Daily Devotional – 10/12/17 “Blessings in obedience!”

There used to be a time I would spend my lunch renewing check advances, a title loan and juggling bills. Sitting in my car, afterwards, with no appetite because the harsh reality was, we were in over our heads and there really wasn’t much left to spare. No, we weren’t trying to outdo anybody but life happened and it happened fast. We bought our first house young and it was a rip off, so after ten years, we decided to give it back to the bank. Then we moved into an apartment that we would pay more for than it was worth. We were in over our heads. Oh but then God snatched me and got me together and if I can be honest, I was glad because I was tired of running from Him. I was sick of sitting in worship acting like my praise was real when it wasn’t. I was tired and when I admitted it, suddenly things changed. I didn’t get a seven-figure a year job, I was still at the same one I had. I didn’t hit the lottery but I came into an inheritance and God was the investor. I learned how to be obedient. Understand when I write this … Obedience doesn’t take away suffering, pain, heartache, sickness and enemies but the bible says in Isaiah 1:19-20, “If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land; but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be eaten by the sword; for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”

I share this for somebody who woke up, fed up and tired because no matter what you do or how you pray, you cannot seem to make it work. Well, what area of your life are you being disobedient in? Take a reflective look and be honest with yourself and then be willing to change. Yes, I know you’ve been handling it on your own but how has that worked for you, so far? Look, I’m not saying every day since, for us, have been all great, they haven’t. There are times I still try to fix it but then I remind myself that God did it before, He’ll do it again. I get it, your checking account may be low before, between and after pay periods yet God still provides. You may not have a mansion or three overly priced cars in the garage yet God is still able but you’ve got to trust in His promise. Stop taking matters into your own hands. Stop going into debt for things you can do without. Say no, sometimes. Sit your tail down and stay home, some nights. Skip the beauty shop and nail salon, some weeks. Put your life into perspective, stop being mad at God and start being obedient and see if your life doesn’t change.

Daily Devotional – 10/11/17 “I know what I heard!”

Sometimes God will send somebody to ask for a portion of your last. And it may happen to be during a time you cannot see how to get more. A time when your drought is at its peak and your refrigerator, cabinets, pantry, gas tank and checking account is bare and there is no check in the mail. A time when you’ve sowed but there’s still no rain for harvest. What do you do? In 1 Kings 17, Elijah shows up at this widow’s home asking for water and a piece of bread, while she is in a place of despair. Her flour barrel is empty but Elijah knows what he heard God say. See, God had already made provisions for her when He told Elijah in 1 Kings 17:9, “Go and live in the village of Zarephath, near the city of Sidon. I have instructed a widow there to feed you.” How else could she feed him if God wouldn’t provide the food? You do remember there’s a drought happening which meant no rain; no rain no harvest, no harvest no flour and no flour no more bread. But Elijah heard what God said, “There will always be flour and olive oil left in your containers until the time when the Lord sends rain and the crops grow again (verse 14)!”

Yes, it seems like everybody needs you when you are in need yourself but will you trust God to provide? Even when you’re being asked for half of your last slice of bread and cannot afford to get more. Even when you are being asked to borrow $20 of the last $30 you have and payday is still 11 days away. Even when you are asked to drive them 30 miles when you only have 50 miles of gas left and no money in your pocket. Will you trust what you heard God say? I know it’s hard when all you see is what’s in front of you but will you trust when God says, “I’ll never leave nor forsake you?” Yea, I may not see it but I know what I heard. I may not have it yet but I know what I heard. They may tell me no, now, but I know what I heard. Checking account low, body filled with pain, the folks are coming to turn off my lights, landlord is at the door and my car won’t start but I know what I heard! “See, the former things have taken place, and new things I declare; before they spring into being, I announce them to you.” – Isaiah 42:9

Daily Devotional – 10/10/17 “Why ask?”

The other day I asked my husband to unload the dishwasher. As soon as he started to put the dishes up, I would go behind him and move them because he wasn’t putting them in the right place. It didn’t matter that he put plates in the right cabinet, the fact was it wasn’t how I would do it. He then asked, what difference it makes how they are stacked because they were put up. (The very thing I asked him to do.) And he raised a valid question because the truth of the matter is, it didn’t matter. However, me being me, I wanted the plates stacked a certain way. Well, why ask? This made me think of how God must feel when we ask Him to do something and then go behind him to fit it to our liking. We ask Him to make us ready for our next season but when He begins to pull stuff from our grasp, we complain. We ask God to enlarge our territory and when He begins to stretch us for said elevation, we try to come up with a way to stop it. We ask God to send us a spouse and He starts to prepare us but then we go and set up a dating profile on Christian Mingle. We ask God to increase our finances and He begins to work but He’s taking too long so we go and sell the title to our car.

