Phase 11: When NOT Keeping It Real Goes Wrong

     I've been debating this topic with my friends for the past few days but in truth, it's a subject that's been on my mind for a long time now. What does it mean to be "Christ-like"? So often, I've found that many people think that when they accept Christ, they suddenly transform into this weird, spooky, Bible-toting, scripture quoting robot. Suddenly every problem they have, situation they go through, or emotion they experience gets shoved into a closet  as they try to clothe themselves in some funky Christ costume. As a member of the real world, I find this phenomenon beyond frustrating. I admit that I could be the only one that feels this way but, honestly, in the middle of my struggles, the last thing I want is to share my problem with someone that can't relate to what I'm going through. Why do we think that forming a prayer circle, laying on hands or spending an hour digging up every encouraging scripture we can get our hands on is the first thing we need to do when we see our friends going through a hard time? Don't get me wrong, all of things are excellent tools but there has to be more.What I find funny about this whole situation is that if we look to Jesus, we'll discover that His response was the exact opposite. God desired to be with us so much that He made Himself flesh to walk among us. His desire was to know what it was like to be hungry, thirsty and in pain. His experience on Earth gives His Word validation and meaning. Now, when we read that we can do all things through Christ that strengthens us, we can believe them because Christ Himself has done all things. He left nothing out of His story. Why then are we anything less than completely transparent about our stories? Maybe the question is why should we be?
     In Acts 10:1-11:45, we find the story of Cornelius and Peter. Cornelius was in tough position during this time. He was both a Roman solider and new convert to Christianity. Roman soldiers were posted around Israel to help keep the peace but the people saw them as conquerors, oppressors. Cornelius's family were dedicated to learning about the God of Israel and he was respected by the Jews. Peter, who was sent to Cornelius by God, still had his reservations. He did not hesitate to deliver the Word of God to Cornelius and his family, however, and he was amazed when the Holy Spirit moved through Cornelius's house and filled Cornelius's whole family. This event was significant because Peter was breaking all sorts of rules by even being in Cornelius's house! Cornelius and Peter couldn't have been more different but God's plan included both of them. Each one needed the other in order to discover how God worked. Cornelius learned the way to salvation from Peter and Peter learned that God's plan included everyone from Cornelius. The same is true for us today. Your story could be what helps someone else understand how God works.
     The point of this message is this: The scriptures are for me, my life is for someone else. "Being Christ-like" doesn't mean that I glaze over my situation with a pasty smile and an "everything's fine" or that I suddenly stop being me. No matter how hard I try, I'll never be God. My flesh was designed to have the very limitations that keep me from doing so and in fact, it was Lucifer's desire be God that got him kicked out of Heaven. Furthermore, I'll only get discouraged the more I try to abandon me and become His mindless carbon copy. Yes, I am made in His image and yes, I want to be more and more LIKE Him everyday. A better plan would be to put myself in someone else's shoes, show them empathy and compassion and encourage them with the Word of God, validating it with my personal experience. Don't just tell them that everything will be alright, show them how you know and why you believe it. This doesn't mean of course that you go blabbing every detail of your whole life to whomever will listen. You should, however, be real with people when doing so will give them hope to keep going strong for the Lord. Everything about my life loses it's meaning if I give more power to the shame that living it brought me then to the freedom that sharing it would give someone else.

