Daily Devotional – 6/13/17 “Where is the Great Commission?”

When Jesus rose from the grave, He did so in order to fulfill the prophecy that had been spoken. But something else happened and it is recorded in Matthew 28:16-20. It says, “Then the eleven disciples left for Galilee, going to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him—but some of them doubted! Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.””

How many of you are neglecting this charge because you think it’s only for those called? How many of you have the mindset that it isn’t your place to help bring people to Christ? How many of you have your mouth closed when you’re in the midst of lost folk? Haven’t you seen the news or counted the RIPs? Some folk aren’t making it inside the 4 walls of the church, except by way of a casket. This means, ministry has to go into the streets with some voices that haven’t been heard before. We can no longer wait until Sunday. There are some living rooms that need to be changed to altars. There are some street corners that need to hold prayer meetings. There are some beauty and barber shops that need to be makeshift worship places. And some stores that need to be used. Why? That’s where the people are and we need to meet them there. This is why I use social media. I don’t care if you say it’s too long to read because one of these days, you’ll find the time and it will be just what you need. Even then I pray it’s by choice and not force.

Dear God,
Forgive us for not being the disciples you have called us to be. Forgive us for not doing your will. And forgive us for selfishly thinking of only ourselves. God, we know there is a cry across this nation that will only be silenced by your word. Raise up a people who are not afraid to serve you. Give a message to those who are relevant for this season who can be used to manifest miracles in dry places. Use the hands, feet and voices of those you’ve chosen to lay hands, cast out, rebuke and call down. We need mantle carriers who aren’t afraid to go into enemy territories to set your people free. We need worshippers whose war cry can shatter walls. We need intercessors who can truly intercede. Do it God above our expectations. Change the sound until it is pleasing in your ears! Prune until you are pleased with our appearance. And burn in us until our sacrifice smells good in your nostrils.
Amen.

Daily Devotional – 6/12/17 “Crumb blessing!”

“Now there was a rich man dressed in purple and fine linen, who lived each day in joyous splendor. And a beggar named Lazarus lay at his gate, covered with sores and longing to be fed with the crumbs that fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.”

Sometimes the blessing isn’t in the ‘lot’ that you give but it is in the crumbs. In the parable above, Lazarus (the beggar) did not ask for a meal, he only wanted the little that fell from the rich man’s table. The beggar did not ask for a chicken leg, he said I’ll take the crumbs. He didn’t ask for a cake of bread, he said the crumbs will do. Yet many times we miss the blessing in the crumbs. Our mind has been tricked to believe we need it all when the crumbs will do. Our eyes gravitate to the abundance when the crumbs will satisfy. Beloved, there is a blessing, even in the crumbs. In this parable, the rich man wouldn’t have even missed the crumbs. In fact, it would not have even hurt him to give Lazarus a meal but he didn’t. Instead, he walked past him, every time he moved by way of the gate. And because of this, when the rich man died, he went to hell and when he got there, he cried out, “Father Abraham, have mercy on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue. For I am in agony in this fire (Luke 16:24).” The rich man now needed Lazarus, the beggar.

What’s my point? A few things actually.

– Number one, sometimes the blessing isn’t in your sowing of abundance because God will bless your crumbs. The beggar could have been the very thing used to save the rich man from being sent to hell. What small seed are you holding that God has asked of you to sow?

– Number two, you never know who you will need. The rich man thought the beggar needed him when in actuality, it was the rich man who needed the beggar. The very person you are overlooking, in this season, could be the one person you need to bring you through it.

– Number three, don’t miss the blessing by walking by it. The rich man missed it because his focus was on the appearance of the beggar. All he saw was a man covered in sores who was begging. When, in actuality, what he missed was a man covered in sores who was blessing. Don’t miss your blessing simply because it doesn’t look like what you were expecting.

Daily Devotional – 6/9/17 “Get to your healing!”

Stop wondering if your life is meaningless, if your living is in vain and if the world would be better off without you. Baby, if God didn’t have need of you, He would have allowed all the hell you’ve been through to take you out. If God didn’t have a necessity for your life, Stage 4 cancer would have closed your mouth permanently. If God didn’t have a predestined plan for your life, that 20% kidney function would have you buried by now. Beloved, if God did not need the gifts He placed on the inside of you, to manifest, that suicide attempt would have succeeded. I don’t know who this is for but somebody is in the midst of suffering and although your selfies show smiles, you’re stuck. Yea, I see you posting the jokes but you aren’t laughing at any of them. Yea, you keep your hair and clothes on point but it isn’t doing anything for the inner you. You are suffering beloved and it is almost to the point of death. You are silently crying out for help but you don’t want to cry loud because then you will have to admit you are not perfect. You’re suffering sir but your position won’t let you admit it because then you’ll actually be human. You’re suffering ma’am but you can’t let those who look up to you see it. Your fight isn’t against the world, it’s internal. Your fight isn’t against those who have left, it’s inner. Your fight isn’t against your mom/dad, it is inside.

