Lakisha, the Author

Daily Devotional – 3/22/16 “Your puzzled life!”

Growing up, my momma would buy puzzles and we’d all sit around trying to put all 500 pieces together in order to make it look like the box. We’d start by pouring all of the pieces on the table and then scattering them around in order to organize them in some sort of way. It was pure chaos but it was all worth it when the finish product was complete. Then we could stand back and admire the work that our hands have now accomplished, the puzzle looking like the picture on the box. Well, this started me to thinking of the ultimate puzzle put-togetherer (I made that up). See, I’ve realized that God has to put us back together sometimes and in order for Him to do this; some things have to happen first. What do I mean? Well, He has to pour us out, scatter those emptied out contents around, put them into some organized piles and then put us back together again. Oh but instead of looking like the image on the box, we look like the image of Him for the bible says in Genesis 1:27, “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” Somebody shall get their deliverance today.

See, I know you’re trying to figure out why it seems like your life is chaotic right now. You’re wondering why it seems like your mind is scattered in a million pieces. Your spirituality is getting weak and your faith too. You’re trying to make sense of it all but it’s making absolutely none; baby, that’s God working and He’s putting the puzzle of your life back together. Trust the process. No, it doesn’t feel good but it’s worth it. Yea, you may lose some folk during this process; they didn’t fit the image; trust the puzzle assembler. You may have a piece stuck somewhere you didn’t think it belonged (being sent to another church, leaving that abusive spouse, starting a new job, letting the car get repossessed, filing bankruptcy or simply taming your tongue); it’s part of the process. You may get turned around and pointed in a direction you didn’t think fit (that man you didn’t like you now love, that girl you couldn’t stand and now you can’t stand without her and that church you said you’d never go back to ended up saving your life); it’s part of the process. Oh but baby in the end, when all the pieces have been placed; God stands back and gazes at the masterpiece that He’s carefully put together and He’s pleased. He brushes off the dust that may have come from the box you were once in and He smiles. He runs His hands over you one last time before He presents you faultless and favored. Now all you have to do is trust in the fact that the pieces have been placed by the right hands and they won’t fall out again. They may bend but they won’t break for God says, “That’s my work and it is good!”

Joel 2:25, “I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter, my great army, which I sent among you.”

Daily Devotional – 3/21/16 “God got it!”

Somebody woke up this morning feeling defeated because you’ve been waiting on an answer from God and it’s yet to come. You probably paced all night long crying out to God for Him to show up because you need Him now! Somebody else worried all day yesterday so much that you didn’t even go to worship. You keep toiling over a situation; you said you’d turned over to God. You’re trying to figure out why he or she doesn’t love you like you thought they should. You’re stuck in the same place wondering if you made the right decision about the assignment you took on years ago. You’re standing immobile, in your mind, while you’re still trying to make sense of a loved one’s death. You’ve become complacent in your mess because you keep using the excuse, “God knows my heart.” Well, baby how long are you going to keep on with this? When are you going to realize everything works in God’s time and not yours? Isn’t it time you allowed God to step in? All you need to do is look around and you’ll quickly realize, you’re only making you worse.

Yes, I know you go to church every Sunday and your place on the same pew is marked by your butt impression but that means nothing if you keep leaving the same as you came. Yes, I know you pray during devotion, altar call and prayer service but when are you going to start praying for yourself? Yea, the pastor has your number on speed dial but he or she can’t get you heaven. When are you going to stop? Stop with the excuses, the running, the mistakes and the woe is me? Chile, don’t you know God has been trying to give you your answer, you won’t listen. God has been showing you, you won’t look. God has been removing those people; you keep going to get them. God gave you a way out, you went back. God has ordered your steps, you keep getting off. God has set your path, you are the one following folk and going in the wrong direction. Beloved, God doesn’t make mistakes. How do I know? The bible tells me He knew us before our momma hooked up with our daddy, before we started forming in the womb He’d already purposed our life and before we even came to be known as the name on our birth certificates, He’d already anointed us for a greater cause. You are NOT a mistake. Now, the mess you make occasionally, that’s a mistake but you my brother, you my sister; you are not. All you have to do is trust God and keep your eye on Him. My pastor told me, “If I do what I can, God will do what I can’t.” That’s enough right there for me to do it, what about you?

Jeremiah 1:5, “I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb. Before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as my prophet to the nations.”

Daily Devotional “3/18/16 – Stop!”

Stop keeping score of those who have hurt you. If you keep focusing on how many people have hurt you, you’ll never be able to count those who don’t. Stop trying to hurt people before they hurt you because then you’ll end up bitter and alone. Everyone isn’t that one, two or maybe more who’ve hurt you. Quit treating them as such. Break the habit of being the one to win every argument! Do you know that it doesn’t matter who wins as long as you resolve the issue? If you focus on who started it, you’ll never get over it. Deal with the situation, apologize and don’t bring it up again. This is why we have so many families who are being cursed by the generation of hurt, bitterness and anger that has been passed down generation after generation. Folk leave the church mad because they didn’t get the position they wanted and now everybody in the family hates that church. Bitter mothers teach their daughters how to be bitter instead of teaching them to be better. Deadbeat dads teach sons have to grow up being deadbeat instead of showing them how to be a better dad. A family will teach hostility instead of holiness. Parents are passing down the mentality of get them before they get you instead of teaching to love your neighbors.

