Daily Devotional – 8/6/14 “Recovery!”

It’s Wednesday and someone, somewhere is wiping your woes on your wrist of weakness. You’re wrestling with wickedness and its winning. You wandered passed the warnings and now you’re weighed down. You’re still wounded because you won’t keep the same wound wrapped long enough to heal. You’re questioning God when He wasn’t the one that got you in the mess you’re in but He said He’d get you out but you have to go through recovery. Yea, if alcoholics can have AA, drug addicts, gamblers and even sex addicts can have a place to go to heal; why can’t God have a recovery program? You do know that recovery means the act of getting something again that was lost, stolen or owed; right? See, you’ve been in that mess you’ve lived in long enough. You’ve been hateful for way too long and it’s sucking the life out of those around you. Yes, I know you’ve tried to do it on your own but it hasn’t worked and today is your intervention. Today you need help. Today you need to check yourself into recovery. No, you don’t have to tell anyone because it’ll be evident by the change in you. No ma’am, no sir; there is no cost; it’s all covered. Yes, it’s all inpatient; meaning it’ll take place on the inside of you. You won’t have to pack a bag but you will have to throw out some stuff. You won’t have to change residents but you may have to change who resides there. You won’t have to change the color of your hair but it might not fit with your new look. Changing your clothes isn’t even a requirement but they may not fit the same.

Are you ready to get started? Great then allow me to give you the list of God’s custom made treatment plans. These plans are for your good so that you can recover.

  • Detox program – 1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Psalm 51:10, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.”
  • Individual therapy – Matthew 6:6, “But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”
  • Group Therapy – Hebrews 10:25, “And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.”
  • Christian based treatment – Bible Study, Sunday School, Worship Service, Prayer Meeting

So you see; there are not a lot of programs involved with God’s Recovery because they all work. There is only one book that you are required to read and it’s called the Bible. You can find it in nearly every store and there are many different versions for you to choose from. There’s no set time on your recovery because it’s at your pace but you must go in with a mind of wanting to be recovered and the faith that you will be. You can start whenever you choose, all you have to do is write the date down and begin. Recovery works because I’ve tried it and I am not ashamed to tell it. I am a recovering addict of self-doubt, self-pity and no encouragement of self but I’ve been through recovery and I am recovered! There are days when I almost slip but I refer back to my study materials for the dose I need to pick me up. It’ll work if you believe. Try recovery for yourself and you’ll see.

Daily Devotional – 8/5/14 “Fresh Wood!”

I absolutely love reading the bible and although I don’t read it as much as I should, I love studying the different scriptures, I love how the same scripture can be used many different ways and I also love the many different interpretations one scripture can have. This is why I am also jotting down notes or pulling up a different version of the bible when I am in church or in bible study. I don’t do it to see if the pastor is wrong but I do it so that I can get an understanding because after all it is my responsibility to know what I am being taught, right? Well in bible study last night, something was said that stirred my spirit. Pastor Letcher said every time you come to the altar, you ought to bring fresh wood referring to the passage he preached from on Sunday, Leviticus 6:12-13. (Hmm…my wheels are turning.) Now, if you’ve never read Leviticus, do so. In Leviticus 6, the Lord is speaking to Moses on how people should make amends for the sins they’ve committed against their neighbors. In the bible days, you had to offer up guilt offerings on the altar. Again, in this particular scripture, God said you had to return whatever it is you’ve stolen, found that wasn’t yours, cheated them out of or even borrowed to never give back and not only did you have to give it back but you had to add a fifth of the value to it and give it all back on the day you present your guilt offering to the priest. A guilt offering, in biblical days, was a ram from your flock, one without a flaw or defect. Then the priest would take the guilt offering to the altar to burn before God. In Leviticus 6:12-13, God gave this command to Aaron and his sons (the priests), “The fire on the altar must be kept burning; it must not go out. Every morning the priest is to add firewood and arrange the burnt offering on the fire and burn the fat of the fellowship offerings on it. The fire must be kept burning on the altar continuously; it must not go out.”

