June 25, 2019
The Traveler (2)
My website is still a bit under construction as the subscribe email list isn’t delivering. So here ya go! The link for today’s post. The Traveler Part 2.
June 24, 2019
The Traveler
I wrote a blog about the Holy Spirit. Anyone who understands intimacy with the Wonderful Counselor may appreciate my creative spin on my journey from not trusting people to trusting God. Here’s the link to a moment in my journal. Enjoy the Journey all who love creative writing. ~Nicole
June 23, 2019
Faith & Fitness Olympics
Come visit my new website! New Post update:
June 18, 2019
New Website!
Good Morning!
I want to share with you how honored I am you have been subscribed to receive my blogs in your email inbox. I have upgraded my free WordPress account to a new website that will give me room to grow! I would love to continue to have you on this journey with me.
Here’s what you need to do:
Click the link to my new page and resubscribe to that one. Thank you so much! Now here’s a touch of exhortation for your day! (Don’t forget to visit my new Broken and Brave website!)
God is a Charming Gardener. Watch him cluster out the weeds & tangle the soil with seed.
You have a delightful inheritance.
~Nicole
Brokenandbrave.com
June 15, 2019
When Life Hits Hard: START SOMETHING!
Have you ever read Psalm 42 in its entirety? It’s the heart of young David being poured out to his God.
“Deep calls to deep
at the roar of your waterfalls;
all your breakers and your waves
have gone over me.
By day the Lord commands his steadfast love,
and at night his song is with me…” psalm 42:7-8
Deep calls to deep at the roar of your waterfalls. Wow. Can you feel that? Because I don’t just read it, I can feel it. If you have ever been in the surf of a beach—either on a board or body surfing the waves, you know what a swell can look like from underneath up close to it. Daunting. You don’t just see it lurch over you, you feel it coming, you hear it…just like David said, as a roar.
Have you ever been blind-sided by pain? Pain so deep you wondered where God is? Did he forget? Did he have something more important to do? Am I forgotten, or worse, forsaken? Why do we go through the trials we do? Why do some lead simple lives that are relatively uneventful while other live lives rich with activity and hardship? Life can bring drama, whether we signed up for it caused it or not, and it can feel like a tsunami swell headed straight toward us.
My husband and I have been apart of AdvoCare since 1995. This company impacted us supplement and nutrition/performance geeks 24 years ago. We both immediately fell in love with the products. I feel in countless ways AdvoCare was used by God to open up the marketplace and bring cutting edge nutrition in an era (the 90’s) when phytochemicals and their uses were being explored and discovered. Nutrition science was advancing at alarming rates. It was great. AdvoCare always stayed true to their word to improve the products as the science allowed.
We weren’t looking for it to be a business…that was something God did. We had been so impacted and our lives richly touched for the better we passionately shared with our family and friends who also experienced the same results we did. Before too long we were receiving calls from the company to congratulate us on our success and bless us. I had no idea what was happening. I just loved the products. But within a year I’d know myself to be pregnant with my first child. I was working two jobs (aside from our earnings in AdvoCare) and wanted the option to stay home. I kept praying for my husband to get a raise or hired as an athletic director somewhere (he was in Division 1 college athletics at the time). But every time I’d pray, I’d hear the Spirit of God say in a soft and peaceful voice, “AdvoCare”. In fact I continued to pray and finally after hearing the answer three times I also felt the Spirit quiet me to not ask anymore-AdvoCare was his answer.
Five children later we were still strong with AdvoCare and had built incredible relationships with people all over the country. AdvoCare is a true blessing to our life, and will remain to be so. The business structure may change, but the products remain. My earnings as commission won’t be in my bank account any longer the same way, but the friendships I keep. I will keep using and sharing and loving my AdvoCare. I want it that way. My God wants it that way, and I know Charlie, the founder of AdvoCare who passed away in 2001, he’d be honored by the Legacy we’ve all made.
