Daily Devotional – 1/22/18 “Why God?”

No, this isn’t one of those devotionals where we will spend the next few minutes questioning God on why this/that is or is not happening. In actuality, the question, “Why God,” is directed at you. Yes, you; why did you choose God? I am not looking for the cute, fluffed up answer but I need you to dig deep and think about this thing. You’re probably wondering what difference does it make or even the sense of this question but I’m asking in order for you to really think about it. See, when you truly figure out why you chose God, maybe then you’ll truly start believing, trusting and serving God more. So, I ask you again, why God? Why did you choose God that day? I am not talking about the time, you were 13, went to a revival with your grandmother and joined the mourner’s bench. I’m referring to that time, in the middle of your bedroom, when you felt like you couldn’t go on and you surrendered. I’m talking about that time you stopped running and finally told God yes. I’m talking about that time you were standing at the end of the ledge about to jump but didn’t. The time you were staring at the barrel of the gun but didn’t pull the trigger. The time you counted out the pills but didn’t swallow them. I’m talking about that time you gave up and decided you no longer wanted to live the way you’d been living. I’m talking about the time, you for real chose God.

Why? What made that time different from the rest? What made that night different from all the other nights, you laid awake after committing the sin? What made that morning different from all the other mornings you cried and declared you’d changed? Look, I am not asking this question to pry into your business but I’m asking in order for you to take a reflective look. You chose God for a reason and whatever the reason is/was, it made you trust God, believe in and on God and serve Him. And if God was worthy of being chosen then, what happened to make you doubt Him now because He hasn’t changed. If you trusted Him enough, then, to give yourself to Him; what happened to make you change now because God is still the same. Why God? Today I want you to do something for me. Take a few minutes of alone time, turn off all distractions, focus and go back to that dark place and rediscover the reason you, for real, chose God. Doing this allows you to reignite the fire you once had and the belief in God who was able to save you, bring you out, heal, deliver and set you free. Rediscovering why you chose God, may just be the answer you’ve been looking for.

Daily Devotional – 1/19/18 “When to fight and when to cut off!”

Here it is, another day you’ve woken up feeling defeated. You laid down last night with the weight of the world on your shoulders because it seems like nothing you’re doing is working. You’re praying and fasting and still fighting and perishing. You’ve stopped doing the old things you used to do and still facing more hell. You’ve surrendered and still find suffering in your bed. You’ve been faithful and still fatigued. Devoted and still depressed. Helpful and still hated. Asking yourself and God, why can’t I win sometimes? Well beloved, I simply stopped by to tell you, it may be what you’re fighting with. See, I begin to write this devotional about cutting some stuff off but then the Holy Spirit sent me to Isaiah 2:4 which says, “He shall judge between the nations, and shall decide disputes for many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.” Then He said, go to Joel 3:10 which says, “Hammer your plowshares into swords and your pruning hooks into spears. Train even your weaklings to be warriors.”

God is saying, you’ve been preparing for war when you should be preparing for harvest or you’ve been dressing for harvest when you should be getting suited up for war. And the reason you are not winning is because you are not able to decipher between the two which ultimately has you unprepared to be victorious. Plowshares are a tool used to turn over the dirt and pruning hooks remove dead stuff. A sword and spear is used for thrusting or striking. Look, there will be times when you will need to fight a battle but there are also times you will need to pluck up and cut off some things/people just to stop the damage to your harvest. However, the only way you’ll survive the battle or the cut off is being able to decipher the difference between when you have need of which. Because whether you agree with me or not, there are some things/people, in your vicinity who are not worth fighting over because they are harmful to your growth and this is the time you’ll need the plowshares and pruning hook in order to pluck them from their position and cut them off. Other times, there will be things/people, around you, who are worthy of fighting for because they bring out the best in you and this is when you’ll need the sword and spear to go to war on their behalf. Know when it’s time to fight and when it’s time to prune your space because it can make a difference.

Daily Devotional – 1/18/18 “If you know God then trust God!”

Does anyone else, besides me, find it quite perplexing of how easy it is for us to trust and take folk at their word but we have an issue taking God at His? I see statuses every day saying, “I release this over your life,” “I decree this over you,” or “God told me to tell you,” and all you have to do is type Amen. Hundreds of people respond, “Amen,” or “I receive it” yet some of those same people don’t believe what the bible shares in Jeremiah 29:11-12, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you.” God’s word says He has already made provisions for our end before our beginning even starts but we are skeptical. We trust the GPS but not God’s word that says in Psalm 16:11, “You will make known to me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; In Your right hand there are pleasures forever.” We are lost without our cell phones and electronics but not without Jehovah Jireh, the Lord our provider. We trust the expired medicine in the cabinet but not Jehovah Rapha, the Lord who heals. We trust folk with our lives but question God’s plan. We even eat at restaurants and work potlucks but we have a problem digesting the meat of God’s word.

