May 23, 2019
Your Voice Matters
Prayer is like a love letter to heaven.
Let it stoke your hearts Joy and yield exuberant belief.
If you don’t think prayer matters–it does.
Don’t think your little voice makes a difference? Well, it does.
All the gates of Hell cannot contain the smallest prayer offered up in genuine belief that there is a God who not only hears, but He cares, and He lowers His Crown and He stoops down low to take note of what you are saying.
Let’s build faith…reflect this moment on something God answered that you prayed for. Recapping victories builds faith and restores praise in the heavenly realm which is an active weapon of warfare. Stuff happens when we pray! Hinges become unglued! Door fling open! Gardens are watered~ lush goodness and pleasing aromas begin to come out of us!
Prayer Matters because you matter.
God doesn’t just answer other people’s prayers. He answers your prayers, too.
Sometimes it’s ok to pray giant prayers with tiny faith and trust God’s faith to make up the difference. Just say a little prayer. It doesn’t need to be fancy. Ask God for help when you need it. Don’t be afraid of Him. He isn’t out to get you. He thinks you’re beautiful. He designed you after all.
Beauty is in the eye of the Beholder. Be held.
“We love because he first loved us.” 1 John 4:19
~Nicole
Father, extend your Mighty hand of mercy to your Beloved today. Extend virtue, hope, health, healing and peace in their mind. Take their every thought captive and make it conform to your glory and your image. Increase the luster and shine of purity. Purity of heart, mind and soul. We know purity is about a heart reflection not our actions, but our actions reflect our heart. So give your people a jump start. Shift their mindsets to see how loved they are and to know how lovable they can be. Reach into their hurt and pain and broken places and repair it as only you can do. Bring healing oil and salve like only you can massage through. There is no touch like yours. Gentle hands and a soft soul. Reach deep. Bless your people with sleep. I pray anyone struggling of heart mind and soul reading this will experience a Joy overflow by day and sleep comfortably by night. Hold them tight. Your arms are a custom fit. Your shoulders wide, you security a safe place to delight. Hold us now… Amen.
Blessings my friends!
December 11, 2018
Mobile Hope Unit
Mobile Hope Unit
Life should be like a mobile hope unit spreading joy, love and hope everywhere we go. When we get stoked on hope it puts a little somethin’ extra in our style that provokes our heart courage to go the extra mile.
God is writing for you the Song of your Life. He appears to only be using the good notes🎶
Put a smile across your face for Joy has a Name! ~Nicole
“Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”
Romans 15:13
September 16, 2018
Fortune Cookies from Heaven?
Are there fortune cookies in Heaven?
The Kingdom of God can be like a fortune cookie. What? Stick with me a moment…
God has imbedded into the depths of each one of our being a soul. Within our soul dwells His Spirit. Well—that’s His favorite place to reside anyway.
His greatest interest isn’t your bank balance. It isn’t your job title, accomplishments or status.
No…His greatest interest is you.
See—He sees it all. The good and the not so good in each one of us. He doesn’t make a big fuss. He knows you are made of just the right combination of raw materials to truly make something incredible. He sort of loves to dig in deep and make a difference smack dab in the middle of your heart. His ultimate goal—to slip past your mind and down into your heart.
It’s always all about the heart.
There is a place for the mind. Use it in the appropriate time. There is a true gift in wisdom. Cling to her, she won’t steer you wrong. Ever.
Physical strength—there is a time and a place for that, too. You need your health for all the marvelous adventures life has to offer you! Stamina and endurance need to be a part of you.😉
But the heart…that is where the true champions rise. It takes real courage to listen with the heart. Child like faith must replace common sense and logic at times.
This is hard. No, not “hard”. All things are possible, right? You are more than a conqueror, absolutely. It may have challenges or difficulties. But there is this stoic and gritty place down deep inside that most people are afraid to explore. Maybe down deep we are afraid to find out what’s really inside our heart? Maybe we’ve been in denial about a few things? Maybe we’ve painted golden rings and splendid things around beliefs that are in all actuality no good. When we dig deep within our own heart chamber we become the maid and we must clean up some residual junk. We must release every care, disappointment or things that have caused our heart to lapse. We must have a fresh, pink, healthy heart.
