Tag: devotional

Don’t Worry Be Happy

Author, Nicole L. RossLeave a comment

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“And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to your life?” (Matthew 6:27 NASB).  Life is full of uncertainties and will be until the day we leave this earth.  The issue is that it seems to be human nature for people to constantly worry.  What we have to do is learn how to bring your mind, body and spirit under subjection.  If a problem can be solved, why worry about it?  And vice versa, if a problem cannot be solved why worry about it?  It’s simply a matter of putting things into perspective.  I can say that a lot of times when an issue presents itself in my life, the first thing I tend to do is try to figure out a solution.  I try not to spend too much time focusing on the problem itself, although there have been some times when I have allowed my emotions to get the best of me.  Hindsight is 20/20 and I can honestly say in those times when I let my emotions get the best of me, besides feeling horrible on the inside I lost a wonderful gift that God gave me, time.  Time where I could have been happy, time I could have had joy, time I could have been at peace.  I’ve said before how precious time is and of course we know, once it is gone we can never get it back.  In addition, think about all the other irrational things our emotions can make us do.  All for what?  A situation that nine times out of ten we have no control over.  Or the control that we do have over it will not solve anything by wrecking your nerves over it.

Here’s something I want you to do, think about an issue you were worrying about a year ago today.  If you can even remember something from that long ago, you can probably see how that situation has now been turned around.  It is tough to see it while you’re going through, but as the saying goes, there is always light at the end of the tunnel.  I encourage you to focus on that light.  Don’t worry about anything.  Instead we must pray about everything.  As you focus on the light at the end of the tunnel, trust God.  Give your burdens to the Lord and He will take care of you.   Walk in the joy, happiness, love and peace that God gives.  Find comfort and peace through Scripture that promises you hope and a future.  Gain knowledge on how to live free from worry by meditating on the Word and casting your cares upon Jesus! #iDeclare #dontworrybehappy

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Prayer:

Heavenly Father, I come to say thank you.  Thank you for life, health and strength.  Please help me God to not worry.  I decree and declare that I will trust you at all times.  I will walk in peace, love and joy at all times no matter what may be going on around me.  I will not lose precious time by worrying, instead I will focus on the light at the end of the tunnel and trust you with my whole heart.  Instead of worrying, I will pray.  Thank you God for increasing my faith.  In Jesus name, Amen.

 

Scripture Reference:

Matthew 11:28-30 NLT “ Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”

1 Peter 5:6-7 KJV “ Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.”

Blessed To Be A Blessing

Author, Nicole L. Ross3 Comments

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            Have you ever stopped to think about just how blessed you truly are?  I know I do and I just get so overjoyed because I know that God does not have to do anything for me.  Lord knows I truly do not deserve it but He does it because He loves me so much.  The unmerited love that He shows to His people is simply amazing.  In the same way, we should love others and bless them just the same.  God has blessed us beyond our wildest dreams because He loves us so much.  He wants us to reciprocate the love He shows to us.  The way we can do this is by of course loving Him, but there really isn’t anything tangible we can give to God.  We would never be able to even half way compare to God’s giving.  He wants us to reciprocate His giving by giving to other people.

When I say blessing, I am not only talking about tangible things such as money, or food.  A blessing can also be your time, a listening ear, a phone call, a text message, an email, a hug or even a smile.  All of these are ways in which you can bless other people.  I know it always blesses me when I am walking in a store or anywhere really and the person walking past smiles.  Normally people just put their head down or look in another direction to avoid speaking, but a simple smile never hurt anyone.

Random acts of kindness.  What an awesome way to not only make someone’s day, but to truly show them the love of God.  Have you ever paid for the person’s food behind you at the drive thru?  Purchased the person in line next to you at the grocery store’s groceries?  Paid for gas for a stranger at the gas pump next to you who happened to be there at the same time you were?  These are all random acts of kindness and I would love to see more of it and I’m sure God would too.  After all kindness is contagious and that’s something we could really stand to see spread around the world.

So my point today is this, invest in someone.  We invest in businesses, stocks, bonds and everything else so why not invest in people.  These other things are material and can be easily replaced, but souls are eternal.  Your kind word or deed may be the seed that God uses to bring someone to Christ.  God is working in and through us every day all day.  Remember, to whom much is given, much is required.  God has entrusted us with much with the expectation that we bless others the same way we have been blessed.  Therefore our aim should be to bless others by sharing the resources and knowledge that we have with whomever is in need.   I challenge you all to make a cognizant effort and go out of your way to bless someone else today.  Matter fact not just someone else but a complete stranger.  Spread the love and I guarantee as you give to others, blessings will continue to flow your way.  #iDeclare #blessedtobeablessing

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Prayer:

Father God in the name of Jesus, I thank you for blessing me.  I decree and declare that I will be a blessing to others.  I will perform random acts of kindness and sow seeds of love as often as I can.  I understand that I am blessed to be a blessing and I will be just that.  In Jesus Name, Amen.

Scripture Reference:

Hebrews 13:16 NIV “And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.”

Genesis 12:2 NLT “I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others.”

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Make The Most of It

Author, Nicole L. Ross2 Comments

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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:”