Daily Devotional – 6/16/15 “Friends?”

I was supposed to start a new job today. Yep, in a new building, across town, with a new group of people doing something totally different from what I’ve been doing the last 20 years but … I was told two weeks ago that the waiver I needed was not going to be approved due to “business needs” and although I could harp on that, I won’t. Not many people on my job knew but those who did asked me, “Kisha, how can you be so calm about this?” I replied, “It’s not my battle.” See, I’ve learned that not everybody around me is praying for my good. I’ve come to realize that not everybody close to me is excited about the good things happening in my life. There are even folks, on this job, who say they are happy to see me go but when it came time wouldn’t let me leave. I’m alright with it. I just thank God for giving me the strength to keep climbing out of the valley I sometimes find myself in because you do know that the valley won’t always be a valley, don’t you? Think about it – when it rains, don’t they fill up? Which means, we got to get up out of it eventually (if you want too). I even thank God for the strength to keep climbing the mountain because I could get weary but I won’t. I could get defeated at those passing me by but I don’t. I could get sidetracked by the fact that I haven’t made it to the top yet but as long as there is a top to get to, I have somewhere to go so I keep my hand in the struggle! I’m on my way! What about you?

Baby, listen – stop worrying about what folk are saying because there is someone who you are probably texting right now, who is rolling their eyes at a blessing you just received. There is someone, you probably call your ride or die who is wishing for the house you got instead of rejoicing in the fact they could be next. There is someone, who you are calling your boy, who is eyeing your spouse trying to figure out why she would want to be with someone like you. Somebody you’re telling all your business too is the one speaking negative over your life and you are still trying to figure out how the enemy keeps getting in. Somebody you ride with is the one throwing salt in your game and you wonder why it doesn’t taste right. Somebody you’re sleeping with is the one blocking all your blessing – be careful who you lie down with! Somebody you’re churching with is the one keeping up all the mess – just because they look Holy, don’t make them sanctified! You have to be careful of the company you keep. Proverbs 17:17 says, “A friend is always loyal, and a brother is born to help in time of need.” Chile, life is hard and it’s even harder trying to find friends amongst enemies but it can be done. How do you know a friend? It’s easy for the bible says in Proverbs 27:17, “As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend.” A friend helps, hopes, loves, encourages, tells you your faults, when you’re wrong or right, will be there through good and bad and doesn’t allow mess to mess with what God has put together. Be careful who you call a friend. Not everyone is deserving of the title!

Daily Devotional – 6/11/15 “Change your thinking!”

Have you ever dropped something on the floor and it broke? What did you do? Did you stand there and watch it, hoping it would miraculously fix itself? I would think not. So why are you still standing over that broken relationship? Have you ever spilled something on the floor and then just walked by thinking it would clean itself up? Probably not, so why are you still crying over stuff that has happened that you cannot change? Have you ever walked into a company you didn’t work for and walked out with a check? Heck no! Then why are you trying to get anything out of something when you’ve yet to put anything in it? Baby, get yourself together! Stop blaming folk, the blame is on you. You can’t keep saying it’s everyone else fault when you keep going back. It’s like you blaming a fire for burning you when you keep putting your hand in the flame. Chile! Get your life together! Get up and move on. Listen, in every relationship you take a chance on getting hurt. Whether it’s a relationship between a parent and their children, a husband and a wife, an employer and employee, friends, sisters, cousins, spiritual relationships or what have you; there is a risk of hurt involved. We are human, which means we are prone to make mistakes. Yet, we shouldn’t allow the hurt to hinder us.

