Daily Devotional – 5/26/17 “Go back!”

In order to effectively heal, you sometimes have to go back to the place of hurt. No, I don’t mean physically but mentally. See, you’ve become good at covering your pain for the world but when you get home at night, in the car by yourself, in the bathroom stall or even those times you zone out; you feel like you’re about to lose your mind. And that’s because silently you are. You want to know why you pop off, why it doesn’t take much to make you angry and why you are quick to walk away? It’s because you’ve been hurt beloved and have yet to heal. Yeah, you got away from the abusive spouse but you still live like you haven’t because you play it over and over, trying to understand why he/she started hitting you in the first place. Go back, not to find out but to forgive. You overcame alcoholism but it’s a daily fight because you haven’t dealt with the reason you started drinking. Go back and forgive. You smile when you tell folk about being molested but inwardly you’re cringing because you still carry hurt for the person who took your innocence. Go back and forgive. You testify of how you were once a crack addicted, street walker but you don’t tell them about the urges that’s waking you up because you’re still dealing with the voices in your head. Go back, heal and forgive. 

What happened is, you removed the stitches too soon. You got up and started moving around before it was time. You tried to stand on the brokenness but it wasn’t time. And now you find yourself in a place of needing to heal, all over again. Don’t you know removing stitches from a wound that hasn’t healed can cause you all kinds of problems? It can cause the wound to reopen, infection to set in and more pain like you wouldn’t believe. And now, you have to go through surgery again. You have to be put to sleep again. You have to be opened up again. And you have to be stitched up all over again. But this time, this time, push through until you’ve healed. Stop telling folk your testimony when God has yet to release you to do it. Stop showing folk your scar when God hasn’t told you too. 

You still need time to heal. Go back! 

“Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved, for you are my praise.” – Jeremiah 17:14

Daily Devotional – 5/24/17 “God’s staffing agency!”

Sometimes you will be placed into a position, a community, a worship place, a relationship or even on a job to be used as a reminder that God is still God. Look, God will place a pastor into a position to get his/her feelings hurt daily only for him/her to leave with a smile and more than he/she came with. God will place you on a job, in the midst of hellish folk and you will show up every day smiling while your salary increases year after year. God will send you back to school without a clue how tuition is going to be paid just to show somebody, who is secretly watching you, that He is a wonder worker. God will allow you to survive stage 4 cancer, 20% kidney function, high blood pressure, tumors, stroke and heart attacks because of somebody who is battling with not believing He can heal. God will connect you to some folk publicly, who don’t even like you, simply because they prayed privately for your downfall. Beloved, God will send you an invitation to a closed event because somebody whispered, you don’t belong there.

God has a way of making your enemy shame before you. Those same ones who tried to curse your gift will be the one paying double your fee. The one who told you, you would never preach in “their” pulpit will be the one calling on you to pray them out of the enemy’s hands. The ones who said you would never get approved for the house will be the ones asking you for advice on how they can get one too. The ones who said you’d never make it out the ghetto, will be the very one using you for a reference. That same girl who left because you could only afford to fix cars in the backyard, opened the door for your wife who wrote the plan for your new business. That dude that left when you gained a little weight, will be the one calling when he sees your Facebook status change from “it’s complicated” to “in a relationship with.” Those who counted you out will be the very ones texting “hey” when they see surviving. This is why you cannot downplay where you are, at this moment. Yes, I know you are tired of being in this place and it seems like no matter what you do, you can’t move but trust God’s placement. If your prayers are plentiful, your devotion is dedicated, your service is steadfast, your fasting is faithful and your worship is whole; God will do what He promises. For His word says in Isaiah 41:10, “I have called you back from the ends of the earth, saying, ‘You are my servant.’ For I have chosen you and will not throw you away. Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.”

Daily Devotional – 5/23/17 “Exposed to darkness!”

Did you know, exposing unprocessed film to light can ruin it? Did you also know that in order to get the things that are on the inside of film, it has to first be subjected to darkness? Maybe you did but I am sharing this because somebody is in the midst of darkness and your cry to God is, “Why are you forsaking me.” When in actuality, you are unprocessed and if the light appears before your time is up, it’ll ruin you. This is why God is allowing you to sit in the darkness because He needs what’s on the inside of you to fully develop. It’s quiet and your thoughts are getting the best of you but stay in your darkness. It’s hard to understand why and how the darkness appeared so suddenly but stay in your darkness. Yes, it hurts and you wish for it to be over but stay in your darkness. God has some stuff that needs to develop. There are some stories that can only be told, after the darkness. Some souls you will reach, after the darkness. Some healings you will be able to speak, after the darkness. Some strongholds you will be able to destroy, after the darkness. And some blessings that will only manifest but after the darkness.

