceived by Grace Pregnancy Journal, a faith-based, no-fear journal. It was written for the women she’s passionate about helping– those who are pregnant and afraid.

 

Focus

3 Ways to Enhance Your Focus

Have you heard the  saying, “What you focus on grows”?

Focus is defined in the Webster’s dictionary as a central point of concentration. What you focus on–what you concentrate on and put your attention to–grows in its importance and impact in your life.

Scripture encourages us to focus on Jesus. Hebrews 12:2 AMP instructs us on this:

Looking away from all that will distract us and focusing our eyes on Jesus.

We focus by looking away from the things that distract us in the natural realm and then fixing our gaze on Jesus, keeping our eyes on His love for us. He gave us a great example of how to focus during the closing days of His life here on earth. As our Savior, he paid no attention to the shame of the cross– He looked away from it. He fixed His gaze on the joy he was destined to experience. The joy grew as He remained focused on it!

An important thing to remember: DISTRACTIONS are the enemy of focus.

Consider your focus as if it was a camera lens that zooms in on one particular item.  You get to see that item very clearly. But, if you spread your camera’s “attention” over multiple items (distractions), you don’t get to see that one thing clearly.

3 Ways to Enhance Your Focus

  1. EXPECT HEALING – Instead of focusing on the symptoms, put your attention on God’s healing Word. Find Scriptures that are specifically related to healing and begin consistently speak them over your life. This will help you to expect healing.
  2. DEAL WITH FEAR – Make a decision to not be distracted by and dominated by fear. Recognize that fear activates the devil’s power. Know who you are in Christ and put on His armor. Be courageous and speak the Word to the “mountain” (Mark 11:23).
  3. EXERCISE YOUR FAITH – Be truth-minded, focused on what God has said about your situation. Take actions that align with the specific scriptures that apply to the circumstances that need to change. Have an active faith!

When we get our heart in line with the Word and put our attention on the Word’s power, we are able to more fully concentrate on the positive instead of the negative.

And as we focus on the positive, life gets better! 🙂

Make a decision to not be distracted by and dominated by fear. Click To Tweet

 

 

hope or hopelessness

Seeking Hope – Where Are You Looking For It?

When life challenges you and your circumstances make you feel like the situation is hopeless, where do you find yourself seeking hope?

When I went through dealing with health challenges, whether my own or those of a loved one, I found it harder to get through when I sought hope from sources other than the Lord. But, when I addressed the spiritual aspect of the challenge, it was very helpful to seek hope through focusing on God’s healing Word. Even now, as I’m pressured by external sources, looking to Jesus becomes easier when I concentrate on His promises of goodness and health. For instance, an affirmation of Psalm 107:2,20 reassures me:

Let the redeemed of the LORD say so; He has redeemed me from the hand of the enemy. He sent his word, and healed me, and delivered me from my destructions. (emphasis mine)

Feeling Hopeless?

If you find that you’re feeling hopeless about something today, remember that you are not alone. Abraham felt a deep sense of hopelessness about having the child that God had promised him. However, instead of giving in to that hopelessness, he held on to the Promise. Romans 4:18 TPT gives us insight about that:

Against all odds, when it looked hopeless, Abraham believed the promise and expected God to fulfill it. He took God at his word…

I find that scripture so encouraging!

No matter what you’re facing, choose to find and believe God’s promise about it.  God always keeps His promises so expect it to be fulfilled because.

As we enter into the holiday season, a time when hopelessness can begin to raise its ugly head, I encourage you to be seeking and finding HOPE in God’s Word. It’s the best Source of hope that I know!

My friend, where have you been seeking hope apart from Him?

 

David and Goliath

David and Goliath from a 2020 Perspective

It’s a privilege to share a blog post from Cecil Brown, Jr., my cousin. He was telling me about some insights he had unexpectedly gotten from a Biblical story that he had heard many times since he was a child. His experience was so relatable in how we pick up new points from old stories. I hope it will encourage you to remain open to receiving new insights and more confidence as you read, study, and meditate on God’s Word.

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Have you ever re-read a book or re-watched a movie you hadn’t experienced in 5, 10, 20 years only to have a completely new experience with it?  That’s what happened when my spiritual coach suggested I re-read David and Goliath. It is one of the earliest stories I remember from Sunday School. Little guy beats much larger opponent. It’s likely the foundation underdog story in western culture and is unconsciously retold through countless TV shows, movies, songs, and novels. However, it’s also one of those stories that we often gloss over because “I know this already.” I had some surprising takeaways reading this as an adult. A few observations are laid out below.  My observations are by no means original, but I was surprised by how much of the story I had missed all those many years ago.

