Tag: Encourage

Breaking before the Storm

Breaking before the Storm

by nikicks ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

One of the biggest strategies of Satan is not that he brings a storm into our lives…but that he wears us down right before the torrent comes. 🌊

He does this by disrupting our focus on God and putting it on ourselves and everything around us. Little things in everyday life that seem to force our attention elsewhere.

Soon, we may be at a point where we forgot to read the Bible in the morning or talk to God or even pray about our day or situation. 🙏

We then act and react on our own judgement, understanding and anxiety/stress as we miss God’s bigger picture.

Stress makes us react faster and demands an answer or solution ASAP. Then our own judgement fails because we are relying upon what we see and our other earthly senses.

Does God not give us peace in the storm? Does He not give us foresight about the “behind the scenes” and everyone’s hearts?

We must remind ourselves that the devil comes to steal, kill and destroy…and he tends to start with the smallest seemingly insignificant things that have a rippling effect that influences how we deal with bigger trials and tribulations.

I continually ask myself that if I’m having a tough day–did I start it with God? Did I pray that morning? Did I talk to Him?

By focusing on God in a day-to-day basis, we will be like the man who built his house upon the rock. The storm came but his was set upon a firm foundation–just like we are with God. (See Matthew 7:24-27) #OnChristthisSolidRockIStand #AllOtherGroundIsSinkingSand

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Rebuking the Storm

Rebuking the Storm

by nikicks ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

With all that’s going on in our country and world and the depressing news media, I pray and keep receiving the same story imprinted on my heart about Jesus taking a nap in the storm.
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I don’t know about you, but there are nights where I haven’t been able to sleep due to worrying about the panic that is happening in seemingly high places. 😂💃 #IllCatchUpOnMySleepInHeaven
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But let’s imagine how the disciples feared for their lives about the storm and undulating lake. I bet some of them even heard stories of being sunk by such storms and I bet their “news media” of the day (aka gossip and word of mouth) told them all the possibilities of drowning and/or dying. Heck, they probably even had the story of Jonah being swallowed by a whale–in the back their minds (there probably weren’t whales in the lake–but fear does funny things to our imagination). 😅 I’m not going to lie–I would’ve been a basket case. I may have even tried shaking Jesus awake. #SonofGodWakeUp #DoYouSeeThis #TheresAStormBro #BeamUsUpToHeaven
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And yet….Jesus slept through it. Man, I wouldn’t even doubt if he snored.
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Was Jesus trusting on his own knowledge of boats and sea? Was he listening to the people’s past stories that invoked fear?
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No, He knew the power of God. He knew God would make a way for Him. He just needed to take a stand and rebuke the wind and waves.
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“23 Then he got into the boat and his disciples followed him. 24 Suddenly a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. 25 The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!”
26 He replied, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm.
27 The men were amazed and asked, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!” Matthew 8:23-27
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So, the beauty of this story is that storms will come…but God has a way for us. He has already given us the power through faith and through His Son’s holy name.
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God’s been telling me to work on my faith muscle instead of my worry one (which can probably bench press 500 lbs of news media). 😅🤣💪
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How do we build-up our faith?
“So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.” Romans 10:17
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Starting the day in the Word, listening to podcasts about the Word and ending the day with the Word.
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When that storm comes knocking, may we be filled so much with faith–that fear has no entry. 🧡💪💃 May we have the courage to rebuke the storm and have that smooth sailing of peace and calm.
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P.S. I like definitions so, I’m going to put this one here.
Rebuke: to reprimand : to reprove sharply or censure formally usually from a position of authority

At a Glance

At a Glance

by nikicks ♥ 0 Leave a Comment
As I scroll through Facebook at finger-swiping speed on my iPad, and glance at articles of information flying by, I stop to realize that I have misread a piece of info COMPLETELY wrong. I then, scan my eyes over the short write-up to make sure I am grasping the Facebook post correctly.
Me: “I have noticed that when I quickly scan through a short online post, I am not reading the same words that were originally typed. It’s like they get twisted into something else when I don’t really care to take the time reading.”


God: “Have you not glanced at people in the same way and misread them? Too quick of a look and you judge their character wrong.”


Me: “What should I do?”


God: “Get to know them. Truly read them.”


Me: “Read them?”


God: “How do you read a book that you want to spend time getting to know its story?”


Me: “I study the cover and its summary to find hidden storylines that give hint to what’s inside the book and then I read its contents to verify the cover.”


God: “And you do guess right by what you saw on the cover?”


Me: “…not always. At times, I have been assuming the opposite of what the truth really is but with people…I have been wrong about them on many occasions.”


God: “What’re you going to do about it?”


Me: “Well, I know Someone with x-ray vision Who is willing and able to see through fleshly covers and dive deep into the pages of people’s characters.”

 

 

End thought: “Put on your ‘Jesus X-ray glasses’ and see deeper than the cover…the Facebook post…and other social media outlets.”
Piggy Wiggy

Piggy Wiggy

by nikicks ♥ 1 Comment
God: Don’t throw your pearls before swine.


Me: Can Christians still be pigs? Cause I believe I’ve seen a few.


God: They’ve been freed from the pigpen but some do not know how to live differently…and they still yearn for the muddy mess. 
Don’t fall for the sinking mud pits…there are fresh pastures to explore.


Me: What of the pork chops that wander too far past the pasture?


God: They are no longer swine but transformed with knowing Me and they can never go too far with Me. Walk deeper and I will walk with you deeper still.


Me: I guess, I’m thinking about the “religious” piggies who totally wig out on info of You but continually run into a wall and can’t see past it.


God: Ah, that is the brother of the old pig pen. It looks nice and clean and when one compares it to the old pigsty, it looks like heaven…and that’s just what the blind thinks it is. They feel secure within its fencing and everything seems in order…but there is no life…just a detour that takes lost souls off their free range. They continually run into the fencing but never understand that they are trapped.


Me: Huh, thank you for this convo.


God: You’re welcome piggy.


Me: Hey! I thought I was transformed by You!


God: Yes, but remember from where you came…there were times when you didn’t want to leave the pigsty and moments where you were trapped in the delusion of the clean pen. Remember where you were, remember how I saved you, and help others to know.
Pebble in the Shoe

Pebble in the Shoe

by nikicks ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

 

“I cannot go on like this,” said the girl, overwhelmed by life itself.


God: Trust…in Me. Take day by day for life is full of sorrows by waiting and yearning for tomorrow. When people drain you, do not wallow in your dehydration. I am the living water; I will fill you up. 
When people suck the air out of you, I will breathe into the breath of life. When people are like a storm threatening to break and beat you down, remember that you are built upon the rock. Do not let the enemy deceive you into believing you are built upon the sand! 


Take off your spectacles for I have already given you sight…do not believe that you must earn all my blessings. I am not like people around you. I give freely…you just have to open your present and don’t let the enemy steal it from you.


Do not fear in what you may lose, but hope in what you will gain.


Inadequacy is a lie. You are made perfect in the Greatest Sacrifice. I will call you accordingly to how I made you. Do you not believe that your interests are important to Me? Far from it! I love you and I will use you…use you in your uniqueness. Trust in Me.

 

Side note: You may talk to God about the pebble in your shoe, and He will address the rocky area where you traveled. He knows what you’ve been through…what you’re going through. The pebble will become heavier the longer you hold onto it.


Take time to speak to God…go for a walk by a stream and skip rocks across the water (throw your pebble out while you’re at it!).