Waiting is No Longer an Option |Showers’ Blessing PicSpire | Jacqui Showers

Several years ago, my church, House of Prayer & Praise Ministries, released a CD project entitled, Expectancy. One of the tracks bellows out, “We cannot wait.” As I reflected on those words, it took me back to a book written by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. entitled, “Why We Can’t Wait.”

The book outlines the plight of the Negro since arriving in America. Because of the injustices and inhumanity endured from the shores of Africa to the horrible middle passage, to slavery itself and to Jim-Crow, it meticulously outlined why the Negro could no longer wait to experience the same rights and privileges afforded their Caucasian counterparts. The literary work emphatically illustrates that the Negro was no longer going to wait but was ready to act and embrace all the promises as a citizen of the United States.

We still stand on the threshold of full equality in a nation that continues to want to relegate us to a subpar existence. As I think about the impending Voting Rights Act authored by the late Congressman John Lewis and civil rights leader and how there are those who still do not want us to exercise our full rights as citizens of this country, I unequivocally know that we cannot wait. The same things that were happening when Dr. King authored this book, are still prevalent today. In recent years, it has become even more overt.

We can no longer sit idly by while people who do not have our best interest, make decisions about our destiny. Last year, we frightened them to resort back to their “Jim Crow” antics and enact laws to create obstacles and barriers to prevent us from exercising our right to vote. Just like we voted and made a difference, we must have that same tenacity and crowd-power in every election. It is our crowd-power as African Americans that made a difference. It is our crowd-power as African Americans, who caused them to enact laws directly following that election. It is our crowd-power as African Americans where we will overcome any obstacles or barriers and exercise our rights and privileges. No, we cannot wait and are not waiting any more.

Each of us must be committed and dedicated to ensuring that every African American vote. It is our crowd-power that will make the difference. We have an obligation not to wait because of those who gave their lives for us. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and so many others who paid the ultimate price for us to be free. We must honor Dr. King’s legacy by ensuring that we take advantage of our God-given rights and privileges.

We all reach a threshold where we can no longer wait as well. Many have not exercised their privileges and rights. The ugly face of racism prevented African Americans from experiencing the fullness of citizenship in a country they helped to build through their sweat, blood, and tears.

Oftentimes we find ourselves existing below our privilege because we have not tapped into the reservoir of resources that God has given us. No, it was never God’s intention for us to fret over the uncertainty of this world, but to walk in complete victory as we become all He created us to be. For centuries, African Americans were not allowed to experience the privileges inherent in citizenship because of the label of inferiority placed on them. In many instances, we are not experiencing all our rights and privileges, because of inferior labels inflicted on us by either ourselves or others.

There comes a time when you have to say I can no longer wait for change to take place, because I am going to be an active participant in making change happen. There comes a time when you can no longer idly watch life passing you by without developing and exercising your God-given gifts and talents. There comes a time when you no longer allow outside stimulus to prohibit you from tapping into an infinite reservoir of overflowing opportunities. There comes a time when you no longer live as a second-class citizen, and you begin to expect more because you know you are a first-class citizen. There comes a time when you say enough is enough. I am taking back everything that has been withheld from me.

This is the time for you to move from idleness to expectancy. You see expectancy involves action. Expectancy involves forward deliberate motion. When you expect something more, you no longer are immobilized by fear; and “no” and “I can’t” no longer has a place in the lexicon of your life. Your mindset has elevated to expect “yes” and “I can.”

Even when all around you is a raging storm of uncertainty, you realize that you dwell in the heart of the storm where there is abundant life. You come to realize that outward circumstances have no dominion over your inner peace. It is this inner peace and joy that propels you to steadfastly move with an expectation unimaginable. You move from limitation, to the unlimited potential inherent in you from the day you were born. What begins to happen is that the fragments of famine and negativity no longer can skew your vision, because your vision causes them to become a micro dot on the landscape of your life and they no longer control your destiny. Nothing and no one can prevent you from living out everything God envisioned for you.

Change your mindset! Expect more! Take action! Because you cannot afford to wait anymore!

Are you ready to take action? Are you ready to stop waiting, and be the change that makes things happen?

#MartinLutherKingDay #excellenceinservice #showersblessing

15 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Excellence in Service Quotes|Showers’ Blessing Picspire | Jacqui Showers

Today we celebrate the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. He was a man committed to serving others with excellence. As you kick-off your week in celebration of Dr. King’s life and legacy, be committed to having a dream to serve others with excellence in everything you do.

