Ride The Wave 🏄🏽‍♂️

God wrote this I was just the vessel. 

I have realized that opportunities in life are like waves. Most of the time you have to wait for the right one. And not every wave may be for you. Sometimes a great wave or opportunity might come but it might flatten to early. Sometimes we think just because it’s a big and grand opportunity or wave we think “this is the one that we need to take” but sometimes these big waves can kill you! This is where discernment kicks in, expert surfers know which ones are good to ride and which ones are not because #1 they have experienced doing this many times before and #2 they get a gut feeling if this is the one for them.  Confident surfers let other surfers ride a wave that looks good but it’s not for them, this is where confidence and patience comes in because sometimes when we are sitting waiting for our wave we see so many other people riding their wave and great looking ones! We need confidence in knowing God will provide the right wave for us because if not we will end up riding other peoples waves, get hurt and burned out! This is how many people live their lives! And this is where we ask God “OK God I’ve been waiting where is it?!” God wants us to be experts at following the Holy Spirit.

But when we get a calling from God - ok here it is. When we get a calling from God we get a PULL! The bigger the wave the bigger the pull! The bigger the wave the more he will pull you in to get closer to him. Do you hear me? If he pulls you in and wants you closer is because he has a big wave for you. The closer you are to him the easier it is for you to hear him. Don’t fight the pull! Don’t deny his calling! If he’s knocking, open the door! You just have to be patient and trust the timing. Just like the surfers they sit on their boards and paddle and wait and enjoy the view. This is what we have to do in our walk, we have sit and wait and he will speak to us, but when we get that pull we will know there is something coming! And sometimes we lack discernment and we ride the wrong wave and crash and this is why we have to keep on going back out there in the deep end and ride and get the experience after falling down, like Proverbs 24:16 says “For through the righteous fall seven times, they rise again” The more experienced you are following the Holy Spirit the more precision you will have in your decision making. 

And you will know if it’s a God given opportunity or wave because you will glide! You can’t stop it! It’s easier and your not striving. When you’re riding the wave it’s bliss, yes there’s some adjustments you might need to make on your board but God is guiding you throughout the whole way.

The best things about surfers are their expectancy, they go out there early in the morning expecting to ride that beautiful wave, and this is how we should be with God go out there everyday and expect great things! If you tell yourself in the morning “this is the day the lord has made” and expect miracles and abundant blessings, your life will change. Don’t we serve the God of the impossible?! What can’t he do?! I don’t know about you but I’d rather get my hopes up than not expect nothing at all! God is good. 

Moral of the story: ride the wave  🏄🏽‍♂️

KB 

Dinner With Jesus

Imagine if Jesus has invited us to the table for dinner? What would you bring? Would you bring anything? Are we just going to consume the food at the table? Or are we going to bring something and contribute something special to the table? We all have different gifts (our special sauce) we can bring to the table and with all our different dishes, it makes a meal as we all complete each other for contributing to the body of Christ. Every dish counts and every body part counts, no matter how small. Try walking without a pinky toe and you will have no balance. 

What if he he said  “My Child, what have you brought me today?” And you don’t have much or maybe you think you do, but you do! You have a lot inside of you. For so long I didn’t think I had much, I didn’t think I had talent, I didn’t think I was creative, I didn’t think I was good enough, but those were all lies that I believed! For years! And I’m here to tell you that doesn’t have to be your story either! 

Bring whatever you have, bring it to the table. No matter how small. Jesus can Multiply it. Just as he did with the 2 fish and 5 loaves and turned it into feeding five thousand. Don’t be ashamed or think you’re not ready. You have that special unique meal that the table needs, the meal may be incomplete without your dish! There is a seat in your name waiting for you. Now is the time.

And don’t be scared to make it if you think people can’t digest it!! Don’t water your meal down, don’t belittle who you are or what you got for no one. What God wants you to present to the table is what you should present to the table, nothing less! FULL FLAVOR FOR FULL FAVOR. He prepared the table for you before your enemies! He numbered your hairs and had a plan for you when you were in your mother’s womb! He knows who you are! But he can’t bless the watered down version though, he needs the full flavor. 

He is inviting you to bring your uniqueness, he is inviting you to bring your talent, he is inviting you to bring your quirks that you don’t show in public, and you can do it all with the ingredients you have right now. It’s already in your cabinet, you might not think so, but you already have it. You have the spice. You have the sauce.You’re ready. 