Why even ask? If we don’t trust God to do it, why ask? If we cannot wait in expectancy of when He will do it, why ask? Because God will give us what we ask, in faith and sometimes it isn’t done by our specifications. Sometimes, God will give us things in ways we didn’t expect nor understand. Yet, He still gives us what we asked for. And get this … Sometimes the reason you don’t get exactly what you asked for is because your ask didn’t match your favor. You asked for a 2013 Dodge but your favor has you set to receive a 2018 Mercedes. You asked for a spouse with no children but God sent one with 2, a girl and a boy because what you didn’t foresee is cancer taking away your ability to have any. You ask God to shield you from your enemies but He didn’t because He needed them there to witness the preparation of His table in your honor. Things may not always be done the way you like but it still doesn’t mean it isn’t right. If you can do it better, don’t ask someone else to do it. If nobody can do it to your liking, why ask?

Daily Devotional – 10/9/17 “Common Sense!”

As I drove into work this morning, listening to the radio, I heard the lifeline question of the day. Here’s the dilemma. “A husband and wife are raising a son from the husband’s previous relationship. The husband’s mother, takes it upon herself, to invite the son’s mother to every family event even though she is bluntly disrespectful to the wife. What should the husband do?” I heard a few callers and some said, allow God to intervene. Listen, I am a Christian, who loves the Lord wholeheartedly. I believe and I trust Him. He is the head of my life. And as for me and my house … but chile look, that husband needs to put his mom in her place. Respectfully, of course.

I am not saying, he shouldn’t consult God but why does he have to wait for God to intervene when God has given him common sense? I am sure, he is grown enough to know right from wrong and his momma is all the way wrong. Yes we should consult God, through prayer and fasting but sometimes all it takes is common sense, especially if you are in God. Common sense is like, trusting your child to make the right decision when you are not around. This is what God expects of us. He expects us to make decisions, with our sound mind. The bible says in Proverbs 2:6-7, “For the LORD grants wisdom! From his mouth come knowledge and understanding. He grants a treasure of common sense to the honest. He is a shield to those who walk with integrity.” Stop accepting any and everything beloved when God gives us the ability to use common sense, in some situations. Yes, we should pray. Yes, we should seek God. Yes, some situations calls for a “wait on God moment” but sometimes you need to tap into your common sense.

Daily Devotional – 10/6/17 “Not your fight!”

I wish I could tell you everybody cared about you. I wish I could share that everybody has your best interest at heart. I wish I could tell you that everybody who dials your number is calling with the truest intentions or that those who react to your social media posts/pictures are really happy for you. But the truth of the matter is, some are not and do not. There are some folk who wish you’d died those times sickness attacked your body. There are some folk who wake up to see if today is the day, RIP will precede your name. There are people, who show up to places you are, simply to see if you’re still smiling. There are even some who get excited when they hear about your woes. Some who wish they could push you in the pit. And every day, you go out of your way to prove to them you’re good. You make sure to post the pictures of you and your husband to prove to her that he’s still at home. You keep your Snap Chat and Instagram loaded with stuff, proving your happiness. However, here’s a snippet of advice for you. STOP! You don’t have to prove to them the ill will they spoke over your life didn’t work, they see it. You don’t have to go out of your way to make folk see you survived after they wished you bad luck; they know. You don’t have to consistently post to prove you’re happy after all they did to ruin it, they are aware.

Stop trying to prove to folk that what they did, did not work; they are mindful of it. What you need to do is keep living and loving, keep smiling and surviving and keep right on walking in your purpose. Beloved, let them keep playing, you keep praising. Let them keep stressing, you keep enjoying God’s blessings. Let them keep hating, you keep being elevated. Let them keep preying while you keep praying. Stop spending time dealing with meaningless stuff because that’s time you cannot get back. Your life isn’t about them and if they have no bearing on the way you live, your life shouldn’t be spent proving to them it is. This is why the bible says in Matthew 5:43-45, “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.” It’s not your battle so please don’t waste the time or energy trying to win it, you’ll need it for the fights that are yours. But this, it isn’t your fight.