David didn’t come to fight, he came to bring lunch.

We often find ourselves called to complete small tasks. We may even find ourselves resenting the small tasks, “How did this end up on my plate?” But being faithful to his assigned duties allowed David to be in the right place at the right time. He was able to take on a much larger challenge. The same can be applied to us.

While soldiers responded fearfully, David (a shepherd) was curious.

“What could be in it for me?” There’s a boldness to this way of thinking that could benefit us in everyday life. Thankfully, in modern times there are no 9-foot brutes for us to dispense with. But life is full of tasks that seem insurmountable that with the proper reframing could be seen as opportunities.

Your biggest opposition can come from those closest to you.

In this case, the opposition came from his older brother, Eliab. When attempting something grand (or even mundane), expect that people (perhaps even someone dear to you) will take issue with the goal you’ve set. You may be shining a light on their inability or unwillingness to take on the task themselves. We should learn to accept objections and criticisms as normal and be undeterred by them.

He had a reference point from prior successes.

The heroic actions undertaken were not those of a complete novice. David had honed his skills over many years, having killed both a lion and a bear in the course of his shepherd duties. However, Goliath presented a challenge far greater than any previously faced. David had developed skills and honed his craft but skill development would only take him so far. By giving honor and praise to God for prior victories, he was infused with confidence that God would deliver him through this as well. It was his faith in God’s ability to move through him, that allowed courage to take him over rather than fear.

My challenge to the reader is to revisit what you already think you know about God’s wisdom. There may be some hidden treasure in it for you.

-Cecil Brown, Jr.

Give Your Body a Pep Talk CONSISTENTLY!

No matter how long you’ve dealt with infertility or some other condition, you can use God’s Word as a tool of transformation by consistently speaking it aloud. When is the last time you spoke to your body? What did you say to it? If you’re like most people it was a put-down, not a pep talk.

Most people will say things to and about their body that are negative—how they don’t like their hips, thighs, hair, chin, skin, muscle tone, etc.

If you are a child of God, it’s important that you speak to your body as if you’re giving it a pep talk. Speak to  it

Positively…

Gently yet with authority…

Intentionally…

Consistently…

and Scripturally.

Pep Talk

The best things you can say to your body come from what God has said in Scripture; after all, He loves you just the way you are because He made you in His image.

So here’s a short reminder of what to do with your words when you give your body a pep talk:

Speak what you seek until you see what God said.

My Gift to You for Your Pep Talk

To help you with that, I’ve created something that will help you develop/enlarge this habit — it’s a Guide, filled with God’s promises.  Click the button below to download your guide. Speak them as a means of whispering to the Fear that’s trying to invade some part of your life. Use them to thank God for His Presence, His grace and peace, and His willingness to bring good things you.

It’s important to remember Proverbs 18:21–The power of death and life are in the tongue (your words). What YOU say about you matters! So, develop this healthy habit of giving your body a pep talk.

Will you say what God said about being healthy until you see what God said?

Give your body a pep talk! Speak what you seek until you see what God said. Click To Tweet

 

 

SEE: God’s Promises are Always Good AND He’s a Faithful Promise-Keeper

This is something I shared recently at our GRACE event. Hopefully, this will encourage you to firmly believe and see that

God’s Promises are Always Good AND He’s a Faithful Promise-Keeper!

Sometimes it’s difficult to see what God has in store for us. But, when we remember that He has a plan for us and that it’s a good plan, it helps us see and experience the manifestation. As a means of living in faith, I believe there are some basic yet vital essentials to see the manifestation of God’s promises. You can easily remember them using the acrostic “S.E.E.”:

S – Speak God’s WordFind What God has promised in His Word — the Bible– that addresses your circumstances. Consistently say the same thing God has said; let your everyday words align with His.

E – Envision the  PromiseIn your mind’s eye, envision what God has promised as if He said it directly to you. There’s so much that He has said about every aspect of life. Write out the promise that applies to your circumstances and then let your thoughts “see” what it’s like to possess what God has promised.

E – Expect the blessingSometimes we get so hung up in the problem that we lose sight of the promise. Then it becomes easier to forget to look for the blessing to happen. Live with a higher level of expectancy about experiencing the promised blessing. We need to regard the blessing as likely to happen simply because God promised it.

Hold on tightly to the hope of seeing Gods’ promises manifested in your life!

So now we must cling tightly to the hope that lives within us, knowing that God always keeps his promises!
~ Hebrews 10:23 TPT

 

Print this infographic
and keep it as reminder of how to see the manifestation of all that God has promised!

S.E.E.