Tag: Life

Think BIG!!!

Author, Nicole L. Ross1 Comment

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I wanted to do a follow up with yesterday’s post about taking the limits off God and what He can do in your life.  One revelation that God gave me a few weeks back is that not only should we take off any limits we have placed on Him, but He cannot do a great thing in a little mind.  This really got me to thinking and I will pose this question to you as well.  Is your mind vast enough to encompass greatness or are you so simple minded that you can’t imagine anything beyond what you can see in the present moment?  I know that I have great faith in God, which gives me the ability to see beyond my present situation but I can honestly say that I am working every day on expanding my thought process to see the greatness ahead.  It can be tough when there is so much hurt, rejection, and disappointment around you.  What I am trying to do is set all of that to the side.  I know that these things have all been put there to push me towards that greatness I asked about, it’s just a matter of me staying focused and not allowing those rough patches to get me off track.

What I have learned is that it is so important to understand that so many things in our lives are birthed in our minds.  It develops as a thought, and then its up to you to act on it. What the devil will do is try to counterattack those thoughts and cause you to doubt.  He knows there is greatness in you and he wants to do everything he can to prevent them from coming to fruition.  If he can shut you down by using someone to say something negative to you and bring hurt and disappointment, then that is what he will do.  Often times, he will even use people who are close to you to do it.  Another thing to understand if this happens is that they may not even realize they are being used.  The bible tells us that the enemy comes to kill, steal and destroy and you better believe that he will do it any way he can.  This is where you have to use that power and authority that God has already given you.  Do not let the enemy shut you down, you shut him down.  We destroy him by doing just what 2 Corinthians 10:5 says, Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.  The devil is defeated, we just have to remind him.

When you get that small inkling in your mind to do something that you know can only come from God, you must act on it.  Obedience is not only better than sacrifice, obedience is where you get your blessings.  Operating in a spirit of obedience will take you so far because it will allow the gifts that you are operating in to make room for you.  As a servant of the Lord, I want to operate in greatness, not for myself, but so that the Kingdom of God can truly get glory out of my life.  My prayer is that your desire will be the same.  We are human and will most certainly make mistakes, but let’s not allow our mistakes to prevent us from operating in greatness for our life.  I end with these two questions, what’s on your mind?  More importantly, what are you doing about it? #iDeclare #thinkBIG

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Prayer:

Father God, in the name of Jesus I come humbly before your throne thanking you for who you are in my life.  I come asking Lord that you would help me to think big.  Help me to understand the many things that are birthed in my mind and how to use them for your glory.  I decree and declare that when a thought is placed in my mind, I will act upon it and be obedient to the calling you have placed inside of me.  I will operate in greatness.  Thank you Jesus for hearing my prayer.  I love you, honor you and praise you.  In Jesus name, Amen.

Scripture Reference:

Proverbs 18:16 KJV “A man’s gift maketh room for him, and bringeth him before great men.”

1 Samuel 15:22 NLT “But Samuel replied, “What is more pleasing to the LORD: your burnt offerings and sacrifices or your obedience to his voice? Listen! Obedience is better than sacrifice, and submission is better than offering the fat of rams.”

No Limits

Author, Nicole L. Ross1 Comment

No Limits Sign

If you had to look at your life right now and determine a limit on how you were going to move forward in say, buying a house.  You might write down on a list that you want a three bedroom house, with two and a half baths and a two car garage and you want to spend no more than $150,000.  Or another example may be you want a new job that is full-time, have a good salary, with medical benefits, and flexible hours.  It is not bad to establish a plan, in fact the examples I have listed are great for trying to draw up a strategy on how to move forward in life.  Here’s the thing though, we have to understand that although it is good to lay out a blueprint for ourselves, it is not good for us to put limitations on it.  Simply put, there are no limits when it comes to the things of God and the people of God.  While you want that 3 bedroom house, God could desire to bless you with a 6 bedroom house.  Or, while you are still in an apartment paying rent every month thinking you could never afford to actually purchase a home or qualify for a mortgage loan, God is saying not only will I bless you so you can afford it, I will also restore and build up your credit rating.  You want a full-time job with good benefits working for someone else, when God could want you to have your own business.  I think it is just the way we are programmed to put limits on things, but we have to reprogram our thoughts and realize that when we put limits on any part of our present situation or future, we are putting limits on God.

How do we go about reprogramming our thoughts? You start by including God in the planning process.  Talk to Him.  Ask God what He wants for you.  As you make your plans, let Him know it is what you want but that you believe that if it is His will you can get even more.  When I first started this Blog, it was simply my desire to share my thoughts with people all over the world and allow God to use me to take His word to the nations.  Before doing it though, I had to really get in a place where I could hear from God.  I was able to share my plans with Him, but I knew right off the bat that the blog was only the beginning.  I refuse to put any limits on what this website can do because I trust with a sincere heart that God is able to do exceedingly, abundantly above all I can ever begin to ask or even think.  When we limit our dreams and goals, we limit God.  We limit what we believe Him to be capable of doing in all areas of our lives.

