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?
6 great choices for your Fall reading list!
I was inspired by a fellow blogger and authoress on yesterday to give you 6 books that you should add to your reading list this fall (if you haven’t already). With the cold weather, what better way to curl up than with your favorite beverage, blanket and book?
The Illest Na Na (Episode 1)
by Tamika Newhouse and Anna Black
The first ever drama series on eBooks is filled with sex, drama, scandals, and shocking twists that will have you on the edge of your seat. This season meet Brianna and Natalie. Best of friends but both deal with similar issues they both desire a man who isn’t actually theirs. Episode one- Meet the cast, get wrapped up in the sex, and guess the next secret as the drama unfolds as the Na Na rips havoc on these characters lives.
Heart of the Streets
by Chenae Glaze
Corinne is running from the pain of her past but she can’t seem to run fast enough. Jabari thought he had it all but even with everything, something is still missing. Follow Corinne and Jabari through the streets of Atlanta as she offers him a loyalty he’s never had and he showers her in a love she never knew existed!
Crimson Footprints II: New Beginnings
by Shewanda Pugh
An eleven-year-old boy hitchhikes 1500 miles from Bismarck to Miami; a prostitute yearns for escape from a prison of her own making, and the horrible secrets of a long-ago murder are unraveled in the shadows of one woman’s dreams. Lizzie Hammond is an ill-fated whore that believes in little, save her own ultimate demise. Kenji Tanaka is a pseudo-architect, content to hide in the shadows of his family’s overwhelming success. Neither can stand the other. But the appearance of a boy only rumored to be true helps them discover that two unlikely halves can fit together as the perfect whole. For Lizzie Hammond and Kenji Tanaka, redemption is found in the most unlikely of places: each other, even as the world around them disintegrates.
The Knife in my back 2
by Stacey Covington-Lee
After seven long years in state prison, Tameka Williams is being set free. Unfortunately, all of the anger and resentment that she’s lived with during her incarceration are being freed as well. While Brook Mansfield-Banks was not pleased with the idea of her mortal enemy being released, she was ready to defend her family and show Tameka that she was no longer the naïve pushover that she once was. But, Brook has forgotten just how deep Tameka’s wickedness runs. Now the fate of her child will once again be determined by Tameka Williams. Mia Purcell has always been the loving and supportive friend. She was there for Brook through all of her trials and tribulations. Now with her marriage falling apart, she’s the one that will need the strength of a true friend. There’s only one problem, her marital issues have a strange connection with Tameka. Mia and Tameka find themselves working together in order to uncover the truth about the men in their lives. But is this unlikely duo more than Brook can stand? She will have to dig deep and put her hatred for Tameka aside if she wants to be the friend that Mia desperately needs.
Black Magic: Book 3 of The Black Butterfly Series
by Nika Michelle
After dealing with relationship and family drama, murder accusations, near death experiences, media scrutiny, obsessed love interests, crazed ex-lovers, secret porn sites, and deep dark family secrets, what could the Beauvois sisters go through next? In Black Magic, the third installment of the Black Butterfly series, it all FINALLY hits the fan! Will fame suddenly become too much for these sassy divas? Or will they continue to fight the demons that threaten to destroy them?
The Ultimate No-No 4
by Tamika Newhouse
Nitrah Hill was finally happy, that was until she got the call that a former friend was found murdered in her hometown. Forced to return to Fort Worth she is faced with her lives past secrets, regrets, and mistakes. Leaning on her friend Jazzaray for strength they both are faced with the ultimate betrayal that suddenly starts to make everything fall into place. When Dahlia returns to town she comes to blows with her own demons. When her former love is thrown back into her life she must face the fact that her mistakes that ruined everyone s lives must be made right. That means; she must take destiny into her own hands, including facing her friends murderer.
Again, these are just 6 of the top books on my Kindle that I know you will enjoy. And as always, please pick up a copy of my book, A Secret Worth Keeping at Amazon.
Let’s support one another!
Daily Devotional – 11/20/13 “My soul needs reviving!”
