Master Class

The Master Class is a television series on the OWN channel, Oprah Winfrey Network, and on this Sunday night Dr. Maya Angelou was featured as the Master. Well, I was glued to the screen because anyone who has had a deep conversation with me knows she is the one person that blesses my soul. I first heard her speak on stage during my wayward and flirty days of college, and had an opportunity to meet her a several years back but was not in a good place. I respected her energy, and calm not to bring me near her. Yet, her smooth calmness permeates into the audience and through the television to me, when she speaks. She is resolute and deliberate with every word spoken. She choosing her words carefully, she wields her words with an exactness that only a pure orator could execute, while she corrects with a precision diplomacy that nurtures and builds you up, not destroy you. For she understands words become actions, and insinuates themselves in each our lives with a seamless accuracy and propagates like a wild fire. So, she uses her words to touch souls, inspire hearts while her wisdom provides innovate catalysts, and brings authenticity to beliefs. She puts out a feast with her words of nothing but constructive tantalizing tidbits that keeps you hanging onto your seat,and invite you to be student of life, and not a survivor of hard-knocks.  She speaks, and I believe, and realizes she gets me…I am liberated and put on a natural high.

She speaks of statements that have guided her through life, and I am moved to tears. They are many but I will only present a few here, – we should all seek to be rainbows in others lives, as others have been rainbows in our…you can only be great at what you are willing to sacrifice for…love liberates, not binds…know who you are....do right....She speaks of words having power, She reference the bible, and I have found an address for them verses - John 1:1; 14 -In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God…The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. (NIV)...All of this is food for my soul, and I can never get enough of it as it fuels me. She is renewable resource for me, and I pray for the double portion upon my life. She understands the great ‘It” (her words, not mind) who formed the mountains, and the sea, thought enough to create me…The WORD was God!!...I have been to the Master Class, and I am the better for attending…words are power, choose wisely...

You are the sacrifice

Gen. 22:6-8 Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together, ⁷ Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, “Father?”    “Yes, my son?” Abraham replied.  “The fire and wood are here,” Isaac said, “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”  Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them went on together. (NIV)

You are the sacrifice is a concept most do not want to wrap their heads around. The fact of the matter is there is always a sacrifice. However, many times we assume the thing being sacrifice, is the actual sacrifice. Not understanding this is just the manifestation or representation of the sacrifice. When the actual sacrifice is the person sacrificing. See, this illustrated with Abraham and Isaac, Abraham was really the sacrifice, not Isaac. Isaac represented the culmination of the promised destiny of Abraham by God. See man is not wired to sacrifice or give up on it all.  What they have worked for, waited on, and the fulfillment of a purpose; yet this is actually what God asks for from us. The willingness to put Isaac on the altar for the sacrifice is Abraham ego, vanity, pride, and his all. He knew, God said, destroy it, kill it, or give it up to me, but it was hard. Thus, this does not work for us, it does not read well when I have to do, but it reads excellent when we receive the benefit for it. When we asked to sacrifice something dear, precious to us, we are done. It stymies us, a resolute stalwart is erected, metaphorically and literally, and we refuse to participate in the process any longer. Yet, somehow Abraham knew, he had to let GOD know, I will no longer put anyone, anything before you, and I fear no longer stops me from being obedient. I done that and had to put an innocent, obedient woman out because I was not obedient; I am done. You are able to do exceeding and more abundantly than I can ask for in this life. So, if my son, my soul, or me, you require, here. But you Abraham willingness - I am shall take a literary license here - to submit and sacrifice, the ‘me’ ideology which goes something like this in his head - ‘really, God?’ ‘You are really asking me to do what’, I have lost one son, and now this. I cannot do it. I cannot go any further. Do you know what my wife will do to me?  Kill me, if I do not come back with this boy… But Abraham knew, he had to submit his dependence on his familial connection for affirmation of order, and said God will provide the lamb, what a foreshadowing of the future…Sometime we are the sacrifice, and accepting it, trusting God, and obeying the request is he!#!!. Yet, we will find God does rewards, blessings, those who diligently obey Him, even if it means us being the sacrifice. For our times, and for those coming after us; so the next time you are asked to sacrifice take an intense look at what is being requested of you, and asked yourself – what is being of me, and get the lesson. Paul did and lived with favor; the woman at the well did and her life change forever, and those in her village; Ruth did, and found blessings for her and her household, and the child with the fish and biscuit did it, – and received more…Being the sacrifice is scary, much work, and ain’t easy….I know, I have been the sacrifice and found it to be worth it...…wink  

Who are we believing?