Time To Change Lanes

     I was on my way to Richmond this afternoon to meet up with a friend and the idea for this post came to me. When I was in high school, the thing that everyone looked forward to was learning how to drive. A bunch of us even would get up at the crack of dawn just so we could take the 7:30 driver's training class our school offered. At the end of the class, I went and took the test to get my permit and,even though I passed it on the first try, the need to get my license never hit me. In fact, I never actually did until I was a sophomore in college. As a result of my late blooming, I never took the follow up the that high school driver's training class where you drive around with someone so, in essence, I never actually "learned" how to drive. What I know of driving I learned from watching my parents and friends and so even though I've now been driving for several years, there are still aspects of it that scare me. The freeway is one of those aspects. There's just something about traveling at that high rate of speed with so many other cars that makes me nervous. I think about whether the other drivers have had as little technical training as I have or if they're perfectly safe. I wonder if they're day went great or if they just got fired and now are about to end their life ( and whomever else's) behind the wheel of they're car. Are they focused while driving or should I be concerned that they're texting someone or changing the song on they're iPod? Often times, this irrational fear I have causes me to pick one lane and stay in it, despite any other relevant factors. Today, for example, I was behind this huge truck that was moving at a snail's pace and probably would've stayed there had I not looked in my mirror and noticed that the lane to my left was completely clear!
     It was at that moment I heard the Spirit saying that it was time to change lanes. How many of us find ourselves cruising comfortably in the slow lane because irrational fears of being blindsided prevent us from changing lanes and moving forward? What "18-wheeler" of fear, doubt, depression, anxiety, addiction, low self esteem, or inexperience are we allowing to slow us down, either in the natural or in the spiritual? II Timothy 1:7 in the Amplified Bible says that "For God did not give us a spirit of timidity (of cowardice, of craven and cringing and fawning fear), but [He has given us a spirit] of power and of love and of calm and well-balanced mind and discipline and self-control." What this means for me is that we now have the choice of accepting these gifts and using them to our advantage. What dreams, goals, projects, or ideas had God put on the inside of you that you have yet to start? Whatever it is, you have to know that once you put your hand to it, it's going to prosper because God does not start things that He does not intend to get glory from. Confirmation of this can be found in Jeremiah 29:11, which says "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future" The time to change lanes and cruise into that future is now!
     Trust me,  as I sit here at Starbucks in Barnes&Noble, I realize that what I'm writing is much easier said than done but I can also tell you that, this afternoon, when I finally did change lanes and get from behind that truck, not only did I feel liberated but I was kicking myself for wasting all that time driving behind it in the first place. How much further down the road would I be had I just made the move sooner? I hit the gas and never looked back. 

Phase 9 "Devilish Storms, Unshakable Faith"

I've been thinking a lot about kids and how they react when things aren't going they're way. I have a lot of experience working with kids and teenagers, many of whom have emotional and behavioral issues. Through jobs I've had in the past, I've had the privilege of observing some of the best temper tantrums in history. I've had my kids throw things, spit on people, curse, scream, cry, run away, break things, climb onto things, pee/poop on things, etc all in the name of getting the attention of an adult they feel has wronged them or hasn't heard them in some way. As a mental health professional, I hear a lot of the terms other professional use to describe these kids. Words and phrases like "disturbed", "suffering from oppositional defiance", "depressed", "bi-polar" and a wide array of other technical terms that only serve as an excuse to medicate them and make them unaccountable for their behavior. DO NOT get me wrong, I fully believe in (and support) the notion that traumatic events and inadequate parenting make for a lot of suffering in the life of a child. I also fully believe in the spirit world and in the healing power of the True Living God. The Word of the Lord says that there is nothing too hard for Him. What kind of Christian would I be if I limited God's authority by saying that He didn't have the power to free anyone from anything? This isn't what I wanted to write about, so let me get back on track.

In thinking about some of the kids I've worked with, I got to thinking about how we as children of God react to when God does something that we don't like or doesn't do something we feel He should. Here we criminalize and medicate some kids for their behavior in the natural while making excuses for our own in the Spirit. How many times have we gotten angry with God or impatient with His timing or simply lost faith and acted out in an embarrassing, regretful manner? Sure, maybe we don't physically throw things but we find a way to make our pleasure known and felt to others. Like the children of Israel, we complain, get discouraged,  get mad at God, revert to our old ways, and end up spending whatever length of 40 years wandering in our own self-made desert. At least with some of the kids I've worked with, they have the excuse of not being taught any better. Many of us know better and still go through this ebb and flow. 

So, given that the old way isn't working, how should we act when things get rough and how can you tell who's behind the drama? Those of you that have been following this blog for a little while know I'm about to go to the Word. In answer to the first question, just do the exact opposite of just about everything the children of Israel did in the wilderness. Finding yourself lost in the "woods" is not the time to panic, get frustrated, or waste time assigning blame. Often times, we get lost because God has given us a tool or a way to handle an upcoming situation but when we try it, the results are not what we expected so we stop. HUGE RED FLAG people! If God told you to do something, do it until He tells you to do something else. If things get worse, use the tools He gave that much more. Often times, we don't act with enough fervor to have a real impact on the situation. With God, it's always "go hard or go home".

