Daily Devotional – 11/24/15 “The door is open …”

The door is open, come out! What do I mean? Simply this … let go of the past hurt that has been done to you and those you’ve done. Let go of those times you’ve been humiliated because they can’t hurt you anymore. Open doorLet go of past and present mistakes, let go of the names you used to be known by (if you don’t still reside there), let go of the roles you’ve played to those who don’t deserve it, let go of that abusive relationship (where you’ve been getting the pain or giving it), let go of momma or daddy’s judgment and let go of the generational curses! Beloved, as long as you hold on to all these things; it’s like sitting in an unlocked jail cell. Come out! If you want to be happy, get out of your own way. No one can make you happy if you are depressed and sad on the inside. That’s like trying to paint over red with something white, the red will still show. And as long as you stay in the mistakes of your past, it’ll bleed through every time you open your mouth.

Forgive yourself, stand up and come out. It doesn’t matter what it was, start with forgiving yourself. Even if someone hurt you, forgive them too because as long as you hold on to the hurt, each time you think of it; you bring up the same pain. You’ve got to forgive otherwise you are only a shell of a person trying to survive. Why do you think the enemy keeps showing up? It’s because he knows you’re weak. Come out! If you look down at the chain of agony that is surrounding your ankles, you’ll notice they aren’t locked; come out of them. The handcuffs of the past around your wrists, pull and you’ll see they’ve been open the entire time; come out! The water of who you used to be that you’re drowning in, reach out your hand and you’ll realize nothing is holding you down; come out! The names you were once called, they only matter if you still answer to them, come out! The judge, God, threw out your case a long time ago, why are you still sitting in the court room? Baby, it’s now in your hands and you know the cause of your unhappiness, come out of it. The only person who can change who you are or who you’ve become is you and all it takes is the few steps to come out of whatever it is you’re hiding in. The door is open but you have to get up and walk out.

Psalm 32:2, “Blessed is the one whose sin the LORD does not count against them and in whose spirit is no deceit.”

Daily Devotional – 11/23/15 “God thought enough of you …”

God thought enough of you to change your life, why would you mess it up? God cared enough about you to change your name, why are you still answering to foolishness? God even thought enough about you to change your location, why are you still going back to where you used to be? If God thought you were worth saving, why don’t you? Oh, you listening to folk but baby, folk will tell you anything to see you fail. And if you would go by what everybody said about everything, you’d never go anywhere, try anything or amount too much. Look, folk will tell you they don’t like the food at that restaurant and you’ll take their word for it instead of trying it for yourself. Folk will tell you, he/she isn’t worth it and you go along with it instead of fighting for your marriage. Folk will say that church is full of mess, when the truth of the matter is; the messy one is the one you’re listening too. You’ve got to stop letting folk get into your ear because they taint your spirit. Yet God thought you were worth keeping, so He cleaned you up inside. What are you going to do about the outside?

You’ve got to get to a point where you start believing in what God knows you’re capable of. If God didn’t think you could do it, He wouldn’t have opened the door. If God didn’t think you were worthy, He wouldn’t have called your name. If God didn’t think you were worth saving, He would have let you die in your sins. If God didn’t think you were worth dying for, He wouldn’t have sent His only Son. If God didn’t think you could handle it, He wouldn’t have allowed sickness to invade your body. If God didn’t think you can pass the assignment, He wouldn’t have placed you there? Don’t you trust Him? Trust God more than you trust those old tires on your car that should have been replaced. Trust God more than the chair you’re sitting in. Trust God more than you do the pilot flying the plane. Trust God more than the cook who is preparing your food. Beloved, God believes in you but you’ve got to believe in Him too. If He didn’t think you were worthy of His anointing, He wouldn’t allow you to partake in it. God thought enough of you to trust you with His plan. What are you going to do with it?

Daily Devotional – 11/20/15 “Let them have their moment!”

When folk try to assassinate your character, they’ll do AND say anything to make folk listen! Don’t worry about them, let them have this moment! Pray for your enemyWhen folk attempt to ruin your name, let them go on and try. When folk seek to destroy what you’ve built, let me continue. Why? Because the fact of the matter is this … They aren’t doing anything anyway. It’s like you are standing in the middle of a big pile of mess and no matter how much you clean and throw stuff away; it seems the harder you work and still more you have to do. It’s the same with character assassins, dream killers, name callers, rock throwers (they hide their hands tho), petty packers and messy minions. See, even when they think they are doing something, they actually aren’t. Even when they think they are accomplishing what they set out to do, (destroy you); they really aren’t. This is why I told you to let them have their moment because the harder they work the more they’ll have to do.

