Love...Sleeping With A Broken Heart

Boy oh Boy can I tell you about the topic at hand!

I have had a broken heart more times than I can count! 

It is NEVER fun. it REALLY hurts. and it almost makes you sick to your stomach. Trust me.. if no one else knows... I KNOW. 

I know the pain can seem unbearable.. It Hurts.. there simply is no other way to put it. But with a broken heart.. you have some options.

#1- Let it stay cracked and broken and sit and wallow in self pity

or

#2- Give it to God and praise Him in the midst of the hurt

It is always easier to revert to #1. a Pity party is always awesome when you already feel sucky! Lets face it.. when your heart is hurting.. you FEEL you have the right to be " depressed." But that is a Lie from the enemy if I ever heard one ;) 

You NEVER have the right to be depressed about anything in this life. You woke up. You are breathing. and Jesus saved you. Hallelujah! So SMILE! You have things to do! 

NOOOO.. I am not being heartless! Believe me! I get the whole " I want to be sad.. my heart hurts..." thing.." but I know that my God is the ultimate comforter and He has plans in every situation. So NO! I will not accept the invitation to your own personal pity party.. nor will I support the cause! Sorry... My God is bigger than heart break!

 Psalm 34:18 

" The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit." 

Sooo... your heart is broken....


Now what?!?!?!?

Step 1.) 

Start with Forgiveness....

“You’re familiar with the command to the ancients, ‘Do not murder.’ I’m telling you that anyone who is so much as angry with a brother or sister is guilty of murder. Carelessly call a brother ‘idiot!’ and you just might find yourself hauled into court. Thoughtlessly yell ‘stupid!’ at a sister and you are on the brink of hellfire. The simple moral fact is that words kill.

^23-24 “This is how I want you to conduct yourself in these matters. If you enter your place of worship and, about to make an offering, you suddenly remember a grudge a friend has against you, abandon your offering, leave immediately, go to this friend and make things right. Then and only then, come back and work things out with God. (Matthew 5:22-24).

You HAVE to forgive who ever hurt you! It is a MUST! God said if you have an alt ( you have something against...) with your brother or sister.. you must reconcile with them and forgive! If you don't.. you might as well have committed murder! That is CRAZY! So while you are holding on to your little grudge.. you are ultimately creating not only separation between you and the person you are beefing with... but between you and God. you are SINNING every minute you DON'T forgive that person for your heart ache! In our sin.. God is separate from us. You must repent.. turn away and run back to God. In this case, you must forgive... run to God and let Him heal you! 

Forgiveness is SO huge to God. He shows us in this scripture by saying.. He doesn't even care if you are about to give up an offering to Him! You have to LEAVE what you are doing and go make good with your brother or sister! I love this scripture because it kind of reveals how selfless God is. He says... "forget my offering.. go make things right with your friend.. then come back to me!" 

Forgive...Forgive... and then Forgive again! You can't begin the healing process with out it! 

Step 2.) 

Let God Hold You...


"Fear not, for I am with you. Do not be dismayed. I am your God. I will strengthen you; I will help you; I will uphold you with My victorious right hand." (Isaiah 41:10)


God said He has you! He will give you strength! Read this verse over...and over... and over again until you understand the POWER behind the words in this scripture :

FEAR NOT...
I AM WITH YOU...
DO NOT BE DISMAYED...
I AM YOUR GOD...
I WILL STRENGTHEN YOU...
I WILL HELP YOU...
I WILL UPHOLD YOU IN MY VICTORIOUS HAND!....

WHEW!.... Say that out loud a few times and you will FEEL the power in it! God has you... heartache is nothing to God! He can take that pain and replace it with VICTORY! stand in Him! 

Step 3.) 

Trust God....

"Do not let this happy trust in the Lord die away, no matter what happens. Remember your reward! You need to keep on patiently doing God's will if you want Him to do for you all that He has promised. His coming will not be delayed much longer. And those whose faith has made them good in God's sight must live by faith, trusting Him in everything. Otherwise, if they shrink back, God will have no pleasure in them."(Hebrews 10:35-38).

