Daily Devotional – 5/27/15 “In Jesus name!”

On this day last year, I wrote a devotional titled “In the name of Jesus,” from Acts 3 (talking about the beggar at the gate called Beautiful). On Sunday, my sermon was, “When Jesus stirs your pool,” from John 5 (talking about the lame man at the pool of Bethesda) and seemingly both of these fit together today. See, there is something about the name of Jesus. There is something about being in the presence of Jesus and there is even something about calling on Jesus that makes everything alright. Well, for me it does. See, in Acts 3, the beggar would be bought to the gate called Beautiful every day to do what he knew to do, beg and on this day he encountered Peter and John. Now they could have given him what he asked for but instead Peter replied, “I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk. (Acts 3:6)” – There’s something about the name of Jesus! In John 5, Jesus comes upon the pool of Bethesda and there lies an impotent man, the bible says who has been that way 38 years. He is there, day after day, hoping that when the water is troubled, today may be the day he beats someone into the water to get his healing but little did he know … Jesus was his healing for it says in John 5:8, “Jesus told him, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk,” and immediately he was healed! – There’s something about being in the presence of Jesus!

See, in the natural, folk see me but in Jesus name they see the work of the man who sent me. In my name, man may say denied but in Jesus name the application is approved before I even get there. In my name folk look at my resume but in Jesus name they look at my worth. In my name, doctors say sickness but in Jesus name, healing is already be manifested through me. In my name, I can’t see how to make it with my paycheck but in Jesus name, He provides a way through every time. In my name, my car should have given up a long time ago but in Jesus name, He allows a car with over 100K miles to still run. In my name, I should hate folk but in Jesus name I can love even my enemies. In my name, I would give up on my marriage when times get hard but in Jesus name, I stick and stay through the good and the bad. Oh y’all, there’s something about the name of Jesus that makes lame legs live again. There’s something about being in the presence of Jesus that can make blind eyes see, weak bodies strong and the dead rise. There’s something about calling on the name of Jesus that calms fears, open doors that folk have tried to shut, give strength when you want to give up and allows you to see a way out when all you see is darkness. All you have to do is try it! I can only imagine how the lame man felt when he walked for the first time, how the woman with an issue of blood felt when she stopped bleeding, how Lazarus felt when he got up, how the blind man felt when he opened his eyes, how the impotent man felt when his body was healed and how you’ll feel when you call on Jesus for what you need and He comes through. Call on the name of Jesus with faith for what you need and see if He doesn’t come through. Acts 3:16, Peter says, “Through faith in the name of Jesus, this man was healed–and you know how crippled he was before. Faith in Jesus’ name has healed him before your very eyes!” Just imagine how better we’d be when we start to believe in the power of the name of Jesus and then use it!

Daily Devotional – 5/26/15 “Be Thankful!”

I woke up this morning and I had to stop myself because I didn’t even take the time to tell God thank you. Even though I woke up in my own bed (it could have been a hospital bed), in my own home (it could have been a jail cell), in my right mind (you do know it can go wrong, don’t you) and with my family doing alright (I didn’t have any missed calls). I looked on the news and heard about the devastation in other cities from flooding and then I looked around and our city, although it’s not at its best, it’s still standing. I got prepared for work and thought about all the folk who are suffering for lack of a job, I could be in that number. I walked around my home and I thought about all the homeless people, it could be me. I got dressed and thought about all the folk who have to rely on someone else, it could be me. I didn’t have to wait on someone to bathe me, to clothe me or to feed me; God is worthy of my thanksgiving praise! I could be the one heading to the funeral home to make arrangements for my momma, I could be sitting beside the bed of a sick spouse, I could have been visiting my only son’s grave on yesterday, my only daughter could be strung out on drugs, one of my sisters could be going through chemo, one of my brothers could have been killed by gun violence, one of my cousins could be the face of another young male gunned down my police or one of my friends could be missing yet God has given us one more chance!

I could dwell on all the things I don’t have, the things I think I need more of or even things I want but baby when I start counting the things I have; I realize I am not missing anything! I could reside in my feelings on things I think could be better but when I take a look around and realize how things should be (based on my merit), everything looks great to me. See, God doesn’t have to bless me like He has because the truth of the matter is; if it was based on me, I’d still be an unwilling wretch wandering, weeping and wasting my worth yet God deemed me willing and He snatched me from the wilderness, wiped my tears, gave me wisdom and told me to go into the world and be a witness! That’s worthy of my thanksgiving praise. You too have worthiness that has been placed on the inside of you and because of that you should give God praise. Stop sitting on your thanks because regardless of what you are facing, God has made you strong enough to endure it. Stop saying what you can’t do, if you’ve never tried to do it. Stop saying where you can’t go if you’ve never tried to get there. Stop saying what you can’t accomplish, if you’ve never taken a step of getting it done. So, on this Tuesday, May 26, 2015; be thankful for whatever it is! Trials come to make us tougher for our testimony and blessings come to make us understand that God has not left us in the midst of our trials. Be thankful!

Daily Devotional – 5/22/15 “Close your mouth!”

Sometimes you need to close your mouth in order to hear a word from God. Whether it’s from God or even from the pastor, preacher or teacher; you need to close your mouth and listen. You got the nerve to say you aren’t learning anything when you’ve yet to listen to God’s instructions. You even got the mitigated audacity to blame the pastor when you ain’t heard a word of the message. When will you shut up and listen? Yes, I know you’ve been in church all of your life, you have a lot of scriptures memorized and you have a personal relationship with God but if you’re trying to finish the pastor’s sentences; you aren’t listening. If you are constantly talking to God, when can He speak to you? Sometimes you need to close your mouth and lie before God and allow Him to minister to your spirit. Sometimes you need to close your mouth and allow God to move through you. Sometimes you just need to shut up!

