Daily Devotional – 11/26/13 “Hold your peace …”

Yea, I know that sometimes this is hard to do but what’s the sense in shooting off when your emotions are on overload? Don’t you know when you’re mad you say some stuff that you really don’t mean? Well, actually you say stuff that you mean but you may say it in the wrong way and at the wrong time which is why you should cool off and keep your peace. The bible says in James 1:26, “If you claim to be religious but don’t control your tongue, you are fooling yourself, and your religion is worthless.” Besides, why are you trying to fight a battle you aren’t prepared to win anyway? Didn’t God tell you that He would fight for you? Well, my bible says in Exodus 14:14, “The LORD shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.” Oh, but you got the nerve to stand up and argue with your parents when God say respect your mother and father. You wondering why no one is asking you to pray for them but aren’t you the one that keeps saying, “Folk is going to make me lose my religion?” You can’t get promoted because you’ve cursed out all the managers and you’re not asked to lead nothing in church because you’ll act a plum fool there too yet you’re the one complaining. Baby, hold your peace. What are you fighting for anyway? The 3 Hebrew boys didn’t fight and God showed up for them in the midst of a fire. Daniel didn’t fight yet God shut the lion’s jaw. The woman with the issue of blood didn’t fight against those who couldn’t help her yet she was healed. The blind man didn’t fight those who had cast him aside yet his sight was restored.

Oh, but you fight with the children and you’re the adult. You fight with your spouse after you’ve gone looking through their stuff. You fight with folk on the job because you can’t hold your tongue. You fight with family because you’re always in someone’s business. You fight more than you love simply because you can’t hold your peace when Psalm 34:13 says, “keep your tongue from evil and your lips from telling lies.” If you can’t hold your peace then you need to read and repeat Psalm 141:3 that says “Set a guard over my mouth, LORD; keep watch over the door of my lips,” because Proverbs 21:23 says, “Whoever keeps his mouth and his tongue keeps himself out of trouble.” Hold your peace and you keep peace. Holding your peace gives you time to ponder your problem preventing you from proceeding without patience that can provoke a punishment you’re not ready to pursue. So hold your peace and pray instead!

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Daily Devotional – 11/25/13 “In all things …”

The bible says in 1 Thessalonians 5:18, “Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus,” but I asked the question; what if sin is involved? Do you still thank God? Do you thank Him that He allowed you to come out of the sin so that you are now able to repent or do you not thank Him because you are in something that you shouldn’t be in? Some may say that God gave us repentance so He must have known we would sin but does that make it right? Just because there is a liquor store on every corner, does it give you the right to drink, get drunk and then drive? I’m simply asking. Should you give thanks while you are thinking about sinning, in the midst of sin or coming out of it? The bible does say, be thankful in every circumstance; right? So, I asked the question again and it was said to me (by someone I think is knowledgeable and whose opinion I welcome) that “you should give thanks for the ability to understand and acknowledge that you have sinned as well as give thanks to God for allowing you another opportunity to correct the situation where sin arises in your life. So I would say yes it can be appropriate to give thanks in that situation however, not thanking God for allowing one to enjoy one’s sin…”

But why give thanks? That’s simple; because you have the chance to do so. See, nothing happens without God knowing because not even the devil can get close to you without prior approval from your Father, so give thanks that He deemed you worthy enough to be chosen. Now, hold on, I am not speaking on sin but I am speaking on the storms, circumstances, situations and trying times that we often face. No, sin happens because we allow it to happen because we live in fleshly body but read the above answer again because even though we don’t thank God for enjoying the sin, we thank Him for knowing enough to repent for it. So, give thanks for the going in, going through and the coming out. Give thanks for the downs and the ups. Give thanks for the yes and the no. Give thanks for the well and sick days. Give thanks for the falling down and the get ups. Give thanks for the mistakes and then the ability to recognize them. In other words, “always give thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ (Ephesians 5:20).”

