Category: Focus Friday

Focus Friday – Jesus’ Love for YOU

Posted on by Evangeline

Looking for love in all the wrong places? Meditate on Jesus’ love for YOU instead. His love is unfailing, unending, and undeniably powerful. Believe it works for your benefit. Allow God’s Word about His love to become your Truth.

Focus on this scripture of love throughout the day.

It’s God’s Word about Jesus’  love for YOU.

It’s what He desires you 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!

Jesus' Love

 

Focus Friday – Loved by a Father

Posted on by Evangeline

I know. June is long gone and so is the American celebration of Father’s Day. But tomorrow is my husband’s birthday and I want to celebrate and honor what an awesome father he has been to our children. He gladly sacrifices having better things for himself so that he can provide for our children. This week, our youngest son had some car trouble and had to drive Freeman’s car to get to a couple of commitments he had. When he got back home, he said, “Dad, you need a new car.” 🙂 Freeman’s response was, “I know, but I needed to get y’all through school first.”  That’s the kind of dad he’s been all along– one that doesn’t mind doing without so that his children have what he feels they need.

God is like that too. He loved us so much that He was willing to:

  • do without the presence of His Son for decades,
  • watch His Son go through the blood-sweating agony of taking on mankind’s sin,
  • turn away from His Son as He hung dishonored on the cross with His flesh sliced, and bloodied, and
  • send His only Son to hell in mankind’s stead.

But the Father didn’t stop there; He did not leave Jesus in hell. He gladly made those sacrifices knowing there was  a perfectly good ending to the story. He raised His Son with power so that we could then be seated with Jesus on the right hand of God– a position of power. The Father was determined to get us back and love on us NO MATTER WHAT!

What  sacrifice!

What LOVE!

How do you see yourself loved by the God who sustains the entire universe?

Take a moment today to express your love to the Father AND, more importantly, to receive His “no-matter-what” kind of love.

My father--father's day

 

Photo credit: Women Living Well

Focus Friday – Promise Made, Promise Kept

Posted on by Evangeline

Not many of us experience “a promise made, a promise kept” with other people. But the good thing is that we can count on God to keep every promise He has made.

God has made many promises to you and He will do what He said He would do. Find His promise about your situation in His Word. Expect Him to fulfill it!

Speak this Word to yourself throughout the day– by doing so, you’ll encourage yourself and maintain clarity about His will for you.

Promise

 

Focus Friday – Believe It

Posted on by Evangeline

Believe - FaithBelieve.

It means to be fully persuaded by someone or something. Are you fully persuaded by what God has said and what Jesus has done about your situation? Have you cut off all other options and decided  to believe that God’s Word is your truth?

Focus on the following scripture throughout the day because God’s Word is Truth. Speak this Word to yourself throughout the day– by doing so, you’ll encourage yourself!

“I have sworn by my own name;

I have spoken the truth

I will never go back on my word.”

Isaiah 45:23a  [NLT]

Focus Friday – Confidence

Posted on by Evangeline

Sometimes iGod's Promises Are YESt’s hard to trust and have confidence in the plans of someone else regarding the impact of their plans on YOUR life. If someone asked you whether you agree with whatever God has said and planned about your situation, what would be your response? Would you express sincere confidence in His plans for you? Confidence is always followed by action. Consider what actions you’ve recently taken to express your confidence in God’s promises and His love for you.

 

Maybe  David of the Bible can be our example of how to be in agreement with God. David, a man who so openly loved and exuded confidence in God, knew the power of speaking the Word of God. He said in Psalm 17:4, “…By the word of Your lips, I have kept away from the paths of the destroyer.” Similarly, we must speak the Word of God to keep us off of Satan’s paths that are lined with his burdens and devices of deception.  Most importantly, speaking the Word helps us to keep our eyes and mind focused on Jesus’ love for us, which enables us to agree with His plans and receive the victory over infertility or any other trying circumstance you may be facing today..

Be encouraged, speak the Word to increase your trust in God’s promises, and stay hope-filled!

Focus Friday – Loneliness

Posted on by Evangeline

Lonliness - God does careHave you ever had a day when it felt as if no one could understand the pain and the struggle you’re experiencing? It may have felt like you’re all alone in your own world laden with sorrow, shame and feelings of inferiority. You probably wondered if anyone anywhere is praying for you?

When this loneliness seems to overwhelm you, be assured, you’re not alone in having those feelings. But even better, know that Someone, who’s everywhere, is praying for you. That Someone is Jesus. He’s sympathetic to your situation. He’s full of compassion. He knows the heartache you’re experiencing. He’s the one who wants to change it.

