Daily Devotional – 12/19/17 “I owe God!”

Can I let you in on a secret? Well, it’s not really a secret but it’s something you may not know. While my mouth is full of praise, gratefulness and thanks to God for all He does for me, this isn’t the reason I serve Him. When I count up my blessings, I thank God. When I look at my family chain, I rejoice of God. When I open my eyes and can see, move my limbs and they work and check my senses and they are still intact; I praise God. But this is not the reason I serve God. No, the real reason I serve God is not for what He does/did but it’s for what He didn’t do. See, God didn’t turn His back on me the many times I turned mine on Him. God didn’t stop trusting me, with the little, even when I didn’t trust myself. God didn’t stop protecting me, even when I was doing stuff I knew wasn’t right. God didn’t close my mouth, even when it was filled with hurtful words toward folk. God didn’t snatch His gifts from my hands, even when I was using them unfavorably. God didn’t halt my walk even when I was in places I had no business being. God didn’t let me die in my sin even when I visited with it too many times to count. So you see, I don’t just serve God for His blessings but I serve Him because He didn’t banish me away when I was a backslider. I don’t serve God for His grace but I do because He didn’t hold a grudge against me even when I was guilty.

This is why I cannot be mad at people who treat me differently because they say I’ve changed, I have. I cannot be disappointed when I no longer get invited, my dance partner is different. I cannot be offended when people talk about me, it comes with the favor. Yes, there are times I want to hang out on Saturday nights but my Sunday mornings are not the same as yours. Yes, there are times I want to gossip but there are people who I need to pray for instead. Yes, there are times I don’t feel like being holy but it is part of my calling. There are days I don’t want to be spiritual but then I think about the many times God spared me. What I’m trying to tell you is, I owe God too much but it might be too much for you to get. Understand me, I still have flaws, I still say somethings I shouldn’t, I still shut down when I’m mad, I still curse, I still love my tattoos; in other words I’m still a natural being but I owe God. I owe Him for the ransom He paid when the enemy was holding me hostage. I owe God. I owe Him for the sacrifice of His Son who drank the majority of suffering meant for me. I owe God. I owe Him for what He didn’t allow to happen. I serve because … I owe God!

Daily Devotional – 12/18/17 “You’re being developed!”

Sometimes God will keep us hidden in order to develop us. Yes, I know you can teach, sing, pray, preach, run a business, lead, take care of a household and will make somebody a great spouse but it isn’t time yet. See, what God is doing is developing you and because He is, you’ve got to sometimes experience being hidden. When film is developed, there is a process.

  1. The film has to be removed from the camera using a film picker. Wondered why things have been happening to you lately? Feeling like you’re being picked on? You are but it is God picking you out.
  2. Once it is removed, it’s placed in a special holder that allows the end to be cut or shaped properly. It’ll hurt but it’s necessary to ensure you fit.
  3. Then, the film is stuck to a (get this) a leader card using special tape. Are you wondering why you haven’t been moved from under your leader? You need them to be developed. Stop rushing your process. And if you don’t have a leader, you need one.
  4. Next, to ensure films are not mixed up, they are given unique serial numbers. Beloved, own your uniqueness; you were not made to be like, sound like, look like or mimic anybody else. Be you!
  5. Then, the film is fed into the processing machine that takes it through:

      A. Developer – “Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me.” Psalm 51:10

      B. Bleaching – “Wash me clean from my guilt. Purify me from my sin.” Psalm 51:2

      C. Fixing – “I will give you back your health and heal your wounds,” says the LORD. “For you are called an outcast–‘Jerusalem for whom no one cares.'” Jeremiah 30:17

      D. Washing – “Wash yourselves and be clean! Get your sins out of my sight. Give up your evil ways.” Isaiah 1:16

      E. Stabilizing – “He lifted me out of the pit of despair, out of the mud and the mire. He set my feet on solid ground and steadied me as I walked along.” Psalm 40:2

      F. Drying – “When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown. When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you.” Isaiah 43:2

It is then, once you’ve gone through this process that you are now ready to be handled by man’s hands. Before, if you ended up in the wrong hands, they could ruin you. Oh but now that you’ve been developed. When folks touch, they may leave handprints but they can be wiped off. This is why, if you skip any of the steps, while in the darkness, you run the risk of being unusable and/or failing in the light. Your time will come but don’t rush the development.

Daily Devotional – 12/15/17 “Jesus will intercede!”

Can I share something with you? They are lyrics to a song by Kirk Franklin, one I’d never heard before but as I was looking for something else this morning, it kept coming up. And I just believe it is for somebody who is in the midst of the worst time in their life. This is for somebody who is standing at the crossroad and thinking of going back the wrong way because it seemed easier then. This is for somebody the enemy has isolated. This is for somebody whose mouth depression is trying to close. This is for somebody who knows the amount of pills that will end it all because you’ve counted them out more than once. This is for somebody who keeps looking at the gun and contemplating using it. This is for somebody who cannot get free from the addiction. For somebody who cannot silence the voices in your head. For somebody who cannot turn off the vision molestation embedded in your mental library. This is for you who is crying reading this. This is for you who just got paid and still don’t have enough money for lunch. This is for you … Simple words to recite because even when it feels like you’re being punished, nothing you do works, nothing you say comes out right and no matter how you try, it’s still broken. Well beloved, Jesus can and will intercede for you.

