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.”

Daily Devotional – 5/18/17 “Is your worship real?”

Beloved, if you don’t think it is time to stop playing church, read the news! No, the church doesn’t have all the answers but the church should be able to equip some folks to rebuke and decree. Are you not tired of the prophet-lying prophets that prophecy for profit? Are you not sick of the money hungry ministers who pimp out the gift of the anointing? Are you not fed up with these pitiful pastors who prey more than they pray? What about the messy missionaries who sit on the second row yet they’ve yet to mission. Or what about the evangelists that look real good in their robe but don’t even know the meaning of their title. Or the apostle whose collar is just right but they have yet to tap into their apostolic flow. Or the mothers, dressed in their all white with no power. The deacons, who can worry the hell out a pastor but can’t even pray for devotion. Yes, your flyers for revival is real cute but nobody is getting revived. Yea, I saw your video but all I heard was hollering and no hope. Sir, you can whoop very well but when are you going to worship. Ok, you’re baptizing every Sunday but can you keep them?

I don’t know about you but what happened to the services where folk were healed and delivered, for real? Where are the worship places that don’t worry about a program because they are more concerned with releasing Sis. Smith from pain? Where are the for real worship places? Where are the worship places that allow the Holy Spirit to show up without worrying about if one service will run into the next? What happened to lock-ins, vacation bible school and youth in action for Christ? I am only asking these questions because too many people are walking around feeling hopeless when we have access to a God who says in Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” Where are the people who are not afraid? For the bible says in Isaiah 58:1, “Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.” Will the real worship places open your doors because we have a world in need?

Daily Devotional – 5/17/17 “After yes!”

I wish someone would have told me how much saying yes to God would hurt or how much it would cost me. Please understand, I would not trade saying yes to God for anything but just maybe it would have been easier to handle, had I known. No, this is not just about accepting a call to ministry but it is simply about saying yes. Yes, God to your will. Yes, God to your way. Yes, God I will go. Yes, God I trust you. Yes God! Because afterwards, when you think things should be getting better, you may just find yourself in a really dark place, crouched in the farthest corner of a room, hiding out from family and friends, standing at the edge of a cliff, looking down the barrel of a loaded gun, counting out pills to swallow or preparing to shoot up something to take you away from the current conditions of your life. Sometimes you find yourself asking, how I ended up back here. Crying out to God for understanding and He’s silent. Pacing back and forth trying to make sense of why stuff is happening to you, at this moment. After the yes. Wondering, shouldn’t things be getting better? Well chile, here is what I’ve learned, after saying yes.


    1. You are uncertain – Yes, you were tired of being in the broken place and you were tired of fighting God. Yet now it seems like hell is breaking loose and it is worse than before. You have to trust in your yes. “So do not throw away this confident trust in the Lord. Remember the great reward it brings you!” – Hebrews 10:35

    2. You find yourself fighting – You are now seeing people for who they really are and calling them on it because your eyes have been opened and the wool has been snatched off. “But whenever someone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.” – 2 Corinthians 3:16

    3. You start suffering at the hands of family and friends – Yes, it was bad before but now it is worse now because folk will hurt what they cannot or will not understand and that happens to be the change in you. – “If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you.” – 1 Peter 4:14

    4. You lose some people – Yes, it hurts but you will only lose those who cannot survive in your new season. Be okay with saying bye. For you will soon learn that you will no longer shed tears over the things that used to make you cry. “You have armed me with strength for the battle; you have subdued my enemies under my feet.” – Psalm 18:39

    5. There is glory after yes – “Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory.” – Romans

Don’t delay your yes because of fear and don’t go back on your word once saying yes. Saying yes to God comes with privilege and pain but I declare it is worth it. Because now your testimony begins with, “For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” – 2 Corinthians 12:10.