Lakisha, the Author

Daily Devotional – 2/22/16 “It’s real y’all!”

Depression, suicidal thoughts, wanting to give up, giving in … it’s a reality for a lot of people. Just because you can’t see their pain in the physical, it doesn’t mean there is no pain. This is why you have to watch how you talk to folk, all because you’re having a bad day. This is why you have to be careful how you treat folk, all because someone once hurt you. Stop before you react. Whether you want to believe it or not, there are some ministers/pastors who leave worship service depressed every Sunday. This is after they’ve preached you happy yet they are dying inside. Why? Well because they have to deal with the attitude and criticism of folk who claim to be saved yet no one is stopping to ask how he or she is doing. There are parents who contemplate walking off from their children every day simply because they can’t deal with the pressure of being parents. And some of these people sit on the same pew as you. There is a woman being abused at this very moment and she’s probably the CEO of a company. There is a man who is being belittled, right now, via text from some bitter woman who was taught to be this way by another bitter woman. There is a child being molested by someone who is supposed to love them. A teenage boy is being initiated into a gang because he wants to feel loved and he thinks this is how it’s supposed to be. A child is being bullied and their momma or daddy is too busy to notice. A woman is dealing with unbearable pain and she thinks suicide is her way out. A dad is being kept away from his child because the momma wants more child support.

What in the hell is going on? Baby, some of you saved folks who tore the altar up on yesterday with your dancing is living in pure hell and you’re too ashamed to tell somebody. You’re staying at that church, where you’re spiritually dying because you don’t want to hurt anybody. You’re staying in that relationship because you’ve become complacent yet you complain all day long. Stop living within the chains of bondage that has been clasped around your ankle. If you need help, get it. If you need to tell somebody, do it. If it’s too much, admit it. Don’t wait until it’s too late. Don’t allow your folks to suffer after your suicide. Don’t do it! Cover your mouth and tame your tongue because words spoken can’t be taken back. Don’t hurt folk because you’ve been hurt, deal with your hurt. Don’t continue the cycle of abuse, it needs to end. It needs to end today!

Dear God, I pray that you release every stronghold that is holding us down. Destroy every binding yoke, generational curses, sickness and disease. I pray right now for those suffering in silence. Have your way God that we shall not perish.

Daily Devotional – 2/19/16 “What the text said …”

I received a text last night, about 9:30, from my niece and it blew my mind. I’m going to attach it so that you can see it but when I tell you it blessed my very soul, it definitely did. In her text she said they were reading, “The Rose that Grew from Cement” by Tupac and she thought of me. Now, I’ve heard of it but I’ve never read it so I Googled it. It says,

Did you hear about the rose that grew
from a crack in the concrete?
Proving nature’s law is wrong it
learned to walk without having feet.
Funny it seems, but by keeping its dreams,
it learned to breathe fresh air.
Long live the rose that grew from concrete
when no one else ever cared

I don’t know about you but this thang speaks to me. See, it’s simply saying that no matter what you’re buried in; you can grow if you try. It doesn’t matter if no one else puts water on you, why do you think God allows you to cry? He’s giving you the means to water yourself. It means nothing if all you see is darkness because God should be implanted into your spirit that gives you light from within. It doesn’t matter if you can’t afford to buy miracle grow, God has given you His word to eat on and it has ALL the nutrients you need. Stop allowing where you are to stunt your growth. If a rose can grow in the midst of concrete surely you can grow in the midst of confusion. If a rose can grow in stone, surely you can push through your situation and grow. If a rose can grow in places folk say it couldn’t, surely you can grow in the places folk said you shouldn’t. Oh, I know you may be planted at a job that doesn’t seem like it has room for you to grow but you can, if you push yourself passed what ‘they’ won’t do. You may be looking at your vision and hearing folk say it won’t grow because you’re planted in the wrong place but beloved, all you have to do is have enough faith in yourself to grow where God has you at this very moment. It matters not about your surroundings. It matters not about who can see you because I’ve found there to be folk watching when you can’t see them. Don’t allow where you are to keep you from growing. If a rose can grow from concrete, surely you can prove folk wrong and grow from your circumstance.

“But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.” – 2 Peter 3:18

Daily Devotional – 2/18/16 “Don’t miss your time to praise!”

On last night, I had the pleasure of witnessing one of my friends receive her license in ministry. She, along with another young lady (who also received her license) preached in that place. Oh, I know you’re probably saying, “On a Wednesday night?” yes but it felt more like Sunday morning. Why am I sharing this with you? To simply tell you, don’t miss your time to praise. See, I know it’s customary to wait until your designated worship day to shout, dance and praise but baby, what if you don’t make it? What happens when Sunday comes but you’re no longer here to partake in it? What comes of your praise then? This is why I say; don’t miss your time to praise. Beloved, I’ve lived long enough to know that it never hurts to send God praise. Whether it’s on Wednesday, Saturday or Sunday; there’s never too much praise we can give to God. And then I’ve come to understand that as long as my praises go up, blessings will come down. So, I won’t tell you that Sunday is my only day to praise God because I praise on Monday for His mercy; Tuesday for Him taking a chance on my torn up temple; Wednesday for Him wiping my woes with His word; Thursday for thinking enough of me to send His only son Jesus; Friday for forgiving me and finding me favorable even with my flaws; Saturday for saving me in the midst of my sins and Sunday for sanctifying my spirit and then Monday, I start all over again.