 

“Therefore He [Jesus] is able, once and forever, to save those who come to God through Him. He lives forever to intercede with God on their behalf.” ~Hebrews 7:25 NLT

Rest in the truth that you are wholeheartedly loved by God, the Creator of the universe. Find peace in knowing that even if it seems no one else on earth understands your pain or you think no one else is praying for you, there is Someone who does. When you trust Him as your Advocate and Intercessor, Jesus is the One who can turn “one of those days” into a day of heaven on earth.

“My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.”  ~ Psalm 121:2

Focus Friday – You Are Not a Loser

Posted on by Evangeline

As a trustee at my church, I sometimes go to unlock the property so that a contractor can get in and make repairs. Recently, a contractor lost his keys to his truck and got frustrated that he couldn’t find them. He retraced his steps over and over, trying to see where he had set them down while he had done his work. Finally his frustration came to its tipping point because of fear of not finding the keys. What came out of his mouth shocked me. No, he didn’t start cussing. He started calling himself a loser, a dummy, and an idiot. The negative self-talk that came out of his mouth grieved me. What must this 50-year-old man have been told about himself growing up that he would say those things to himself? It’s sad that someone thinks of himself in that way. How could he have gotten so comfortable with thinking and speaking negative words to himself that he would say those thoughts out loud in front of a stranger?

Ever found yourself thinking and saying negative things about yourself, even jokingly calling yourself a loser in some way? Watch this video then read Romans 8:31 (below) to focus on God’s love for you.

Here’s a quick Focus Friday visit from me to remind you that with God on your side, you are NOT a loser!

Romans 8:31-39 (The Message Bible)

“So, what do you think? With God on our side like this, how can we lose? If God didn’t hesitate to put everything on the line for us, embracing our condition and exposing himself to the worst by sending his own Son, is there anything else he wouldn’t gladly and freely do for us? And who would dare tangle with God by messing with one of God’s chosen? Who would dare even to point a finger? The One who died for us—who was raised to life for us!—is in the presence of God at this very moment sticking up for us. Do you think anyone is going to be able to drive a wedge between us and Christ’s love for us? There is no way! Not trouble, not hard times, not hatred, not hunger, not homelessness, not bullying threats, not backstabbing, not even the worst sins listed in Scripture:

They kill us in cold blood because they hate you.
We’re sitting ducks; they pick us off one by one.

None of this fazes us because Jesus loves us. I’m absolutely convinced that nothing—nothing living or dead, angelic or demonic, today or tomorrow, high or low, thinkable or unthinkable—absolutely nothing can get between us and God’s love because of the way that Jesus our Master has embraced us.”

The Rest of the Story

In case you’re wondering, the contractor found his keys…they had fallen under the rear bumper of his truck. They were right there all along.

Under what circumstances do you find typically negative self talk coming out of your mouth?

Is fear the trigger?

Focus Friday – Gratitude

Posted on by Evangeline

I thought I’d keep the theme of gratitude going today since I’m still doing my gratitude challenge.

If you want to check your attitude of gratitude, here are some scriptures to keep in mind that can increase your level of thankfulness, especially in the midst of trials and troubles.

Gratitude Verses for blog

 

Focus Friday – Covenant

Posted on by Evangeline

Covenant is defined as a bond, a mutual agreement, or a promise.

Biblical covenant is God-initiated. Biblestudytools.com explains, He determined the elements of the covenant and confirmed it with humanity. It is unilateral. Persons are recipients, not contributors; they are not expected to offer elements to the bond; they are called to accept it as offered, to keep it as demanded, and to receive the results that God, by oath, assures will not be withheld.   

Jesus died and rose again to establish a greater covenant than had previously existed. His is a love-based covenant.

Faith accepts that every promise made by God is certain to be fulfilled because of Jesus’ finished work on the cross.

His covenant assures us that He will withhold no good thing from those who trust Him to be loving toward them.

What will you do today to ensure that your words and actions reflect trust in God’s covenant with you?

 

Faith

Focus Friday – Prayer

Posted on by Evangeline

Today I’d like to share a note from a friend who is leading a small-group prayer challenge I’ve join. Our focus, for forty days, has been to learn more about how to pray and how Word-based prayer effectively changes things. I hope this note encourages you to tap into the power of prayer as a way to break free from hard circumstances.

Be encouraged!

Prayer - We're set Free - Angela Williams