That leads us to "how you can tell who's behind the drama?" The one thing to keep in mind is, God is ALWAYS in control. Yes, there is an enemy but, according to the book of Job, his "power" is under the control of the Lord as well. That being said, some storms we go through are what I heard one Pastor call "devilish storms" and it's important as a believer to know which ones are which. For that knowledge, Matthew 8:24-26 is helpful. Using the NIV version it says: 24 Without warning, a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. 25 The disciples went and woke him, saying, "Lord, save us! We're going to drown!" 26 He replied, "You of little faith, why are you so afraid?" Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm. Taking this line by line, we discover several clues. First, the Word says that the storm came up "without warning". The Lord will send sign after sign before He does something in your life. If everything suddenly changes from calm to chaos, it's a good indication that the storm is of the enemy. Second clue, the waves swept over the boat but the Lord was still asleep. Check in with your spirit. It is SO important to have built up an intimate relationship with the Holy Spirit. If everything around you is totally falling apart yet the Spirit inside you is unaffected, it's another pretty good indicator that the enemy is trying to mess with you. Satan has no control over you but he will use the things and people around you to get to you. Thirdly, the disciples went and disturbed Jesus. When the storm comes and you start going out of your way to disrupt the peace of others, you're in a devilish storm. Everyone around you should not have to suffer just because you're in a bad place. Period. Finally, Jesus was able to rebuke the storm and it immediately calmed. The only time Jesus rebukes anything is when it's of the devil. Jesus would have gladly endured the waves and the winds had they been sent from the Lord. As believers, when we rebuke the waves and winds that come to shake our lives and they DO NOT die down immediately, that storm is of the Lord and He will take it away when He feels like you've learned whatever lesson He's trying to teach you. The Lord WILL have His way and He WILL get your attention one way or the other. Look back over your life when you find yourself sinking in rough waters. Have there been red flags along the way that you ignored? Has your Spirit been at peace in spite of the shakiness around you?  Have you been wreaking havoc in other people's lives due to your own drama? Be honest with yourself because the answers to these questions will indicate what type of storm you're in. 

In either case, the answer to each situation is prayer, worship and fasting. Whatever the mess you're in, and whatever the reason for it, God is one to handle it. Remain faithful at all costs and trust that God would never bring you to something He didn't also intend to bring you out of and go through with you. I realize that I'm making this advice seem like the easiest thing possible to follow but trust me, I know how hard it is believe God sometimes. How great are the consequences of not believing Him though? 

That's all for now, folks. 

Go Out On A Limb..

So Jamba Juice has this slogan that says "Go out on a limb, that's where the fruit is". Of course, me being a writer and a Jesus Freak, I immediately started thinking about how to put that here in a blog. There are so many examples of people in the bible that went out on a limb and tried something a little crazy to get the results they were after. Esther, Ruth, Hosea, Asa, Zacchaeus (he literally climbed a tree!), Noah, Abraham, Hannah, on and on. Today I want to talk about Joshua 24 because it's been ringing in my spirit ever since I read it a few days ago. Just for some background, Moses has died at this point and Joshua has taken over leading the children of Israel. After 40 years of wandering in the desert, a new generation is finally ready to enter into the Promised Land. By the 24th chapter, Joshua is about to die and has called together all the people for what my bible calls "The Covenant Renewal at Shecham".

Joshua starts out by reminding the people of what all God has done for them. As you move into a new chapter in your life, the Lord will often remind you of where He's brought you from as a way to keep you humble and remind you of His faithfulness and protection. The enemy tries to attack us the hardest at the transitional points in our lives, changing jobs, a new baby, a marriage, etc, and these times can be very scary. It's important that we look back over our lives and know that it was God that was with us at every point. Joshua then asks the people if they are going to commit to serving the Lord. This is the point that I want to emphasize. The children of Israel, up until this point, had been relying on everything but God to get them through. They whined and complained in the desert so much that it caused them to miss their destination for 40 years. This new generation had a to make a choice to either follow in their parents footsteps and continue worshiping the false idols or turn completely to God.