With heart break comes healing! It never fails. now it is up to you how long the healing process takes! It all depends on how long you decide to take before you let God have your ENTIRE life! When you trust God and His plans... you understand there is a greater purpose for your pain. He has something GREATER in store for you! But until you learn that He is the RULER of your life and not just a God with opinions... you won't ever discover true healing! 



"I waited patiently for God to help me; then He listened and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the pit of despair, out from the bog and the mire, and set my feet on a hard, firm path and steadied me as I walked along. He has given me a new song to sing, of praises to our God. Now many will hear of the glorious things He did for me, and stand in awe before the Lord, and put their trust in Him."(Psalm 40:1-3)

God hears your cries. He feels your tears! He wants nothing more than to wipe them away for you! Once you learn to trust Him with your heart.. He will give you a " new song to sing, of praises..." He will make you HAPPY again! You will begin to see there is something beyond your feelings and emotions... something more He needs from you... and that is YOUR HEART.. broken or not! Trust Him. 

Step 4.) 

Know that God Gives Peace....

"Come to me ,all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." (Matthew 11:28-20).

"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid."(John 14:27).

"I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world." (John 16:22).

God gives peace in the midst of a storm. He says it CLEARLY. Christ overcame the world so you have NOTHING to worry about! There is no amount of pain that God can not mend. His peace is like no other! It is ULTIMATE and everlasting. You don't have to worry anymore. You don't have to feel pain anymore because Jesus died so He could take that from you! Get before God. Sit at Jesus' feet... and worship Him. Thank Him in advance for the peace He will give you. He is such a comforter. 

Heart break hurts for a second... but remember.. you may be hurt now.. but the hurt WON'T last forever! 

God has something in store for you! Something you just can not see! Cast it ALL on Him and don''t worry about it anymore!

God is in the heart business! He repairs them.. He mends them.. He heals them.. but most of all He captures them! Seek Him. 

He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds -Psalm 147:3

You are SOOOOOOO Loved By God it is RIDICULOUS!!!!! 


He is Crazy Crazy In love with you!!!!!!!!!!

Nicole L.  <3

Love...Where You Are

It is the holiday season!!!!!!!  So I wanted to write a short blog on some things that I personally have been dealing with! So here goes :) ...

Chances are you have heard of tons of new life events from the people surrounding you! Engagements...weddings...baby announcements.. new relationships .. the list goes on and on! Tis the season for life changes!

In the midst of all of the exciting news you might find yourself just... there. or at least that is what you feel like.

I can relate.

It is really hard to sit and watch everyone's lives changing around you. I have a FEW quick tips to help you with all of the new changes going on around you....

1.) If you see all of your loved ones making major life changes BE HAPPY FOR THEM! and TRULY HAPPY. A true friend rejoices with their friends in EVERY season! You have to step outside of yourself and be excited with them for this time in their lives... because when your time comes you would want the same respect! Don't get bitter or jealous!

You shall not set your desire on your neighbor's house or land, his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor. (Deuteronomy 5:21) 

Don't sit and observe what everyone around you has! When God is ready to give you what He promised you.. He WILL... stop hating! put your little selfish pride to the side and find true joy and peace. 

2.) Get content in Christ. So what everyone seems to have your "dream life." focus on Christ and what He is asking you to do! Don't ask for a husband if you KNOW you can't even be a good friend. that is simply nuts! spend your time with God.. in your word! let Him mold you and shape you and make you into the person He needs for you to be! God has a plan for you! He has your every step strategically planned out! 

¹¹ For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.(Jeremiah 29:11) 

God has PLANS for YOU! He made them before you even had a mind to conjure up any of your own little plans! Sit your tail down and get good in God! Know that He has you. Spend your time consumed in Him and His presence and forget the rest! 

3.) Your ways are not God's ways. You can't keep comparing and contrasting your life to everyone elses. He has specific steps for YOU. specific goals for YOU. stop looking at what people around you have and start focusing on you! You think their grass looks greener than yours.. but that is simply because they have put in the work to make that grass green! Stop expecting your crops to grow and you haven't even planted ONE seed! tend to your crops so you can get YOUR harvest! 