What is going on? When will we stop the generation of being a ‘welfare family’? When will we break the chain of abuser that’s going from man to man in the family? When will we destroy the yoke of being abused that has held on to every daughter in the family? When will we knock the hell out of the enemy instead of allowing him to live in our homes? When will we break the tradition of having bad credit and no job? When will we stop holding on to the things that hurt momma and daddy that are now defeating us? When will we let go of the stuff and people we’re allowing to hold us hostage. When will we walk out of the personal prison of pain we’ve allowed ourselves to be housed in? When will be let go of the rope that has us bound? I don’t know if you recognize this or not but today is the day for you to do it. All you have to do is let go, get up, get out and try! Yes, it’s going to hurt because it’s what you’re used to but you may just find you like it the new norm. Yea, it may be uncomfortable at first but give yourself time to get used to it. Stop making excuses, stop trying to find ways to stay in your hurt and stop looking for any reason to go back there. If it hasn’t worked in all this time, it won’t start now! Do better because you want better. Forgive yourself, forgive them and move on! I promise that you’ll feel much better when you do.

Daily Devotional – 3/17/16 “Who are you?”

Usually when you ask someone, in the church, who they are; they are quick to say, “I’m a child of God.” However, I want to know do you really know who you are? Honestly. Could you be direct in your answer to this question? Who are you? Well for me, I’ve come to realize that the only way I can be is honest. Who am I? I am Lakisha, I love God but I still cuss. I am anointed by God but I still, sometimes, get angry or have an attitude. God favors me but I still have flaws. I preach God’s word but I can also put you in your place, respectfully. I work for God’s kingdom but I also write books about sex. I am not perfect but I am perfectly positioned for the post God has placed me on and I won’t ever persuade you to believe in me. No ma’am, no sir! Why? Well because I am not the one you should be seeking, seek the God in me! This is why I don’t explain my position; God was the one who created it. Yes, I’ve had some people to tell me that I shouldn’t be writing fiction books and preaching God’s word but you know what I say to them … Absolutely nothing. And you want to know why? It’s because I don’t owe them an explanation. Beloved, no one was there when God started speaking to me. You weren’t there the nights He woke me up, the days I stood in the bathroom’s stall trying to figure out a way to say no to God or the many conversations we had. So do you honestly think I will try, even on a bad day, to expound to you why I am who’s I am? I won’t. To hell with folk who act all holier than thou on social media but still cuss folk out when no one is around. Yes, I see you with all your holy posts but I’ve also seen your hellish ones (you know before you became so saved).

So, when folk ask me who I am; I tell them. I am a sinner who is continually saved by grace. I still wear 5” or higher heels, I love dresses but I shop cheap and I absolutely love the Lord. You can’t change that. Now, I ask you; who are you? Don’t be ashamed of who you are or where you came from. Embrace your flaws. Don’t be concerned with those who never support you because I can bet out of the 1300 friends I have on Facebook, some of them are just lurking to see if the day has come when I don’t smile bright. Chile, they didn’t even accept Jesus in his hometown, do you honestly think everyone will accept you? Most of them can’t believe it’s you, a lot of them can’t understand why it’s you doing it and a heap of them can’t fathom why you are being blessed like you are. That’s alright. Stop trying to explain it to them. Stop trying to badger them to accept you. Stop begging them to support you. Oh because there will be a day, they’ll have no choice but to honor what God is doing and it won’t have a thing to do with you. And the next time be able to answer … Who are you, why are you here and what have you come to do? Don’t answer these questions to appease folk but answer them so that you know your true self. You’d be amazed at how many of God’s children are serving in the church without an identity.

“My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” Galatians 2:20

Daily Devotional – 3/16/16 “Suffering builds strength!”

Why is it, as Christians, we want the blessings God give but we don’t want the suffering? That’s like only wanting the good part of a relationship which means you probably run every time it gets bad. And you have to wonder why you have commitment issues? You do know that all days aren’t going to be good, don’t you? There will be times it won’t go right no matter what you try but you have to recognize that this is a part of life. I mean, if you quit each time something didn’t go right, you’d never accomplish anything. This is why you have to suffer, sometimes, because it builds your strength. If you didn’t go through anything, how would you know what you can handle? If you’ve never been through a breakup, how would you know what a broken heart feels like in order to get over it? If you’ve never been without, before, how would you know that you can survive? If you’ve never had to struggle, how can you possible know your strength?

Think about it. You are strong because of the moments that made you weak. Those nights you only had $8 but had to feed your family. The nights you had to sleep next to the hospital bed of a dying parent or a sick child. The day you had to bury your spouse. The day you signed the divorce papers, received that foreclosure notice or got the call about repossessing your car.. Those long days and nights spent going through chemo and radiation. Those weeks of rehab, the months without a job, the years without a car or house and a lifetime of feeling unwanted; these weak moments make you strong. Don’t believe me? Then go through something. You don’t know how strong you are until you are standing there and strong is the only option you have to choose from. Don’t discount the struggle you’ve been through, going through or are about to go through. God doesn’t give us anything He hasn’t already worked out in advance. All He needs you to do is have faith in Him and then trust in yourself. Simply tell God, “My soul is weary with sorrow; strengthen me according to your word (Psalm 119:28)” and He’ll do it for His word says in 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.”