Have you ever seen a heart or set of lungs from an autopsy of a smoker and the autopsy of the lungs and heart of a non- smoker? Smokers lungs and heart has spots, holes and are grey. But the healthy heart and lungs are pink, red, healthy texture and spot free.
God wants you spot free.
He wants to restore your heart to what it’s original form was designed to be.
Not jaded.
Not cynical.
Not suspicious.
Not bitter.
Not resentful.
Not afraid.
Not one of these things.
He can take it all and give your heart a fresh start. Renewing your hopes, dreams and expectations that He is a God of Happily Ever Afrer. Happily ever after doesn’t mean perfect or problem free. But what it does mean is that your perspective will change and so will the filters you use called perception that sometimes skew how God wants you to see. He wants to give you clarity. Heart. Mind. Soul. He has real strength for your journey.
So God can be like a fortune cookie. He is a crisp piece of sugar to sweeten the soul and speak prophetically His Destiny’s call. He will put his word, his will, his heart and soul right in the middle of you.
So remember:
God’s greatest interest isn’t your bank balance. It isn’t your job title, accomplishments or status.
No…His greatest interest is you.
“If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.” 1 Cor 13:2
Taste and see the Lord is Good.
Having Him inside your heart feels really good, too.
“Follow the way of love and eagerly desire gifts of the Spirit, especially prophecy.” 1 Cor. 14:1
Sweet as molasses!
~Nicole
June 14, 2018
Warrior of Worship
Follow your heart my dear-it has courage. Drink deep of Heaven-it will nourish and sustain you. Take action steps of faith. There are worn and weary soldiers who need your strength and faith. And don’t forget to worship.
Spend some time today thanking God for every incredible gift you’ve ever received. It won’t make God less aware of your very real needs. Thank Him for always blazing the trails before us. He is a good God. He’s been good to us. He has been better to us than we have been to him. Bless Him. Thank Him.
Allow Goodness and Mercy to follow you all the days of your life. Amen.
The Anchor and steadfast guidance of Holy Spirit is your key to victory.
Rest in his Grace. He’s already taken care of every detail, even the tiniest details. Rest. Be blessed. Allow Heaven to lavish a bountiful harvest upon you. All ripe fruit and tender meat and green leaf. Pure exhortation is like a well balanced and nutrient dense meal.
Rest.
Worship.
Nourish.
Repeat.
When God is on the rise in our life and as He prepares to draw us in-He will stir our hunger, one way or another.
“Then she arose with her daughters-in-law to return from the country of Moab, for she had heard in the fields of Moab that the Lord had visited his people and given them food.”
Ruth 1:6
November 22, 2017
Compounded Interest
There is no doubt in my mind that today many things you will read, see, hear are going to carry the theme of gratitude and Thanksgiving…as it should. Of course we become sentimental and Intentional at this time of year, but at the moment I am recalling a season of my life where I learned about gratitude and how to die to self and pride of life which thrusted me into deeper levels of gratitude.
John and I had been married maybe five years tops. Just getting married alone, as a side note, will open our eyes to how selfish in nature our natural self is…at least I did. It was the first time I was responsible for caring for more than just myself.
Anyway, we were transitioning and I went from working two jobs to quitting all of them to be at home. I didn’t make tons of money, but one of my jobs paid very well and my contribution definitely added cushion and fun to the family curriculum. We’d always been good money managers so we made appropriate adjustments and did ok. But God began to ask us to give and sacrifice to the point that it caused our own lack. I had never felt financial pinch like this before and it was uncomfortable–just like how your belt is going to feel tomorrow–tight! I began to question God and wonder if I was hearing Him wrong?
If I’m giving like He’s asking and sacrificing for others why was I still feeling it?
After a bit of time allowing me to chew and ponder, the Heavenly Father responded to my ponder and this is what He said. First, He spoke knowledge to my soul and told me something to the effect of “watch and see how I use other people to help meet your need.” This is what He did. So then I began to wonder why in the world would He ask me to give just so someone else would have to help me when I had the means in the first place to care for myself? Second, He dropped a rocket in my heart that shattered my previous mold and He began to reconstruct a heart of gratitude to a deeper level…He said,
“It’s not about you…” I replied, “What’s not about me, Lord (because I was still struggling to ‘get it'”.) “Any of it…” nothing was about me.