In the bible, Luke 13, to be exact; there was a woman who had been bent over for 18 years. The bible says it was caused by an evil spirit and when Jesus saw her, He called her to Him and said to her, “Woman, you are released from your illness. Then He laid His hands on her; and immediately she stood erect again and she began glorifying and praising God. (Luke 13:12-13).” Whomever you are, you need a place to become free and that place is in God. You know it and this is the real reason you won’t go to worship. You believe somebody is going to call you out. Well, the only way for you to get free, you need to get close enough to His presence in order for hands to be laid on you. You need to get within the flow of the anointing in order for your healing to come forth. You need to get to an altar, close to somebody who is, for real, flowing in the oil of the Holy Spirit to be set free. But, you have to go in with faith that says you’re ready to be set free. Don’t go to the altar if you are not ready because then you’ll be fighting against the release. There is healing waiting for you but you need to be in the right place to get it. That church you’ve been afraid to go to, your healing is there. That pastor/preacher who you don’t like because there is something about him/her, your deliverance is there. That phone call you keep putting off, your healing is there. You just need to get up and get it.

Daily Devotional – 6/8/17 “Leave something to the imagination!”

Some of us are in the same place of struggling as last year and if I can be honest, for some it is worse. And get this, it isn’t because of situations and circumstances but it is from trying to fit into a place you’ve outgrown. You are trying to make relationships work that died last year. You are in covenant with folk who broke their end of the deal months ago. You are still trying to get your likes and views up on Facebook so you’ll stop talking about God and deal with mess. You’re still trying to get folk to understand you. WHY? Stop trying to explain everything to folk who will not take the time to understand. Let them wonder about you because as long as they are curious, they will show up. And while they are showing to be nosey, they’ll mess around and get saved. Stop putting all your business on social media. My grandma always says, “You have to leave something to the imagination.” Beloved, there will always be more folk at your funeral than at the celebration and that is something you have to deal with. It’s not because they care about you or your family, some of them are simply happy you’ve expired. Don’t take it the wrong way, I am just being honest because there are some folk who likes everything you post but cannot stand you. No, you haven’t done anything to them but they can’t understand why you are being blessed like you are. So, they won’t celebrate you living but they will celebrate the fact that you’ve died.

It hurts but you’ve got to get a place of being alright with that. If you don’t, you will find yourself with your feelings hurt when the room isn’t as crowded as you expect it to be. When you don’t get to a place of being alright, you’ll have more nights of drinking tears. Baby, everyone will not celebrate you and when you focus on those who don’t, you lose sight of those who do. Appreciate those who show up even without an invitation. Thank those who are coming no matter how far or the cost. Rejoice for the faithful members who show up to bible study. And pray, exceedingly, for those who will come even when you call at the last minute. These are the ones you need, stop taking them for granted. Because one of these days, without your doing, those ones who have never show up before will have no choice but to come, they’ll need you to pray them out some stuff. Those who never answer the phone, they’ll call you now because they need your anointing to get them through. And those who you could never count on, will count on you because they need some of the oil from your cup. Just watch! Stop forcing something that isn’t, when that isn’t part of your assignment. God handles the crowd, you handle the calling. God sells the tickets, He simply needs you to testify.

Daily Devotional – 6/7/17 “Change you!”

We spend so much time looking for stuff to change our situations that we don’t realize the change needs to occur with self, first. You will not stop smoking, drinking, gambling, cheating, lying and etc. until you change you. The liquor store, drug dealer and casinos will still be there but if you change, you won’t go. The person in your inbox and text messages will still be there but if you change, you won’t respond. That same spot you’ve been standing in, it will be there but if you change, you’ll move. That same closed door, will be there but if you move … I hope you get my point. Beloved, you might not be able to change the traditional way your church has service but you can change where you worship. You might not like the way Kroger produce looks but you can change stores. You might be frustrated with getting promoted on your job but you can change that too. Yes, you can blame your weight gain on the fact your family eats bad but you can change what you eat. You can blame debt on the fact you don’t make a lot of money or you can change your spending habits. You know good and well, the doctor told you the blood pressure would become an issue, if you didn’t change. Your boss told you at your last review if you didn’t stop being late, you could lose your job. The mechanic told you to change the tires before you had the blow out. The beautician told you to change your hair before yours fell out.

What I am getting at is, change has to start with you. The bible says in James 4:17, “Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it.” It will not matter if you have the best prayer life, your devotion runs deep and your pay your tithes faithfully because if you don’t do what you know is right, you sin against yourself. And yes, we know it isn’t right to spend our rent money at the casino but we do. We know this dude/chick isn’t right for us but for the sake of image, we hold on. We know Sis/Bro isn’t right for the leadership of the church but we put them there anyway because they pay the most tithes. We know the traditions isn’t scripture but we practice them. We know we shouldn’t go there but we do. Get this, it is your right but don’t blame God when you’re stuck. Don’t run from the church when you don’t get the answer you need through prayer. Don’t blame society when it isn’t playing fair. Don’t blame your past when it’s dead AND gone. The blame lies with you because you have the chance to change. You cannot change folk but you can surely change you. Change your thoughts, your actions, your words, your deeds, the places you hang out and even the people you hang out with IF what you have going now isn’t working, isn’t right or both.