1. “Everybody can be great…because anybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.”
2. If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as a Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say ‘Here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well.’
3. “the time is always right to do the right thing”
4. “On some positions, cowardice asks the question, is it expedient? And then expedience comes along and asks the question, is it politic? Vanity asks the question, is it popular? Conscience asks the question, is it right? There comes a time when one must take the position that is neither safe nor politic nor popular, but he must do it because conscience tells him it is right.”
5. “Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?”
6. “Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness.”
7. “The first question which the priest and the Levite asked was: ‘If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?’ But…the good Samaritan reversed the question: ‘If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?”
8. “An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.”
9. “If I cannot do great things, I can do small things in a great way”
10. “If you lose hope, somehow you lose the vitality that keeps moving, you lose that courage to be, that quality that helps you go on in spite of it all. And so today I still have a dream.”
11. “Not everybody can be famous but everybody can be great, because greatness is determined by service.”
12. “You may be 38 years old, as I happen to be. And one day, some great opportunity stands before you and calls you to stand up for some great principle, some great issue, some great cause. And you refuse to do it because you are afraid…. You refuse to do it because you want to live longer…. You’re afraid that you will lose your job, or you are afraid that you will be criticized or that you will lose your popularity, or you’re afraid that somebody will stab you, or shoot at you or bomb your house; so you refuse to take the stand. Well, you may go on and live until you are 90, but you’re just as dead at 38 as you would be at 90. And the cessation of breathing in your life is but the belated announcement of an earlier death of the spirit.”
13. “The question is not if we will be extremists, but what kind of extremists we will be. The nation and the world are in dire need of creative extremists.”
14. “Use me, God. Show me how to take who I am, who I want to be, and what I can do, and use it for a purpose greater than myself.”
15. “The end of life is not to be happy, nor to achieve pleasure and avoid pain, but to do the will of God, come what may.”

#MartinLutherKingDay #excellenceinservice #showersblessing

Don’t Be So Quick to Give Up | Showers’ Blessing Picspire | Jacqui Showers

Even when I tried to give up, I couldn’t. I tried, but I kept pushing forward and encouraging myself. Sometimes it appeared as though I was so exhausted I was going to drop. But I knew I had to keep forging ahead. If you have ever had to do anything, you know what I’m talking about. You know that it is not by your might or power, but by God’s spirit that propels you forward against all odds.

That’s why giving up can never be an option. You will do whatever it takes to persevere. You must recognize those things that will cause you to want to give up. There has to be something that loosens you from the grips of mediocrity, complacency and passiveness to become diligent, assertive and passionate in your pursuit to go all the way.

I push myself hard. I recognize that I can be consumed with perfectionism and never accomplish what I need to accomplish. I recognize it. There was a time when I didn’t want to recognize that it was a limitation that prevented me from being successful. Now, I confront it head on by calling it out and proactively operating with a spirit of excellence. How? I don’t have to have everything perfect—even if there was such a thing as perfection.

Excellence provides me with an understanding that everything is a work in progress and along the way I can always go back and perfect it. I cannot give up on it. Howbeit, when excellence is at the forefront of my game, I push myself hard. I know that I am not operating within the finiteness of my own strength. That means, if I pull all-nighters and only get a few hours of sleep within a 48-72 hour period, so be it. It’s all worth it!

You must be relentless in your assignment. Recognize those familiar foes that try to creep back into your life and cause you to stumble, fall and never get back up. Recognize new ones that try to blind sight you to give up. When you embrace the reality that every assignment given you has its own set of destiny busters, you will also be alert to their antics and thwart their assignment against your assignment. You won’t be so quick to give up.

Do you easily cave in when the going gets tough? What is causing you to give up? What are you going to do not to give up?

#donotgiveup #showersblessing

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Quotes on Commitment to Humanity | Showers’ Blessing Picspire | Jacqui Showers

As you celebrate Martin Luther King’s birthday remember that we have a responsibility to humankind that extends beyond the boundaries of our existence to the greater good of society. As you walk out this day, remember the legacy of King and his commitment to love humanity, even sacrificing his own life. In today’s climate of divisiveness, know that each of us have been created to serve humankind with compassion and love. Hate against hate breeds hate. Love against hate breeds love. It is the strongest force in the world Love is more powerful than death. We must show love, even to those who do not show love. It is the legacy Martin Luther King Jr. left with us.

1. “There are divisions that continue to exist, but when it is symbolized with an actual wall it becomes very depressing.”

1. “Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness.”