Does it hurt? Yes, sometimes more than we want it too but it’s a part of the process. Afterwards, deal with it and move on. Forgive, forget and move on! Either you move on to another level in the same relationship or move to an entire different relationship but make a choice. Don’t dwell in the same hurt, pain and anguish because then you become bitter, broken and not worth anything to anybody else and when you are these things you carry them into every relationship you enter into and YOU ruin them. This is why, again, you have to be careful who you hook up with. This is why, again, you have to be careful who you allow your spirit to connect with. This is why, again, you have to be mindful of the company you keep. Spirits attach to one another and when you are surrounded with evil, angry, bitter and good for nothing minded folk; they can become connected to you. Don’t blame others for who you lie down with and then when you get up with something you don’t won’t or can’t get rid of. You can’t be mad at the baby because he looks like the daddy who now you hate. You can’t be mad at the folk around you for the problems you’ve inherited. You choose to accept what you accept. Deal with it or leave it but either way stop complaining about and please stop posting it! You are what you eat and you are surely what you keep! If you keep mess, you’re messy. Clean up your life! For the bible says in Romans 12:2, “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.”

Daily Devotional – 6/10/15 “Fight on!”

I’ve been dealing with some things on my job lately and although I said I wasn’t going to allow it to change me or my attitude, I found it pricking in my spirit on yesterday and I didn’t like it. So, I reminded myself that this isn’t my battle to fight but it is mine to win. Yet, even if I wanted to say that my pep talk or even those many prayers to God gave me a kick-start back on the right track, it didn’t because things still wasn’t settling right. I’m human after all. But I got up this morning and I prayed some more and I told the Lord that I know I am not in this thang alone and this race that is set before me is already planned so I shall go where He tells me to go, say what He tells me to say and do what He tells me to do; even if it doesn’t feel good. And then when I pulled into the parking lot, as soon as I backed the car in, placed it in park, released my seatbelt, let out a deep sigh and was about to turn off the ignition, the song Fight On, played on 95.7. “Ok, God!” The lead lyrics say these words – “In this walk we face many battles. But they’re not yours, they belong to the Lord. Put on the armor of God. Delight yourself in His word.” If that isn’t enough, the chorus comes in with – “Don’t give up the fight. It’s too late to give up now. Don’t give up the fight!”

See, somebody else on today feels like me. You read the devotional from yesterday and you tried to get out of that slump you were in and you almost did but then it felt like you were standing on shaky ground. Yea, you thought you were strong enough to stand up but when you did your legs felt like jelly. Yea, you thought your skin was tough enough to handle the arrows of your enemy until they start hitting you and it felt like your skin was made of paper. Yea, you thought you could turn the other cheek until you found you didn’t have but two and they’ve both been hit too many times to count. Yea, you thought you could handle the rejection on your job until it actually settled in your spirit and your feelings are hurt and you’re angry. Yea, you thought you could swallow the hurt by friends until the quietness came. Yea, you thought you could do it alone until you found that you needed help. Yea, you didn’t mean for your attitude to be rude or your smile to be a frown but … Oh but God says fight on! Fight through your pain (fight on)! Fight through the rain (fight on)! Fight when you’re up and fight when you’re down! Fight through those tears and press through those fears! Beloved, when you find yourself at your weakest point and you’ve cried like Paul did begging for God to remove this thorn of aching from your flesh, remember what God says to Paul in 2 Corinthians 12:9. For, “Each time he said, My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” (For Paul now says) “So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.” It’s alright to admit your weakness, God works through them to make us greater workmen of His word. For when I am weak, it is when the God in me is strong. Fight on my brother, fight on my sister! We cannot lose!

Daily Devotional – 6/9/15 “It’s not your battle!”

Stop trying to fight a battle that God has already fixed. Folk said you can’t, tell them you may think I can’t but God says I can. When folk say you won’t; tell them you may say what I won’t do but God says what I will. When folk say you shouldn’t, tell them you say I shouldn’t but God determines I should. Baby, you have some people camped around who whose main purpose is to see you fail. Yea, they get up every day to check your social media sites to see if you have been defeated by the enemy yet, they are waiting to get the text about your bad news, waiting to pass the gossip around about the mistake you made; so what! They cannot wait to see you and your spouse doing badly. They cannot wait to see you struggling in your ministry. They can’t wait to see you asking somebody for help. It’s their job and they are great at it. Why do you think they pop up every time something happens in your life, it’s their job. Why do you think they text you with, “I was just checking on you,” it’s their job. Yes, they show up at your functions because they want to see if you are all you say you are. Yes, they show up to hear you preach because they are waiting to hear you mispronounce a word. Yes, they are following you on twitter; they are your friend on Facebook and even liking your pictures on Instagram; keep them close!

