Daily Devotional – 2/26/15 “Get out of your complacency!”

Are you content with your current condition? Are you satisfied with the surviving state of your spiritual status? Are you happy with the happenings in your home? Are you pleased with the present proceedings you’re participating in? Are you joyous on your job? Are you rejoicing in your relationship? Are you content? I’m simply asking if you are happy. You do know that being content is a reward within itself, don’t you? For the bible says in 1 Timothy 6:6 “Yet true godliness with contentment is itself great wealth.” Oh, but you’ve probably become so comfortable in conforming that now you’ve become complacent and in your logic of thinking, you’re happy and can no longer see the difference in you being content and complacent but let me tell you! See, being content means to be happy and although being complacent means happy too, it also means to be comfortable in a situation. Oh but get this … Being complacent means that you get so comfortable that you no longer think you can get caught or caught up! Yea, it’s like you being comfortable and happy in your sin that now you’ve forgotten that the act you’re performing is actually a sin until you get caught up. You’ve gotten so complacent walking into the mall, stealing them folks stuff that it’s second nature to you until you’re the feature star in Just Busted on Tuesday. Get out of your complacency!

I know that’s your family church but baby it may be time for you to go. I know you’ve been trying to hold on to that relationship out in public but behind closed doors it’s a war zone, it’s time to let it go. Philippians 4:11 says this, “Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content.” This didn’t say to be complacent, this says in every situation to be content… HAPPY! Stop putting on a show for folk when God is still waiting on you to show up for Him. Stop staying in a comfortable place because your fears have subsided there, step outside of your comfort zone, God has a new position waiting for you over there. Your happiness is over there, your contentment is over there, your piece of mind is over there, your joy is over there, your healing is over there and that breakthrough is over there! Get out of your complacency and get your contentment! Get out of your comfort and get your happiness. I know your boo has made it comfortable and you’re complacent but baby if he can’t wife you, stop letting him take your life! (He who finds a wife …) I know you’ve been trying to make the marriage work but if she can’t have your back, why are you waiting to pack. (God made woman to be a helpmate …) My God! Somebody needs to be hoped today! Get out of your complacency in order to get your happiness back.

Daily Devotional – 2/25/15 “Hasten to God’s throne!”

I wonder why we, as children of God, don’t hasten to our Father’s throne. Why don’t we petition His throne more or why don’t we hasten to ask of Him things when the bible says in Hebrews 4:16 “Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” I mean, hasten is defined as to do something in a hurry or to make something happen quickly and as I was sitting here pondering on something to write about, this thought just happened to drop into my spirit. Why don’t we hasten more to God’s throne? We find it so easy to grumble but we won’t get up, we play the pity part but won’t pray, we say we are hurt yet we won’t hasten to the throne of grace and mercy where our help lies! What is going on? Ephesians 3:12 says, “Because of Christ and our faith in him, we can now come boldly and confidently into God’s presence,” yet we wait, why? I don’t know about you but I need the favor of God to rest upon me because I’ve found that God’s favor helps with the labor I have to sometime endure. Yea! See, the favor of God can open doors I didn’t even know existed. The favor of God can take my feet to places I didn’t even think I belonged. The favor of God can place my name in the mouths of folk I don’t even know knew me. The favor of God can promote me when man says I should be demoted. The favor of God can sometimes take away the labor all together and yet we won’t even hasten to His throne to get it.

Why won’t we hasten? We say we need rest but Jesus says in Matthew 11:28, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” We say God isn’t answering but have you asked lately when the bible says in Luke 11:9, “And so I tell you, keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you.” We say we believe, we say we have faith but then we get scared to step when we see the enemy looming when the bible says in Luke 10:19, “Look, I have given you authority over all the power of the enemy, and you can walk among snakes and scorpions and crush them. Nothing will injure you.” Why won’t we hasten to God’s throne? Why won’t we hasten to petition God for what we need when He has it all? Where is our faith? It’s time we changed the lyrics to our song to this …“I love the Lord, He heard my cry and pitied every groan, long as I live and troubles rise, I’ll hasten to His throne!” We might not get another chance.

Daily Devotional – 2/24/15 “Is your change evident?”

There’s this old gospel song titled, New Life that says, “I’ve moved from my old house and I’ve moved from my old friends and I’ve moved from my old way of life; thank God I moved out, to a brand new life!” (I know you’re singing it!) The second verse says, “He changed my old way with words, He changed my old narrow mind and He changed my heart and gave me a new start. Thank God I moved out to a brand new life.” Then the chorus says, “Can’t you see I’m a new man, don’t you know I’ve got a new name and one day I’ll live in a brand new land? Thank God I’ve moved out to a brand new life.” Baby, that’ll preach … if we, as Saints of God, could honestly say the lyrics of this song. But the reality of today is; folks can hardly tell the difference between the just and the unjust; the saved and the unsaved. Be honest, can folk see the change in you? Is it evident in your walk, your talk, in the way you live and in how you give? Are you approachable by someone unsaved? Could that mouth of yours save someone unsaved or could your hands help someone in need? I know you’ve been a baptized believer since you were 13 but what have you done lately to further the kingdom of God?