Out of studying so many successful entrepreneurs and artists, most of them started before they were ready and many didn’t even know what they were doing! Many of the best songs happened because the artist just felt the urge to sing something and it just flowed out of them! Even as I’m writing this I didn’t research anything, I was inspired by Luke 22:24-30 and it’s truly the holy spirit speaking through me. He will tell you what to say and what to do at the perfect time and place. It’s already inside of us, we have access to God’s timeless wisdom through the Holy Spirit. If you say you don’t have the ingredients, you’re saying what God created isn’t complete or good. But when he created man, he said that is good.

Question for today: what can you create or do with what you got right now? If it’s a YouTube video, do it on your iPhone you don’t need expensive equipment, if it’s writing a book, start with a paragraph in your notes app, if it’s starting a business, read 10 minutes of a business book, call a business owner or sell something on eBay to see how e-commerce works and get momentum on your side. All the ingredients you need are already in your cabinet, and you don’t need to go to culinary school to make it. We have everything inside of us right here right now. Let me know what you will create today!

Remember he already prepared the table! We just gotta bring what we got! 

“You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭23:5-6‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Blessings,

KB

A little faith ...

Hey Fam,

I was reading the famous walking on water story and I was thinking, do we need a lot of faith or a little faith? Now Jesus commanded the disciples to get in the boat in Matthew 14:22. “ Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd”

The disciples thought they saw a ghost during the storm but it was Jesus. The interesting thing is Peter was the only one that needed an extra sign from Jesus to know if that was him or not. The other disciples stayed in the boat as Jesus commanded before the storm. Don’t we all go through seasons of life where we need that extra sign from God? Like God, if this is you I will come out of this boat, I will be willing to walk on water. But I have been realizing sometimes in your faith walk, it takes just as much faith to stay in the boat as it does to walk on water. There might be a season where we know it’s God and we don’t need the spectacular miraculous blessings and we can just stay in our boat and stay focused because we know it’s God. But sometimes there are seasons where we are like God, I need this blessing, I need this sign, is this opportunity from you? Should I make this decision? Then we get a call to walk on water because sometimes we don’t know. God usually doesn't give us the whole staircase, only the first step. 

So when we are in those seasons, do we need a lot of faith? Or a little faith? 

Well.. as we see in Mathew 14:30-31 Peter got out of the boat, he knew God was calling him to step out in faith, and Jesus was waiting for him. Now mind you the crazy part of this whole thing was, there was a storm happening in the midst of this! 

God will many times call you to step out of your boat when things are already hard! Lol. Like God common this too? He called us to step out of all the things your used to, not when things are going well, not when things are perfect but when things look horrendous, when things look like you might never make it, when things look like you might never see tomorrow but this is when little faith comes in.

Peter stepped out and he felt a strong wind and became scared but he called to his father “Lord, please save me!” He cried out to his father (Abba) In times of desperation or in times when we just don’t have the answer when we cry out to our father God he will always save us.

It says in Matthew 14:31 “ Instantly Jesus reached out his hand, caught and held him, saying to him, O you of little faith, why did you doubt” 

Jesus acknowledged that he had little faith and doubt! He knows your fears and your doubts. But this is why we need to be honest with ourselves and God and bring him everything in prayer. Prayer is an honest conversation between you and the father. If you have doubts ask God why? God questioned Peter about his faith but I believe not in an interrogating way, because God knows everything but in a way for Peter to think about. “O you of little faith, why did you doubt” was the last thing Jesus said to Peter before they got into the boat to take the rest of the trip to Gennesaret. Jesus left Peter with that question so he could think about it on the rest of the boat ride. Luckily at that time there was no Instagram, no cell phones so Peter could not be distracted and really think about his doubt. Many times God will ask us questions and sometimes we are not ready for it and we distract ourselves and we miss what God is trying to tell us! We miss the boat.  This is why we need to spend time with God alone and silence to hear what he wants to download in our hearts, mind and soul. 

Ask him to increase your faith, ask him to increase your territory. Let him know that you doubt sometimes, that’s okay. We are only human and we aren’t perfect. Even in our doubt, in our insecurity, in our little faith God can still use us in a big way. Jesus saved Peter from the storm even though Jesus knew he was going to deny him 3 times but he still had Peter write books in the Bible, he still used him to his potential and gave him purpose. You don’t need to have perfect faith to have purpose, you don’t need to have perfect faith to be used by God, you don’t need to be perfect yourself to live a Godly life. 

God loves a little. 

This is why he says all we need is faith the size of a mustard seed in Matthew 13:31. He also said “whomever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much”. This is why in Matthew 18:12 Jesus is happier about finding that one sheep that wandered off than the 99 that didn’t wander off. 

