Tag: Jesus Christ

Growing The Right Way

Chandra K

8B6B55E1-616D-4172-B919-B05041F40829

In life we have many choices. We can choose to go to work or stay at home. We can choose to save our money or spend it. We can choose to relocate or remain in the same place. We can choose to advance ourself or we can choose to settle for where we are now. We can choose to grow in one direction or the other but one thing for sure is we can not choose to not grow. That’s just not a choice that we have. Let me explain.

One way or another, you will continue to grow. Either you’ll grow in the right direction or you’ll grow in the wrong direction. But no matter what, you will continue to grow. I used to think that growth automatically meant that I was doing good but as I grew older, I discovered how wrong I was. It is possible to grow in the wrong direction. Have you ever met someone who was rich in complacency? Or someone who is abundant in laziness? Or maybe they were walking in the overflow of negativity. I’m talking about someone who wants absolutely nothing more than what they have now. Someone who has no will to advance themselves. Someone who doesn’t care to get better at anything. The person who has tons of potential but settles for whatever is given to them. The person that may applaud everybody else for advancing but makes no effort to find their own or establish themselves. That level of complacency wasn’t obtained overnight, it took some downward growing to get there. Even if you are this person, make a conscious effort to make a u-turn!

You’ve spent enough time growing in the wrong direction. It’s time to grow right! You have absolutely nothing to lose and so much more to gain! Choose the right growth. Doors are opened when the door knob is turned. You have to do something! Growth in the right direction simply starts with doing something! But you have to do the right something. You can do it! Just get started!

We can choose to grow towards the wrong things or we can gravitate to what’s good and grow there. In this new year, let’s choose to grow in the right direction. Make connections that help you to grow in the right direction. Disconnect from those situations that either hinder your growth or that encourages you to grow in the wrong direction. Small challenge: Take a minute and think about the direction of growth your closest friends are walking in. Are you walking in the same direction? I asked because sometimes we tend to grow in the same direction of those that surround us. Our influences are so important. Evaluate and make your decision. Make it count, grow the right way!

The What. The When. The Why.

Chandra K

B91C9C5F-6608-4B5D-AB3E-83D37B3BFCE1

As humans, we depend on a few things to make our daily decisions. We usually depend on the what, the when, and the why. We wake up everyday and get started based on what we have to accomplish, when it needs to be accomplished, and why it has to be accomplished. These things tend to push us to progress. When all three questions are answered, we feel secure in handling our business and doing what needs to be done. One thing I’ve noticed is that when we don’t have the answers to the what, when, and why, we tend to procrastinate or prioritize it much lower on our to-do list. Have you ever been in an uncomfortable situation and maybe you felt like you didn’t know what was going on?  I have. I don’t like uncertainty and I hate to not know what’s coming next in my life. When I can’t answer the questions of why am I supposed to do this and what happened to change that and when will this take place, I tend to back off and not want to do anything because I can’t find reasoning. We find security in reasoning. Once we find out the reasons, we can operate effectively with confidence. But the question is what happens when you don’t know the reason? What happens when the why is not answered? Do you tend to slow down? Or do you do like me and just stop?

As believers, we are called to perform and continue no matter if we never know the what, the when, or the why because we are SUPPOSED to walk by faith at all times. Am I saying that information is not important? Of course not! The Bible tells us that we are supposed to seek an understanding in all of our seeking. I am simply saying that sometimes we won’t know the why. Sometimes we won’t understand the what. And many times we will not know the when. All we know is that our beliefs and our actions should always be based on faith. Especially in the moments when those questions are not answered!

In other words, blessed are those who continue to walk, continue to sow, continue to remain faithful, and continue to push, before you find out the why. I say this all the time, the situation doesn’t feel good. And the one thing we all would like to know is, “when will it end? When will it get better? Why am I going through this? What have I done wrong?” Just remember blessed are those who believe without seeing!

We know that no matter how dark and lonely the road is, He promised to ne a light unto our pathway! So, continue to walk, even when you can’t see because the steps of the righteous are ordered by the Lord!

