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.

Daily Devotional – 10/5/17 “Making you ready!”

There are times when I go through a period of feeling like I’m not doing enough, spiritually. A time when it feels like I’m stuck and not moving. A time when I have to ask myself hard questions. Am I the one holding me up? Am I fearing what’s next? Am I secretly hindering my own progression? Because it sure does feel like it. I find myself disconnecting from things or pulling back from people and not really wanting to go anywhere. I’m not acting funny but I’m dealing with some things that, at times, is hard to explain. If I can be honest with you, it’s even harder for me to understand because I cannot make sense of it. I mean, I’m being faithful and obedient but it still feels … I cannot explain it. Then God tells me, “Daughter, this is simply your period of confinement.” But God, why do I need to be confined? He replies, “Because I am making you ready for the next level.” Okay God, but why confinement? He says, “To keep folk from taking credit for getting you there.” I reply, “Work God.” Somebody today is feeling just like this and neither can you explain it. Beloved, it’s your “Making you Ready” period.

See, God sometimes has to snatch us from people who are only around because they see your purpose and if they stay close, they’ll want recognition for making you into who you’ll become. There are folk who calls themselves mentor but God will take you from their grip because He knows they will gloat over being the reason you are as good as you are. God will sever ties with those ‘spiritual mothers/fathers’ who wants the pat on the back for molding you into the person people see. When it was never them. Look, a good Godly mentor or spiritual covering will never pour into you only to then shout, “Look, I was the one who did that.” Yet, they will be there to help you succeed, for the bible says in Proverbs 20:18, “Plans succeed through good counsel; don’t go to war without wise advice.” A good spiritual guide leads by God and never wants to be glorified. Instead they’ll take your appreciation but not credit for your anointing. This is why you cannot fight this process, reconnect what God has disconnected and chase who God removes. This has to happen.

Daily Devotional – 10/4/17 “Who, What, When, Where and How?”

What do you do when it seems like all you do is still not good enough? When will you be free, when it feels like you keep falling into pit after pit? Where do you go when it feels as if this spiritual walk has failed you? Who do you call on when no one wants to answer your calls anymore? How do you push when your arms are tired and you still aren’t going anywhere? Beloved, I wish I could tell you I had all the answers but I don’t. I’ve prayed and even I don’t have all the answers. What I can tell you is this, don’t stop trusting God. Is it hard and does it hurt? Yes and yes but you cannot give up. Well, you can but what good will that do? I watch my 87-year-young grandmother who is still cooking, cleaning, paying bills, dressing herself and taking care of her house. Did I mention she has cancer? She does yet it doesn’t define or stop her. She is resilient and hardly ever complains AND she is always praying! If you ask her how she made it, she gladly says, “With the help of God.”

God is the one she trust in, even when people let her down. God is the one she believes in, even when the doctor gives bad news. God is the one she seeks, when the world is becoming harder to understand. So let us asks these questions again.

  1. What do you do when it seems like all you do is still not good enough? You keep pressing. For, “I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” – Philippians 3:14

  2. When will you be free, when it feels like you keep falling into pit after pit? When you declare freedom with your mouth. “I will say to the LORD, “My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” – Psalm 91:2

  3. Where do you go when it feels as if this spiritual walk has failed you? On your knees praying, “That according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being.” – Ephesians 3:16

  4. Who do you call on when no one wants to answer your calls anymore? God. “Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.” – John 16:24

  5. How do you push when your arms are tired and you still aren’t going anywhere? With God. “I am the LORD, the God of all the peoples of the world. Is anything too hard for me?” Jeremiah 37:27

Daily Devotional – 10/3/17 “God’s Review!”

When you work on jobs, there is usually a review process that takes place. This review is to access where you are, within, the field you are working and if you have progressed over the course of six months to a year. The more you have evolved, the higher the reward. As I thought about this, it made me think about all the things we may have missed by not scoring high enough on God’s review. Think about it. If God showed up today, to give us our monthly, quarterly or annual review; what would we make? Would it be good enough for promotion or would we need time? If God conducted reviews, right now, would our service deem us worthy of elevation? If we had to sit across from God, at this very moment, what would the reward be? Too many of us are missing out on the blessings, with our names on them, because we are comfortable where we are. Only scoring high enough to keep our position, doing enough just to get by. You know God has called you from where you are yet you’re staying because it is all you’ve known. You use the excuse as being stuck when really, it is you being stubborn because you have seniority where you are. But do you not realize that with God, every move is promotion?

The bible says in Psalm 113:5-9, “Who is like the LORD our God, who is seated on high, who looks far down on the heavens and the earth? He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap, to make them sit with princes, with the princes of his people. He gives the barren woman a home, making her the joyous mother of children. Praise the LORD!” It does not matter what your title is ma’am, it’s your tenacity to persevere. Sir, it doesn’t matter how long you have been sitting in that place, are you learning all you can? Yes, sometimes your position can feel like punishment but God has a plan, are you listening. Yes, sometimes it can feel like you’ve been where you are too long, but God has His reasons; are you taking notes? Will you pass your review when the time comes for promotion? Because God will not promote you by your looks nor the accolades man gives, He does so based on your faithfulness and readiness to handle it. God has you where you are, as part of your purpose but you will miss it trying to get promoted without gaining the right credentials for the place you are seeking to get too. How well will you score on your service review?

Daily Devotional – 10/2/17 “What about today?”

We all know that God has a plan and purpose for our life and when we think of this, we often times think of the future. But did you know God has purpose for our lives today? I know you’re busy working on your business plans for next year but what are you doing about today? Yes, your vision board, for tomorrow, looks good but what is your vision for today? I know you are busy picking out colors for the wedding, for when you meet your spouse, but what are you doing today to prepare? Yeah, you are making preparations for destiny but what are you doing today to get there? We all have dreams of what we hope our lives will look like next year or even five to ten years from now but what are you doing in the meantime? Please understand, I am in no way saying you shouldn’t be preparing for the next phase of life but what about today? Sometimes, I just believe, we can get so caught up in planning for tomorrow that we miss the blessing of today’s purpose. It could be to help that neighbor that’s in need, to pray for a church member, to go and feed the homeless and it could be to speak to the mess that’s in your home. It can possibly be, just take a moment and breathe. However, if you are too focused on tomorrow, you may just miss it. This is why the bible says in Matthew 6:34, “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”

Oh but if we commit our work to God and trust Him, our plans will already be established. Meaning the favor over our lives, today, will balance out the labor of our plans for tomorrow. This doesn’t mean you will not have work to do but it’s simply stating, it will not be as hard as you think. When we commit our work to God, He has the ability to place our names in the mouths of folk we haven’t even met. And those folk will be the ones who will have just what you need tomorrow, for the plan you will write today. Don’t miss it focusing on the future when today is staring you in the face. James 4:13-15 says, “Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” All I’m saying is, don’t miss the purpose of today focusing on the promotion of tomorrow.