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.

Love...Prayer Time

So I KNOW I am not the only one who sometimes wished prayer before a meal would go just a little bit quicker! I mean you are HUNGRY .. and it is usually those days where you haven't ate anything and  the "long winded" prayer warriors want to pray for the meal. Lol.. don't judge me God isn't through with me yet! But shouldn't we enjoy prayers? I mean it is our conversation with the creator right?


I used to be the person who just COULD NOT pray. I guess I should say WOULD NOT pray! I would rather sing a song to God to express myself and worship rather than just breaking down and talking to Him. Which is AWESOME, BUT can you imagine every time your best friend wanted to talk to you about something, they sang a song to you instead of talking to you? WEIRD right!?!? God is our BEST FRIEND.. or He should be...We should totally be talking to Him constantly! 

" Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart."- Colossians 4:2 

To be devoted to something means you are taking the time to be serious about the task at hand. God wants us devoted to our prayer life with Him! He desires you to come to Him and " hang out!" Talk to Him spend time with Him.. and pray humbly and thankfully to Him. 

I can be totally upfront and honest with you when I say my prayer life Sucked about a year ago.It is still a daily thing that I have to INTENTIONALLY do. It does not just come naturally for me to go " Yep.. time to pray." My mind isn't wired that way.. But I am working on it. IT wasn't until last October that God tapped me on the shoulder and said, "TALK to me." I heard Him loud and clear. I was in my car driving to work one morning listening to Adele, JAMMING. When I heard so clear God tell me to just talk to Him. So I turned my music off and I began to just chat with God. At first I was a little apprehensive, the people in cars driving by were just looking at me and I felt weird. But God then said "focus." So I focused and I devoted ( Colossians 4:2) myself to talking to Him. I prayed for everything from my family life, school, friends, people I had not thought about for years and years, I mean EVERYTHING. Before I knew it, I was at work. I felt so good and very liberated. I felt like chains and things had LITERALLY been  broken in the spiritual. It was bananas too me. So I made it a habit to pray in my car too and from work. 

I kept up an AWESOME prayer life for a while. God and I were buddies, it was great. Until one day I was praying and as soon as I said "amen," my tire blew out. Thank God I was okay, no one got hurt, just a little blow out. So I called my dad, we worked it out and I was fine. Then a month later I was praying in my car again and I said, " amen," and heard something (DEFINITELY the holy spirit) tell me to put both hands on the wheel ( btw I tend to drive with one hand propped on the wheel and the other on the gear stick..I think I am a thug lol). So I put both hands on the wheel and the next thing I knew my OTHER tire blew out and I swerved almost hitting a semi-truck but I missed it! PRAISE GOD my hands where on the WHEEL!!!!!! HALLELUJAH!! So I was fine, my friends were an amazing help that day and made sure I got where I needed to go and things were okay.. I got ALL new tires on my car so I was fine. So I still continued to pray in my car  daily and then a month later I was driving home from work and I began to pray. This was my best prayer session EVER with God. I was casting things out.. calling the devil out on his stuff and doing major work! I said , "thank you Jesus, amen," and the next thing I know a deer comes out from the median of the highway and rams into my car. I cried and cried, I called my dad and it was so awful! I knew at that very moment that the devil HATED my guts and my prayers were not helping my popularity with him. I was terrified to pray in my car after that. I could have been killed in my deer accident , he put a hole through my back door and took off my entire left fender. I was mortified. So my prayers ceased! 

Things definitely got chaotic in my life after my prayer time with God stopped. He missed me and I missed Him but I let the devil get to me. WRONG MOVE! 

"Be unceasing in prayer "- 1 Thessalonians 5:17

I had "ceased" to pray! I was going against what the word of God said for me to do. I had stop my continual communication with God and my life showed it! 

ALSO [Jesus] told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not to turn coward (faint, lose heart, and give up). Luke 18: 1

I had become coward to the devil! Which is NUTS.. * Side Note : When you have the holy sprit inside you, the devil will NEVER win.. EVER. He might try and bully you but your daddy is bigger and so much better than him! Make sure you never let him even THINK he has any victory! 

