Daily Devotional – 8/18/17 “This time!”

You are a yes away from getting the deliverance you need, don’t miss it. You are one approval away from getting out the valley, don’t give up yet. You are one harvest from blooming, don’t count yourself out. You are one interview away from what you have been praying for, don’t you give in. Yes, your answer was delayed but it will not count, this time. Yes, you were laid off but it cannot stop you, this time. Yes, you were overlooked but they have to see you, this time. Yes, you were denied but they have to approve you, this time. For God is saying this is the time you shall get a return on the tears you sowed. Those nights of pacing, they are about to pay off. Those days of toiling to make ends meet, they are about to pay off. Those midnight sessions spent crying to God, they are about to pay off. Those mornings spent in prayer, they are about to pay off. This time! This time, it will prove your service was not in vain. This time, you will understand why. This time, it will begin to make sense. This time, you will seek God and He will answer.

Yet, the only way you make it to THIS TIME, is by staying in that time. What’s that time? That time when you didn’t know how you’d make it. That time when you thought you wouldn’t survive the sickness. That time you didn’t think you’d make it out the abusive marriage. That time you couldn’t see how you’d face tomorrow. That time you lost everything. That time when you were evicted. That time disease took your sight. That time your womb was shut. That time your account was overdrawn day after day. That time you didn’t have a car, house, joy or hope. That time you were counted out. That time you were laughed at and mocked. That time when nothing made sense. Oh but because you held on that time, God is about to do it for you this time. When is this time? When you tell God like David did in Psalm 31:15, “My times are in your hand; rescue me from the hand of my enemies and from my persecutors!” And when you understand like Daniel in Daniel 2:20-22, “Daniel answered and said: “Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, to whom belong wisdom and might. He changes times and seasons; he removes kings and sets up kings; he gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding; he reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with him.” Will you believe, trust and hope in God this time? For this time is about to reap for you a harvest of overflow that is about to blow your mind.

Daily Devotional – 8/17/17 “Fear not!”

Did you know fear has the ability to paralyze us? Did you also know fear has the power to rip things right out of our grip? Funny how rip is the same as RIP, signifying the killing of our dreams because of fear. What has fear kept you away from? What has fear taken from you? Some can testify it being a job in a new state. Some can say relationships. And even more can say destinies. Oh but fret not beloved because forgiveness, faith and trust has the ability to restore what fear destroys; if you let it. See, when you forgive you are releasing yourself from the fear of being exactly what ‘they’ said you could not be. When you have faith, you can step out believing, “what God has for me, is for me,” even when you don’t see it. When you trust, you walk as if you’ve already received the yes. I know this and so do you because the bible tells us in Isaiah 41:10, “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”

You know this right? But if I can take you back for just a minute (this ought to shout you), the bible says in Isaiah 41:9, “I took you from the ends of the earth, from its farthest corners I called you. I said, ‘You are my servant’; I have chosen you and have not rejected you.” Is that not worthy of telling God thank you? When you thought it was over, God called you out to live. When you thought it would never get better, God gave you His best. When you thought there was no way out, God open the doors. When you thought the darkness would consume you, God gave you night vision. Stop letting fear take what is yours. Or should I say, stop giving away what is rightfully yours. Your destiny is depending on you. Your worth is waiting on you. Your gifts have been granted to you. And if you are having trouble standing up to fear, here is the solution. For the bible says in Psalm 34:4, “I sought the LORD, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears.” If that isn’t enough, Psalm 56:3-4, “When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can flesh do to me?”

 

Fear not

Daily Devotional – 8/16/17 “Rethink that visit!”

I do not know who this is for but the Holy Spirit told me to tell you, you need to rethink that visit. What visit? Wherever you are planning to go that once caused you sorrow. See, the place you are about to subject yourself to AGAIN, was the very place that caused you pain, heartache and grief before. Do not go. I don’t care how sweet it seems neither the fond memories you used to have, rethink that visit. Think about it beloved. Every time you go there, you begin to relive those painful moments of your life. Every time you visit that headstone, you relive the minutes of abuse. Each time you answer the phone and hear the voice, it reminds you of the times that same voice verbally abused you. Each time those hands touch you, you cringe at the thought of the physical abuse you endured. Each time you go back to the scene of the crime, you relive the moments like it was yesterday. When you visit that place of worship, you feel the same hurt and sometimes hate. Every time!

