Pagan Poetry

Proverbs 29:25 
It is dangerous to be concerned with what others think of you, but if you trust the Lord, you are safe.

My elementary school didn't know what to do with a small group of advanced 3rd graders, so they sent them to learn with a class of 4th graders. 
I, was in that small group.

I don't recall there being too much of a difference while learning with them except for the fact the 4th grade girls made it clear that they did not want to associate with the 3rd grade girls. 

 There were four girls in particular with a superiority complex that was off the chain; 
Nina, Britne, Tiffany, and Dominique. 
Nina, a bright skinned sandy brown haired girl was the ring leader of the posse.

They were all smart, mature for their age, pretty, and athletic as far as I can remember. 
But also very, very stuck up. 
Mainly because most of their parents had money. I could tell, since they wore the latest sneakers. One of their mothers was actually a teacher at our school. 
And two of them lived in the 'burbs. 

Y'all ever remembered telling somebody in school when you were young, 
"You think you're all that!"? Ha!
Well these girls thought they were all that and then some. 

During lunch, when we'd line up to be escorted to the cafeteria, they'd cut in front of us in line every time to let us know we were beneath them. 
When I tell you, me and my friends loathed them supremely. 
Not because we were jealous. 
They were just low-key bullies. 

They did allow a 3rd grader to join their group though because she was fly, had the latest sneakers like them, and was popular. 
I guess you can say me and my friends were the lame rejects that were made the butt of their jokes on occasion. 

One day we got fed up with their premeditated uppitness and mean girl shenanigans. 
We decided to hatch a plan to infiltrate their clique and tear it down! 
Guess who was the one to volunteer as tribute? 
Me. 

Did I get in? Surprisingly, yeah. 
I don't know or remember what kind of web I spent with my words, but it worked. 
It had to be my words because I was a pauper. 
My parents could only afford me white Keds. 

I wasn't popular at all. 
I still wore ponytails with burnets and was very vocal about playing with Barbie dolls. 
Needless to say, I finessed my way in.  

Even though they let me in, I would be treated less than the bunch. Nina would bring snacks and distribute amongst the group evenly until it was time to share with me. 
One time I had to ask, 

"How come I don't get the same amount as everyone else?" 
Nina would respond, "Because you're new." 
I figured this was their method of initiating me into the group. 
And I would put up with it to remain a part.

These type of subtle psychological experiments would persist until I began to force myself to mimic their attitudes and behavior.  
I convinced my mom to style my hair like theirs minus the burettes. 
I would jump ahead of the lunch lines with the clique. 

I treated my old friends like they were invisible.
I would laugh at their jabs toward them too. 
I'd changed just to be down with the crew. 
As a result, I would forget the original mission. 
I would kind of forget who I was too. 

That is until, one of my old friends called me out on my mess. She basically told me I'd changed and that she didn't like the new girl I'd become. 
I'd overdosed on these girls' acceptance of me so much so that I didn't realize I'd renounced the best parts of me to stay connected to them. 

Somehow, I got caught up in some she-say, she-say amongst the group, which involved me stating my grievances with them overall. I think I read them for filth in my best 3rd grade vernacular.
This triggered Nina to confront me in the girl's bathroom for a showdown.

She spit a few smart mouth words at me and I gave her the hand. 
She grabbed my fingers and pulled them backwards then stepped on one of my feet dirtying up my shoe. 
I cried like a baby. 
I felt like the wet pieces of paper towels me and my old friends chucked up to the ceiling that'd remained stuck up there. 

I went into the classroom face damp with tears and sat with my old friends. 
A word war between the rejects and the mean girls ensued after I'd told them what had just happened. 

 One of the mean girls called my name, telling me to come back over there with them. I got up and one of my old friends yelled out, 
"You're so gullible! Why would you go back over there! They don't like you!" 
That right there, knocked some sense into me. 

The ordeal wound up being squashed by some means. 
After the incident, the mean girls maintained their hierarchy, but they lost a nice chunk of their power over us; the rejects. 

Jeremiah 1:8
Do not be afraid of their faces, For I am with you to deliver you,” says the LORD.

I really wish I can tell you guys that this was my first and only time I would find myself bending over backwards to be accepted by people. 
However, I would be lying. 

It wasn't until I'd surpassed the halfway mark in my journey with God by about a year or so, where I would be betrayed by some people I was performing Cirque du Soleil tricks for, just to be accepted, 
that I'd learn that this was NOT the move! 

Nevertheless, I chose to pull this particular chapter from my archives to illustrate, how potent our desires to be accepted by others is. 
These desires intoxicate. 

We find ourselves tapering what we deem unacceptable to those we're trying to win over. Until we become mere carbon copies of folk that could probably care less about us. 
Isn't that something?

I must add, that this is a very lucrative warfare tactic of the enemy, 
to plant boobie traps made up of the opinions of others.
We'll become feens of people's opinions of us not noticing that we're ensnared. 

