Lakisha, the Author

Daily Devotional – 6/10/16 “Disconnected to connect!”

“Often times God will disconnect you from your Familiar, in order to connect you with your Future” – Warren B. Perry

Here I am sitting at my desk, waiting on God to drop something in my spirit to tell you and I just so happen to see this on my Facebook timeline. Bro. Perry doesn’t mind because I’ve borrowed his thoughts before (plus I told him) but I had to share this with somebody on today. You’re trying to figure out why God is telling you to move out of your comfortable place, this is it. You’re trying to make sense of why God is telling you to leave the only church you’ve known, this is it. You’re trying to wrap your head around why God is telling you to quit your job, this is it. You said it doesn’t make sense that God will tell you to end your ten-year dating relationship, this is it. You couldn’t make heads or tails on why God told you it was time to change your beautician, this is it. Beloved, God gives us some strange orders but it’s only to set us up to receive a significant overflow. I know you’re wondering why we have to move from the familiar to get it but that’s because if we stay connected to what we’re comfortable with, we will never get used to doing something unfamiliar in an uncomfortable place. You have to understand, you are not meant to stay where you are. Everything we go through is an assignment that will end when God gets ready to reassign us. Is it always easy to readjust? No but how will you know if you stay where you are?

Let me explain … If you happen to stay around familiar folk, they might not ever tell you that you’re capable of doing more. Why not? Well because they are used to seeing you do the same thing. But if you happen to get out from around them, others will be able to see that the talent you have is more valuable and useful. Why do you think most children thrive in college? They are away from the familiar. There they learn to wash their own clothes, cook for themselves and survive because they’ve now been disconnected from the familiarity of momma who did it for them. Think about it. You didn’t shout until you went to an unfamiliar church. You didn’t think you’d ever eat something different until you went outside your comfort zone and tried a new restaurant. You didn’t think you could wear that dress or that color suit until someone, other than who you’re familiar with, complimented you. You wouldn’t have met your husband had you not went into a new place you normally wouldn’t have. You wouldn’t have met the HR manager of the job you’d been seeking had you not attended that function you were afraid to go to. This is why God has to disconnect us from familiar places and people. Sometimes staying in a familiar place around familiar people limits your access to resources you never even knew existed. That’s why you have to realize that you are on assignment, so don’t get comfortable because when God gets ready to move us, it’s on His time and not ours. All you have to be is willing to go. Don’t look at where it is, go. It doesn’t matter that you don’t know anybody there, go. God is only removing you from your comfortable, familiar place because it has gotten too small to handle the abundance of things He is about to do in your life. Trust Him!

Jeremiah 29:11, “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.”

Daily Devotional – 6/9/16 “I’m not ashamed of my suffering!”

Sometimes you have to tell folk, if the hell I’ve been through couldn’t defeat me; what makes you think you can! If disease didn’t break me, what gives you the power to think you can? If depression didn’t steal my joy, what makes you think you can? If folk leaving me didn’t destroy me, what makes you think you can? Tell them, I don’t mind you speaking on me but at least let it be truthful. I don’t mind you not liking me but let it be on something you know and not what you heard. Because when you persecute me, I’m blessed. When you torment me, I’m blessed in the process. When you try to scandalize my name, I’m blessed. For the bible tells me in Matthew 5:10, “God blesses those who are persecuted for doing right, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.” This is why you ought to get to a point in your natural life that you tell folk, suffering didn’t shatter me; in fact, my suffering saved me. Yea! Tell them, that pain I endured; it pushed me. That heartbreak, it helped me. That sickness, it strengthened me. Those lies, they lifted me. That betrayal, it blessed me. This divorce, it delivered me. Losing my job, it loosened me. That repossession, it released me. That addiction, it amended me.