Joshua asked them to commit to God right before they were about to enter their Promised Land and right after they had just come out of the desert. They could not rely on their parents anymore, they had to forge a path for themselves. Often times, we think that if our parents are saved or if our Pastor prays over us that's all we need to gain access to Heaven. Here we can clearly see that this is not the case. The new generation had to decide for themselves they wanted to serve God. Their words were not enough for Joshua either. He asks them more than once for their commitment and leaves a remind in the form of a rock to remind them of their words. After they made their chose, they were allowed to have their inheritance. God will never force Himself on us. He allows us to choose for ourselves but all the while He's prepared our Paradise for us. Everything we need is waiting just beyond our choice to serve the Lord wholeheartedly. Right on the cusp of where they had been and where they were going, they were asked to make a decision. Imagine that fork in the road where you've tried living life on your own strength and by your own rules only to find yourself surrounded by a hot,dry, lifeless land where you seem to be going in circles. Are you going to choose God today and enter your Promised Land? Haven't you wandered around lost long enough?

Some other key points that we'll find in this chapter are the parallels between Joshua and Jesus. Joshua asked the people to follow the Lord into the Promised Land and leave they're old ways behind. He then left a symbol of their commitment to remind them of their choice. In the same fashion, Jesus asks us to follow Him, leaving behind who we used to be. When we commit, we are baptized and the Holy Spirit is left with us to keep us and remind us of who we belong to. Another key point is that the end of this chapter, Joshua died. When you live for Jesus, no one is going to follow you around to make sure you are honoring your choice. It is up to you! Everyday you have to not only confess with your mouth that Jesus is your personal Savior but make sure your actions follow suit.

Thirdly, the Promised Land belonged to another tribe before the Israelites showed up on the scene. It was already completely prepared for them. God says that He will give you land you didn't labor for and vineyards you didn't plant. This brings out a couple of sub points. God knew ahead of time that the children of Israel would end up where they were and had the Land being prepared for their arrival. No matter what, God is in control and has a plan for us. We can't mess it up too much for Him to change His mind about us. The Israelites had to be brave enough to go in a conquer the Land. When you're about to get blessed and see that someone else is squatting on your land, rely on what God has told you and don't be afraid to fight for what you know is yours. God will give you His strength for whatever task He's asked you to take on. Lastly, patience is SUPER important! It took a long time for the land the Israelites were about to possess to be ready for them. If you find yourself stuck in between your past and your future, keep pressing forward! Impatience causes us to start doing things our own way which, as we know, can cause us to wander years out of our way for no reason. Stay where you are until God tell you to move. You never know what land He is preparing for you to possess.

I know that this blog post was kind of all over the place but there was just so much meat in this chapter! I strongly encourage you to go back and read through it again. The major point of writing this was to stress that to get the results that we want, to get to the places that God is trying to take us to we have to go out on a limb. That is where we'll find the fruit. Doing the same thing over and over expecting differently is the definition of insanity. Try doing to something you've never done before! Try Jesus. Also, look up the people I mentioned at the beginning of this post. They are all shining examples of people who took a risk and trusted God wholeheartedly.

updates and reminders..

woOow..where did all the time fly to?! These past few weeks have been a whirlwind and I can't even look back and say that I was having a good time. I'm glad I went through all of it though cause now I have a lot of stuff to share with you all. Just to recap, nothing in particular has happened but I kinda felt like I was in a rut. All of a sudden my work schedule changed and I was putting in all sorts of crazy overtime. In addition, I had fallen into a routine of going to work, coming home, dropping my stuff wherever and getting back into bed. If I didn't have anywhere pressing to be, I was in bed. Now that I reflect on it, I was displaying symptoms of depression. I didn't feel sad at all, just complacent. I had settled into a routine and accepted that there was nothing I could do to escape it. Nothing excited me, even though I was laughing and smiling as much as usual. Thursday of last week was when something shifted. On my way to work I began talking to God. It occurred to me that I hadn't REALLY spoken to him in a long time. What little prayers I had prayed had been in passing, quick and heartless. In spite of this, He heard me. After work, I went home and called into Pastor Bessie Sims blog talk radio program where the topic of discussion was "Hearing the Voice of the Lord". On Friday, the Lord told me to fast for 24 hours, which I could only assume was to shake me out of the rut I'd gotten myself into. That night I went to hear Pastor Jonathan Sims preach at Bethel Temple in Richmond. I forget the topic of his message but it was from 2 Chronicles 14 and it was right up my alley! Again I felt that the Lord was speaking directly into my situation. Saturday, I literally spent the entire day at church. It was the beginning of restoration week and every word that I heard was meant for me. By the time Sunday rolled around, I felt like my old self again. Nothing in my life had necessarily changed, but my perspective had shifted.
     Lesson: Whatever little time you have, make sure you dedicate/set aside a portion of it for worship. I know that none of what I went through would have happened had I stayed in my Word like I should have been. It is the times in which things are going well that we should fight just as hard as those times in which the trials come. Take a moment to store up some worship and praise. Take some time to get some prayers stored up to sustain you in those times when you don't feel like praying and worshiping. My Youth Pastor says that there have to be absolutes in your life. There have to be some things that you do no matter what, that you don't compromise on. Make sure that faith, prayer, and worship are 3 of those absolutes. In these last times, God is allowing us to go through more and more trials so that we will depend on Him that much more so. Even if it's just 5 minutes every day, spend some time with Jesus. This isn't the topic that I wanted to write on today but it was needed, just as a reminder. Stay tuned for more! Be blessed, Children of God.

