On Sunday, I had the privilege of preaching a women’s day program. And the Holy Spirit walked through that place.
Here is a little of the message entitled “You are worth saving.”
I hope it blesses you!
Be blessed!
Lakisha
Daily Devotional – 10/11/16 “Help is on the way!”
On my way to work this morning, I got a flat tire. Now, I could have gotten upset about it but my anger couldn’t change the tire. I couldn’t blame the enemy, because although we often find it easy too, it wasn’t his fault. The fact of the matter is, the tire had a hole in it. It wasn’t something I did or didn’t do, it just happened. A gentleman stopped to help me but he couldn’t do it and that didn’t bother me because help was on the way by way of my husband who showed up and fixed it within ten minutes. Here’s the crazy part … I had no idea why I was even telling you this until just now. See, the gentleman who stopped couldn’t help me but I didn’t worry because help was on the way. The man who stopped was nice but he couldn’t help me in my time of need but help was on the way. The man, he tried but he couldn’t do it but my help was on the way. (My God!!) The man, got out of his car, got the spare tire out of my car and couldn’t do it because … here’s the shout, he didn’t have the tools necessary to help me. Oh but help was on the way.
Many times we get upset when ‘they’ can’t do it but baby, they were never meant to because your help is on the way. Stop getting mad when man can’t do what you need when your help is on the way. Don’t get in your feelings when ‘they’ can’t help you in your time of need, they couldn’t anyway but trust in knowing, help is on the way. See, what you need to realize is, they may not have the tools to help you. They may not have the necessary training to assist you. They may not be able to find the words to comfort you. Or it could be, they aren’t who you need. But don’t fret my brother, my sister; help is on the way. You don’t have to believe me but God’s word says in Isaiah 65:24, “Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear.” Isn’t that great news? Doesn’t it make you feel all warm and fuzzy on the inside to know that no matter what it looks like, help is on the way? So hang on, you who are suffering, your help is on the way.
October 7 – Trigeminal Neuralgia Awareness Day
What is Trigeminal Neuralgia? I had no clue until I was forced to know of it by way of my twin sister who was suffering terribly with it. It started out with pain in her face, she thought it was dental related. It wasn’t. She went to chiropractors, neurologists, dentists and other professionals but no one could find out where this pain was coming from.
Not until an amazing dentist, Dr. Christina Rosenthal, did her own research. SHE was the one who found out what my sister had. See, according to the Mayo Clinic’s website, Trigeminal Neuralgia is a chronic pain condition that affects the trigeminal nerve, which carries sensation from your face to your brain. If you have trigeminal neuralgia, even mild stimulation of your face — such as from brushing your teeth or putting on makeup — may trigger a jolt of excruciating pain.
And yep, they are absolutely right because it most definitely causes EXCRUCIATING PAIN! I know this because I watched my sister battle this disease for 9 months with NO relief. When she was first diagnosed, in March 2013, it was unbearable to watch. I would take her to the ER and they couldn’t do anything. They’d pump her full of pain medicine that wouldn’t even put her to sleep and then look at me with pity while saying, “there’s nothing else we can do.” My family and I called different doctors and they didn’t know. It wasn’t because of lack of their skills but it was because they lacked the knowledge to deal with this disease.
So while my sister suffered; she couldn’t eat, could barely drink (she got used to taking medicine with no water), couldn’t leave the house for fear of a pain attack and she couldn’t sing. She lost over 50 pounds and with each doctor visit her medicine dosage increased but it didn’t help. They switched from giving her pain pills to pain liquid and even it didn’t help. I would watch her take a mixture of pills that I knew should have killed her yet God sustained. I watched her moan and groan in the floor from the pain, a pain most have committed suicide over yet God sustained. I watched my sister and I trusted God.
One doctor told her to file for disability, God said no. One said we can kill the nerve but then you’d be left with paralysis on the right side of your face, God said no. They said this but God said, wait on me. She, we did and God sustained! You see, there is no cure for this disease but there is HOPE and HELP. Her help came in the form of God, faith, prayer, family and friends and a doctor by the name of Dr. Robert Mericle in Nashville, TN. On December 17, 2013, he performed a surgery called, Microvascular Decompression or MVD (Click the link or Google it). This surgery has given her 85-90% relief and her life back. She is back working and has resumed her day-to-day functions. Isn’t God worthy?
Yes, there are some complications like, a scar but she wears it well. Some numbness on her right side but you can’t tell and some pain that she lives with daily but she’ll proudly proclaim she’s still fighting. (It’s evident by the tattoo on her arm).
Trigeminal Neuralgia is a silent disease and a person who suffers with it doesn’t look sick but that doesn’t negate the fact they are. This is a horrible disease and if your child, spouse, friend or family member is suffering with it; SUPPORT THEM. Don’t look at them with pity, pray! Don’t tell them there is nothing wrong, there is. Don’t act like they are overreacting, they need too. This disease affects the nerve and although the doctors are quick to prescribe pain meds, they can’t stop nerve pain. Research for yourself! Before you are ignorant with your reply to what they are feeling, become informed. This disease is real and there are too many people dying because of it. Too many taking their own lives because somebody said it was in their mind. Too many killing themselves because there is no relief and/or support.