What is it that you are wanting?  What are your goals?  If you don’t have any, I challenge you to establish some in every area of you life (family, work, finances, health, etc).  Now, when you come up with the answer to these questions, my next challenge to you is to include God!  Talk to Him about all of it and take off all the limitations you have set for yourself.  For example, if you want to make more money this year, it is ok to say you want at least $50,000, but trust and believe that God can do more.  In other words, make your goals the minimum and let God add the maximum.  #iDeclare #nolimitstowhatGodcando

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Prayer:

Father God in the name of Jesus, I come humbly first and foremost repenting.  Please forgive me for putting limitations on you and what you want for me in this life.  I believe that there is nothing to hard for you Lord.  I decree and declare that I will include you in all my dreams and goals set for my life and what I set is only the minimum, while what you add is the maximum.  Oh Lord my prayer is that you would bless me indeed and enlarge my territory.  As I write the vision and make it plain, I will include you in every aspect of it.  I trust and believe you God for great and mighty things.  In Jesus name, Amen.

Scripture Readings:

Ephesians 3:20 NKJV “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us”

Habakkuk 2:2 KJV “And the Lord answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it.”

Keep It Real

Author, Nicole L. RossLeave a comment

One of the biggest problems in the body of Christ in my opinion is people who seem to want to fake and front and appear to be someone they really are not.  Although it really does bother me, I think it is important to identify and understand the real reason this sort of behavior takes place.  There was once a time in my life when I was younger, entering into adulthood, where I put up a front and pretended to be something I really wasn’t.  Whether or not anyone knew it or not, I don’t know, if they did they never called me out on it.  Nevertheless, I pretended to be something I wasn’t, and I can say with an honest and open heart that the reason why I did this is because I was not happy with myself.  I wasn’t happy with where I was in life, so I figured if I made it appear as though my life was bigger and better than it really was, I could cover up all the hurt, pain and struggle that I was dealing with internally.  I remember reading one day about the importance of understanding who we are in Christ.  Learning that I am an heir of God and a joint heir with Jesus Christ, I am above only and not beneath, I am the head and not the tail. All of these things sound great, but the revelation for me was that it is in the bible, which we know is the word of God and truly a word that I needed to stand on and believe.  When you believe in the word completely, no matter how many flaws you may feel you have, the desire to make things up and pretend should not exist.  It was at that moment when I found the ability to truly come to grips with myself by being completely transparent.  God changed my mindset about who I was in Him, which in turn changed my behavior.  He took the desire out of my heart to pretend, and placed the desire in my heart for me to love me again, imperfections and all.  To love all of me, no matter what the world standards appeared to be, love me by letting go of my past trusting God that no matter how bad it seemed in my eyes it was all predestined to bring me into the individual I am today.

It seems as though this acting, is extremely prevalent in the church.  As the body of Christ, we are supposed to reach the lost and draw people in.  How can we do that when we are so busy turning our noses up at people because they have on a tight dress or smell like alcohol.  If we aren’t doing turning up our noses, then we are trying to make them believe we are something we aren’t and they don’t even see Jesus in us because they too busy trying to look beyond all the foolishness.   We can’t be a reflection of God until we look in the mirror and take a true reflection of ourselves first and ask God to change whatever it is within us that is not like Him.  He does not expect us to do it on our own, He just wants you to acknowledge the reality of who you are in Him.  How do you begin to know who you are in Him?  Study your word. It’s all written in the bible.  Once you study your word and see what it says, you must then believe what it says.  Believe that there is a King in you.  Believe that you are a royal priesthood. Believe that nothing, absolutely nothing can ever separate you from the love of God.  Find your identity in Christ alone and you won’t have to struggle with being fake or phony.  Love you just the way you are.  Your creator sure does.  #iDeclare #keepitreal

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Prayer:

Father God in the Name of Jesus, I come now thanking you for showing me who I am.  Forgive me Lord for times I have appeared or acted in a way that was false.  Help me to find my true identity in you Lord.  I decree and declare that I am the head and not the tail, that I am above only and not beneath and that there is a King in me.  I am a royal priesthood.  Help me to do what you have called me to do, so that when people see me they will see you.  I die to myself right now in the name of Jesus and I thank that you that I will never have to be fake or phony another day in my life.  I embrace the real me, the person you created me to be and I love me.  Thank you Jesus for hearing my prayer and for life changing transformation.  In Jesus name I pray, Amen.

Scripture Reference:

Deuteronomy 28:13 KJV” And the Lord shall make thee the head, and not the tail; and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath; if that thou hearken unto the commandments of the Lord thy God, which I command thee this day, to observe and to do them:”

2 Corinthians 5:17 NKJV “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.”