The richness of leadership training and mentorship I received from AdvoCare is priceless! Charlie believed in building people (we build champions). And he put his money where his mouth was. Extraordinary leader and example. Mentorship from John C Maxwell and Leadership 2000. Norman Schwarzkopf, various sports heroes, Olympians, professional athletes and Andy Andrews, Jon Gordon, George W Bush (twice!), George and Barbara Bush, Bob and Elisabeth Dole, Alan Keyes, only to name a few! I gleaned so much from all of them. I learned a lot from Charlie himself.
So, we didn’t just loose an income, we lost a community, a culture, a family. Though the relationships remain, they will change just because. But God has used Charlie and his little Dallas based company to START SOMETHING.
And start something he did. We each, 100,000 distributors, are now being directed by God in different directions. Some remain all in AdvoCare building a retail business, some to other companies, some to nothing and some in full time ministry.
God gave us personally clear direction immediately. I am so grateful God didn’t make me wait in the hall on this one. The door closed suddenly, but God has directed.
John and I remain faithful to our AdvoCare brand. There is no doubt these products are good and are helping people. We will share them and use them. But while John will be as much support as he can be with AdvoCare Sports Advisory, I’m stepping out and trying my own to replace our income lost with DNA based nutrition. Anyone in nutrition knows this has been coming a while. We’ve come to the reality that we can use DNA testing to pinpoint specific nutrition needs for health and wellness and even fitness and weight loss goals. Cutting edge once again. So I am becoming like a two brand shoe store. I will share both product lines with my customer and clients for added blessing of finding the best fit for their needs (never mine).
John and I have always been a Holy Spirit Marketplace ministry operation. We do business as God leads. We get in peoples lives and help them mind…body…spirit. We love hard. We do life together. The name of my new business is ID Life. So far I am loving the product line. Compliments my other products very well. I’m nervous and excited. This is my baby. John has always been the leader. He has always taken care. I feel the Holy Spirit pushing me out of the nest to spread my wings.
So I am encouraged by David. He saw many and deep trials. He faced many giants, but he defeated every one.
I have faced many giants, and overcome. I am facing many giants right now, but I will overcome. I will stand firm and still and watch that tsunami wall of water as it comes for me turn into a drip of water right before me…unharmed. ~Nicole
“By day the Lord commands his steadfast love,
and at night his song is with me,
a prayer to the God of my life…
Why are you cast down, O my soul,
and why are you in turmoil within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
my salvation and my God.”
Psalm 42:8 & 1
Visit my website at:
Nextlevelteam.idlife.com
Sign up as a customer (free) and contact me and I can help customize your needs!
*any orders placed with IDLife will earn income for myself and this blog is my personal story and opinion/experience. I don’t make medical claims or income claims.
June 14, 2019
Edify. Encourage. Exhort: God can use dead things
The Lord has really been swirling my thoughts in my mind to King Solomon lately. . .
“King Solomon was greater in riches and wisdom than all the other kings of the earth. The whole world sought audience with Solomon to hear the wisdom God had put in his heart.” 1 Kings 10:23-24
Notice in this passage that the people came to hear his wisdom, not to see his riches. Solomon was as great in riches as he was in wisdom and vice versa. But it was His wisdom that brought him favor from distant lands who sent gifts to him and he was equipped to build a house for the Lord.
God is always a step or two ahead of us. Our minds are finite. Let’s back up a bit in this man’s story. Well, let’s back up to his father’s story-King David.
King David—a man who was a bit of a scoundrel when you look at his actions and choices. So what made him so special to the heart of God? His heart. Ultimately David desired God deeply and in purity. God can work with that. So David has messed it up with Bathseda. He got her pregnant and then tries to cover it up. Finally, when all other ideas failed, He places her husband out to the front lines of battle making her a widow so he could marry her. But something happened, Nathan the prophet came and told David this wasn’t good and that as consequence the baby was going to die. David was beside himself with grief. The scriptures say he wailed and wept day and night and didn’t eat. None of his servants could console his grief.
He prayed and prayed and prayed.
