HOW TO WALK BY FAITH INTO YOUR PURPOSE (in a nutshell)

THE FORMULA:

As much as you know about your purpose, pursue it. If there is something that you know that you should be doing, and have been called to do, do it. Put as much of your time, energy, thoughts, and resources into it as you possibly can.

Conversely, as much as you know about what you should not be doing, and have not been called to do, don't do it. Don't give those things any attention that is not absolutely necessary. Do not feed what you know is not a part of your purpose. Feeding what does not serve your purpose pulls necessary time, energy, thoughts, and resources from your purposed life, in essence, starving your purpose.

This is how to approach what you know. What you know usually does not require faith.

Still, with all that you do know concerning your purpose, there will always be things that you don't know. There will remain uncertainty. There will be steps that you can't see. There will be instructions that you've not yet received that will keep you waiting...waiting for a word, a sign...something, anything that will confirm that you are indeed moving in the right direction. This uncertainty is where your faith is necessary. It is vital. Your faith is looking for an unsure place to inhabit. It is most effective in the areas that you can't see. Faith is perfected in blindness. Let God be your eyes and ask Him for the right ears. Faith comes by what you hear. And the only thing you can afford to listen to when you are blind is a voice that will tell you the truth. Anything else will lead you in the wrong direction and will only be detrimental. 

Take your uncertainties to God in prayer. Listen for His Spirit to speak back you. Spend time with God through His Word. He has made His Word responsible for you and promises that it will lead you in truth. What you don't know will require faith.

So then, do what you know to do. Do ALL that you know to do. Everything else is uncertainty. Give ALL uncertainty to God in faith.

Think, Speak, and Live on Purpose!

~ALA

My Hallelujah

 

They tell me that “Hallelujah” is the highest praise.

I don’t know who told them, but that’s what they tell me.

And they keep saying it.

But it can’t be…

“Hallelujah!”

I say it. Often.

I mean it. Always.

“Hallelujah!”

But the highest praise, it cannot be…

It is fitting. He is worthy.

“Hallelujah!”

I say it, and it stirs me.

It is, and will forever be, a praise to an audience of one.

Only He is worthy. Only he deserves it.

“Hallelujah!”

It belongs to Him alone.

But the highest of praises it cannot be…

“Hallelujah…”

For me it’s a beginning.

A beginning of gratitude. A beginning of honor.

A prelude to more.

So much more than saying. It’s the beginning of doing.

So I write.

Because I am grateful;

Because I am blessed;

Because I am anointed;

Because I am chosen;

I write.

Because I am free;

Because I am loved;

I write.

Because I am His and He is mine.

I write.

Because after I’ve said “Hallelujah”, I have so much more to express.

And He has given me an outlet, a release.

So I write.

(And when I’m given the opportunity, I speak.)

“Hallelujah” is just the preamble.

But if they insist that it is the highest praise,

Then writing is my “Hallelujah!”

…what’s yours?

~ALA

Things I Wonder About The 2012 Presidential Election

THINGS I WONDER ABOUT THE 2012 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION 

In no particular order...


1. What percentage of people voting in this election has followed any local, state, or federal politics/government in the 4 years since the last Presidential Election?

2. How many of the people voting for Governor Romney are true Romney/Ryan supporters or simply voting against President Obama?

3. Did President Obama's reaction to Hurricane Sandy sway undecided voters in his favor? How many? 

4. How many female voters have chosen their candidate largely based on how they feel about (or how much they identify with) the candidate's wife?

5. How many voters have chosen their candidate based solely on one major issue? What is that issue? If that issue were eliminated, how then would they vote if they voted at all?

6. How heavily does peer pressure and casual conversation weigh in voters' decisions?

7. How many voters who have been eligible to vote in past Presidential Elections are voting for the first time now? What prompted their action?

8. How many voters have aligned their voting decision with their religious/spiritual beliefs? What are those beliefs?

~ALA


"Thinking isn't agreeing or disagreeing. That's voting."
Robert Frost

BEARING FRUIT: Anointing and Character

"If my life is fruitless, it doesn't matter who praises me, and if my life is fruitful, it doesn't matter who criticizes me."
 ~John Bunyan


The enemy is not after your anointing. He wants your anointing completely in tact. What he wants is your character and your reputation. He is on a mission to spoil your fruit.

So many Christians have become satisfied with having "The Anointing" fall or come upon them at specific times. And because the results they produce in those moments can be so moving and quite frankly amazing, often complacency sets in and somewhere along the way, they lose the desire to go any higher, further, or deeper in God. They may preach a word, or write an article (or Facebook status), or minister a song or dance and the power of God moves so mightily through them at that time, and they get great results in that moment. But after the moment has passed, they go home and curse and lie or fornicate (or whatever their thing is) and live in disobedience...and yes, God used them, but people are still watching to see if their character lines up with the anointing that is obviously on their life.

Remember this simple truth:
People are moved and pleased with your anointing; God is pleased with your fruit!

We must bring to God the offering that He wants, not what impresses other people. And He is glorified in the fruit that we bear. The Anointing is God's own power at work in us through the spiritual gifts that He's given us. So naturally, He is unimpressed with His own power. But how He longs for intimate relationship with each of us! This relationship is the means by which we become like Him, manifesting His nature or the fruit of His Spirit.

The Word of God says that your gift will make room for you. It will bring you before great men. The question we must ask ourselves is this:

When I get to the room that my gift has made for me, will I move forward in that place, growing and thriving, or will I get kicked out because of my character?

When my gift brings me before great men, will I be asked to stay or will I be dismissed because of the reputation that has preceded me?

