Daily Devotional – 5/19/15 “Trust God!”

Right now, at this very moment, somebody is calling somebody else to validate the validity of God’s blessing that just dropped in your life. Yea, somebody, somewhere is posting on social media that they can’t believe what God is doing in their life – why not? Isn’t He capable of doing miraculous things in a moment’s time? Somebody is still bewildered by the fact that the doctor can’t find the tumor he saw last month – why not? Isn’t God a healer? Somebody is still amazed that they made it through that storm last week – why? Isn’t God our protector? Somebody is still shocked at how they made it with the few dollars they had left over from their check until this payday – why? Isn’t God our provider? Why are you amazed at the things God can do when He has already told you what He will do if you seek Him, follow Him, trust in Him and do His will?

Oh but we will allow folk to talk us out of God’s blessing because we are quick to take them at their word than to take God at His. Instead of fasting and praying for God’s answer we’d rather turn to folk to hear what they have to say real fast. No baby, folk will talk you out of your blessing, dream and vision if they aren’t spiritually rooted in the right ground. That’s why the bible says, 1 John 4:1, “Dear friends, stop believing every spirit. Instead, test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.” You’d better start checking folk out because if their walk doesn’t match your talk, there’s a problem with their reference. If they’ve never experienced the Holy Spirit for themself, they surely can’t tell me how it feels! This is why you have to be careful when folk say, “God told me to tell you,” because ma’am and sir; the bible says in John 8:47, “Whoever belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.” All I’m saying is – If you aren’t hearing from God, you may want to check your connection! You can’t get mad if there’s no response, especially if you haven’t checked in, in a while, because even your phone shuts off when there’s no interaction after a while. You need to reconnect to the Man and stop listening to everybody who has something to say. God doesn’t need our help but we surely need His. Trust Him and take Him at His word.

Daily Devotional – 5/18/15 “Freedom declaration!”

I’m an imperfect person yet I am handpicked for this assignment. I don’t claim to have all the answers but I have access to the teacher. I may not have all the scriptures memorized but I have a study guide. I sometimes do things I’m not supposed to, say things I shouldn’t but that’s only because I’m human. Yea; if you cut me, I’ll bleed red blood, if I hit my toe, I just might cuss, if I get hurt, I’ll hurt and if something happens, I just might cry – I am human, after all. Just because God has bestowed in me a gift of delivering His word, has ordained me in His sight and now I stand in a pulpit; it doesn’t mean my struggles are any easier, in fact they are sometimes harder. Yet, I’ve come to understand that as a Saint of God; you have to start with a strong foundation (that’s God), be rooted in fertile ground (that’s God’s word) and then be surrounded by good light (that’s other like-minded folk) in order to make it through this journey. It gets hard y’all but when you got others around you who don’t mind spraying water on you when they see you getting dry (that’s praying for you), needling the dirt around you when they see you being stagnant in your position (that’s encouragement) and sharing their light with you so that you can feel how good it feels to be loved (that’s the love of God) you find that you can handle this thang and you push on!

Baby, what’s the sense of having somebody around you who can’t help you? That’s like asking a mannequin for help. What’s the sense of going to worldly folk for Godly advice? That’s like going to a foot doctor for your heart problems. What’s the use of having someone around you who can’t encourage you every once in a while. You do know the enemy rejoices every time we give up, don’t you? That’s why today, on this Monday, the 18th day of May; I am declaring you to be FREE from whatever has you tangled up! But there is a catch – you have to believe it too. You have to have faith that you can be free from whatever circumstance you’re in, from whatever sickness that has you held hostage, from whatever addiction has your mind, from that hate that you’ve been carrying around all this time and even from the generational curses that is destroying your present and then be free! For the pastor/minister who is on the verge of giving up on his/her vision, don’t do it; that’s the trick of the enemy, hold on and fight because there are people counting on you (more than those counting you out)! For the person who just looked at their checking account and got discouraged, hold on; something big is about to happen. For the parent who is praying for their child to come home, hold on; it’s about to happen. Stop allowing baby mommas and daddies, alcoholism, drugs, jobs, men, women, children, depression, sicknesses or whatever it is to control your life, set yourself free! Surround yourself with folk who have your best interest, who want to see you free and who don’t mind praying for you when you are going through. I thank God for those of you who pray for me, who continually lift and encourage me. Declare your freedom on today and have faith enough to walk in it! I’m praying for you, you can do it!