Baby, we have to get like Paul and say like 2 Corinthians 12:9, “So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me,” for God says, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” Suffering isn’t final because it has to end just like everything else. Don’t get mad when folks try to use your suffering against you. Let them talk because afterwards you can say, yea, I’ve suffered but it saved me. How else would you have become sober if it wasn’t for that DUI? How else would you have been delivered from being a whoremonger, if you hadn’t suffered through the many relationships? How else would you have been delivered from drugs if you hadn’t hit rock bottom? How else could you clear your name, if folk had never tried to bring you to shame? How else could you survive if you’ve never suffered? How else could you had become stronger if you’ve never been weak? How else could you enjoy the light if you’ve never been in darkness? How else could you enjoy taking care of your finances if you’ve never been broke? Baby, folk will talk but don’t allow them to use your suffering against you, when your suffering has now gotten you to the place of surviving. For the bible tells me, if I suffer, I shall gain eternal life! Suffering isn’t in vain so stop being victimized by it! 1 Peter 5:10, “And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.” Suffering has a place but take comfort in knowing it comes with God’s amazing grace.

Daily Devotional – 6/8/16 “Don’t stop now!”

Baby, sometimes you have to let folk wonder about you. Yea, let me continue to speculate on how you got that house. Let me keep on saying stuff like; I thought he had bad credit, how he get that car. Let them guess on how your spouse found you. Baby, you will learn that not everything warrants a response from you. Let folk talk because I’ve lived long enough to know that ‘they’ will talk when you’re doing good, bad, and healthy or sick. See, to some folk you aren’t supposed to be blessed like that. To some, you aren’t supposed to be smiling. Some folk don’t think you deserve to be happy. They don’t want to hear your name on someone else lips for the good. And they definitely don’t want to see you being blessed. But that’s alright. You’ve got to understand this, not everyone will be happy for you. It doesn’t matter who you are because the truth of the matter is, it’s not really about you. I’ve told you this before and I’m only reiterating it today because someone is fighting with some folk over some foolish mess. So what if they’ve never come to see your new house – they mad cause it’s not them. So what if they didn’t come to the wedding – they’re upset because somebody finds you loveable. So what if they didn’t congratulate you on your new job – they were wishing they’d get it. So what if they didn’t come to visit you in the hospital – they were hoping you didn’t survive. Why do you think you get so many calls of “I’m sorry for your lost,” instead of calls saying, “I’m happy for you?”

Chile, stop trying to push folk to celebrate you. Let me tell you something … I’ve published 9 books yet a lot of folk in my family and some friends have yet to support me. I’ve been preaching almost two years and I can count on my fingers the number of family and friends who’ve witnessed the many sermons. So, when I tell you stuff; it’s what I know. But understand this, it doesn’t bother me anymore. God has blessed me beyond what my mind can even measure so why would I waste time trying to convince folk of my anointing? No ma’am, no sir; you’ve got to stop wasting precious moments trying to get folk to support you. Folk will support what they want too, when they want too. However, that doesn’t mean you stop doing what you’re supposed to. One of these days, you’ll be surprised to see certain folk in the pews rejoicing with you. One of these days, you’re going to be shocked by the folks who’ll be celebrating with you. But get this, it still won’t be because of you but it’ll be the God in them they’ll eventually find. Because when you tap into the God I know; He’ll make those that hated you, shout for your healing. He’ll make those who supposedly couldn’t stand you, support you. He’ll have those who considered you their enemy, encouraging you. Those who rejected you, will now rejoice for you. And those that caused you pain will be praising your peace. And only then will it be genuine! Don’t believe me, just watch. In the meantime, keep inviting them, keep sharing your happiness and keep pressing on! In other words; keep shining, keep grinding and keep living!

“We must not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and killed his brother. And why did he kill him? Because Cain had been doing what was evil, and his brother had been doing what was righteous. So don’t be surprised, dear brothers and sisters, if the world hates you.” 1 John 3:12-13

Daily Devotional – 6/7/16 “A blessing in the doctor’s office!”