I beseech you dear brothers and sisters; don’t miss your time to praise our God. Don’t miss your opportunity to send up a praise of Thanksgiving simply because it’s not on your normal day. Turn bible study into worship, turn prayer meeting into worship; turn girls/boys night out into a time to praise or add praise to your morning routine. It doesn’t matter when or where you praise God as long as you praise Him. Don’t wait until Sunday, you may not see it. Don’t wait until trouble is over, it may be too late. Don’t wait until you’re pumped and primed; it won’t be authentic. All I want you to get out of this is, don’t wait to praise God. For the bible says in Psalm 71:6, “From birth I have relied on you; you brought me forth from my mother’s womb. I will ever praise you.” Or like David says in Psalm 145:1, “I will exalt you, my God and King, and praise your name forever and ever. I will praise you every day; yes, I will praise you forever.” Praise is adoration to God to show that you’re thankful and that you love Him. Praise is paying what you owe. Don’t miss your time to sow it.

Daily Devotional – 2/17/16 “Who is Jesus?”

Who is Jesus? This question was asked of us in my Life of Christ class last night. Of course people shouted, “He’s the great I am,” “He’s King of Kings,” “He’s everlasting,” “He’s a healer,” etc. But then the professor asked, why won’t we go deeper? Hmmm. He’s right. If we were to introduce Jesus to an unbeliever would we be able to rightfully do it? This piques my interest because we only say what we’ve been taught but this is why we have to study for ourselves. If we met someone new, wouldn’t we ask questions like what’s your last name, where are you from, what school did you attend and what do you do? Yet we don’t give much thought to who Jesus is because we only repeat what has been said to us.

So, I asked myself this question, who is Jesus to you?

Well, Jesus is the Son of God, born to fleshly parents Mary and Joseph in Nazareth. He is a Palestinian Jew, the son of a carpenter which means carpentry ran in the family. He lived in times when food and water was scarce. He probably worked with His fleshly daddy until it was time for Him to work for His Spiritual father. He was anointed by God from birth and began teaching in the temple at the age of 12 yet He was rejected by His hometown. By the power of God; He was able to heal, give sight to the blind, cast out demons, make the dead live again but He wasn’t called doctor. He was able to sanctify a set of men He called disciples, teach in parables and preach to a multitude of folk without a pulpit although He wasn’t called a preacher. He fed an abundance of folk yet He wasn’t called a chef. He was able to tell the future but He wasn’t a fortune-teller. He was betrayed even though He trusted in folk. He was placed on trial and found guilty even though He hadn’t committed a crime. He was unjustly beaten and crucified on an old rugged cross so that we might live and now call Him Savior. He was buried for man’s pleasure but He was resurrected so that we might praise Him and He ascended to Heaven so that we could always have access to Him. And now we can call Him Everlasting, Master, Savior, Redeemer, Giver and Taker of Life and our Sacrifice.

I could go on but I won’t for the sake of your reading time but let me ask you this, “Who is Jesus to you?”

“The Son radiates God’s own glory and expresses the very character of God, and he sustains everything by the mighty power of his command. When he had cleansed us from our sins, he sat down in the place of honor at the right hand of the majestic God in heaven.” – Hebrews 1:3

Daily Devotional – 2/16/16 “Chile, is that you?”

When you see a person you haven’t seen in a while, do you say, “I hardly recognized you?” Ever seen a person you lost contact with and when you see them and they don’t look the same, do you say “Girl, is that you?” When you run into a guy you went to school with (years ago) and you look at them now, do you say, “Man, is that you?” Now, I would assume you say these things because you don’t recognize the person you once knew. Maybe their physical appearance has changed or their attitude precedes them and makes you look at them differently or maybe you’re just bad with faces. Either way, I would imagine that sometimes, on this journey, God is asking the same thing of us. Yea, He has to sometimes tap us in our spirit to make sure we’re the same person. It’s not because of a physical change but it’s because we don’t act, talk, walk or look like the Saint we portray on Sunday mornings. Oh, you know what I mean. You don’t look like the same man or woman who shouted all over the church. You don’t look like the same man who prayed and set the atmosphere. You don’t look like the good ole Evangelist who just preached until the angels rejoiced. You don’t look the same.

I mean, you were just so nice to the members but now you’re meaner than a snake to your husband or wife. You were just hugging everybody but now you’re mean mugging your family. You were just laying hands on folks at the altar but you won’t even hug your own momma. You were just telling folk you’ll pick them up for church yet you won’t take your sister to work. God is shaking His head and asking, “Is that you?” When you walk around with all that hell in you, God is asking, “Is that you?” When you lie, backbite and stab folk in the back, God is asking, “Is that you?” When you’re sleeping with other folks spouses and you got your own at home, God is asking, “Is that you?” When your skirt is short on Saturday but long enough to trip over on Sunday, God is asking, “Is that you?” God doesn’t need fake folks that have lost their flavor but He needs real righteous respectable folks that are willing to work in His favor! You claim to be a Christian but you don’t believe in tithing. You say you are a Christian but then you sit around in the barber and beauty shops spreading rumors/gossip about your Pastor. Chile, God isn’t pleased with your performance and you ought to be mindful of that before He gives His review of you. The last thing you should want is to get to the Day of Judgment and not be recognized by the God you claim to serve.

“God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.” Genesis 1:27