3. “We need leaders not in love with money, but in love with justice.” Not in love with publicity, but in love with humanity.”
4. “Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy.”
5. “Never forget that everything Hitler did in Germany was legal.”
6. “It is not possible to be in favor of justice for some people and not be in favor of justice for all people.”
7. “We’ve learned to fly the air like birds, we’ve learned to swim the seas like fish, and yet we haven’t learned to walk the earth as brothers and sisters.”
8. “We have before us the glorious opportunity to inject a new dimension of love in the veins of our civilization.””
9. “Our scientific power has outrun our spiritual power.” We have guided missiles and misguided men.””
10. “One has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws.”
11. “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”
12. “Love is the most durable power in the world.”
13. “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that.” Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”
14. “We must learn to live together as brothers, or we will perish together as fools.”
15. “Let no man pull you low enough to hate him.”
16. “Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend.”
17. “Nonviolence means avoiding not only external physical violence but also internal violence of spirit.” You not only refuse to shoot a man, but you refuse to hate him.”
18. “I have decided to stick with love.” Hate is too great a burden to bear.”
19. “Society’s punishments are small compared to the wounds we inflict on our soul when we look the other way.””
20. “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”

#MartinLutherKingJrDay #dotherightthing #showersblessing #humanity #wall

10 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Quotes to Do the Right Thing | Showers’ Blessing Picspire | Jacqui Showers

Today we celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who was committed to live out his purpose in service to humankind without fear of the consequences to his own life. As you kick-off your week in celebration of Dr. King’s life and legacy, be committed to rise above yourself in truly living out your dream of service to others by doing what is right regardless of its political, social or cultural consequences. These are 10 quotes by Dr. King to help you through your journey.

1. “You may be 38 years old, as I happen to be. And one day, some great opportunity stands before you and calls you to stand up for some great principle, some great issue, some great cause. And you refuse to do it because you are afraid…. You refuse to do it because you want to live longer…. You’re afraid that you will lose your job, or you are afraid that you will be criticized or that you will lose your popularity, or you’re afraid that somebody will stab you, or shoot at you or bomb your house; so you refuse to take the stand. Well, you may go on and live until you are 90, but you’re just as dead at 38 as you would be at 90. And the cessation of breathing in your life is but the belated announcement of an earlier death of the spirit.”
2. “The time is always right to do the right thing”
3. “On some positions, cowardice asks the question, is it expedient? And then expedience comes along and asks the question, is it politic? Vanity asks the question, is it popular? Conscience asks the question, is it right? There comes a time when one must take the position that is neither safe nor politic nor popular, but he must do it because conscience tells him it is right.”
4. “Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness.”
5. “The first question which the priest and the Levite asked was: ‘If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?’ But…the good Samaritan reversed the question: ‘If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?”
6. “An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.”
7. “Not everybody can be famous but everybody can be great, because greatness is determined by service.”
8. “The question is not if we will be extremists, but what kind of extremists we will be. The nation and the world are in dire need of creative extremists.”
9. “Use me, God. Show me how to take who I am, who I want to be, and what I can do, and use it for a purpose greater than myself.”
10. “The end of life is not to be happy, nor to achieve pleasure and avoid pain, but to do the will of God, come what may.

#MartinLutherKingJrDay #dotherightthing #showersblessing

PRAYER FOR SUCCESS January 16

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Father, Bless us to rise above ourselves and self-centeredness to a place of creative altruism for humankind. Bless us to use our human resources with determined faith in making creative contributions to make this world a better place as we live out our dreams rooted in service to others. Bless us to accept the humanitarian responsibility to make this world a more harmonious place of equality and acceptance, not just for today, but for generations to come. Amen. #showersblessing #prayersforsuccess

 

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5 Ways to Move from Perfection to Excellence |Showers’ Blessing Picspire | Jacqui Showers

Sounds like semantics to me. But it is not and you can easily think that you are operating in excellence when you are actually a perfectionist. If you always want things to be perfect and find yourself never completing anything, then you guessed it that is perfectionism. If you give it your very best and know when to release it that is excellence. Determine for yourself where you are.

