Monday Morning Motivations Broderick Ellison

“Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”

I was watching a video the other day about how much money one should save for retirement to be considered “successful” and I found myself on edge just listening to the numbers.

How do we NOT be anxious when anxiety is being normalized?
And not just with our wants, but with those things we consider necessary to live.

A constant fear of losing a job, or finding a job, or transitioning out of a career path.
Feeding & clothing ourselves.
Finding love… keeping love.
And on top of all of that… I STILL haven’t washed last night’s dishes.

7 days a week.
365 days a year.
This is the life we’ve accepted as normal.

So how, in the midst of all this, do we NOT be anxious about tomorrow.

In today's episode, I want to dive into how we can reject the normalization of the anxieties that the world tries to spoon-feed us.

... and with that being said, let's dive right in.

“...And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me.’ And he divided his property between them. Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in reckless living.”

If we aren’t careful, we can look at this story and say
… That’ll NEVER be me. I’ll never be like the prodigal son…
Simply because we incorrectly understood what actually made him “prodigal”.

We have heard the story from the angle of the loving father and how he is like God our father.

We have also heard it from the perspective of the older brother and how not to be jealous of the celebration of the return of the lost sheep.

But we have never taken the time to dive into what made the younger brother "prodigal", we just accept him as such.

In today's episode, I want to dive into the "why" of the younger brother and see if we can learn from and avoid his mistakes.

... and with that being said, let's dive right in.

"... So Elisha left him and went back. He took his yoke of oxen and slaughtered them. He burned the plowing equipment to cook the meat and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he set out to follow Elijah and became his servant.”

As I was working out one morning, I was listening to one of my favorite gospel artists, Hezekiah Walker, and I came across a song called “99 and a Half”, and in this  song he sings, “Lord I’m running, trying to make 100 because 99 and a half won’t do” and as I listened to this song I begin to think on all the things that hold me back from fully following the vision that God set before me, and I begin to despair.

Was it fear of the uncertainty? Lack of trust in God?
What was it that  kept me from running full force into the purpose and plan that God lay before me?

And who the heck was Elisha that he didn’t struggle with this?

In today's episode, I want to dive into the character of Elisha and the bold move of burning bridges backwards.

... and with that being said, let's dive right in.

“The apostles said to the Lord, ‘Increase our faith!’
He replied, ‘If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.’ “

Complicated Situations.
When I said that, almost immediately something came to your mind.
For some it’s a job.
For others it might be a person… an entanglement  or situationship… whatever your word of choice may be.
And for others it might be forgiveness, like it was for the disciples in this verse.

But whatever it is… one word can usually sum it up.
Complicated.

In today's episode, I want to dive into why Christ choose a mulberry tree as the epitome =of a complicated situation and why uprooting it is such a big deal.

... and with that being said, let's dive right in.

“When an impure spirit comes out of a person, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it.
Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order.
Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that person is worse than the first...”

What are you replacing your bad habits with?
… more bad habits?

Does accomplishment come in JUST laying down a destructive habit… or have we missed the point entirely?

In today's episode, I want to dive into what it means to truly lay impure spirits and destructive behaviors aside and not return to them "unoccupied".

... and with that being said, let's dive right in.

"Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years. 
When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, ‘Do you want to be made well?’

The sick man answered Him, ‘Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; but while I am coming, another steps down before me.’

Jesus said to him, ‘Rise, take up your bed and walk.’ And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked."

Resignation.
To abandon, quit, surrender, or stand down.

Many times we find ourselves at the doorstep of a blessing, but like the man in this story, we find ourselves making excuses instead of making moves to freedom. How did we end up in such a state, resigned to our circumstances and situation.

In today's episode, I want to dive into how this man found himself face to face with healing and still made excuses... and how we serve a God who offers us healing INSPITE of our excuses.

... and with that being said, let's dive right in.