Inspiration – Page 24 – Nicole L. Ross ~ letstalkaboutlife365

Don’t Quit!

July 6, 2013 Author, Nicole L. RossLeave a comment

This time of year, all of the world there are many marathon’s that take place. Although I’ve never participated in a marathon I always find them to be quite interesting. Most sporting events, people are in it to compete and win. With marathons however, there are hundreds, sometimes even thousands of people who participate. I’m pretty sure that when 95% of the people that sign up for the marathon aren’t signing up to win. They are probably participating as a personal goal or maybe they may even want to support someone else. Automatically this lets me know they are in it and plan to finish the race completely. Sounds good in theory, but when the actual race begins things may play out a little differently. Some people run it gracefully all the way through, and others have physical ailments that come up to try and hinder them from completing the race (cramps, dehydration, etc.). I want to talk about those hindrances. You may not be in an actual marathon race right now, but your life certainly feels like one. There are moments that go by effortlessly. All is well, no set backs just smooth sailing. Then as the season in your life changes, here come those obstacles and stumbling blocks. They come to stop you in your tracks and cause you to give up.

I’m here today to tell you, don’t quit. Endurance is essential if you really want to get all that you can out of life. You have to possess the ability deep down inside to keep running. If you can’t run, keep walking and if you can’t walk get down and crawl. Whatever you do, you have to keep moving. Many times the enemy will send disruption in our life to cause us to stop. Remember that’s his job (to kill, steal and destroy). Unfortunately, sometimes his ploys and tactics work because we allow our flesh to take over, instead of allowing our spirit man to rise up on the inside of us. This is why the Bible tells us that we are to kill our flesh daily.

Are you tired of starting over in life? Well, stop quitting. Stop allowing things (people, situations, circumstances) to cause you to lose focus of what God has ahead of you. When I talk about endurance I always think about when Moses brought the people of Israel out of Egypt. The place where God was taking them to was between 200 – 400 miles away. If you do 10 miles a day, which is very possible, they could have been there in 40 days. Some people say it could have been even quicker than that. Instead however, the voyage took 40 years. Here’s why. During their journey they decided to murmur, complain, they even stopped walking and what’s even worse is they continued to look back on what was and what used to be. Doing so caused them to literally miss what was right ahead of them. Stop giving your past so much attention. Leave your past behind you, it’s there for a reason. Learn from it and keep it moving.

No matter what is going on around you make it up in your mind that you are going to endure to the very end. You have to get that down in your spirit. Build yourself up, so when the devil tries to tear you down, that’s all he can do is try. God has so much in store for you. He loves you more than you love yourself. Don’t give up. Don’t quit. You got this, cause God got you! #iDeclare #DontQuit

Prayer:

Father God in the name of Jesus, I thank you for giving me the endurance I need to make it. I decree and declare that I will not allow any plots, plans, or schemes of the enemy to cause me to stop moving forward. I will not quit. I will stay focused at all times. Thank you Jesus for loving me and for teaching me more and more each day about your perfect will for my life. In Jesus name, Amen.

Scripture Reference:

Matthew 24:13 NLT “But the one who endures to the end will be saved.”

James 1:2-4 NLT “Dear brothers and sisters,when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.”

Hebrews 12:1 KJV “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,”

Clean Up! Clean Up! Everybody Do Your Share!

July 5, 2013 Author, Nicole L. RossLeave a comment

One of the most dreadful things on my regular to do list is clean up. I don’t know why, it just seems like I could be spending my time doing a whole lot of other stuff. Stuff that in my opinion is a lot more fun. Then of course, when I do get up and start cleaning I am happy that I did because I am able to organize a little more, free up space, get rid of stuff we don’t use, and just straighten up. Just like your physical home requires cleaning, so does your spiritual home.

It may be time for you to go on a cleaning spree within yourself. Time to really do a self-evaluation and get rid of any bondage or strongholds that have been lingering over your life. Throw away all trash and the junk that is cluttering your life. Divest yourself of anything that is preventing you from operating in your full potential. If you want to be delivered from bondage, strongholds, traps, or any other ploys of the enemy you have to say so. Do not listen to satan and the negative things he has planted in your spirit. Counteract his lies by opening up your mouth and saying, “I will not be oppressed, repressed, depressed and I will not be discouraged.” Whatever he is trying to hold you hostage with, you make a declaration of the exact opposite. Tell the devil he is a liar. When you are cleaning, the first thing you have to do is identify whatever it is you need to throw away. If you don’t recognize the junk, whether it’s in front of you or hidden behind the couch, it will stay put right where it is. Therefore, once you acknowledge what the enemy is doing and put him on front street, he has no choice but to back off because now you have called him out. Once you put him in his place, this is where true purification and cleansing begins.

If you have other old baggage such as unforgiveness and bitterness, you have to let that go also. Any form of sin can weigh you down, but bitterness and unforgiveness are two strongholds that are similar to old boxes in the basement you just can’t seem to throw away. You have become so familiar with it sometimes you don’t even realize how it is hindering your life. I am talking to myself on this one, because I can honestly say I have overcome a lot during my spiritual journey but this is one area that seems to be a bit more difficult than others to overcome. That being said, the beautiful thing about having a relationship with God and hearing from Him is that He never intended for us to make any of these changes on our own. We cannot clean ourselves, even if we tried. God will do the cleansing for us, if and only if we make our request known to Him.

