Lakisha, the Author

Daily Devotional – 10/3/16 “When will you rest?”

Stop burning yourself out trying to be a helper to everybody, a ride for all who need it, a cook for everybody whose hungry, a prayer partner for every person who asks, an encouraging word for every situation, a ‘yes I’ll go’ person all the time, ‘call me if you need me’ to everybody else circumstance or ‘yes, I’ll do it’ to every request. Baby, sometimes you need to shut up, sit down and regroup. Every once in a while you need to take some time for yourself because there’ll be a time when your body won’t get up like it used too, your feet won’t move as fast as they ought to and when pain from everywhere will make you take an unexpected time out. Keep thinking that you have to do everything, right now! Keep saying, “I’ll sleep when I’m dead” because it may come sooner than expected, if you don’t rest! Chile, we all need it and there’s nothing wrong with taking a moment to get some.

It’s okay to put the phone on do not disturb for a little while. It’ll be alright if you don’t answer the call, this time, from that same person who needs prayer 4 times a week. It’s fine to go to sleep at a decent hour. It’ll be alright if you go visit tomorrow instead of today. It’ll be just fine if you said no, this time. Baby, you cannot attend every event, every worship service and accept every preaching opportunity because you need to rest. And I’ve found out that you can either rest on your own accord or your body will do it for you. The bible says in Matthew 5:16, “In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” But if you’re constantly running around filling everybody else tank with oil that keeps their light shining, whose filling yours? If you’re constantly doing the feeding, when are you eating? If you’re always the one praying, who’s covering you? If you’re always the visitor when will you be the visited? In other words, when will you rest?

Daily Devotional – 9/30/16 “Lord, I surrender!”

Sometimes, you may have to get help for yourself. Sometimes you may find the need to check yourself into rehab. Sometimes, instead of waiting for someone else to step in, you may have to step in for yourself. In other words, you may have to stage your own intervention. This means, you may have to get in the mirror and tell yourself, “Self, we’ve messed up.” “Self, we’re in a bad place.” “Self, this isn’t good for us.” “Self, this isn’t working out.” “Self, what in the hell are we doing?” See, I’ve found that when you’re truly tired, you’ll do something about some things. Yea, when you get tired of being walked over, you’ll walk out. When you get tired of being addicted, you’ll get help. When you get tired of being without, you’ll manage better. When you get tired, things change. But it’s not just any tired, it’s that fed up, pissed off with self, kind of tired. You’ll be mad because you’ve wasted time you can’t get back. Upset because you’re an adult yet you’re still living, like my grandma says, without a pot to … You know the rest.

This is why, beloved, you’ve got to make it up in your mind that today I no longer want to live the way I’ve been living because I’m tired of struggling to survive and still not. I’m fed up with being called by my shame and not my name. I’m tired of my past keeping me last. I’m sick of being addicted to folk who mean me more harm than good. Today is the day for you to declare, this is my intervention. It doesn’t matter what you’re cleaning yourself of, do it today. Rid yourself of negative people, anger from the root, worrying that’s killing you, excuses and reasons, bitterness that’s blocking you, unhappiness and its causes and anything that keeps you from being your greatest self. And you’ve got to do it now because you’re wasting precious time. Don’t worry about if it’ll work or not, it’ll work if you work it. Make the first step and trust that God has already laid out the plan for the bible tells us in Deuteronomy 31:8 “Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD will personally go ahead of you. He will be with you; he will neither fail you nor abandon you.” All you need to say to begin your intervention is … “Lord, I surrender all to you.” It’s going to hurt and you’ll lose some people but trust God’s process! Hello my name is ____________ and today I’m staging my own intervention!

Daily Devotional – 9/29/16 “Choose wisely!”

Eyes squinted and lips puckered, Wendy William’s voice) … How you doin?

Look beloved, the Lord made a new day that He has allowed YOU to see, that alone ought to be enough to make you rejoice and be glad! Chile, you’re alive and in your right mind. You got up this morning which means the enemy’s plan to kill you on last night was aborted. Yea, if you’re reading this, the plan of the enemy to steal your mind was interrupted. And if you think about, he didn’t destroy what he set out too. That’s enough to praise! It doesn’t matter if your account is in the negative, you can’t change that right now, praise! So what if everybody else is bitter, you don’t have to be, don’t join them.