In my experience a little bit turns into a lot

5 mins of exercise turns into 30 mins 

2 mins of prayer turns into 10

1 day of healthy eating can turn into a week 

Writing 1 paragraph turned into 5 pages 

A little activates momentum … and momentum carries you into greatness. You can’t stop a train on its tracks … you can’t stop Lebron coming down the lane. 

An avalanche starts with one snowflake … and be careful when you go out because you know the saying … I’ll just have one drink lol.

Sometimes it’s just that one thing, that little thing. That one time. That one time can push us into greatness or that one time can diminish all of our progress. It might seem little, but that one seed can grow the biggest tree in the garden.

It’s all about a little, we don’t need a lot.

A little faith is how you grow a tree that can withstand any storm and can be a home for birds. What kind of habitat are you creating for everyone around you? It all starts with a little faith the size of a mustard seed. 

How do we grow our faith? I created an acronym called PRAWF. Do you even PRAWF bro? Lol kidding.

Prayer 

Reading and studying the word 

Act & Practice (taking action)

Worship 

Fellowship with other believers 

These things are huge factors in increasing your faith and when it becomes part of your lifestyle your faith gets deeper and stronger. This is why Jesus says in Matthew 7:24” Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock”. < - - We have to put the word into practice. In order words we can’t just read about it we gotta be about it. I feel Jesus asking me “ Are you about this life?” And say even though I miss the mark sometimes, I am about this life, and we can all be together, let’s get it.  What is Jesus asking you today? 

I hope this helped and inspired you! I know God downloaded this on my heart for someone! 

God bless and have a great week !

Kevin Benejam

New Kabel Collection

Kevinbenejam.com

POUR IT OUT

Hey Fam,

I was reading the Bible and this verse in Matthew 26:6 just jumped out at me and I just had to make a video about it

"While Jesus was in Bethany in the home of Simon the Leper, a woman came to him with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, which she POURED on his head as he was reclining at the table"

I was like wow, she wasted no time. She saw the opportunity and went for it. Around this time perfume in alabaster jar cost about a year's worth of wages! But she took the risk and poured it all out on Jesus. She POURED IT OUT!

What can you pour it all into this week?

What opportunity God has presented to you to pour your all into?

Watch here

A couple of things I learned

1) Always Be Ready

2) Don't Care What Others Think (Sometimes you need to ignore conventional wisdom)

3) How To Pour It Out

After she poured it out, the disciples were not pleased and told her she could have sold it and given it to the poor. But Jesus said ya'll need to be quiet what she did to me was beautiful and she will be remembered forever for this action. And she was, she was written in the Gospel for one action of faith.

This lady didn't listen to the naysayers, she didn't listen to the "experts'' , she didn't listen to society, she didn't listen to religion and "wait on the Lord" because the presence of GOD WAS RIGHT THERE! (As it always is for all of us, even though we may not feel it, he is in us and around us at all times) she listened to her gut and just went for it. She was not looking at tomorrow, she was not looking at next week. She was looking at RIGHT NOW. This is true faith. IF WE DON'T HAVE FEAR, THEN WE DON’T NEED FAITH. Faith is stepping into something not knowing the outcome, not knowing if it will work or not. But knowing that Jesus will catch us if we fall and redirect us. And if it is a victory, even better.

While she was pouring the perfume, she may have thought "man this might not work but f*ck it" Do we need a f*ck it moment? We might need to send that email, make that call, go to that audition, write that script, ask that girl out, buy the course, fix your resume, sketch the design, do that workout, reach out for forgiveness, clean that room we have been drudgin over.

There is something God is telling you to do RIGHT NOW. Not tomorrow or next week. If you do it right now you will be honored. HE DOESN'T GIVE YOU THE FULL PLAN ONLY THE NEXT STEP. He gives you your daily bready today. In my experience, the next step will always reveal itself.

"8 When the disciples saw this, they were indignant. “Why this waste?” they asked. 9 “This perfume could have been sold at a high price and the money given to the poor.”

10 Aware of this, Jesus said to them, “Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a beautiful thing to me. 11 The poor you will always have with you,[a] but you will not always have me. 12 When she poured this perfume on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial. 13 Truly I tell you, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”

May God bless you his week and make sure to POUR IT OUT!!

