Monday, May 19, 2014

Created for More...So Clear the Path

"I am more than enough" used to be my mantra. That was about self-reflection and self-worth. However, I realize that my gifting is designed to bless the nations. Playing small helps no one! I thought I was here to do one thing, but God let me know that there are some other plans that He has for me. 

So please don't settle for the mundane, begin to step out of your comfort zone and step into your destiny. My brothers and my sisters, you indeed were created for much more!

If you are working in corporate America...you were created for more!
If you are a stay-at-home mom..you were created for more!
If you are an elected official..you were created for more!
If you are an trash collector..you were created for more!
If you are a pastor and/or preacher..you were created for more!
If you are a nurse or a teacher ..you were created for more!
If you work at the bank..you were created for more!
If you are between jobs..you were created for more!

It's neither your job nor your title; your profession nor level of education......It's all about your purpose in creation.  What is it that God has designed for you to do?  What is your passion in life?  What wakes you in the middle of the night, crowding your thoughts, invading your imaginations?  What is that thing that you do well and don't even think about, because it comes to you naturally?  That's what you were created for!

The problem is many of us are afraid to let go of what we know, in order to experience something greater.  We have put so many obstacles in our own way that the path is no longer clear to us. We can't blame anyone else for our situation because we have carefully constructed our own roadblock.  Start clearing the clutter and allow God to fill that space.  God desires to fill the space, but we keep shutting him out.

My recent testimony...
My husband and I have been driving old cars for years; one was a 1997 and the other was a 1998.  Both had broken down on different occasions, but we were so determined not to have a car payment that we suffered through no air conditioning and car "nervousness" ( the car shook all the time...just nervous).  The last few months we have begun having the discussion about getting another car.  Since we made the decision to put our children in private school, we sacrificed in other areas to afford them a great education.  Noble idea, right?  Not so much, when many mornings we had to pray that the car would simply make it to school without overheating. How many times did we drive the car, without air conditioning, to this palatial campus and have to shut it off as we waited for them to come out? (Didn't want the car to start smoking in the carpool lane and really embarrass the kids.) 

Anyway, we had daily discussions and even drove to the car lot. But it wasn't until I had an 'aha' moment.
I was backing out of our driveway, on my way to work, and I became disgusted.  It was almost as if the scales had just been lifted from my eyes.  For the first time, I saw the garage for what it really was...cluttered and filthy.  The boys' sleds were still there from the winter, some old weights that someone had given us, shoes, clothes and just simple trash were keeping the garage in disarray.  It was at this moment that I realized that we had not begun to prepare the way for our blessing.  How was God going to bless us with a new car when we had made no preparation to receive it.  How do you place a new car in a place that might potentially cause damage or scratch it as soon as you would drive in?  This nagged me for the entire day at work.  The next day, I resurrected the garage by clearing the clutter, putting things in the shed and most things in the trash.  Two weeks later, I was driving MY new car into a clean garage.

Can I raise a few questions?  What are you afraid of? What blessings are you blocking because you are not making the necessary changes?  What does God have for you, but you are so comfortable in your situation that you don't even realize when He is making a way for you to get out?   What are holding on to that is hindering you from moving forward?  It's time to take the blinders off and really see what is around you.

You indeed were created for more, but you've got to begin clearing the path.  You have to do the work!  God is simply waiting for you to get tired of the mundane and reach for the supernatural. Or as my husband said in one of his sermons, "Put some EXTRA on your ordinary".

I encourage you to begin the work of clearing your own path to actualize what God has created you to do.  It's going to take some time and some diligence on your part, but you can do it.  You indeed were created for more and God is ready to give it to you.  The catch is........You must be ready to receive it!

Now walk it out...

Tuesday, May 6, 2014

Live by Faith

I posted this on my Facebook page today and I thought I needed to insert it here, as well.

We preach about it, talk about, sing about, blog about it....FAITH.

Faith doesn't mean a thing until you have to live by it. Live by faith when your back is against the wall.  Live by faith when your doctor's visit turns into a hospital stay.  Live by faith when there is no money in the bank (a negative balance) and the bills are piling up. Live by faith when the person that said they'd always love you turns away.  Live by faith when the very child you prayed for in the womb has hurt your heart because of poor decisions.

Live! Live! Live!

You cannot give up, you cannot turn around, you cannot throw in the towel...but you've got to live!

As you're living, throw some word on it...My God shall supply all of my needs according to His riches in glory.  I'm more that a conqueror.  By his stripes, I am healed. Train up a child in the way he/she should go and when they're old, they won't depart from it. I shall live and not die to proclaim the works of the Lord.

It's all about your mindset as you go through the storm.  If you can control your mind and emotions as you go through the storm...you can dance like a crazy woman when you get out of the storm.

I'm just saying...I'm about to pick out the cutest, high-heeled shoes that I can find....because it's almost time to start dancing!

Now walk it out...