December

December

As I am sitting here this morning reading my Bible I can feel an overwhelming excitement start to rise up inside me. It is an excitement I can hardly contain. I feel the Lord has opened the flood gates of heaven and is pouring out favor, blessings, miracles, open doors, restoration and promotion today. He is about to show us how Big He really is. I can almost hear Him laughing with joy saying, "wait and see what I am going to do for you my children." I believe this is a time where the Lord wants to bless all of us.

I believe 2014 is going to be an incredible year, but I feel that December is going to be  mind blowing and we will all be left with our mouths hanging wide open in awe at what the Lord is going to do. This month is going to set the stage for the upcoming year. I am so excited to see what the Lord is going to do. Get ready, it is here!

Nikki Mayer  

Laying it at His Feet

Laying it at His Feet

This morning during my quiet time with the Lord I decided to look at my old journals from over the years. As I looked through the pages I realized I didn't even know the person that was writing in them. I felt like I was looking at a stranger’s notebook. Year after year I was crying out to the Lord to help me. I would write about how I needed to clean my house, lose weight and keep everything in order. It was sad because I thought if I could be perfect the Lord would then give me the desires of my heart. I had it so backwards. What I really needed to do is lay everything at his feet and let Him change me. What I needed was to let go of trying to control everything and let the Lord take over and fix me. I kept trying to earn Gods love. That is not how it works. His love is FREE. There is nothing we can do to earn it and there is nothing we can do that would ever make Him stop loving us.  So stop thinking you cannot come to the Lord until you get things in order or fix yourself. He wants you to come as you are, He wants you to give Him everything you are and are not. All your brokenness, insecurities and anything else that makes you feel unworthy and lay it at His feet. If you do that and give Him control of your life He will give you a life you could never have dreamed of on your own. So don’t waist another day trying to be perfect and hand it all over to the Lord. He is waiting there with His arms wide open ready to take all the broken pieces from you and give it back to you better than it was before.

Mountains

Mountains

Do feel like there are mountains standing in the way of what the Lord is calling you out to do? Well the Bible tells us in Ephesians 1:19-20 that we have the same power in us that raised Jesus from the dead, so you can tell those mountains to move in the name of Jesus. Do not get discouraged when you see those mountains standing in front of you. Remember who you are, you are the child of the King of Kings and you have the authority to tell those mountains to get out of your way. Keep pushing forward and don't give up. 

Ephesians 1:19-20

I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms.

Let Go and Let God

Let Go and Let God

In the last few months I have had to make some tough decisions. Things have not been going the way I thought they would have and in the natural it looks like my dreams and promises have died. At this point the only thing I can do is let go and let God take it from here.

Just because something doesn’t look the way you thought or didn’t turn out the way you had planned, doesn’t mean that the Lord is not still in control. His ways are not our ways. It also doesn’t even mean that it won’t come to pass; it just means He is going to do it His way and in His time.

It can get very frustrating when it looks like things are getting worse and not better. We tend to cry out to the Lord asking Him why and where are you? Just remember He is right beside you working behind the scenes. He knows what is best for you. Jesus didn’t die on the cross for you to have a horrible life. John 10:10 says, “The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows).” So pick yourself up today, dust yourself off. You are a child of the most high God. You are a daughter or a son of a King. He will fight for you. Exodus 14:14 says, “The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.” So let go and let Him take over.

Nikki Mayer

Water Walker

Water Walker

Do you have water walking kind of faith? This morning I was reading Matthew 14: 22-33. It is the story where Jesus walks on water. I have read it a million times. As I was reading it this something changed for me. I saw it in a whole new light. In verses 26-27 the disciples saw Jesus walking toward the boat and they were afraid. Then in verse 27 Jesus says to them, “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” Then in verses 28 Peters says, “Lord, if it’s you tell me to come to you on the water”, and Jesus said Come.  As I was reading this I realized that Jesus was calling the disciples out of the boat to walk on the water with Him. He had told them to take courage and don’t be afraid! He wanted them to take that step of faith and get out of the safety of the boat. Peter was the only one willing to take that first step. Peter knew who Jesus was and was the only one to trust Him enough to take that step.

