Yes, I enjoy my writing/blogging life; no, I don't always enjoy how I arrive at the lessons and inspirations I share. In laymen's terms, the teacher has to go through first before he or she can give the lesson to the student. But I digress . . .
Whether on my radio show platform, motivational speaking endeavors, workshops or author & celebrity interviews, one theme reoccurs: authenticity. At times it is glaring, other times it is subtle and appears in the most unusual ways. Nevertheless, authenticity is as complex as most men say women are. [For my male readers, I think of you from time to time so that one is just for you.] Living Authentically--we see it in hash tags, article taglines and talk show topics but what does it really mean? Even more intriguing, what does authenticity look like and how is it applied? Let's take a brief walk to the dictionary: Synonyms for the word authentic are genuine, real, veritable and share the sense of actuality and lack of falsehood or misrepresentation. Authentic carries a connotation of authoritative certification that an object is what it claimed to be:
See the problem? . . . authoritative certification . . . Who have you given the authority in your life to certify an object's authenticity? In other words, what measurement tool(s) are you using? For some of us, we use our gut instinct: if I feel you're trustworthy then you are. That might not always be the best indicator especially at times when we are too close to the subject or scarred by our past to make the proper assessment. Many Christians would say they use God's word as a frame of reference. Although I strongly encourage that, our interpretation or understanding of certain biblical precepts can also be flawed. Misinterpretation and misrepresentation of the Bible is problematic because too often we readily accept what is taught versus studying the word for ourselves as we are instructed to. The synonym veritable also captured my attention and is where I believe a lot of us get stuck on the authenticity chain. Veritable is often used as an intensifier or metaphor; so it may be true, resemble truth, is close to truth or only true as a statement or tale. If you examine certain areas of your life, this is probably one of your biggest problems.
I could expound upon this from various angles and perspectives but I think you get the gist. So many events in the world today and in our personal lives cause us to regularly question if anything is real anymore. We are often forced to question others' intentions, truths and meaning in our lives. I am not suggesting you abandon this process but I am suggesting that you minimize your frustrations/confusions by searching within first.
I am not going to attempt to address how much you should share about your personal business in order to be authentic. That would require an entire book series and perhaps not yield any solution. Now do you understand why I used the rubix cube picture for this discussion? --Alesha Brown, The Joy Guru Author/Motivational Speaker/Media Personality/Joy Enthusiast thejoyguru.net President, Alesha Brown LLC Amazon Published Author
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I am guilty of it and, if they were honest, most successful people are—being unaware of the full power and authority you possess. I will share what God placed in my spirit during my morning meditation: you are not Mephibosheth and David is not coming; arise and take your rightful place at the King’s table.
Hmmm, at first that sounds quite simplistic and humorous; it reminds me of the song Someday my Prince will come. Society has all types of jokes for how single women are waiting on their prince and waiting and waiting and waiting . . . However, that is what a lot of us are doing when it comes to our success; we are sitting around waiting, and waiting and waiting as if miraculously the answer will one day fall from the sky or knock on the door. I hate to burst your bubble but you are wasting your time because God gave you the answer long before you entered this world. Let me explain . . . The story of Mephibosheth represents so many of us; he referred to himself as a dead dog. He was dropped by his nanny at age 5 which resulted in him being lame or unable to walk (2 Samuel 4:4). How many of us have been scarred, hurt or had pain inflicted upon us due to no fault of our own? A parent, former lover or spouse, family member, business partner, etc.; instead of propelling you to greatness, they left you damaged, wounded and broken. As a result of his brokenness, Mephibosheth felt useless. Oh I am so glad that I serve a God that masters in brokenness; actually in my weakness, is made strong! 2 Cor. 12:10 Mephibosheth’s life started out great: his father was prince Jonathan, his grandfather was King Saul which made him royalty with all the privileges you could imagine. However, at five years old his life changed drastically with the death of his grandfather; he suddenly was in a position where he had to run for his life (when the accident occurred). Sound familiar? Now fast forward to his middle age; the same man that his grandfather tried to kill, King David, is now requesting to see him. This could have been a potential setup; certainly Mephibosheth suspected that perhaps David was looking to kill him in an act of revenge. However, I imagine that in his disappear and current condition he felt he had nothing to lose since he was worthless anyway. He simply gave up, did not arm himself and cooperated even if it meant he was walking to his death. Can God get a yes from you today? Will you stop warring against Him and just surrender especially when you do not understand His plan? Well, you can go to 2 Samuel 9 and read the rest of the story; actually King David, because of his great love for Jonathan, was actually seeking anyone left from his lineage that he could bless. Mephibosheth was placed before the King, scars and all, given a seat at the royal table and spent the rest of his days in the lap of luxury at the palace. Where does your life fit in with this beautiful portrayal? How soon we forget: we are part of royal priesthood and our inheritance and dominion has nothing to do with an earthly father or lineage. Despite our difficulties, obstacles, challenges and even defeats, we are destined to win. Sure, God works through others and, as we pursue our destiny, there will be many who partner with us, invite us in and open doors that we only dreamed of having access to. Do not get caught up; you do not need to wait for an invitation from a certain circle or attribute your potential success entirely to any one man, woman or group. You do not need an invitation to be great, successful or take dominion; you were given permission/authority at birth and no demon in hell can take it from you. [Gen 1:26-27; Isa. 40:29-31; Luke 10:19; 2 Tim. 1:7; Philippians 4:13; Eph. 3:20; 1 Cor. 6:14] We are the greatest destroyers and deterrents to our own success. Some of us sit in the corner when we should command the attention of the room. Others shrink from the spotlight because they are not quite ready for the recognition that ironically they prayed and asked God for. (Remember? If you can use anything Lord you can use me; Lord release me, enlarge my territory. You sing it but do you really believe/mean it?) Oh, and I cannot forget those of us who are simply arrogant and think we deserve everyone’s attention as well as reverence whenever we walk into a room. (Do you know who I am? They should switch to this song: It’s not about you, it’s about Jesus.) The fallacy in all these approaches is that none of them result in us working at our full capacity for the glory of God. This is very dangerous because, as I am often told as I move forward in my launch, there is a dying world out there waiting on you and what you have! The more obedient I am, even in the baby steps, I realize that many are reenergized as I share from my heart especially in my weakest moments. So I encourage you today, you are not Mephibosheth and David is not coming: Arise and take your rightful place at the King’s table! [P.S: I’ll be working right alongside you; this is a continuous work and sometimes we all need to be reminded. I pray for you, you pray for me, I love you, I need you to survive . . .] --Alesha Brown, The Joy Guru*** President, Alesha Brown LLC Author/Motivational Speaker/Radio Personality www.thejoyguru.net ***Don’t just survive; be determined to thrive!*** |
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