Lakisha, the Author

Daily Devotional – 9/9/16 “Nine – It’s final!”

I shared this on Facebook the other day yet somebody needs to hear it again! September is the 9th month and the biblical meaning of 9 (nine) is divine completeness or conveys the meaning of finality. And it just so happens to be the ninth day of the ninth month so for whomever you are …. STOP trying to revive what you know is already dead! Quit trying to undo what is already final. Yea, I know you don’t understand why the relationship won’t work, it’s dead. You can’t understand why your car keeps breaking down, it’s dead. You can’t make sense of why folk who liked you last week are ignoring your calls today, God is severing some relationships that are sucking the life out of you. Beloved, God has to sometimes shut doors we aren’t willing to close, move folk we claim we can’t live without, reject some stuff we thought was for our good and repossess some stuff that’s hindering us spiritually. It’s for our good and this is why whatever He puts in the final stages THIS MONTH, leave them there. Whatever has left, let them stay gone. Whatever has died, bury it. In other words, stop trying to revive what God has already declared dead! I mean, some of the relationships you’re in have been dead and stinking up your entire life yet you’re still trying to blow breathe into it! That’s like going to a funeral home doing CPR on a body that has been embalmed. It won’t work so chile stop! The only time you try to revive anything is if there is life left in it to possibly survive.

You’ve heard God talking to you. You’ve heard Him tell you to let it go. Why are you being hard-headed? That sickness, disease, addiction, hatred, anger – declare it dead! That relationship that has caused you more tears than joy – declare it dead! Baby, on this ninth day, make it up in your mind that you will no longer live with, ride for, connect too nor tie your soul to anything that is dead! You do know that after God has given you the opportunity to cut away some stuff and you don’t, He’ll prune you and it’ll hurt worse, right? You do understand that when God tells us to move and we don’t, He’ll do it and it’ll make our head spin, right? This is why, child of God, you’ve got to let the dead stay dead and let those who consistently walk out on you stay gone. This is also why we HAVE to allow God to cut away the folk suffocating us, take away some stuff we are starting to idolize and shut some doors that’s putting us in temptation’s way. Why? Because God can’t release new blessings upon us when we’re too bound with old, dead stuff. And God can’t move us into new with old, outdated, nonworking stuff still in the way. God won’t take anything away from us that He hasn’t already prepared to upgrade with something better.

Daily Devotional – 9/8/16 “Blessed by the enemy!”

My uncle tells a story of an old lady who lived next to an unbeliever. Every morning the unbeliever would shake his head while listening to her praise God. One morning he hears her pray to God about not having any food in the refrigerator. The unbeliever goes out, purchase groceries, puts them on her porch, and rings the doorbell and leaves. When the woman opens the door and see the groceries, she immediately goes into praise mode. The unbeliever jumps out the bushes and says, “Old fool, your God didn’t buy those groceries, I did.” The woman continues to praise and he continues to rant. She stops and looks him in the eye and says, “Lord, I thank you for blessing me one more time. But what I like about this blessing, you made the devil pay for it.” And that’s how our God works. He’ll make the enemy bless you. This is why you have to stop running them off. Don’t you know that God will use those same ones who curse you to bless you? Haven’t you realized yet that God will make the same person who spoke damnation on your anointing be the one who has to pay your salary? Haven’t you figured out that God will bless you in the middle of folk preying on you?

Beloved, you don’t have to worry with folk who don’t like you because of what God has chosen you to do. You don’t have to fight with folk whose everyday goal is to fight with you. You don’t have to believe me but check this out. When God called Moses, He told Him to go to Egypt to free His people from bondage. Now, Moses was afraid and he had every right to be because he knew the Egyptians were his enemy. Yet God says to him in Exodus 3:19-21, “But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless compelled by a mighty hand. So I will stretch out my hand and strike Egypt with all the wonders that I will do in it; after that he will let you go. And I will give this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians; and when you go, you shall not go empty.” In other words God says, even when you’re in the midst of enemies, they won’t be able to hold you and they’ll have to let you go. Oh but when they release you, I’ll make sure they bless you. Let me say it again. God will make it so that every time the enemy locks you up, they’ll have to bless you for being in your presence and then bless you upon leaving. Why? Because God has made a promise to His people that we shall never go out empty! All you have to do is believe God to do it.

Daily Devotional – 9/7/16 “Don’t rush your harvest!”

The bible says in Galatians 6:9, “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” This means, you have to wait. Yea, I get it. You look at unbelievers and see them prospering and all they ever do is wrong but you can’t base your harvest time on theirs because you don’t know what they’re planting or what they’re harvesting. If the truth shall be told, there are a lot of believers who are still doing wrong and still prospering, however you CANNOT base your harvest time on how you see them reaping either. See, you are only seeing what ‘they’ want you to see. Yes, it looks good but you don’t see the hell they have to deal with in the confines of their homes. All you see is the prosperity and smile but you don’t see the many nights they are crying and screaming for God to make it end nor do you see the many around them who have to spiritually war on their behalf, daily, just to keep them sane. Don’t you realize that folk can mask their entire life? Baby, there are pastors who are depressed right now, yet they stand Sunday after Sunday preaching over you. There’s a teacher, somewhere, who showed up to teach your child and she’s a functional alcoholic, hiding the pain of being molested by her daddy. There’s a soldier in their barrack, at this moment, contemplating suicide yet their Facebook page is filled with smiling photos. Somebody is praying for you yet their house is in turmoil.