Then when word came the child had died, he got up washed his face and ate. His entire household was baffled. What was his reply? He considered that perhaps the Lord would relent and spare the child, but once he died he knew he was gone and couldn’t influence Gods choice. So he got up, bathed and worshipped some more.
“While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept. I thought, ‘Who knows? The Lord may be gracious to me and let the child live.’ But now that he is dead, why should I go on fasting? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him, but he will not return to me.” 2 Sam. 12:22
When we are in the midst of our deepest grief and our most intense battles God can be found still. In the stillness of our heart and the recesses of our mind we must pull to the forefront that God is always good. God will sometimes shut doors, allow dreams to die, business ventures to fail and relationships to become strained or even end, so He can gain a greater audience in our heart. We may already be intimate with Him, but He has designs on abundant rivers to flow of Pure Gold.
David comforted Bathseda and she conceived again. This time she gave birth to Solomon, the very one we began this devotion with.
What can we take away from this unusually sad story?
Sometimes you’ve just got to let the baby die (metaphorically speaking). Once it dies, don’t look back. God will meet every lack and make way for the preparation for your own personal Solomon. So hold onto your dreams in the bigger scene of life—but know that God will take down every giant in your life and will anchor you to His Golden Path. Do not mourn for what is no more. Cherish the wisdom you gained and know that God is decided upon your heart. When you burn purely and deeply for Him you’re going to win at whatever He wills for your life.
Hold tight. There is a fortress of goodness awaiting, a warehouse of wisdom and a story worth telling–
And they will come from miles around to hear your words.
Edify. Encourage. Exhort.
Wash your face, be happy, Worship.
~Nicole
June 12, 2019
Something Good Is Coming
It’s Gods nature to consistently love on people who don’t expect to be loved.
You don’t have to like someone to effectively love them. You heard me. And then there are those you don’t like or dislike, you’re neutral. We are called to deeply love them also. Then there are those you know of and have heard about or have casual knowing, but don’t know. You don’t truly know anyone until you spend time getting to know them. Being around them, conversing, sharing thoughts, beliefs, life philosophies and just plain doing life together.
Loving people who aren’t “your people” concept is something I’ve been preaching for a decade or more and find it quite curious that most Believers have yet to grasp this. Maybe it is easier for some than others. I believe it’s because they struggle to like or even love themselves. Or maybe in some cases self love is a little over the top? Either way, I am fully aware that the Church in America is a completely wounded and bleeding Bride. It’s my honor and call to restore her to proper health. Did I ask for this assignment or purpose? No, I did not. In fact, I said, “No, thank you.”
In the natural I’m called to healing as a health professional and nutrition coach. In the spiritual I’m called the same. A call to heal for the entire frame. We are spirits with bodies.
The real us can’t be seen by us–only by God.
I have so many stories of bountiful encounters with the Spirit of God. In the budding years I saw things, knew things, received and was instructed. Still am, probably more so than in the beginning. It was a lot to take in, because over and over and over again the theme was the same. The message was the same. There is a root of Pride in the American Bride. But there is more…she is horribly, horribly bleeding. She is in need of healing. Likened in my dreams to over fed and out of shape super heroes who were walking around much like the Disney Pixar character, Mr Incredible when he first came out of retirement and discovered he had lost his physique and was out of shape. This Super Hero of Heaven was walking around leaving bloody footprints because she was so overwhelmed with grief, hurt, unforgiveness, brokenness and pride.
Hear my heart, Beloved. We have become so blessed and comfortable we have lost our edge. It didn’t happen with one generation, it happened with generation after generation becoming more and more self reliant because of the abundance of blessing we were afforded. We somehow forgot how to guard our hearts. We forgot how to forgive. We forgot how to walk in love. I’m not condemning–remember I am a Seer and as a Seer I only report what I’ve been shown. Those who have an ear let them hear.
Wake up Sleeping Giant.
God has equipped me with words full of moisture because they are like healing salve. I cannot show concern for who or who doesn’t understand my words or my moisture. My words are designed by God to caress a damaged Church and nurture her so she might be recessitated .
