Daily Devotional – 7/29/15 “God’s surgery … No appointment needed!”

You have to be broken to be mended, hurt to be healed, knocked down to get up and sometimes cast out just to get in. Oh, I know it doesn’t feel good but who said pain did. When you go through surgery, don’t you come out in pain? Yet after your recovery, you feel whole again. When you break a bone, doesn’t it hurt? Yet after it heals, most times you can’t even tell it was once shattered in places. When your heart gets torn into pieces, does it not hurt? Yet when it is mended and it begins to be loved by the right somebody, they’ll never see the shattered pieces of what was. Beloved, if you aren’t broke, how can the potter fix you? Yea, we dress our fleshly bodies up to look good but all God has to do is run us through His x-ray machine and He’ll see all the places that need repairing. His machine will show the holes in our spirit from not taking Him at His word but instead taking man at theirs. It’ll show the scar tissue on our back from the constant misuse of folk we thought were our friend. It’ll show the defeats in our heart caused by the many folk we’ve allowed to have access when we should have patiently waited on God. It’ll show the poison in our blood from being connected to the wrong folk. It’ll even show the clogs in our arteries from being hooked up with mess! And all God is getting ready to do, is perform surgery!

Yea, it’s going to hurt but that’s the hurt of what you’re already going through because with God, He has some good anesthesia that kicks in; called grace and mercy. He’ll lay you out and turn on the bypass machine. You’ll start to hear a little bit of Amazing Grace humming in your ear but that’s just the music He normally plays during surgery, close your eyes. While you drift off to sleep, God begins to work. He moves all through the intricate parts of your body performing surgery. He removes your clogged arteries of anger so that love can now freely flow. He gives you a blood transfusion removing your toxin filled blood and replacing it with His (your blood types match). He decided to leave the scar tissue on your back because that’ll be part of your testimony after the recovery. He moves down and gives you more strength in your legs because He has more work for you to do. Then He removes that old heart you had and replaces it with a new one because the old one no longer fits. He then looks you over and He is pleased with His work so He turns down the anesthesia and turn off the bypass machine and you begin to stir. He tells grace and mercy to stay by your bed side keeping you comfortable until you’re able to get up. Then He leans over and whisper, “For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. (Jeremiah 29:11)” Now, here you are; fresh out of surgery, recovery going good … What are you going to do? You are made for this but you have to believe in yourself enough to go in, go through and then come out.

Daily Devotional – 7/28/15 “We serve a God …”

We serve a God that allows it to rain and the sun to shine at the same time. We serve a God who will allow us to be temporarily out of funds yet not without our needs being met. We serve a God who will cover us, even in our mess, when we know we should have been dead by now. We serve a God that allows doors to open even when we haven’t knocked. We serve a mighty God that won’t allow us to suffer in our storm even when we may not have served Him in a while! I said on Saturday to a room full of women, that even though we may be fighting a war; it doesn’t mean we didn’t come to win. We lose when we stop fighting. Baby, don’t you realize that as long as we are in the fight, the battle, the war, the storm, the valley or climbing to go somewhere that we have a chance of coming out victorious? We lose the chance of winning when we give up.

Yea, I know you are tired; I know death has shown up and it knocked the wind out of your lungs, I get the fact that you’re still dealing with messy folk, I understand as soon as you get one enemy gone two come back, I know that you are sick of being sick, I know you’re burnt out on being broke, weary from job hunting, depressed by your afflictions, held hostage by your addiction and weighed down by your burdens but chile, we serve a God who is able to help us through all of these things! But get this, we’ve got to get up out of the pit we’ve placed ourselves in and give Him that which we are toiling with. God can’t handle our problems if we are still trying to fix them ourselves. Psalm 55:22 says this, “Give your burdens to the LORD, and he will take care of you. He will not permit the godly to slip and fall.” 1 Peter 5:7 says this, “Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.” Proverbs 3:6 says this, “Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.” And Proverbs 16:3 says this, “Commit your actions to the LORD, and your plans will succeed.” Will all your days be great? No. Will everything work out in your favor, all the time? No. Yet, we serve a God who will never leave you nor forsake you but you have to know that you have to go through, sometime! Just stay in the fight. As long as you fight, you have a chance of coming out victorious. You lose when you quit! You lose when you give up!

Daily Devotional – 7/27/15 “We need the renewing!”