This is why you can’t rush your harvest based on your neighbor’s reap schedule. They could be reaping hell because they pulled too quickly on that new relationship. Don’t be quick to speed up your harvest because your sister is reaping the benefits of her job. What you don’t see are the thorns that are pricking her every day. Don’t rush your harvest because you see their church reaping when the majority of the apples in the bunch are burdens. Don’t miss getting the best of your harvest by speeding up the time needed for it to grow. If it were that easy, we could all plant today and reap tomorrow. Beloved; plentiful, fruitful harvest takes time. God’s time, not yours. Ecclesiastes 11:1, says, “Cast your bread upon the waters, for you will find it after many days.” It takes time. It takes time for a baby to grow, it takes time to heal, it takes time to grieve, it takes time to build, it takes time to save, it takes time to reap and believe it or not, it takes time to tear down. So don’t rush to reap your harvest when it may not be ripe enough to eat!

Daily Devotional – 9/6/16 “Stay on your level!”

There have been times when I’ve been on the phone before stepping on the elevator and I inform the person, I’m on the phone with, the call may drop. I’ve even been in places where the person I’ve been talking too is experiencing bad service and I have to say, “You’re breaking up.” Baby! When God dropped this in my spirit on last night, I got excited about writing this devotional this morning. See, there will be times when you are being elevated that you may have to drop off some people. There may even be times when you’re on a different path and you have to stop listening to certain people by telling them, “I can’t hear you, you’re breaking up.” Chile, I’ve found that when you are walking the aligned path set by God, everybody can’t go. It’s not that they don’t want too but it’s because they just can’t. This is because everybody isn’t on the same level you’re on and sometimes they’ll start telling you stuff that will hinder you. They’ll even be afraid of what’s to come and make you turn back. “Girl, I wouldn’t go there if I were you.” “Man, that assignment looks scary, you sure you want to do it?” It’s not because they mean you harm but it’s because they’ve moved too quick to a level they can’t handle.

Don’t you understand that when you bring someone to a level that aren’t equipped for, it can seriously hurt them and you? Why do you think people who come into a lot of money blow through it so fast or why a lot of marriages fail? It’s because they weren’t ready to handle it. This is why you have to reevaluate your circle every once in a while to determine if the folk you’re trying to bring along for the ride can tolerate it. Why do you think everybody can’t do rollercoasters? Either they don’t meet the height requirement or they know their stomach can’t handle the twists and turns on the journey. Leave folk on their level! Why do you think some pastors don’t work out? It’s because they are good at ministry but not pastoral positions. This is why you can’t rush to get somewhere you know you aren’t ready to handle! I don’t care if everyone is saying you’ll preach one day, don’t rush into it until you are ready. Stay on your level! Don’t let someone push you into going back to school, drink two drinks when you know you can only handle one or act a fool with your spouse when you know it’s not your character. Stay on your level and leave folk on theirs! You aren’t in the elevation business, God is so let Him do it.

Daily Devotional – 9/2/16 “A limitless God!”

“Today, at this very moment, I’m taking my self-installed limits off God and I’m believing Him to do a supernatural thing in my life! Y’all He’s about to blow my mind by simply fulfilling my requests!! Watch!”

I need you to understand that God is getting ready to shift the lives of some saints and it’s going to be an immediate and sudden thing. Baby, God is getting ready to release some off guard blessings and it’s going to be answers to some requests you’ve made. Yea, He’s about to fill those things you’ve been asking for in prayer. Oh, you forgot about them well God hasn’t. He was simply waiting for you to let Him do it, His way. Baby, when you take the limits off God, He’ll do some stuff in your life so big that it’ll blow your small mind. Do you know that God has the power to send you a blessing so big that you’ll have to move in two days? (I know, we’ve been there.) Oh, you might not understand it while it’s happening but it makes sense when it’s over.

God moves you from the church you’ve been at all your life because it’s hindering you from receiving the blessing He has for you. God allowed that relationship to end because He has something bigger and better in store for you. You were laid off because that job didn’t have the capability of utilizing the gift that is you. God has to remove things in order for us to receive greater. Think about it. If your washing machine goes out and you go out and purchase a newer model, how can you replace it unless you remove the old? You have to trust God to know that He’ll never replace what has been taken with something that doesn’t have the ability to be greater than what was lost. Chile, God will replace what you’ve lost and what has been taken with something you didn’t think you deserve. You just need to stop limiting God. You’re praying for God to send you help when He is the help. You’re praying for Him to send you a way out when He is the way out. When will you take the limits off and let Him do it?

Jeremiah 29:11-13 says, “For I know the plans I have for you,” says the LORD. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. In those days when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me.”