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. 9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.( Isaiah 55:8-9) 

The way your mind thinks is not even CLOSE to the way God thinks. You will NEVER understand why He has your life mapped out the way He does.. but you will appreciate it in the long run. See, there is a bigger picture that only God sees. We get the small pieces of the picture at a time. God places those pieces together one by one.. but only He knows what the picture turns out looking like. So rest. God has you. He won't leave you looking stuck! 

4.) God wants you to be happy! God wants nothing more than for you to be happy.. but happiness doesn't always come in the form we think it should. It all goes back to the scripture above.. Isaiah 55:8-9. We simply are not on God's level when it comes to the plans for our lives. His plans will always out do our plans. It is like we want to go get McDonalds to eat..and God says " No! I have a steak..lobster...Shrimp... Chicken...any type of food you ever wanted to eat buffet ready for you." WHYYYYY do we KEEP trying to pick up McDonalds when God told you He has GOT YOU! Sit DOWNNNN Please! Get comfortable in God's arms and don't worry. He will make your desires MATCH His desires and that is when you will find true happiness. 


This holiday season... don't focus on what you FEEL you don't have. Focus on the very breath God gave you every day. Focus on the family you have surrounding you. Focus on the amazing AWESOME savior God sent to this earth to die for YOU.The next time you feel discontent with your life. Sit down and write a list of TEN things you are Super grateful for. God keeps blessing you! You just keep missing YOUR blessing because you are too focused on someone else's blessing! STOP THAT! 




I pray everyone has an AMAZING CHristmas ! 

You are LOVED! 

Nicole L. 

Love...Catch me

Lately God has been REALLY stretching me THIN. I feel the pressure! I have grown so much in the past few weeks I can just FEEL that I am different. I am changed. 

The hardest part of the past few weeks for me has been MOVING ON. That has seriously been my struggle! I find myself hesitant to just move forward with what God is doing because I enjoy the comfort of the place that I put myself in. I like my life how I like it.. my friendships...relationships...activities EVERYTHING I do I like it to be comfortable for me. Anything outside of that scares me to a point I almost get anxious. 

HOWEVER! God has COMPLETELY humbled me .... it is not about me! Nor has it ever been about me! It is about Him! Sometimes He doesn't need us to be comfortable He just needs us to MOVE without thinking about it or questioning His plans. JUST MOVE! 

This week, God nudged me on my shoulder and told me STEP OUT! He spoke to me about my ministry and let me know that the ministry WILL happen whether it is with or without me. He would love to include me .. but if I don't step out of my little bubble... He WILL find another willing candidate to take my place!

Sounds harsh right? I was like.. DANG GOD! But He was right ! Of coarse He was.. He is GOD! DUH! 

I was sooooo AFRAID! I had way too many doubts about who I am... why did He chose me...

I am just a regular girl... living life.. striving to be better daily... dying to my flesh and loving God! WHY ME? The very last thing I wanted to do was step outside of my comfortable life! But I had to do it.. I had to make the move! 

Proverbs 3:5-6 says " 

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart

    and lean not on your own understanding;
⁶ in all your ways submit to him,
    and he will make your paths straight.

As I was reading this verse my mind began to wrap around the instructions clearly written in these verses. 

Trust- God said TRUST HIM! If you are growing daily in a relationship with Christ you should trust Him! Have you ever heard someone say " relationships have to have trust?" It is the SAME thing with your relationship with God the only difference is He will NEVER EVER break your trust!.. TRUST HIM with ALL of your heart!

DON'T LEAN- " Do not lean on your own understanding..." If a building is leaning ( and it is not the Tower of Piza) it means that the structure is NOT stable and UNRELIABLE! When we lean on our own thoughts... our own minds to get us where we need to be.. we WILL FALL every time! We are not stable leaning on our own understanding.. we are liable to fall and crumble. make sure your foundation to your building is stable.. LEAN ON GOD!

