Allegiance

We live in a country where allegiances are undefined and unclear. We have presidential ties to Russia. We are uncertain of our future and that is disconcerting. We have allegiances to people, places, and things that are of no benefit to us. What are you committed to? Where do your allegiances lie? Are your allegiances beneficial? 

Advocate

We all need someone on our side. We need someone to have our back. We need to feel and be supported. We need our community. We need someone to voice our concerns. We need someone to advocate on our behalf. Who is our advocate? Who has our best interest at heart? Christ is our advocate. 

Hebrews 4:15 (KJV) For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin

Perspective

Sometimes, distance gives you another perspective that proximity can’t provide. Sometimes, you can’t see the forest for the trees. Sometimes, you can’t see what's right in front of your face. We’ve all been negligent, if we choose to admit it. We’ve all fallen short. We all have not been “100” one hundred percent of the time. And guess what….that’s okay. Sometimes, we need to learn the lesson the “hard way.” Perspective comes when we choose not to look through rose colored glasses. It is when we choose to see ourselves the way God sees us. It’s when we are honest about being broken, bitter, and not better. It is when we see our vulnerabilities, our scars, and see that we survived it all.

Pearls

I grew up wanting to wear my grandmother's pearls. I loved how beautiful and shiny they were against her brown skin. I knew it was a special occasion if my grandmother was wearing her pearls. Ironically, "pearl" was one of her nicknames. My grandmother valued her pearls, maybe because she knew what it cost her or maybe because wearing her pearls made her forget momentarily that she was a Black woman raised in the segregated South.

The bible speaks about not throwing your pearls to swine. Simply put, don't give what you value away. Some species of oysters die when a pearl is harvested. Are you willing to die for what you produced? Are you willing to die for your purpose to be accomplished? Your life's work is your pearl. 

Pearls are produced by irritation. The defense mechanism of the oyster is to isolate the irritant. What's irritating you? It's producing your pearls. Every layer you use to isolate the irritation is adding dimension, color, and value to your pearls. 

Pressed

Pressed is a word that is thrown around a lot in our society. “Cold-Pressed” in particular garners a more expensive price tag. Cold-pressed juices and oils retain more of their nutrients and aromas. Whereas, some of these benefits are lost when exposed to heat. Imagine, if we could choose the process by which God gets our gifts out of us. What method would we choose? Would we choose to be pressed?

In order to get olive oil or grape juice, one has to cultivate the vine or tree. We have to be planted in good soil, then we have to grow. Planting is very similar to the burial process. We are covered and left in dark places to grow. Most of us don’t want to be covered, let alone left in a dark place alone under the guise of growth.

Then, after all that we are expected to produce fruit. Not just any fruit, but fruit after our own kind, and good fruit. Then, our good fruit is plucked. Our fruit is taken for us to benefit others. If that isn’t enough, our fruit has to undergo a process of being pressed.

The real treasure of the fruit is on the inside. God is always calling what’s on the inside. How does God get those things he put in us out? Pressure. Uncomfortable situations. People. Tragedy. Loss. Setbacks. Unexpected Encounters. Detours. Divorce. Change. Basically, all the things we try to avoid. We don’t want to be planted. Growth comes with pain. It hurts to bear fruit and though pressure produces, it seems like more than we can bear. Oh, but the end result justifies the process. The juice. The oil. The gift. The lesson. The blessing.

Who Cares?

Growing up in the 80’s would make you believe that anything could be solved in a 30 minute episode. There was no problem that required more than that amount of time to resolve unless it was a mini- series or an after-school special. One of my favorite shows was the CareBears. They understood that in order to resolve some issues, you need help. Each of them had a special gift that was tattooed on their belly, and when things got gloomy, they would join hands and do the “care bear stare.”

How many of us suffer in silence? How many of us wear our fake smiles, every day? We put on a show, and people never really know what’s really going on with us. We were not created to do this thing alone. We were not created to suffer in silence. There are people who care about you. There are people who will go out of their way for you. Open up. Let people in. Stop asking, “who cares?”

Consistency

Everyone needs consistency. We need consistency of finance. We need consistency in relationships. We need consistency in friendships. We need to know that people are going to be around. We need to know that they mean what they say. We need to know what to expect to some degree. Consistency is just one way to build trust in relationships. Are you consistent?