Daily Devotional – 4/22/15 “There is hope for our children!”

There was uproar the other day about this video that was circulating of children dancing to secular music in the church. Yesterday, yet another video of children fighting in school was going viral on the news … Now, I don’t know about you but I’d rather have my child dancing in church than fighting in the world any day! See, folk are so quick to make it about race but it isn’t a race issue, it’s a generational issue – these kids needs hope! It’s not all parents because I can guarantee that some of these kid’s parents are as tired of dealing with this mess as you are tired of seeing it. You can raise children in a great home, with two parents, give them the best of everything and they still stir up all kinds of hell. You can punish them, take away this, whoop their butts, send them here or there and they still get to school and end up making you look like you haven’t instilled in them any morals and values. You know how I know, I’ve been there! But let me tell you what we did, in our house … we stopped allowing the enemy to win, we started fighting back! Wherever the kids acted up at, I did too. If it was school, I showed up and showed out; with them, not the school officials. If it’s outside of school, I can show out there too. You want to embarrass me, well I can embarrass you. Ask them, they’ll tell you. My bible says in Proverbs 22:6, “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.”

See, I declared before God, to the enemy that he could not have our children! Yes, it’s a battle some days but it’s one I’m willing to fight. With the way the world is today, we have to be willing to fight with our children – when they are wrong and for our children – when they are wronged! We sat our son down and told him when he wants us to stop fighting for him to let us know and we would because we couldn’t fight for him if he wasn’t willing to fight for himself. We let him know that we were on his side until he told us to stop, his choice! But I get so tired of folk wanting to blame the parents, society or poverty on the reason kids are acting like savages. I graduated from a North Memphis high school and I’m proud of it. I look at my graduating class and we produced some great success stories. We didn’t have much but we made it work with what we had because we wanted more for ourselves! Yet now days, girls set out to get more likes on a picture than college acceptance letters and boys have more baby mommas by high school than prom dates. What in the hell is going on? The mindset of our children has changed and that’s the problem. We are burying more youth without them being baptized and that’s because we are giving them an option on knowing God because most of us use God as option. There’s something wrong y’all. God should be our priority not an option. These kids need hope and that’s God! As parents we need to start walking through our home; praying over everything that belongs to our children, everything they touch, everything they sleep on and casting out the enemy and we need to be mindful of the company they keep – most of them is the enemy we need to cast out! Our children need hope but there is good news, God is the answer!

2 Chronicles 7:14, “If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”

A Fellow Blogger shows love …

I had an opportunity to share with the men and women of the North Memphis Library, here in my hometown (Memphis, TN) over the weekend. It was their 12th Annual Real Men’s and Women’s Conference and I was asked to facilitate the workshop, “Be Careful Who You Love”. Me! Wow! Of course, I said yes because they have always supported me. They were the first local book club to support me as a local author so I will always support them.

While I was at the conference, I had the chance to meet a new local author, Faith Simone and today in reading her blog, I was blown away by the wonderful things she had to say about my workshop at the conference. I have to share it with you guys. See, I am just a regular person doing what I love and for someone to take a moment and give me a shoutout, I am grateful and honored. So, please take a moment and visit her blog and see for yourself the kinds words she shared!

– – You never know who’s watching and listening!

Her blog is http://www.faithsimone.com and the link to the post is HERE! I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Also, Faith has a new book out called, When the Real Thing Comes Along and it is available on Amazon. Check her out!

If you would like to reach me for book club events or speaking engagements, email me at authorlakisha@gmail.com.

Thank you for visiting my blog.
– Keep Praying and Keep Reading!
Lakisha

Oh, I also got the chance to meet author Mary Monroe.

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Daily Devotional – 4/21/15 “To you who are grieving … “

As I read through my timeline on Facebook, watch the news or hear stories at work; I am reminded that death has no respect of person and has no appointed time to show up in your family. Baby; death shows up and can cause you to lose sleep, can snatch tears from your eyes, breathes from your lungs, steps from your walk, thoughts from your mind, beats from your heart and can sometimes cause you to think you’re losing your mind but 1 Thessalonians 4:13 says, “But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope.” Yes, I know it’s hard right now. Momma is gone, you didn’t get to say goodbye to cousin, daddy was just here and now the death angel snuck in overnight, granddaddy seemed to be doing good and no he’s gone, you weren’t ready to let grandmother go; brother died by man’s hands or sister was taken too soon; but be reminded that the bible says to be absent from this body means to be present with the Lord. Can’t you imagine your loved one saying like Colossians 2:5 says, “For though I am far away from you, my heart is with you. And I rejoice that you are living as you should and that your faith in Christ is strong.” You will grieve but take comfort in the fact that your love one is headed to the land of no more! No more pain, no more suffering, no more heartache, no more! Yes, it’s hard and “they” say it gets easier and it will, day by day but until then grieve at your own time. And in the midst of that, I’ll pray with you.

