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.

Daily Devotional – 11/17/17 “What are you willing to sacrifice?”

I sometimes wonder why it has to be so hard, serving God. Yes, I understood I would have to sacrifice some time, some relationships, some invitations, some tears, some hurt and some moments of woes but what I didn’t realize was the ‘what else’. What do I mean? Well, there is something else that comes with saying yes to God. It’s called brokenness. David said to God in Psalm 51:16-17, “For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it; You do not delight in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, A broken and a contrite heart—These, O God, You will not despise.” See, when we come before God, willingly offering Him our broken spirit, it is then we are truly ready to be restored. Because having a broken spirit makes us as useless as a broken jug however coming before God makes me useful again. Not only that but a broken and contrite, that’s repentant, heart. A heart that is repentant is one that is willing to apologize, even if you did nothing wrong. These are the things God will not despise.

Sure, it’s good if I am willing to sacrifice my Saturday nights to study the bible but it’s even better to sacrifice my broken spirit nobody sees. It’s great for me to sacrifice food while I’m fasting but it’s greater to bring before God my broken and remorseful heart you think is whole and happy. Beloved, God isn’t looking at what we can physically offer Him, those things can be made in bulk, over and over again. What He desires are those things man cannot recreate. For God shares in Isaiah 66:2, “All these things my hand has made, and so all these things came to be, declares the LORD. But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word.” Don’t misunderstand me, brokenness hurts but it’s not until death, only to deliverance. So, are you willing to give God your broken spirit and contrite heart even if it hurts? Are you willing to give God the parts of you that desire mercy even if you never get the miracle? Are you willing to withstand the brokenness even if blesses someone else? God desires all of us, even if that means Him breaking that which He created. And if God blesses us only to then break us; can you not imagine what the restoration will look like afterwards? I can it looks mighty good to me.

Daily Devotional – 11/16/17 “Where is your attention fixed?”

I was watching an old episode of Grey’s Anatomy and a young man was bought in who’d been in an accident with his girlfriend. It was Valentine’s Day and the couple was arguing over the gift the boyfriend had given. It was a necklace. To the girlfriend, it was “another old necklace” and she’d expected an engagement ring. He kept saying to her, “you never even opened it,” but that didn’t matter to her because she was expecting the small, velvet box and that’s not what she got. His situation turned critical and when he slipped into a coma, she cried for him to wake up because now he was more important than a ring but it was too late, he died. While the intern was placing his personal items in a bag, she found the necklace, a locket and when she opened it; the inside said “will you marry me.” The girlfriend never opened the necklace because it didn’t look like what she was expecting. How many times have you missed out on blessings because it doesn’t look like what you’ve pictured in your head, pinned to your vision board or sketched in your journal? What have you thrown away, pushed out or walked away from that was actually meant for you simply because it doesn’t match your expectations?

Yes, I know you’ve been dreaming about your husband since college, pictured the house you’d live in and the car you’d drive, the business you’d start or the career you’d have but what if those expectations don’t measure up to what God has for you? What if your expectations weren’t high or big enough? Just what if, what you expected didn’t fit with your destiny? You have to know by now the plans God has for us may not fit within the vision we’ve dreamed, right? This is why His words say in Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” Beloved, His plans for us might not look like our plans. How do you see God’s plans? By focusing your attention on God. When Peter and John healed the lame man, they said to him, “Look at us.” The bible then says in Acts 3:5, “And he fixed his attention on them, expecting to receive something from them.” Where is your attention fixed that could cause you to miss what God has for you? What you need may not look like what you expect. Don’t miss it!

Daily Devotional – 11/14/17 “Isaiah 40:27-31”

Here it is, another Tuesday in another month, almost at the end of another year and somebody is still tarrying at the table of the tempter. Still being troubled by temptation yet you will not trouble the one on the throne. The toil of tomorrow is already terrifying you because you will not use your tongue to trample against your tormentors. You are being tortured by your transgressions and you’re trapped. What now beloved? Will you die there or will you choose to live? Will you drown where you are or will you come up for air, one more time? Are you willing to give up or will you try again? I’m only asking the question, you have to do the work so what will it be? It’s your choice but you need to decide because time will not wait until you get all the tears out. Time is not at your mercy, waiting until you fix you. Time will not stand still for you. What will it be? I can’t answer for you neither can I give you strength to push on. What I can do is point you in the direction of the one who can.

His name is God and He shares with us these words in Isaiah 40:27-31, “O Jacob, how can you say the Lord does not see your troubles? O Israel, how can you say God ignores your rights? Have you never heard? Have you never understood? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of all the earth. He never grows weak or weary. No one can measure the depths of his understanding. He gives power to the weak and strength to the powerless. Even youths will become weak and tired and young men will fall in exhaustion. But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint.” Why an eagle? Because they can see their enemy from a distance, they flock and eat with other eagles, they don’t dwell amongst nor eat of anything dead, they can soar through storms, wait on the right male companion, build their nest out of the enemy’s reach, train their children and when their body has been beat up by what they’ve gone through; they rest through their metamorphosis phase (allowing new feathers to grow). You got this but you’ve got to believe that you do!