Always stay humble and kind

I had two dreams last night. Or perhaps nightmares you'd call them. 

At first I awoke in a frenzy. The kind of uncomfortable state you're in for a few moments when you're not sure where you are, what happened or if what you just dreamed was real or not. 

Instantly a million thoughts flooded my mind. Thoughts referring to those ever constant questions we try and debate with ourselves like "why?", "how?", or "why are you doing this to me?" 

"Why are you doing this to me?" 

I thought some more for a few moments. 

I tried to sit there and evaluate the scenes of my visions in my mind as if I knew how to determine and judge the situation. 

I have had terrible nightmares before and I have prayed constantly for those evil spirits to leave my mind. The two dreams I had last night were vivid scenes that brought me back to my past and feelings I would so love to forget. 

And after more thinking I realized, 'This is not from God. It CANNOT be. Evil thoughts and reminders are terrible acts of the enemy. And he does NOT rule  my life. 

I sat and invited God's rest to enter the room. I lit candles and prayed and played a song that I am incorporating as the theme song of my life: 'Humble and Kind by Tim McGraw." 

{If you are wise and understand God's ways, prove it by living an honorable life, doing good works with the humility that comes from wisdom.} James 3:13 NLT 

I love this scripture because it tells us that being humble is directly tied to being wise. When we draw near to God, He will draw near to us and we will know what voice is His. 

When I awoke from these dreams I had the same thought. Do I have enough wisdom in the Spirit? Yes, we can argue it takes time or is a life long journey to grow in, but am I already on that path? 

Ever since returning from my trip to Oklahoma I have thought and prayed so long over the ever familiar "God's calling." 

I have a prayer and am waiting for it to be answered, however I also have an equally concerning dilemma. How do I know I am unmistakably hearing God's call? 

How do I know for SURE when I am following His will correctly. 

From a young age I've been taught, "Where God guides, He provides." 

I firmly belive this beacause when we know God wants us to be somewhere or make certain decisions, regardless of how difficult the challenges ahead, we know He is with us because He guided us here from the start. 

So I am steuggling as of late to know that He clearly wants me where my heart wants to be. But I can't be guided by my heart, but rather The Spirit. 

From childhood we were raised to believe in God. But living for God and with God is completely different than knowing of Him. Living for God comes with infinite beauty and unending love that can only be known from relationship and word. By following His ways and LIVING in the Bible. By seeing others as God sees them. By remaining pateint, even when you do not feel His presence, by loving those who do not love you in return. By remaining humble and kind. Just as we are told in James 4:6 {God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.}

I'd love to hear any of your thoughts on how to hear God or any of your beautiful testimonies. 

I am continuing to pray and await to know how God will help guide me in the next season of my life.  

Blessings to you all 

Nicole Grace 

Who am I?

Experiencing the winters may not be so fun for everyone.
Sometimes when the weather gets colder we feel down or maybe it just gets in the way of our plans.
For me I've fallen so ill the last few days and that it truly makes it difficult to fulfill any of my plans, or duties, or expectations for the day.
However, do we often take the time to stop and see our surroundings for what they could be? Or Who makes the days so?
The snow is beautiful I have to admit. And I've rarely been one  to complain about the weather. But somtimes we make the weather or even other uncontrollable variables, the reason we grow so weary and disappointed.
Who am I ? I wondered this a few days ago when the pain and aches in my body were beyond bearable.
Do I choose to see His glory in every little thing like I promised?
Do I trust He knows why?
Do I trust He has a great plan for me or do I give up this fight?
How do I overcome this struggle and constant rejection?
It seems that when we question these questions or when life becomes overbearing, those are the moments that we find ourselves reelvaluting.
Even for me, I realize as a follower of Christ that it is not at all easy.
It is constant struggle and judgement and many obstacles that often times I wonder if I'll even be able to pull through. And this world doesn't help. Nor does that fact that I am not very often surrounded by people with similar thoughts as I.
Besides understanding that prayer is powerful, I knew in order to change my perspective and my hope, I was going to have to change my mentality as well. In every situation.
It's when we allow MORE of God into our lives that we truly see His love and power reign.
In this world that is constantly making God seem irrelevant or blaming all this darkness on Him, I can assure you those people do not know God. They are not in relationship or in love with Him. They fail to know who they are and who He is. And that is a sorry reality.
So fear not dear children of the King above all kings.
We are called to bring a radiant light into this world and make disciples of them.
Hold tight - He's not finished yet.
Blessings Nicole

