Daily Devotional – 3/27/14 “Going up!”

This morning I got on the elevator to go downstairs to the cafeteria and there was a young woman walking towards me so I held the door opened and she said, that’s ok, I’m going up. Now, of course you all know me by now and I think you can pretty much guess I get divine direction out of almost anything so when she said this, I couldn’t wait to get back to my desk to write this devotional. See, many of us are still sitting idle waiting on God to move us up yet He’s waiting on you to wave some folk off who are holding you down. Yea, you’re still hanging around the same folk with that club life mentality and every time they call you go running yet you never invite them to worship with you. Yea, you’re still hand holding with folk who are whispering in your ear, “don’t leave,” and every time you see an opportunity to move you get scared. Yea, you’re still dancing for the devil yet you say God gets the glory. Where? Let me explain something to you, I have no issue with folk who want to go out to have a little fun but if you can’t put that some effort into giving God what’s owed to him, then therein lies the problem I have. This is why I said a few days ago that you need to check your circle.

Beloved, it’s time for you to wave goodbye to some folks in order to gain God’s glory. It’s time you bid farewell to those fake friends in order to feel God’s favor. It may just be time to tell folk, that’s ok, I’m going up and have no problem with doing it. I’ve said before but I don’t mind sharing it again … You won’t finish with all the folks you started with. I’ll repeat it, you won’t finish with some of the folk you started with because some of them can’t handle the elevation and some aren’t ready for the elevation. You don’t have to look down on those who aren’t yet on your level because it’s your duty to help them up but don’t stay on their level and miss your elevator up.

“No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead. I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us. Philippians 3:13-14”

Daily Devotional – 3/26/14 “We are so ungrateful!”

I sometimes wonder how we, as Christians, can be so ungrateful when we are already receiving things we don’t deserve. I mean, some of us are ungrateful for the spouse we have when, if the truth shall be told, you didn’t deserve them anyway yet God blessed you with them and they’ve made your life better but you can’t see it. Some of us are so ungrateful for the job we have when we could be on the corner of the expressway doing some strange thangs for change. Some of us are not thankful for the home we have when we could be standing in line every night trying to get a room at the local mission. We complain so much about everything that it’s starting to overshadow everything! (You’ll get that in a minute) When will we be thankful for what we have? I’ve come to realize that God won’t give me anything else if I’m not grateful for what He’s already done. It’s like me walking up to you every day with a gift yet you never even take the time to open it, they’ve just been piling up in your drawer. What sense would it make for me to continue to take the time to give you something you’re not even thankful for? Me, as being a fleshly body wouldn’t give your ungrateful tail nothing else oh but thanks be to God who is not like us because although we take His many blessings for granted, He still gives us a fresh anointing of His power every morning. If it were up to man, your water would have been cut off when you didn’t pay the bill yet God has shown up once again and you’d rather take your last few dollars to Wild Out Wednesday instead of putting them in the offering tray. Yea, God showed up and saved your butt, like He does, when you couldn’t even provide for yourself and yet you’ve been promoted on your job and you can’t even give Him His due praise. God protected your ignorant self when you decided to drive drunk and instead of being grateful and changing your ways, you tried it again the next weekend. God has delivered you from the hands of an abusive spouse, from that cancer that has killed countless others, from that bullet that had your name on it and from that alcohol and drugs that you should have overdosed on and yet you’re still too selfish to share your testimony.

I just don’t understand, I can’t seem to wrap my thoughts around it and no matter how I try to twist it, it doesn’t make sense. You do know that when you constantly complain God is not pleased, right? When the people complained in the wilderness, Numbers 11:1 says, “Now when the people complained, it displeased the Lord; for the Lord heard it, and His anger was aroused. So the fire of the Lord burned among them, and consumed some in the outskirts of the camp.” Can you handle the wrath of God? Will you be willing to try? (I’m not!) And although I am not perfect in not complaining, every day I strive to do better to appreciate what I have because it could be, no, it should be worse but it’s not. Try being grateful and see if it works!

Daily Devotional – 3/25/14 “Check your circle!”

Yea, take a good look at the people you’ve surrounded yourself with. See, I’ve come to realize that if I surround myself with folk who have been anointed by God, then surely some of their anointing may just rub off on me. Yea, if I stand close enough to someone whose cup is running over from God’s favor then just maybe that time when mine is running low, I can catch some of that which has spilled into their saucer. No, this doesn’t mean I don’t have my own favor or anointing but sometimes my spirit can get low and needs refilling. Sometimes even I need encouragement. Sometimes even I need prayer and who better than to give me the nudge I need other than someone who is like minded. I don’t know why God is leading me this way but someone is dealing with some things and although you are surrounded by folk you feel alone and that maybe because you haven’t surrounded yourself with the right people. See, someone who is spiritual minded, like you, will be able to sense when you aren’t yourself and they’ll even come and stand next to you just to be your leaning post and you didn’t even have to ask. Spiritual minded folk, who hang together, has each other’s back and won’t judge you when you want to go out dancing because they’ll go with you to the club and church. Spiritual minded folk won’t judge you when you make a mistake but they’ll grab your hand and say let’s pray about it. Spiritual minded folk won’t help you fight your problem but they’ll help you figure out a way to resolve it. Spiritual minded folk won’t help you worry but they’ll say let’s pray to God first and He’ll work it out. Check your circle! Please understand, your circle includes your family and your friends because if your family can’t get with your spiritual walk, walk away from them. Yea, even Jesus lost a few folk along the way who couldn’t keep up and sometimes you have to unhook those who are feeding off of you yet can’t give you anything before they suck you dry. Oh and for those of you who think you can do this spiritual thang alone, you need to read Ecclesiastes 4:9, which say, “Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble.”

All I’m saying is you may want to put your spiritual eyes on and check your circle because the one person who claims to be for you is the one secretly putting the knife in your back. The one who say they are praying for your healing probably can’t even get a prayer through and the one who is the happiest for your elevation is probably the one who was the one trying to knock you down on the way up. Not everybody you start with can finish with you so check your circle!

Daily Devotional – 3/24/14 “Stop turning around!”

The only way you’re going to move forward, you have to stop looking back. Yea, I understand you’ve been through some things but if you’ve made it through, the only way you go back through them is if you turn around and go back. Please understand, you will go through other things and some may even seem similar to what you’ve already been through but it won’t be the same. I mean, no one has ever said it’s easy to walk straight with your head turned looking back yet you continue to try and then wonder why you keep walking into dead end situations. You’re looking back and then question God on why YOU keep bumping your own head. Don’t you know the bible says in Philippians 3:12-14 (King James), “Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” Oh, but The Message Bible says it like this, “I’m not saying that I have this all together, that I have it made. But I am well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out for me. Friends, don’t get me wrong: By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I’ve got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus. I’m off and running and I’m not turning back.”

So, why keep going back to that same dead end relationship when you’ve already been bought out of it? Why do you keep harping on the fact that you used to be addicted to this or that when you’ve been delivered from it? Why do you keep going back down the same road that God has closed when He closed it for a purpose? For Luke 9:62, “Jesus replied, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.” See, if you’ve placed your hand on God (the plow) then you should know that Isaiah 43:18 says, “Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old.” Yes, your past experiences make way for your present but leave them in the past because they can’t hurt you unless you open the door to let them in. The past is behind you so stop turning around to go get it. Live in your now and make it better, no make it greater than anything you’ve been through. Stop turning around when all you need is right in front of you!