This is not only the case in your spiritual life but it may work in your personal life too. Please understand, I am not trying to tell you how to live but baby, you need to listen to somebody other than the sound of your own voice sometime. Don’t you know your spouse gets tired of you coming home and the first thing you do is start nagging? Don’t you know you need to listen before you allow your attitude to go from 0 to 60? Now, you want to go to counseling because you need a 3rd party to intervene in the middle of you all’s mess when all you need to do is step back and listen to each other. I get it, the kids are lying but have you stopped to think that maybe they don’t tell you everything because you only hear what you want to hear? Have you actually listened to what they are saying? Have you ever wondered why the invitations from friends have stopped coming in? Well maybe it’s because you’re the one doing all the talking. You know the one who knows everything about everything, the one who can talk about every subject, can’t anybody beat you at anything because you know everything and you never shut up – is that you? All I am saying is this … sometimes, we all need to close our mouth and listen. Proverbs 18:13 says, “Spouting off before listening to the facts is both shameful and foolish,” yet Proverbs 19:20 says, “Listen to advice and accept discipline, and at the end you will be counted among the wise.” Simply summing it up to say – You need to close your mouth and listen sometimes! You might just find an answer to the question you’ve been asking!

Daily Devotional – 5/21/15 “It’s your anointing … “

We, as children of God are … too anointed to keep allowing disappointment to steal our appointment. We are too blessed to keep allowing stress to put our feet in mess. We should be actively living and that starts by forgiving. We’ve been given a foot start in the race to not appreciate God’s grace. Even the battle we’re fighting, it’s already won; it was fixed when God sent His only Begotten Son! Yes, God is our all in all, a confident and a provider that doesn’t hold out so why do we doubt? We are too anointed! Please understand this; God’s anointing isn’t limited to those who are charged with His calling of preaching because anointed means to simply be chosen by God. Don’t you know that God uses ordinary folk for extraordinary things? Baby, if God can take a simply nobody like me who wasn’t fitting to live and surely wasn’t ready to die and anoint me; what makes you think He can’t use anybody else? My anointing isn’t based on my merit but it is based on God’s mercy. Chile, if my anointing was dependent upon me, it wouldn’t be nothing compared to the anointing I have by God’s grace! There isn’t anything like the anointing of God.

See, when you are anointed by man they can snatch their anointing away when they feel like it but when you are anointed by God Isaiah 61:1 says, “The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is upon me, for the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to comfort the brokenhearted and to proclaim that captives will be released and prisoners will be freed.” When you are anointed by man, you belong to them and they can do with you and to you what they want but when you are anointed by God, He will keep the covenant He made with Abraham and even with Israel when He told them as they wandered from here to there, He allowed no harm to come their way for He gives us the same covering today as in Psalm 105:15 that says, “Touch not my anointed ones, do my prophets no harm!” We are His anointed ones, each of us who are in His will! Baby, God’s anointing covers us even when we are in our mess. God’s anointing shields us when the enemy’s battle should have killed us. God’s anointing provides for us when folk talks about us. God’s anointing keeps our mind when everything seems to be going wrong. God’s anointing gives us peace when everywhere we look there is problems. God’s anointing has been given to each of us for 1 John 2:20 says, “But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and you all have knowledge,” all you have to do is use it. Study God’s word for yourself and allow the anointing of God to flow from you. To be anointed by God is to be chosen by Him and we are His chosen people. Stop minimizing your anointing by tainting it with mess! It’s your anointing …

Daily Devotional – 5/20/15 “Faith place!”

You have to be in the faith place to prosper! Now, I know I could have said the right place but baby, you can be in your pit and come out prosperous dependent upon your faith. Yea, you can be trudging through your valley experience at this very moment but just like that you can come out prosperous, if you have faith. The scripture tells us in Hebrews 11:1, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen;” which lets me know, even though I don’t see it; it doesn’t mean it’s not there. I mean, we don’t see air but we have faith that it’ll be there when we need it. We don’t see trust but we assume, with faith that it’s there. We don’t see our paycheck but we have faith that the deposit will go into the bank at the appointed time. And we don’t see our God but we know He’s there because our faith should be set on and in Him. This is why we have to be in the right place, faith wise, in order to prosper. Don’t you know the enemy will make you feel like you are losing at everything? Don’t you know the enemy will make it seem like you are always fighting a battle? Don’t you know the enemy’s job is to make you feel like giving up? It’s his job but if you set your faith up, if you step your faith up, if you get in the faith place; you cannot lose and even when you are losing, you’ll still win.

Listen beloved, I don’t know what you’re dealing with personally but get in your faith place. I don’t know what you are going through but get in your faith place. Baby, I don’t even know what’s getting ready to come your way but get in your faith place. Step up your faith game! Take it to the next level! Move it to the max and prepare yourself. Whatever it is you’re toiling with, face it with God and with faith that it cannot take you out. For David says in Psalm 5:12, “For you bless the righteous, O Lord; you cover him with favor as with a shield.” You are covered, if you’re righteous with God’s favor that protects you like a shield; now all you have to do is stand with the faith that whatever happens you will make it through. Sickness, depression, addiction, job loss, repossession, hurt, anger, bitterness, death of a loved one or whatever it is you’re facing, if you have to deal with someone who is going through it or even if it hasn’t gotten to your door yet … increase your faith, get into your faith place so that you can be prepared to come out prosperous, better, greater than you were! God didn’t make us to be quitters! Get in your faith place!