Daily Devotional – 6/29/17 “Sit down and listen!”

In Luke 10:38, Jesus is traveling through a village when He stops and is welcomed into the home of Martha. Now, I would assume Martha was excited about having Jesus stop by and like most of us, when we have unexpected guests, we spend most of the time trying to see if they need anything, rather than visiting with them. For Martha, she was busy trying to serve Jesus that she didn’t have time to listen to Him. Her sister, Mary, on the other hand, was sitting at the feet of Jesus listening to everything He had to say. Yes, here Jesus is in their home and He was probably hungry and thirsty but He didn’t come to be served, He came so that He might serve them. Martha missed it. So now she is upset and she says to Jesus, in verse 40, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her to help me!” Yet, instead of Jesus telling Mary to go and help her sister, He replies in verse 41 (to Martha), “You are worried and upset about many things. But only one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, and it will not be taken away from her.” Please understand and read this carefully, serving Jesus is great and it is what we should do but sometimes we have to take a pause from service in order to listen.

Think about it. When you are a professional in whatever field of study you are in, do you not have to be recertified every now and then? For a teacher, they have to come from in front of the class to now be the student. For a preacher/leader, you have to sometimes step down from the pulpit and be a pupil. This isn’t done as a mark against you but sometimes you need to be taught/fed too because if you continually serve, when will you have time to eat? Yes, I know you’re in leadership but sometimes you need to sit down because if you don’t, you just may miss the lesson in the listening. This is why the bible says in Proverbs 9:9, “Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be still wiser; teach a righteous man, and he will increase in learning.” Taking a moment to refuel (being served) will not weaken your witness but it will strengthen your service.

Daily Devotional – 6/28/17 “Your destiny depends on it!”

Many times the positions in which we seek have nothing to do with the purpose God has for our life. We work hard at making sure our resumes are padded with stuff that makes us look good but it has nothing to do with the destiny attached to our name. We accrue thousands in student loans to move up the career ladder, only to go home stressed out because the work you’re doing isn’t doing anything for your worth. You know God is calling you out from the usual but fear has you stagnant. Please understand, God’s call for your life does NOT have to mean ministry because we all have a destiny that God has designed. How do you know what it is? It is the very thing that keeps you up at night. It is that thing you can speak passionately about and the thing you can debate for hours on end. It is the thing your search engine is full of. It is the thing you keep writing and praying about. And it is quite possibly, the very thing that caused you some dark days and pain.

What do I mean? That abuse you suffered through for years, God kept you because your destiny depended on it. Those years of homelessness, it was part of the process because your destiny depended on it. The depression you endured, your destiny depended on it. That sickness that temporarily took your sight, put a limp in your walk, left scars on your body and caused unbearable pain; your destiny depended on it. Losing friends and family, being evicted and car repossessed; your destiny depended on it. Hearing more no’s than yes, your destiny depended on it. This is why Romans 8:29 says, “For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.” We all have to endure but it makes our testimony that much stronger. Don’t count out where you are, what you have been through or even what you will go through because your destiny depends on you surviving. This thing isn’t really about you, you just happened to be the one God chose to use. And because of that, your destiny is dependent on you not giving up. “What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?” Romans 8:31

Daily Devotional – 6/27/17 “It isn’t your time!”

Many times we pray for God to get us out of things, to heal the paining/sickness of our body, get rid of the darkness, snatch away the depression, revive some places that have been dead and stop our weeping. But when will we understand that not every time is our time? In the bible, John 5, it says, “Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew, Bethesda, having five porches. In these lay a great multitude of sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water. For an angel went down at a certain time into the pool and stirred up the water; then whoever stepped in first, after the stirring of the water, was made well of whatever disease he had. Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, “Do you want to be made well?” The sick man answered Him, “Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; but while I am coming, another steps down before me.” Jesus said to him, “Rise, take up your bed and walk.” And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked.”