Daily Devotional – 5/15/15 “Where is your evidence?”

If you’ve been saved, you should be changed. If you’ve been converted, your change should be evident. If you’ve been baptized in the belief of God, the evidence should be in your living. Yet if your living isn’t proof that some change has taken place in your life, at some point, something is wrong! I mean, it’s like sending your car through a car wash but it still comes out covered in dirt. It’s like going through surgery but you’re still claiming sickness. It’s like going through rehab but you still want to be known by your addiction. It’s like being set free from your past but you still visit it every chance you get. Baby, it won’t work. Your change should be evident! It should be evident by your walk that you don’t do the same things you used to do. It should be evident by your talk that you don’t hang around the same folk you used too. It should be evident by the way you dress that you don’t go to the same places you used too. There should be some evidence to prove your case somewhere that you aren’t the same as you used to be.

How do I know that what you’re saying about your testimony is real if I have never seen you sick – prove your case? How do I know that God was the one that bought you out when I’ve never seen you praise Him – present your evidence and prove your case? How do I know that God did it for you if I’ve never seen you struggle – where’s your evidence? All I’m saying is … there has to be evidence! You won’t let anybody see your scars because you’re afraid of what they might say but baby that’s the evidence you need to let folk know that you tried God and He came through. You’re scared to tell folk about the nights you had to pace the floor but baby that’s the evidence of how you tried God and He made a way for you one more time! You won’t tell folk how you almost died in the midst of that abusive relationship but at the right time God snatched your dying soul from the pits of hell and now you’re in a loving relationship being treated like the queen you are but that’s evidence. You won’t share how the doctor said it was stage 4 cancer and you needed to make your final plans but the God you serve said it was only a stage to show His manifestation of healing and that’s your evidence. What are you hiding it for when it can prove your case? Show it, tell it; it’s your evidence and it proves that God will do exactly what He promises. You don’t have to be ashamed.

Daily Devotional – 5/14/15 “Get your faith up!”

I declared on 3/31/15 that by 5/1/15, I wouldn’t be the same and I’m not. See, on 4/26/15 I was officially ordained as Rev. Lakisha Johnson – my name changed and as I study my bible I recognize that when God change folk name their responsibilities change (somebody will miss that)! I recognized and realized that when God changed my name things around me would have to change. Yea, I even realized that the attacks of the enemy would have to change – they would get harder but I’m ready as I have my prayers stored up. Let me explain something to y’all. I’ve been on my job for almost 13 years and although I have the potential and the experience (not boasting just facts) I was just promoted on last year to Sr. Rep. Then when our manager was promoted two months ago, they didn’t even open her position; they simply filled it with another manager from another department. Yet, in my recognition of my name change I have to realize that things have to happen in God’s time. So, I’m taking it all in. Then I had an interview on yesterday for another position, in another department, in a total different realm of work. I am confident about the position but not so much about the pay (if they can match what I make now) but you know what I did this morning, I put it in God’s hands because I know a man who can work everything out according to His will! Won’t He do it? So, I’m going to wait. I have faith enough to believe that what God has for me is for me, in due time. I have enough faith that God will do it and if this job is for me that they will blow my pay out the water! And if it’s not, it’s not the end; my faith is crazy enough to know that too.