Trust the Plan

Chandra K

887F6636-81E5-49DA-9CDB-114ECB98DAFD

Not too long ago, my mother and I attended an event together. We had to park down the road from the event center and walk to the destination. The walk was very long; it was raining, and extremely cold. Due to the conditions of the weather, we decided to walk faster to get to a warm place. While walking fast, I noticed that the shoes I was wearing made it difficult to keep up with my mother. She had on flat boots and I had on heels. Due to the weather conditions, the sidewalks and pathways were both muddy and slippery. So a few times, my mother had to slow down and give me a chance to catch up because I couldn’t walk as fast as she could. However, we finally made it to our destination. We sat down and got comfortable. We warmed up as we were enjoying the event. As it came closer to the end, my mother told me she was ready to go because she wanted to beat the crowd. I wanted to stay in the event because it was cold and I was comfortable. I was not in a hurry to take that tedious walk so I wanted to stay where I was because it was comfortable.  Plus, we would be walking back with more people if we stayed until the end of the event and I figured that would make the walk less tedious. But because my mom was very adamant, I said ok. I decided to be obedient. So we left. Me and my mother we’re walking and a Good Samaritan drove up on a golf cart and offered to give us a ride so we wouldn’t have to take the long walk back in that weather. There were two other ladies that also decided to leave early and they wanted to ride to their vehicle as well. At first, my thoughts were, “He asked us, as in me and my mom, if we wanted a ride. Not them!” But I knew that wasn’t right so we all jumped on the cart and took off. While we were driving, the wind was so cold until it felt like it was cutting my face! I had tears in my eyes and my clothes were wet from the rain. I started to think, it may have been easier if we just walked. Then, I found out that we had to detour because the driver wanted to drop the other ladies off first! But mom and I stayed on the cart. Once we dropped them off, the driver cut back across the parking lot and took me and my mother as close as he could to our vehicle and dropped us off. Once I got off the cart, I realized that we had only been riding the card for maybe a minute and a half. But because of the wind pressure and the rain, it seemed much longer. Once we made it to the car, my mom kept saying how good God was and how He allowed the guy on the golf cart to ride up and give us a ride to the car. She kept saying how we could’ve still been walking in the cold rain and wind if we had chosen to stay. She kept declaring how blessed we were by leaving at the right time.

This made me think. His plan is always better. Sometimes we want to stay where it’s comfortable and even amongst other people to make the journey seem more entertaining and less lonely. But sometimes, He just wants us to be obedient and move at the appointed time. He has a golf cart waiting on you, just to make your journey less tedious. Another thing I noticed was that even with the detours, His way is still the best option. Did I want to drop those ladies off at their vehicle? I’m embarrassed to say but truthfully, no. I wanted him to take us straight to our vehicle because I was freezing and I didn’t want to sit through the detour. But because I chose to be obedient to my mother and leave with her, there was a better option waiting.

The revelation is this; no, we don’t always understand the plan of God. No, we don’t always understand His will for our life. But what we do know is that His plan contains the best option for not only our future but also for our today! Often times we subject ourselves to the long route and the more tedious journey simply because we refuse to be obedient and trust His plan for us. He made us! So of course He wants what’s best for us! All I had to do was ride it out, even with the wind, the rain, and the detours, and the rest was taken care of. His plan and his way are always better. Choose to trust Him and His plan for your life.

Finding Me in Him

Chandra K

IMG_0279There are no words to describe how I felt when I came in contact with Jesus for the first time! All I knew was, there was a connection established that I could not afford to lose! At the time, I was searching but I didn’t quite know what I was searching for. I remember being baptized at the age of 7 and confessing that I believed, but I had never had a conscious experience with Him!

As I was growing up, I made my life much harder than it had to be. I was born into a great family, we were not rich but we were not poor either, I was a fairly bright student, and I was raised in the church. However, as time passed, curiosity began to grow, as it would with any other child. I took a lot of wrong paths, I made horrible decisions, and failed countless times. And after all of my bad decision making, around the age of 21, I found my self lost in a world full of mixed emotions and turmoil. Yet in all of this, I was searching for something. At the time, I didn’t know what I was searching for, I just knew I was searching. In retrospect, I see that I was searching for a way, The Way. And this Way would lead me to the exit of all of my self-inflicted pain!

I was very gullible and easily persuaded, so I believed most of what people were saying to me, even the wrong things. In my world of confusion, lies seemed to be the truth and the truth seemed to be a lie. I trusted so easily until it backfired. I had given out all of my trust but just to get nothing but lies in return. So I stopped believing all together. Everything and everybody was a liar to me. Yet, in all of this, I was still searching for something. At the time, I didn’t know what I was searching for but I knew something was missing. In retrospect, I was searching for The Truth, My Truth, His Truth.

Another issue I had was death. Not physically, of course, but in every area of my life. My dreams were dead, I had no hope, nothing I put my hand to would prosper, and all I seemed to be doing was existing. There was no life around me! Nothing was growing and the little that I had earned was quickly fading away! It was a place of no vegetation! Yet, in all of this, I was searching for something. I was searching for something to give me life, something to make me feel like I had a reason to exist. In retrospect, I was searching for Him the whole time!

It was like I knew that I had found the Truth. And once I discovered that He was The Truth, I knew that I had found the Way and through that He had given me Life! Maybe you feel like you’re lost without direction, or its hard for you to trust and believe what you hear, or maybe you’re just in a place of little to no vegetation. The truth is, at some point or another, we’ve all experienced this! So I’ll leave you with this, Jesus has the ability to be your Way out of the darkest and toughest times. He also has the ability to show you the Truth again, the truth about yourself and your life. And He’s able to give you a Life that you can’t even imagine!

When I found Him, I found Me! The search was over!

“Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”
John 14:6