Now, these are just my thoughts but go with me for a minute. Could you imagine the amount of fire that would be burning if we had to offer up a guilt offering every time we sinned? Could you imagine folk, now, knowing every time you’ve sinned simply because you had to bring a guilt offering to the altar? Would there be any wood left to keep the fire burning? Oh but now God has given us the authority to build altars inside of worship places for us to bring our mess, our guilt silently and without being seen. God has given the authority to build altars for us to bring our mess to Him without anyone knowing and yet we won’t even bring fresh wood to keep the fire burning. What do you mean by fresh wood? I’m glad you asked. I mean our sins, our mess, our guilt and our wrongdoings. We got the audacity to sin yet we won’t go before the altar to throw it on the fire. We got the nerve to do wrong in the sight of God yet we won’t bring fresh wood to keep the fire burning. How hard is it to do your part especially when none of us are perfect? Using my spiritual imagination, I can see my sins being thrown on the fire of the altar every chance I get to leave them there and when it or they are consumed by the fire, that’s God accepting them and once He accepts them, I can’t get them back which means, my sins have been forgiven AND forgotten. Oh, that’s enough right there for my worship to be better leaving the altar. I don’t know about you but every day I am chopping fresh wood, (that’s sinning whether intentionally or unintentionally, big or small) and I plan on leaving it on the fire of the altar every chance I get. See, when I bring fresh wood to the fire, it makes my worship that much better because I leave restored, renewed and revived which makes my worship real. What about you?

Daily Devotional – 8/4/14 “Are you available to be used?”

I shared this on Facebook yesterday but it’s worth sharing again because someone on today is still trying to figure out why they can’t be blessed like others. Someone is trying to understand why nothing is working out in their favor. Someone is even questioning God on why He hasn’t used them yet but beloved, God can’t use you when you’re not available. Yea, you’re constantly asking God to use you yet every time He calls you, you’re unreachable. You claim you’re waiting to hear from God yet your ears are being filled with gossip and lies which makes you inaccessible. Baby, God can’t use you when you are unapproachable. Sure, you say you’re ready yet you complain about the storm you’re in but don’t you know that God can’t use you when you’re not willing to be cleaned up. I hear you when you say, I’m ready, willing and able yet God can’t use you when you’re still unsure of which side of the fence you want to land on. You cry that you’re ready to lead and be put in charge of things at church but chile God can’t use you when you’re still the one turning on the lights at the club after they make the last call for alcohol. You say you have a message to share but God can’t use you when you’re the one still starting all the mess!

Please believe me when I tell you that God will give you just what you ask for. If you ask Him to remove enemies, He does. He doesn’t look at the fact you’ve labeled them as friends, He’s only doing what you ask. When you ask God to strengthen your gift and He does, don’t allow fear to make you run and hide. When you ask God to speak to you, He will, so don’t get scared of what He tells you to do. Yes, I get it. You may think it’s too big for to stand in or you may even think you are unworthy of the calling but Romans 8:30 says, “And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.” Simply meaning this … God had already predestined your destiny (Jeremiah 29:11) which means He had already Christened your name (Jeremiah 1:5), He had already vindicated your past (2 Corinthians 5:17) and overestimated your worth (1 Corinthians 6:11) so you were born for this. All you have to do is make yourself available. And please know this; once you’re available don’t start complaining about the test because God surely can’t use you if your faith can’t be tested!

Daily Devotional – 8/1/14 “Lean not on your understanding!”

Now that you’ve prayed and got up; your legs are a little wobbly but that’s ok … move! I told you on yesterday that after you’ve had surgery, the nurses will get you up to walk and aren’t you’re a little off balance then? Well do you think the nurse will let you fall if it’s her responsibility to hold you up? Then what makes you think God will? Proverbs 3:5 says, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.” See, you may not understand why you are being sent there but trust in the Lord and go. You may be unfamiliar with the road you have to take to get there but trust in the Lord and go. You may even feel like you’re out of your comfort zone but trust in the Lord and go on. Please understand this; God will not send you anywhere He hasn’t already been. Did you not read the scripture from yesterday? Here it is again for those of you who are still shaking and scared to move. Deuteronomy 31:8 says “Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD will personally go ahead of you. He will be with you; he will neither fail you nor abandon you.”

