Dominion

The first time I heard the word, “dominion” was in reference to Adam and Eve. God gave Adam dominion over the garden of Eden. Dominion is synonymous with authority. It is power. People have a misconception of power, and because of this, they abuse it. Dominion is granted, which means its not something you can seize. It has to be given. Many of us do not walk in dominion. We do not exercise our God given right. Partially, out of ignorance and fear. We are called to speak to people and circumstances with authority. We are called to move mountains. We are called to walk on water. We are called to speak life. We are called to exercise our authority. We have dominion. Use it.

Damaged

I remember when I based what I ordered online on the cost of shipping. If shipping was more expensive than what I wanted, I simply would not order it or I would wait on a free shipping option. Amazon changed the way millions shopped online with their Prime membership. I’ve been conditioned to only shop for items that are available for Prime shipping. I need my package in 2 days or less. I can count the times that my package hasn’t arrived or was damaged on one hand. It just doesn’t happen that often.

Truth is things get damaged. Things break. Things fall apart and most times we aren’t conditioned on how to handle damage. We want our money back. We want a replacement in 2 days or less. We are not very accommodating to change or inconvenience. We have become a microwave generation. We want participation trophies and prescriptions. We refuse to acknowledge that in many cases, we are damaged. We fix the obvious damage, but negate to fill the emotional holes. Evaluate your life. There is beauty in your brokenness. The only way to truly fix the damage is to acknowledge it.

Destiny

There’s a viral story circulating about J.K Rowling. She was in abusive relationship, had a miscarriage, was on welfare, and her life had no clear direction. She decided to write a book that was rejected by over ten publishers, but ended up becoming a worldwide phenomenon. She is the author of the Harry Potter series. I’m sure when she was living in the slums of the UK she didn’t see the road to her destiny being paved with failure, loss, and disappointment. Most of us envision a yellow brick road to our destiny. We don’t see how betrayal, heartache, and utter devastation could pave the way to our destiny. I want to encourage you today that no matter what your journey looks like, you are on your path to destiny. It is all preparing you for what’s to come. Don’t give up. Keep on moving. Your destiny lies ahead.

Focus

Life is full of distractions that make it very hard to focus. It seems like we get pulled in a million and one directions. Things fall apart at the same time. Kids start acting up. Money gets funny. Life happens. Truthfully, most of us focus on the problem. It’s easier to see than the solution. We focus on our fear. We focus on what’s going wrong instead of what’s going right. We have to condition ourselves to point out the positive. We have to teach ourselves to focus on God in the midst of chaos.

Juneteenth

Growing up in New Orleans, in many ways was like being raised in a time capsule. Field trips to plantations were apart of the Louisiana History curriculum. Reminders of slavery and the antebellum South were ever-present on St.Charles Avenue. Drums rang out from Congo Square on Sundays, and Juneteenth was celebrated right before Essence.

I don't think I truly understood the significance of Juneteenth until I was older because I was taught that the slaves were freed by the Emancipation Proclamation. I later found out that slavery simply got re-branded to sharecropping and indentured servitude. It was re-branded again through Jim Crow and redlining. More recently, it was re-branded through constitutional amendments and capitalism. Larger financial institutions rose up in the place of slavery to create the generational wealth gap. Consumer debt is one of the current faces of slavery's re-brand.

Today, as we celebrate and acknowledge the liberation of the Texas slaves, please understand that we are still struggling to be free. Just like those Texan slaves, we are waiting for news of freedom. Delay is not denial. There's still hope. Happy Juneteenth!

It's going to be ok

Sometimes, we just need to hear the words. We need to know that our reality isn't always going to be our reality. We need to know that trouble doesn't last always. We need to know that everything is going be okay, no matter what it looks like. We need to know we aren't by ourselves in this struggle. Well, just so you know for your own peace of mind. It's going to be ok. 

Too Little

We live in extremes. We go from hot to cold. We live in seasons of feast and famine. We teeter totter between wrong and right. The goal is always balance, but that requires preparation. What have we stored up? How do we live in lack? We know how to thrive in abundance, but how do we thrive in too little? The answer is not logical. In every biblical instance of lack and multiplication, there was sacrifice.  When Jesus fed the multitude, it was a boy who gave his last. When the widow was content with death, she gave her last cruse of oil. When Simon Peter was done fishing, Jesus told him to cast out his net. For some of us, the answer of how to thrive in too little is preparation. For others, the answer is sacrifice. Ultimately, we have to give what we have to God and let him multiply it.