What Is His Purpose?

First off, before I get all deep, have you all bought Kirk Franklin's new album?!??!?!?! Whoooooowee! Awesome! Amazing! I play it all the time. And I just bought it on Tuesday when it came out. This one song called "Give Me" is the BEST! It's been on repeat for a long time now. There is a guy called Mali Music on there and he is going in HARD on that song. I mean really going in! I love it. But alright enough about Kirk [go buy it or purchase from iTunes, TODAY] more about Purpose.

You know what? Purpose is a very tricky subject for me. It's one of those things I'm always thinking about. If I see something, I'm like, "What purpose does that serve?" I'm always asking about purpose. But with my senior year in high school coming to a close in just two short months, I'm thinking about MY purpose the most right now. I'm constantly praying about it. Guys I promise I've changed my plans for college like 8 times this year. I've gone through it all. I don't know what I want to major in, or what I should major in. The weirdest thing is that even as I'm writing this, I'm a little nervous about it, but at the same time I know God has it under control. In His time, He'll clearly reveal to me what He wants me to do. I don't know if anyone else does this, but I think God knows to give me more than one sign. My daddy called me Doubting Thomas once because I don't always take the first sign. But that's just me. I don't try to doubt God, I just like to double check my discernment! [Lol]. But yeah. Are any of you in doubt about your purpose? Do you really know what God wants for your life, or are you too busy mingling with the world? When you mingle with the world, you miss out on what God has for you. You feel yourself becoming confused about what you thought was your purpose [aka YOUR will] and nothing can make it right. You have to walk in God's will. Now let's look at that. What exactly is God's will?? In Romans 12:2 it very CLEARLY states that we are not to conform to the ways of this world, but to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. It goes on to tell us that's how we can TEST and APPROVE what God's will is. Paul even goes so deep as to DESCRIBE it for us. Many times people want to look for a scripture that deals with their situation, and not what the scripture is TEACHING them. They want that one verse they can always quote for encouragement. They never want to dig deep in the Word. The only way we can find ourselves is THROUGH the Word. But anyway, Paul goes on to describe God's will as "good, perfect, and pleasing." Now if you don't feel like what you're doing in life is good, close to perfect, or pleasing God...you're probably not walking in His will. God's will has NO space for flaws. It's us who mess ourselves up. Anyway, my challenge to you today is to pray, sincerely and taking your time. You can't rush when it comes to purpose. Listen for God's instructions, then wait for Him to start you on the path. God will make your paths clear if you just acknowledge Him in all you do. There will be no doubt in your mind when it's time to walk into your purpose. You will recognize it because you will be in tune with God. Work on it and see the changes! Peace, Love, and Truth. :)

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. - Romans 12:2

In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths. - Proverbs 3:6

Many plans are in a man's mind, but it is the Lord's purpose for him that will stand. - Proverbs 19:21

For I know the thoughts and plans that I have for you, says the Lord, thoughts and plans for welfare and peace and not for evil, to give you hope in your final outcome. - Jeremiah 29:11

To everything there is a season, and a time for every matter or purpose under heaven. - Ecclesiastes 3:1

Let your eyes look right on [with fixed purpose], and let your gaze be straight before you. - Proverbs 4:25

You're Cut Off!

Have you all ever seen the show, "You're Cut Off!"? Well, it's a show about nine young women who are extremely spoiled. They aren't wealthy, but someone they live with is. They think they're gonna be on a show about being rich but really they're not. Their person [whoever provides for them] pops up on a TV screen and tells them they spend too much money so they're cutoff. The women are devastated and some even start crying. So the show goes on for like 8 or 9 weeks, and if they make it to the graduation they get to see their family and they tell them new rules and blah blah blah. It's quite possibly the DUMBEST show I've ever seen, right next to Flavor of Love. But that's not my point! I got to thinking, "What if we cut people off who spend too much of our time instead of our money?" You know, the people we allow to suck all of our energy, take up all of our time, and just leave us completely drained? You know, the random bad seeds the devil plants in our lives in order to distract us from walking into our purpose God has for us? Yeah, THOSE people. What if we just cut them off? How much more space would you have in YOUR life? How free would you feel? Would you be able to take a deep breath? I have. I've been cutting people off left and right, and I realize that I had too many people in my life that were seriously blocking me from God. When you clear all of those people, you realize how much foolishness you really took part in. It just makes you shake your head. You realize that was never you and that you're SO much better than that! Anyway, today I challenge you all to cut some people off. I bet you don't even have to think that hard. You already knew what people you shouldn't have in your life when you first started reading this. It doesn't have to be a rude process. You can just start off not replying to certain texts, not answering phone calls. When they ask you to hang out, get involved in the church or with friends who are bettering themselves. Occupy yourself so that you don't have to lie and say you have something else to do. You really will have other plans. They'll get the message eventually. But if you're more like me, tell them straight up: "I don't like your ways, and unless you're willing to change, we can't be as close as we used to. I'm really trying to go somewhere, get closer to God. And that doesn't seem to be on your agenda. But I'm praying for you!" It's really that simple. So start on it. Don't wait any longer. Stop putting it off. Get over your fears. Don't let your fear of hurting someone's feelings interrupt YOUR life! You need to be happy first. If you spend all your time making others happy, you'll be miserable. People pleasing will wear you out! [BTW, I'm writing a post called, "Hi My Name Is Carmen...and I'm A People Pleaser!" Be on the lookout :)] Work on that this week, and I promise your life will be better. Peace, Love, and Truth. :)

Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character.” Come back to your senses as you ought, and stop sinning; for there are some who are ignorant of God—I say this to your shame. - 1 Corinthians 15:33-34

Search Your Heart: Are You Really Grateful? Do You Really Love Him?

Hey guys. It's Monday [remember to push through..God gave us another day!] and spring break is one week away! Woohoo! Even though my friends in Memphis are already on spring break, [which kind of takes away my reason for even trying to go visit] I am getting so many things done on my spring break! God is allowing things I've been worried about to come through on this spring break. God always makes things work out in His time. Like the song, "He may not come when you want Him, but He'll be there right on time. I tell ya, He's an on time God, yes He is!" I love that song. Anyway!! When I really think about it..I'm so blessed I can't even remember everything God has done for me. What an awesome love: to be given peace, love, and even materialistic stuff and not have the burden of remembering it all. God doesn't require us to write down every blessing He has given us. He loves it when we remember and thank Him. He doesn't hold it over our heads what He's done for us. My point? God doesn't rub it in our faces about everything He's done for us. He gives freely and loves freely. So why do we have such an issue giving to others what isn't ours in the first place? Everything belongs to God. God made it. Why do we act selfish? We remind people constantly of the things we have loaned them or given them. Why do we get so hooked on temporary things? Regardless of if you go to heaven or hell, you will not have any of the items we fight over and sometimes ruin relationships for. The love of money is the root of all evil and we must learn to avoid it. You have to love God more than ANYTHING in this world. You have to love the Creator more than the creations. You've got to learn to love God to the point where nothing can shake that love. You know how you meet someone, feel like it's true love and no matter what people say or what comes your way, nothing can change your view? Take that love and multiply it by the biggest number you know. God loves us more than that. [yeah I know, wow!] Nothing can shake God's love for us. Although this post was more about being grateful, it was about loving God too. We have got to get to that point of no return with our love for God. When we get that deep in Him, people have to search God in order to find us! Think on that, it's deep. Anyway, as you all know, I have a gospel song for ANY situation. I can think up a song about pretty much anything. Right now I have three songs in mind: Grateful by Hezekiah Walker, Be Grateful by Walter Hawkins, and More Than Anything by Lamar Campbell. Now if this was just for me I would definitely post the Walter Hawkins song because I love me some Walter Hawkins! Do you hear me?! I LOVE his music! But I feel this song by Lamar Campbell is more appropriate because it talks about loving God more than anything! That's what we need to do. Plus, it's one of my dad's favorites. We used to listen to it often! If I'm not mistaken, this was the song programmed to play next on my uncle's CD player when my dad went to his apartment after he passed about a year ago. So people recognize that to love God is a very big deal. Listen to the song, and this week the challenge is to learn about God's love. Discover how deep it is, how unlimited it is, how AWESOME it is. Read about it and live in it! God's love is everlasting...
-Peace, Love, and Truth. :)


Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. - Deuteronomy 6:5

God Is Trying To Tell You Something! (In My Shug Voice)