Submit to Him- We are to submit to God in order to be in His perfect will! ( See my other blog about staying in God's perfect will " Love Me..or your will." ) We want to be so connected to Christ that we can hear His perfect instructions on everything in our lives.. in order to do that you MUST stay submitted unto Him.. He is our source! 

Get on the RIGHT path- God will lead you EXACTLY where you need to go! He is not a God who will mislead you in any way! He desires for you to get to the place He purposed you for.. you just have to let Him direct each and every foot step and stop trying to walk on your own! YOU CAN DO NOTHING WITHOUT HIM! 

God wants you to trust that He has your back! He has got you! That comfort zone can be the devil's playground in your life! The more you stay comfortable.. the more relaxed you get about the things of God. You begin to fit into your perfect routine with no distractions and your seemingly perfect world... just like you like it. Once you get in your perfect little bubble you forget about the excitement of the gospel! The feeling of doing something new to advance the kingdom of God! You forget what it is like to just tell someone about Jesus and do something new and exciting! You FORGET ABOUT THE THINGS OF GOD! Your world is perfect at that point.. what do you need God for right? 

Getting outside of everything comfortable can seem SOOOO scary.. but it allows us to take a leap of faith! We trust that stepping outside of our box will make God intervene in our lives.. we begin to see Him bless our footsteps! You see God's goodness and faithfulness manifested when you do something uncomfortable that God TOLD you to do! Be obedient and make moves! 

I encourage you all to step outside of your comfort zones! Take a chance and do something different! Get before God and figure out exactly what your next move is. If it is a move that makes you a little scared... let God know you trust Him to have your back! Take a leap of faith and trust that God will catch you ! 

I love yall so very much 

and God loves you even more 

Nicole L. <3

Teach Me How To...Love

I always say Love is a four letter word that should be thrown around liberally but taken very seriously!

Some people throw the word around but really do not mean it and really do not show it. It has almost become a cliche line that people say just to end a conversation which is so sad to me.

I look at SO many people who say " I love you" but would run at the first sign of struggle. God has shown us that when the going gets tough... DON'T get going! When the world God rough.. God didn't just say " Let me leave these humans alone.. and go do my thing." After all... He totally could have.. He is GOD! But He said," I LOVE them so much I would put my son on a cross to shed His blood for them!" When things looked rough.. God replaced the rough spot with love...unconditional LOVE!

So often, we find ourselves in situations where we feel like things are just too hard! We are so quick to want to run away and forget the task that God commanded us to do! If we spend the rest of our lives running from rough patches.. we will always be running. Life is tough.. build a bridge and get over it!

God is specific in His commands to love.

I never realized, until writing this blog, that the bible says to "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind"

Luke 10:27
Matthew 22:37
Deuteronomy 6:5
Mark 12:30

FOUR TIMES! When God says something four times.. you BETTER listen!

God said that is His greatest commandment. God desires us to SHOWER Him with love! To be so in love with Him that we can't see anything else unless we see it through Him! Your heart should be entangled in God.. So wrapped up in Him that you lose sight of all of your selfish motives..intentions..and needs and you focus on His desires for you! If you are passionate about your love with Christ.. you will be in alignment with everything God has for you!

So often we let the little small things come between our love for Christ! God said nothing could separate us from His love..(Romans 8:38-39) but ask yourself.. what is separating Him from yours?

So many times we get angry or upset with God so we curse Him and forget about the relationship with Him. We chunk the deuces on God and leave Him out in the dust. Life happens.. and things can get hectic.. but if we put as much time and effort into our relationship with God as we did with our earthly relationships... we would be a lot closer to Him. ( Well..some of us).

Let your motives GO!

You have to PASSIONATELY be in love with God. Seeking Him with no motives other than to worship Him. He desires us to love Him with all our hearts...Let Him have your love! He deserves it.. He WORKED for it!


The second commandment that God says is most important is to

" Love your neighbor as you love yourself."

Mark 12:31


We are COMMANDED to LOVE on people!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We forget this commandment so many times!

I am SO guilty of this! I would rather feed my ego... get my needs met... and pamper my little self-esteem than to love on someone else! How SELFISH is that!

