Don’t Get it Twisted! Part 2

There is a story about a man who needed direction so he asked God to speak to him. He shuts his eyes, opens his Bible and reads the first passage of scripture upon which his eyes fall.

“Judas went out and hanged himself.”

Okay, he thinks. Let’s try this again. So, he closes his eyes, flips open the Bible and reads…

“Go, and do thou likewise.”

Wait a minute. Maybe the third time’s a charm? Lord, I need you to speak to me. He reads…

“That thou doest, do quickly.”

The moral of this story? God does not do random. The message will not contradict His will. His plans are precise. Even His purpose for your life.

In Don’t Get it Twisted, Part 1, we briefly discussed God’s original divine order for humanity. Today, we expand on how the spirit, soul and body drive us toward purpose.

Feed the Spirit

You have God’s attention because you asked a question He has been waiting to answer. Now, allow God to lead you on a purposeful path.

If you do not know your life’s purpose, take time to ask God through fellowship and by feeding your spirit with His Word. Meditate on God’s word to hear what He has to say.

If you already know, ask the Lord for spiritual guidance towards fulfillment. His Spirit will speak to your spirit. Not through audible expressions, necessarily. Something ignites a strong emotion within.

For example, you read an article about an uptick in poverty statistics in the U.S. and want to help the poor. Another nursing home is cited for abusive practices toward the elderly and you want to become an advocate. Whatever the cause, you have identified a purpose that is connected with a burning desire for fulfillment.

For me? My God-given purpose is service through developing comprehensive and integrated programs that enable economically disadvantaged individuals to improve their quality of life. Also, my passion for writing expresses another purpose as God anoints my hand to write.

A drive and determination will begin to blossom when your spirit has connected with the Spirit of God concerning your destiny. Once the seed is planted, the only thing that can stop your growth is a lack of watering and gardening. 

Nurture the Soul 

Fulfilling your life’s purpose is a journey where things are revealed – and where things happen. However, there are times when those things seem to contradict everything that you have come to know about God’s purpose for your life.

You say, “Well, Lord. If You called me to do that, why am I going through this?” Nevertheless, God will continue to orchestrate His purpose path for your life, even when you vacillate. 

Oh, how many times did these ‘life experiences’ cause me to move my hand from the plow!!! 

Nurturing the soul aligns emotions and thoughts to the seed God planted in your spirit. By definition, nurture is taking special care towards the growth and development of something.

A malnourished soul lives in fear, negativity and uncertainty. Alternatively, a well-nourished soul responds to faith, positivity and the certainty in knowing who directs your path.

Something must rise up within when faced with challenges to your reason for being. That something is called determination. See life’s challenges as stepping stones, rather than obstacles, towards fulfilling God’s purpose. 

Body Works 

Seeking our life’s purpose through a faulty paradigm often comes from being led by the body’s desire. Remember this order: body, soul, spirit? This could cause you to miss your true life’s purpose when efforts are made to please the body first, rather than feeding the Spirit, which guides the soul’s desire to a God-ordained purpose in life.

Even when I have tried to do something else because of discouragement, timing, etc., I kept returning to the place where God had ordered my steps. Sometimes kicking and screaming. Other times, humbly acknowledging that I cannot leave this earth before God’s purpose in me is fulfilled.

As you continue on the purposeful path, you will begin to see what God sees. You begin to believe in your purpose. Under submission, you will the will of God for your life – through action. This vision helps you to channel what you do into purposeful works.

Follow God’s order of spirit, soul, body with skill and single-mindedness, and you will – without apologies – tenaciously pursue your life’s purpose. Anything that stands in the way will be mowed down like tall weeds. 

These Three are One 

God has created everything, including you, with purpose. He did not suspend the sun, moon, and stars in mid air, telling them to shine on their own. He did not cause water and land to appear out of nothingness and leave each to its own means of survival. He did not place the beast in the field, the fowls in the air, and the creatures in the sea to exist without His knowledge.

Know this: I am determined to successfully fulfill my life’s purpose, knowing there is something for me to do that is greater than myself.