Song says, “Jesus please mention my name, when you talk to your father today. Life down here feels so strained, my brokenness is in the way. I’m not that good, don’t pray like I should yet I’m amazed you get me through, He sees me but he hears you. Jesus please mention my name, see I got some bad news today. Be nice if you can carry this weight, see it got me questioning my faith. What else to do, the safest place to hide is you. You are the door I now walk through, He sees me but he hears you. He intercedes for me, protects me from things unseen. Right between God and me, He intercedes for me.”

Jesus can and will intercede for you. Are you willing to let Him? You’ve tried everything else, will you now try to trust Jesus because the bible shares in Hebrews 7:24-25, “But because Jesus lives forever, his priesthood lasts forever. Therefore he is able, once and forever, to save those who come to God through him. He lives forever to intercede with God on their behalf.”

Daily Devotional – 12/14/17 “Divorce Day!”

Dearly Beloved,

We are gathered here today, in the sight of God to un-join and to denounce the union of you and your marriage to unholy matrimony. Yes, today beloved, we are giving you the pen to sign ‘dem papers’ because it is time you get free. Look, I know you’ve become comfortable although you know the situation is critical but it’s over. Sure, it is easier to stay rather than starting over but it’s time you come out. Okay, it has the ability to make you feel good, sometimes but it’s doing nothing for your skin or your soul. Today is divorce day.

So, here are the terms of your divorce.

DIVORCE AGREEMENT

This Agreement is made and entered into as of 12/14/17 by and between:

Me and my past, my mistakes, my failures, my low self-esteem, disappointments, those who’ve let me down, my slip-ups and slip-ins.

WHEREAS:

  1. Me and all the things listed above and all those I’ve forgotten were unlawfully bound to each other and
  2. We resided together in cohabitation and
  3. We partied, slept, dwelt and did some things together, we
  4. Are now divorcing due to irreconcilable differences. In other words, what I now desire is different from what the other party can give.
    In consideration of the above, and of the mutual promises and agreements contained in this Divorce Agreement, the parties, intending to be legally bound, do hereby agree as follows:

AGREEMENT TO LIVE SEPARATE AND INDEPENDENT

The Party, of ME, agree to live separate and apart from the other, as if not married and each The Party of Me shall be free from any interference, harassment and authority or control whatsoever of the other Party. The Party of Me shall now have full and unconstrained control over my own destiny.

By execution of this Divorce Agreement, the Party of ME represent and warrant that even though the Parties have not resolved any and all issues or disagreements, as of the 14th day of December in the year 2017; be it dissolved!

This Agreement shall be governed and construed in accordance with the laws and provisions of God and God only.

In Witness Whereof, the Party of Me have intentionally caused this Divorce and is alright with it! Duly executed and delivered as of the date first written above.

It’s your choice but here’s the pen… “For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. Galatians 5:1”

Daily Devotional – 12/13/17 “Keeping power!”

Dear person who woke up complaining,

Maybe the house was too cold but it’s even colder outside. Maybe the children’s noise woke you up but what about the child who longs to make noise but cancer took it away. Maybe you’re complaining because you have to go to work again but what about the husband who is standing on the corner wishing a contractor or just anybody needs his hands today. Maybe you aren’t were you thought you’d be but think about where you’ve come from. Maybe it’s the pain but you’re alive. See, you could be in a war-torn country where you have to walk miles to get fresh water and no medicine? Your food could be the scraps from somebody’s garbage. Your clothes could be scarce and torn, barely covering your body. You could be walking the streets out of your mind, have residual effects from the repeated drug use and liver failure from the years of alcoholism? You could be an inmate number, being labeled by the morgue’s toe tag, hooked up to a breathing machine or those cigarettes could have taken the use of your lungs but you’re here. Okay, what if you are sick, without, unhappy, this or that but when has complaining ever fixed it for you? What you got is what you got! What now?

“But it feels like God is testing me.” He might be. “The enemy won’t leave me alone.” That’s his job. James 1:2-3 says, “Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow.” Beloved, your endurance is tested, every now and then to ensure its keeping power can still sustain. What’s keeping power? When it feels like you are sinking yet you haven’t drowned; that’s keeping power. When you should be crying but you smile instead, that’s keeping power. When you’re still surviving on minimum wage, that’s keeping power. When you should be cursing him/her out but you pray for them, that’s keeping power. What’s keeping power? Power to keep you when you should have lost your mind. Power to keep when you shouldn’t have survive. Power to say, it is well, when you know it isn’t. Baby, this thang you’re dealing with, it’s just testing your endurance and “Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. Romans 5:3-5”

You got this!
Signed,
God’s Messenger.