Lakisha, the Author

Daily Devotional – 8/15/16 “A change is needed!”

We are living in a time where traditional worship no longer reaches EVERYBODY! Please understand, I enjoy the Dr. Watts however, if your place of worship is flowing with youth and young adults, they probably don’t know who or what Dr. Watts is. Yea, responsive reading is alright but chile, have you even explained what it is? See, I’ve learned that you have to meet people where they are. Everybody can’t handle the meat of God’s word so you have to give them little by little until their spiritual stomach can handle it. Everybody didn’t come out of their mother’s womb being a bible scholar, a sanctified servant and Holy Ghost filled; you need to meet them at their need. And sometimes, you need to take worship to where they are. This may be on the gym floor of the community center, in the middle of the mall, school auditorium during lunch or in the neighborhoods on Saturday morning. Because whether you believe this or not, everybody isn’t coming inside the four walls of the church.

And as a pastor and governing board of your respective worship places, you have to ask yourself the following:

1. Is service meeting the needs of the majority?
2. Are the youth and young adults covered?
3. Am I speaking King James to a Message Bible relating congregation?
4. Am I teaching and preaching on the level of the members?

And if the majority of your members have their head down, during the entire service, they either don’t understand you, are more intrigued by their phone or asleep. This is when you need to rethink your approach. Everything is not meant to stay the same and what used to work may not work anymore. Poll your congregation but in the midst, you have to be open to constructive criticism, really hearing them out and willing to change from the 50-year-old traditions. And members, you need to be active enough to give constructive criticism. Stop showing, after two years, requesting change when no one barely recognizes you. We’ve got to do better Saints of God. It’s mandatory that we do, now!

“Don’t let anyone capture you with empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from the spiritual powers of this world, rather than from Christ.” — Colossians 2:8

Daily Devotional – 8/12/16 “People pleaser or God’s servant?”

Because we are spiritual beings in natural bodies, we sometimes seek the approvals of others. Please understand, it’s not something that most of us set out to do yet we find ourselves doing it without even noticing. Think about it. Many times we post things on social media for likes and comments and because we do this, we get our feelings hurt when we get 10 likes instead of 100. We tend to get dressed with the thought, in the back of our mind, ‘what will they think.’ And we’ll even go places we know we aren’t comfortable just to please people. Well beloved, I’ve lived long enough to now know and understand, people pleasing isn’t for me. See, I’ve come to the realization that when you try to please people, you’ll get let down in the process because what you thought they should have liked and accepted, they won’t. Now, you’re all in your feelings because you’ve been disappointed by somebody you had no business trying to please anyway.

Look, we have to make it up in our minds that we are no longer working for the approval of man because when you work for their approval, you’ll also get their opinions. So instead I’ll just say like Galatians 1:10, “Obviously, I’m not trying to win the approval of people, but of God. If pleasing people were my goal, I would not be Christ’s servant.” Don’t you understand that there will always be somebody who don’t like the way you talk, somebody mad at the way you walk, somebody looking you up and down for the way you dress and somebody speaking on your blessing. Chile, folk get mad talking about you think you better than everybody else all because you can rock a $10 dress from WalMart. This is why, as children of God, we’ve got to get away from being of this world and seek to please our Heavenly Father. You won’t be liked by everybody, deal with it. Everyone won’t celebrate your accomplishments, get over it. Everybody won’t give you a 5 star review, suck it up. Because if pleasing people is your goal, obviously you aren’t a servant of God.

Dose of Encouragement

As an author, there will be bad reviews, it comes with the job. See, when you open yourself up to the public, you also open yourself up to the public’s opinion but what I’ve realized is this … For every ONE (1) bad review, there are TEN (10) good ones. Now, understand this, you need to read them ALL however don’t dwell on the bad ones because if you do, you’ll run the risk of missing out on the good ones.

Continue to use your gift because it’ll make room for you and take you to places you only dream about.

Keep writing!
Keep hustling!
Keep grinding!
Keep believing!

It’ll pay off!