I persevere through personal and professional challenges that equip me to continue this journey. My starts and stops do not change God’s mind concerning me, my purpose and the people I am called to serve on this earth. 

Likewise, you have a purposeful journey to complete. Let go and allow fear to fail while you succeed. Ask God to connect you to the right people, at the right time, for the right purpose.

 “The purpose of life is a life of purpose.” Robert Byrne

Don't Get It Twisted! Part 1

Writing is one of my passions and this blog is an outlet for that, even though my posts are infrequent. It amazes me how words connect to express a thought or ignite passion in people. I do not post to this blog as often as I would like. But, something within me awakens whenever I put pen to paper (or a keystroke in MS Word).

In fact, passion and purpose are intertwined. Ask yourself, “What am I most passionate about?” Something stirs within to express that passion through meaningful action. We decide to channel those strong emotions towards something positive, something that advances a cause or inspires others to act.

To understand what guides our sole purpose for being, I want to start at the beginning of civilization. No, I am not referring to The Big Bang Theory, a scientific explanation about God’s creation. I want to start at The Beginning to understand what can cloud our soul’s purpose.

In the beginning, God formed Adam in His image. God breathed life into Adam and as the Bible says, Adam became a living soul. And so humanity began. The Spirit of God breathed life into man’s soul, which quickened the body into action. Adam was given a purpose: to name all of the creatures that God had created and to cultivate the land.

Everything was good for man until God saw that it was not good for man to be alone. So, Eve was also made for a purpose: to be a help mate to her husband. No, this is not an exegesis on the purpose of marriage.

Rather, this is to emphasize that God does not make mistakes. Everything He does is with purpose. Since we were created in His image, certainly this includes a purpose for our lives.

Man and woman now existed within the Earth that God had created. Spirit, soul, and body. It is important to note that God put everything in place before He placed Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. They lacked nothing to fulfill their purpose on Earth.

So, what happened? I believe that the introduction of sin flipped the order of things where man and woman’s existence shifted from God’s divine order. Body, soul, and spirit. Now, man’s purpose required satisfying the body first, putting humanity out of sync with the will of God. We have sought a way to revert back to the original order ever since.

The inspiration for this blog came from a Soul Purpose special event hosted by Mrs. Dawn Causey, Executive Marketing Director for the company. Soul Purpose specializes in an all-natural collection of fragrances, candles and skin care products that focus on making you whole and healthy, from the inside out.

And, is not that how God created us with purpose? The Lord seeks to externally manifest what He internally planted. Let Him.

But, how do we get back to that place of order, where the Spirit of God breathes purpose into our spirit? How do we align our soul, the center of our emotions, to keep the body on the right path?

I believe that we must feed the spirit and nurture the soul, ensuring our body works to fulfill God’s divine purpose. Our next blog post will expound further on accomplishing just that.

“You were created on purpose for a purpose.” Susan L. Taylor

Cartrice Myers, Me and Dawn at the Soul Purpose Event. March 10, 2012

They Always Get Away

“They always get away.” These words were spoken by George Zimmerman, a Sanford, Florida man identified in the media as a Neighborhood Watch captain.

Certainly, Mr. Zimmerman is justified in his frustration about preventing crime in his neighborhood. Certainly, he is justified to question the suspicious behavior of an unknown young, African-American male walking through his neighborhood.

I mean, who would not be suspicious of seeing something out of the ordinary in their neighborhood? I know I would. I, like Mr. Zimmerman, would call 9-1-1 to report such behavior in an attempt to prevent something tragic from happening.

So, what was the suspicious behavior that raised Mr. Zimmerman’s concern enough for him to pursue this young man – even when the 9-1-1 operator told him not to do so? According to multiple reports, Trayvon Martin did several things to raise the suspicion of Mr. Zimmerman. Trayvon was: 

• Returning to a house in the Retreat at Twin Lakes neighborhood after going to a local 7-11 to purchase – not steal – a snack.