In Gratitude,

Kevin

Take The First Step (Poem)

Take the 1st step 

God will do the rest 

He will turn your life from a mess 

Into the best 

We've been saved 

Welcome to the family 

Here the crest 

How this happens? I don't know 

We cannot lean on our own understanding

The job for a leader can be very demanding 

But it's worth it in the end 

It's going to taste sweet like candy 

I’m getting my dopamine naturally 

No social media 

I’m seeing everything factually 

I'm tired of the fakes

Everyone on the gram celebrating like birthday cakes 

Just gotta be ready for whatever is coming for me 

God is gonna do it 

And he's going to do it wonderfully

By Kevin Benejem

The Year of 2020 Journal

I learned so much this year. The saying don’t take life for granted really hit this year. It’s one thing to think about it, but another when it’s actually in your inner being and you experience it. Anything can truly happen today and tomorrow. I have learned so much about society, myself and God this year. On the surface level I have done things I never done such as launch music singles and music videos. Acted in a couple of short films. Launched clothing for charity, lead my own bible study group, developed even closer relationships with family, community and friends. Started writing my first book. And this was the year I got out of consumer debt and also my health was completely healed.

I also helped my community with local food drives and even though I never wanted to be political I learned a lot being behind the scenes one of the most successful political campaigns ran in New York City history. To say this year was a year of transformation was a understatement. And that’s surface, I also have been developing high grade qualities such as getting up super early and going to sleep early most nights. I developed a new relationship with my phone and technology. And I even deleted my social media and that changed my trajectory of my career and focus.

This year I gained purpose and I gained clarity on who I am and who I want to be and who I don’t want to be. I have gained an insurmountable amount of discipline. I learned so much through community and how being in community and sharing your anxieties and worries with people can be so healing because everyone can learn from your experiences. I learned a lot about Jesus and who he is and not just by reading the Bible but also by trying to live by it as much as possible. What I have learned this year is that when you’re filled with the Holy Spirit, you don’t need to manipulate and outcome, you don’t need the extra knowledge, you don’t need to strive to get that extra relationship by networking, when you’re filled with the Holy Spirit, he will enable you to do miracles on the spot and in every area and circumstance in your life and it’s honestly mind blowing.

There’s been so many mind blowing moments in 2020 for me, moments where I can’t even explain how this happened or how can this happen. Miracles and goodness. There’s been so many moments on the phone with my close friends of me saying “dude this is crazy”. That’s why the scripture says “do not learn on your own understanding” our human minds cannot conceive or perceive what God is doing or going to do in our lives. When we get the spiritual nudge to something we have to do it, because that means he already paved and worked out a path for that exact idea, even if we can’t see it, it’s there we just have to take the first step.

Even if we can’t see it, he’s working, even if we can’t feel it, he’s working. I learned so much about perseverance, faith and also delayed gratification. God has put me through the test and fire but it was honestly worth every second because now I can truly handle anything that comes my way. In the Bible it says all things work our for the good of he who loves him” and it’s true even the periods where I felt like giving up or giving in. Or the times where I felt like I had no idea what I was doing, God was using that to prepare me for the next thing. God is good and faithful and he loves every single one of us.

If there is something inside of us that needs to be pruned or taken out God will use circumstances to help us with that. He will prune us if we don’t prune ourselves. Keep on keeping on, everything is not happening to you but everything is happening FOR YOU.

God bless, KB

How I Stay Inspired & Creative Formula

Im super excited to get into this.

LIVING AN INSPIRED LIFE 

Over the weekend when I was taking a sunset walk on the highline, me and my friend were talking about applying the word to every part of our lives. Then this formula just came from God instantly.

Information + Application + Supplication = Inspired and Creative Life 

For people who know me, know I love PRACTICAL ways of how to apply the principles of the Bible. I absolutely hate being inspired and not knowing what to do next.

What I realized is this formula is what I have been doing when I launch projects, designs, songs or anything of creative and substantial value. I have learned once I feel inspired and aligned, I take that energy and use it. DO NOT WASTE IT. God gave it to us for a reason. In this state is where we can create magic. Unfortunately many people feel inspired then go on and watch netflix, another youtube video or do something totally unproductive. I have been there and realized why my creativity wasn't where it needed to be. 

Each section of the cycle feeds off each other. You can’t have one without the other. You can't just read all day without doing anything. You can’t just act all day without any input although I have tried it, it works but eventually you get burned out because you need some input eventually. And you can't just pray and thank God without doing anything because faith without works is dead. God will always give you something to do. 

This is a cycle where you can use it as an upward spiral. People who live great lives live in an upward cycle. People who live diminishing lives have a downward spiral. Its all about momentum. Without momentum we cannot sustain our progress or success. And it all starts with the little. a marathon starts with a step, a wave start with a drop of water, an avalanche starts with snowflake.

What is one thing you need to start this week Just know all it takes is one step in the right direction and you already fought half the battle.