People! Listen up! If you don't see something wrong with everything that has been happening lately, something is wrong with YOU! In the world, we have disasters going on. First there was Haiti. There were floods in Tennessee. Now there's Japan AND Hawaii! People are being killed. There were issues over in Egypt. Guys!! If you aren't even slightly saddened by this, there is a problem here. God is truly trying to talk to us. God is saying what He always has to say to get our attention. "Because you refuse to listen, I will get your attention." If you are reading this and don't believe in God, please please PLEASE hear me out! This is serious. It doesn't have to go any further. This world can be so much better if we put our trust in the right ONE. GOD!! Life can get better right now! I was talking to these two girls at school today and they were telling me that now they're starting to believe the world really may end in 2012! Seriously! I'm not about to even get into that, but they also said how they heard another guy saying how everything that was written in Revelation is coming true. Now, sadly I'm only just now reading the book of Revelation, but I'm still thinking about that. For so long we have been saying "the last days are now" and I didn't pay attention at first, but now I believe so. And if these are NOT the last days, can you imagine what will happen next?? It will get worse. People read your Bible! I can't even write enough on this subject. I have so many more posts to put out that are in my mind, but I just wanted to take a moment and say, pray!!! I was on Facebook and made a status saying "God is trying to tell you something." My friend Chenise posted this scripture on my status: Luke 19:40 “I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.” She said that was the first thing to come to mind when she heard of all the disaster going on. This is so serious. Please don't let a disaster even worse than this be the thing to bring us to God. Because if we don't give Him the glory, He will use other things to get His proper praise. Pray for Japan. Not just during your nighttime prayer, pray for them frequently..this is serious! It really could be us next. Pray. Peace, Love, and Truth. :)

What Do You Do When You've Had Enough?

I've been noticing lately that everyone is getting annoyed so easily! Myself included. [Well not since Wednesday at Bible Study! I let it go at the altar and I'm sooo much better about controlling my anger. I either isolate myself or I close my eyes and pray right where I am.] Anyway, it seems that people who love each other the most are at each other's throats. Now I know this is occasionally normal, HOWEVER, I don't feel like tolerating it. And since these are people I see on a regular basis, I'm about to change it! *applause.* But my question tonight is: What do you do when you've had enough? I mean REALLY had enough? Do you go off? Do you leave? Curse the problem maker out? What do you do? What is your approach? Let's look at a few alternatives to changing our REACTIONS to the problems in our lives.
-Remembering God's Word: We all know that God says He'll never put more on us than we can bear, but we seem to keep forgetting it! Honestly, I think it's inconsiderate. We have got to memorize God's Word! He didn't make it for Himself..hello, He's already perfect! This is for US. It's almost like FUBU: For Us, By Us. Only it's FUBG: For US, By God. [I know that was kind of lame..but it's true!] We can't tell God we trust Him, [remember last Saturday's Post: "Why Don't You Trust Him?"]and then give up when trials come our way.
-Isolating Yourself From The Situation: I don't care what's going on, if you feel yourself about to make a bad move, one that is the OPPOSITE of WWJD, get out of there! Leave until you calm down. Don't sit there arguing with the person. You be the bigger person! Now I don't know a thing about arguments and disagreements inside of marriages, so if you're married, do what you do. But I will suggest removing yourself from the room if it's serious. Give yourself a little bit to calm down. Mark Twain said: "When angry, count to ten. When very angry, cuss." Abraham Lincoln said, "When angry, count to ten. When very angry, count to one hundred." Think about which would be best!
-Biting Your Tongue: Now I don't really like that, because I used to bite my tongue and it would never work! I'm so serious. I would walk away with a sore mouth and I still said something rude. However, try to refrain from cursing at people. Try to refrain from saying hurtful things. I won't lie, when you're really angry, it feels good to see that shocked look on a person's face, knowing you got them as bad as they got you. Maybe even worse. However, if you're a HUMAN, your conscience will mess with you until you feel super bad about what you said. That good feeling of revenge only feels good for so long. Remember, you can't take words back!
-Praying: I saved this one for last because it's most important. If you don't pray often or you don't pray for long periods of time, I can assure you that's why you have anger problems now. Sometimes I literally have to pray until I calm down. Do you understand?! That's me praying for a good hour! Because if I don't talk to God and clear my mind, my REACTION will be a bad one. Talk to God. You know how you talk to certain people and walk away feeling that they still don't really understand what you're going through? God is nothing like that. Why? Because He was there when you got mad and will be there once you get over it. Before you even approach Him, He knows the anger you have in your heart. Take the burden to Him and let Him cleanse you. Don't try to handle it, because you can't. I don't care how strong you think you are, YOU CANNOT HANDLE EVERYTHING IN LIFE. ONLY GOD CAN.

I want you all to understand why I talked about reactions instead of fixing the problems. Only God knows how to help you fix your problems. What I can do is help you fix your reaction so that the problem doesn't get worse. [Write that down somewhere, I promise that line is SO important in life!] If we would all learn to react differently, a lot of arguments could be avoided. I'll post some scriptures that came to mind while typing this. I want you all to know that most of this stuff is a Word from God for me AND you all. Whatever you read on here, I'm using it to better myself as well. My life is not all perfect and peachy. It has its rough patches. But God sends us reminders [Bible, books, this blog!] and people [preachers, friends, mentors, writers, etc.] to help us make it through this life. Remember we have to stay on the narrow road.