This world

You are not of this world

What happens when we hear something or see something that starts to anger us on the inside?
What do we do when so many voices are flying our way and it grows so difficult to hear The One above all?
How do we decifer between truth and plain old lies?
For me this is another one of my frequent struggles but it's also a topic that provokes meaningful conversation.
Sometimes we allow a person to say something or do something that may hurt us or damage our confidence, but we were made for so much more. At the time it seems impossible, but the truth is we cannot allow people and things of this world to change our perspective, our goals or our God-given destiny.
John 15: 18-20 reads:
{The world may hate you, but remember it hated me first. The world would love you as one of its own if you belonged to it, but you are no longer of this world. I chose you to come out of this world, so it hates you. Do you remember what I told you? 'A slave is not greater than the master.' Since they persecuted me, naturally they will persecute you. And if they had listened to me, they would listen to you.}
I myself still struggle to realize that when the rest of the world is against me, He is for me. At times even the people you figure to be your friends or companions come to disappoint you. But we were warned about this as well.
God reminded us that mere humans would disappoint us. It's just how we are. We will not perform righteously at every minute of every day. It is tough yes. And we want to be the best reflection of Jesus' Love as possible. But we are not God. We are incapable of being there for everyone at every moment, even if we wish it.
I came home yesterday with so many thoughts circling my mind that it weighed heavy on me. I was confused and ashamed. I even thought for a moment that God is not on my side. 'This is too difficult. People already have preconceived ideas of me so where do I go from here? Do I just give up and start all over again? Why can't I ever get it right?'  These thoughts continued and I did not like it. I didn't like me for a few moments there either. I wanted to fall away. But that's not me anymore. It can't be.

My greatest advice at these times is that you need to at least pray. I know it may seem impossible to worship or choose to treat the world or your haters with love and happiness, but I can tell you it only gets worse if we can't at least make the effort to make time with Him. I know now, there is nowhere else to turn. Jesus is the only way. He made sure we knew it and THAT is Truth. When we take time EACH day regardless of our circumstances, that is when and where we see His amazing power and grace. {The prayers of a righteous person will bring about great things} We know this and cannot doubt the power of prayer and unity.
I unexpectedly found this letter above last night as I was rummaging through past memories looking for something. I couldn't believe I still had this and I just broke down. It hit me more powerfully than expected because of all I had heard that day and allowed to bring me down. But I remembered that was not Truth and with God in my heart, I cannot allow all that I hear take any place above truth.
Take heart- Jesus overcame the world .. NOTHING can separate us from His love.
God bless
Nicole Grace

Love Endures All

1 Corinthians 13 

As many of you may already know, this is my all time favorite scripture. 

I often explain to others that this is not only a powerful piece of scripture on love and relationships, but it beautifully depicts how God is Love. 

God is everything explained in 1 Corinthians 13 and we are aware from the very beginning of the verse that we are nothing without love in our lives. Nothing. So no matter how bland our lives may seem,  you need to do it all in love. 

This verse also  creates a beautiful script by which to mirror all our relationships. In having  those in our lives that are patient and kind and slow to anger and who keep no records of wrongs, we are blessed with the greatest gift we could ever imagine. 

A friend once delved deeper into the phrase with me and she said "Change the word Love mentioned every time in the verse, to the name of a loved one or significant other. For example, Steph is patient, Steph is kind... and so on." 

From then on I was excited to do that not only to highlight the beauty in those treasured relationships, but I also remembered this when I was not so happy with the person... when people were not so loving, and happy and patient and kind. Truly this also seems to be the best time to use this: when they are not so perfect.  And honestly, this is still a constant cycle of progress and getting better at seeing others the way God sees them: with infinite potential. 