Who are we believing? Belief is our conviction, we accept as true. It does not matter what it is, or who it is, if we believe it and trust it; it is.  However, we have gone astray in this category because our actions and words do not always follow, what we say, we believe in. We put move from focus on the main thing, we focus on what or who is representing, and not who the person or thing represent; thus, we missed our blessing and fall short of our destiny…

Some of you have heard of this saying, that I grew up on – when you know better, you do better. Yet, we have taken this axiom of life of our ancestors and blown it. For the record, I am not saying we should or have to be perfect…However, sooner or later; we should begin to change our behavior and our words. Out of the heart the mouth speaks, we make the choice, the body follows, and we reap the benefits; good or bad….We make the choice, but we do not decide the consequence… The problem is we are not convinced of what we say, we believe, or the beliefs we profess to hold. I was always taught growing up, your actions will speak louder than your words. See, we model what others will follow, take to heart what people demonstrate in their behavior (intended and unintended both sends messages) because people communicate more with their actions, than with their words. Yet, we wonder why generations Gen-X, Z, Twitter, whatever you label it, is losing out. Part of the problem is those who should model, be the example of what their teaching, have disconnected from it. As if we refuse to believe what being shown to us – the adage of do what I say, not what I do, does not work for me or latter generations. Too many want to teach, but we are not reaching where those we are meant to help. Yet, we sit back discuss, debate, and argue about what we should do, but it begins with us being the change, we wish to see in others. This is called process, and no one wants to endure that…But I watch movie a couple of weeks ago, Fireproof, and it illustrated this point clearly through a book called Dare to Love. It was 40-days fast or journey one person sacrifice in love to win back their spouse. Although, this was about marriage, it is applicable to all things because we all should do out of love; I think it is in the bible somewhere...lol…Throughout the process the partner got frustrated with the process and wanted to give up, because desired was not being acknowledge or the desired outcome was not manifesting. So do we, and this is why what we say we believe, our conviction is not observable or believable to others, therefore, they do not follow because we do not follow...In the movie, the person did endure the process, and not only changed the relationship but also self and perspective....

It is stated in the old testament, if you follow what you believe Lev.26:3-6 - "If you follow My statutes and faithfully observe My commands, I will give you rain at the right time, and the land will yield its produce, and the trees of the field will bear their fruit. ⁵ Your threshing will continue until grape harvest, and the grape harvest will continue until sowing time; you will have plenty of food to eat and live securely in your land I will give peace to the land, and you will lie down with nothing to frighten [you]. – (HCSB)

Now when you do not follow the statues, the opposite is true in equal proportion  (read the rest of this chapter, I did not include because, we  all need to read for yourself). Even though the wording is agricultural; it is applicable to our life and posterity today..What are we believing? Demonstrate it, and see life change around you!!!..Your choice, you choose….

Mercies!

Lam. 3:22-23 -It is through the LORD'S mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great is Thy faithfulness. (21^st KJV)

 I heard this verse along with many other verses this morning, and I just zoomed in on this one. I zoomed in on it because of this ‘the LORD mercies’. I was able to purchase over the holidays a full set of Matthew Henry’s commentary unabridged of the entire bible (it was recommended to me by my pastor). So, I went to it to see what he said about these two verses. He basically said, is God’s is an inexhaustible fountain of mercies granted to us inspite of what we have done. The Father bestows upon us, even in our consequence of bad choices, what we are not due. However, in speaking to the 21^st century audience, the question is asked, and I too asked is – what is mercy? I went to digging. Mercy according the dictionary has several meaning but the two that stuck out to me, and I think we identify with today is - easing of distress of pain and a welcome event that provides relief from something unpleasant. While the thesaurus has these words – forgiveness, kindness, compassion, benevolence, etc. And when I look into other version of these, mercies is interchanged with loving-kindness. Then I realized these verses, many have quoted, taught about, or used as a context for preaching a sermon, no one has not said to this - simply not to let life overwhelm us. We should not let the stresses in life overwhelm us, to where we are pre-occupied with it all because God will never let any of it take us, or over tax us. God is faithful to his promise. So, when the promotion or new job does not come, know God gotcha. The relationship did not work; He is there in the form of angel that guides you through it. When people do not understand and others distance themselves from you, you feel along and no one cares, know God is there in the smile or the unexpected hug delighting your soul. All of this is part of the process we must go through, to get to the other side, and God’s loving-kindness, mercy comes from an exhaustible fountain, and every morning it is as full as the day before. It is important to understand in this time of environmental consciousness; we have a renewable resource that cannot ever be depleted.  It is still under utilized in today’s spiritual market place, while impacting our concrete world-view, and pragmatic approach to problem solving.  So, exhale and be free because we having someone loving some me…So much so, the crown was laid down, the robe was pulled off, throne was left, and the pain was taken so we would not be consumed by life woes, and compassionate would be known as an unlimited resources…that is good!!!

Who counsels you?