When you have mastered loving God with all your heart... you will become SO good at loving your neighbor! You will Love very SELFLESSLY!

Love is such a selfless thing.. if you are selfish in it.. it is not love.. you just feel like your little void is being filled by something..(a void that God should be filling anyway) so YOU are getting pleasure and forgetting about the serving aspect that comes with the word. Get out of your little "it is all about me" world.. because it is NOT.. Love selflessly and passionately! Serve others. For once.. let Love not be about you..God never intended it to be about you.. it is for HIS GLORY.. NOT for your pleasure !

You will think about others before you think about yourself. You will live your life with pure J.O.Y (Jesus first, Others second, You last.)

Apply the golden rule.. "treat others as you would want to be treated."

Love is such a beautiful thing! God shows us the ultimate unconditional love in His sacrifice on the cross... in His amazing grace and mercy.. in His passion for His bride ( the church).. in His CREATING US! He is a loving awesome amazing God. I pray that we can begin to LOVE correctly. I pray that God show us and teaches us every day the proper ways in which to love Him and to love each other.


Let God guide you and lead you .

Let Him continue to teach you how to love. <3

God Loves you !





Nicole L.

Love Me...Friendships

"Friends... how many of us have them.. friends.. ones we can depend on..." LOL 

Sorry I was having a moment! 

Obviously we know what is on my mind today! God put it on my heart to write about friendships... 

How to know the real from the fake...

How to be a good friend....

How to make those relationships glorify God...

What does the bible say about friends? 

All of these things are so relevant to our walk with Christ! We often forget that friendships are a huge part of our Christian walk because they come so freely and naturally ( for some people). God loves us to fellowship with one another!

I was having a conversation with two of my really good friends last night and our conversation got pretty deep and heavy. My friend started pouring out her heart to us and telling us some things she has been dealing with in her walk with Christ and just in her life in general. For a moment... the room got silent and you could feel the atmosphere just grow heavy. My heart broke for her and what she was going through.. but it was what my other friend said that will stick with me FOREVER. 

 ( we will call them friend 1 and friend 2 for the purposes of keeping privacy and so no one gets confused in this story!)

After friend 1 told us her struggles, friend 2 started really crying! It was not like a fake.. " Oh I am crying because this is so sad" type of cry. It was a HEART cry! Friend 2 was crying because her heart was truly breaking for someone she loved so much! Friend 2 began telling friend 1 that she felt her pain because she loved her that much. 

" I love my friends so much that when you all hurt, I really hurt DEEP." 

Friend 2 really touched my heart with that statement! 

It blessed me to watch my friends cry together over something that only one of them was going through! I was not blessed because they were crying having " girly" moments lol... I was blessed because I saw what TRUE love was all about .. in that moment.. with my friends. 

The bible says: 

John 15:13 NIV
"Greater Love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends."

In that moment.. friend 2 laid down her life for friend 1 .. so to speak. She felt the true hurt and pain and she cried out for her! A true friend will get on their knees before God and cry out for you and you should be doing the same for them. I could truly hear the sincerity in the conversation between my friends and the love in their voices. Friend 2 stopped and had us all pray together over our friendships and our other friendships asking God for peace, and help with every situation. 

To be a good friend you have to be willing to lay it all down for them. You have to be selfless and willing to give up some things for your friends. Christ demonstrated the ultimate friendship with us. He laid His life down.. literally... He sacrificed everything for us... and He is selfless.. He loves us with our flaws and all. We have to make sure our friendships look like our relationship with Christ. Proverbs17:17 NIV 

"A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity "

* Make sure you are even being a friend to Christ.. are you spending time with Him? Are you learning and growing with Him? are you listening to Him speak? Or is your friendship all about you? do a heart check! 

James 4:8 NIV
"Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded"

Proverbs 18:24 NIV  says: 
"A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother."

We should have friendships that are FAMILY! Your friends should be rocking with you in whatever season you are in! They STICK closer than a brother! To stick to something means to cleave to... hold fast.. or adhere! If your friends are STICKING.. they ain't trying to go ANYWHERE.. they are rolling with you where you go and when you go! 

