Daily Devotional – 7/27/17 “Unseen dirt is still dirt!”

I only wear stud earrings. I don’t know why but it is what I am comfortable with. Well, I usually get a nice pair of sterling silver studs (not too expensive) and once I put them in, they stay there. They endure hair washings, showers, workouts, sleep, sweat, etc. and sometimes, I forget about them. To you, all you see is my stud earrings. You don’t see the dirt that has accumulated on them, you just see the earring. Even I don’t see the dirt inside of them because the earrings are there, serving their purpose, not giving me any problems so I don’t bother them. However, when I remember, I take them out only to find them dirty and in need of cleaning. I mean, the kind of dirty that should have changed their outside appearance but it didn’t. What am I getting at? Sometimes, we can keep stuff close to us that is need of shaking out and cleaning. We hold on to people and things that have become a part of us and as long as they/it don’t bother us, we leave them put. When in fact, they need to be cleaned. No, their outside appearance hasn’t changed but the inside of them has. And if you were to look behind them, take a real good look inside or simply inquire; you’d see the dirt. If you are like me, you are probably reaching for your earrings right now because it has jogged your memory to clean them. What else needs cleaning in your life? You do know you cannot see out of dirty glasses, right? You can’t drink clean water out of a dirty cup. You can’t put clean clothes on a dirty body. You cannot build on a dirty relationship. Neither can you find real, good, clean love with the same dirty heart.

Yes, the outside appearance looks good but what’s hiding beneath? Have you ever walked into a house and looked at the floor and the carpet looked cleaned until you pulled it back? Ever looked at a person’s outer appearance and liked it, only to pull back the covering and was ashamed by their dirt? I’m only asking in order for you to figure out the last time you cleaned some stuff you’ve forgotten about? I know it makes you comfortable and it does not look dirty but it may just need cleaning. You don’t have to believe me but put a black rug at the door you use frequently and leave it here. Unless you have a compulsive nature to wash everything, every week; you’d probably never pick that rug up because the outer still looks okay. However, take that rug and put it in the washer and see if the water don’t reveal the dirt that has been hiding there. Just because it looks clean, don’t mean it is. After a workout where I didn’t sweat, my body still looks clean but I (and you) very well know that is not the case. Hidden, unseen dirt is still dirt.

Daily Devotional – 7/26/17 “The struggle is real!”

We show up to God’s house on Sunday, Tuesday or Wednesday; with remnants of mess still attached to us. Some of us don’t have any real intent to worship but it looks good for you to finally check in somewhere other than home or the club. Yet, you come with the stain of curse words still on your teeth, the fresh smell of pastor bashing on your lips, the mark of mess on your fingertips from just hitting publish on the post you just finished, no twinge of guilt from just sharing a group message about your family member and then you got the audacity to ask why hasn’t God spoken to you yet. Baby, is He supposed to squeeze Himself in between your rants or should He just wait until He thinks you’re done? When will we examine ourselves? It isn’t punishment when God is sometimes silent but it is God being purposefully in His actions. It isn’t God forsaking us when He doesn’t show up in the midst of our storms but sometimes we need to wallow within our own mess to understand it stinks. The struggle is indeed real.

Think back on some stuff you’ve done. Has your conscience ever had you wrestling all night only to roll over and see the dawn of a new day appearing? Well, this is where Jacob was in Genesis 32. For in my studying, these past few days, the bible says in Genesis 32:24, “So Jacob was left alone, and a Man [came and] wrestled with him until daybreak.” In my logic of thinking, I believe the cause of Jacob’s struggle was from his internal conscience from all that he’d done. Do I believe he struggled with God, yes by way of the “man” God allowed to manifest because sometimes our fight is from some stuff we’ve done. Now, you have to find the answer to the question, “How do I win the struggle?” Jacob tells you the answer and it is, you don’t let go. For the bible says in Genesis 32:26-27, “Then He said, “Let Me go, for day is breaking.” But Jacob said, “I will not let You go unless You declare a blessing on me.” Yes, it is hard and you may end up hurt (ask Jacob) but don’t let go. Yes, the struggle is real but the only way you come out of it with a blessing, you’ve got to be willing to struggle with it until God says it’s finished.

Daily Devotional – 7/25/17 “Finish what you start!”

Have you ever seen a runner start a race and then decide, at the halfway point, this is too hard and walk off? Have you ever heard a preacher stop, in the middle of their sermon, and decide to quit simply because you weren’t listening? Have you ever driven 50 miles on a 100 mile trip but decide to turn around when it got dark? Have you ever gone half way through treatment and changed your mind? I’m asking because too many times, we forfeit some stuff by giving up too soon. I know you may not have been through some of the things I’ve mentioned above but I needed to give you a visual. I needed you to see how you are forsaking the blessing of going on. I need you to see the magnitude of giving up too soon. Is it always easy? Heck no. Is it worth it? Heck yes! This is why we have to stop getting defeated by the darkness when God, who is our light, is bright enough to get us through. We give up at the first sign of hardship when God has made us strong enough to endure. Beloved, you’ve got to finish what you start. How else can you get the credit you deserve? I mean, I checked and I have yet to see a reward for the person who gave up. I looked and I didn’t see a place on the scoreboard for someone who almost finished. I checked the website and I didn’t see a degree for somebody who almost graduated. Is there a place for somebody who almost succeeded?