Yea, I know you didn’t think you were worthy of being sent there but when you stop leaning on your understanding you’ll see that not only are you worthy but you are a chosen vessel called to do God’s will. Baby, you probably even assumed your past would hinder you but God is asking, “What past?” (Gone God!) Understand, realize and accept the fact that God got you. Stop worrying about what she said when she can’t save you. Stop worrying about what he said when he can’t restore you. And stop worrying about what they said when they can’t put you in Heaven or Hell. Stop focusing on them and trust in the Lord because when you lean on God, He’ll surround you with the right circle of folk who will judge you justly, criticize you correctly, push your passion and grow your gift. Yet here you are surrounding yourself with folk who will stick their leg out to trip you and then lie like they didn’t mean it. Throw a rock to knock you down and then reach down to help you up. But please get this if you don’t get anything else. Everyone who says they are for you, it doesn’t mean they are. This is why you can’t lean on your own understanding. See, someone you probably consider a good friend doesn’t think you deserve the job you just got but you trust and watch God. Someone you keep letting into your home is the one bringing all the hell but pray, trust and watch God work. Someone you trust doesn’t trust you and they are the ones wishing bad over your life but pray, trust, lean on God and watch God work this. Someone is behind your back questioning how you got your car, house, spouse and healing but pray, trust, lean on God and not your understanding and watch God work this thang. Chile, somebody you worship with is still trying to figure out how God could take somebody like you who weren’t fitting to live and not ready to die, used to be the town (female or male) slut, at all the clubs, kept your mouth on everybody and stayed in other folk business; place you in your storm, wash you off, re-dress you in His newness, give you a new mind, a new song to dance too, new words to use and now you’re in ministry in your church but when you pray, trust and lean on Him; you can stand back and watch God work this thang out! Lean not on your understanding because you still won’t understand!

Daily Devotional – 7/31/14 “Watch God work!”

Just when you thought your storm was ending, you hear the thunder bellowing in the background. Just when you thought your tears were coming to an end, you get another blow that sends you to your knees. Just when you thought everything was working out and you were on the right track, the door closed in your face. And just when you thought it couldn’t get any worse, it does.

Now what? Pray.

What do you do now? Get up.

Where do you go now? Forward.

Yes, I get it. You have clouds of why me hanging over head. You hear the rain drops of depression starting to fall and the ground is covered with the woe is me tears but then what? When you’re done feeling sorry for yourself, when you’ve finished crying and when you’re done with the temper tantrum; you’ll still be in the same place you were before unless you move. Understand this, after you’ve had surgery then comes rehab and during your rehab, the physical therapists and nurses usually make you get up, take a walk down the hall or sit up in a chair because they understand that it’s beneficial to your recovery; so tell me again why you are still lying in your bed of I can’t. Explain to me why you’re still lying face down in “they turned me down again”. Help me make sense of why you’re still sleeping with defeat because I don’t get it.

The storm isn’t to drown you but it’s simply washing you off to prepare you for what God is about to cover you with. Don’t you take a shower before you get dressed? Then what sense would it make for God to put something new over something that’s dirty? That’s why we have to go through the storm and some of us are real filthy so our storm may last a little bit longer. So stop basing the time of your storm on others because although it may seem like I got it all together, I don’t look like what I’ve been or going through because then I’d be a raggedy mess. Yea, your storm may be raging and you can’t see your way but watch God. Your bills may be behind, received a cut-off notice for the cable and the lights and your account may be in the negative and you just got paid but watch God work. The door may have closed and it probably punctured your hope but watch God work this. You may have even received a no when you knew for sure it was yes but watch God work this thang. Baby, you may not understand why and you may not even get God’s timing of things but watch God work this thang out! You might not be where you wish, have what you want or can get what you need but wait on God and watch Him work thangs out on your behalf, when it’s time. Deuteronomy 31:8 says “Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD will personally go ahead of you. He will be with you; he will neither fail you nor abandon you.”