My momma sent me a text on yesterday that made my entire day. I’ll let her tell you. Look at the picture below …

My momma had no idea the miracle she just performed in that young lady’s life. And I told my momma that whether she knew it or not, she’d just passed a test of God. See, that young lady could have been suffering, spiritually yet she was saved by getting what she asked for. She could have been in a place of not understanding who God really is yet she found out about Him by getting a purse. She could have even been at a point where she was thinking of giving up on God yet God manifested Himself in that doctor’s office, in the front of all those people. Please understand, it wasn’t about the purse but it was about God’s purpose in who He has called us to be. It wasn’t about momma having 30 other purses at home because God is going to replenish that which she gave because she was faithful in her giving. Y’all, God is just and will supply all of our needs, if we ask! This is why the bible says in Matthew 7:7, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.” This doesn’t mean that now you can beg to everybody for everything but it simply means you have to get to a place where you ask for what you need with the faith of knowing it’ll be done. Momma didn’t give because she wanted accolades or because she’s waiting on God to repay her yet she gave because she read in the bible where it says in Luke 6:38, “Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.” I believe and know that momma gave because her heart told her too. Can you just imagine how greater things could be if all of God’s children operated in His calling this way? Think about it. If we, as Saints of God, would do our part, there would be no lack in getting what we need. If we simply did our part. Beloved, I don’t know about you but this blessed me down to my feet. I know God is real and for this young lady, she now knows it too. Thank you momma!

Daily Devotional – 6/6/16 “Looking like you’re looking”

Look at you … you woke up this morning, in your feelings, again; about something or somebody. You got the audacity to be mad at God about some stuff He had no say in and now you want to be selfish and not pray. You walk in and look at the dog and get angry at him and he ain’t even woke up yet. You look at the children and get mad because they can sleep in. You look at the car and get annoyed about the car note. Yet, the one thing you’ve failed to look at is you. I mean, look at you; looking like you’re looking. (I wrote a similar devotional on 6/7/13 and the Holy Spirit said to share it again.) Don’t you know it could be worse? Yea, folk could actually see the tear stains from your all night cry fest but they don’t. They could see the scars on your feet from the overnight pace party you had but they don’t. The pain in your body could be visible all over your face but it isn’t. Folk could see the holes in your heart from the constant hurt from family and friends but they can’t. Folk could see the pressure that consistently sit on your shoulders from all the things you’re trying to do with no support. Folk could see the disappointment in your belly from the membership that’s not growing no matter what you do. They could see the many mistakes you make that should cause you to stumble but they don’t. Why not? Well, it’s not because of you but it’s because God woke your selfish tail up this morning, in your right mind and with a reasonable portion of health and strength just so you could get yourself together.

So, look at you looking like you’re looking. Which means you don’t look like what you’ve been through. You don’t look like you’ve been drug to hell and back, most days. You don’t look like the dialysis that’s waiting on you at home. You don’t look like the chemo you just left from. You don’t look like the repossession that just happened. You don’t look like your house has just been foreclosed on. You don’t look like your negative checking account. You don’t look like you feel. And you sure don’t look hungry although you haven’t eaten since yesterday. Look at you! You don’t look like you just came out of the bathroom crying over your failing marriage. You don’t look like you spent your lunch filing bankruptcy or getting another check advance. You don’t look like all the alcohol you drank last night trying to drown your troubles. You don’t look like the pills you popped to silence the thoughts in your head. You don’t look like the suicide you just thought about. You don’t look like the disorder that has a hold on your life. You don’t look like a person whose marriage is failing. You don’t look like the woman who had to sleep in her car. You don’t look like the man who is working 18 hours days. You don’t look like the depression that keeps you up at night. You don’t look like the man whose name folk are scandalizing. Look at yourself! God works on you minute by minute to ensure you look like His masterpiece instead of the mess you’re in. This is why you look like the purpose God intended for your life and not the pain; the anointing and not the shame! Chile, if God wanted you dead; you’d be dead by now. Stop looking at the problems and look at the fact that you don’t look like all the mess you’ve encountered! God has you looking like you’re looking and you looks pretty doggone good to me!