Launchpad Studio Baltimore

Most of us know the song Kumbaya, and that it originated in the fields, sung by people in the midst of trying to navigate a life of enslavement and bo***ge. When I was little my grandmother would sing it as she pitter-pattered around the house (it wasn’t unusual for her or my grandfather to break into song at any given moment). Her version included the usual stanza of Kumbaya, with the addition of the English translation “come by here my Lord”. I never knew what language Kumbaya was, or how she came to know the translation and I never questioned it, but in recent years I’ve learned that this beautifully written heart felt song has its origins in Hebrew. Not only did enslaved people know Our Father, the creator of the heavens and the earth, but they knew Him enough to call Him by the name He gave Himself, when he was reintroducing Himself to His people. How completely amazing is that!

Fear is such a familiar feeling for me, an all to often first response to change, uncertainty, growth, and even opportunity.

I know what it’s like to live inside of fear, how it lies to you and limits who you are and who you were created to be.

Fear severe and yet somehow subtle, creeping in over time and feeling the weight of it all at once.

With all of the noise and the worry in the world over the past few weeks I have found myself more and more feeling the weight of covert fear.

Wondering what’s going to happen next and how long things will go on like this, I have found my mind spiraling with speculation and my eyes glued to the screen waiting for the next post to report the state of the world to me.

I have been reading and believing and reacting (an act of worship)

to words that were never meant to rule over me, but reacting to words is natural, it’s how we were created to be.

You see we were created to respond to and ruled by The Word. To hear it, believe it, and obey it.

All of creation was.

It was The Word that brought about all life, and that Word caused everything that was created to BE.
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My children will literally do anything that my husband tells them to do. He can stand at the bottom of the stairs, hold out his hands and say “Jump” and without fail my children with push off of their security, into the air and land safely in his arms. They trust him completely and thus are willing to do what he says without question. He challenges them to take risks, to be brave, and to fight through their fear, and because of their faith in him they do. Our faith in our Heavenly Father should move us the same way. Compelling us towards obedience without the need to figure it all out first. If He is a good Father then every Word He speaks to His children is spoken for their wellness and it is good. If you are struggling to completely surrender yourself to His Word and the call that He has placed on your life, ask yourself why. Where were the seeds of doubt planted? Maybe you’ll know right away, or maybe your discovery will reveal itself over time. Whatever the case be diligent in your seeking so that you can learn to live in the beauty of surrender, and find joy in doing all that you were created and purposed to do.

As I close out my time of reflecting on what it means to truly be dedicated as a Believer and a lover of The One who created all things, I am more and more confronted with the necessity for us who believe to be willing to speak truth. This is not an admonition to impose on the free will of those who do not wish to live a surrender life, but instead a reminder that we are called to walk in the truth and be a light. We don’t walk in truth by coating it in sugar to make it more desirable because things coated in sugar are nutritionally compromised and will thus contain impurities that will have to be flushed from the body.

Instead believers should be serving whole and complete truths, because whole truths are full of nutrients, completely digestible, and sweet in their season.

There is a scripture that says this:

“And He said, “The reign of Elohim is as when a man scatters seed on the ground, then sleeps by night and rises by day, while the seed sprouts and grows, he himself does not know how. “For the soil yields crops by itself: first the blade, then the head, after that the completed grain in the head. “And when the crop is ready, immediately he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”

‭‭Marqos (Mark)‬ ‭4:26-29‬ ‭TS2009‬‬

Our job as believers is to scatter the seed, not trying to figure out how to make the seed grow. It’s not our job to filter out that which was intended to fertilize but instead we are to stand firm on The Scripture that boldly proclaims that the truth will set us free.

Love your people enough to desire that they find freedom!

In a time where the world is crying out for truth and look for it at every corner of every turn how can we who walk in Truth and live in the Unadulterated Light withhold the Truth from those who are grabbing for anything, and trying not to perish.

The Scripture says “My people perish for lack of knowledge.” If you love your people and you know His ways then love them enough to tell them the truth!

My favorite game to play as a child was “make believe”! I was so good at it lol! I would create whole worlds in my imagination, so vibrant and so vivid that I could easily draw my friends in and we’d play, fully and completely in that world. Even though it was imaginary I still established rules for me and my playmates. If you came into my make believe world then any additional elements introduced by your imagination had to be in complete agreement with mine and as we as we added more and more the the story of our world we didn’t stop at simply thinking it but instead acted that thing out. Back then I knew what it meant to believe. I knew that action was required and that even in the full expanse of my imagination still there were rules and even imaginary truths that had to be followed. However, somehow as an adult I lost that understanding. I have always prided myself on being a “Believer” but I though that it was enough just double down on my certainty that His Word was true. I thought that belief was simply hoping hard enough, but Scripture says something completely different. It tells us not to be hearer only but also doers of The Word so that we don’t deceive ourselves! In doing The Word we make our belief evident and receive the favor of The Most High so that we can live a life of intention and purpose and do so without reproach.

Sometimes when we think about waiting on God it can feel like we are out there all alone, drifting in a sea of troubled waters, waiting for our salvation to come, but the Hebrew word for “wait” paints a very different picture.

The Hebrew word for wait is “qava” spelled QOPH, VAV, HEY.

The QOPH is the picture of a the sun at horizon; it means condensed, circle, and time.

The VAV is the picture of a tent peg; it means to add, secure, hook, nail, connection, and the word and.

Lastly the HEY is the picture of a man with raised hands; it means window, the, look, reveal, breath, and sigh.

Waiting is NOT THE SAME AS TAKING A SEAT in the hopes that maybe one day things will work out but it is instead THE ACT OF TETHERING YOURSELF to HIS process in the secured expectation that HIS GLORY will indeed be revealed.

When we wait in Him we are not tossed to and fro by whatever storms may arise on our way but instead are increased in the strength of our heart so that we can stand strong being steadfast in our journey to make Him proud and see His Glory revealed through us.

“Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the work of the Master, knowing that your labour is not in vain in the Master.”
‭‭Qorintiyim Aleph (1 Corinthians)‬ ‭15:58‬ ‭TS2009

As leaders we have to be very intentional not only about what we listen to but also about what we hear, the things that proceed through our ears and are imparted. Who’s report are you believing, and how do these beliefs effect the way that you show up for your mission? This week on Leading The Way we talk about the importance of, and the process for, properly tuning your ear. This episode is sponsored by “His Word in my hand: a journal for handwritten scripture” available on Amazon.