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.

Daily Devotional – 12/12/17 “Who are you looking like?”

The bible shares in Genesis 1:27, “God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them,” but what does this really mean? Image is defined in many different ways as it pertains to art, an exact likeness and a tangible or visible representation of something or someone. But as a member of the body of Christ, what does it mean that I am made in God’s image? I thought about this and here’s my logic of thinking. We are not made to look like God, who has seen Him, but we are created in the likeness of His spiritual (not physical) attributes. What are those attributes? Some, as it relates to being a child of God are; love, forgiveness, kindness, holiness, wisdom, truth, grace, mercy, longsuffering and etc. This signifies to me that someone, looking at me, ought to be able to recognize me as belonging to God by the traits I carry. Think about it. When a man and woman create a child together, that child carries the characteristics of the parents, others can see. This is why folk say, “She looks just like her daddy.” This can be said when the person knows the daddy and is able to recognize the image of the daddy in the child.

As children of God, somebody ought to be able to see the resemblance of our daddy in us. Somebody who knows our daddy, should be able to look at us, see the resemblance and say, “She/he looks like her/his daddy.” Can they? In other words, if I see you, will I see the likeness of God in you or will I only see that you simply like God? Does your image give off love and kindness or are you hateful and mean? Does your image portray that of holiness or is it hellish? Will I be able to see wisdom or is that wickedness? Who are you looking like beloved? Please know, it’s not only about being faithful to a place of worship, reciting bible verses and dressing in your nice suits and dresses but it is how you look when the church’s lights are turned off on Sunday. You do know the body of a car can be flawless and yet raggedy as all get out on the inside or a house can appear well constructed until it begins to settle and the cracks show; right? It is the same with us. We can show up dressed the part but the real you will show as soon as you open your mouth or have to fight a battle. All I’m asking is who are you looking like? Because the bibles says in 1 Corinthians 15:49, “Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.”