Rejection Can Kill Your Purpose

One of the most difficult private sicknesses to deal with is the spirit of rejection. To begin, let's make some clarifications. Each of us deals with rejection on a weekly basis, if not a daily basis. You might be a day late and a dollar short at every turn of your daily routine, but it doesn't necessarily lead to a spirit of rejection. The spirit of rejection usually comes very early in life and gets rooted deeper and deeper each time somebody hurts you, leaves you, falls out of love with you, breaks your confidence, makes you feel taken advantage of, etc. As a minister and coach, I can usually tell that this is the spirit that I am dealing with in an individual, because typically, that individual feels that they are the only person that people use and abuse. People who suffer from the spirit of rejection also use the term "always" when they describe the pattern of their life-long mishaps. To hear them tell it, no one else in the world ever suffers from disappointments and let-downs at the hands of other people. If this is you, believe me when I say that the spirit of rejection is a deadly disease of the mind and the soul. Unless you treat it and deal with it aggressively, it will give you twisted, fatalistic thinking that will lead to the death of your own purpose.

Safe in God's Hands

Yesterday morning at church, a sister led "I'm Safe In God's Hands," during morning worship, and I tell you, my Bishop very nearly had to call for the benediction when she was done. What a great source of comfort to know that no matter how the wind blows or the water threatens to take me under...I am safe in the arms of my Lord. You know today, as you continue your journey seeking to know what God's plan and purpose is for your life, you should rest assured that you are safe from all harm. When I consider that danger is always around me - seen and unseen - and that I can't even see what is a foot in front of me - I'm still safe. The Word of God says that even if my foot stumbles, God's angels will grab me to keep me from being destroyed. Look up and allow God to fill your heart to overflow with his goodness and graciousness. The Psalmist said on one occasion, "When I go to sleep at night, he is with me...and when I awake, he is yet there."

5 Steps to Starting All Over Again

It's tough to start all over again, especially when you consider the fact that starting all over again means starting from the bottom of your new top. This is possibly why the Word says "the end of a thing is better than the beginning." But I am reminded of the law of progression which states that every new step requires a new start. If you can keep the following five steps in mind when you are faced with the challenge of having to start all over again, you will be able to anchor your emotions to having to relearn some things you thought you knew, debunk some things you found were not true, retry some things that you once failed at, and rediscover some things that have become passe. Here goes:

• The Word of God says "write the vision and make it plain." What this first step involves is writing down a specific set of goals that will keep you focused and anchored during your transition phase.
• Second, once you write down the vision, jot down - in bullet format - every step or factor you need to consider in making those goals a reality. In other words, fill in the blanks to your master plan or vision. You know where you want to go - what details do you need to attend to in order to get there? What do you need to take along for the journey? Don't think in terms of deficit, think plenty at this point.
  
• Now, that you have your vision and a list of very particular items that need to be considered in getting to your vision, prioritize the steps you listed in bullet format. What needs to be done first? What can be done next? How about after that? Now reorder your list based on the prioritizing you just did.
• Fourth, consider what you will need to sacrifice in order to re-start. If you jot these losses down, check in with your heart to consider how it will feel to lose something in the process of gaining something, and are willing to keep the faith no matter what it costs you, you will have prepared your heart well for any difficulties that must lie ahead.
• Finally, decide when and where you will take that first step to restart. Do it now, do it quickly, do it with conviction, and do it without reservation. Once you make that first move, you will be surprised at how free you will feel in taking your second step. Just be sure to take that second step soon after the first.

Be sure to celebrate as you begin your new journey, cry the necessary tears, remind yourself of the lessons you have learned in your past failures - not to condemn yourself, but to grow from them, and whatever you do, don't keep looking in the rear view mirror while you're moving upward and ahead.

Watch Your Mouth!

