Daily Devotional – 12/29/14 “Stop being a hoarder!”

I hope and pray that everyone’s holiday season is blessed and not stressed. I hope that as you prepare to go into a New Year that you do so leaving the old things in the past where they belong. Yes, see; you have to get rid of clutter in your spiritual life the same way you have to rid the clutter in your natural life. Stop being a hoarder. Stop dumping junk where joy should reside. Stop mixing mess in where God has placed mercy. Stop shining scrap metal, it ain’t silver. Stop trying to fix him up, he ain’t your husband. Stop trying to turn her into something, she ain’t your wife. Stop trying to stay there, you don’t belong. Stop trying to fit in, you weren’t made for that. Some of us Christians are sinking because we got too much baggage attached to our spirit. We got generational curses tied to us from grandmama nem, we got stereotypical curses tied to us because of what folk said we would be and we got peer pressure tied to us because of what folk say we should be. We even got Old Testament logic of thinking tied around our waist and it’s dragging us down when we still have men that won’t let a woman in the pulpit but you’ll let her stand down on the floor in front of it and read the announcements or stand and teach. Oh but if you are going to go with women shouldn’t be in the pulpit then shouldn’t you also go with women shouldn’t teach? For isn’t this what the bible says or do Christians pick and choose the scriptures that suffice for them in the moment?

I’m just thinking out loud. It’s time out for us, as Saints of God, to stop playing with this spiritual thing. We are in a spiritual war constantly and if we are off of our guard even in the slightest, the enemy has an opportunity to get in and once he’s in, you have a hell of a time getting him out. This is why we have to stay prayed up. This is why you have to let stuff go. This is why you have to stop hoarding! Unpack that stuff that is weighing you down spiritually and naturally. Don’t go into the New Year with mess. While you are cleaning your house, clean your mind and spirit. Clean out your phone and your Facebook friend list. Stop allowing folk to walk in and out your life when it’s convenient for them even if it means you have to be single. Be single, saved and satisfied spiritually. For you married folk who are dealing with some things, sit down with your spouse and get your life together. If your marriage is worth salving, save it because there isn’t anything in these streets but you’ve got to put God first. Stop nagging and start praying. Wives pray for your husbands and husbands pray for your wives; God will do the rest. Get in a church home and stay there. Stop church hopping and stop being a fair weather Christian. Be as committed to God as He is to you and see the difference in your life. Stop being a hoarder! You can’t be elevated with all that extra weight!

Daily Devotional – 12/24/14 “Don’t get defeated, it ain’t over!”

Twas the day before Christmas and all you can find is confusion and misunderstanding in the depths of your mind? Listen, when you are in God; He doesn’t set up to fail but you have to be willing to get the lesson that He is teaching you. Are you taking notes? There is a difference in being of God and being in God. OF means you belong to God but IN means you are inside of Him. You need to be both. You need to be of God and in God! Oh God! My spiritual minded folk will get this! See, I told you on yesterday that not everything that God does make sense but you have to go with it. Do you think Mary understood the reasoning behind being impregnated with a seed and she was still a virgin? Yet she went with it? Do you think Sara understood being pregnant at 90? Yet she went with it? Do you think being sick with cancer makes sense? How about being without a job or being on a job you don’t like? How about being without a car or a home to call your own? How about being the pastor to a flock of people who don’t respect your vision? Baby, if this spiritual walk was this easy God would have more people willing to work for Him. This is why Jesus said in Matthew 9:37, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.”

So, on this Christmas Eve, I simply stop by to tell you; don’t give up. Even though depression may slip in, pray that spirit off. That enemy who may be whispering in your ear, he or she may even be texting you again; send him/her back to the pits of hell (don’t even accept the Christmas gift he/she brings, it’s a setup!). Don’t make a hastily decision off of your anger, cool off. Stop looking at what others have, look at what you are blessed with. You don’t know the price they paid to get what they have. Just because it’s wrapped pretty, the devil could have paid for it. Stop wishing for other folks stuff because then you get what they had to go through to get it. Be thankful for what you have. Get the lesson out of what you have to go through. God has you where He wants you. Take notes where you are. If you are in a storm now, ride it out but do so rejoicing. No matter what situation you are in, rejoice! You confuse the enemy with your praise. Don’t get defeated, it ain’t over! Don’t get defeated, it ain’t over!

Daily Devotional – 12/23/14 “God doesn’t always make sense!”

I never would have imagined this time last year that I would be preaching God’s word this time this year. Yes, I knew my path was changing because my walk was getting different, my spiritual walk; but I (catch that) I didn’t know I would be where I am now. Oh, but isn’t it amazing the journey God takes us on, if we just go with it? Please understand this, not everything that God does makes logical sense then but it makes purpose, it makes peace, it makes joy, it makes mercy, it makes grace, it makes happiness …it makes practical sense now! Yea, you didn’t understand why God told you to quit that job and take this one until you saw in the news that the company was closing. You didn’t understand why God told you to leave him alone until you saw his face plastered on the news. You didn’t understand why God wouldn’t allow you to get approved for that car until you read the recalls in the newspaper. You didn’t understand why God was leading you to that worship place until you left there with your deliverance and a new church home. You didn’t get why God was telling you to pull over until you passed that wreck that could have been you. You didn’t get why God was telling you to speak to that person until you left with a new job and a new friend. My God!