1. Many of us suffer from the debilitating limitations of perfectionism when we think we are actually exhibiting a spirit of excellence. You want everything to be perfect and you never complete anything. There is a difference between the two of them. Don’t get deceived there is a close alignment— however, one uplifts (excellence) and the other condemns (perfection).
2. Striving for excellence you may sometimes fall short of your goal, but you don’t stay down. You get up, access your mistakes and keep moving forward. A perfectionist lives in constant condemnation, but when you strive for excellence you realize erasers were created because you would make some mistakes. It is called being human. Sometimes you may miss the mark, but you realize that you always have another chance to get it right.
3. You must also recognize that there is a difference between striving to be perfect versus endeavoring to perform with excellence. Achieving perfection is an impossible task because it never makes allowances for errors or missteps. Consequently, condemnation and discouragement often follow one’s pursuit of perfection because these unrealistic expectations lead to feelings of worthlessness and inadequacy.
4. The challenge is knowing when you have crossed over from performing with a spirit of excellence to operating in perfectionism. Perfectionism is fear-based and excellence is faith-based. Perfectionism always grips you with fear. You are always concerned that you never get it right. Consequently, you don’t even when you do because all you can see is the negative connotations and not the positive ones.
5. Perfectionism impedes your progress. Excellence propels and sets you a part for greatness. You no longer operate in a place of self-services, but you move into serving others. Recognizing the dichotomy of how these two forces operate enables you to move beyond the limitations of perfectionism and propel forward with the illimitable liberating spirit of excellence.

How do you view yourself? Do you find yourself never completing tasks or feeling as though you never get right? Or, are you able to let it go and move on?

 

 

 

 

Victory: Vision Within Vision|Showers’ Blessing Picspire | Jacqui Showers

Locating, writing, affirming, planning, promoting, marketing, managing, leading, mobilizing and celebrating is the victory inherent in the vision within the vision on your road to success. Meet me nightly @ 11:59—A Minute ‘til Midnight Prayer Call as you take quantum leaps to accelerate the realization of vision.  #showersblessing #IDECIDED #vision #victory #marketplaceministry #prayer

Victory: Vision Within Vision
11:59 A Minute ’til Midnight Prayer Call
A Marketplace Mandate 2015
Prayers for Success Boot Camp

Call in @ 11:59 p.m. nightly
Monday Feb 2 to Sunday Feb 9

CALL IN: 209.647.1600
SKYPE: FreeConferencecallHD.2096471600
ACCESS: 378486#

PRAYER COACH
Jacqui Showers
Business Encouragement Coach

Submit prayer requests or praise reports to http://bit.ly/PrayReqSM

 

 

Plan to Win!|Showers’ Blessing Picspire | Jacqui Showers

Maximizing every second of every day begins with planning. Take authority over your week by setting aside time to plan. Planning is your gateway to success. Now declare, “I plan, therefore I am a winner!”  #showersblessing #IDECIDED #planning #themeplace

15 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Quotes of Excellence in Service|Showers’ Blessing Picspire | Jacqui Showers

Today we celebrate the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. He was a man committed to serving others with excellence. As you kick-off your week in celebration of Dr. King’s life and legacy, be committed to having a dream to serve others with excellence in everything you do.

1. “Everybody can be great…because anybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.”
2. If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as a Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say ‘Here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well.’
3. “the time is always right to do the right thing”
4. “On some positions, cowardice asks the question, is it expedient? And then expedience comes along and asks the question, is it politic? Vanity asks the question, is it popular? Conscience asks the question, is it right? There comes a time when one must take the position that is neither safe nor politic nor popular, but he must do it because conscience tells him it is right.”
5. “Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?”
6. “Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness.”
7. “The first question which the priest and the Levite asked was: ‘If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?’ But…the good Samaritan reversed the question: ‘If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?”
8. “An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.”
9. “If I cannot do great things, I can do small things in a great way”
10. “If you lose hope, somehow you lose the vitality that keeps moving, you lose that courage to be, that quality that helps you go on in spite of it all. And so today I still have a dream.”
11. “Not everybody can be famous but everybody can be great, because greatness is determined by service.”
12. “You may be 38 years old, as I happen to be. And one day, some great opportunity stands before you and calls you to stand up for some great principle, some great issue, some great cause. And you refuse to do it because you are afraid…. You refuse to do it because you want to live longer…. You’re afraid that you will lose your job, or you are afraid that you will be criticized or that you will lose your popularity, or you’re afraid that somebody will stab you, or shoot at you or bomb your house; so you refuse to take the stand. Well, you may go on and live until you are 90, but you’re just as dead at 38 as you would be at 90. And the cessation of breathing in your life is but the belated announcement of an earlier death of the spirit.”
13. “The question is not if we will be extremists, but what kind of extremists we will be. The nation and the world are in dire need of creative extremists.”
14. “Use me, God. Show me how to take who I am, who I want to be, and what I can do, and use it for a purpose greater than myself.”
15. “The end of life is not to be happy, nor to achieve pleasure and avoid pain, but to do the will of God, come what may.”

#MartinLutherKingDay #excellenceinservice #showersblessing