After Peter got out he started to look around at what was going on around him. He saw the wind and the waves and took his eyes off of Jesus and he started to sink. What I love the most is he cried out to Jesus and Jesus was there to stretch out His hand and save him. That is what He does for us too. When we take our eyes off Him we start to get fearful, but when we get our focus back on Him He calms the storms.

I believe the Lord is calling us all out of the boat today. He is saying, “take courage and don’t be afraid, I am here to catch you if you start to sink.” Are you going to be like the other disciples and stay in the safety of the boat or are you going to be like Peter and take that step of faith and join Jesus on the water? Peter went on to do great things in the name of Jesus and I believe a lot had to do with him getting out of the boat that day. I want to be like Peter and have water walking faith.

I am not going to lie and tell you that once you take that step that their won’t be storms and trials, but I can tell you the Lord will be there with you and will have His hand stretched out when you need it. He will not let you fall. Deuteronomy 31:8 says, “The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.” If you will just take that step of faith He will open up a whole new world you never knew existed. So let’s get out of the boat and let’s walk on water.

Nikki Mayer

Mustard Seed Kind of Faith

My favorite verse has always been Matthew 17:20 (He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”) I even have a mustard seed charm that has been passed down in my family. The verse and charm has always given me hope and has helped me through a lot of tough times.

In my other blogs I have talked about what the Lord has been doing in my life over this past year. He has called me out of the boat into deeper waters and has really taken me out of my comfort zone. He has stripped me of nothing and has been building me back up piece by piece. I have been standing in faith for the Lord to restore my family and He has also been leading me down a path into Ministry. It has been a really crazy year. A lot of trials, heart ache and excitement all wrapped into one. But through it all I have held onto Matthew 17:20. That even with little faith I can move mountains.

I decided to do some research on the mustard seed. The mustard seed is a very small seed, but it grows into one of the biggest plants in the garden and then if left it grows into a scrub. For years I thought that the parable was about even if you have faith that is small that you could still tell a mountain to move. But looking more at the mustard seed what Jesus was really trying to tell us is that if we start out with small faith it will grow into bigger faith and then into faith as sturdy as a scrub.

That is what the Lord has been teaching me. If you can start with just a little faith over time it will grow into mountain moving faith. A very good friend of mine told me faith is like a muscle and the more you use it the stronger it will get. I have also learned that faith is not a feeling but a decision we make to trust God no matter what the circumstances look like and what is going on around you.

So are you standing in faith for something today? Well don’t get discouraged trying to have giant size faith to begin with. All you need is faith the size of a mustard seed and watch it grow into beautiful mountain moving faith.

Nikki Mayer

Crossroad

Crossroad

A few weeks ago I spoke for the very first time in front of a group of girls and women at the Girls of Purpose conference in Tampa. The Lord had put it on my heart to let everyone know that they were at a crossroad in their life. He gave me the Bible verse Deuteronomy 30:19-20. (This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.) He told me to tell them they had to make a choice. They could go to the right which is the way of the world. It seems easy at first and like a lot more fun, but in the long run leads to destruction, pain and ultimately death. Or you can go to the left which is a narrow path. This path is not always easy and has tests and trials, but in the long run you will end up with peace, joy, and happiness. It is a path to freedom and Jesus.

I have had many of these crossroads in my life. The biggest one was over a year ago when I decide to get out of the boat and lay my life down to the Lord and put Him first place in my life. It has not been easy. He had to strip me of everything and built me back up to be the person He had created me to be.  He had to remove many things from my life, but He replaced them with things that are much better. He has given me a life that I could have never imagined on my own. It is awesome what He can do if you just say yes and give it all to Him. He will open your eyes to a world that you never knew existed.

I can tell you that I am still going through some tests and trials and some days I don’t know if I am going to make it through. On those days I look back at all the great things the Lord has down and I can see He has been with me every step of the way. Then I remember that as long as I keep my eyes on Him I can do all things through Christ who strengthen me. Philippians 4:13

Has the Lord been calling you out into deeper waters? Has there been a tug on your heart for a while that you have been ignoring? Well then you are at a crossroad right now. My advice to you is to take that first step of faith. Jump out of the boat into deeper waters. The Lord has great things in store for you, but you have to take that first step and say yes. It may be hard at first, but I can tell you that if you keep your eyes on the Lord before you know it you will be walking on water with Jesus by your side. 

Nikki Mayer