Here this man is, been sick for 38 years and it didn’t matter if he was the first in line at the pool, somebody always beat him to the healing. He, probably, has been there the longest but it didn’t matter. Why? Well, it wasn’t his time. Ma’am, sir; I know you’ve been on the job a lot longer than the one who got promoted before you but it wasn’t your time. I know you’re wanting to be married like all your friends but it isn’t your time. I know you’ve been praying for God to open your womb but it isn’t your time. Yes, you’ve been fasting and praying for God to send you a church to pastor but it isn’t your time. That new car/house, it isn’t your time. You have to wait. Verse 6 says, “When Jesus noticed him lying there [helpless], knowing that he had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, “Do you want to get well?” God knows your condition, He knows how long you’ve been in it and at the appropriate time, He’ll do it. Do what? Whatever it is you’re standing in the need of. You simply have to wait in faith that it will be done, when it will be done because whenever it is; it’ll be right on time!

Daily Devotional – 6/26/17 “Faith!”

I often time look back at things I’ve written and I am in awe of the growth but more so, I am blown away by God’s anointing. When I started this blog some years ago, I had no idea what it would become, I simply stepped out on faith. Faith …the substance of things hoped for. It’s scary but it is worth it. When I got to work this morning, I read an email congratulating one of my co-workers who is leaving this job. When I spoke to him, he said, “I am stepping out on faith.” Faith – The evidence of things not seen. (Come on God!) Look, I need you to understand the severity of this thang called FAITH. This wasn’t what I was going to write on this morning but when my fingers tapped on the keyboard, the Holy Spirit took over and I believe it is because you (somebody) asked of God. Well, beloved He is answering. I do not know what your prayer is, what your cry is about, what your question is or even why I am being led to write this but I must be obedient. Faith is… Please understand, we always stop at this one scripture but let me open the door to what comes next because this entire passage is the devotional. Faith!

“Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for. By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible. By faith Abel brought God a better offering than Cain did. By faith he was commended as righteous, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith Abel still speaks, even though he is dead. By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death: “He could not be found, because God had taken him away.” For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that is in keeping with faith. By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. By faith he made his home in the Promised Land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she considered him faithful who had made the promise.” – Hebrews 11:1-11

Some of you are missing some stuff that faith has already paid for. When will you get up to get it?

Daily Devotional – 6/16/17 “Birthing is a process!”

When a woman becomes pregnant, the closer she gets to her due date, the more anxious and excited she becomes. She is looking forward to birthing out what is on the inside of her because, number one she is tired and number two, she wants to see what the blessing will actually look like. But sometimes, the baby doesn’t come when he/she is expected too. In fact, for some women, their due date comes and goes and still no baby. This is because nobody can really predict when you will deliver. You can get estimates but no one knows for sure until your body begins going through the process. For somebody, reading this or maybe for someone you are connected to, you (they) are feeling overwhelmed by the heaviness in your belly. You are tired of being stuck in the same place, sick of the pain from the weight of the load, tossing and turning at night because you can’t sleep and all God keeps saying is wait. You are crying out for help and God is saying, “Be patient.” Seeking comfort from the doctor yet all He does is send you home. Feeling the pressure but still cannot push.

Well, beloved, it is not time to push. I am not only speaking to women because there are some men who are rushing the destiny that is on the inside of you. And just like a woman who cannot predict her labor, neither can you. You have to wait because pushing too soon may birth a premature destiny. And a premature destiny can mean it’ll be smaller than normal, fragile and has to be handled with care, sensitive to certain elements and may not survive. Birthing, prematurely, runs the risk of future complications and it can cost you a whole lot of money. So, slow down! Don’t rush the process of getting to destiny that you miss the passion which fulfills your purpose! Birthing takes time and it is a process. Sit there because when you finally lay eyes on the purpose of your pain, it will all be worth it. Yea, seeing destiny will be worth all the pressure, the nausea, the sickness, the crying and emotions, forgetting things and not being able to get enough rest. Don’t rush through the pregnancy simply to get to the birth because, you may not know this, but there is pain on that end too and it is worse.

“The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent.” – 2 Peter 3:9