Please understand, I am not talking about those who came in second; they finished. I am not talking about those who got a two degree, they finished. However, I am talking about those of us who begin something, only to quit when it gets tough. Yesterday, I almost quit the gym but then I felt the pain in my hips (from the weight) so I am pushing to finish what I started. I looked at my tuition bill and I almost quit school but I’ve got to finish what I started. I don’t know what you are thinking about giving up or that you are considering quitting but you have to finish what YOU started. In 2 Corinthians 8, Paul is talking to the churches of Macedonia about their giving. He said, they started when they were poor and being tested but their overflowing joy pushed them to give over what they could afford. Now Titus is being urged to go back to encourage them to finish. I am not sharing this in regards to money but for whatever it is you are thinking about quitting. For the bible says in 2 Corinthians 8:10-11, “And this is my opinion about what is helpful for you in this matter: Last year you were the first not only to give, but even to have such a desire. Now finish the work, so that you may complete it just as eagerly as you began, according to your means.” Finish what you’ve started, on your terms. It’s easy to give up but rewarding to finish.

Daily Devotional – 7/24/17 “After this, restoration!”

It is Monday again and a faithful believer got up this morning still bound with stuff the altar pray didn’t help release. You still find yourself in the dark place the word pastor gave didn’t bring you out of. You have found yourself depressed because after crying out to God, He is still silent. You’ve laid out on your face and still your calls go unanswered. You’ve fasted and still no clearer on the situation at hand. Everywhere you look there is trouble. Every time you think you’re getting ahead, you get pushed back. You really believe God has forsaken you. And if matters couldn’t get worse, your checking account is overdrawn, you got a doctor’s appointment for more medicine you cannot afford and the children are showing out. On top of all that it’s hot and the air doesn’t work in your car. You almost didn’t click to read this devotional because you are tired but I am so glad you did. Do I know when your change will come? No. Do I know when relief will show up? No. Do I have all the answers you have been seeking? No. However, I got the bible and I believe it. I got the mercy of God and I trust it. I’ve received grace and it is good. I don’t know what you are praying for my sister. I don’t know what you stand in the need of my brother but God’s promise of restoration is on the way. This is why you cannot give up in your season of dry harvest. This is why you cannot give up in your season of sickness. This is why you cannot give in to the taunts of the enemy in your moment of weakness. God’s promise of restoration is on the way. I don’t have all the answers beloved but I have the word of God and you need to trust it. Trust it more than the chair you’re sitting in, the wheels you ride on, the insurance you pay for, the job you work, the medicine you take and the chain letters on Facebook.

Because in the book of Amos, the prophet is Amos speaking. After the chapters of judgment and Israel’s inability to learn and an unanswered call to repentance, Amos ends the book of Amos with God’s promise of restoration. For he says in Amos 9:11-15, ““In that day I will restore the fallen house of David. I will repair its damaged walls. From the ruins I will rebuild it and restore its former glory. And Israel will possess what is left of Edom and all the nations I have called to be mine.” The Lord has spoken, and he will do these things. “The time will come,” says the Lord, “when the grain and grapes will grow faster than they can be harvested. Then the terraced vineyards on the hills of Israel will drip with sweet wine! I will bring my exiled people of Israel back from distant lands, and they will rebuild their ruined cities and live in them again. They will plant vineyards and gardens; they will eat their crops and drink their wine. I will firmly plant them there in their own land. They will never again be uprooted from the land I have given them,” says the Lord your God.” It does matter what it looks like now so take notes because you will need specifics for the testimony but after this (this is whatever you are facing now that is tempting you to doubt) shall come restoration. You just have to believe enough to get there.

Daily Devotional – 7/21/17 “Rebuild a nation”

Well, I am in my last five weeks of school (y’all still praying?) and the class I am in is called Redemptive Cinema. Redemptive means the act of saving someone from error or evil. Okay! I am already looking side eye because the last two classes have been, shall I say, eventful. But I get in class last night and reading the syllabus, I am already over it. In walks our professor, for the night, who is filling in for our scheduled professor and he has plans for us to watch a movie and then critique it. Our choices were Blind Side, Invictus or 42; the majority chose Invictus. For those of you (like me) who have never seen it, the movie is about Apartheid in South Africa and Nelson Mandela. So, the movie starts and I am about 22% invested but as the movie plays, it grabs my full attention and I will tell you why. See, the people of South Africa had been experiencing apartheid (discrimination by race) for years. Mandela, freshly released from a 27 year prison stint becomes president. His focus (for the sake of the movie) is to reconcile the people of South Africa.


A hard task for a population of people who have been segregated by race however, Mandela tackles this task because while in prison, he studied his enemy – apartheid. And upon his election as president, he uses the one thing that was important to South Africa, their rugby team, The Springboks. His staff is already looking at him crazy because he has bought in white security guards, he is trusting of the whites and such but he tells them, “Forgiveness reaches the soul and it takes away fear.” See, Mandela said there was no time for petty revenge, it was time to build a nation. Why am I sharing this? Well, because there are too many of us fighting each other because of what the enemy did or is doing and it is causing us to lose focus on the bigger issue and that is, rebuilding a nation. For 27 years Mandela studied his enemy and he knew everything about him. Yes, the South Africans resented the colors the rugby team wore, because to them it represented apartheid (enemy) but in order to rebuild, they would have to take the very bricks that was once thrown at them, even if the colors once represented defeat. It wasn’t for pity but it was to bring unity by way of the very thing that caused division. Yes, some of you have been hurt by folk but it will be hurt that brings you back together. But it has to start with forgiving. The captain of the Springboks said, (you need to hear this), “Drink the tears of defeat, this time, but promise to never taste them again.” It is time to let go, you’ve got to forgive and rebuild. Stop looking at the ash pile, of what burned because you’ve got some rebuilding to do.