Tag: devotional

True Freedom

Author, Nicole L. RossLeave a comment

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As a military wife, I’ve come to really appreciate what it means to have freedom.  So many people take the freedom that we have for granted, especially in America.  Having the ability to speak, act or think like we want without hindrance or restraint is a privilege that others in many parts of the world do not have. Individual liberties include things such as freedom of speech or the right to wear whatever clothes you want to wear.  Though simple enough, there are some places where people are killed for speaking out of order or where women are only allowed to wear a specific type of clothing.

Are there other ways one can be bound and not realize it?  What about being bound in a state of fear?  For instance, someone might be in a relationship where they are afraid for their life. Instead of leave the relationship and get help, they live in a constant state of fear.  Or another example may be someone who is afraid to get on an airplane and fly.  They will never be able to experience certain parts of the world because of their fear of flying.  Instead of just getting on the plane, they would rather not go and be bound by the confines of their current living environment for the rest of their life.  Freedom and liberty can both come in so many forms of life that we do not even recognize.

The ability to enjoy the freedom that you have should be embraced.  As with all things, true freedom and liberty does have God-given boundaries.  You must be mindful of and stay within those boundaries.  Although you are in the world, you are not to be of the world, so you should always keep the commandments of God and consider those boundaries.  On the flip side however, as the Bride of Christ, we are free and our freedom allows us to follow Him joyfully.  There is no fear in following Christ because perfect love casts out fear and God’s love for us is perfect. Walking in freedom with Christ gives you so much peace about life.  Your worries are transformed into boundless opportunities and you begin to truly have the ability to be all that God has called you to be.

Bondage is a terrible thing, whether it is spiritual, physical or emotional.  So I challenge you today to live a life of freedom.  Freedom is never really free, but thank God for sending His son Jesus to pay the price for you.  Allow Jesus Christ to have full rule and reign over your life because He has already set you free.  Trust God to give you true freedom that comes only from Him. #iDeclare #TrueFreedom

 

Scripture Reference:

Galatians 5:1 KJV “Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.”

1 Peter 2:16 NLT “For you are free, yet you are God’s slaves, so don’t use your freedom as an excuse to do evil.”

Galatians 5:13 NLT “For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love”

Decisions = Consequences

Author, Nicole L. RossLeave a comment

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Decisions = Consequences

As I reflect upon where I am today in life, I can honestly see the reality of consequences.  Yes, I’ve made a lot of mistakes and done some stupid stuff, but there are also some things that I got right.  Looking into the big beautiful eyes of my two little girls reminds me of that each and every day.  Typically, when we think of consequences, we think of negative results based on decisions that are made.  In fact, when I looked up words that are synonymous with ‘consequences’ there are words like penalty or cost included in the list.  The result or effect of an action is how we define consequence, and nowhere does it say that result or effect has to be negative.

So what, you’ve made some bad decisions, but don’t beat yourself up over it.  What about those decisions you made that were right?  So seldom we fail to give our self credit for the things we actually did right.  These right decisions have consequences as well.  Say you decide to stop and give a homeless man on the street a meal to eat, you better believe there is no penalty in that.  This is where the law of reciprocity comes into play.  Simply put, you are blessed to be a blessing, so in order to stay blessed you have to keep blessing others.

The place we need to avoid is being in the valley of indecision.  Yes, we make bad decisions and we make good ones both of which, in my opinion, are required to move forward in life.  However, when we are stuck in a valley of indecision there are consequences for that also.  There is such an unsettling that comes behind not making a decision or even worse, letting someone else make the decision for you.  Decide what you are going to do and never let anyone else make life-changing decisions for you.

I truly believe that decisions have a tremendous impact on our life and maintaining the ability to reach our destiny.  We can face some tough situations in life, making it very difficult to make decisions on our own.  Which is why it is also important that we stand on the word of God.  The word says that in all of our ways we are to acknowledge God, so in essence whether they are difficult or easy so to speak, we should be seeking Him about these decisions anyway.

The next time you are placed in a position where you have to make a decision take a minute to think about what the consequences may be, because you know there will be some.  The end result of decisions is consequences. Just remember that those consequences are not always bad.  When you do good, good things come to you.  Either way, take a moment to reflect and hear from God before you move forward. #iDeclare #DecisionsEqualConsequences

 

Scripture Reference:

Proverbs 3:5-6 NIV “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.”

Shift!

Author, Nicole L. Ross1 Comment

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Men and women all over the world, it’s time to shift.  Shift our mindset and shift the way we go about doing things.  As we know, the definition of being insane is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.  Have you been expecting or wanting some changes in your life?  If so, what are you doing?  If you’re merely sitting around waiting for things to just magically happen then guess what, you probably gone be sitting there for a while.  In order for change to come, a shift must take place.  Shift the way you think and I guarantee you shifting the way you do things will happen automatically.  I say that speaking from personal experience.  I had been in a situation that mentally I couldn’t find any good in, knowing that God put me there.  For the longest, I always talked about the spirit of expectation that I had being there because I knew that God sent me, yet my mindset was still extremely negative.  God could not do what He wanted to do with me until I shifted my way of thinking.  Immediately when I shifted my state of mind, the way I did things totally changed.  Shift!

I want to elaborate on our thoughts for just a moment.  Far to often we stay stuck on all the things we have done wrong in life.  Shift! We are all humans and we make mistakes.  A shift takes place when you are able to pick up the lessons learned from the previous chapter all while looking straight ahead and writing a new chapter in life.  Focus the majority of your energy and attention on what you have done right.  I’ll also add this, whatever you doing right, keep doing it.  Take it up a notch and make it a point to operate in excellence.  Shift!

A slight change in position, direction or tendency could be the very thing that God is waiting on.  If you have an expectancy of change, that’s something that God has placed on the inside of you.  He’s just waiting on you to get your mind right.  This requires you to do what? Shift! Alright, now I hope you got it.  So let’s go change some things up a bit. You got it.  How do I know? Cause God got you! #iDeclare #Shift!