Friendships should be full of purpose and have meaning. Don't call everyone your "friend." Now I am not saying don't be nice to everyone... If you are ONLY nice to your friends. you have a LOVE issue.. and you need to check that! I am saying that EVERYBODY is not meant to be by your side on your journey! Christ has purpose for every aspect of our lives.. that includes who you kick it with! If you are not building each other up, encouraging each other to draw closer to God, and showing love in every situation yall go through together.. MOVE ON! God does not need our friends to be a hindrance to our walk with Him! Ultimately.. God is super jealous... He wants you to have people to hold you accountable and keep you on track but remain in the ultimate goal and that is to worship Christ with your ENTIRE LIFE! 

Proverbs 12:26 NIV
"A righteous man is cautious in friendship, but the way of the wicked leads them astray."

Proverbs 27:17 NIV
"As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another "

Are your friends sharpening you? Better yet.. lets self-evaluate! Are you sharpening them? HELP your friends! God placed yall together for a reason! Love on them... show them Christ in you daily.. and let them know you truly care! DO NOT let your friends be DULL! God ain't got time for you to play games! Yall should be going hard for the kingdom TOGETHER! Quit trying to outshine them.. and let your light shine TOGETHER..darkness flees quicker with two lights! :) 

Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 NIV
"Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work; If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!"

Proverbs 15:22 NIV
"Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed. "

God places people in your life to help you and for you to help them! We all need help from other people.. that is why fellowship and communion with each other is so important to God! It is easier to have a friend who can hold your arms up when you get tired just like aaron did for moses!( Exodus 17:12) 

 ( read that parable ) . Your friends should be holding your hands up for you when you get tired and too weak to hold them up for yourself and vice versa! Get some ARM holders in your circle.. figure out who you can count on to be there for you! PRAY over your friendships and seek God's face on how to deal with them and properly handle them! 

Right after you read this post I REALLY urge you to go get in your quiet time with God and start praying for all of your friends! If they pop in your head.. PRAY and pray dilligently for them! Be the friend who keeps them covered in Christ's blood daily! Pray that God gives yall guidance and counsel so that you can be helpful to eachother's life and bennifical to the kingdom TOGETHER! 

Go love on your friends today!

Tell them how much they mean to you and care!

My friends mean so much to me! They are a sign that God is so in love with me that He feels it is necessary to give me AMAZING support through my friends! It also shows His trust for me to keep them accountable and to love on them just as Christ loves on me! 

Go out and SHOW love in your relationships! Do not take them for granted.. God gave them to you! 

GOd is CRAZY CRAZY CRAZY in love with YOU! You are His precious child! 

LOVE YOU! 

Nicole L. 

Love... COVER UP!

So for the past few days I have walked all over campus and been MORTIFIED at the way some women chose to "express themselves" and dress.Women in the world feel like they need to use their bodies to "catch a man" so they dress the way they do.  It makes me really sad and my heart breaks for them. BUT I need to call out my sisters in Christ ( no judgement.. just accountability). I have seen my sisters dressing the same as some of the women we see " In the world." I REALLY feel it on my heart to touch on this ISSUE because I want us to do BETTER!

Ladies,

The way we dress and carry ourselves is CRUCIAL to our walk with God.. and can even affect our  brother's in Christ as well. 1st Corinthians 8:13 says

"Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble."

Now this verse applies to more than just food. The last thing we want to do is cause our brother's to stumble. If my brother deals with lust and I wear a short skirt and a tube top that shows EVERYTHING God gave me, I am causing him to stumble. He is then going to lust after my flesh which will be incising to him which can lead him to do things in his walk that are ungodly and not holy and unpleasing to God. ALL BAD! We want to help keep their eyes focused on the cross and on God at all times.

I can hear it now "Well if they don't like it.. they don't have to look!"

YEAH RIGHT!

Part of the reason you dress the way you do is for attention! ACTUALLY probably more than 80% of the reason you dress the way you do is for attention! Men will be men.. ! Don't show them a steak and expect their mouth not to water! That is foolish thinking and you are playing yourself if you think it is the guy's fault for noticing the seductive way you are dressing!

