Author: Author, Nicole L. Ross

Exercise Your Faith

Author, Nicole L. Ross1 Comment

cus1035faith

Often times we offer words of encouragement to someone when they are in a tough situation by telling them the importance of having faith and trusting God.  Yes, indeed we have to have faith when faced with obstacles in life but what about if we make faith our lifestyle.  Live life in such a way that you are required to get out of your comfort zone and actually make an effort to exercise your faith on a daily basis.  This is especially important when it comes to utilizing the gifts that God has placed on the inside of us.  There are a lot of gifts that God has given us, yet we are either not comfortable operating in those gifts or if we operate in those gifts we don’t do it for the glory of God.

How do you exercise your faith?  Well, the best example I can give you is to compare it to the same thing you do to exercise your physical body.  When you first start exercising, you start slow.  You don’t go and run ten miles, you start with maybe one and work your way up from there.  That is the same thing you can do with your faith.  Jesus said we are to have the faith of a mustard seed, and a mustard seed is extremely tiny, virtually impossible to see with the human eye.  The same way that running a marathon builds your physical strength, exercising your faith grows your spiritual strength.  Spiritual maturity will also come with spiritual strength and growth in your personal relationship with God.

See, to God, your life is a finished picture, beautifully painted on a canvas and He is watching parts of it unfold each and every day.  It’s your faith and ability to not just talk about it, but actually make it a lifestyle that is going to help paint a new part of that beautiful picture.  Remember, He is Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. You were created to be a central part of the Kingdom and to be used in a vast way.  Stop looking at your present situation as the end all, be all and exercise your faith.  Just do it.  You have a future that God is trying to get you to, but in order to get there you have to make it through where you are right now. So today, my challenge to you…Change your lifestyle, exercise your faith and see just how spiritually strong you will become.  #iDeclare #exerciseyourfaith

FaithWorkout

Prayer:

Father God, In the name of Jesus I come humbly first and foremost repenting for not having the faith that I should.  Please help me Lord to live a life of faith and trust in you.  I decree and declare on today that I will live a life that will require me to exercise my faith and trust in you on a daily basis.  Faith is my lifestyle and I will draw closer and closer to you each day.  I know that faith without works is dead, so Lord I ask now that in my journey please help me and show me what I am to do on my part.  Thank you God for hearing my prayer.  In Jesus name I pray, Amen.

Scripture:

James 2:17 NKJV “Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.”

Hebrews 11:1 NIV “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.”

Think BIG!!!

Author, Nicole L. Ross1 Comment

discovertext

I wanted to do a follow up with yesterday’s post about taking the limits off God and what He can do in your life.  One revelation that God gave me a few weeks back is that not only should we take off any limits we have placed on Him, but He cannot do a great thing in a little mind.  This really got me to thinking and I will pose this question to you as well.  Is your mind vast enough to encompass greatness or are you so simple minded that you can’t imagine anything beyond what you can see in the present moment?  I know that I have great faith in God, which gives me the ability to see beyond my present situation but I can honestly say that I am working every day on expanding my thought process to see the greatness ahead.  It can be tough when there is so much hurt, rejection, and disappointment around you.  What I am trying to do is set all of that to the side.  I know that these things have all been put there to push me towards that greatness I asked about, it’s just a matter of me staying focused and not allowing those rough patches to get me off track.

What I have learned is that it is so important to understand that so many things in our lives are birthed in our minds.  It develops as a thought, and then its up to you to act on it. What the devil will do is try to counterattack those thoughts and cause you to doubt.  He knows there is greatness in you and he wants to do everything he can to prevent them from coming to fruition.  If he can shut you down by using someone to say something negative to you and bring hurt and disappointment, then that is what he will do.  Often times, he will even use people who are close to you to do it.  Another thing to understand if this happens is that they may not even realize they are being used.  The bible tells us that the enemy comes to kill, steal and destroy and you better believe that he will do it any way he can.  This is where you have to use that power and authority that God has already given you.  Do not let the enemy shut you down, you shut him down.  We destroy him by doing just what 2 Corinthians 10:5 says, Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.  The devil is defeated, we just have to remind him.

