Category: Jesus

Jesus’ Finished Work on the Cross was ENOUGH

Posted on by Evangeline

 

This is Easter weekend and I am sharing a post that I previously released. I hope it encourages you to believe in all that Jesus accomplished on the cross for you.

As we celebrate the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, here’s a prayer to offer up. It’s a reminder that Jesus’ finished work on the cross was all it took so that we could have unhindered access to the Father’s love for us (see Matthew 27:51).

Father, You tore the veil so there is no longer any boundary for us to cross to get to You. There is no barrier that hides You from us. Thank You that Jesus’ death did everything necessary to remove anything that stood between us, even our guilty conscience. Thank You for making a way for us to enjoy an unencumbered relationship with You. 

Because of Jesus, the Father’s love can now reach you, touch you, and move you toward your God-given destiny that is filled with goodness and joy. There is no force field or deflector shield that can act as an obstacle to His love and power. Fear may try to distract you and cast doubt on His love for you. But rest assured, His perfect love for you is eternal and provides unlimited protection and abundant grace.

**If you’ve never asked Jesus to come into your life, I encourage you to do so. His death was for you, so that you could choose to live in His Blessing. He’s waiting with open arms and an unfailing love.

There is no force field or deflector shield that can act as an obstacle to God's love and power. Click To Tweet

Photo courtesy of GodlyWomanDaily.co

Independence Day

Posted on by Evangeline

Looking for freedom? For independence from things that have kept a darkness hovering over your life?

Today, in America, we are celebrating our country’s independence from being ruled by another entity. On July 4, 1776,  the Declaration of Independence was adopted by the Continental Congress,  declaring that the thirteen American colonies, then at war with Great Britain, regarded themselves as  independent of the British Empire. The people of these colonies formed a new nation—the United States of America. The price for their freedom was paid by others whose blood was shed on the battlefield.

Our lives as believers in Jesus Christ are much like this. After having lived under the sovereignty of  Satan, we make a declaration of independence from his rule, choosing instead to be under the sovereignty of Jesus. We transition from a kingdom of  heavy and burdensome darkness into one of  beautiful life-filled light. We regard ourselves as independent of the enemy of our lives. We choose to be dependent upon the One who loves us with an unfailing love. His love removes burdens and brings light and a lightness to our lives because He’s the One who keeps all His promises about doing us good.

Jesus is the One who wants us to be free of every influence of darkness in our body, mind, and spirit.

For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son. Colossians 1:13

Experience independence on a deeper level today, knowing that the price for your freedom was paid by another— Jesus. He gives you freedom from every bondage, addiction, and disease,  because the price for it has already been paid…on the cross.

Celebrate your independence!

Remember to pray that  America will be a nation truly “under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for ALL.”

Focus Friday - Happy Birthday America

One Heart, One Way

Posted on by Evangeline

One Way sign jpgPhoto courtesy of Microsoft Images

This past week, a friend dealt with circumstances that were a real struggle in her marriage. It was a time when many choices could have been made that would have caused deep regret for years to come. Fortunately, she is a believer in Jesus and sought God for wisdom FIRST and made difficult choices that were in line with His will for her marriage to heal and prosper.

When I’m faced with a struggle or have friends dealing with a challenge, my tendency is to find and pray a scripture that addresses it with a promise from God. In this case, I prayed Jeremiah 32:39  [NLT], “And I will give them one heart and one purpose: to worship me forever, for their own good and for the good of all their descendants.”

This was a promise we needed as my husband and I dealt with infertility. Having one heart and one way in facing infertility is key if a marriage is to survive the emotional, physical and financial strains. It’s so easy to get so involved and pre-occupied in the struggle that you don’t see the light at the end of the tunnel. Being surrounded by darkness and not seeing where you can go means that you’ll go in any direction in the search for a way out. If a husband and wife can’t agree on what to do, where to go, and how to get there, it’s easier to go in separate ways and therefore experience increasing distance between them. But what if the decision is made FIRST to only go in one direction together, giving each other encouragement and keeping in mind the same goal?

God’s promise in Jeremiah 32:39 was that the result of having one heart and one way would be good not only for the husband and wife but also for their children! Putting God first means that He will give wisdom so that you know what to do and where to go together to get out of the seemingly endless dark situation.

Looking to Jesus and therefore going in one direction together will increase the likelihood of reaching the light at the end of the tunnel much sooner and happier and make the outcome of the struggle much more rewarding.

What’s the Answer?

Posted on by Evangeline

What’s the answer to your problem today?

Do you think your answer depends on what the problem is?

                • Infertility
                • Unhappy Marriage
                • Lack of Money
                • Poor Health
                • Hopelessness
                • Strained Relationships
                • Failing Business
                • Loneliness
                • Depression
                • (Fill in the blank)

Regardless of the problem you face today, you can make it through because JESUS is the answer to any and all of your problems!

Be encouraged by this classic song by Andrae Crouch, “Jesus is the Answer“.

Faith Speaks

Posted on by Evangeline

Faith Speaks

Faith speaks. What does it speak? It speaks the words that God has said. Speaking His Word is a demonstration of believing and being in agreement with His Word. This is made clear in 2 Corinthians 4:13 [NASB], “But having the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, “I BELIEVED, THEREFORE I SPOKE,” we also believe, therefore we also speak.” This is a reference to what the psalmist had said in Psalm 116:10. He expressed his belief in God’s love for him as he cried out to God in his affliction.