DON'T FOOL YOURSELF!

Do not think that you can get a TRUE man of God to take interest in more than just your body if you dress the way that you do!
1.) A man of God wants a woman who honors her body by giving it to Christ and keeping herself covered up for her future husband!
2.) How can he take you seriously if you won't take yourself seriously??? If you look like a girl who is willing to "go" then a Godly man will do his very best to RUN from you and FLEE... most likely you will portray the " look" of a Proverbs 7 woman (read that)  and He will move SWIFTLY!
3.) Have some self-respect! Why show the world everything you have??!?? you will just continue to be used, abused , and hurt !
4.) DO NOT plant an apple tree and expect to see peaches grow! You get what you put out! So if you are offering up meat.. you will get nothing but DOGS! So when you don't see the good ones taking interest... don't be shocked!

Now I am not saying you have to wear a turtle neck and  sweat pants!!!!! You can be fashionable and still be modest in your dress! The bible says a woman of virtue clothes herself well! We are suppose to be the bomb.com LADIES! We can do that though, with out looking like the bomb went off and took half of our clothes with it!

" She is Clothed in Royalty... She clothes herself well, she reflects her worth through what she wears." - 31status.com 

Proverbs 31:22 says :

"She makes coverings for her bed; she is clothed in fine linen and purple." 

Purple is the clolor of royalty! YOU ARE ROYALTY! start acting like it! you better know who Christ says you are! You are fearfully and wonderfully made! That means all the extra stuff you are doing to get attention from guys is just that, EXTRA STUFF! God said you are AMAZING .. made in His IMAGE! You look JUST LIKE JESUS! ACT LIKE IT! 

My heart cries for women who do not know their value! It makes me sick and sad and I am not even kidding! God thinks you are PRECIOUS and GORGEOUS fully clothed with your heart abandoned worshipping Him.. and the RIGHT man of God will think the same!
You do not have to put out an image that you aren't in order to get attention! CHRIST is willing to give you His undivided attention and all you have to do is accept it!

COVER UP!

True beauty emanates from a woman who serves Christ with her LIFE.. it comes from the inside! But to test true outer beauty is to be the most beautiful woman, fully clothed, with a heart like Christ!




You ALL are crazy loved by God! 



Love you, 

Nicole L. 

Love...What God is doing

So I am FINALLY getting just a little bit of time in between classes to write a blog that has been on my heart these past few weeks! I have been such a busy girl with school, work, family and friends, but God doesn't feel like it is too much to do a conference so I trust Him.


God has entrusted me with a ministry and instilled in me this NEW passion for WOMEN.. It is NUTS to me! If you know much about my story or my testimony, then you know women have not always been my favorite human beings to communicate with.


For as long as I can remember I was the girl who was always way more comfortable with guys. Not that I was dating every guy ( Not the case AT ALL) I just had tons of male friends. Women always struck me as catty and insecure, full of drama, and CRAZY! I shied away from friendships with women because my past experiences had only proven me right! I had TWO really close female friends from high school that I love to death STILL today (Cherelle and Terrion) who pretty much felt the same about other women that I did! I always found myself in situations where I was trying to be nice and sweet and it totally back fired into " Nicole thinks she is better than me." I could not win if I had tried any harder to impress all of these women! It was horrible to feel like I could not relate to my fellow "sisters" I felt out of place and uncomfortable! I hated it... so I went right on back to my comfort zone with the fellas and I was fine!

*Side Note: I was wrong to be trying to please people! I should have kept my eyes ont he cross and focused only on what pleases God! His opinion of you is the MOST important! KNow that through Him you are ALWAYS so LOVED! He will NEVER exclude you!

It was not until LAST YEAR... YES .. just LAST YEAR that God began to instill in me a heart for women!


