Daily Devotional – 11/30/17 “Asking for my want, getting what I need!”

A comment was left on a devotional penned back in 2015, titled “want vs. need,” about the lame man at the gate called Beautiful. You know the story, he asked for alms but instead Peter said in Acts 3:6, “I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!” The commenter was upset because she thought I was insinuating God will only give us what we need and not what we want. Please understand, I am never offended when someone corrects me or gives their opinions and I pray she isn’t by my clarification. She said, “There is nothing wrong with wanting something, even a mansion or a Ferrari!” Although I agree with this statement, I have to wonder what good would it do for God to give me a Ferrari when I’m living in a two bedroom apartment with three children, working 4 part-time jobs and about to lose my mind simply because I want it? Yea, I may ride clean but I’m hungry, angry and tired. Instead God will give me what I need which may be a Honda until the time comes for Him to upgrade me. Yes, God will absolutely give us what we need and want, I am a living witness but sometimes we aren’t ready to handle what it is we think we want at the time of our ask.

With this lame man; everyday somebody had to bring him to the gate, lay him there where he’d spend all day begging, come and pick him up, take him home; where he probably lived with somebody else because he couldn’t care for himself. He’d have to wait until they cleaned him, dressed/undressed him and fed him. Sure, Peter and John could have given him with what he wanted but he would have been back the next day, begging again. Instead, they blessed him with what he needed and it changed his life. Acts 3:8 shares, “And leaping up, he stood and began to walk, and entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God.” And get this, because Peter and John granted his need, it allowed those around, who didn’t believe, to witness the very thing Jesus had been preaching about before His crucifixion. This is why Peter says in Acts 3:15-16, “You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. And we are witnesses of this fact! Through faith in the name of Jesus, this man was healed–and you know how crippled he was before. Faith in Jesus’ name has healed him before your very eyes.” I said it in 2015 and I will say it again, sometimes you might not get what you want but you’ll get what you need. Not saying God isn’t capable of supplying both but it means God loves us enough to say, not now or even, here’s something better.

Daily Devotional – 11/29/17 “Process of preparation!”

Somebody woke up this morning contemplating doing some things you wouldn’t normally do. Times have gotten so hard, you don’t know if you are coming or going. You’ve tried to make sense of it but you cannot. And it seems the more you try, the more broken you feel. Marriage isn’t going right, child acting out, sickness will not let you go, death angel showed up, bills behind, coworkers trying you and you are one word away from snapping. It feels like you’re losing your mind. Well beloved, I showed up on your timeline, your phone, computer or email to tell you; breaking is part of the process and it sometimes come after everything seemed to finally settle in place. Why? It’s part of the process of preparation. See, in the bible, whenever Jesus prepared to bless a hungry multitude, bible says, “When he had given thanks, he broke it.” You don’t have to believe me but it’s in 1 Corinthians 11:24, Matthew 26:26, Mark 14:22, Luke 22:19 (the last supper), Matthew 14:19 (when He fed the 5000+) and Matthew 15:36 (when He fed the 4000). Do you see what is happening? God is preparing you. First, He blesses you, then He breaks you and finally He uses you. Breaking is part of the process of preparation.

I don’t know what you are being prepared for but I can surmise that it’s about to bless a multitude of folk but you’ll have to make it pass the breaking. Yeah, God is preparing you for the masses but you have to endure the breaking. God is about to utilize the gift He placed in your belly but you have to tolerate the breaking. Okay, you’ve lost some stuff, some relationships have ended, you’ve received some declines, invitations have stopped and your phone is no longer ringing but it is part of the process of preparation. And God only puts you through the process of preparation in order for you to then profit off the pieces left over. Because there is a profit coming but you have to suffer the breaking. How do I know? The bible tells me so in Matthew 14:20, “And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up twelve baskets full of the broken pieces left over.” Twelve (12), God’s power and authority, perfect number and completeness. So you see, you cannot give up because withstanding the breaking gets you a prosperous return on the process.

Daily Devotional – 11/28/17 “Work your faith!”

How dare you say, out of your mouth, that God isn’t answering your prayers when you’ve yet to work your faith. God told you to trust Him to make your ends meet but then the enemy showed up and you got that check advance anyway. Now, you’re crying because you forgot about it and it hit your account and it’s overdrawn. You got the audacity to part your lips and move your tongue to form a sound of doubt, to the power of God, when you’re still sitting in the place He told you to depart from months ago? You laugh at anybody who testifies on the goodness of a God who uses us in spite of our flaws because “you” say He didn’t come to your rescue when you were lost. But have you stopped to think, maybe you missed it because you weren’t in tune to hear His voice? Beloved, God does what God does but what are you doing? Some years ago, I was in a place of frustration and anger because I could not figure out why things kept happening to us. Why can I not get my head above water? I’m going to church every Sunday with my bible and notepad and it’s filled with what pastor said but I’m still suffering. I’m working with the youth and showing up when needed but I’m still in a desolate place.