Yea, it’s Monday, time to get up and do it all over again. For some the grit and grind of life never stops because you have to be on your hustle everyday just to survive day-to-day. For some, it’s a struggle minute by minute yet you have to put on a brave face because somebody said you were strong and you can’t let them down. Yea, for some; you’re their motivator so you’ve got to keep going. For some, you’re their prayer warrior yet you haven’t found time to even ask anybody to pray for you or to pray for yourself. Now, here you are, upset that Monday has rolled around again and you’ve got to keep blinking to stop the tears, keep smiling to keep the sadness from showing and keep reminding yourself to hold your head up. Oh but baby; I’m here today to tell you that sometimes in this life, your journey gets to be too hard to bear and it’s alright to say you’re tired and need a little help! Stop trying to be strong all the time when you know your legs feel like Jell-O and can give out at any minute. Stop acting like you got it all together when you know you are hungry, accept the help! I get it and you are sick of hearing folk tell you, “God won’t put more on you than you can bear,” when it feels like the weight of the world is on your back but He won’t, you’ve just got to know when to give God that which is burdening you down.

Sometimes, as a Saint of God, you’ve got to lie out in front of God and allow Him to do surgery on you. You have to go through a renewing process! Will it feel good during, no, but you will surely feel good after the recovery. For during the process He’ll remove the stuff that no longer belongs to you. Yea, He’ll move all through the complicated parts of your body and remove the junk that has attached itself to you that no longer has a need of residency and He’ll even move through your life and remove folk who no longer mean you any good. Every now and then, you need to go through your renewal process. Part of the reason you’re going through some of the stuff you’re going through is because you’re overdue! Chile, you and your faith is in need of renewing! For after your renewal process you’ll come out greater, stronger and God giving you back everything you lost before you went in. We are saved, the bible says in Titus 3:5-7, “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” We need the renewing! Stop overlooking the process!

Daily Devotional – 7/24/15 “It’s a sad day!”

You know it’s a sad day when you can’t go to worship without having to worry about if someone will come in and shoot up the place. You know it’s a sad day when you can’t go to a movie theater without someone coming in with the intent of killing others. You know, this world we’re living in is getting sadder by the minute. It’s a sad day when church folk would rather gossip about their pastor rather than pray for him or her. It’s a sad day when family would rather fight than talk. It’s a sad day when coworkers deal with so much hell at home that they have to bring it to work with them. It’s a sad day. It’s a sad day when folk are going through and scared to tell others out of fear of being the topic of conversation somewhere else. It’s a sad day when you are leery about helping others because you don’t know if they truly need the help. It’s a sad day when you are skeptical about the man or woman who is preaching the word of God. It’s a sad day.

Where are the Saints of God? Are we praying? If God showed up in our city today, would He find some righteous people? Are we standing strong in the midst of the chaos? Proverbs 24:10 says, “If you fail under pressure, your strength is too small.” Is that you? Yea, I know that it’s looking sad, everywhere we look but we, people of God, have hope. Why are we not looking towards it? Why are our eyes closed? Why have we shut ourselves up in the house because we are afraid? When we will stand up and declare enough is enough? When will we declare to the enemy that we are tired of him taking what is ours? When will we strap up and be ready to fight in the spiritual? You do know this thang is spiritual, don’t you? Where are the Saints that can get a prayer through? Where are those Saints who have the faith that can kill giants? Where are those Saints with the power to tread upon serpents because God has given it to you? Where are those Saints who can hush up the naysayers? Where are the Saints who are just as tired as I am? It’s time now to fill the worship places instead of the clubs. It’s time now to pray over your families before you get out the car and then when you get back in. It’s time now to get right!

Daily Devotional – 7/23/15 “It’s not about your title!”

On last night, Pastor Brian Bartlett preached from the subject of “What do they call you?”- Chile!! He said on last night that many times as people of God, we tend to get caught up on what we are called by. Yea, we get away from doing the duty of our Father because we get tainted by the titles, distracted by the designations and labeled by the labels when we ought to be moved by the message. Of course, I know you worked hard for the title of Dr. to be in front of your name but if I happen to leave it off the program, charge it to my head and not my heart yet should your message change? Oh, I know that you’re pastor now and not just reverend anymore but if I don’t acknowledge that fact, is your calling any less worthy? Okay, pastor made you head of the Christian board of education, so that means I have to call you dean now? You were chairperson of one program and now you want that to be on every program? Yea, I know you’re the head deacon but your first name is …

All I’m saying is; stop getting caught up in titles when it’s about God’s word! Don’t you remember who you were when He saved you? Let me jog your memory … You were a filthy rag that should have been thrown away but God dipped you in His blood and you came out clean enough to use and He used your name! Do you remember who you were when He called you? Let me refresh your thoughts … You were a nobody, running scared, afraid of this thing called the anointing, wasn’t worthy of His favor, didn’t know how to use your gift but God strengthened every weak place you possessed, deemed you fit for the assignment and He used your name! Beloved, get this … your driver’s license don’t have titles and neither does your tombstone. It isn’t about titles because your favor should be seen and heard. If God is on the inside of you, He’ll show on the outside. And if you be who God called you to be, folk will know of you by your anointing and not your title!