Psalm 1:1-3 How happy is the man who does not follow the advice of the wicked, or take the path of sinners, or join a group of mockers! Instead, his delight is in the LORD's instruction, and he meditates on it day and night. He is like a tree planted beside streams of water that bears its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers (HCSB)

Many have read and recited this verse many times, but the question is – how much stock do you put in it? Do you think about the people, you allow into our inner circle, or who you seek out to counsel you? These people speak into our life, speak over our life, and influence our behavior, whether we will admit it or not. Do we just let anyone in who makes us feel good, echo our ideas, has gift of words, or who has a title or position behind their name? People we think, think like us become a big part of our lives, our inner court of advisors. Yet, we wonder why we have not seen change, or why we have not changed in our life. If we desire change, we need to change who we allow into our innermost courts of our hearts to advise us, and begin listening to the word of the Lord; whoever speaks it. I am learning this, truth is truth no matter where it comes from; it is.  Who counsels you, directs you, instructs you, and teaches you. As Christians, we should be very particular about this and mindful who we seek out. We should pray about the people, we desire to share with, before we share with them. Because if you share with the wrong person, it is detrimental to our progress, destructive to our growth, damaging to our spirituality, and psychological devastating to our mental stability, but we have only ourselves to blame; we did this. Decides today, you will stand in God’s will and let Him bring your advisors, your mentors, your counselors, your friends, and your mate because He brings what is needed for us to grow and prosper. Knowing it is not about you, but you choose to let Him lead, or not. You choose to be the person who prospers no matter where s/he goes like Joseph in the palace or in the pen all according to God. In the 21^st Century prospective, it is stated like this - it is not what you know, but who you know that matters; if this is true, then being mindful of who counsels you, and who is allowed into your innermost courts of your heart is definitely important…Now who counsels you?...wink

A lesson in leadership

I decided to write about this because of some things that happened in my life and what I have seen this past year. I had to learn, it wasn’t and it isn’t easy, but what I went through was worth it. I learn more about me, humility, sacrifice, it is not about me, it is not about winning, and trust God’s plan above man’s rules. It was not easy, but it was worth it. The biggest lesson was the difference between having the right to do, and the right thing to do are not always the same thing.

A lesson in leadership for me has been this one thing - having the right to do, is not the same as the right thing to do. As I have moved up in my career path, I have had to learn this hard won over lesson. Too many times people in position of leadership believe they understand leading because they have read the books, have a theoretical understanding, or have a degree or certificate certifying them in leadership. We all have shelled out monies to attend the noted experts on leadership workshops, conferences, seminars, or bought the DVD or CD for their library. Some of us have been mentored by others who, in our sphere, are deemed great leaders; not realizing those leaders was there to teach, to instill, direct but not to stop the learning process within us. Because one can repeat the laws, the theory, and explain it to others, but it does not mean one gets it. Getting it requires letting the lesson taught, teach the leaders where about change occurs in the process for the leaders. Otherwise, we get the idea, if I have the right to do, and it make sense to me, then it is the right thing to do. Yet, in leading, we serve, and the previous statement is not a servant attitude. As Christians, we have the very truth riddle throughout the bible -Having the right to do, does not mean it is the right thing to do. The bible says it this way - 1 Corinthians 10:23 - All things are lawful, but not all things are profitable all things are lawful, but not all things edify (NASB).

Having the right to do does not always mean it is the right thing to do but it can. It requires a selfless perspective in leading, directing, and not letting our emotional discomforts dictate actions. If you are uncomfortable, it means you are being stretched, and if you are being stretched there is a lesson there for you; seek the lesson. We should not run from it, become dismissive of it, or discount its value because I know better. God does not let anything happen the same way in our life; it would behoove us to seek the lesson. As a leader, you cannot produce or receive, what is not in you. However, you will produce what is true about you in those you grow, mentor, or direct in various form. It is true all things rises and falls on the leader who is the foundation, the barometer, the gauge or litmus test strip for what is wrong o right of any organization, group, section because s/he allows it or dictates it.

Let me clear it, the leader is not expected to be the expert. Yet, the leader is the conductor who puts the right players, not who I like or who I can control, in the right position and insures there is competence, chemistry, and confidence because no one has to be your ‘besty’ to respect and trust you. If you are doing what is right, inspite of what you want, what is popular, or easy, they will come around and become your biggest advocate. This I know from experience, and never got it until recently. Living and experience shall teach what no class or person can, if you are an apt student seeking.  In 1 Corinthians 6:12, it states - All things are lawful for me, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be mastered by anything (NASB) – we let too much become master over our lives, except the one true Master who crafted us. Then we wonder why things are not working, I have not gotten promoted.  It is found 95%-97% of people who are hired or promoted have to do with how they communicate with people, not skill. However, 80%-90% of communication has to do with body language, not words… Micah 6:8 -He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God? (NASB)…Not easy but worth it…