Then it donned on me, my faithfulness was good but there was no work being done. Yeah, I looked busy to the person on the outside looking in, but my work was dead. Yes, I was showing up for service but I didn’t have a sacrifice. I was devoted to the church but there was no devotion to God. I was a faithful worker but not a fruitful worshipper. My faith was without works. Oh but now, when God tells me to trust Him, I do while working my faith. Even when I cannot see how this little is going to last until payday, I work my faith. When it seems like I will not get well, I work my faith. When it feels like everybody is against me, I work my faith. When the enemy is knocking on my door, I work my faith. When trouble shows up, I work my faith. How? By standing still (that’s not trying to fix it) and trusting God. By getting up, getting dressed and walking with my head held high when all I want to do is crawl into the nearest dark hole. By wearing my $5 dress and $7 shoes, acting as if I got millions in the bank. By acting like royalty while still shopping at the Dollar Tree and Goodwill. Why? Because I am working my faith. What are you doing? “For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.” James 2:26

Daily Devotional – 11/27/17 “You have to believe!”

Here it is, another Monday; the last one in November and 34 days before this year ends and somebody is feeling just as lost as this time last year. Maybe it’s because you have taken more losses than wins, this year. Maybe it’s because you have been sicker, this year. Maybe it’s because you have experienced depression, this year. Maybe you have seen more storms, this year. And just maybe you are tired of everything and everybody. Tired of scraping together and still struggling, praying with no answer, church hopping and no real connection, seeking but only finding trouble, trying to trust but it’s getting harder and waiting in expectancy but the enemy is calling your name. Yes, you’ve turned the other cheek but it still hurts. You’ve ignored the ignorance but it still affects you. You’ve unfriended and blocked some folk but what they said is still pricking at your heart. Yes, you’ve been reading the bible yet it seems the more you open it, the harder the attacks. And you still have to get up because somebody is depending on you. You still have to push because your destiny is depending on you. You still have to stand, while hurt and in pain because your life is depending on it.

I wish I had the magic answer, the one scripture to erase all your pain, that one song to soothe you, the one word to comfort you and the remedy to all that ails you but … wait, I do. As cliché as it is, I got it. His name is El Shaddai (Lord God Almighty), Jehovah Nissi (Banner over me), Jehovah Rohi (My Shepherd), Jehovah Rapha (My Healer), Jehovah Jireh (My Provider), Jehovah Shalom (My Peace), Jehovah Tsidkenu (Righteousness), El Olam (Everlasting) and El Gibhor (Mighty). If that isn’t enough, grandma says He’s alpha and omega, He’s beginning and the end, He’s joy in sorrow and hope for tomorrow, He’s the author and finisher of our faith, He’s midnight company keeper, He’s a wiper of our tears and the answer to our fears, He a heavy load carrier and burden bearer, He’s credit repairer and blessing sharer, He can restore your mind and give sight to the blind, He can make a lame man walk and the mute to talk, He can do what doctors couldn’t and what man wouldn’t AND if He can do all of this, can He not do what you are in need of? Of course He can and surely He will. You simply have to believe in His power and trust in His word.

Daily Devotional – 11/22/17 “Keep pouring!”

On my drive to work this morning, I heard the song by CeCe Winans, “Alabaster box.” I’ve heard the song before and even read the biblical story, written in the synoptic gospels but something in her lyrics stood out to me, this time. And it is this verse that says, “The room grew still as she made her way to Jesus. She stumbled through the tears that make her blind. She felt such pain, some spoke in anger, heard folks whisper; there’s no place here for her kind.” Who has ever found yourself in a position of being talked about, lied on and shamed when all you want to do is get to the feet of Jesus? You’re being misused because somebody said you didn’t belong and all you want to do is bring all that you have to Jesus. Nobody has to remind you of all that you’ve gone through and done because you live it every day but all you need is to get close to Him. Anybody ever been there or felt like this? Walking, stumbling because the tears are limiting your sight. In pain because no matter what you’ve tried, it still will not work. Hearing the anger in folk’s voice when they speak your name yet you’ve got to walk on. Trying to block out the whispers but they still seem to reach that place in your heart and it hurts. Yet, are you still willing to press your way to Jesus, pouring out all that you have onto Him?

See, the alabaster jar and the oil was very expensive; most in the town didn’t own it yet this “immoral” woman does and instead of selling it, she willingly pours it on the head of Jesus. Even when the disciples became angry at her for wasting the expensive oil, she poured it on Jesus’ head because what they considered waste, Jesus considered worship. And He says in Matthew 26:12, “She has poured this perfume on me to prepare my body for burial.” What does this mean? This means, you keep pouring even when it doesn’t make sense to those around you. You keep pouring into that place of worship folk keep talking about. You keep pouring out even when nobody is calling to fill your calendar. You keep pouring even when you’re being hurt by family and friends. Keep pouring even when it seems like waste to those around you. Keep pouring now because it is writing your history tomorrow. It’ll soon make sense! Jesus told those who were murmuring in the room in Matthew 26:13, “I tell you the truth, wherever the Good News is preached throughout the world, this woman’s deed will be remembered and discussed.” Just keep pouring.