I just listened to a phenomenal teaching series about words from Pastor Robert Morris. I selected this teaching from my shelf because lately I have found myself complaining and criticizing just a tad bit too much - you know what I mean? Ever get sick of yourself and find yourself telling yourself off? Well, that's what happened to me the other day. I got angry with someone and although I cooled down alot before talking to this individual, I was greatly dissatisfied with the spirit in which I checked this individual. As I listened to Pastor Morris teach out of the holy writ of scripture about the power of this little member called the tongue, he gave what he called several amazing truths about the tongue. One of them is the fact that the Bible says it is the only thing created that can bring forth two different kinds of fruit. Yes...the tongue can bless and it can curse. It can produce two totally different type of fruit in one individual life. Finally, Pastor Morris explained that the Bible says that the tongue is inherently evil and must be tamed. He explained that only our Lord can tame it, but we can discipline it by hitting a "pause" button before we go off on somebody or being too quick to have what we think is the right answer. Why don't you agree with me this week to watch your words as well!

Letting Go

If you try to run with a weight attached to your feet, it is going to drag you down and eventually trip you up. In my morning devotion one day, the Lord dealt with me about holding on to offenses. You know how it is...you think you have moved on but then something tests you in the area of forgiveness and you realize you may have moved, but somebody forwarded the mail. I have learned in my own life that letting go is a process and it takes time. How much time is dependent on the depth of the offense and your willingness to drop the charge and stamp the debt owed to you voided. One thing is for sure, although I may be helpless to do anything about the individual or circumstance which created the offense, I can make sure that it is not strapped to my feet - I need my feet free for my life's journey. I've learned that when something keeps popping up in my mind and spirit, that it is strapped to me and ultimately weighing me down. I've learned that when something weighs me down it is infecting my heart and in the end, it is going to move as a poison through my thought process, my actions, and my character. The key is, don't let it stay strapped too long before you find out that it is still there wrapped around your body part - or it will become a part of who you are! So... take a moment right now...take a deep breath...and just let it go...it is really not worth all of the drama, energy, and time that it has stolen from your purpose.

The Power of Focus

When you are working on multiple projects, it is critical that you understand the power of focus. My old habit was to try to work a little bit a couple of times a week on several different things. You guessed it...nothing ever got completed. The reason is that my focus was divided. When your focus is divided on projects that require that you operate at optimum performance, you are not giving the best of your energy, your thought process, your intellect, or your drive when you are pulling the best of who you are in too many directions. Focus is a powerful thing because it forces you to concentrate the best of who you are in one direction. The best analogy I can give you is a laser. By its very definition, a laser is fixed, linear, concentrated, and has a very defined purpose. As such, its power produces what we call "cutting edge." If you have too many things going on right now that are not driving you forward - but driving you to stagnation or what we best recognize as procrastination and distraction - rethink your goals and directives and use the power of focus to get one thing done at a time. Try it for one week and see how much better you feel about what you are able to finish.

Steve McNair's Death

Several things went through my mind as I listened to Bishop Walker deliver the eulogy for Steve McNair at his funeral just recently in Nashville. What struck me most profoundly was that as a man of God, Walker set things in proper perspective for this man's wife, his sons, his friends, and for the community which is divided between forgiveness and condemnation. He reminded me as well as all of us that no matter how we feel about the details of Steve's murder, none of us can afford to pick up a rock and throw it at anybody. What a powerful message by a powerful man of God. On that day, as well as on the day that the minister at Michael Jackson's memorial service called on the Name of Jesus, I was so very proud to be named a member of the clergy community. We take a lot of heat - some deserved - some not deserved - but at the end of the day the most honorable service we can provide to people is to have the courage to wade through the muck and mire of human error - even sin - and make sure people look at what matters most. My prayers go out to Steve McNair's wife and sons and to his friends whose hearts are hurting right now. May the grace of our Lord Savior Jesus Christ strengthen his parents, his siblings, and all of those who are struggling to gain a sense of peace about the circumstances of his death and the purpose of his life.