OUTSIDE THE BOX? I BEG TO DIFFER!

One of the most quoted and popular statements that I have come to disagree with, "Think outside the box".  Yes, I said it!

People say that the box represents limitations.  I say the walls of the box are simply to set the boundaries that God wants me to not cross.  People believe that being inside a box means you're not growing, you're not creative, you're not living up to your fullest potential.  You're normal.  You're average.  You'll blend in with the crowd and never really stand out and make an impact or a real difference. All I have to say to that is, speak for yourself.  I am not average, I am creative, I have grown and am growing still, and any blame for me not living up to my fullest potential at any given time is not because of the box I'm in.  Nothing about me blends in with a crowd. I carry a heavy influence, and I do make impact, and a difference in people's lives.

God designed my box specifically for me.  My box is for my protection.  Its walls are the boundaries that have been set by God for me to keep me on the right path, moving in the right direction.  They keep me on track to fulfilling my purpose. My box is my road map to finding and fulfilling purpose. My box tells me where to spend my energy so that my life won't be wasted running wild and accomplishing nothing.  The walls of my box tell me what I was not called to do.  They tell me where I should not go, where I don't belong. The walls of my box show me the extent of my abilities, talents and gifts. My concern is not what's going on outside of my box, but the absolute freedom I have within my custom made by God box.  If I maximize the freedom in my box, I won't come to the end of my life with regret for all of the things that I meant to do, but didn't. Inside my box, nothing is wasted. Inside my box I am able to use all of my gifts, all of my talents.  They all come together to support my ulitimate God assigned purpose.

My box tells me that I am a writer, but not a novelist.  My box tells me which path God wants to use to get my word, and voice out to the nations. My box allowed me to write and publish books of poetry, but it doesn't allow me to simply write my own bio by which to be introduced. My box allows me to teach, expound, even preach, but mostly, outside the confines of the church walls. My box allows me to sing and write songs but not play any instruments. My box allows me to teach, and explain, but not in the school system as a teacher.  My box tells me that I am not a politician.  I am not a painter or an architect. Are you beginning to catch my drift?

Our entire lives are lived inside of a box.  You can't even properly ship or mail something without using some kind of box or container.  When was the last time you saw someone buy toys for their grandchildren in another city and just take them to the post office and send them?  You'll never see it!  And what if this Christmas, everyone who wanted to send something by whatever mail carrier, decided to send it "outside of a box"?  It would be total chaos and mayhem!  Nothing would make it to where it's supposed to be.  Things would be lost and broken, utterly destroyed even. Boxing items keep things in order. It gives you a place to write the destination.  It keeps the carrier out of disarray. If a mail carrier traveled any distance without any of the items and letters packaged, (boxed) whenever they got to where they were going the back of their vehicle would look more like someone dumped trash in it, than looking like it was filled with valuable gifts.

My box also has a very special ability to EXPAND.  I can grow as much as I want within that box.  I don't have to worry about running out of room because within the will, plan and purpose of God for my life I find that He is limitless.  He has all the space I need to use in order to do what He has called me to do. Do we not quote the scripture that the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof?  So if I need more room, He simply expands my box to fit my growth, but I never loose sight of the path I'm on.  I don't have to worry about being "all over the place".  Starting everything, but finishing nothing.  Really living a life of confusion for not understanding the great value of living inside my box.

As God was opening this up to me I was sharing it with some ladies.  One of them did what most of us love to do.  She resorted to a scripture.  And I'm sure it's the same one that many of you have been quoting inside your head while reading this.  "I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me".  "You can't limit yourself", she says.  But I told her that knowing your place in God does anything but limit you. I can do all things does not mean, I'm supposed to do everything.  The truest freedom any of us will ever know will be living within the boundaries God has placed for us.  First of all His Word sets boundaries, but that same word contains that scripture.  So are we limited or not?  I say NO.  Not by God anyway.  We have boundaries but we are not limited. If we are ever limited it is because we place those limitations on ourselves or allow others to.

I believe that the intent for Christians using this quote is maybe to encourage people to use their creativity. To not allow themselves to be bound up by people's opinions, or to do something they've always wanted to do, but haven't.  But we have to be careful about adapting every little phrase that comes into the world.  We are in the world but we are not of it.  The world is in the shape it's in right now because too many people don't live by rules, regulations, boundaries, or within the correct box.  People are doing whatever, simply because it's how they feel at the time.  They are running from one relationship to the next, bed to bed, breaking heart after heart, or being heartbroken, making babies and abandoning them or aborting them, walking away from families, hopping from church to church, etc, simply because they could really use a good BOX! 

Christians are often criticized for not getting out and "living life" or "experiencing" life because we choose not to be all over the place in our way of life.  I will admit that many of us aren't really living full lives.  Many of us don't experience a lot of happiness, joy, or excitement. But it's not because of the boundaries our heavenly Father has placed in our lives for our protection and guidance.  It is most likely because of the limitations we live under, the chains we place around our own feet, hands and neck because of fear, doubt,unbelief, and insecurity.  Those are the things we need to break out of, think outside of.