• Walking down the street. Anyone who hears the claim when it is about an African-American male should believe that there is something suspicious about this.

•  Running from an unknown man who was watching him from an SUV, then following him on foot.

•  Wearing a hoodie. Perhaps to protect his head from the rain?

Separately, each incident has little bearing on the inevitable outcome of the tragic end to Trayvon Martin’s life on February 26, 2012. Collectively, these incidents paint a picture of justifiable murder of African-American males in the United States.

I must point out that according to USAonWatch.org, the organization that administers the national Neighborhood Watch program, the community where Mr. Zimmerman felt obligated to protect from Trayvon’s suspicious behavior is not registered with the Neighborhood Watch Program.

Nevertheless, George Zimmerman apparently reacted to his gut instinct on how to quell a dangerous situation. Because certainly, the expectation is that African-American males are a menacing threat to one’s personal safety.

Further, part of America’s history is the acceptance that there is something inherently criminal about these men. And with that acceptance there are some who still believe that Mr. Zimmerman and others like him are justified in stopping these men. By any means necessary.

“They always get away.”

Was Mr. Zimmerman’s declaration a blanket indictment of African-American males for being human by walking down a street, or running from an unfamiliar person? Or, was this his prediction of what would happen to him after he murdered a 17 year old?

Let us hope and pray that this time justice will prevail and they will not get away.

"There are two types of laws: there are just laws and there are unjust laws...What is the difference between the two? An unjust law is a man-made code that is out of harmony with the moral law.” Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Where Broken Hearts Go

Like millions of people around the world, I watched the homegoing celebration of Whitney Houston on television. I stand in agreement with those who say the world went to church on Saturday, February 18, 2012. It was an opportunity for many to experience what happens inside a Black church every Sunday, somewhere.

Millions of people heard the uplifting songs, testimonies of inspiration and the preached Word of God. These are common expressions of worship for Christians to receive strength and continue our walk with the Lord.

Save the casket, we could forget that the service was a funeral and a time to mourn the loss of someone near and dear to many hearts. I think about this loss, and my heart goes out to Bobbi Kristina, who is now a member of The Club: an unwanted membership into a circle of people who have lost their mother. This is a painful place that is difficult for nonmembers to comprehend.

When I think of the pain that comes with death, I think of the beginning. In the Book of Genesis, God tells Adam and Eve that they will die after eating from the forbidden tree. Adam and Eve did not drop dead the moment they disobeyed God. However, their disobedience ushered into the human experience something that is neither easily forgotten, nor easily tamed: The eternal, human loss of a loved one.

Now, this post is not a theology lesson. I know the hope of every believer that there is spiritual life after death. Rather, I muse why God wanted humanity to avoid the natural experience that comes with death. What, like any good, natural parent, was God trying to keep Adam and Eve from experiencing?

What does God know that we do not? I believe that God, in His infinite wisdom, saw beyond our human limitations what death takes away from us. Could it be that the Lord, knowing the void and agony of death, wanted to spare His children this pain – in addition to the spiritual death from sin?

Death is finite for humanity. Someone dies and we grieve, knowing we will never see that person again. We will never hear their laughter, feel their touch, or share a beautiful sunny day. We are left with memories and some comfort in believing our loved one is in a better place. Even when we prefer that better place was with us.

Through His infinite wisdom, God also gave us a place to go when our hearts break after a loved one’s death. He is that good parent who prefers that His child avoid certain experiences. Nevertheless, as a good parent, the Lord is still there when the child must go through.

No one can tell you when to get over the loss of a loved one. Frankly, you are never “over it.” Rather, the pain subsides. A beautiful woman told me after my mother passed away in 1988, “Never let anyone tell you to be strong. She was your mother and it’s okay to cry.” There is nothing wrong with crying. God keeps our tears in a bottle and He feels our pain.

God is there to comfort our hearts and give us His strength to make it through the dark, agonizing moments when our hearts grieve. He is there the day our loved one dies, and He is there nearly 25 years later when we still ache for their presence.

“Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.” Matthew 5:4