I decided to pledge for my organization ( Zeta Phi Zeta Christian Sorority Inc.). I knew I could do anything else in the world I had always had my eye on a D9 (Divine Nine) org since I was a little girl. But God made other plans! I found myself on line with two other ladies, Angelica and Ebony ( Love you ladies!). At first I was so unsure of myself and of them. Would history repeat itself? Would they keep me at arms length like I wanted to keep them? I was so nervous that the process of getting to know these ladies scared me MORE than the entire process of getting into the organization! As our days went on together I built such a bond with those two. We shared our stories, hurts, pasts, presents, what we wanted for our futures. We knew where each other was spiritually, mentally, physically, and emotionally. We had BONDED. It was wonderful how God brought us together for a greater purpose.. to serve Him with our lives TOGETHER as sisters in Christ!


Still, even after such an encounter with women as I had with those two amazing ladies, I STILL hung close to my mind set of " women are evil" I just eliminated the FEW that I thought were not.


What I didn't know is that the few who I eliminated from being " not evil" were seeds God was planting in my life to grow a passion in me that I couldn't see.

* Side Note: God will plant seeds in our hearts and nurture them for His greater purpose. We often don't see the seeds being planted we kind of just chalk them up to being " life experiences." But with God, every experience is part of a testimony which leads to a vision which is His ultimate purpose for your life in the kingdom of God! You have a purpose in His kingdom! Find it!


The seeds God had started to plant in my life began to grow at such a rapid pace! I found myself truly wanting to be a part of a sisterhood with other women! My mind transformed ! I totally did a Romans 12:2 "Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is —his good, pleasing and perfect will."


My mind had no longer been stuck in the " Women are evil" state that the devil had been fooling me with for years! The devil has us convinced that we are competing with each other instead of working together for a common purpose and goal! God changed my heart so that I could live out His will! I found PASSION and PURPOSE in women! I want to build strong bonds and connections! God is blowing my mind with the love He has given me for all of you lovely ladies!


Which brings me to where I am today with this ministry I have been given and this exciting conference in the works!


My passion is now to see women of God come together and SERVE Him and each other! I want to see self esteem in the kingdom of God increase and for women to know their value and worth comes from Christ ALONE! I want to see CHANGE in our minds and CHANGE in our hearts! A change that only God can make happen!


This is where my new ministry " Love Me...31" comes in! I am so excited about all of the vision God has given me for the women in the body of Christ! There are so many ministries out here that are AMAZING I am ecstatic that God wants mine to be a part of it!"Love Me...31" is designed to bring women together and get us all on the same page when it comes to our self-esteem, our confidence, and our passion for God.  Our founding scripture is Proverbs 31:30 " Charm is deceptive, beauty is fleeting, but a woman who fears to Lord is to be praised." That is my FAVORITE scripture and it shows us that our worth is in Christ not in our beauty or charm but in Him ALONE!

I am so excited to get to FINALLY share this vision with all of my amazing sisters in Christ! God has hit me with so many things all at once for this ministry that the moves I have to make are STRATEGIC! I am so ready and my heart is in the right place for such a time as this! I am ready for where ever God wants me to go with this, my heart is open!




I ask for tons of prayer as I go into this journey.. lots of covering over everyone who has their hands in this ministry! If God leads you to give me any tips or advice I am open to listening, hearing, and receiving! I than you all for all of the support that I have already gotten. And I am SO excited to see God working and growing in me!




I pray that this ministry has an impact on LIVES and HEARTS! This is so not even about me at all! It is about God and what He wants to see in His kingdom! I am just simply a servant who He is using... nothing more... nothing less! 

I pray for my sisters in Christ! that you continue to be lead by the holy spirit in all endeavours. I pray that God continues to grow you and mold you into a BEAUTIFUL women who has a heart just like  His! I pray that you begin to give all of yourself to God fully and that you grow content with who you are in Him! I pray God shows you His vision and purpose in you life and instills in you vision and passion

you can email any comments, questions, or prayers to 31LoveMe31@gmail.com ! I will respond to them ALL! :)

Also "like" us on facebook : Love Me 31

and follow us on twitter : @Lov3me31

I love you all so very much and I can not WAIT to see God's vision lived out fully!

God loves YOU like CRAZY!!!!

Nicole L.