I submit to you today that the box is not what's killing your dreams and visions.  The box God designed for you is not what's keeping you from enjoying your life.  Every amount of joy and happiness that you want to experience, God wants it for you more than you do for yourself...more than you'll every imagine!

I challenge you today to change your attitude about the box God has given you to live in.  See how BIG you can get Him to expand it to by living up to all of your God-given potential!  

If you really want to think outside of something...if you really want to BREAK OUT of something, STEP OUTSIDE of something...try stepping outside of that COMFORT ZONE you've spent your entire life in.  It's your comfort zone that has been choking, smothering, committing mass murder of your dreams, visions and goals one by one.  Your comfort zone is the graveyard where all of your dreams have died and been buried.  It's the mentality of your comfort zone that has tricked you into believing that the box God created for you is a death trap.  The comfort zone is the real death trap.  Don't think outside the box, STEP OUT OF YOUR COMFORT ZONE!

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IGNITE YOUR PASSION!

If you don't have a "why" that will make you "cry" you need another "why".
What pulls you out of bed in the morning? What will pull at your heartstrings like nothing else? What will lift your spirits and put a sparkle in your eyes the moment you begin to think or talk about it?  What is it that awakens your creativity?

When you can answer these questions you're tapping into your true purpose.  True purpose ignites passion.  When you find it you will really live.

Handcraft Your Life!

I'm sure that many of you, if not all of you, have had the same thought that I have had at times, "If I could do it all over again...".

For me, this comes at times when I am having some regret about how things have turned out. You know as well as I do that this is a dangerous place to dwell in your thoughts.  Although it is normal, and even healthy to have these moments of reflection, it can lead to depression if you're not careful. 

Today though, I thought to myself, "What if I could do it all over again?  Actually, I can do it all over again.  Every day is an opportunity to do it again."  I heard the words, "Handcraft Your Life".  I wondered what kind of life I would have if I handcrafted it.  To be honest, the life I'm living now is the life I've handcrafted up to this point.  Not long ago God told me that I have more power than I have been exercising.  My life today doesn't reflect the power I have but the limitations I've lived under. 

"Write the Vision and make it plain."

I'm going to take some time and write out the life I want.  I'm not talking about going against the will of God or living outside of His purpose for my life.  The thing about growing in God is that at some point in your life, after having walked with Him and learned so much from Him, about Him and about yourself, you find that your desires tend to more often line up with His will for you.  I've heard people pray, "Not my will but thine be done".  One way to know that I am maturing  is when my will lines up with His, so I can really pray for my will to be done because my will is no different than His will for me.

In this handcrafted life, what is my behavior like?   What kinds of decisions will I make?  Will I be bolder, more compassionate, more sensitive, less sensitive?  Will I procrastinate or will I become more assertive and confident in the power that God has given me?  What will I be doing within the next few months?  Will I have even taken that much needed vacation, even if it's just a 2 day trip a couple hundred miles away? Will I continue to eat the same kinds of foods? Will I  push myself harder in workouts? 

This awesome power that needs to be put to good use can help me to build my life again from the ground up.  With every breath we should be reminded that we still have time.  But with every breath we should also be reminded that a piece of time just passed that will never return, so it is important to get moving.

Would you like to join me?  I'm not suggesting that you give yourself a timeframe, because the real timeframe has already been set.  It's not next week, or this time next year, or the end of the month, or by your next birthday.  It is the entire rest of your life!  However long that is, it is still, from this very moment,  an entire lifetime for each of us.

We've heard it said, "If you don't like your life, change it".  It really is that simple.  If you don't like the life you have, handcraft another one.  Build another one.  Sit down and write out a plan, your desires, and your dreams. Open your mouth and speak it into the atmosphere.  No matter how you feel, don't speak anything negative over your life from this moment on. I have been doing this and I promise you it works! You really do feel and even think better when you talk better.  Death and life really are in the power of your tongue and you will eat the fruit of what you speak.  It's better to be completely silent than to speak negativity into your own life. Take that deep breath, give yourself that little pep talk, and take that step outside of your comfort zone into the life that is waiting for you. Whether it be ministry, parenting, education, fitness and health, relationship, business, creativity, anything you desire.  (If you're like me, it's all of the above!) You were created by the Creator to create!  The only deadline you have is the day you die.  Up until that moment, you can do all that God has given you power to do.  So would you join me?  Let's get busy creating, building, handcrafting that bigger better life we desire!

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THE SHIFT IS HERE!

I believe it was Bishop Jakes who said that we love to rejoice about the SHIFT, but we don't always like what happens in the actual shift.  He said that when things are shifting stuff gets knocked around.  I thought that was so powerful because it made me think about my season of shifting.  In a shift, stuff gets moved.  Something might come loose.  Something might fall and break.  Shifts aren't as pretty as we imagine, and they aren't really comfortable, but they are necessary.

You can sit in a position so long that your leg may go to sleep due to cut off circulation. Sometimes when I'm sitting I tend to have my foot turned over in a position that, when I move it, (shift it), it really hurts my ankle, because I didn't realize it was in a bad position until I decided to move it.  I'm reminded of a psychology class I attended years ago in which  we learned about one type of  mental illness  called  Catatonic schizophrenia. A person with this disorder may often assume very unusual postures and hold them for extended periods of time, even days.  Can you imagine what your muscles would feel like if you held either of the below positions for an hour, much less a few days or weeks?  (Thank God for treatments nowadays that makes this less common.)