Yes, you’ve been in church all your life, you have many degrees under your belt, you’ve been a member of the church since you were five and able to speak in tongues. Yes, I get that you can rebuke and pray open Heaven’s gates but now is your time to be reprocessed by way of the darkness. Because after you’ve been exposed that which is on the inside of you will come forth. Those plans and visions that keep waking you up, will be plainly developed for you to see. That nagging that won’t leave you alone, will manifest. The reason hell showed up in your home, will be developed. But you have to first be placed in darkness. Your cry, today, is like that of David’s in Psalm 13:1-4, “O LORD, how long will you forget me? Forever? How long will you look the other way? How long must I struggle with anguish in my soul, with sorrow in my heart every day? How long will my enemy have the upper hand? Turn and answer me, O LORD my God! Restore the sparkle to my eyes, or I will die. Don’t let my enemies gloat, saying, “We have defeated him!” Don’t let them rejoice at my downfall.” But don’t stop there because even David says in the latter part of Psalm 13 in verses 5-6, “But I trust in your unfailing love. I will rejoice because you have rescued me. I will sing to the LORD because he is good to me.” You may not understand it but trust in knowing that it’s God who is processing your film. [FILM = Favor in low moments!]

Daily Devotional – 5/22/17 “Missing the fellowship”

On yesterday, I witnessed the true meaning of fellowship, something that is missing in a lot of worship places of today. My niece, Michaiah, who is 15 years, is preparing to study abroad her sophomore year of high school and in September, she will travel to Italy. Yesterday, there was a benefit to help offset the over $15K in fees associated with making her dream a reality because we cannot do it alone. Some new villagers were added to the tribe of #forMichaiahsbenefit and they came together, in a way of fellowship and raised over $2300. It was amazing. I am sharing this because there is not a lot of fellowship happening within the walls of worship places anymore. Just think about it. There used to be a time when a person was sick, the ‘fellowship’ of believers would rally around and pray. Now, they just show up to be the first to get information. When a person died, the ‘fellowship’ would ensure the family lacked for nothing but now, you can’t even get a 7 piece chicken without everybody knowing you were the one who bought it. When the pastor is going through, the ‘fellowship’ would rally around to hold up his/her arms but now most of them are the ones causing the hell.

The bible says in Hebrews 10:24-25, “Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.” What happened to fellowship? Where are the services that actually care about your soul? What happened to the deacons and trustees that care about God’s assigned under shepherds and not the savings account? What happened to the fellowship of believers who can recite the mission statement or tell you the real vision of the church? Where is the fellowship of folk who still follow the law of God? Where is the fellowship of believers who can pay somebody’s light bill without it needing a vote from the majority? What happened to the fellowship who would hold up those who were leaning? Where are the believers who once covered the altar for others in spite of what they were going through? I am only asking because I miss this kind of fellowship. The genuine fellowship of closed mouths and open arms to receive you without knowing your problem. The fellowship of prayers to rebuke the storm you’re in. The fellowship of mothers who carried something to cover your knees if your skirt was too short but never made you feel bad about it. The fellowship of men who you could look up too instead of them looking at you. Where is the fellowship? If you see, tell him I’ve been looking for him.

P.S. – If you would like to donate to Michaiah, you can do so via PayPal (Authorlakisha@gmail.com) or directly to AFS USA by clicking here

Daily Devotional – 5/19/17 “The lesson of begging!”

When I was little, if we begged for stuff, let’s say food, only to get it and not like it; my granddaddy would make us eat it. He did not care if it took an hour, you would have to sit at the table and eat it because he was teaching a lesson of not begging. And this has stuck with me because I have found that sometimes, we can bite off more than we can chew. For the sake of this devotional, I’ll put it into laymen’s terms and say, stop begging God for stuff while in flesh that we are not spiritually ready to handle. Yes, I know you want your Boaz or your Ruth but then what? Can you handle the financial responsibility that Boaz brings to the table or are you still having trouble balancing your own checkbook? Can you cook a mighty man meal that Boaz hungers for or is spaghetti o’s the only thing you can warm up? Can you keep a house that Boaz can live in? Can you handle strains of Boaz’s profession or are you the jealous type that looks through his stuff? Sir, can you meet the needs of Ruth or are you still hung up on the one who hurt you last? Can you afford to bring home the bacon or will she need to do that too? Can you handle meeting the needs of Ruth’s intimate desires or are you all about self? Can you handle the demands of her professional life or are you mad because she makes more money?

These are the kinds of things you have to ask because you may find yourself in some stuff you’ll be forced to deal with it. Okay, the sex is good but what about his/her spirit? Yea, the finances are on point but what about his/her faith? Oh, he/she looks good but will they labor for you? Beloved, you can’t move in with somebody who doesn’t allow pork in the house and that’s all you eat. You cannot be mad at her for not cleaning when, had you paid attention to the living room instead of running to the bedroom, you would have known her skills were lacking. You can’t be mad that he is now the pastor of the church when you knew ministry was his thing when you met him. You can’t keep begging God for directions to destiny just to get there and it not be like you thought. You cannot pray for God to remove some stuff unless you are ready for some soul ties to be severed. You cannot pray for healing unless you’re ready to deal with the pain of recovering. You cannot beg God to intervene unless you are ready to handle the effects of withdrawal. You cannot beg God to do it and then get mad when He does. Because you may just find yourself, sitting at the table of sacrifice, scarfing down a bitter lesson that looked better than it tasted. Prepare yourself for what you ask of God because Jesus says in John 14:14, “You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.”