Always
— Lakisha

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Daily Devotional – 8/11/16 “God’s End Zone”

This Christian journey, sometimes, puts me in the mind of a football game. Understand, I am not into sports but as I reflect on football, I am reminded that the enemy, heartache, naysayers, lying friends, unemployment, sickness, slanderers, obstacles and even sin and temptation; are all our opponents. And with the job of any opponent, it’s to keep you from reaching the end zone of faith where you’ll receive the touchdown of victory. So they show up, in your path, attempting to block your pass. They strategize ways to keep your play from working. They’ve even studied film on you to see what your go-to moves are, ensuring they know you like the back of their hand. Yeah, sometimes your training will pay off and it’ll seem easy for you to run the field – it’s not you that’s your great defensive line. Other times it’ll feel like they are running clean over you but beloved, with any great defensive team, there’s going to be times they’ll miss their block. There’ll be some plays they’ll mess up. There will be some moments that will knock the breath out of your lungs, leaving you wondering if anyone has your back. I mean, your opponents will be coming at you so hard, you’ll be trying to figure out if it’s even worth it to keep running. The short answer – It is!

I get it, those times you’re being run over hurt like an m&^&& but don’t you dare start fumbling the ball. Those knock down moments can knock tears from your eyes but don’t you dare give up, instead get up. Those loses you sometimes have to take don’t look good on your record but keep getting in the game and let the wins overshadow them. It doesn’t matter if the opponent looks bigger than you, your defensive line was built for this and all you have to do is run the play. So what if it didn’t work last time, trust the coach. So what if your man missed the snap, reset and call it again. It doesn’t matter about the tactics of your opponent, there’s a Hail Mary about to happen in your favor. All you need to do is believe in the team you’re on, have confidence in the defense and trust in the coach because He’s NEVER lost a game. Baby, Coach Jesus got this and He has you. All you need to do is move your feet to get the yards!

“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.” – Deuteronomy 31:8

End zone

Daily Devotional – 8/10/16 “Do it for yourself!”

While you are waiting on someone to Invest in you, your business or your destiny/purpose, you’ve missed out on so much. While you’re waiting on someone to encourage you, you could have encouraged yourself by now. While you are waiting on Sunday to show up, to be prayed for, you could have prayed for yourself. The point is … Stop waiting on someone to do the things you can do yourself. I was looking at a memory from a few years ago on Facebook and it was during the time I was struggling spiritually. I knew it was because I was dodging God’s call but I had told myself that I needed to wait on my uncle (who is my pastor) to use me and my gifts. And while I waited, I was suffering. Suffering to the point where I was even questioning my spirituality. But then one day, I got tired and I surrendered to God. And it was then things started to change. I no longer waited on someone to bless my house, I do it myself. I don’t wait on anyone to encourage me, I do it myself. I don’t wait for someone to pray for me and my family, I do it daily. And whether you believe it or not, I pray for all of you who are connected to me. Not because you asked but because I don’t have to wait until you’re in need. Beloved, you too can speak your own healing. You don’t have to wait until something is prophesied in your life, to know that you are blessed; speak over your own life.

Keep waiting for someone else to send the devil, who is tormenting your home, back to hell; you better cast it out with your own mouth. Please understand, I am in no way diminishing the power of those who pray for, encourage, prophesy and uplift because we all need them but sometimes, you need to help yourself. Every chance you get you ought to be speaking blessings over your life, protection over your house, encouragement over your children, increase in your finances, healing over your body, forgiveness over your enemies and love for everybody. You don’t need me to tell you that you’re blessed, that’s evident by the fact you woke up. And please, stop walking with your head down. When you aren’t aware of your surroundings, things/people can catch you off guard. Why do you think the enemy is able to slip into your home, on the backs of your children or your spouse unnoticed? Chile, I don’t even bow my head to pray. It’s not that I have something against it but I pray walking around the house, in my bedroom, in the car, at my desk at work, the bathroom … you get the point. And, bowing our heads isn’t a requirement to pray anyway, for it says in Matthew 6:6, “But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” And if you don’t get anything, take this with you; hold your head up and walk in the fullness of the Lord while speaking greatness over your life. Start by remembering whose you are and the blessedness of being His child.