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.

Daily Devotional – 7/20/17 “When the believers gather!”

Yesterday, I started to write the devotional, as I normally do but then I erased it. I started writing again and the same thing. I finally finished what I thought was an okay devotional but the spirit would not let me release it. So, I sat reading it over and over again until finally, I closed it without posting anything. Now, here I am feeling bad because I didn’t post but then I realized, sometimes the blessing is in just showing up. On last Sunday, I preached on the story of Paul, when he was stoned and left for dead. The bible says in Acts 14:20, “But as the believers gathered around him, he got up and went back into the town…” I pinned this scripture not because of what it says but actually due to what it does NOT say. See, it does not say the believers prayed, laid hands, oiled Paul’s head, spoke in tongue, danced or fasted but it says they gathered. See, beloved, sometimes the miracle is in the assembly and not the conversation. Hebrews 10:25 says, “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.” Yes, there will be times for all the things listed above but every once in a while, there will be times that all you need to do is show up.

I don’t know who this is for but you need to stop being mad at the person who didn’t say what you needed when they showed up. You need to forgive that person for not doing what you needed but they showed up. Quit being upset because pastor didn’t say anything at your program, he showed up. The bible says, when the believers gathered Paul got up. And if I can be honest, the only reason you haven’t gotten up yet is because you’re listening for what’s being said instead of looking at the power of the gathering. Stop worrying about the number of people in your church, when the strength is in the believers who showed up. You’re worried about those who haven’t text you while going through but you’re missing those who showed up. Sometimes you need to stop listening and just look because when the believers gather, some things can happen. When the believers gather you can breathe again, you can get up, prison doors can be opened, blinded eyes see again, mute tongues speak again, cancer is healed, organ functions are restored, closed wombs are opened, debts are paid off and applications are approved … when the believers gather. Don’t lay hands, just gather together. Don’t speak, just show up. Don’t text, just come. Don’t post it on Facebook, just show up. For when the believers gather!!

Sunday’s Sermon : “You left me for dead!”

Daily Devotional – 7/18/17 – What do I tithe?

My daughter and I were having a conversation a few days ago about tithing. She had recently spoken to a young lady who said she stopped going to church because no one could explain to her how tithing went from fruits/vegetables and such to money. Before you go there, this young lady’s point was, why the churches of today are so focused on money when tithing wasn’t originally this. **Disclaimer, these are just my thoughts. ** Well, this is where my issue comes in because so many of our millennials are leaving the church in record numbers because they cannot get answers or understanding to things that matter to them. Personally, I was never taught how to tithe or how to know where and when to sow seeds; even though I was raised in the church. But, I do know that tithing changed to physical money when we, most of us, stopped basing our eating on what we harvested in the field. We work, therefore, we receive a paycheck that equates to money. So, the overall issue of tithing should not be whether it is money or harvest because your harvest is money.

Now, we move from this argument to the question that everybody has, yet not often asked, “How much am I really obligated to give?” Well, the bible says in 2 Corinthians 9:6-7, “Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” In other words, will I go to hell if I don’t tithe 10%? The short answer is no. What you tithe is between you and God and this is why you have to ask Him and let Him lead you because He can equip you with the ability to “tithe” more than 10%. The other question, “Do we have a responsibility to care for those over us?” Yes. The bible says in 1 Timothy 5:17-18, “The elders who rule well are to be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching. For the Scripture says, “YOU SHALL NOT MUZZLE THE OX WHILE HE IS THRESHING,” and “The laborer is worthy of his wages.” Taking care of the worship places and those who lead them is a part of our ‘owe’ to God but what you give and when, is between you and God. Think on it like this. In your home, you pay bills. When you have other adults who live there, you often times, expect them to chip in on said bills in order to ensure the house runs. Well, in church, the leader is the head and he, along with you (members) have a responsibility to ensure the house runs. Thus asking you to tithe. Plus, you cannot get upset when your opinion does not count, on how the house should be taken care of, if you are not putting anything into said house.

Daily Devotional – 7/17/17 “Struggle!”

A butterfly begins as a small egg, however, instead of being born as a baby butterfly, it begins as a caterpillar. At birth, the caterpillar’s only responsibility is to eat and they eat in abundance because it helps them to grow. Once they are done and reached their full weight, they hang themselves upside down, spins itself into a hard shell called a chrysalis and stays there. Inside of this hard shell, metamorphosis is happening because the caterpillar is shedding its old body and the markings of a butterfly are appearing. On the outside, all you will see is a hard shell of something, hanging from a twig but inside, some stuff is going on. Finally, when the caterpillar has done all it can, the butterfly will begin to emerge from the shell. If you happen to be watching the process, you will see the butterfly struggling to get out. Get this though, the butterfly has to struggle because the struggle causes blood to be pumped into their wings which are soft and without the struggle, the butterfly would not have the strength to fly. If you try to help it out of the shell, you risk damaging their wings, preventing them from being at their full potential.

Why am I sharing this? Well, because somebody this morning is having a hard time trying to understand why you’re struggling. You have begged God to get you out but He will not. You have tried your best to deal with it but you cannot make logical sense of it. You’ve stood in the mirror, in the shower, over the dishes and you still cannot wrap your mind around your struggle. Sir, ma’am; you’re about to soar and without the struggle, you’d have no strength to fly. And if God were to bring you out, prematurely, you’d risk not being at your full potential. See, I looked up the definition and struggle is defined as to make forceful or violent efforts to get free of restraint or constriction. Without the struggle, you wouldn’t be free. Free from what? Whatever it is that is keeping you restrained where you are. You have to struggle, beloved, because struggling sets you free to fly and when you have the strength to fly; you are then able to get to where God needs you. Look, the only time the word struggle is in the KJV of the bible is Genesis 25:22, where Rebekah is pregnant with twins and it says, “And the children struggled together within her; and she said, if it be so, why am I thus? And she went to inquire of the LORD,” and the Lord told her in Genesis 25:23, “Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger.” You are struggling now but baby you have no idea what your struggle will birth. All you have to do is be willing to fight through your struggle and not give up! Struggle is the strength you need to survive.