Life is not about us, it’s about Him. By asking me to sacrifice to help others causing my own need, He was able to intercede and lead someone else to help me creating blessing for everyone involved. He multiplied faith, trust, community and blessing. If I cared only for my own need then I’d have been the only one blessed. But by doing what He did I received the blessing of giving and receiving as did others. He multiplied and compounded the interest. I also learned more than ever how God is the Great Economizer and my life truly isn’t my own and for this lesson I was ever grateful.
If you are struggling in your heart, there are unanswered prayers or deep concerns and cares in your life right now…don’t lose faith. Hold your Hope…God will throw you His rope and He will make you aware how much He cares. Your life may not be your own, but He paid a hefty price for it and He always protects His investments. And what a Beautiful and Lucrative Investment you are.
~Nicole
“Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.” Col. 3:12
September 7, 2017
Honor of Men
My daughter shared some thoughts from her religion teacher about how our culture has lost it’s compassion because of the feminist movement. Though controversial, I think I may on some level agree. Here’s what I see…
I think that we are loosing the beauty of each gender’s unique qualities. Women are wired to be nurturing and men are wired to be warriors. I think women can be strong and accomplish great things, but there is so much to be said for a man who knows how to be a man and stick up for, protect and provide for a woman. A man who knows how to lead and hold his position. One of the greatest draws, ok THE greatest draw, that pulled me to my husband was the absolute knowing that I felt safe. So much so I would have to say confidently that most people feel safe around my husband. He is definitely valiant to the core. That’s a big deal. When you feel safe you feel free.
Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. Freedom on countless levels. If you don’t have freedom…it may not be God in it.
How refreshing to discover that chivalry and true gentlemen still exist…I know because of my husband and the four young men he is raising. He has taught all of our boys to always have their head on a swivel and watch out for and stick close to the significant female (in this case…me) and the weakest or smallest individual (in this case…our youngest son).
My boys have been reminded of this with consistency for several years now and I’ve experienced the fruit of it. One evening I was out in town with just the boys, my husband not with us, and had a questionable person (a man) loiter about our presence. My oldest two sons were on it! They assessed, saw and hemmed in close to me pulling the younger two boys in tight also. We then moved out of the building. SAFE! It was drawing close to closing time so there were next to no other people in the store. This person was both odd and suspicious, but that valor kicked in and my boys rose up. I felt both proud of them and protected by them all at the same time.
But it’s difficult for a man to lead and own his position in the family when the significant female or wife won’t let them.
I’ve counseled women for years who have complained to me about what to do in any number of scenarios with their spouses. Situations and circumstances where they don’t agree with their spouse on a decision to be made. Unless the issue is something that goes against the law, human dignity or Biblical mandate– I have always encouraged the woman to submit.
I tend to instruct her to give in to her husband’s decision and watch God honor her. She may still disagree with her husband, but God will either curve that decision around and change her husband’s heart or God will change hers.
God honors a wife who knows how to trust her husband as the leader of the family.
If he cares enough to ask your opinion on the decision and wants your support, then he cares what you think and values your partnership and opinion. Honor him by stepping back and elevating him and his heart desires. Nothing will empower a man more! I think sometimes men quit leading because they are simply afraid to. They feel disempowered by those they mean to lead.
“A wife of noble character who can find?
She is worth far more than rubies.
11 Her husband has full confidence in her
and lacks nothing of value.
12 She brings him good, not harm,
all the days of her life.”
Proverbs 31:10-13
“The wise woman builds her house, But the foolish tears it down with her own hands.” Proverbs 14:1
Have you ever met someone who is always trying to fix something that isn’t broken? Doesn’t make sense does it, but when we think in terms of people not objects it happens all of the time. Why do women try to fix other people? Somehow the gift to nurture got tangled with the world and out came a discontent with letting people be themselves. It’s not always women who do this, there are men who are fixers. Just the same way not all women are “fixers”. Let’s honor our husbands by not fixing them… let’s just love them and let God decide what needs fixing.
“It is better to live in a corner of the roof Than in a house shared with a contentious woman” Proverbs 25:24
When you get fixing you have become the proverbs woman who is compared to a woman who is a constant dripping. You may find your husband avoiding you instead of wanting to spend time with you. Get back to encouraging and lifting him higher. Most men live for the praise of the ones they love the most. After all, you must have thought that he was pretty ok enough to marry him.
Honor him by honoring who he is today….
