Past Blogs

You are not your own..

1 Corinthians 6:20 tells us that we’ve been bought with price, therefore honor God with your bodies. That price was Jesus’ blood. Often times we really don’t understand what that means. I challenge you today to look at it from another perspective. Look at it through a different lens.

Honoring God with our bodies is one thing, but how about with our words, our actions and our social media. Honoring him should extend to all the areas of our life. The more we focus on what it means to honor him, the more we realize all the areas we can honor him in. Let’s look at social media for a moment. There is nothing like a good phrase or meme or GIF that makes us laugh, or hits home. However, there are popular phrases or stances that goes directly against honoring God and realizing that we were bought with a price. In our culture today we sometimes encourage attitudes that are in direct conflict with the Word of God. If we are not careful, we become immune and hit that like button or heart button in agreeance. Here are a few examples:

  • “You do you”
  • “Don’t worry about what anyone says”
  • “I do what I want”
  • “Don’t worry about anybody but you”
  • “When people show you who they are, believe them”
  • “Don’t be concerned with those, that aren’t concerned with you”

At first glance, these seem harmless. They may even seem encouraging. But that is the trick. I’ll be honest, one of my favorites was “when people show you who they are believe them.” That is not right. When people show you who they are, show them who God is. We are not our own, so if we were bought with a price, how can we just do “us?” No we need to do “Jesus.” “You do you” might be the most dangerous of all. You doing you can lead to you creating your own truth, reality and right and wrong. You are creating your own world which in turn has caused you to step into God’s place. This is a dangerous place to be.

We also need to care about what our actions look like and what our words sound like. We don’t do what we want, we do what Jesus would do. Jesus was concerned for people, how can we not be? We sing songs about God’s will, his way and surrendering. We have to live it. We often times encourage selfish thinking. The “me” mentality. Jesus gave of himself everyday. The enemy wants us to be so immune to things that are in direct conflict with God. These things are normalized as if it is just a part of life. When you are born again, you have a different life. When you know what it is to have a savior who is selfless, who is the very expression of Love, you don’t want to be left to your own devices. Luke 9:23 tells us “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.”

In every area of our life we need to realize that Jesus has paid a great price to set us free. We need to seek to please him in everything we do and not ourselves. The first part of Romans 12:2 says, Do not conform to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. We must not fall into the pattern of this world by conforming to the “norms.” We are not our own. The reason our minds must be renewed is to change the way we think, so that we will actually understand what is pleasing to God.

When we say yes to Jesus, we actually give up the right to live by our own rules. We take on a new found Freedom that only came through Christ. God set us free to so that we don’t carry the guilt and shame of our past sinful nature. It sets us free to love and have relationship with God. So as we go about our lives be intentional about how our words, actions and even social media are honoring God. We’ve been bought with a price and Thank God for his sacrifice.

Past Blogs

People Pleaser…

Often we get caught up in a whirlwind of other people’s expectations and priorities. If you are like I was, you find yourself never wanting to disappoint anyone. You will go the extra mile even if it kills you. You will take on heavy loads just to make sure that others are okay. Meanwhile, you are falling apart at the seams. You feel as though you don’t know whether you are coming or going. Always busy, never enough time for yourself. Never wanting to let anyone down, being afraid of what they may say or how they may view you. And then, just when it seems as if you cannot take an ounce of anything else, the praise almost makes it seem as if it was worth it. When people shout your praises, “oh we can always count on you,” “you never let us down,” “if anyone can do it you can.” And then we hop right back on the hamster wheel of expectation, careful not to let anyone down. Meanwhile we are suffering from silent battles of fatigue, exhaustion, wrong thinking and what I like to call “people pleasing syndrome” or PPS.

I suffered from PPS for a long time. It was almost second nature to say yes to almost anything. Even if I knew it would literally kill me. But it wouldn’t be said that I didn’t come through, that I wasn’t loyal, that you couldn’t count on me. My friends, let me tell you, that is the quickest way to burn out and build up an attitude of resentment. Now hear me out, there is nothing wrong with being there for others, being reliable and trustworthy. That is far from what I am saying. But if we are not careful, we fall into the area of people pleasing.

It is okay to say “no.” Let me say that again for the people in the back, it is okay to say a blessed “I’m sorry, I will not be able to handle that.” Give yourself a break! God never meant for us to run ourselves ragged. Sometimes people will continuously push, push, push, as long as you say yes, yes yes. Don’t, get me wrong, we should be helpers, however, how can you give if your tank is empty? Think about it, why do you think the instructions on the airplane is to first give yourself oxygen and then help others? It’s because you first have to have oxygen to be able to help anyone else. It is the same in life. It is okay to rest! Even God rested when the work was done. Everyone needs to refuel, replenish and make sure that their mind, body and soul are ready for the next adventure.

People pleasing also comes with the wrong motives. We are doing things for acceptance and validation from man. Colossians 3:23 says, “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men.” Galatians 1:10 says “For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.” Some people believe that God is going to be mad or look down on them if the say “no,” this is simply not the case. The bible tells us that “Fearing people is a dangerous trap, but trusting the Lord means safety,” Proverbs 29:25.

God wants us whole. He want’s us to serve him with the right attitude. God loves us and has already accepted us through his grace. There is no amount of work, helping, serving that will cause him to love us. He already does. Shame and fear tells us that we have to work hard for his approval and the approval of man. Don’t fall into this misconception. We should have joy and peace. That’s what flows when we operate out of Love and not expectation or people pleasing. There is a quote, that I really love and stand on until this very day “Let pleasing God become bigger than pleasing people.”