Keep them close because you need them to see that you are not defeated but you’re devoted in this thang and that means you can take the good and the bad. Keep them close in order for them to see how you come out your storm because you know that in order to be blessed by the Son you have to sometime endure the rain. Keep them close and let them hear your praise during those times you almost didn’t and in the nick of time, you did. Keep them close and when they text reply, I’m making it by the grace of God. Keep them close in the hopes that one day some of your God will rub off on them. Keep them close so that they get firsthand knowledge of your elevation instead of second-hand gossip. Keep them close not because you need fans but because you need them to know the facts that God can and He will! Beloved, the enemy uses regular folk to throw us off our path to destiny; you need to open your eyes. Stop worrying about the folk who are out to get you, God will give you what you need to handle them. Be mindful of His teachings and you’ll conquer them. Let them watch and you work. Let them stand by and gossip while you are granted the gifts of the Holy Spirit. God got you in this and He’ll take care of you but you’ve got to trust Him enough to get you through it. Stop trying to fight; it’s not your battle.

“A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm. Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness. For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared. In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil. Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere. And pray for me, too. Ask God to give me the right words so I can boldly explain God’s mysterious plan that the Good News is for Jews and Gentiles alike.” Ephesians 6: 10-19

Daily Devotional – 6/8/15 “Get Up!”

I had a momentary moment this morning when it felt like everything was hitting me all at once. Yea, me; I was having a woe is me moment and God allowed me to get it all out and then He simply whispered, “Get up.” And guess what happened? I got up and when I did, I found that He had already re-strengthened me to go on. He had already renewed me to endure. He had already reignited my flame that was flickering. Oh, I can imagine the enemy standing by rubbing his hands together thinking, if just for a few more minutes, I can get her but he’s a lie! Not today Satan! For when I got up, I had everything I needed to push; that’s pray until shift happens! Awl y’all; somebody at this very moment is sitting at their job feeling defeated, someone is lying on their bed thinking sickness is winning, someone is sitting in their car in the parking lot of the bank feeling like no matter how much you work you still can’t make it enough; someone is reading this on your phone and tired of hearing “hold on”, someone is staring at their computer and can barely read this for the tears streaming down their face, someone is fed up with being angry but you don’t know what to do, someone feels like suicide is the only option, someone is in the stages of grief, someone is about to deal with a terrible storm and don’t even know it yet; there is even a pastor or two who are on the verge of giving up but they don’t have anyone to lean on …. Oh but here I am; I’m just a simple girl who, if you read back; still have moments but I’m here to tell you to GET UP!

I don’t mean you have to physically move but sometimes you have to spiritually get yourself out of the spiritual hell you’re living in. GET UP! You have to decide today that you will no longer be the same as yesterday. GET UP and decide that you will no longer be held captive by the mistakes of yesterday, the anger of last week or the “what ifs” of the past. You have to GET UP and move! For when you get up, your healing is already done. When you get up, the deliverance you need is already taking place. When you get up, the renewing of your mind has already happened. When you get up, you can begin to walk in the newness of your destiny. When you get up, you can see clearer the manifestation of God’s power. When you get up, you can feel the favor of God over your life. When you get up, you can see your shift happening before your eyes. When you GET UP, you Gain Effectual Transformation Unto Purpose! Get up! You may not like what you see but get up because you could look like what you’ve been through. You may not like where you are but get up because it could be worse. Get Up and trust in God, He’ll do what you need.