“Father God, I come petitioning your throne for all the grieving families. Lord God, I first thank you for the lives of their loved ones, thank you for the time they had to spend and the memories they will forever have etched in their hearts. Now God, I ask that you give them an extra portion of strength. For the families who are preparing funeral arrangements and those who are headed to funeral services; wrap your loving arms around them. For those in the midst of their grieving process, allow them to find comfort in your word. For the families who are standing next to the bedside of a terminal ill family member and has to make a devastating decision, give them the peace they need, right now. Oh Lord! For the families who are grieving, allowing them to come together and not fall apart, remove any hate and replace it with help and where there is anger, replace it with love. For the family member who seems lost by the death of their loved one, send them guidance. For the pastors and clergy who have to eulogize; anoint them Father with a message of hope. For the souls who have now been released, receive them, God, into eternal rest until the Day of Judgment. Oh God, send a flow of forgiveness, healing, strength, hope, joy, love, peace and comfort into this land. May the grace of the Lord Jesus be with us, His people until it is our time to go. Amen

Daily Devotional – 4/20/15 “The enemy is real!”

It’s Monday again, 20 days into April which means this month is almost gone so instead of sighing over the fact that the weekend went by too fast you ought to be giving the enemy a reason to fear you getting up! Yea, you ought to make it your business to make him mad every time your feet hit the floor. Make it your mission to give him anxiety over the fact that you ain’t dead yet. Oh, you ought to have him regretting that he didn’t kill you when he had you in the world. You should be dancing to demonstrate to him that depression didn’t drain you of your destiny! You should be shouting to show him that your sickness was a sign of your sanctification not suffering! And you ought to be living to show him that your labor is leading you to everlasting life and not death! You should be living to make the devil mad!

Baby, don’t you get it? The enemy doesn’t sleep! This is why 1 Peter 5:8 says, “Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.” This is why when you’ve overcame the hell he tried to put you through, you should be praising God every chance you get. When you’ve made it out of the pit alive, without a scar, a bruise and with your right mind; you ought to be acting a straight fool for God every chance you get! When you’ve made it out of the valley and you got everything back you lost going in; you ought to act like you are stone crazy with praise at every opportunity! You should get up and the enemy should cringe! You should be so much of a threat to the enemy that when you lay down, he’s telling God thank you for giving you rest! If our praise to God was evident in our living, in our praise, in our thanksgiving, in our forgiving, in our giving and in our loving; we wouldn’t have as many hellish Christians! The enemy is real and he’s coming for more of God’s people. Don’t let it be you! As a matter of fact, stop allowing it to be you!

Daily Devotional – 4/18/15 “Your Set up!”

I thought I’d share some of the devotional I did this same day last year because baby, it shoal will fit for somebody today! Yea, see; no matter what you go through, it is all a part of the setup that God has for you! It doesn’t matter what you face, it’s a part of the setup because after the setup it’s then time for those folks who counted you out to see God’s goodness. After the setup, those folks who’ve been waiting for you to fall will see God’s plan be manifested through your life! After the setup, those who said you’d never amount to anything are now stalking your social media pages trying to count your blessings. After the setup, those who put their mouth on you, now have nothing to say but they are ear hustling on your conversations to see how you did it! After the setup, those who were kicking dust on you, while you were down, are now dusting off your back. Oh, I wish you’d get the point I’m trying to make here.

After the setup comes a set up! Yea, God has now set you up higher – you’re out of harm’s way! God has now set you up out of the reach of man’s hands who try to stab you in the back. God has now set you up so that you can no longer hear what “they” say. God has set you up so that it no longer hurts, as bad, when fake friends leave. God has now set you up so that everything you touch is blessed. God has now set you up so that the path you’re walking is the one He designed. Yea! You have read in Psalm 23:5 where it says, “You prepare a feast for me in the presence of my enemies. You honor me by anointing my head with oil. My cup overflows with blessings,” haven’t you? Psalm 16:5 says, “LORD, you alone are my inheritance, my cup of blessing. You guard all that is mine.” What more do you need to carry on? Yes, this walk is hard but keep going because if you stop you have no way of knowing what’s next. Keep pushing through because God is simply setting you up for something major and when God sets you up there isn’t a man alive who can take it! Oh, after the setup comes a shouting that will shake some stuff loose. After the setup you’ll sing a song you’ve never song before. After the setup, you’ll never settle again but you’ll serve God wholeheartedly. After the setup, your spirituality won’t ever be the same because now it’s sanctified! After the setup, you won’t look the same! After the setup, you won’t talk the same! After the setup, you won’t even walk the same! After the setup come a set up! Look out for it!