The Energy of Awesome by Charity Kayembe

Goals are good to have, right? We've certainly been taught that. But what if everything we thought we knew about goal setting was wrong?

Last month I was invited to speak at an event in Palm Springs, California. It was a training conference for a company with products that utilize energetic frequencies to strengthen your biofield and improve your health and wellness.

Because I’m fascinated by how science correlates with our walk in the spirit, I loved learning about the patented technologies as they are based on principles in quantum physics. And since it was a business conference about goodies that enhance our energetic resilience, I thought it would be appropriate (and fun!) to talk about the “energy of awesome.”

The energy of awesome is what we all want to have. It’s the best energy that, ideally, we’d like to live in all the time. Emotion is energy in motion, so for example when we’re talking about the energy of awesome, we are talking about things like love and joy. Peace and hope. Faith and compassion and gratitude. These are all so powerful!

And they are also things that we feel.

Oftentimes, we see happy, successful people and are tempted to think, “Well, of course they’re happy! They live in that gorgeous home, or have that perfect relationship, or own that lucrative business, so of course they are happy and grateful for it.”

Yet the truth is, most successful people had those important qualities before they had all that stuff. That is, they were characteristically joyful and grateful before they made their millions, or married the person of their dreams, or launched their successful ministry. And that’s a big part of what got them there.

They were living in the spirit of thankfulness and compassion and happiness and grace, and those frequencies of positivity are what attracted all that good stuff to them. The energy of awesome was an important piece of their success puzzle, and most high performers would be quick to agree that attitude and spirit and energy are what helped them achieve so much.

Jesus on Goal Setting

Now, it doesn’t really matter what I think about this secret of success, or what you think about it. It matters what God thinks. And how do we discover that? We go to His Word, the Bible. In there, can we find any clear directives or objectives on goal setting? Did Jesus ever tell us what we should be focused on?

He most certainly did. While some people may think a new house or the clothes they want to buy and having the money to spend on them might define success, Jesus said don’t worry about those things. So while it’s wonderful to do well financially, that’s not really the best goal.

So what about something more altruistic and evangelistic? Would helping people spiritually be a worthy goal? Sharing the good news with them, healing them, or discipling them? While all of those are most certainly ministries we can and should be engaged in, there is something else I’d like to draw our attention to that hasn’t received nearly the same airtime as those other important things.

In effect, Jesus said, "Hey, don’t worry about provision or clothes or this other stuff. Instead… seek first His kingdom and His righteousness" (Matthew 6:33).

Well great! That’s a nice, straightforward instruction. And I’m sure we have all heard that before! Yet, since this is something pretty important, that Jesus Himself encourages us to make our goal and aim, that is, an objective He tells us to “seek” … it would probably behoove us to get some clarity on exactly what it is we are meant to be seeking.

The second piece of that verse mentions that we should seek righteousness, which is interesting, because there is another verse that also mentions both righteousness as well as the kingdom… and even gives us a definition of what the kingdom is.

Enter Romans 14:17. The kingdom of God is… righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Wow, now that is good to know!

Immediately we recognize the necessity of righteousness, as it shows up in both of these passages. Yet we also know that it has already been taken care of. He who knew no sin became sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:21). So whatever “righteousness” is and all that it entails (which is a conversation fully outside the scope of this blog), it’s covered. Jesus gave us His righteousness, so it is now our own.

Seek righteousness? We are righteousness. Check.

Emotion: Energy in Motion

That leaves us with the other part of that Scripture, and possibly the most important, since Jesus mentioned it first… seek first the kingdom. So what is the kingdom again? Oh wait, we just read that: it’s peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

Well, what is peace and joy? Those are kingdom emotions. Holy emotions. They are the fruit of the Spirit.

Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such things there is no law, so we really can’t have too much of them (Galatians 5:22-23).

We know joy is powerful, as it’s the joy of the Lord that gives us strength.

We know peace is powerful as that is what rules our hearts and guards our minds.

Compassion is powerful as that was Jesus’ exclusive motivation for ministry.

And we know love is powerful because it is the only thing that never fails!

So what are love and joy and peace and power? Wrap that all together and it’s a whole lot of awesome.

It’s the energy of awesome.

And we get to live in it!

Now what if that were to be our goal? What if that was our objective and aim? What if we were actually instructed to live into this energetic awesomeness, and to live out of it?

Jesus said to seek first the kingdom. The kingdom is peace and joy. Peace and joy are holy emotions. Which in short we can call, the energy of awesome.

Seek first the energy of awesome.

Is that what I’m saying? No, I’m not saying that.

Jesus said it. (basically)

It’s a good word! And while His speaking it makes it so, it’s always nice when science finally catches up with the truth of Scripture. Would you believe that research now shows how important and relevant, and indeed productive and pointful, happiness actually is? 

All the Things

I just finished reading The Happiness Advantage: The Seven Principles of Positive Psychology That Fuel Success and Performance at Work by Shawn Achor. Highly recommended! And not just because all the rigorous research and scientific studies he cites completely support everything I’ve said in this blog.

In his extremely well-documented and entertainingly written book, Achor demonstrates how in every area of life, with people from all walks of life, pursuing all spheres of influence in life… if they are happy, they do better. Much better! At whatever it is they want to do. They get more of whatever it is they want to have. And they more quickly become whoever it is they set out to be.

Businesspeople make more sales and increase profits. Sports teams score more goals and win more games. Relationships with loved ones flourish in a garden of happiness, and we make better decisions, think more creatively, and even live longer and healthier lives when we are happier. As he illustrates, with everyone from his students at Harvard to his corporate trainings in Hong Kong, “Success orbits around the planet of happy” … not the other way around.

And as amazing as all this sounds, it really shouldn’t come as any surprise to us, for this is what Jesus already told us – explicitly and exactly – in the Sermon on the Mount. When we seek first His kingdom… all these things shall be added unto us.

All what things? All THE things. All the stuff. All the goals. The context of those words were in relationship to focusing on provision – worrying about our clothes and food. Those are all fine things and of course our heavenly Father wants us to have them! Indeed, God delights in the prosperity of His servants… so how much more so the prosperity of His beloved sons and daughters?

So the point is not that we shouldn’t have those things; the point is how we get them. The stuff isn’t our goal. It’s not what we seek. We seek the kingdom.

And the kingdom is peace and joy. Those holy emotions that make up the energetic signature of excitement and enthusiasm, the frequency of faith and of fun. The energy of heaven is happiness and thankfulness. The atmosphere of the kingdom is hope and love.

So perhaps that can be our goal and objective. Seeking the kingdom is our aim. And now that we understand more of what the kingdom even is, we can experience it that much more fully.

We seek to live in the holy emotions of God’s heart, the fruit of His Spirit, which can be summed up in the simplest of terms as the energy of awesome.

And then, “all these things” will be given to us.

Go Deeper

Spend some time meditating on Matthew 6:33, Romans 14:17 and Galatians 5:22-23. Ask Holy Spirit what He wants you to understand about these Scriptures. What is His perspective of the kingdom and what aspect of it does He want to reveal to you today?

What does God want to speak to you about the energy of awesome? Is it a worthy and worthwhile frequency in which to live? Does He want you to feel peaceful and joyful and happy and loved? When do you most easily and often feel those kingdom emotions? What are some of the most effective ways you have found to shift your energy and experience these frequencies of faith in your heart?

Purpose by His grace and Spirit’s power to position yourself best to feel His heart most. Co-create with Christ, conduit the kingdom, and bring heaven to earth. Because when you live into the energy of awesome, and live out of it, all these things will be added unto you.