One day, my little brother (my BUDDY love him!) was listening to me while I cried to him about how stressed out and just sad I was all the time. He looked me in the eye and asked me about my prayer life. I thought " you are real bold aren't you!" But I was honest with him and told him how I felt about my car incidents. He looked at me and spoke with tons of wisdom ( holy spirit for sure!). He told me I HAD to start prying constantly again. I had lost myself because who I am is in God and I was not connecting to my source. So in my next car trip.. I womaned up and I PRAYED! and it was AMAZING and changed my life! 

Now I pray constantly to God. My life is centered around talking to Him about EVERYTHING even things that seem so small to me. I want Him to have every part of me so I have to give it to Him daily. 

So what can YOU do to improve your prayer life??!??

1.) First, you have to know that prayer doesn't have to be formal! Talk to God like you would talk to a friend. I constantly use words that I use with my friends . Sometimes I even end my personal prayers with, " You are so TIGHT God!.. I love you!" He is your friend.. He calls YOU friend.. treat Him like it! (John 15:15) 

2.) Fasting is an AWESOME way to increase your prayer life.. because fasting should ALWAYS be partnered with prayer.. if not .. you are on a diet not a fast (blog on that coming soon!) When you are fasting you are trying to accomplish something in the spiritual or sometimes even the natural that normally can't be accomplished until you have personal, devoted, earnest, one on one time with God that comes with sacrifice! It is a form of WORSHIP! Worship Him! (Luke 2:37)

3.) Try writing a prayer journal! This is something that has helped me so much in my prayer life. Sometimes you may not be able to accurately articulate what you want to say to God. But writing might be something that comes easier to you. I know it does for me. and It makes prayer kind of fun, it is like writing a love letter to God! 

4.) READ YOUR WORD!!!!! The best way to become familiar with God is to know His word and what He says! Jesus is the word of God in the flesh.. how you gonna have a DEEP conversation with a God you know NOTHING about??!?? It is like having a very awkward conversation with a stranger at a bus stop.. It will work.. they will hear what you are saying and you will hear them but how invested are you in building a relationship with that person? Prayer helps build a relationship with the God who created you! 

5.) Always keep in mind the God is all about what kind of relationship yall have with each other! The more you talk (pray) with Him, the stronger the bond you have. Never look at prayer like a task! It is something that should be fun and done with joy! 

Here are some scriptures on prayer that show you JUST how important it really is. It breaks chains, and bondage, builds relationships, and most importantly makes God smile! He gets glory when we pray to Him! 

Let my prayer be set forth as incense before You, the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice. Psalm 141: 2

Give ear, O Lord, to my prayer; and listen to the cry of my supplications. Psalm 86: 6

Do not fret or have any anxiety about anything, but in every circumstance and in everything, by prayer and petition (definite requests), with thanksgiving, continue to make your wants known to God. Philippians 4: 6

Be earnest and unwearied and steadfast in your prayer [life], being [both] alert and intent in [your praying] with thanksgiving.Colossians 4: 2

The Lord has heard my supplication; the Lord receives my prayer. Psalm 6: 9

Seek the LORD while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near. Isaiah 55: 6

Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Matthew 7:7-8

All of you must keep awake (give strict attention, be cautious and active) and watch and pray, that you may not come into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. Matthew 26: 41

And whatever you ask for in prayer, having faith and [really] believing, you will receive.Matthew 21: 22

For this [forgiveness] let everyone who is godly pray--pray to You in a time when You may be found; surely when the great waters [of trial] overflow, they shall not reach [the spirit in] him. Psalm 32: 6

Is anyone among you afflicted (ill-treated, suffering evil)? He should pray. Is anyone glad at heart? He should sing praise [to God]. James 5: 13

Confess to one another therefore your faults (your slips, your false steps, your offenses, your sins) and pray [also] for one another, that you may be healed and restored [to a spiritual tone of mind and heart]. The earnest (heartfelt, continued) prayer of a righteous man makes tremendous power available [dynamic in its working].James 5: 16

Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man. Luke 21: 36

Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to prayer offered in this place.
2 Chronicles 7: 15

The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination, hateful and exceedingly offensive to the Lord, but the prayer of the upright is His delight! Proverbs 15: 8

The LORD is far from the wicked, but He hears the prayer of the righteous.
Proverbs 15: 29(NKJV)

But certainly God has heard me; He has given heed to the voice of my prayer. Psalm 66: 19

Blessed be God, Who has not rejected my prayer nor removed His mercy and loving-kindness from being [as it always is] with me.Psalm 66: 20

Be earnest and unwearied and steadfast in your prayer [life], being [both] alert and intent in [your praying] with thanksgiving.Colossians 4: 2

Be unceasing in prayer [praying perseveringly] 1 Thessalonians 5: 17

And it shall be that before they call I will answer; and while they are yet speaking I will hear Isaiah 65: 24

But I tell you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. Matthew 5: 44

I desire therefore that in every place men should pray, without anger or quarreling or resentment or doubt [in their minds], lifting up holy hands. 1 Timothy 2: 8

Evening and morning and at noon will I utter my complaint and moan and sigh, and He will hear my voice. Psalm 55: 17

So too the [Holy] Spirit comes to our aid and bears us up in our weakness; for we do not know what prayer to offer nor how to offer it worthily as we ought, but the Spirit Himself goes to meet our supplication and pleads in our behalf with unspeakable yearnings and groanings too deep for utterance. Romans 8: 26

ALSO [Jesus] told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not to turn coward (faint, lose heart, and give up). Luke 18: 1

For this reason I am telling you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe (trust and be confident) that it is granted to you, and you will [get it]. Mark 11: 24

Pray at all times (on every occasion, in every season) in the Spirit, with all [manner of] prayer and entreaty. To that end keep alert and watch with strong purpose and perseverance, interceding in behalf of all the saints (God's consecrated people).
Ephesians 6: 18

“Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.”. Matthew 18: 19-20

I encourage everyone to get deeper in your relationship with Christ. He wants to talk to you! Don't just call on Him when you are sad, someone is dying, or you need something from Him. Call on Him in the good too! Just like you like it when your boyfriend/girlfriend call you just to say "hello," God loves it when you do the same for Him. So call God, Text Him ( I have done this.. make sure you text your own number.. or you will have some random person very confused!) However you have to communicate with Him.. JUST DO IT! He takes joy in you !!! Love on God today and give Him some of your time! :) 

God is CRAZY in love with YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!! :)

Nicole L. 

Love Me...or your will

Have you ever been in a place with God where you are trying to compromise with Him? Your conversation may go something like this :

" God, If we could just agree on this situation.. everything would be PERFECT."

Then God responds to you with :

" We do not have to agree on this situation.. I am in control and I know what is PERFECT!"

Yeah...slap in the face...kind of hurts a bit right? But it is TRUTH!

Why do we ALWAYS want to compromise with God? We think that our lives would just be so perfect if He would just do WHAT we want WHEN we want and HOW we want. But.. God knows better.. He knows that if He left our lives in our hands.. we would be EVEN MORE of a hot mess then we already are!

So why do we INSIST on even trying to do it our way? We throw temper tantrums with God ..we cry.. we get sad.. we sometimes even give Him the silent treatment when we don't get our way. But no matter how crazy we act.. God isn't stuntin' us because at the end of the day.. He is STILL God.

This compromise game we play with God can get us into a big mess and take us out of the will of God .. We see it in the bible..A LOT.. a great example is Abraham and Sarah's story told in Genesis where God promised Abraham (Abram) He would have sons of many nations...BUT he was married to  Sarah(Sarai) who could not have children.. so they decided to try and take the situation into their own hands..