Yes, it may seem like there is far too much hate in this world. As if when you deal with certain people it is almost impossible to keep them in the image of patient and kind. I know. I see it everyday. Often times you end up on the receiving end of criticism and gossip. 

Lately I have seen even more hate and negativity than usual,  specifically on the realms of the internet which I most frequent. I had to stop and think just recently- how can people truly feel ok with posting this, or saying this, or portraying this image? Is it that they do not know? Or do not realize ? 

I find it that often times the first instinct to seeing a picture or comment or view that you disagree with is to quickly reply back the first negative comment that comes to your mind. I know the old me would have most likely done something similar. 

No. What does that do? That breeds even more hate and continues the dreadful cycle of keeping the internet and, frankly, the lives of others, in a depressed state. Retaliating is the enemy speaking through you and this shuts out your divine Father. Words do matter, whether spoken out loud or written, they need to be chosen carefully. 

The beautiful reality is that YOU get to choose the positive path each day. You choose what you say and how you react to the other factors in life which are out of your control. 

                                                      POSITIVITY IS POWERFUL 

Gathering the courage to stand up for yourself or defend a friend is certainly a tall order, but it is a powerful choice: one that will breed a positive air into the lives of all those around you verses a negative one. 

In this day and age there are so many voices hitting you from several different directions. Remember that it is God's sweet and welcoming voice that is all you need in order to carry out His wonderful plans for you and to do what's right. 

1 Corinthians 13 ends by confirming that love endures all. Love is above any feeling and has been promised to us for eternity. That is just awe-inspiring. It's a beautiful promise for all!!! Revel in it and think of others next time you think you want act in retaliation or anger. You WILL stand out for choosing love! 

Blessings to you all!!! 

Photo: POSITIVITY board trend on Instagram: @nicole..pastrana 

The true spirit of Christmas

Lending a helping hand

During this most festive season of Christmas, not only is the ever present love of our Lord in our lives, but we also have the great privilege of spreading the gift of love to others.
What good news of our Savior!!! What a love that knows no bounds!!! A love that has given us the true blessing of everlasting life. I adore this time of year.  Not only is there so much celebration abound,  but we have the chance to look back on all the things  that we have gone through over the past year. God is great. He has promised to be with us through all of our struggles and in keeping our faith in him, there is so much joy and success! I know it is not easy. When our problems seem to consume us or become a lot more than we believe we can handle, it may seems like there is no way to see a light at the end of if. But that is a lie. That is a falsehood permeating your mind. Through God all is possible. When we live with His love in our lives we make a precious and beautiful decision. When I look back on how I have come through everything, I now it was God's love that has guided me and brought me through. And I know I am blessed with not only His amazing love, but the chance to share that with others and help them as well. I have the love that can change this world- we all do!! What great news!! No matter the idea, as long as it is good and in His name, it all will change this world for the better.
I was so upset two days ago to find out that a dear friend of mine was going through a tough struggle.  After a terrible fire, their family was left without a home and without any possessions. Thankfully God was with them and no one was home when this occurred. Of course I knew immediately it was an issue I wanted to help with. I knew I wanted to spread love and happiness to my dear friend in need at such a precious time of the year. I have prayed for his family and their kitty that unfortunately did not make the fire accident. Tonight I was blessed with sisters and friends to be able to come together and create gift packages for their family as part of our Waves group mission to help others in goodness whenever possible. Getting together like this to use what we have for others is such a blessing.

There's is always so much that can be done to help people all around you. Some may think that helping others is a worldly task, a job that can only be done with money or help or resources. But you'd be surprised. Opportunities to be blessings to others are all around you. In our communities, in our neighborhoods, perhaps even with our friends and other relatives. Stay positive, stay hopeful! Keep an open heart and an open mind!! Love others- no matter what. Love knows no bounds!!!

I pray for you all and am wishing you the greatest Christmas season!!!

With love
Nicole

Self Worth

1 Samuel 16:7 

But the Lord said to Samuel, "Do not consider his appearance or his height for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, the Lord looks at the heart." 