They go hand in hand: Anointing and Character, The Anointing from God and the Spirit (nature, character, heart) of God.

The Anointing comes when you offer the spiritual gifts that He's given you back to Him for His use. It is external, something that is received, put or placed on from the outside. The fruit of His Spirit is evidence of an intimate relationship with God, working from the inside out. The Anointing gets results at a specific time, for a specific purpose. Your character is with you always; it is the manifestation of what you have invited inside of you. For the most effective and abundant life, these two  must work together.

The Anointing is proof that you're wiling to be used, so the enemy wants to keep that in perfect working order. He just wants to use you for his glory instead of God's glory. So he goes after your reputation to kill the effectiveness of your witness. He distracts you from having intimate relationship with God so that you won't bear His fruit. That way, you keep the influence that comes with the anointing, but outside of that anointing, you're more often behaving in your sinful nature, thereby being misleading to those who may be looking up to you. And we all have a sphere of influence...

John 15:8 (KJV)
Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples. 


Galatians 5:19-23
Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

For Trayvon Martin, For Black Men

I am disturbed. Trayvon Martin was murdered, and I am greatly disturbed.

I am angered. George Zimmerman, remains uncharged, and I am fiercely angered.

I do not directly identify, but I am directly affected. 

Trayvon Martin was a 17-year old black boy, walking alone; he was leaving a store after purchasing a bag of skittles and a bottle of iced tea. I have been 17 years old. I often walk alone. From time to time, I enjoy skittles, and I regularly drink iced tea. 

I am Black. 

But I am not a man.

Just a few short months ago, Black people in the city of Savannah, GA (and much of the nation) lifted a collective voice against the execution of Troy Davis. In protest, a simple but powerful declaration was made: "I am Troy Davis." While I wholeheartedly supported this movement, I am not Troy Davis. Neither am I Trayvon Martin.

I do not directly identify, but I am directly affected.

Black men anchor my life. My father, my grandfathers, my brother, my pastor, my business partners, my mentors, my dearest friends are Black men.

If those people who are so moved by racial hatred would shoot and kill faceless innocence, then I am so moved to speak for the men in my life. If all they see is a Black man, a sight which arouses within them a fear so intense that they feel it necessary to defend themselves against the very presence of a Black man, then they see the very men that I value, cherish, and love. Who they see through the eyes of fear and hatred, I see with love, with admiration, with respect. And for them, I must speak. 

No, I am not Trayvon Martin.

Trayvon Martin is my brother. He is my cousin. He is my friend.

Rodney King is my father. He is my uncle.

Emmett Till is my grandfather.

These men, and all who suffer injustice simply because they are Black men, are my past and my present. I speak now for my future. I pray now for my son. Through anger and tears, I speak against senseless violence, against hatred. 

There is more that unites us than divides us. We, the people, all people, the human race must rise above this. We owe it to our future. 

The future is.

Rest in Peace, Trayvon Martin.

To the family and friends of Trayvon, Live in Peace.

~ALA

Are Looks Important???

When I began to seek God concerning the man He had created me for, I was very open and honest in my prayers. He knows everything anyway, so I figured no point in lying to myself. My prayer life really transformed a few years ago, and through His word and the Holy Spirit, He speaks to me very clearly. My prayers are no longer one-sided. We truly have conversation.

So, I made a very specific list of all the things I wanted in a man/relationship. When I say specific, I mean it. That list has more than 50 things on it, and it grows as I grow. He said that He would give me the desires of my heart, in accordance to His word. (Now, understanding "heart's desires" is another issue altogether. He taught me about that, too.)

But when I learned to really listen in prayer, I began to hear God speak. And He cannot lie. The more honest I was in talking to Him, the more He revealed to me. I referred to my list often to be sure that the things I was asking for were in line with His word and what He wanted for me.

Several things on my list have to do with physical appearance. I asked God if I was being superficial in my requests. Was it really the desire of my heart or the lust of my flesh? I'd be completely lying if I said looks weren't important to me. I knew it and He knew it. So He gave me a word to help me out.

"And the Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground -- trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food."
(Genesis 2:9a)

This scripture may seem simple and could easily go overlooked, but it meant the world to me! It says so much about how much God loves us, even from the beginning of creation. So many things are revealed in just that one sentence.

• He made all kinds of trees.

This means that He created man to have different likes and tastes. He likes us to have choices. The gift of choice is wonderful! He made sure to cater to our many various preferences. 
 

• He made trees that were pleasing to the eye.

This was may favorite part! This meant that God cared about what I thought was attractive or beautiful. Truly this was a perk. The trees provided food and nourishment; that's the only real requirement to sustain life. But He loves us so much that He cares that we have beautiful things to look at.

• He made trees that were good for food.

We can get caught up in things that are "pleasing to the eye", but as far as necessity goes, we NEED food. Physically, spiritually, mentally, and emotionally, we need to be nourished for proper growth. To sustain abundant life and wholeness, to truly "prosper and be in good health even as our souls prosper” (3 John 1:2), none of these areas can go lacking.

When considering these things, remember this: God's will for us is perfect. God's creation of earth was perfect and remained so until sin entered (and that didn't come until Genesis chapter 3). In God's perfect will, He cares about what's important to us. He proved it by giving us variety, beauty, and necessity.

Don't feel bad about caring about looks or beauty. Know that God cares, too. He knows what you like and prefer, and He doesn't mind catering blessings to fit your taste. It's a wonderful form of favor! Remember that there is nothing too small or trivial or superficial to take to God. He cares about what we care about (1 Peter 5:7). He's just awesome like that!