Daily Devotional – 1/8/14 “Jubilation Praises!”

Jubilation is defined as uninhibited rejoicing in the celebration of a victory or success. This simply means when you think about all the things that could have made you a victim yet you came out unharmed, you should rejoice. When you think about all the things that tried to make you stumble yet you succeeded, you should be rejoicing. When you think about all the times folk said you wouldn’t amount to nothing and instead of falling, God gave you strength to walk, you should be rejoicing. Now, this isn’t any type of rejoicing but it’s that crazy praise type rejoicing, the kind that has your clothes twisted, your hair a little messy and a little sweat on your forehead. Yea, the kind of crazy praise that allows you to shout off the stress of last year and dance in the blessings of the New Year. The kind of jubilation praise that’ll have you ready to shout on Monday in bible study, Tuesday in the middle of your living room, Wednesday at Prayer Meeting, Thursday at choir rehearsal, Friday while you’re sitting at work, Saturday at the Beauty/Barber shop and all over again at Worship on Sunday. When I think about the cancer that could be attacking my body, the accident that I avoided that should have claimed my life, how I could have been addicted to crack, pain pills or alcohol or how I could have been walking the street; I rejoice. When I think about all the things I could be going through right now, I rejoice. When I want to give up and God says, “Don’t stop now you’re too close;” I rejoice. When my enemies surround me, God says, “Don’t worry about them, I’ll make them your footstool,” I rejoice. When folks talk about me, God says, “Oh, their opinions don’t matter, only mine does,” I rejoice. When I look around at my life and realize that I’m beyond blessed, God says, “This is only the beginning,” I rejoice! (Yes sah!) See, it’s these things that cause me to celebrate and because I have the victory, I offer God my jubilation praise! I don’t have to wait until Sunday morning to show my appreciation when God shows up on a Friday night to give me rest, when he shows up on Monday with a financial blessing that allows me to make it to payday and when he shows up on Saturday with a calming peace that surpasses all my understanding. Yea, I have to give God jubilation praises because instead of allowing me to jump off the cliff, He allowed me to look over and wave at my enemies. Instead of allowing me to be jealous over other folk’s blessings, He allowed me to join in their praise and instead of letting the judgment of others get me down, He used them as a jack to lift me up higher.

Oh, when I sit and think about the street I could be sleeping on, the cancer that could have taken me out, the bullet that could have passed through my flesh, the hospital my daughter could be in, the prison my son could be in, the grave that could be holding my husband’s body or the headstone that could read my name; I rejoice. When you think about all the chemo and surgeries you’ve made it through, all the times you had to beg for rides and now you’re riding in your new car, when you come home to a loving spouse instead of the one who used to treat you like dirt, when you leave the house a little late and pass the car wreck that should have been you, when your name wasn’t called to receive a pink slip when your other co-workers weren’t so lucky, when you walk past the alleys and see the folks strung out on drugs, when you visit the hospital and it could have been you or your child or when you drive under an overpass and see the folks sleeping outside and you know that God is surely keeping you; do you offer him jubilation praises? Baby, God doesn’t need praise when the sun is shining but He wants to see you dancing in the rain when the storm is raging. He doesn’t need you screaming His name when you’ve been pushed down in the pits and valleys but He wants to hear His name in rejoicing when you’ve made it to the top of the mountain. Offer God jubilation praises every chance you get because it may be your last time!

Daily Devotional – 1/6/14 “Let’s get right!”

I wrote a devotional on Saturday morning and I don’t normally do one but church and worship have been weighing heavy on me. See, lately I’ve been feeling like I am tired of church. Maybe it’s the people or to be honest, maybe it’s me but all I know is God is working on me because I just can’t understand why worship services can be so dead on Sunday yet the clubs are jumping every day of the week. Now, I can understand if this was just my church but I’ve visited others and it’s the same way. The pastor, preacher and minister of music have to pump and prime (can I get an Amen, give God praise…) “Christian” folk to do what they say they’ve come to do which is worship. Oh, but all through the week, you keep posting on how good God is, how He’s keeping you, healed your body, kept your baby daddy out of jail, blessed you with the money you’ve posted pictures of and still you got the audacity to come into God’s sacred house on Sunday morning yawning and falling asleep. I don’t get it. Baby, you better stop coming to church because it’s the right thing to do but do the right thing and then come to church (you’ll get that later). Oh, don’t get me wrong, I don’t need a partner to praise with because God has been too good to me to sit on my praise but aren’t we supposed to worship together? Worship is, by dictionary definition, treating somebody or something as divine and showing respect by engaging in acts of prayer and devotion or to take part in a religious service but in Lakisha’s logical thinking; worship is simply loving and respecting God enough to show it!

