Category: Inspiration

Make The Most of It

Author, Nicole L. Ross2 Comments

Make-the-most-of-lifeMake-the-most-of-life

Lately, I’ve been thinking about how our environment can effect our state of mind.  I was thinking of this because I was reminiscing on how it was when I first moved to Germany.  Coming from Atlanta, Georgia, this moved literally flipped my world upside down.  I absolutely despised it when I got here.  I did not want to come in the first place because I had never been so far away from my family.  Then when I got here the weather was cold, we are in a small country area where there really isn’t much around, it is cold, I did not like the food, I did not understand the language and did I mention it was very, very cold.  It took me about a year to really adapt and accept the fact that I was living in Germany.  In that year of adjustment I was not a very happy camper.  I did not want to go anywhere.  I did meet a few nice people but within a few months they all slowly started moving back to the states.  It was just a very tough transition for me.  I said all of that to say this, I was in a new environment and even though I did not like it, I allowed it to control me in a sense that it changed my entire outlook on life.  I allowed it to stop me and slow me down from truly operating in the full purpose of me being here.  I knew that God had sent me over here for a reason, and oddly enough I even had a strong spirit of expectation coming over.  I was expecting great things, but I was so stuck on me and being selfish that God could not begin to work in me like He wanted to.  Instead of me making the most of this new country I was living in, I chose to be miserable.  That’s right, I made a decision.  Therefore I was unable to be very effective because I was so stuck in my unhappy living situation.

How do we still fulfill our purpose and make the most out of situations where we are unhappy?  This is a tough question to answer.  I think it all goes back to perspective and not allowing your environment, or even people you surround yourself with to hold you back.  We have to accept life as it is handed to us and decide to make the most of it.  No matter who, what, when or where.

I’ve also noticed when talking with a few people about their job lately, they’ve mentioned how the environment at their job has had a negative impact on them.  I can see this happening, mainly because your workplace is somewhere you typically go on a regular basis.  This is no different from when children go to school and their behavior begins to rub off on each other.  For Christians however, having your own, individual, personal relationship with God is how this can be avoided. When you have your own special relationship with Him, you realize more and more about who He is, but you also realize more and more about who you are in Him.  When you know who you are in Christ, you have a confidence about yourself.  You go places knowing you have the power and authority to shift the atmosphere.  So whether it is work, school, or the grocery store, you take God with you.  Instead of the folks around you having a negative impact on you, you begin to have a positive impact on them.  The roles are reversed.

Learning how to take the good, the bad and the ugly and truly optimize the moment is the purpose of this message.  In order for us to fully be used at our utmost potential by God, we have to make a choice to do so.  When we make the choice, we should not allow anything, including our environment to stop us from moving forward and walking in our destiny.  #iDeclare #makethemostofit

 

Prayer:

Father God, in the name of Jesus.  I thank you for pushing me towards my destiny.  Forgive me for times when I allow the things going on around me to hinder me from moving forward.  Thank you for loving me and desiring a personal relationship with me.  As I draw closer to you, please help me to learn more about you and about myself.  Help me to walk in the knowledge of who I am in Christ at all times God.  I decree and declare that no matter what my environment is, I will make the most of it.  I will shift the atmosphere for the glory of God.  I will be a leader and not a follower.  Instead of me conforming to the ways of the world, I decree and declare that I have been transformed by the renewing of my mind in Christ Jesus.  Thank you God for hearing my prayer, In Jesus Name.  Amen.

Scripture References:

Romans 12:2 ESV “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”

Philippians 2:5 KJV “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:”

Open Up Your Mouth and Speak

Author, Nicole L. RossLeave a comment

speak-up

One thing I have come to learn just recently is not only the power of the tongue, as I spoke about previously but also the power that comes behind declaring your prayers out loud.  Please do not misunderstand what I am about to say.  God knows our every thought, and I truly believe that He hears our prayers that are both silent and verbal.  I prayed silently for many, many years.  In fact that was all I knew growing up.  But as I learned more and grew spiritually I began to understand and experience first hand the power that comes when you open up your mouth and speak.  Praying vocally is so important.  It will take your spiritual walk and journey to a whole new level.  When you do, you are releasing your words into the atmosphere.  Doing so is a wonderful tool to overcome the wiles of the enemy.  The main way the enemy will try to attack is through our mind and if we can’t get our mind right, how can we focus on God while praying silently in our head?  You can’t because your mind will go in so many different directions.  If you are praying out loud, you are more inclined to focus on what you are saying and not other distractions around you.

 

When we pray we have to tell God how we feel.  We have to be open and honest with Him.  You can do this by having a normal conversation with Him like you would anyone else.  Also when you pray use your bible.  God says that we are to put Him in remembrance of His word.  Read scripture out loud.  Decree and declare them over yourself.  I know a lot of times when I read scripture I put my name in there.  I make it personal.  You can too.  Using books is also a great way to pray out loud.  When you have prayer books, they are already sectioned off in different topics and formatted, so all you have to do is read it.  Does it make it less effective because you did not write it?  Absolutely not.  The way I look at it is it’s no different from asking someone else to pray for you.  The bible says the prayers of the righteous availeth much, so don’t focus so much on who wrote it.  Focus more on getting that prayer through and making your request known.