I have a mantle and it has come by enormous levels of fire and refinement. The blessing of the anointing is enormous, but so was the pain of preparation. God is respector of no one, I did not choose this calling, it chose me and cornered me and contended with me until I agreed. I am not my own–I am bought with a price. I honor an amazing Love with my life.
God’s love makes our feelings irrelevant. To become a committed and mature Believer means we understand that we are not our own. We have Grace and Freedom from temptation, but we have traded all of that in for a Mantle of Grace and Love. God is respecter of no man. We take His yoke upon our neck and live like He did. We lay ourselves down.
Who can you love, honor, and encourage today? You just may help another raise their own bar of personal dignity and self respect. So many walking wounded Warriors waiting to be set free.
“Take my yoke upon you, follow me, watch and see every captive set free. Who shall I send? Who will go for me?”
When you feel the waves billowing high…
Something good is coming.
When the shroud is like a cloud that won’t leave you…
Something good is coming.
When the waves and breakers crash over you…
Something good is coming.
When the flames fan and lick at your soul…
Something good is coming.
When the fire and heat is real and the pressure pounds against your head…
Hold on…
Something good is coming!
I feel something coming and what is about to be released from within cannot be held back by what goes on around. There is fire stirring within the soul. Something is stirring and I hear trumpets blowing. Stand back!
There is a flame, there is a fire and those who are consumed by Holy Fire…LOOK OUT!
We’re coming!
~Nicole
“The bolts of your gates will be iron and bronze,
and your strength will equal your days.
‘There is no one like the God of Jeshurun,
who rides across the heavens to help you
and on the clouds in his majesty.
The eternal God is your refuge,
and underneath are the everlasting arms.
He will drive out your enemies before you,
saying, ‘Destroy them!’“
Deut. 33:26-27
June 11, 2019
Christian. . . GO!
There is a Devourer. Does he know your name?
Many years ago, we had sold our home at rock bottom prices that were indeed scandalous. We then followed the continued lead of the Holy Spirit and proceeded to give away our earnings as well as pay off some medical debt from the birth of my child. But aside from this, we kept nothing for ourselves. We were All-In to what we had been called to. This seems like a great step of faith that would stir the gates of Hell and bring God glory. But I’m not sure if this wasn’t merely the starting point. The moment in time and space when the starting gates flew open on this great race of faith.
We proceeded to walk through a season that humbled me beyond anything comparable I had ever known. I was persecuted and scorned, shunned by other believers who couldn’t quite wrap their mind around anyone in America being called to such an extreme sacrifice. It was the most difficult season of my life. But many things happened in the years that quickly followed our exhilarating steps of faith obedience (God doesn’t just wake you up one day and ask something so large. He leads you to it through times and seasons of guidance and preparation…equipping in the gift of faith)…it seemed like every new day brought new and profound opportunities to sow seeds in individuals and in community.
“Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.” Hebrews 7:25
Though the established Church didn’t seem to quite know what to make of it. Our actions had perplexed everyone’s experience with us being known as mature believers with a grounded sense of common sense, wisdom and stewardship. But this wasn’t about any of those things. God already knew our heart in that regard. This was about Faith. So though the Church was confused and stood a step back to muse our choices, we continued to hear the lead and God’s Voice. We saw witches leave covens and become set free. We saw people get set free from demonic strongholds and chains become unlocked and Believer’s who had been trapped in holding patterns become unstuck. The flow of the Spirit, amazing.
On one day, we stepped out of our car to get some lunch at a local sandwich shop. As we got out of the car a couple, male and female, were scuffling across the sidewalk. They appeared to be homeless. One walking slightly in front of the other and both looking at the ground—it was like they both suddenly stopped at the same time and one looked up at us and the other to the ground. The one who looked to us pointed his finger at us about 20 yards away. He said, in a loud voice,
“Christians! Christians! GO!”
Then they both looked down again and resumed their walking. It was super creepy, but I felt like I had just been paid the greatest compliment! The demons within the man knew who we were!