Beloved, to know God is to trust God because He never, ever lets us down. Understand, I know sometimes we have to have a conversation with God but why is it easy to question Him when you will not question that relationship you don’t trust. Why is it easy to doubt God yet you’ll still ride on those tires with the thread hanging out. Beloved, if God didn’t have plans for our life, He could have allowed us to perish in the pits of our sin. God could have cut us off when we continued to show up at the places we said we’d never go again. You know God could have allowed that overdose to shut your mouth but He didn’t, instead He granted you the opportunity to be a living testimony. God could have allowed the judge to sentence you to years behind bars but He didn’t because He needs the lessons from your mistake to save somebody else. God could have very well allowed your heart to stop on that operating table but He believes in you. Do you believe in Him? What I am sharing is, trust God at ALL times. Even when it doesn’t make logically sense to your natural eyes, trust God. Even when what you are being confronted with doesn’t look like it’ll work in your favor, trust God. Even when you have tried and can’t figure it out, trust God. Trust Him like you trust the button on those pants you barely got in. Trust God like you do the bank for that check you just wrote. Trust God like He holds your best interest at heart because He does. And if you find it hard to trust God, it may be because you don’t know Him as well as you claim because bible shares, “And those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O LORD, have not forsaken those who seek you.” Psalm 9:10

Daily Devotional – 1/17/18 “My next move may be my best move!”

One of the things I like to do, in my limited downtime, is play Farm Hero Saga. I absolutely love this game. What I have noticed while playing is, if you get stuck and cannot figure out a move, the game will give you a hint. Sometimes, though, the hints look as if they aren’t helpful for me to win. What I mean is, it looks like the hint will actually give me something I don’t need. But then I realized, making the move that didn’t look usable actually set me up to win. And for somebody, right now today, you are looking at something that doesn’t fit within the scope of your vision board. You are staring at somebody who didn’t actually meet the requirements on your list. You are contemplating saying no to something or somebody, simply because it/they don’t look as if they are right for the plan you made. Yes, you had it all mapped out because you’ve studied the board but then the next move, you really need to make, isn’t there. Instead you received something tell you to go left when you’ve planned to go right. Well beloved, sometimes the very thing you’re looking at that doesn’t make sense, doesn’t fit and doesn’t look like it belong; could be the one thing that sets you up to win.

Okay, so he doesn’t meet all the requirements of your tall, dark and handsome but he’s short, light and a little bit cute; however he loves you, is a great father and hard worker who pushed you to go back to school. Okay, she isn’t the type you’d typically go for because you’re looking for cute in the face and thin in the waist but she’s a lady who is a little heavier in the waist and takes care of her face; however, she can throw down in the kitchen (and bedroom), faithful and knows what it means to be a helpmate who helped you open that barbershop. Sure, you have your business plan and it looked great to you but it’s been denied three times. You can’t understand why God will allow it but then you get a job, in the same field that now gives you access to the information you need to rework the plan and get approved. You’re sick and can’t seem to get well. You’ve been going to the same doctor for years, the only one you’ll see but then one day, he/she gets sick and you have to see someone else. You’re skeptical at first because the new doctor looks too young but he/she notices an issue with current medicines due to some changes made to it that interacts with your diabetes. Sometimes beloved, the move in front of you is the one set up to make you win. It may not look like it, it may take you out of your comfort zone and it may even knock you back a few steps but if your heart is in God and you trust Him like you say you do, you can be sure the hints God gives are always for your good.

Daily Devotional – 1/16/18 “Start with goodbye!”

Here it is, the third week of the New Year and you’ve been doing, almost, everything right. You’ve been to church every Sunday, bible study once and you’ve even been faithful to the church’s fast. You created the vision board. You’ve prayed, shouted ‘I surrender,’ and told God you’re letting go yet it still feels like life is in a downward spiral. You’re emotionally drained because you cannot sleep and instead of vitamins, doctor says you may be depressed. You’re trying to budget but then the flu happened and it put you behind, again. The kids and spouse are acting half way right but that job, it is an entirely different story. You said you’d pray more and you have but nothing has manifested. You’ve been to the altar, got prophesied over and still nothing. Well beloved, maybe it’s because you haven’t really surrendered. Maybe you haven’t, for real, let go. Sure, on the surface, it looks like it but dig deep. Go on and take a for real look and tell me what you see. Do you still see the old text messages you occasionally go through? Do you still see the inboxes? Do you still see their social media pages? Do you still see the stuff they left at your place? Do you still see the programs, you won’t throw away, from the church you left? In other words, do you see the attachment you still have to your past?

You do know the heart never lies, right? You do know that staying connected to emotional stuff can drain you spiritually, right? Why do you think your new relationship doesn’t work? It can’t when you’re comparing it to the old. Why do you think you’re still stagnant at the new church? You can’t move when you keep saying, we didn’t do it this way at my old church. Trying to do something new with an old mentality is like putting a new garbage bag in a funky garbage can, remove the bag and you will still smell the stench. Yes, the New Year can be new for you when you’re ready. That’s when you for real surrender and for real let go. Stop stalking their pages, answering the “Hey,” texts, showing up to support them and being pulled back to the place you left. Stop pulling off the scab and let the wound close AND heal. Sever the ties that bind. Forgive and/or apologize and move on. Write the eulogy, have the funeral, perform the burial and grieve it. But it starts with goodbye.