You need the shifting of position because without it you could really injure yourself by staying in a position for a prolonged period of time. After you shift your position, which sometimes involves pain,  you'll find yourself in a more comfortable position.  But think about it, you were looking for a more comfortable position when you began to shift. (Maybe this is why we rejoice over the shift in the beginning)  Our bodies were meant to move and so was our life designed by the Creator to move.  Even after surgery patients are encouraged to get up and walk, even in pain, because doctors have discovered that to move is necessary.  We need the circulation of blood so that every cell of our body receives the nutrition that it needs, and it increases our chance to experience full recovery.  There is LIFE in the blood!

My Bishop said at the beginning of 2012, "The Shift is Here".  I felt it in my spirit and received every syllable of it, and I have been experiencing some of the shaking and readjusting that comes when things are being shifted.  It's actually kind of awesome!  If I didn't realize or understand what was going on, some of these things could be very discouraging and even hurtful to me right now. But instead, although it's not an easy lesson, I'm learning to embrace the discomfort, because it is actually a sign that I'm changing!  I'm growing.  I'm stretching into that place that my heart has yearned for for so long.

Did you come into this season of your life rejoicing about the shift?  Did you have the strongest feeling that everything was about to change for the better? Did you get a glimpse of your end result, the finished product? Have things, since your glimpse, been getting shaken up?  Moved around? Dropped?  Has something or someone fallen off?  Has something broken?  GOOD!  It means you're right where God wants you!  The shift isn't coming, the shift is here, and you're right in the middle of it.  Don't give up now and don't be discouraged.  You're that much closer to your expected end!

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WRITTEN IN 2008

The truth is .... in and of ourselves none of us are good enough.  It's through the blood of Christ that we are made or counted worthy. He gives us the credit and benefits of the work He did.  We couldn't and can't so He did, and then rewards us as if we did.   All we have to do is accept it.   Believe that in His eyes we are good enough because His blood is all over us.  When He looks at you He sees the greatness He put inside of you, not the messes and mistakes you've made.   He sees your future in Him and His plan for you. Jeremiah 29:11 says..

FOR I KNOW THE THOUGHTS THAT I THINK TOWARD YOU , SAYS THE LORD. THOUGHTS OF PEACE AND NOT OF EVIL, TO GIVE YOU AND FUTURE AND A HOPE. OR (EXPECTED END. kjv)

You ever just look at that scripture? He actually thinks about you.  He ponders about things, good things that He wants to give to you and the life He wants you to live.   Full of peace, good, and hope.   He has a bright future in mind for you.   And He had it in mind when He created you.   He actually thinks about you. 

When you love someone you tend to think about them all the time.   And your thoughts of that person are always loving and good and they always involve that person being in your future. So looking at what that scripture says, God is so in love with you that He thinks about you all the time and He loves you so much that He went ahead of you and planned your future with Himself, and it's all good! Wow. He's head over heels in love with you!

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While You're Healing

Just cry when you need to.  And know that each tear that falls is falling for the first, and last time. Each tear drop is just a drop of pain leaving your soul and making room for healing to fill that spot. You'll feel anger, you'll feel regret, you'll feel stupid, you might feel like the joke is on you, you may want that person to die.  It's all a part of your healing process. Feelings come and go, and they come, to go.  The negative feelings are normal but are not meant to become your normal. Let them come, run their course, and then let them pass.  With each passing of negativity will come a passing in of healing. 

Understand that when those negative feelings come to the surface they are only there to be scooped up and off by the healing hand of God.  You will experience days and moments when you feel like you have made major strides, only to have something trigger what seems to be a setback and dig up another truckload of pain. But over time, the pain will subside, it will hurt less and less until it doesn't hurt at all.  It gets better. Even though you may not believe it right now, just take my word for it.  The whole time you're hurting, you are healing.



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Recognize the Root

If you're going to live a bigger life you can't just stop at saying, "I'll never do that again!", or "I'll never let that happen again!"  The truth is, if you never take time to recognize the behavior that is causing or allowing certain things to happen, you will unfortunately find yourself in a cycle that can continue for years or all of your life. It can get to the point that one of the first things that will come to mind when people see, speak of, or think of you can be that issue or problem in your life.  I don't think any of us in our right mind would want something less desirable to be someone's initial thought about us.

Since learning this valuable lesson, I have found that to get to the root of a situation or issue in my life I can't just go back to the moment it happened.  Most of the time I have to track back to hours prior, days and sometimes weeks to get to the root of where a pattern was created.  I may have to recognize a certain habit or tendency that I have that tends to yield the same results.  Once I zero in on that root, that initial thought or decision, I become able to make better decisions at that same point another time, (because another time will come until the cycle is broken) and thus break those unhealthy and painful cycles in my life.

One of the greatest lessons I have learned is that a bigger better life isn't made up of events, but of good choices made on a daily basis that create an all around healthier, happier, more stable life.