With all of this being said, I have amazing personal stories of miracle walking faith complete with signs and wonders. I have documented and written a book and am only waiting for God’s release to publish. It coming soon. . . But not yet.
Despite all this unconventional behavior for an American Christian, I still only feel I have just left the starting gate of this great faith call and assignment to Heal by vehicle of Faith, Hope and Love. I am a Sojourner. I am resilient. I am focused. I am strong. But I am not enough—But my God is, and that is more than enough. So every day I give another piece of myself away and fade away so all that is left of me is He.
Back in February we went to Israel. Amazing! One of the things I looked forward to most on this trip was getting baptized in the Jordan River. For me to think of standing in the waters just like my Lord did when he received the mantle of the Dove with love…breath taking. I prayed leading up to the trip for several months that God would descend on me in those waters and give me a greater portion, anointing and mantle of the Holy Spirit. I desired more of my Counselor and my Best Friend. He gave me that and more than I bargained for on that trip and my heart was fully decided. I actively sealed the whole deal by out loud recognizing what I had been given and thanking God right alongside the Pools of Bathseda. The Pools of Healing waters.
“One day the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know about, but who are you?”
Acts 19:17
So, how about you? What is God calling you to? The road to Greatness came at a remarkable price that looked like stripes of crimson red. The bloody crown on His head was his honor and delight to wear. He suffered like a human, but was inspired by so much more. Heaven and the Holy Spirit held him through it all. And we can do the same. By Design, the Holy Spirit will equip you to tread on serpents, overcome ridiculous odds and carry peace and glory along the way.
If you have countless oppositions in your life, you may be doing it right if they come despite obedience to God. The gates of Hell and it’s armies just may be affected by you. Maybe they know you? Do you? Don’t forget who you are. He carried a scar so you could wear his mantle and crown.
“The bolts of your gates will be iron and bronze,
and your strength will equal your days.” Deut. 33:25
I believe the Lord is raising up an army of un-conventional believers who the dignified (proud) Church would frown upon and call misfit or unqualified. He will humble the proud and give us a voice that is quite loud. Let’s use it victorious and in unison to flood the courts of Heaven.
“For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” … AND I WILL BE THEIR GOD, AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE.” Hebrews 8:10
I hope my post brought a new vigor and confidence to your roar. Your lions mane is your glory. Like the covering of a King. The King of the Pride is by your side. Let’s become undignified!
~Nicole
June 10, 2019
Grace, Gratitude & Growth
“How blessed is the one whom You choose and bring near to You
To dwell in Your courts.
We will be satisfied with the goodness of Your house,
Your holy temple.” Psalm 65:4
You are exceptional.
God knew why he picked you all along.
His Providence Prevails.
You have a style and way all your own. You are needed, right here, right now. You have much to offer. You are loved, cherished and greatly esteemed. But God knew all of this when He created you.
God will never ask you to do something He hasn’t personally equipped you for. Your struggle builds who you already are. You are His canvas and with yielded intent-He can create a masterpiece of you. He wants to display you proudly for His view. Believe it or not, He longs to look at you like His favorite work of art. Do not deny Him the gift of bringing out your colorful hue. Organic are God’s thoughts toward you.
When we release what’s in our hand, God replaces it with something even better!
Sometimes we must remain patient and wait. And sometimes He does it immediately. But either way, when you know in your heart beyond any shadowy dark place what awaits on the other side—you tackle any terrain resisting fear, in-trepidation or intimidation and yield fully to God’s plans for your life. There is beauty in surrender.
Hold tight. God knows exactly what He is doing. He is the God of Perfect Timing. The gates of hell oppose and oppress because they’ve become a hot mess with worry over the threat you bring to their darkness. Take it as a compliment, your Lord sure does!
Have a Marvelous Monday and I pray all that is mediocre in your life would step aside and make way for God’s Great Love and Success.
Today has the power to be like none other. Follow Heaven’s lead!
~Nicole
Broken & Brave 
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