Let me tell you something,
God never intended for us to use people's opinions as batteries to keep us motivated. 
I saw a meme that said something close to this, 
"If you need people's opinions to make you, people's opinions can be used to break you." 
Wew!

Being afraid of or worrying about what people may think of you will be the very thing that keeps you stagnant and unfulfilled in your journey with God. 
How can God do great things through you if you're focused on being accepted by people who did not DIE FOR YOU? 

Matter of fact, how many times has God told you to do something THIS YEAR, and you've yet to do it because you're scared of what people might say?
When was the last time God gave you a specific directive but you overrode it to protect your space in a circle of people who will not have to deal with the consequences of your rebellion? 

I feel like I'm stepping on some toes today. 
I don't care! 
It's time to stop drinking the red Koolaid. It's time to stop being preoccupied with deciphering the language of Babylonian bafoons. 
It's time to unsubscribe from this pagan poetry that has kept you hypnotized and bound with low self esteem. 

The only opinions that matters in this hour is God's opinions. The only appraisals that matters in this hour is God's appraisals. The only approval that matters in this hour is God's approval. The only acceptance that matters in this hour is God's acceptance.
Do you catch my drift? 

You want to know the greatest person recorded in the Bible who did not give a Whorton hears a who, what anybody thought of him? 
JESUS. 

Every corner he turned, there were the rigid carnal minded Crypts and Bloods aka Sadducees and Pharisees capping with the law they memorized, lacking no authority to exercise. 

By the way, I challenge you to read the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, in the Message version. 
You will crack up! 

Anyway, whenever they would insert their salt-less opinions into a situation involving Jesus, he would do the Matrix on them, catch the flack, and throw it right back to them. 
His motto: "I AM ABOUT MY FATHER'S BUSINESS." 

You want to know something?  
You're ordained to walk in that same degree of authority. 
You must determine who and what you're going to invest your trust in. 
Will you trust the opinions of man more than God? 
What has trusting other people's opinions done for you but left you fruitless and dejected? 

People's opinions of you will have you overdraft in your productivity because you will be exerting all of your efforts and energy to appease them. 
Here's what I've done to emancipate myself from the opinions of others. 

I studied Jesus' responses to his confused admirers first of all. Then I begin to create a glossary for my own responses to anybody's potential unwarranted opinions of me. I did this not to have clapback material but to serve as reminders for myself to ward off demonic amnesia.

I realized Jesus never had to think about his retorts because he knew who he was in comparison to those hell bent on misunderstanding him. 
So the next thing I did was become reacquainted with my abilities and honed in on what makes me unique. I did homework on myself and learned to master my lane. 

I had to recalibrate my understanding of who I am by referring to what I've been able to overcome and learn while in God. 
This boosted my self esteem and self worth.

Today, I either repel people or attract people. I'm either invited or not invited. 
Sometimes I even have to turn down invitations.
Other times, I'm included or not included. 
I have people who like me and people who don't. 

I have people who shade me on the sly and people who celebrate me just because.
People either move out of my way or they want to be in my space. 
Some places I fit in. Some places I don't. 

And I don't have to compromise, flex, or shape shift to experience either. 

I know a lot of people. But I only rocks with a select few.

I don't have to hate somebody's enemies in order to lock arms with them. 

Because that smells a lot like bondage to me.  

I'm a free agent.
Free agents don't tangle themselves up with this kind of foolery.
It's a waste of time!

I have reached a mental space in my journey where I wish I would jump through another fire hoop or juggle bowling pins for some people who do not have the map nor keys to unlock my destiny. 
Been there. Done that. Got a snapback and a T-shirt.

I would be damned. 

I feel an unction to pray for those reading this post today. 

Heavenly Father, I come boldly before your throne but I lay humbly at your feet on behalf of your people. 

I ask that you accept their urgency to be released from the snares caused by the opinions of man. I ask that you show them the blueprint of their makeup. Show them how unique they are as individuals. Expose the hidden treasures You've vested in Your earthen vessels. 

Mute the mouths of those who mean them no good. Put a muzzle on the mouths of those who've employed themselves as security guards over Your promises for them. 

And turn the volume of their purpose up high. Let the base of their purpose blast through the speakers in their hearts. 

Let it arouse action and initiative in them.

Let them have a one track mind. A mind that is about their Father's business and no one else's. 

Keep them from being distracted by the bounty hunters of hell. 

Help them to not be afraid of men and their faces as You keep your watchful eye on them, leading them in the way they should go. 

And keep Your hand on them that they remain confident but also humble enough to receive the profitable counsel of authorized ambassadors.. 

In Your son Jesus' name. Amen. 

Alright my beautiful people! Let's go forth and do great things, shall we? 

Know that whatever God calls you to do, you're called to do it with your entire life not the portions of yourself that you think people will accept. 
Good day.