Educate yourself. This is real! You don’t have to believe me, research it. Trigeminal Neuralgia is known as the suicide disease but it doesn’t have to be for the person you love! Support them! Help them! Love on them! And get them to somebody who can help them because it’s available. Don’t allow anyone to tell you otherwise!
I am grateful everyday that my sister is still here with and I will go to the ends of the earth to get her the help she needs. If you know someone who is suffering with this disease, help them. Become aware today. Research and become involved. Speak for them when they can’t speak for themselves.
You may not have known Trigeminal Neuralgia before but you do now.
Be blessed y’all
Lakisha
Daily Devotional – 10/7/16 “Sober up!”
It’s not God’s fault. Yea, I know as much as you need to blame somebody, anybody; blame yourself. See, you’re still falling for the same old tricks even though they didn’t work last time. You fell for the, ‘I was just calling to check on you’ until he/she got your stuff and now won’t answer. You got caught up by the ‘hey’ text and now you’ve been hurt again, starting the healing process all over. Yea, you fell for it and got set up but it’s nobody’s fault but yours. Take ownership of it and then get over it. Look beloved, you’ve got to stop falling for the same, tired tricks by the same tired trick (the enemy). You’ve got to open your eyes and understand that if he/she was that way yesterday, there’s a pretty good chance they are the same today. Haven’t you heard the story of the woman who nursed a snake back to health and he thanked her by biting her? Why? Well because his true nature is a snake. He only did what he knows to do. It’s like a habitual criminal, it’s their habit. Having an addiction, it’s their habit. An abuser, it’s their habit. This is why you can’t change someone. A person has to be willing, ready and able to change themselves. You can’t do it for them. And please believe me when I tell you this, they will talk a good game but be unable to play one.
1 Peter 5:8 says, “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” Sober, here, doesn’t mean from drinking but this particular use of the word sober means serious in demeanor. Simply stating be serious so that you can be alert and watchful of your surroundings and see what’s going on because when you do this, you’ll be able to “Stand firm against him (the enemy), and be strong in your faith. (1 Peter 5:9)” Are you sober or are you sleep? If you get nothing else out of this, take this nugget … The enemy doesn’t change. He may dress up, buy you nice gifts, whisper sweet nothings in your ear, rub you in all the right places and even make you temporarily feel good but when the lights come on, he’ll still be the same enemy with the same tricks. So stop falling for it. Be sober minded and stand up! You have to make it up in your mind that today, the enemy no longer has access to your stuff. Hell, make him work so hard for it that by the time he gets close enough, he’ll no longer want it. All it takes is you getting tired of being in the same place. All it’ll take is you becoming fed up with reaping the same pitiful harvest. Because it’s when you’re tired, fed up and pissed off at self that you’ll march into enemy territory to get your stuff back. You don’t have to believe me. Get tired of crying, fighting and being without and you’ll see. Sober up and fight!
Daily Devotional – 10/6/16 “What’s your reality?”
Why do we spend so much time trying to prove our happiness to people, who probably don’t care anyway, yet we spend no time building a foundation of hope in God. Why do we work so hard to show devotion to people, who will let you down but has yet to be devoted to the God of infinite chances? Why do we have to put up a front just to be accepted yet we won’t fight for the Father? I’m only asking because I’m curious to know. Think about it. We get so wrapped up in what people think of us that we’ll spend the majority of our time ensuring we ‘post’ better than how we actually live. A person will spend time taking thirty selfies just to get the right one to share. You’ll portray to the world your happiness but in the confines of your home you can’t eat for drinking tears. Always smiling yet dying spiritually. Consistently posting your happy life when it’s far from the truth. In reality, you’re living with a monster but you don’t want the world to know you messed up in YOUR choosing. In reality, you’re one missed check from being homeless but you put up a bold front to keep up with ‘them.’ In reality, your pillow is actually a sponge, soaking up the many nights of tears you’ve cried just to go to sleep. In reality, if your walls could talk. In reality, if the inside of your car could tell the truth. In reality, you’re one pill away from suicide because depression has depressed your faith. Scared to really live because then you’d have to own up to who you really are. Scared to step out of the shadow of your momma because it may break her heart. Scared to live in your truth because somebody may not be able to accept it.
But baby, how’s that working for you? When will you come out of that prison of bondage? When will you take off the mask in order for us to meet the real you? When will you own your truth? Yes, it’s hard but aren’t you tired of running, hiding and being a fraud? Aren’t you tired of painting the picture morning after morning only to have to remove it night after night? Ask yourself this question and then answer it truthfully. What is your reality? In my reality, I am who I am because I know whose I am. I’m a preacher who isn’t accepted by everybody (that doesn’t bother me), a wife whose marriage wasn’t always good, a mother with children who disappoint me occasionally, an adult who took years to build decent credit, from a large dysfunctional family that’ll fight and then eat together in the same hour, a girl who still sometimes curse but will shut down when mad, one whose feelings get hurt easily but you wouldn’t know it, I have tattoos (and want more), I love shoes but don’t like to shop, I’ll give you my last without wanting anything in return, I’m a thick, confident chic though some say it’s cockiness and I love the Lord with my whole heart and I’ll tell a dying world. Yes, I have flaws, plenty of them but they don’t determine who I am. I have a past yet it doesn’t stop who I am now. This is my reality, what’s yours?
Lakisha, the Author 