You Can't Quit Now

We all have a gift bestowed unto us by our Heavenly Father. A small disclaimer: when I say gift, it can be translated as talent, purpose, or calling. God has given it to us, and our responsibility is to use it for His glory to bless other people. Now as we go forth and pursue it, there will come a time where you will either be sidetracked or just feel like giving up (and there are countless reasons). Let’s detour for a second and talk from the Bible to show where people who didn’t quit though they had justifiable excuses to do so if they did.

1. Joseph was given a dream that would rescue his family from famine. After revealing his dream to his brothers, Joseph was sold as a slave and eventually faced hardships after being lied on by Potiphar’s wife. Joseph had an excuse to quit, but he didn’t and as a result, the Lord was with him.
2. Job was under satanic attack and lost a lot in his life. His wife wanted him to curse God and die. Job could’ve quit serving God, but he didn’t and as a result, the Lord double-blessed him.
3. The apostles were beaten for preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. They could’ve quit doing that to preserve their lives, but they didn’t and as a result, their ministry made an impact on the world (reference Acts 5:40-42).
4. Daniel was thrown into the lion’s den for praying to God. He could’ve quit for fear of his life, but he didn’t. As a result, Daniel made it known that God is a protector to those who love Him.
5. The three Hebrew boys were thrown into the fire that was 7x hotter than normal for refusing to bow their knee to the king. They could’ve quit serving God, but they didn’t. As a result, God walked through the fire with them.

What do we see here? If we’re serving God and bringing true glory to Him, He will always be with us. God is not blind to what trials we face.

Many of you have gifts that only you can do (and it has be expressed through the creative arts, through service, or through other means) that will bring glory to God and bless others tremendously. You must be determined and disciplined to fulfill your gift. If you don’t, you’re robbing yourself, God and others. You can’t quit now. The devil will throw many things at you to get you off course to make you quit. Keep your hands to the plow. We all need your gift just you all need my gift. Think back to when you wanted to quit something, but God gave you the strength to keep going – and it thrust you into your prophetic destiny. And I also want you to think back to when you started something and how you felt when you gave up. I would venture to say that when you kept going, you felt great and God extended your outreach. Trust me when I say that I know everything has a season; the objective is to stay obedient to Him at all times, so you don’t miss out when it’s your season. Even if you do, it will come back around again (provided you don’t remain disobedient).

I’ll even put this out there, there was a time in 2007 where I almost gave up on writing after an editor rejected my first book (Take It from Me). If some people didn’t encourage me to write, I would’ve been writing and making an impact on a few people. God allowed me to cross paths with a few people in 2009 and my first book was released and now it’s 2012, and I’ve written my first novel. I almost gave up writing the novel as well due to some personal issues going on in my life. Many of you didn’t know this, but if you were to read the acknowledgements in my novel, I mentioned when thanking the Lord that there was a point where I not only wanted to give up writing the novel, but living as a whole due to those personal issues. A dark cloud was over me during that time and I am so grateful that God sustained me through it all. If I had ended my life without finishing my novel, how would people’s lives be affected? Sure, God can use others to do something you should be doing, but the beauty of God is that He called us individually for a specific task. I said all of that to say this, if God has ordained you (which He has), He will sustain you through it all. Never let go of Him because He will always have His hand on you. And now that my novel is released, I’m so grateful to see lives rescued from the spirit of suicide.

In short, though I could type a lot more, just know that you can’t quit now because God will never quit on you! I better not forget this, you will face opposition like Joseph, Job, the apostles and many others recorded in Scripture, but you still can’t afford to quit now. Remember, quitters never win!

Complacency & Talents

Complacency, it's the thief that steals our true purpose & destiny.  It can happen to the best of us.  Look at your current job, have you become extremely bitter especially if you've been there a long time and have you noticed the people around you extremely bitter (if they've been there a long time)? Let me add to this, how many of you have heard people complain over and over and still remain complacent with their lives? You've probably heard numerous complaints. 

I hope this blogpost will cause you to rise up from your complacency (or should I say your comfort zone) and you can start fulfilling your purpose before you move to the next phase of life.

In Matthew 25:14-30, there's a parable of the talents. One received 5, one received 2 and one received 1. God gave them a specific number of talents based on their hearts (one thing that must be said, God knows the beginning & end. He knows our hearts and what we're going to do with the talents He's blessed us with. Our responsibility is to be faithful with what He's blessed us with). The one who received 5 acquired 10, the one who received 2 acquired 4 and the one who received 1 buried it and acquired 0. When the giver of the talents had them check-in, the giver was pleased with the first two, but for the one who buried the 1 talent, he was angry and told him to give it to one who acquired 10. Now here's a thought-provoking question, why did he have him do that? Also think about this, if you waste your talent, it will be taken from you. And then you'll end up living a life of regrets. A little side note: there will be some people who will love you when you're not using your talents, and will turn around and hate you when you decide to step out and use your talents. Here's another side note: not everybody will want to break free from the complacency syndrome, because they feel the complacency syndrome is convenient (notice I didn't say comfortable, because they're downright miserable inside).

Let's now talk about you, what talent have you buried? I know a lot of people and many of you have made your talents known to me. And I must ask, what are you doing with them? I beg you not to let them go to waste, because your talent is NOT just for you. Only you can do what you do with the talents that have been bestowed upon you. Now you might think your talent is small, but in God's eyes, it's important! No matter how big or small your talent is it's the ticket to put you where you need to be in your life.

If you were to look at the talents from a monetary standpoint and you bury the talents, you're setting yourself up for disappointment and anger against others, God and yourself. I believe your talents are designed by God for you. Some people say "it takes money to make money," that's not true. I agree with my brother Darrell Kelly when he says this, "it takes creativity to make money," considering that your talents are from God and He's the creator of all things. With that said, are you afraid of stepping out in that talent? Are you afraid that you're going to be rejected? Cast your fears aside or else, you'll land in the complacency cycle (where you start complaining and we have to hear comments like this, "the president or government is not taking care of me, my parents are hindering me" and your life withers away). I simply say to that, you're an adult, please GROW UP and GO FOR IT!

God bless.