This is why, God told me to tell you to rethink that visit. Yes, I know you need to get over it but that begins by forgiving yourself, forgiving them and letting go. You do not have to go back to the place of pain to do that. You don’t have to confront the monster who molested you, you can forgive from a distance. You don’t have to face the spouse you’re divorcing, sign the papers and move on. You don’t have to prove to folk that you survived, they know because they follow you. Baby, it is time we become like Paul who says in 2 Corinthians 2:1, “For I made up my mind not to make another painful visit to you.” Paul had plans to revisit the Corinthian church but he said in 2 Corinthians 1:23, “I call God as my witness–and I stake my life on it–that it was in order to spare you that I did not return to Corinth,” but the people criticized him. All he was doing was sparing them yet they called him unreliable and untrustworthy. Does this sound familiar? You try to spare those folk the wrath of God yet when you go running back to somebody or something who has hurt you (revisiting) only to leave in worse shape than before by them pushing you out the door with harsher words/actions; you open them to God’s vengeance. Don’t go this time. Instead, think on Paul’s words in 2 Corinthians 2:2, “For if I cause you pain, who is there to make me glad but the one whom I have pained?” Rethink that visit, it will not be good for you.

Daily Devotional – 8/14/17 “It’s just the edge!”

Have you ever rolled to the very end of the bed, only to catch yourself from falling? Ever got close enough then suddenly woke up right on time? What about waking up, to find yourself wrapped in a sheet and one move from being on the floor? Or moving your arm, only to realize you are one turn from hitting the nightstand? Have you? I have and it made me think about all the times we’ve been at the edge, of this thang called life, knowing we should have fallen but suddenly, something happened. Or those times we’ve come to the end of all we can do mentally, knowing if we move slightly, it’ll be all over. Looking out at the edge, breathing heavy and heart pounding knowing, I should have fallen over but I didn’t. Anybody else besides me experienced an “I almost fell” moment? Thinking, had it not been for God stopping me, I should have been dead. Had it not been for the sheet of salvation keeping me, I could be out my mind, right now. Had it not been for the sudden opening of my eyes, I would have found myself in another jacked up situation, crying over another catastrophic circumstance, weeping over the woes of this world and fighting in a fixed fight I have no chance of winning.

But something happened … your eyes were opened to realize, I’m just at the edge and got another chance to step back. I’m just at the edge and I’m still safe. I’m just at the edge and can roll back over. I’m just at the edge and I can get up. Because being at the edge doesn’t mean I’m out, it’s just mean I almost. I almost what? I almost gave up, I almost gave in, I almost jumped, I almost died, I almost committed suicide, I almost counted myself out and I almost let go. BUT I DIDN’T! I don’t care what it looks like, step back. I don’t care what it feels like, roll over. I don’t care what they said, what does God say? Open your eyes beloved, you are just at the edge. Open your eyes sister/brother, it’s just the edge. And being at the edge means there is still a chance. It’s not over until God says it is! It’s just the edge!

Daily Devotional – 8/11/17 “Can you hear Him now?”

We watched another movie in class on last night and this one was called The Sunset Limited. An hour and a half movie featuring Samuel L. Jackson and Tommie Lee Jones sitting in the apartment of Jackson after he’d stopped Jones from trying to commit suicide. [Oh, Jones didn’t believe in God.] I will not go into the full movie (you need to watch it) but there was one thing Jackson said that I had to share. He said to Jones, “You don’t have to be virtuous in order to hear God speak, you just need to be quiet!” Listen, many times we mistakenly think we have to be on some sort of spiritual level in order to hear from God. We think it takes speaking in tongue, being able to shout, prophecy or lead intercessory prayer. We think we need to have everything straight and be perfect in our being. But who is perfect, other than God? Yes, we are all called to be virtuous, that’s having high morals, however, if today is the day you happen to lack virtue, God can still speak to you. If today just happens to be a day you don’t feel like being virtuous, God can still speak to you. If you were to make a mistake today, God can still speak to you. You simply need to be quiet long enough to hear Him.

Listen, I get it; there will be some days you will not feel like being morally correct and you are entitled but don’t think you cannot hear from God. Beloved, I was a jacked up, good for nothing, raggedy, mess of a person yet God still spoke to me. I was set in my ways, attitude on ten, could curse with the best of them yet God still spoke. AND I HEARD HIM! It wasn’t because I was morally good, all the time, but it was those days I hushed and listened. Even when I could not understand why God would use me, I shut up and listened. Even when I found myself running from Him, there were nights I had no choice but to listen. God does not speak because you are good but He speaks because of your potential to be. You simply need to be quiet to listen. How will you know it’s God? Well, the bible says in John 10:27, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.”