Oh, I know it doesn’t feel good but when has suffering ever felt good? However, don’t try to fight against somebody who is set on defeating you, eventually they’ll get tired. Yea, they’ll get tired of creating lies, they’ll get tired of stalking all your social media pages, they’ll get tired of showing up to where you are, they’ll get tired of being whooped by God; they’ll get tired but until then let them have their moment. God told you, He’ll make a table for you in the presence of your enemies (Psalm 23:5), so they have to show up but continue eating and offer them a seat. Even David says, in Psalm 109:2-5, “For people who are wicked and deceitful have opened their mouths against me; they have spoken against me with lying tongues. With words of hatred they surround me; they attack me without cause. In return for my friendship they accuse me, but I am a man of prayer. They repay me evil for good, and hatred for my friendship.” Now David asked the Lord for some harsh stuff against his enemies but you don’t have too because God is already fighting on your behalf. All you have to do is pray like David does when he picks up in Psalm 109:26-28 saying, “Help me, LORD my God; save me according to your unfailing love. Let them know that it is your hand, that you, LORD, have done it. While they curse, may you bless; may those who attack me be put to shame, but may your servant rejoice.” Let them have their moment while you pray and God provides!

Daily Devotional – 11/19/15 “Trust God at all times!”

Don’t just trust God while you’re in your storm; trust Him before it comes and then when you come out. See, I’ve found that when you praise God before the storm, you are storing up prayers needed to help you through your storm. When you praise God while in your storm, you are storing up prayers for when you come out. Trust GodAnd when you praise God after you get out, you are letting Him know you are still grateful that He allowed the storm to come but it didn’t kill you! Please understand, your storm can be sickness but it wasn’t until death. Your storm can be addiction but it didn’t claim your family or your life. Your storm can be job loss but it shouldn’t take your joy. Your storm can be financial hardship but it shouldn’t negate the fact that God is your provider. I get it; your storm may be hard, the wind is picking up, the clouds are starting to turn dark and the rain is starting to pour but then what? I ask this question because, when it’s physically raining, your day-to-day operations don’t stop so why should your praise stop during your spiritual storm?

Still don’t get it? On the other day, here in the city, we were under a tornado watch. The winds were heavy, it was so dark outside you could hardly see and when the rain started, it poured; yet folk stayed at work, folk went to the nail shop (I did), folk continued their grocery shopping, folk went out to eat, folk went to the movies; their day didn’t stop because the storm was raging outside. Why? Because they had on their rain gear to protect them, they felt safe where they were and they trusted God through it. It’s the same when it comes to your spiritual storm. You’ve got to have your rain gear on (that comes from knowing whose you are and studying God’s word); you’ve got to believe you are in a safe place and you’ve got to trust God through it. Beloved, God isn’t going to place you into anything He hasn’t already equipped you for but you know this already, right? Then where is your praise? Where is your strength? Where is your joy? Don’t just praise God when you come out of your storm but praise God before you even go in (Lord, I trust you)! Praise God during your storm (Lord, I still trust you)! Then praise God when you come out (Lord, I trust you even more)! Praise God at all times that way when you call Him, He’ll know your voice. Don’t wait until the battle is over …

“And those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you.” Psalm 9:10

Daily Devotional – 11/18/15 “Keep it real!”

Keep it real

Rejoice in the face of those that claim to not like you because they are watching your every move. What they are really doing is trying to see if you will slip up and make a mistake. Yea, they are trying to see if you are as holy as you portray on social media. (Are you?) See, the last thing you should do as a Saint of God is claim to be holy when you’re really hellish, a praise giver when in actuality you’re petty, a messenger of God’s word when you actually pass mess and gossip or an encourager when you know your words are empty. Baby, the last thing you should be, if you claim to be a Saint, is anything less than that. Please understand; I’m in no way saying you have to be perfect (I’m not) but don’t chastise me for cursing when that’s all that comes out of your mouth. Don’t criticize me for getting pregnant out-of-wedlock, just because you’re a season Saint, when you’ve never been married and have five children. Don’t turn your nose up at me when my skirt is shorter than you think it ought to be when the truth of the matter is, you have one just like but you can’t wear it anymore. All I’m saying is keep it real in this thang!

God has enough phony Saints on the roll, He doesn’t need anymore. He needs some folk who are who they say they are. God is looking for those who can own up to their mistakes and not make them again. God needs some folks who don’t mind sharing about the times they’ve been without. God needs some folks who will share their testimony from addict to abundance. God needs some folk who will stand in the pulpits, on the sidewalks, in the middle of the grocery store, on their jobs and on social media and keep it real. Yes, I am a preacher of God’s word and I still struggle. I’d be lying if I said I had it all together. I sometimes struggle with paying my tithes or a bill. I sometimes have moments when it gets real and I don’t feel like praying for folk. I have times when I need encouragement and times when I might not know the answer to your question; I’m just keeping it real. Are you? Can God count on you to keep it real? See, if we, as Saints of God, always try to act like we never struggle then we are setting up the newly converted to think that once they accept Christ, all their problems cease. It doesn’t work like that. We’ve got to keep it real because then we are being who God has called us to be. This is why 2 Timothy 2:15 says, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.”