 

When talking about the power of our tongue, one other thing that God placed on my heart to mention is that people are going to always have something to say. Always.  No matter where you are.  No matter how good or bad you are doing.  They will always have something to say.  A lot of the stuff they say, you may never even know about.  Some of it may not be so nice.  What I want you to do however is not receive anything negative and cancel it.  When they speak negative things over you, you cancel that negative with a positive. If they say you don’t have a purpose in life, you say not only DO you have purpose but you WILL fulfill that purpose.  Again I will say, do not receive any negative spoken words over you.  When I pray, not only do I cancel every negative word spoken over me, but I send it back to the sender 100 fold.  So everything bad they tried to put on me comes right back to them 100 times over.  Again, this is me using the power that God has given me.  So remember to pray, seek the face of God and when you do use your weapon.  Use the power that God has given you by opening up your mouth.  #iDeclare #openupyourmouth

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Prayer:

Father God in the name of Jesus.  Thank you for the power you have given us in our voice.  Help me Lord to use this power effectively.  I decree and declare that I will open up my mouth and talk to you on a daily basis, releasing my prayers into the atmosphere.    I will be mindful of what I say because I know that my words have power.  I cancel every negative word spoken over me right now in the name of Jesus and I send it back to the sender in Jesus name.  Thank you God for loving me just as I am.  I consider it a privilege and honor to come before your throne boldly day by day.  In Jesus name, Amen.

 

Scripture Reference:

Isaiah 54:17 KJV “No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of me, saith the LORD.”

Psalms 3:4 ESV “I cried aloud to the LORD, and he answered me from his holy hill. Selah”

 

Just Speak Life

Author, Nicole L. Ross1 Comment

powerofwords

            If you had a tape recorder on you recording your every word for the entire day, would you be surprised at what you hear when you listen to it?  We let all kind of stuff come out of our mouth on a daily basis not realizing the effect that this can have.  The bible declares that life and death are in the power of the tongue.  This means that you have the power to speak a word and bring about change.  This is an awesome power to have, we just have to learn how to use it.  If you have a few struggles with your finances, instead of saying you are broke, say that you are blessed.  If you feel sick to your body, don’t say you are sick say you are heal, whole and complete in Jesus Christ.  Change your vocabulary.  Speak over yourself.  Just because a situation may seem a certain way, you do not have to repeat what you see.  You decree and declare change in that situation by speaking positive.

If you have had negative things spoken over you, maybe you did not say the words yourself but someone else said it about you, I encourage you to cancel those negative words spoken over you as well.  If someone tells you that you are not special, do not receive it at all.  Make a declaration over yourself saying just how special you are.  Think for just a moment about a particular situation where someone said something negative about you and how it made you feel.  Then think about a situation when someone said something positive about you and how it made you feel.  Analyzing these two scenarios should help you understand the power that lies in the words that precede out of your mouth.

For those who have children, it is essential that we understand the power our words have with our children.  We already know they mimic and copy everything we do, but they also copy what we say.  If we do a lot of fussing and cussing around them, there is no need to wonder why they turn around and behave the same way.  Not only that, but it is important that while we speak over ourselves, we must speak life over them as well.  Speak greatness into them.  Tell them that they are special, they are unique, they are beautiful.  Do not ever talk down to your children or discourage them.  I have a soon to be 4-year-old and she loves being a princess.  I remember once when she was talking about the princesses, she told me she was one of them and I politely corrected her.  I told her she was not Princess Ariel, like on the cartoon, she was Princess Triniti.  I told her that she is her own princess, she does not have to be like all the other ones she sees on TV.  I use this example because I want my children to have their own identity and be proud about who they are.  Therefore, I constantly make it a point to speak life into my children.  If there is something they say that’s not positive, I gently correct them.   With my oldest I am slowly trying to get her to understand that she has to be careful what she says.  Especially with my girls being so young, it is important for me that they know who they are and whose they are before they have to get out there and experience the cruel and evil ways of this world.

Words can build up and they can also tear down.   God chose to reveal Himself to man through words, the Holy Bible.  A lot of the impact we have on others comes through the words we speak out of our mouth.  I am a firm believer that what we say is also a direct reflection of what is in our heart because as the bible says in Luke chapter 6, out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.  So my questions to you, what are you saying to others?  What are you saying to yourself?  About yourself?  Use the power that God has given you.  Just speak life.  #iDeclare #justspeaklife

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Prayer:

Father God in the name of Jesus, I come to you first thanking you for who you are.  You are Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end.  Please help me Lord to understand the power that lies in my words.  Help me to be mindful of what I say and when I say it.  I decree and declare that I will speak life and not death.  In Jesus Name, Amen.

 

Scripture Reading:

Proverbs 18:21 KJV “Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.”

Proverbs 16:24 NIV “Gracious words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.”

Matthew 12:37 ESV “For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”