Do you see where this is going? Not everything God does make sense to us but it makes sense to Him, go with it! Stop questioning the Man and go with His plan. Baby, there are a lot of things you could’ve had in 2014, had you kept your mouth and moved your feet. God is still asking a lot of us, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” Why won’t you move? You do know that God won’t send you into battle alone, don’t you? You do know, God won’t send you into the fire without the proper gear on, right? God won’t even send you into the storm without the proper rain wear, so why won’t you go? You are so scared of change, so afraid of trying something new and so fearful of letting go that you will use anger as a tactic to run people off but you won’t be able to use that always. I keep saying that God is shifting things and either you will get on board or get left. It’s your choice. Don’t let fear decide for you. Just because it doesn’t make sense to you now, doesn’t make it wrong. Pray about it but you have to be in the right frame of mind to get the right hearing from God.

Daily Devotional – 12/22/14 “What’s your birth potential?”

As it gets closer to Christmas, I was sitting here waiting on what to write on when it was asked, “What’s your birth potential?” In other words, what is it that you have a possibility of birthing? I told you before that we all have a purpose on the inside of us that starts off small but it has to be nurtured, fed and taken care of and when the time is right; it has to be birthed from us, formed, molded into what it shall be and then used. So, again I ask; what’s your birth potential? What impending victory are you about to birth? What prospective success story are you yet to hold that waiting to be told? Do you think Mary knew the potential she was carrying inside of her when she birthed Jesus? He doesn’t compare but do you think Abraham’s mother knew the potential of who she was birthing? He doesn’t compare but do you think Martin Luther King’s mother knew the potential she was birthing? He doesn’t compare but do you think President Obama knew the potential he was birthing when he set out to be president? You don’t compare to God but did your mom know the potential in you before she birthed you? Do you even know the potential that you possess within yourself? Don’t you know the limitless possibilities that you have if only you try?

God has the available resources but you have to get up to get them. I mean, it’s like you want Him to give them to you and then bring them to you too? When He says in Matthew 7:7, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” God has given you the purpose but it is now up to you to make sure it will survive outside of you. Will it? You asked God for your shift and you’ve been elevated, were you ready? You asked God for your purpose and He showed you, what are you doing with it? Are you walking in your purpose? Are you living it? Are you devoted to it? Or are you only committed to it when it’s convenient for you? Did you accept it and now you keep looking back to the things you used to do? Colossians 3:23-24 says, “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.” So, today I ask you, again, “What’s your birth potential?” Beloved, find out what it is (if you don’t know) or if you know and you aren’t walking in it or you aren’t fully committed as you should be; get committed. The worst thing you can do is to die without your purpose being fulfilled. You have birth potential… PUSH!

“Now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.” Acts 20:32

Daily Devotional – 12/19/14 “Favor can work together!”

Baby, I simply stopped by to tell you that God is about to shift some stuff around. Please! Please! Mark these words I write. God is about to shift ministry like never before. In 2015, ministry won’t be the same. I keep trying to tell you but you won’t listen. Can’t you see? God isn’t pleased with the current state of ministry and some things are about to be shaken loose. This is why I keep saying, you need to be mindful of the folk you are around. You keep thinking that you are surviving off of your merit when baby, its grandma’s prayers that’s keeping you. Keep thinking that it’s only your prayers, when it’s yours and some co-worker’s prayer’s that keeping the doors of the job open. Keep thinking it’s you that’s carrying the church because you’re the oldest deacon when it’s yours and God’s unmerited favor that He placed in the shepherd that He sent to govern the flock too. Sir, ma’am; it’s not only you but it’s the person you’re standing by and it’s the person you’ve surrounded yourself with whose favor you’re stepping in. It’s not only you.

This is why you have to be careful, again, who you surround yourself with. For God’s word says in Psalm 23:5, “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows,” and what sense is it to allow your enemies to step in the favor that’s overflowing from your cup? Oh but if you surround yourself with like spirited, like favored, like-minded people; whose cup is overflowing like yours then it shouldn’t matter if your oil mix because then your oil would be mixing for the good and not for bad because Ephesians 1:11 says, “Furthermore, because we are united with Christ, we have received an inheritance from God, for he chose us in advance, and he makes everything work out according to his plan.” Oh, do you get it now? We work better together! As Saints of God, we have to first walk in our favor and then surround ourselves with others who walk in their favor and who’s willing to share their favor. Baby, this spiritual journey is hard on our good days and sometime even the best encourager may need a little bit of your favor to pinch off of just to make it through, will you share? I don’t need all of it, I just may need to lean on you every once in a while, can I? I may not even need to call, just a text every now and then, is that cool? I don’t need your judgment, criticism, snide remarks nor could haves; a simple hug would do; can you do that if the time comes? I don’t want handouts just a hand, will you? Psalm 5:12 says, “For surely, O LORD, you bless the righteous; you surround them with your favor as with a shield.” I shared this a few months back on Twitter and it fits today, “Even as a team, in order for US to be successful, we have to link our FATES together and that starts by linking our FAITH!”