Additional Quotes:

  • “If you live for people’s acceptance you will die from their rejection.” – Lecrae
  • “You wouldn’t worry so much about what others think of you if you realized how seldom they do.” – Eleanor Roosevelt
  • “The only thing wrong with trying to please everyone is that there’s always at least one person who will remain unhappy. You.” – unknown
  • “People pleasing hides the real you.” – unknown
Past Blogs

Living with a purpose…

What is my purpose? Why am I here? What am I meant to do in life? All questions that have come in the minds of many at some point in life. Living life without purpose is like watching the same episode over and over again. It’s predictable and nothing new. Even if it were your favorite episode at some point the fulfillment you first had when watching starts to fade. Except old reruns of “Martin” now that never gets old.

But seriously, purpose is important! Our mind, body and souls depend on it. What is your significance? To have purpose, you must first realize who you are. 1 Peter 2:9 says “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” So first of all, you are “chosen.” That means set apart and for a very specific purpose. You are God’s special possession! You are a royal priesthood, that means you have direct access and fellowship with God. We are called to tell people about Jesus and impact the world. We are Kings and Queens, God’s word says so. Romans 8 tells us that we are co-heirs with Jesus. He is the King, therefore we are Kings and Queens.

So now that you know who you are, why are you here? We are not here for our own purpose, but for God’s purpose. He has equipped us with everything we need to carry out his purpose. Proverbs 19:21 says “Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.” Listen, each one of us has been given gifts and special abilities to share with the world. God has also given us passions. What are you passionate about? What business has God called you to start and you may be procrastinating with? What area of ministry has he called you in and you keep feeling a nudge in that direction? He has placed in us many wonderful abilities to use for the kingdom. However, let us not forget that the only way to truly discover your purpose is through relationship with Jesus. The purpose for our life fits in to a bigger plan and even eternity.

God needs to be the center of our life for us to fulfill his purpose. It is perfectly fine to have activities, a career, hobbies, family, etc. But God must be at the center because he is the anchor in everything. Spend time with him and he will reveal to you what he wants you to do and what direction you should head in. God and his word are much better navigation systems than anything out there. I challenge you to seek him and see if he won’t reveal. Your life will never be the same and you will walk in the authority and the purpose that God has given you.

Tee

Past Blogs

Hurt…

Hurt can come in many ways. From other people, from our own personal choices, from failed expectations. Hurt can really throw us into a downward spiral of mixed emotions. Most people have experienced some level of hurt at some point in their lives. Hurt causes wounds. These wounds need healing and if we are not careful, hurt can turn into bitterness. Sometimes it feels as though you can never recover, or when you think you have, something happens and it feels like it is there all over again. I do understand, first hand, what it feels like to experience hurt so detrimental that it felt as if it touched my soul. The kind of hurt that knots your stomach at the mere thought of it. The kind that you can cry the most wretched cry that leaves your stomach muscles aching. It is painful, unbearable and downright difficult to endure. Oh, but let me tell you, there is a light at the end of that tunnel and his name is Jesus! Listen, I don’t care how hurt you are, how bad off you think you are, how deep of a rabbit hole of hurt you are in, Jesus is the answer. Let me explain, God is trustworthy. He can handle whatever we give over to him. Hurt is too heavy of a burden for us to carry on our own. 1 Peter 5: 7, tells us to give all our worries and cares to God, for he cares about us. This includes your hurt. Psalm 34:18 tells us the Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit. God is able to restore that which is broken. In John 11:33, when Lazarus had died and Jesus saw Mary weeping, it says he was deeply moved in spirit and was troubled. It goes on to say in in verse 38, so Jesus, again being deeply moved within, came to the tomb. Jesus cares about our hurt, suffering and pain. He wants us to come to him in prayer and release it all on him. It doesn’t take a structured prayer. There is no right way. Just be honest and take a step toward releasing the hurt that may be holding you back. Tell God who hurt you, what hurts you and how you feel. Ask God to take away the hurt. God can erase the hurt and have you feeling as if it never happened. Matthew 11: 28 – “Come to me, all who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest.” God’s word is like medicine for our soul. Psalm 147:3 – “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. Each scripture, every word can mend our brokenness if only we would let it. “For nothing will be impossible with God.” – Luke 1:37.

Past Blogs

Expectations……

The definition of expectation from the Oxford dictionary is – a strong belief that something will happen or be the case in the future. Hope is wanting something to happen or be the case. A feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen.

You ever expect something to happen and it didn’t quite turn out the way you thought it would? I know plenty of times I expected a situation to be a certain way or expected a certain behavior out of someone that did not happen. We form expectations from our own beliefs about the way a situation or person should be. We need to be careful with our expectations because it can let us down. This also causes us to place blame on others.

I know I have placed a lot of expectations on others and I am taken back when those expectations aren’t met. I mean the nerve! But seriously, expectations are formed from our own belief system. My expectations and someone else’s expectations may not be the same. Therefore, “Houston we have a problem!”

Thankfully, God has given us some things that we can certainly expect from him. With him our expectations are met. In fact he wants us to expect certain things from him because his word never lies:

  1. Psalm 62:5 “My soul, wait though only upon God; For my expectation is from him.”
  2. Proverbs 23:18 “Surely there is a future, and your hope and expectation will not be cut off.
  3. Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.

These are just a few. But we can certainly expect much more. We can expect to have our lives changed by the very presence of God. We can expect healing because it is a part of our covenant. We can expect God to meet us where we are in this very moment. We often place unrealistic expectations on ourselves also. Give yourself a break, you are only human. Pray that God will help you manage your expectations in such a way that they are centered on him, his word and his promises. For we know the promises of God are yes and Amen. Now I expect that you will have gotten something out of this by the time you finish reading!!

Well that’s all the Jesus tea, tee has for you today! You see what I did there!

Tee