What you need to do on today is this …let it go, live and be great doing it! And when/while you do, stop explaining to people why you have! You don’t owe them an explanation. They weren’t there when you were going through hell and if they can’t be there while you’re adjusting to coming out of it, let them go! Trust God because He’ll never let you down. Trust God because His love never fails. Trust God to deliver you from the circumstance that has you bent, the situation that has you confused, the friends that have you angry, the family that has you crying, the grief that’s about to do you in, the depression that has you shut off, the pain that has you about to end it all and the mess that’s about to take everything you’ve ever known because when it all boils down and the smoke clears, God is yet able. Even when the water gets too hot and the smoke too thick to see, God is still able! All you have to do, today, is decide the way in which you’ll take. You can either be mad or be made in God’s image. You can hold on or let go and let God. You can trust them or trust Him. The choice is yours but choose wisely!

“Only fear the LORD and serve him faithfully with all your heart. For consider what great things he has done for you.” – 1 Samuel 12:24

Daily Devotional – 9/28/16 “It’s in the book!”

A few weeks ago I attended a training, here at work that I now have test for in order to be certified. The test has about 60 questions and although it’s tedious, I am able to use my book, online articles and notes. Now, I don’t know about you but I sometimes find ‘open book’ tests harder. However, the blessing in it is this … the answers are in the book, I just have to take the time to find them. Isn’t that something? I could bypass this certification and chalk it up to excuses but why when all the answers I need are in the book. I could say forget it but why when the answers are in the book. Do you see where I am going? A lot of us are missing the credentials we need to complete our appointed assignments simply because we won’t open the book. There are some, even, in their assignments that are failing tests week after week and it because they won’t open the book. It doesn’t matter that this book has all the answers, we won’t take the time to find them. We have all the excuses in the world. I can’t understand it. Well get another version. I don’t have time. Well get the audible version. Or asking something foolish like, “What’s the sense when I go to church every Sunday?” Because the bible says in 2 Timothy 2:15, “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” Oh, you’d know this if you opened the book.

Look beloved, if you’ve yet to study the word of God then it means you don’t have it on the inside of you. And if you don’t, how in the heck can you fight the enemy and win? Don’t you know the bible says in Hebrews 4:12, “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart?” This means, the word will do the work. This means, I don’t have to fight the imps of the enemy because the word will do it. This also means, I don’t have to put my word on the naysayers because the word of God will cut them deeper than I ever could. See, the word digs into the soul and spirit, whereas my word may simply go in one ear and out the other. So, while this book may be a slow read, baby the answers you need are in this thang! You want to know how to defeat your enemies, open the book. Need to know how to deal with this life’s circumstances? Everything you need is in the book! Need, I say more?

Daily Devotional – 9/27/16 “Conditions of your release!”

Some of you are in bondage and have been for some time. This is why, no matter how you try, you end up back in the same place. This is also why you are unhappy, miserable and always crying and complaining. You’re in bondage. You may not want to believe me but that’s okay. You’ll eventually have to admit your problem in order to get help. See, bondage is defined as the state of being a slave and a slave is a person controlled by something or someone. So, let me ask you this; what’s controlling you? Take your time to answer because you be to honest in order to meet the terms of your release and ultimately be free. Now, you do know that debt, addiction, sickness, anger, generational curses, low self-esteem, bitterness and people can control you, right? Well, if you didn’t, you do now. Oh but there’s good news. God is getting ready to bring you out of bondage but there’s some conditions you have to first meet in order to effectively be free.

1. You have to be committed – Psalm 37:5, “Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act.”

2. You have to admit your faults – Proverbs 28:13, “Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper, but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy.”

3. You have to ask for forgiveness – 1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

4. You have to forgive – Matthew 6:14, “If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you.”

5. You have to cut ties with your captors – Ezra 10:11, “Now honor the LORD, the God of your ancestors, and do his will. Separate yourselves from the people around you and from your foreign wives.”

6. You have to remove the clothes of bondage – 1 Corinthians 5:7, “Get rid of the old yeast, so that you may be a new unleavened batch–as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.”

7. You have to choose to stay free – Romans 8:5, “Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit.”

8. You have to press on – Philippians 3:14, “I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.”

9. You have to change your mindset – Ephesians 5:17, “Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.”

Your release papers are ready but you have a choice to make. Do you want to go free or will you remained enslaved in bondage? The bible says in Romans 6:16, “Don’t you realize that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey? You can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous living.”

 John 8:36, “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”