Genesis 16:1-6

1 Now Sarai, Abram's wife, had borne him no children. But she had an Egyptian maidservantnamed Hagar; 2 so she said to Abram, "The LORD has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my maidservant; perhaps I can build a family through her." Abram agreed to what Sarai said.3 So after Abram had been living in Canaan ten years, Sarai his wife took her Egyptian maidservant Hagar and gave her to her husband to be his wife. 4 He slept with Hagar, and she conceived. When she knew she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress. 5 Then Sarai said to Abram, "You are responsible for the wrong I am suffering. I put my servant in your arms, and now that she knows she is pregnant, she despises me. May the LORD judge between you and me." 6 "Your servant is in your hands," Abram said. "Do with her whatever you think best." Then Sarai mistreated Hagar; so she fled from her. 

See how AFTER they stepped outside of God's will for their life.. FLESH began to creep in. * Side Note: If God has given you a promise and you are living in His will.. and HE fulfills that promise to you.. a good way to know for sure if God fulfilled that promise or if you made it up in your head is to ask yourself this : "Do I feel like this was a good step for me" Because God won't have you make ANY steps that are not for your good.. and also ask yourself "Did this promise glorify God and who He is..?" God's promises for your life are ALL for His glory.. so if you can't see God getting that glory.. chances are it was not from Him. :) 

Sarah became upset that she LET her servant sleep with her husband.. ( I am sorry.. BUT stepping outside of MARRIAGE is TOTALLY not from God... lol) . Her flesh became jealous and things became chaotic..God is not a God of chaos and confusion.. REMEMBER THAT!.. God never said no craziness like " Go sleep with Hagar and ya'll will have a family." That was NEVER His plan! 

Stepping outside of God's will is DANGEROUS!!!!!! It can be the difference of LIFE and DEATH .. literally.. it gets that deep! God knows what is perfect for us.. He has our lives mapped out JUST the way He would love for them to go. He has you on a blueprint and all you have to do is communicate with Him and follow it. Will your life be PERFECT??? NO! NEVER.. we have a TRUE enemy who wants nothing more then to see us fail at God's plan! He will do everything to distract you and take you off track. But PRAISE GOD for grace and mercy because if you get off track.. He will direct your steps back! Proverbs 3:5-6 "Trust in the LORD with all your heat and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight." 

So what does it take to stay in God's will ??!????

* Talk to Him daily- Make sure you are in constant communication with the creator... The holy spirit is AWESOME about giving us discernment.. ask God what His will for your life is... check the passions He instilled in you ( New blog about that in the works) and make sure whatever it is .. that it glorifies Him! 

*Get in your WORD- make sure you know what God has envisioned for His people... it is ALL written in that amazing 66 book love letter He gave us 

*Fast and Pray- Fast and pray on things God has promised you! That is a time for you to hear Him even more clearly and chances are.. in that time He will give you tons of specifics for your life! 

*Focus on the CROSS- Make sure you are focusing on the cross daily. Make sure Jesus is Lord of your life and that you FULLY submit to Him and His authority! 

A really awesome devotional I have been doing with our young adults ministry at church is called " The Dare" by Josh Mayo .. He said so many things SOOO perfectly in this book but one that REALLY stood out to me was this : 

" So what is " the cross" in our daily lives? I think " the cross" is where your will and God's will sometimes CROSS! Every day all of us have "decision points." Our human nature wants to go in one direction, but in our gut , we know Jesus wants us to do something different. Whatever it is.. Your will and God's will CROSS! You have to decide if you will "deny yourself" and let Christ be LORD (Boss) of your life, or whether you're going to keep calling the shots." 

- Josh Mayo " The Dare" 

This was my " LIGHTBULB" moment! DUH ! We have to let Jesus be the Boss! He calls our shots.. NOT us! So I have to chose to be a good " employee" or be the kind of employee who doesn't listen and messes up because I want to do the work MY WAY. NO THANKS.. those employees get fired and lose money :) 

We have to STAY in God's PERFECT will for our lives...ALWAYS.. if not.. we are running down a very DANGEROUS path! 

You make the choice... I know I have made mine ! 

God ADORES you..and He is SO in love with YOU... 

Nicole L.