Be You

Happy Friday Friends!

I hope and trust this post finds you all having a great day as a glorious new day begins to dawn in my Sweet Home Alabama! :)

This weeks Happy Friday is going to be all about encouragement. I want to encourage you to do something wild and crazy! It is going to be scary! It will take great faith, strength and courage! The best part? You are the only one, each one of us individually, who can do it! Come on, you got this! :)

Before sharing my thoughts, I am again going to share a few excerpts from I Declare War: 4 Keys to Winning the Battle with Yourself by Levi Lusko. I want to strongly encourage you to get this book, read it and apply what you learn to your life. The excerpts I am sharing come from Chapter 4 which is titled, The Secret To A Miserable Life.

"The biggest problem with defense mechanisms is this: when you put a mask on, you are masking yourself off from God's blessing.
You know when you paint a room, you first have to tape around the edges of what you don't want to paint to get on - the light switch, the ceiling, the floorboards? The paint only goes where the tape is not. That's why it's hard for God's blessing to reach what you've covered over. God constantly seeks to shower you with grace. He wants to cover you with favor, to coach you with his love, to give you his best and his blessings. He wants our cup to run over. He wants to anoint your head with oil. He has been dreaming about it from before the foundation of the earth. But he can't use who you wish you were - only who you really are. Your mask is holding you back.
Don't miss this! You are fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14). You are unique; you are beautiful, a work of art. You are God's poem, his masterpiece. You are what he thinks, not what you think."(Emphasis is mine!)

"When you know who you are, it doesn't matter what you are not."

"Whenever you find yourself thinking, I don't. I can't. I'm not, respond right back: I do. I am. I have. I can - because I am loved by God!" (That emphasis is actually Levi's!)

"As writer Ralph Waldo Emerson put it, "God will not have his work made manifest by cowards." It takes bravery to be vulnerable. You'll feel terrified. You'll want to put the mask back on and hide once more. But the only way to get to victory is by going through vulnerability. Only by embracing who you are can you become who you were born to be." (Emphasis is mine...Again!) :)

So, this morning Sweet Friends, I simply want to encourage you to be who you are, to relentlessly pursue the greatness that God has placed within you. Today, put down the mask! Today, stop pretending to be someone or something you are not! Today, stop fighting for your weaknesses and start walking in your strengths! Today, be you...there is absolutely nobody walking the face of this earth who is more capable than you to be you! :) Today, stop wishing for what you are not and embrace who you are!

I get it, we all do. It is hard. We live in a world that desperately wants to define us. This world wants to tell us how we should think, how we should look, what we should do, when we should do it...and the list goes on and on. And it is SO EXHAUSTING! Why? Because the world does not define you and it is not who you are supposed to be...that simple. And we try to make it so hard. We are all looking for the silver bullet, the quick fix. How can this be done quickly, easily, simply? The answer is it can't be, however it can be done. Here are the two keys: 1) You have to be you. I know, it sounds too simple. Look at it this way; how successful would a fish be at being a lion? Or a lion, a truly majestic animal, how successful would it be at being a fish? We laugh, but please explain to me how this is any different than you or I trying to be something we weren't created to be? Not so funny any more, is it? 2) We have to consistently show up. Augh! We hate that word...consistent! Again, we want the quick and easy however nothing of real value is accomplished quickly and easily. Our relationships, skills and anything else of value is developed and refined by consistently showing up and working on it. All of this is so easy to understand mentally and yet so hard to actually walk out!

You are enough. In fact, you are more than enough! You are a masterpiece. You are fearfully and wonderfully made, created on purpose for a great purpose, lacking nothing. Please, reread it... This world desperately needs the you that you were created to be - not the you that the world tells you you need to be or the you that you think you need to be. The world needs the pure, authentic you. I pray that is who you, and I, will be each and every day.

Please don't hesitate to contact me if there is ever anything I can do for you. I will always help you any way I can. You can reach me at kevin@whatwillyourinfluencebe.com.

Have a great day, a wonderful weekend, please cherish your precious families and please stay healthy and well.

Kev