Further reading: Hannah, Asa

Phase 7.. Your Coast is Large Enough

     It's so nice to be able to write today. It's been 10 whole days since my last installment and life has been moving at the speed of light. God has been really taking over in my life, here's a recap: After I got back from snow trip, I promised myself to buckle down and get going on the ministry God put in my heart. So far, things have been running smoothly. Of course, the enemy tried to distract me and discourage me but I give him absolutely no credit whatsoever. I emerged from each one of his "attacks" better and stronger than ever. My hours at work changed all of a sudden, which is why I haven't been writing as often as before. I work from 10-6 Monday-Friday now instead of 4pm Thursday-midnight Saturday. At first I complained but then the Lord reminded me that I had been asking Him for regular hours so I had to just shut my mouth at that point. Another new development was the creation of P.O.W. which stands for Perfect'n Our Worship. Every 4th Saturday, POW ministers a hip hop piece at my church's (also new) Saturday night "Worship Experience" service (2622 San Pablo Ave Berkeley Ca 6:30 pm). Last Saturday was the debut and it was received so well! Needless to say, I'm very excited about all the new changes going on.   
    
     Now that you're all caught up on where I've been the last week and a half, I'm going to change gears and get down to what I really wanted to write about. Last Friday I was driving on the freeway to the DMV in El Cerrito and when I exited on Central Ave, I saw a homeless man on the side of the road. The fact that he was there was nothing new since there are always homeless men over there but when I saw this particular one, something moved in me. The Lord spoke and told me go and feed him. The flesh in me was like "excuse me?!" and kept driving. When I got to the DMV, fully prepared to spend the next 2 hours of my life waiting in line, I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was practically empty. My number was called within in 2 minutes of my sitting down! Not only that, everything I needed to do (transfer title, registration, driving record printout, insurance) was much cheaper than I thought it was going to be! It the middle of my praising and lifting up the name of Jesus on my way back to my car, I thought again of that homeless man. I stopped mid-praise and left like a phony. Here I was celebrating God for His favor after having totally blown off my assignment. Deflated and rebuked, I made my way back towards where I had seen him (armed with a smile and a whopper meal from Burger King). I prayed the whole way that I would be able to find him again. I spotted him laying down and ran towards him, overjoyed that I'd been given a second chance to heed the Lord's calling. I found out that his name was Travis and that he'd made some mistakes in life and lost his way. Although Travis knew God , he had given up hope that anyone cared enough about him to help him. Right when Travis said that, I was flooded with things to share with him about God and how God had not forgotten him. Admittedly, I was scared at first, being a female standing in a secluded alley talking to a strange homeless man about God but I found that talking to him felt natural and safe.