Yea! I know that I am all up in my feelings but when will we start to treat God the way He treats us. Ok, so your account maybe in the negative after getting paid on Friday but are you hungry? Oh, you must be living outside or sitting in one of the warming shelters that have been opened up by the city or are you at home? You must be reading this devotional on someone else’s device or does it belong to you? Did you have to visit a clothes closet this morning before you dressed or did you walk into your own? Did you stand on a corner begging for food or did you open up your refrigerator to get what you wanted? Oh, let me guess; someone is reading this to you because you’re plugged up to a machine that’s breathing for you? No, then what are you complaining about? You’re mad because you haven’t gotten all the things you think you should but have you done all that you could be doing to get your blessings for Deuteronomy 28:1-2 says, “And if you faithfully obey the voice of the Lord your God, being careful to do all his commandments that I command you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the voice of the Lord your God.” I’m simply saying; let’s get right because death is no longer knocking at your door but he’s showing himself in, sickness has no respect of person or age and danger doesn’t care about the color of your skin. Stay prayed up by worshipping God the way you’re supposed to because it’ll be a shame to be heading in the wrong direction after the judgment.

Daily Devotional – 1/4/14 “I’m in labor!”

I’m feeling some type of way this morning. I got this stirring in my spirit that won’t leave me alone. The kind that makes me want to scream out like I’m in pain but it’s because my purpose is being made on the inside of me. I want to cry out like I’m hurting but it’s to let you know that you can’t hinder the process of God working. I want to tell somebody but I can’t explain it so you’ll have to wait until I testify. Yea, this fire I feel is God preparing my blessing until it can be birthed.

Oh, it’s like the creation of a baby in the mothers womb but this time God’s purpose for me is meeting with the expectancy He has for me to form my blessing. It’s been growing on the inside of me for some time now and I feel myself going into labor. Yea, the tears I want to cry is my water breaking, the pain I should be feeling is this praise break I want to have and the stretch marks I should have is the shouting I’m about to do. Baby, I’m in labor getting ready to birth a blessing like none other. Yea, I’m getting ready to push out my purpose, deliver my destiny, nurse my networth, feed my future and raise my reward. So, excuse me if I don’t look the same when you see me again. Forgive me if I don’t act the same when you see me out. No, don’t say I’m bougie when you call and I don’t go the same places or do the same thing because after I’ve labored, I’ll have a whole new outlook.

Daily Devotional – 1/3/14 “Don’t hide it!”

Here I am, again, trying to figure out a topic to write about because although God is speaking to me, my mind is too busy trying to focus on meaningless stuff, so I need to focus. Yea, I could be worried about this and that but why. Why should I worry over stuff today because if God saw me through yesterday surely He’ll see me through today? See, my sister and I traveled up and down the highway to Nashville on yesterday and we could have been another roadway statistic but God had other plans so why worry. I’ve come to know and realize that if I say I am a Christian, I have to also show it and act like it. So, how can I tell you to have faith in God if I don’t? How can I tell you not to worry if that’s all I’m doing? How can I tell you to trust God when I’m not even trusting in Him? I mean, I could be like some who say they got religion but what good is having religion if no one else can see it? Oh, let me drop this in your spirit and I won’t take long … You can’t speak life over folk when your mouth is filled with mess (gossip, backbiting, hating, etc.), you can’t help up those who have fallen if your hands are filled with sinful stuff (other folk’s spouses, stolen items, a knife to stab somebody in the back, etc.) and you can’t go where God wants to send you if your feet are planted in the wrong place (motels, coveting your neighbor’s house, etc.) Now, hold up, before you get this thang twisted I didn’t say you couldn’t enjoy life but none of the things I mentioned above can be done in a Godly way. You, as a saint (that a sinner who has been saved) can still have fun but don’t hide your religion doing it because the bible says in 2 Timothy 2:15, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.”

This is why, sometimes, you have to change your location because the place you’re in, now, could be the reason you haven’t been elevated. Why? Well that’s because you’ve become comfortable in your surroundings. Yea, I know it’s not all about where you stay that makes you but if you stay in the rain too long, you’ll get wet even when you wear a raincoat. So don’t hide your religion because of what you think folk will say or how they’ll treat you because if God hid His blessings every time we made a mistake, some of us would be raggedy nothings, tore up from the floor up sinners without a pot to … You get my drift! If you have to change who you are or hide the religion that has been placed on the inside of you, then you are trying to fit into a spot that won’t fit you anyway! Baby, I don’t know about you but I am not ashamed of the Holy Spirit that abides with me daily and I will share it no matter where I am because I just might be the blessing a person needs to stop the tears that were getting ready to fall. All I’m saying is, this New Year, stop losing focus on God and the purpose He’s placed over your life and don’t hide your religion because it may hinder the help you’ve been praying for!