And somebody today, right now, reading this; you need to reach down and get your faith. You’ve reach the end of your rope, you’re right at the edge of give up, backed up at the end of give out street, looking out over jump cliff, standing at the side of suicide bridge, facing depression avenue, staring at the bottom of alcohol bottle number two or four, about to light blunt number six, getting ready to snort your next vial of cocaine or shoot the next hit of crack; but hold on … baby don’t give up! I don’t know what you’re in need of but wait. I don’t know what you thought you should have got but wait. I don’t know what you’re going through, what you’re dealing with but my sister; my brother, wait! I know that you are unsure about what the next moment holds but I can be sure about who holds the next moment. All you have to do is wait for the Lord and in your waiting, cry out to Him, He hears you. You don’t have to take me at my word but the word says in Psalm 40:1, “I waited patiently for the LORD; he turned to me and heard my cry.” And baby, after He hears you, things will start happening. For David said in Psalm 40:2-3, “He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear the LORD and put their trust in him.” Yea, I know you’re in a bad place right now, your refrigerator may be empty, body may be sick, you may be tired of waiting, finances may be low, friends may be gone, family acting funny, nobody will call you for a job, Christian folk acting worse than the unsaved but wait and in your waiting, cry out to the Lord because when He brings you out; thangs happen. Come here Job, in his waiting he got back everything he lost. Come here Lazarus, he was dead and was bought back. Come here grandma, doctors said cancer years ago and she’s over 80 and getting around better than you and I put together. Come here sister, doctors said suicide disease; a disease that have claimed the lives of many yet she’s still alive now! Come here you who are reading this … you’re still here! Baby, get your faith up!

Daily Devotional – 5/13/15 “Night time!”

God will speak to us at night to help us with our day – isn’t that something? I sometimes wonder why God will use my dreams to speak to me, why He would have me up at night, why He would give me these strange thoughts, at night; no less and then it was said to me; God can speak to us in our night to help us in our day. Ok! I often time find when I am toiling with something, it is then that God speaks to me in my dreams. I say it is His way of calming my wandering mind. Has anyone ever been there? Have you ever had God to show up in your dreams to calm you down? Ever had God to show up to rock you to sleep? Ever had God to walk through your dreams and give you peace that surpassed even your own understanding? Baby, have you ever had God to show up to let you that everything would be alright and all you had to do is rest? I have and let me tell you, it’s better than good and none you’ll ever find on earth! Oh but get this … I’ve also found that when we, as Christians, are running or being disobedient, God will use our dreams as a way to speak to us too because it is then that we cannot run. How many of you have been there? God will allow us to have a shifting in our spirit, at night, which will cause your entire being to be different, come the morning. Yea, it’s easy to ignore God speaking during the day but what can you do at night while you are asleep? Have you ever had God to show up and run rampant through your dreams because you were running from your dream? Ever had God to hi-jack your dream because you were heading down the wrong road? Have you ever had God to kidnap your dream because you were knocking off your purpose? He’ll do it! Baby, God will have you feeling some type of way by the time you get up in the morning. Try Him if you don’t think He will. Keep playing if you want too.

The bible says in Job 33:14-18 when Elihu was speaking to Job, he had to get Job to understand that sometimes God will use other ways to speak to us for he told him, “For God speaks again and again, though people do not recognize it. He speaks in dreams, in visions of the night, when deep sleep falls on people as they lie in their beds. He whispers in their ears and terrifies them with warnings. He makes them turn from doing wrong; he keeps them from pride. He protects them from the grave, from crossing over the river of death.” See, sometimes God has to get us in our inconvenience to make us see when we aren’t doing what we should be doing. Are we listening? But why should it take God snatching our dreams to make us listen? Why isn’t our trust stable? Why isn’t our foundation stronger? Where is our faith? I don’t know about you but the last thing I want is to be chastised by God in my sleep. It is one thing to be calmed by Him but whooped is something I don’t want. What about you? Oh but the great thing about the night-time is that the morning time comes! It is my hope that you (we) listen!