Daily Devotional – 3/10/15 “Who are you claiming?”

Who are you claiming? What set you representing? Who are you down with? Oh and who are you up with? Isn’t it strange how we are ride or die for our football teams yet we won’t go to church in the rain? Yea, we will buy shirts, license plates, flags for our cars, hats, blankets, jerseys and even decorations for the house in our favorite team color and logos yet we won’t even pay our tithes. We get our boo name tattooed on our bodies yet we won’t give our heart to God. We give all our attention to social media and none to the message that God left in His word. Who are you claiming? Dearly beloved, God didn’t say we couldn’t enjoy life because Ecclesiastes 2:24 says, “There is nothing better for a man, than that he should eat and drink, and that he should make his soul enjoy good in his labour. This also I saw, that it was from the hand of God,” but in doing so don’t forget about the one who gave you life! Yea, you can rep your favorite team but don’t allow that to overshadow the ultimate team leader, God. Yea, you can love your boo but God should always be the head. You can have a life but let it be pleasing unto God. You don’t have to stop dancing when you become a Christian, just change some of the moves, partners and places. You don’t have to stop drinking but be mindful of what you consume because the bible says wine is good for the stomach but nobody should get drunk. You don’t have to stop living but live in your purpose! Don’t be ashamed to rep God because then He’ll be ashamed to rep you! Don’t be only down for God but be for God when you’re up as well. Who are you claiming? Can you honestly finish this sentence? “As for me and my house …”

Be a willing worker for God, who is not ashamed yet one who truthfully handles His word by studying to present yourself as one of God’s approved (2 Timothy 2:15)!

Daily Devotional – 3/9/15 “Get over it!”

It’s Monday morning and somebody’s mood is already messy, your thoughts are already threw off, you’re stumbling in your steps because you didn’t sleep sound, you’re angry because you lost an hour of sleep, cussing over the traffic and even mad at your own stomach for growling but baby; get over it! Yea, I could insert something biblically here but I won’t, I’m simply going to say this … Put your big girl or big boy clothes on and deal with this thang called life! Everything isn’t going to go your way, get over it. Everybody won’t be there when you need them, get over it. Some friends will let you down, get over it. Somebody who said they loved you might hurt you, get over it. You might lose some things or folk, get over it. Some doors might shut in your face, some applications might get denied, some stuff might get reposed and sickness or death might even show up but get over it!

Please note, in getting over it, I don’t mean any harm in my delivery; I’m simply telling you to continue living, to open your eyes and see your dreams and then go for them, to make something happen in your life, to get up off the couch and do something productive, to do something with the plan you’ve been working on the past three years, finish the book, start at the gym, go back to school, accept your calling or to sum it all up … Walk in your destiny! Yes, things are going to happen, you’re going to have some bad days (they were promised) but don’t let depression to set in. You might have a bad week but don’t let weakness take over. You might even go through a bad month but don’t let your mouth get you into more hell than you’re already dealing with, get over it, get on with it, go through it and come out stronger, refreshed, energized and ready to work! I know you’re probably tired of this scripture but get over it because it fits here, Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Life is hard, living it is even harder but you need to do it. Get over the hump of hell you’re facing because something greater is waiting for you. #YOUWIN but you have to get in the race.

Daily Devotional – 3/6/15 “Why won’t you wait?”

You have to get to a point in your Christian life and on this spiritual journey where you don’t mind waiting on the Lord. Yea, you have to at some point, work on your patience and wait this thang out! I know you’ve wanted that car but it ain’t your time yet. You’re tired of being single but don’t rush into something that might cause you more hell and money to get out of. You’re sick of being overlooked for that promotion but pump your brakes, in due time. You’ve been eyeing that house on the corner yet your loan was denied, that’s God working; wait! You have your vision for your business but come to fruition, hold on and wait! Stop rushing God’s plan. Jeremiah 29:11 says, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future,” so why are you constantly changing it by adding your two cents, veering off course or getting the opinions of people (some of whom want to see you fail)? When will we wait on the Lord? See, I’ve found that in my waiting, I’m being restored. In my waiting, my joy is being refilled. In my waiting, my hardened heart is being replaced. In my waiting, hateful friends are being removed. In my waiting, my battle is being fought by my master. In my waiting, I’ve found that when the Lord shows up, He’s always on time! This is why we have to get to a point where we don’t mind waiting on God! Why won’t you wait?