When you get that small inkling in your mind to do something that you know can only come from God, you must act on it.  Obedience is not only better than sacrifice, obedience is where you get your blessings.  Operating in a spirit of obedience will take you so far because it will allow the gifts that you are operating in to make room for you.  As a servant of the Lord, I want to operate in greatness, not for myself, but so that the Kingdom of God can truly get glory out of my life.  My prayer is that your desire will be the same.  We are human and will most certainly make mistakes, but let’s not allow our mistakes to prevent us from operating in greatness for our life.  I end with these two questions, what’s on your mind?  More importantly, what are you doing about it? #iDeclare #thinkBIG

big_thinking

Prayer:

Father God, in the name of Jesus I come humbly before your throne thanking you for who you are in my life.  I come asking Lord that you would help me to think big.  Help me to understand the many things that are birthed in my mind and how to use them for your glory.  I decree and declare that when a thought is placed in my mind, I will act upon it and be obedient to the calling you have placed inside of me.  I will operate in greatness.  Thank you Jesus for hearing my prayer.  I love you, honor you and praise you.  In Jesus name, Amen.

Scripture Reference:

Proverbs 18:16 KJV “A man’s gift maketh room for him, and bringeth him before great men.”

1 Samuel 15:22 NLT “But Samuel replied, “What is more pleasing to the LORD: your burnt offerings and sacrifices or your obedience to his voice? Listen! Obedience is better than sacrifice, and submission is better than offering the fat of rams.”

No Limits

Author, Nicole L. Ross1 Comment

No Limits Sign

If you had to look at your life right now and determine a limit on how you were going to move forward in say, buying a house.  You might write down on a list that you want a three bedroom house, with two and a half baths and a two car garage and you want to spend no more than $150,000.  Or another example may be you want a new job that is full-time, have a good salary, with medical benefits, and flexible hours.  It is not bad to establish a plan, in fact the examples I have listed are great for trying to draw up a strategy on how to move forward in life.  Here’s the thing though, we have to understand that although it is good to lay out a blueprint for ourselves, it is not good for us to put limitations on it.  Simply put, there are no limits when it comes to the things of God and the people of God.  While you want that 3 bedroom house, God could desire to bless you with a 6 bedroom house.  Or, while you are still in an apartment paying rent every month thinking you could never afford to actually purchase a home or qualify for a mortgage loan, God is saying not only will I bless you so you can afford it, I will also restore and build up your credit rating.  You want a full-time job with good benefits working for someone else, when God could want you to have your own business.  I think it is just the way we are programmed to put limits on things, but we have to reprogram our thoughts and realize that when we put limits on any part of our present situation or future, we are putting limits on God.

How do we go about reprogramming our thoughts? You start by including God in the planning process.  Talk to Him.  Ask God what He wants for you.  As you make your plans, let Him know it is what you want but that you believe that if it is His will you can get even more.  When I first started this Blog, it was simply my desire to share my thoughts with people all over the world and allow God to use me to take His word to the nations.  Before doing it though, I had to really get in a place where I could hear from God.  I was able to share my plans with Him, but I knew right off the bat that the blog was only the beginning.  I refuse to put any limits on what this website can do because I trust with a sincere heart that God is able to do exceedingly, abundantly above all I can ever begin to ask or even think.  When we limit our dreams and goals, we limit God.  We limit what we believe Him to be capable of doing in all areas of our lives.

What is it that you are wanting?  What are your goals?  If you don’t have any, I challenge you to establish some in every area of you life (family, work, finances, health, etc).  Now, when you come up with the answer to these questions, my next challenge to you is to include God!  Talk to Him about all of it and take off all the limitations you have set for yourself.  For example, if you want to make more money this year, it is ok to say you want at least $50,000, but trust and believe that God can do more.  In other words, make your goals the minimum and let God add the maximum.  #iDeclare #nolimitstowhatGodcando

no-limits

Prayer:

Father God in the name of Jesus, I come humbly first and foremost repenting.  Please forgive me for putting limitations on you and what you want for me in this life.  I believe that there is nothing to hard for you Lord.  I decree and declare that I will include you in all my dreams and goals set for my life and what I set is only the minimum, while what you add is the maximum.  Oh Lord my prayer is that you would bless me indeed and enlarge my territory.  As I write the vision and make it plain, I will include you in every aspect of it.  I trust and believe you God for great and mighty things.  In Jesus name, Amen.

Scripture Readings:

Ephesians 3:20 NKJV “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us”

Habakkuk 2:2 KJV “And the Lord answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it.”