When we draw close to God, study the word of God, spend time in prayer, fast and do all we can to be near Him our bodies and hearts will go through a spiritual makeover. As the relationship develops there are positive consequences that come along with it. Your mind begins to change, the way you talk begins to change, the way you think begins to change. So, as you clean up your spirit man, be excited for the change that is bound to come with it. Aint nobody gone be mad but the devil. Now it’s time to clean up, clean up, everybody do your share! #iDeclare #cleanupcleanupeverybodydoyourshare

Prayer:

Heavenly Father, I thank you know the cleansing process. I come humbly before your throne to say I want to be clean God. I want to be purified. I know that I cannot do anything without you, so please God cleanse me. Make me whole God. Take out anything in my life that is not like you. I decree and declare that I want more of you God. I want to walk like you, talk like you, think like you Father. If there is any baggage that I am not even aware of, please reveal it to me so I can get rid of it. No longer will I allow the enemy to hold me down in bondage. No longer will I allow the enemy to put negative thoughts in my head or cause me to do or say things that are not pleasing in your sight God. Make me over Lord Jesus. I want to be just like YOU. I want to be the child that You created me to be. I will be the child that You created me to be. In Jesus Name, Amen.

Scripture Reference:

Psalms 51:10 KJV “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.”

Luke 6:45 NLT “A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. What you say flows from what is in your heart.”

Be Prepared.

July 4, 2013 Author, Nicole L. Ross1 Comment

One of the biggest lessons I was taught while growing up was always be prepared. At the time and even to this very day, I understand the importance of being prepared. Some people tend to think that preparation takes away from having faith in God. I disagree. I feel as though preparation and faith go hand in hand. What I mean is this, you have the faith that God is going to protect you when you get in your car and drive, yet you still put on your seat belt. Or you know that God will provide all of you and your families needs, yet you still have life insurance. The attitude in which you operate while getting prepared is where faith comes in. If you do something because you do not know if God will do His part or “just in case” God does not do what you think He should, then you are not operating in faith at all. You are leaning and trusting on your own free will more than that of the Father. We are to most certainly walk by faith, but I also feel that God gives us common sense as well. Unfortunately, common sense is a flower that does not grow in everyone’s garden. Think for a moment, God promised to provide for all creation, even the birds. He does not build a nest for them, He created trees so they can make their own nest. Before they can do that, they have to prepare by gathering sticks and shrubs then knitting them together to make their home.

Preparation is essential in so many different areas of life. God gave us a brain, we have to be smart and use it. A lot of what I was told to do in my younger years, whether it be homework for school, chores around the house, and even work on my actual job all prepared me for my future. The things we do today help pave the way for tomorrow. As adults we have to be mindful that not only does it pave the way for tomorrow, it paves the way for the legacy we plan to leave behind for our bloodline. Our children’s, children’s, children. You have to think beyond yourself and help prepare the way for future generations to come. Think about it like this, blessing happen when preparation meets opportunity. Next time that big opportunity presents itself, if you are prepared, great things can happen.

It is so imperative that we not waste away time because as we know, tomorrow is not promised. There has to be balance in our lifestyle. God gave us the need, need for food, need for water, need for shelter, these types of things. I believe He did so in order to turn us away from everything in the world and focus on Him. By focusing on Him we exercise our faith, and trust that God will do what He says He will do. While also doing our part to make sure we have what we need. We do our part by getting ready. Go to work so you can have income, so that when the bills come in you are now ready to pay them. Let God do the super and you do the natural.

Jesus is coming back again, so set aside all the preparation of day-to-day life, will your soul be ready? Are you saved? Have you accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior? Stop saying you aren’t ready yet. Ready for what? To be delivered? To be set free? To have peace, love and joy in your heart? God is not expecting you to change anything about your life on your own. All He wants is for you to say yes to Him. If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. When you do that and begin to build your relationship with Him, He will do the rest. There is no better time than now to prepare for the returning of our Lord and give your life to Christ. The bible declares that He will come like a thief in the night. If you knew someone was coming to your house, wouldn’t you be ready? No difference now, you just have to get your soul ready. My brothers and sisters it is time to get our acts together. Stop putting off for tomorrow what you can do today. As the saying goes, ‘when you fail to prepare, you prepare to fail’. #iDeclare #beprepared

Prayer:

Father God in the name of Jesus, I thank you for preparation. I decree and declare that I will live a life where my faith will walk hand in hand with preparation. Thank you for the many blessings that will flow into my life when the preparation that I have put forth will meet new opportunities. Thank you God for common sense, and the brain that you have given me. I will use them both to the best of my ability to live my life in a manner that will keep me in your will. In Jesus name, Amen.

Scripture Reference:

Matthew 24:44 ESV “Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”

1 Thessalonians 5:2 NLT “For you know quite well that the day of the Lord’s return will come unexpectedly, like a thief in the night.”

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