Daily Devotional – 11/22/13 “Clean it up!”

One of my fellow bloggers recently re-blogged one of my devotionals from a few years ago entitled, “Why are you crying over spilled milk?” and I just thought I’d share a portion of it today for someone who is crying over the mess you should have cleaned up a long time ago. After hearing, “Don’t cry over spilled milk.” for as long as I can remember, I now know that it’s not actually referring to milk but it’s the things that have happened or happening that you have no control over.

Let me explain. You’ve been married for ten (10) years to your high school sweetheart. You have the house, cars, 2 kids, a dog and all seems to be right in your world. Your husband is the provider, you all attend church every Sunday as a family and he is a deacon while you sing in the choir. You know that God has ordained your household, so you aren’t worried. Then one day your husband comes home early from work and he wants to talk because he’s leaving you for somebody else that makes him happier. He doesn’t want to discuss it because his mind is made up, so he packs his bags and leave. He leaves you at the table devastated because your world has been turned upside down. So, what now? Do you retreat to your bed to cry for 2 weeks straight or do you fall down on your knees asking God to strengthen you, keep your mind, wipe your tears and show you the way? Yea, you are probably wondering what you could have done to make him stay but I’m here to tell you that no matter what you did or didn’t do, this was a circumstance you had no control over, so why are you crying over the spilled milk? Please note, this may not be your situation but you get what I’m saying. Stop crying over things you can’t control. Whatever happened has happened so what you need to do is, pick up the empty carton (you), wipe up the spilled milk (tears) and refill your carton (with God’s word) and move on! If they can walk away from you so easily without a second look, they weren’t yours to begin with and maybe, just maybe, they were standing in the way of the real blessing God has for you! Be thankful for what you do have and not miserable over what is gone and watch God enlarge your territory. And I know without a shadow of a doubt that God won’t bring you to anything that he won’t see you through.

If you are questioning God, your milk is spilled. Wipe it up and refill your carton with Ecclesiastes 3:1 that says “For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven.” And if you think that you are the only one facing problems, your milk is spilled. Wipe it up and refill your carton with 2 Corinthians 4:17 that say “For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever!”

Daily Devotional – 11/21/13 “Surrounded by your enemies!”

Have you ever wondered why you keep being surrounded by your enemies? Are you still trying to figure out why every time you sit down to eat you’re surrounded by your haters or why they keep showing up on your job? Well it’s quite simple. It’s because you’re about to be blessed. Don’t believe me? Then I suggest you grab your bible, go to the internet on your phone or pull up Google on your computer and look at Psalm 23:5 which clearly state, “You prepare a table before me, even in the presence of my enemies.” So, why are you worried about your haters, enemies, gossipers and back stabbers? Yea, I know they have you surrounded and it’s hard to move, you can barely turn around without bumping shoulders and you can’t even see a way through but my bible tells me in Psalm 138:7, “Though I am surrounded by troubles, you will protect me from the anger of my enemies. You reach out your hand, and the power of your right hand saves me.” Yea, they may be standing around your table trying to see what you got, so what? For, again, my bible tells me in Proverbs 25:21, “If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat; if he is thirsty, give him water to drink.” Oh, I know you’re wondering why God would want you to be nice to someone who wants to see harm come your way, be kind to someone who is trying to make you stumble every time you pass them by, be thoughtful to someone who only thinks mean things about you but it’s because, “In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head, and the LORD will reward you (Proverbs 25:22).” See, when you are nice to your enemies, it makes them burning mad that they didn’t get you. Oh, when you’re generous enough to pull out a chair to offer them a seat at your table, a plate to eat from your feast and even a cup of water to wash it down, it makes them hot with anger that they didn’t win this time either. Yea, when you do your part, your enemy doesn’t win. When you do what you are supposed to do, your haters can’t prosper. When you abide by God’s word, He’ll abide in you and that’s all the protection you need. Isn’t that enough to shout about?