Now, get this … In order to change, you have to first change your way of thinking. Yea, it doesn’t make sense to change your shoes if you still like to play in mud. It makes no sense to say you don’t smoke any more yet you’re still in the midst of smokers or you quit drinking but you’re the bartender. You can’t say you’ve stop cheating when you’re still accepting his or her calls or text. Change your thinking and then, if need be; change your friends. Yea, I get it; they’ve been with you, your ride or die but if they can’t get with the change you’ve made, change them! At some point, you’ve got to get in the race and off the sideline, one of these days you’ve got to put the plan into action, and soon you’ll have to turn the close sign around to open and be about the change! When will you (we)? God needs folk on His side who are willing to work for Him. Haven’t you seen the news? Folk need saving y’all and they aren’t making it to church, we’ve got to get into the streets, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Too many children are dying without knowing God because their parents are living without knowing Him. This has got to change. We’ve got to change. We’ve got to be saved every day of the week and not just Sunday in order for us to make it to the new life. Is your change evident?

Daily Devotional – 2/23/15 “Mind your business!”

Sometimes as Saints of God, no; let me say it this way; as Saints of God, we need to mind our own business. Period! See, we think just because we are “Holy” we have the right to get into other folks business but baby stay in your lane unless you are invited over. Pastor is trying to figure out why folk join church and then never come back, ask some of the old members; they know. Church members feel like they can get all up in Pastor’s business because they are paying his salary but God is paying his way; mind your business. Learn how to stay in your lane. See, when you mind your business, you have more time to devote to Godly business. While you are minding your business, you don’t have time to mind other folk’s business. And get this … I’ve found that when you mind your business, folk can only know what you tell them. Oh but now we go to church to find out folk’s business because it spreads in the church faster than it spreads in the world. We go to worship, not to get the message but to get the mess that we’ll spread so fast through text message before service is even over. It’s a shame! We, as Saints of God, have too no; we need to do better! We need to mind our own business!

1 Thessalonians 4:11 says, “Make it your goal to live a quiet life, minding your own business and working with your hands, just as we instructed you before. Then people who are not Christians will respect the way you live, and you will not need to depend on others.” Now, this scripture says to mind your business but it is also speaking to working by the sweat of your hands so that you don’t have to be begging and borrowing from folks, who will then be all up in your business. See, you can’t borrow from folk and then be mad when they tell somebody because when you eat from your own table, it’s your business; when you are spending your own money, it’s your business and when you are in your own house or car, whatever you do, it’s your business! This is why you need to stay in your lane! Oh Saints of God, it is our duty to help one another, not hurt each other. If gossiping has been your strong point all these years, you need a new hobby and some new friends because someone should have told you better by now. If passing judgment on folk has been one of your character traits, now is the time to change because it no longer suits you; mind your business. We can all stand a bit of a change by staying in our respective lanes and minding our business. We all are guilty of this but let’s do better before it’s too late. Let’s mind our own business so that we can get back to doing kingdom business because there is work to be done!

Daily Devotional – 2/20/15 “Be careful who you invite!”

Let me say this or shall I say, let me type this for someone who has yet to get this in their spirit … Stop trying to take everybody with you! Some folk aren’t meant to go where you are going, period! I get it, you want to invite everybody to the celebration but baby haven’t you peeped out the fact that not everybody is celebrating with you? Yea, you want to snap a picture with everybody in attendance but not everybody is wearing a smile. Don’t get it twisted; some of those folk just came for the free food and gift bag. This is why you have to be careful who you invite. Listen beloved, God is trying to take you somewhere and you are too busy trying to take the entire crew; it ain’t their time yet. You can’t get all of what God has for you because you keep pinching off of it giving it to others, it ain’t their time yet. You’re scared to even step off of the elevator to your elevation because there is one somebody in the crew who is still having doubts and now you’ve allowed the door to shut, again because you’ve got to pacify them again; it ain’t their time. This is why you have to be careful who you invite.

Please understand, I am not saying you can’t help folk but there is a time and a place. However, I am saying this … Be careful who you invite. All I am saying is, if you know Uncle Low Down is the one to ruin every party, why are you still inviting him to all the parties? Why is doubt the DJ at your dance? Why does pity have an invitation to your praise? Why is there jacked up junk jiggling with your joy? Why is rage RSVP’ing to your rejoicing? Why is fear catering the food and guilt mingling with guests? Don’t you have a say so at all who is on the invitation list? Isn’t this supposed to be a praise party? Aren’t you ready to get your elevation? Aren’t you tired of playing with this thang yet? You need to let go of some people, places and some things and watch how your life change. Everybody isn’t ready to celebrate with you, that’s ok; but you’ve got to prepare yourself for that. You’ve got to know who is for you and who is against you but you will only know that by getting yourself right. You test the spirit by the spirit. That’s bible. Be careful who you invite, some aren’t ready for the change in you and some just shouldn’t be there!