July 10, 2017
All of Me…
“Behold, I…will reveal unto them the abundance of peace and truth.”
Jeremiah 33:6
True peace comes in the presence of a soul that is completely entangled about and revolves around the endless love of Heaven.
This is the word on my heart this morning. My soul paralleled in Hope. Dwelling…abiding…pleasing my soul with His Pleasure.
Do not be discouraged when you face trials of many kinds. It could just be God’s instrument to captivate you. The heart is big, very big, grand in capacity.
God wants all of it.
He wants all of your heart so He can move all of himself in. He wants to reside in your heart at the deepest levels.
Yield to His lead as He tugs at your need. He just wants all of you…
I find this thought incredibly lovely and full of God’s Grace and Comfort.
What does it mean to give all of ourselves to God? It means He gets first place first prize. All our plans line up with his. We are full of truth. We speak truth and we walk it out in our day to day life. We hold nothing back for ourselves. God gets everything, the first fruits of ourselves. Then we let Him decide what abundance we receive in return. We allow God to decide how He provides no matter what the Provision looks like. We yield.
Most people don’t like yielding. Most people like to be in control. Sometimes consciously and often times unconsciously. They become fearful when they don’t have the handle on situations or outcomes.
This is a trust issue.
To have more in God’s economy each person must get to a place where they trust whole heartedly. If it breeds suspicion, it isn’t God. This doesn’t always mean we throw out God’s plans, but a deceiving spirit will try to cause suspicion to confuse God’s plans. Be wise. Suspicion is rooted in a Spirit of Fear. The Spirit of Fear has friends, it never likes to travel alone. It is frequently accompanied by confusion and doubt. Demonic principalities…when you study them…you will see they often congregate in groups of three. Fear is often present for any to begin. Fear is like the burglar who gets his toe in the crack of an open door to keep you from shutting it tight and he rests there a while for when your guard is down and then invites his other friends to go in and do some damage.
The more we guard our heart, sweep it clean, the more we have room for God to reside at the greatest capacity.
How is your capacity to receive?
A fearful heart commonly shuts everything out, especially people. You may find it difficult to have long term relationships. The relationships you do have, for the most part, are only surface. You may have trouble allowing people into your heart for fear of being rejected, hurt, or abandoned…so you keep them out all together. This is not what the Lord means by a guarded heart.
Allow God to linger in your soul. Go ahead, open the door and let God in. He is the Way, the Truth, the Life. He will take the life you have and give it a new luster and shine, hope and joy, pleasure and peace. You will wonder why you didn’t let him in sooner. God is like a most faithful friend. In His admiration of your soul He doesn’t bend.
He is Advocate Almighty.
Nicole
April 15, 2017
Light For Your Life
“This, in essence, is the message we heard from Christ and are passing on to you: God is light, pure light; there’s not a trace of darkness in him.” 1 John 1:5
God is nothing but Life, Light, Joy, Goodness, Grace, Love and all things Hopeful. He can do all things; the imaginable and the unexplainable seemingly impossible. He is the ultimate Possibility Thinker, Way Maker, Bondage Breaker and the Friend like no other friend, loyal to the core.
For three days He became darkness to absorb all of ours. Like a sponge soaking up every wrong ever done. He took it all and he took it in a horrific fashion. He was beat, killed and placed in a tomb. For three days his followers didn’t know what to do, how to feel, what to think. They were devastated and all theirs hopes seem decimated…
until Sunday came.
Have you ever had something happen in your life that took the wind out of your lungs? Ever had darkness loom over you? Struggling with hopeless feelings, loss, depression or lack of direction? There is hope for you, take it to the Cross. Christ isn’t an old time tradition or fairy tale. He is the Sovereign Hope of the World and He loves you without fail. If you’ve never felt him, heard him, experienced him it doesn’t mean He isn’t real. Meeting him is like meeting the love of your life. When it happened your heart exploded. Feelings and thoughts erupted in your mind and heart and you were elated and felt anything was possible because this person seemed to elevate you and inspire you and complete you. Well, this too with God. In fact, human love and companionship is only a minuscule reflection of what is possible with God…you’ve just not called him yet.
Call on God today. Share your heart. Ask Him to reveal himself to you. He has already taken all of your darkness at the Easter Cross, let him have it once and for all. He’s got you. ~Nicole
Broken & Brave 
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