Often times we forget that what God sees in us is worth much more than what anyone on this earth could ever think. For me this has been a struggle to accept and feel my whole life. I tend to look at the outside and feel so empty on the inside. For example my weight. I have suffered from weight issues and problems my whole life. I have been so skinny and suffered from anorexia, to the struggles of seeing myself gain weight again beyond a healthy perception. This has continued to be an ongoing problem. The worst is that people will judge- even if it is subconsciously. They do. I have even had comments about my weight said straight to my face, and that sends the worse sort of painful surge straight through my entire body. 

This evening I was walking down the festive, decorated streets of Manhattan when someone approached me and commented about my weight. He was preaching about being vegan and how we cannot abuse the lives of animals. He went to tell me that my life would be better if I did not eat meat and that I would be a lot slimmer. That even the coffee in my hand was making me fatter. I could not believe I was in this conversation being ambushed with question after question about my lifestyle and my options of self worth. I was shocked. I've been back and forth from the city my whole life and have never been more personally targeted. 

However I did not say anything negative about this guy or about being rude. I remembered that isn't me anymore and that God's opionion of me is more valuable than anything this man could ever say. I almost felt sorry for this guy too. But I did not forget God through this. I did not forget it is Jesus' season and that we need to remain happy and see the beauty in every situation before us. Yes, I was hurt for a few minutes after they left. Yes, I do struggle with weight and self perception. I did not even want to admit it or review my opionions. I didn't want to have to talk about it now like this. But I know God must have wanted me to relay this message. God wanted me to see myself for who I am and not what this world sees. Yes I'm sure most people look at me and don't see much beauty, but I still have to get better at realizing God's love for me is deeper than anyone else's. I can fix my perception and the number on the scale with His help. But I cannot, and will not, continue to live on thinking that what this world or other guys sees is of substantial value. 

My prayer for all of you is that you feel our Lord's love this wonderful Christmas season. That you know this is His season and that you feel the urge to bring joy and positive compliments to the world around you. This world in such desperate need of our greatest commandment to one another: love. 

Photo: Rockefeller Plaza NYC 

An encounter

Feeling God's presence 

Tonight at one of my Ministry classes, I was brought to tears. I felt the warm tears trickle down my face as I heard the preacher recount a story that related to my past almost exactly. 

As class began I honestly was not thinking it would be as moving and powerful as other classes I have attended. The teacher started with a story and  said a few things I told myself I had already heard before. Plus there was no relation to any scripture in most of the lesson so I was not sure what to take notes on. I always want to take in as much as possible and leans from other followers, but I truly thought I had heard it all before in my mind. 

I resolved to begin writing prayers in my journal while simply listening to the lesson rather than try to make notes that were not coming to me. 

As class progressed I looked up when I heard a vital question asked "How do you go to Father God?" This lead us to the imagery of how we see the Spirit. This was also something that has been  presented to me in the past but the approach here was unique. 

I was reminded and need to share with you that the way we see ourselves and the other people in our lives, directly affects how we see God. If our relationships with our parents, siblings, friends and elders, is closely related to how we see ourselves before God, then these relationships are very important. 

But God does not see us how we see us. He has a much greater image. 

I knew in this case I needed to examine the relationships I've had with my siblings and parents foremost. Because of my father leaving our family and us not knowing his whereabouts now, that was a sad image to resurrect, painful even, but I needed to face it. 

Without my dad around for years, it altered all our lives and how we coped with various issues. Forgiveness was the key to my story's happy ending as well as accepting that God sees me in a beautiful and unique image to the point of not needing acceptance from any other source. 

In our activation, I was moved to tears and felt God's warm embrace hold me together.  He is my Father and is loving enough to fill all voids. 

In prayer, 

Father God thank You. 

You are my strength, comfort and dearest joy. 

Because of You I know that I am loved and have a place by You. 

I truly can so all things through You. 

Thank you for calling me to shine for You  and to have Your blessing to do so. 

Thank you for the gift of Your love and grace. 

You are Most High!! 

Guide me and all those I love each day. 

Amen