Now I've got to go to bed..church is in the morning [I'm excited]! I hope you all looked on my Facebook and Twitter. I said I was taking any suggestions for tomorrow's post. If no one gives me anything, I just won't write until Monday or whenever. Be blessed guys! Until next time, Peace, love and Truth. :)


With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water. - James 3:9-12

No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can endure it. - 1 Corinthians 10:13

The Power of Worship: Turning It Into a LIFESTYLE!

I really did not want to head to church tonight. My day was all different, and I wasn't feeling it. I just wanted to stay home and play on this new laptop. I know you're saying, "How dare you??" God blessed you WITH the laptop. True, true. But Carmen wasn't thinking about that y'all! I wanted to stay HOME! But my daddy said "No, you really need to go if you don't feel like going. That's when you get the best Word. We're going." Okay, case closed. Well let me just tell you!!!!!!!! Bible Study was beyond on point! I mean I was truly blessed! I learned about making my worship a LIFESTYLE. Worship is something serious. I'm basically about to type the notes I took and post them on here. No need to even try and create a special explanation. You'll see.
Okay, so worship is declaring worth, basically acknowledging God's worth. (Ex: when we praise saying, "Lord You're so worthy.") It is an act or respect, it is submission, telling God you're ready to listen. Another thing, we were created for God's own pleasure. You've heard me mention before about how when God created you, even He had to take a step back in awe of His work (YOU). Also, he (the preacher, well elder. Call him what you want just give him a respectful title!)said that there are three parts to us: Spirit which is the REAL you, Soul which is the emotional part, the will you have, and then the body, or flesh, which is just a shell. Through this we know that if we believe in Christ and that He raised from dead after dying for our sins, and get this, THE REAL US WILL NOT CEASE TO EXIST! This means that you will always be around, just not on Earth! Now if that didn't just "wow" you, I don't know what else to say! Let me continue because that was indeed a shouting moment! Okay okay. Getting to know God is very crucial! When you walk with God, don't just walk with Him like it's a simple stroll. Life is not a simple stroll. This is a journey we're on, a real journey. Use this time, this LIFE, to get to know Jesus. Use this life to understand Him and His ways. God's ways our totally different from our ways and the rest of the world's ways. Again, worship should be a lifestyle, not just an occasional occurrence. Next, continue to spend time getting into God's presence. You have to work at it. Like I said in my other post, "Why Don't You Trust Him?" you have to keep praying until you feel God move! Don't just do this aimlessly. Take it seriously. When He sees that you are truly trying He will move in your heart. Worship will change your life! You'll notice that life will go better and you'll feel happier, more optimistic when you truly worship. Your focus should be after God's own heart. David was like that. He was a man after God's own heart. True, David sinned. He sure did. Had him a good ole time doing worldly things. But you wanna know the thing about David that saved him? That man would mess up, but come to his senses and truly repent. Not just "Oh, I'm sorry God. Didn't mean that." No. David truly worshiped, truly repented. He was interested in knowing God's heart! Go read about David. You'll see. Make God's heart your focus. Now if you're new to worshiping and you are already slightly uncomfortable because it's new, just have faith. Faith is not always on what you feel, but what you believe. So don't sit there waiting on a "feeling" just have faith while you worship. Just say it out loud. "I love You Lord"; "You're awesome"; "Thank You Lord". Say it until you truly believe it and you will feel His presence. I believe that faith starts in the mind. The more your mind believes it, the more it is going to come true because you have so much faith in it. No matter what, keep trying continue to fill yourself up with God, His Word and prayer. You have got to put in the work in this relationship!!! This is not a Jesus only thing. He needs you to take part in it. The more you put work in, the more you want to respect Him. Fearing God is respecting God. You become more sensitive to God's word. Also, you become more sensitive to God's ways. That conscience can mess you up. And last, obedience is crucial. You have to obey God. It can't be 50% God, 50% what you want. That's all I have. I'm sure this is really long so if any of you actually read this and made it this far, read on a little more at the scriptures I've posted down here. They were read during the study. I'll let you figure out where they applied in this message. Until next time, Peace, Love, and Truth. :)

P.S. I forgot to mention that at the end, we all wrote down things that were hindering our worship and then placed them at the altar. I encourage you to do the same. When I got all of it down on paper I was shocked at what all I had allowed to hold me back. I also felt the greatest relief upon letting it go. Try it.


God, whom I serve in my spirit in preaching the gospel of his Son, is my witness how constantly I remember you. - Romans 1:9

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. - Romans 12:1

These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. - Matthew 15:8

speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord - Ephesians 5:19