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!
“Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in Me [Jesus].” John 14:1 (NLT)
I was listening to Nicole C. Mullen sing an old hymn this past weekend. The title was “Tis So Sweet.” Many times, the lyrics of hymns like this one become so familiar that we don’t really pay attention to the words and their meaning.
This song struck me this morning, reassuring me that trusting what God has said is key in enjoying the benefits of His grace. His words are containers for His grace. His words are a life-giving source. His words are a reflection of His loving character.
Trusting the stability and effectiveness what God has said allows us to experience His grace. I want more of His grace exhibited in my life and in the lives of those I love. So I choose to trust His words and thereby trust His character and love for me.
Below is a video with the lyrics to this hymn. I hope the words bless you and assist you experiencing the sweetness of trusting in God’s love for you.
How do you encourage yourself to trust God for the things you desire? Do you use His Word to increase your confidence in Him?
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 
Because of the tragedy of the bombings at the Boston Marathon this week, I’m posting the 91st Psalm to encourage you today. It is a psalm about trusting in the protection God provides for us so that there is no need to be overcome by fear.
1 He who [a]dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall remain stable and fixed under the shadow of the Almighty [Whose power no foe can withstand].
2 I will say of the Lord, He is my Refuge and my Fortress, my God; on Him I lean and rely, and in Him I [confidently] trust!
3 For [then] He will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence.
4 [Then] He will cover you with His pinions, and under His wings shall you trust and find refuge; His truth and His faithfulness are a shield and a buckler.
5 You shall not be afraid of the terror of the night, nor of the arrow (the evil plots and slanders of the wicked) that flies by day,
6 Nor of the pestilence that stalks in darkness, nor of the destruction and sudden death that surprise and lay waste at noonday.
7 A thousand may fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand, but it shall not come near you.
8 Only a spectator shall you be [yourself inaccessible in the secret place of the Most High] as you witness the reward of the wicked.
9 Because you have made the Lord your refuge, and the Most High your dwelling place,
10 There shall no evil befall you, nor any plague or calamity come near your tent.
11 For He will give His angels [especial] charge over you to accompany and defend and preserve you in all your ways [of obedience and service].
12 They shall bear you up on their hands, lest you dash your foot against a stone.
13 You shall tread upon the lion and adder; the young lion and the serpent shall you trample underfoot.
14 Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore will I deliver him; I will set him on high, because he knows and understands My name [has a personal knowledge of My mercy, love, and kindness—trusts and relies on Me, knowing I will never forsake him, no, never].
15 He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him.
16 With long life will I satisfy him and show him My salvation.
Many times during the struggle with infertility, you feel like you about to fall apart. There is usually no one else who truly understands what you’re going through, so talking to others about it can be difficult, unproductive, and very frustrating. That frustration can make you choose to just suffer silently. THAT is not a good choice! When you’re trying to hold all that emotion inside of you, it’s only a matter of time before you start to feel like you’ll explode. That explosion can be expressed in anger, self-pity, sadness, bitterness, self-condemnation, and many other destructive ways.
But there is One who can help. Jesus is the One who is capable of understanding this situation and helping you to get through it without falling apart. Colossians 1:17 [NIV] says, “He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. ” His love and grace are available everyday to comfort and guide you through the struggle so the negative emotions don’t overtake you and make you feel like everything is falling apart.
Look to Him today and on a daily basis. Trust His hands to hold you and to keep things in your life held together.
I came across this collection of stories on Facebook. I thought I’d share the stories today to encourage you.
For more encouragement, feel free to connect with me on Facebook through my Page.
Waiting…
It’s not fun.
In our American “get it NOW” society, we tend to want our desires to manifest immediately. We don’t like waiting.
But the old saying “good things come to those who wait,” still rings true. Sometimes an incubation period is needed for in order for us to see the desired end result. Seeds don’t produce immediately after they are planted. Farmers and gardeners have to wait. It takes time before the seed produces the first sprout which forces its way through the soil to bask in the sunlight and continue to grow.
Even God waits. He planted many “Word seeds” through His prophets who predicted a Savior/Messiah would come. But He waited through many generations. He desired for Jesus to come to the earth and save mankind but it took hundreds of years before Jesus was born. Sending Jesus was indeed the BEST thing that God has done for mankind but God patiently waited for the right time!
You may be waiting on a desired result that seems impossible to come through, only because it’s taking so long to manifest. But hang in there! The seed is about to sprout. There is HOPE! You’ll find it in Hebrews 10:35, 36:
“So do not throw away this confident trust in the Lord. Remember the great reward it brings you! Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God’s will. Then you will receive all that he has promised.”
I pray that you’ll endure this season of waiting with hope, peace and joy!
God is like Allstate. You’re in good hands with Him.
“Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.” ~ 1 Peter 5:7 [NLT]
“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.” ~ Psalm 40:2
“The works of his hands are faithful and just; all his precepts are trustworthy.” ~ Psalm 111:7 [NIV]
“For You, LORD, have made me glad through Your work; I will triumph in the works of Your hands.” ~ Psalm 92:4
YOU’RE IN GOOD HANDS WITH JESUS! Whatever you put in His loving hands will be blessed. He is trustworthy to handle whatever you’re facing today if you’ll place it in His hands.
What distraction/burden/worry will you decide to give to Him today?
Hidden in the passage of Jeremiah 17:7, 8 are four ways to thrive like a tree. This scripture declares,
“Blessed [is] the man who trusts in the LORD, And whose hope is the LORD. For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, Which spreads out its roots by the river, And will not fear when heat comes; But its leaf will be green, And will not be anxious in the year of drought, Nor will cease from yielding fruit.”
The four ways this tree thrives are:
Similarly, the four ways we can thrive like this tree planted by the waters are:
Thriving like THIS tree is a good thing! Don’t you agree?
Are you hoping for a baby? Are you waiting for YOUR miracle? There’s an account given in the Bible [2 Kings 4:8-37] of a woman who was childless that will encourage you to “get your hopes up”.
This account is about the Shunnamite woman who was wealthy, kind, and discerning. When she met the prophet Elisha, she discerned he was a godly man. She treated with such hospitality that he subsequently enjoyed lodging with her and her husband whenever he traveled in their area. One day, he told his servant he wanted to repay the woman’s kindness and wanted suggestions about what he could do for her. The servant (Gehazi) explained that because of her wealth and status in the community, she wanted for nothing BUT she was childless and her husband was old. Elisha asked Gehazi to bring her to him. When she came to the door, Elisha blessed her by saying, “Next year at this time you will be holding a son in your arms!” “No, my lord!” she cried. “O man of God, don’t deceive me and get my hopes up like that.” (2 Kings 4:16 NLT)
Can you imagine? A woman who was childless was told by a man of God that she would become pregnant and birth a child within a year. The wonderful thing is…she conceived and gave birth at the time Elisha said it would happen. It’s good she got her hopes up because that confidence in his words gave her faith that God would make it happen.
Hope is the confident expectation that something good will happen. Have confidence in God and all His promises for fertility. Don’t give up—keep hoping for a baby!
***You can find promises of fertility to meditate on in “A Seed of Hope”.***