We see this same principle of believing and speaking in Romans 10:4-10. In fact, the very blessing of salvation is based on believing and speaking (Romans 10:9,10). If the greatest gift that God has given us comes through believing and speaking, surely any other blessings are accessible in the same way. God wants us to rest in His love and receive His blessings through simply believing what He has said us. He has given us the position as a joint heir with Jesus and wants us to speak what He has said in His Word about our circumstances.

Be encouraged as you relax in knowing that Father God loves you immensely. He has already made a way out of  life’s difficult circumstances by sending Jesus to meet all our needs. Find what He has promised you in the Bible, have faith in that Word as you believe and speak it, and, with confident expectation, continue to do so until you see His promise manifested.

Remember, faith speaks!

 

Photo courtesy of Microsoft Images

Embrace Your Inner King/Queen

Posted on by Evangeline

Jesus died to enable us to reign in life. Do you feel like royalty? Or do you simply feel like you carry the royal title of “Christian” but you’re not exercising nor experiencing the ruling power that’s supposed to come along with it?

There is a king/queen in you if you are a believer in the work of Jesus on the cross on your behalf. Maybe you need to tap into the knowledge that through Jesus, God transferred you from the devil’s kingdom of darkness and oppression into the His kingdom of light, life and power [Col. 1:13]. If you need a boost in believing your life should be more of a demonstration of the power to reign in life, I encourage you to read these scriptures and thoughtfully consider their application in your life.

There IS a King in you if believe in Jesus as Savior. How will you more fully embrace your inner king/queen and reign in life?

“For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.” ~~ Romans 5:17 NIV

“And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him [be] glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.” ~~Revelation 1:6

Enjoy hearing Donald Lawrence & Company sing There Is A King In You.

Why Should I Be…Grateful

Posted on by Evangeline
Two Rainbows at Dusk in Denmark.
Two Rainbows at Dusk in Denmark. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Here are some of my thoughts based on John Maxwell’s video on being GRATEFUL:

  • What I have, I don’t deserve because of my goodness, rather, it’s all because of Jesus’ goodness in my stead
  • Gratitude and Peace are interconnected; the more gratitude I express to God, the more of His peace I experience
  • It’s a way to express my indebtedness to others and to God, thereby helping me to become a better servant-leader
  • Gratitude is a choice; I can just as easily choose to complain about life instead of 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/

 

Distractions

Posted on by Evangeline
Signage at a Michigan left intersection. Two l...
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

My life has had a lot of distractions-some big, some small- that have taken my gaze away from God’s plan and His loving hand. Those distractions have come packaged in a lot of different ways: as boys, when I was a teenaged girl; as extra-curricular activities, when I was a college student; and, as church activities, when I was a young mother.

Each of these distractions, among many others, brought their own set of consequences and kept me from fully enjoying God’s plan for me. Emotional turmoil resulted from the “boys distraction.” Poor grades resulted from the “extra-curricular distraction.” And yes, believe it or not, church activities were a distraction! They slowly began to eat away at the time I spent at home with my husband and children. It was hard to recognize that my schedule was problematic and even harder to make a change to it.

Hebrews 12:2 in the Amplified Bible encourages us to look away from all that will distract us and look to Jesus.  After all, His plan is the BEST for us because it is birthed out of love and is filled with good and perfect gifts [James 1:7].

But in order to keep our eyes on Him, we have to be convinced that Jesus is the answer to our problems at hand and trust that there’s no need to look anywhere else for our solution.

What’s the distraction in your life today that pulls your gaze to anything other than Jesus? No matter how big or small it is, how will you re-focus in order to experience God’s plan?

My Horizon

Posted on by Evangeline

When I was a little girl, summers were spent playing outside. I loved playing hand games with the other girls in my neighborhood. A particularly favorite hand game was about a sailor. Do you remember this?

A sailor went to sea, sea, sea

To see what he could see, see, see

And all that he could see, see, see

Was the bottom of the big blue sea, sea, sea.

The other day, that lyric came to mind as I was reflecting on what I choose to look at in my life. Do I hang my head and look down, focusing primarily on all the negative things that happen? Am I like the sailor, who could only see the bottom of the sea, even though there was the beauty of the horizon right in front of him to enjoy? Or do I choose to look up , focus on the positive things and find the joy that may be hidden in my  negative circumstances?

I hope that on a daily basis, I will look up and see Jesus and allow Him to be the author of my life story and the One who directs and perfects how the ending of my story turns out. I know that when I put my day-to-day life in Jesus’ hands, the horizon of my life will always be beautiful.

“Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith…” ~~Hebrews 12:2 NIV

An Affirmation

Posted on by Evangeline

From an old hymn of the church, comes a wonderful affirmation to not only sing but to whisper to ourselves throughout the day. It reminds me of John 15:5 when Jesus said, “I am the vine, you [are] the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.”

This song was written by Annie S. Hawes and Robert Lowry:

I need Thee,

O I need Thee.

Every hour I need Thee;

O bless me now my Savior.

I come to Thee.