Tag: devotional

Clean Up! Clean Up! Everybody Do Your Share!

Author, Nicole L. RossLeave a comment

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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

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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.

Author, Nicole L. Ross1 Comment

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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

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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.”

Sprinkle With A Little ‘Favor’

Author, Nicole L. RossLeave a comment

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The favor of God is such a beautiful thing.  There is a common misconception however, when we talk about God’s favor.  People tend to think we all get the same measure of favor on our life and this is not true, hence the phrase ‘favor aint fair’.  God is a just God.  He provides for all of His children.  The Bible declares that He will supply all of our needs, not necessarily all of our wants.  So many people take the simple things in life for granted, many of which are the things we need.  Waking up in the morning, having a roof over your head, clothes on your back, food to eat.  These are all necessities.

God grants favor, but everybody’s favor is not going to be equivalent.  My favor is not going to be the same as yours, which is not going to be the same for the next person and so on.  A great example of this can be found when reading the story in the bible about the three servants in Matthew 25.  The master gave each of the servants a different amount of bags of silver.  He gave one servant five bags, another two bags, and the last one he gave one bag of silver.  So why did he give each one different amounts?  I think it’s because he gave each one the amount that he thought they could handle.  God does the same thing.  He gives us a measure of favor according to not only what we can handle, but where we are spiritually and our relationship with Him.

I can’t talk about the story with the master and the servants and not also briefly mention the end result.  When the master came back, the servant who he entrusted the five bags to now had ten bags, the one he gave two bags now had four and the servant with one bag still ended up with one bag.  The first two had enough sense to work with what they had to make more, when the last one simply dug a hole in the ground and left it there.  He did not even try to add to it.  We have to know what to do with what we have.  Often times, we look for the blessing but when we get the blessing we are not good stewards over it.  It is Our Heavenly Father’s desire to bless you and give you favor.  Another word for favor is grace.  The beautiful thing about grace is that it is not earned.  God loves us so much, He gives it to us freely.

Favor is goodwill. It is a gift that God gives to those who love Him.  Favor is not the blessing itself.  It is what releases the blessings.  There are many examples in the Bible where God’s favor upon His people causes them to experience supernatural breakthroughs.  Simply put, favor is God’s loving kindness.

You will know when you begin to walk in the favor and blessing of the Lord and so will others.  Generally people will criticize the favor of God on your life because they cannot claim the rights to your success.  I don’t know why people have to feel like they have their hand in everything.  There are something’s you just cannot do.  God makes it that way so He can get the glory.  Folks who are like this, I call them haters.  Instead of them congratulating what God is doing, they get mad and often times jealous.  If you have a lot of haters and you do not understand why, this could be the reason.  These type of people can hurt your feelings if you let them, especially when all you are trying to do is live right.  I’m here today to tell you to recognize these individuals for who they are and keep on doing your thang.  Do not allow their negativity and unhappiness with themselves to cause you to miss what God is doing in your life.

I leave you with these words and I want you to speak them out loud.  As you make this declaration, get this into your spirit, “I am blessed and highly favored of God.  I am the head and not the tail.  I am above only and not beneath.”  Just speak life and watch God turn around and sprinkle it with a little favor.  #iDeclare #sprinkledwithalittlefavor

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Prayer:

Father God in the name of Jesus, I come to say thank you.  Thank you for the favor that you have placed on my life.  I decree and declare that I will walk in the favor of the Lord at all times.  I will not allow those who are against me to deter me or get me discouraged.  I love you Lord and I thank you for loving me.  In Jesus name, Amen.

Scripture Reference:

Psalms 90:17 ESV “Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands upon us; yes, establish the work of our hands!”

Matthew 25:14-30 NLT “Again, the Kingdom of Heaven can be illustrated by the story of a man going on a long trip. He called together his servants and entrusted his money to them while he was gone. He gave five bags of silver to one, two bags of silver to another, and one bag of silver to the last—dividing it in proportion to their abilities. He then left on his trip. “The servant who received the five bags of silver began to invest the money and earned five more.  The servant with two bags of silver also went to work and earned two more.  But the servant who received the one bag of silver dug a hole in the ground and hid the master’s money. “After a long time their master returned from his trip and called them to give an account of how they had used his money. The servant to whom he had entrusted the five bags of silver came forward with five more and said, ‘Master, you gave me five bags of silver to invest, and I have earned five more.’ “The master was full of praise. ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!’“The servant who had received the two bags of silver came forward and said, ‘Master, you gave me two bags of silver to invest, and I have earned two more.’ “The master said, ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!’ “Then the servant with the one bag of silver came and said, ‘Master, I knew you were a harsh man, harvesting crops you didn’t plant and gathering crops you didn’t cultivate. I was afraid I would lose your money, so I hid it in the earth. Look, here is your money back.’ “But the master replied, ‘You wicked and lazy servant! If you knew I harvested crops I didn’t plant and gathered crops I didn’t cultivate, why didn’t you deposit my money in the bank? At least I could have gotten some interest on it.’ “Then he ordered, ‘Take the money from this servant, and give it to the one with the ten bags of silver. To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given, and they will have an abundance. But from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away. Now throw this useless servant into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’