My words may not reach your spirit but the biblical word says this in Isaiah 40:28-31 “Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.” Why won’t you wait? Yes, it’s hard waiting but work on your patience and wait on the Lord! That battle you’re trying to fight, it’s already won, God sent you to the end of the war zone to see if you’d go. That worrying you’re doing, God has already answered your prayers, He’s simply waiting to see if you trust Him enough to let it go. That sickness, it won’t defeat you; God is trying to see if your faith will wait it out. Will it? Will you wait on the Lord?

Daily Devotional – 3/5/15 “What are you sowing?”

When you step in the snow, don’t your shoes and pants get wet? When you step in mud, don’t your shoes get dirty? When you put your hands in a bag of chips, don’t they get greasy or covered in the flavor of the chips? And when you dig a hole and plant a seed, don’t you reap from that which you sow? Then what makes you think the same thing won’t happen when you sow spiritually? When you sow something good, you reap something good but when you sow something bad, you reap something equally bad, don’t you? Well, that’s what the word says. Galatians 6:8 says, “Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.” See, at some point you’ve got to get to a place where you no longer want, no you should get to a place where you no longer need to live to please folk because when you live to please folk, you’ll sow into things that can send your soul to hell. You’re sowing unsportsmanlike conduct to your coworkers and then you have the nerve to get mad when no one will support you. You’re sowing anger into every relationship you get in and then wonder why no one will stay with you. You steal for a living and then get mad when you get arrested. You raise more hell than the devil then you got the audacity to get mad when the Pastor won’t choose you to chair a program or sit on the trustee board. You stay in folk business but don’t understand why no one tells you anything. You ruin every party but don’t get why no one invites you anywhere. You need to look into what you are sowing.

And please, PLEASE stop blaming God for everything we go through. Baby, don’t you know if God would pay us back for most of the things we did; most of us would be raggedy, good for nothing nobodies worth nothing! We get back what we put out, we reap what we sow! What are you sowing? Stop blocking your blessings by being jealous of somebody else blessing, rejoice with them until yours come. Stop throwing rocks and hiding your hands, stop hating on folk, stop putting your angry mouth on the man or woman of God (pray for him or her) and stop talking about the church (work to make it better). For Proverbs 6:16-19 says, “Here are six things God hates, and one more that he loathes with a passion: eyes that are arrogant, a tongue that lies, hands that murder the innocent, a heart that hatches evil plots, feet that race down a wicked track, a mouth that lies under oath, a troublemaker in the family.” Be careful what you sow because that’s what you’ll reap. What are you sowing?

Daily Devotional – 3/4/15 “Shed that old stuff!”

Sometime you have to shed some old stuff in order for you to grow. I don’t know who this is for but baby, you are stagnant where you are because you are still in the same old stuff you used to be in! You are still allowing folk to label you by your past. You are still being held hostage by what you ex did you to. You are still being knocked down by what your momma and daddy did or even by what the church did years ago. It’s time for you to shed that stuff beloved. Baby, even a snake has to shed their old skin in order for them to grow. So, why are you still holding on to old stuff? Yes, I get it; folk talked about you – shed that old stuff! Folk hurt you – shed that old stuff! Folk didn’t come when they said they would – shed that old stuff! You’ve had some rough days, some weary nights – shed that old stuff! You’ve had days when you felt like you had hell on your back, more bills than money, more tears you needed to shed but no more to cry, more pacing you needed to do but no more strength, more tossing and turning you needed to do but no energy, more help you need but no one else to call – shed that old stuff!

Listen … You may be going through a rough time right now but that’s just to get rid of that old stuff! I know the enemy got you thinking it’s because of something you did, he’s probably even tempting you to backslide but pump your brakes! Don’t you know that in order for a snake to get its old skin off, he has to rub against a rough surface? What are you crying about?? Go through your rough patch, it’s simply to get off everything old in order to get you something new! Rub the rough surface, its removing the old stuff. I can remember grandma using a brillo pad to clean a pot that had something stuck in the bottom. She’d rub and rub against it until the stain was gone in order for her to shed the old and get the pot to back like new. Well… what are you waiting on? The stain of insecurity you got stuck in you, rub it out! That stain of fear, rub it out! That stain of not forgiving, rub it out! That stain of anger, rub it out! That stain of procrastination, rub it out! That stain of church hopping, rub it out! It’s time for you to shed that old stuff that is keeping you from growing. For the bible says in Isaiah 43:18-19, “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.”