     Fast forward to last night when I was at church. Bishop Veron Ashe was talking about being "in Jesus", not in the sense that we ask for things in His name but that we embody Him so much so that we become Him and then are able to ask for things "as Him". The phrase "in Jesus' name" then become translated as literally "in(as) Jesus". The Bishop went on to share a story about how he was walking past a homeless man that asked for his help. The Bishop said he walked past the man in his church to get to the physical church building but had to stop mid-stride and go back to help the man. "Church" he explained is more than where you go on Sunday, it's who you are everyday. Jesus said in the Word to feed His sheep if you loved Him and that whatsoever things you have done for the least of them, you have done for Him (Mt 25:31-46). Well, if that's true then the homeless man the Bishop almost passed up was "Jesus". Listening to him speak got me thinking about Travis again. In giving him what little I had, I had fed Jesus. Who is "Jesus" in your life? Have you been sent out on a assignment to feed, clothe, serve, care for Him and passed it up in your hurry to get on with your day? How many times have you prayed the Jabez prayer, asking God to enlarge a coast that's already the size of a 3rd world country? Had God been good to you? Has He provided you with more than enough? How did you thank Him? Hopefully, not by shirking your responsibility to give back. Part 7 of this movement is this: If you're the kind of person that always has your hand out, make sure it's to give someone something. Our time for getting has come and gone and it's high we grew up and started thinking about how we can be a blessing to someone else. More often than not, take the time to go out and find a "Jesus" to feed, clothe, and care for, giving all honor and glory to God.

     Further reading: Gen 4:3-5; Ex 35:21; 1 Chr 26:27; Dt 16:16,17; Mt 10:8; 2 Cor 9:6-8;Jn 6:8,9;Mk 12:41-44; 2 Cor 8:10-15

Phase 6..

     I refuse to be one of those people that just rant and rave but I've noticed that when I see an injustice I can't help but to speak on it. It was about 4:30 and for some reason, the Holy Spirit wanted me to be awake. I found out later that I was trying to give me this post to write. I went to the bathroom and after I had used it, I went to wash my hands and noticed that the person who had used it before me (who shall remain nameless but I will say that it was a guy) had left water all over the sink. Who does that?! I stood there thinking about the choice I needed to make before leaving the bathroom. I could either leave the water there or clean it up. Neither choice appealed to me at the moment because a) it was super early and I wanted to just go back to bed, b) I hadn't made the mess in the first place and c) if I left it there, I didn't want whoever came in after me thinking that it was I that had made the mess. In the end, my better half won out and I ended up wiping up the water but I remember being annoyed about it. The whole experience reminded me of how people are in relationship to each other. Are you the kind of person that leaves messes for other people to clean up? Are you so wrapped up in yourself that you lean too heavily on the kindness of those around you? On the flip side, do you find yourself being the one that's left holding the bag all the time? If you answered "yes" to either of these questions, it's time for a change!
  
      As someone who often finds herself being taken advantage of, I can say that it's a crappy place to be. I used to have a close friend that refused to take any kind of responsibility for their poor treatment of others. They lacked planning, forethought, consideration, or respect for anyone other than themselves. If they asked for a ride, they weren't ready (or even home!) when I came to get them. They never had money but always wanted to go places. They waited till the last minute to do everything and constantly sought others to bail them out. The part that got me the most was that they would get mad, whine and shift the blame onto others (usually me) when things went wrong. For example, if they were late showing up places (or failed to show at all) it was because I didn't call to remind them or something like that. Why continue to hang around someone like that, you ask? At the time, I thought that I was being unfair to them, that I was too quick to judge them. Evey time they would start makes excuses for their behavior, I would allow my guilt to rise up and I'd end up giving them another chance. The realization hit me now (literally right now) that my behavior was a form of low self-esteem. People only treat you how you allow them to treat you. Had I stood up for myself in the beginning and kicked that person to the curb, perhaps we both would've learned a lesson on how to treat others. I accepted their poor treatment not thinking that I deserved better. Even after I had stop stopped being friends with them, the guilt would try to rise up and tell me that I hadn't been fair to them. That God would want me to forgive them and allow them another chance. The devil is a liar! God would want me to gently rebuke them and keep it pushin! I chose to love God more and, while I do not begrudge this person, I do not hang around them nearly as much anymore.
  
      Of course, this is yet another piece to the movement. Phase 6 of Operation: Doin Me is "When people show you who they are, believe them the first time! Don't trip off losing people or letting them go on about their business. They more than likely weren't worth your anointing in the first place." The Word of the Lord says in 1 Corinthians 3:1-4 (NIV)
     ¹ Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are still worldly—mere infants in Christ. ² I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready.³ You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere humans? ⁴ For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not mere human beings?

    
     Further reading on speaking positive and the benefits of it: 1 Thess 5:18, Is 58, Deut 28:1-14,  Num 6:23, Prov 18:20-21, Eph 5:18-19, Heb 4:14