When I say I’ve been feeling some type of way the last few days, it would be an understatement. I can’t seem to explain it but it’s just a feeling. I told my daughter on yesterday that I am so ready for revival tonight, at our church, because I feel like my soul needs reviving. Not because my spirit is broken but simply because I need it back to full strength. See, I am worried about my sister even though her healing is on the way (it can’t come fast enough), I’m a wife, mother, sister, friend, I’m trying to write a 2nd book while promoting the 1st one, working 2 jobs even though I keep saying I am quitting the second one (which I don’t need but I like), changes occurring on the 1st job that could be overwhelming but I’m ready; it’s just a lot. I know you’re probably asking why you won’t slow down but this is the thing; I can’t. Again, you’re probably saying; yes you can but I can’t because I have things to do and every time God wakes me up with a fresh dose of His anointing and the strength to do it, I can’t stop. My best friend said on yesterday, we can’t have you sick too and she was right. Even though my balance is off from fluid in my ears, I’m still functioning. Yea, I could have a woe is me party but why when I’m good? I am good because I am alive, blessed, healthy, still in control of all my faculties, still got my family whose alive and well, still got 2 jobs, a home, a car, friends and even a book that is still in the top 100 on amazon; so I am good however, my soul still needs reviving but that’s alright because I know where to get it from.
This is why I know and believe that God will not put more on us than we can bear. Yes, it gets hard even for the strongest man but we can do it. The average person would have given up by now but it’s not about me because if it was, I’d thrown in the towel by now. Baby, if it was all about me, I’d place junk in your joy so your journey is jumbled, mix misery in your miracles so you’ll miss your mark, test your testimony with temptations so you tarry there, weaken your witnessing so that you’re weep and be weary instead of willingly work, put pain in your praise so that you get no peace, add bitterness to your blood so that you’re bound instead of blessed, feed your fear so that you forget about faith and fail instead of flourish, be foolish instead of fierce and a follower instead of favored. Oh, if it was all about me, I’d push you when you lean instead of propping you up, I’d let you stay down instead of picking you up, I’d laugh when you ask instead of trying to help, I’d be happy about your tears instead of wiping them away, I’d dance when you grieve instead of being there for you, I’d rejoice in your storm instead of holding a umbrella over your head and I’ll shout during your battle instead of helping you fight! However, Nonetheless, Yet; I’m so glad that it’s not about me but it’s about the God in me because when I am nothing but a filthy rag God still finds me good enough to use! My soul needs reviving and I am so glad I have access to the reviver!
Daily Devotional – 11/18/13 “From prayer to praise”
After you’ve prayed, it’s now time to praise. Why? Well that’s because in between prayer and praise is preparation. No, I don’t mean in the dictionary but I’m talking spiritually. See, after you pray God is preparing to do what you’ve asked for and after it’s prepared you get it in your possession so why it’s being done, you need to praise. Yea, after you’ve prayed for healing, God prepares you for it by taking you through the pain for you to see your purpose and then afterwards you gain your possession of healing because you held on so praise in the midst. After you’ve prayed for the promotion, God prepares you for it by taking you through the interview, the waiting and finally the call comes that now possesses you with it so why not praise in the midst? After you’ve prayed for your breakthrough, praise in the midst of receiving it because it’s being prepared for you to possess if you wait. After you’ve prayed for love to come, praise like it’s already there because God has the right one for you that will be only yours. After you’ve prayed about your church home, praise God for where He is about to take you because there’s a place that is just right for you that will feed you everything you need spiritually. All I’m trying to get you to see is, after you pray praise! You don’t have to wait until the healing, praise in the midst of sickness. You don’t have to wait until the deliverance, praise while it’s on the way. You don’t have to wait until you’ve been set free, praise with the chains and then watch them fall. You don’t have to wait until you’ve been lifted, praise while you’re down on your way up. You don’t have to praise once your enemies leave, praise right there in the middle of them. You don’t have to wait until you’ve crossed the finish line, praise while you’re running. You don’t even have to wait until your battle is won, praise in the midst of your fight and some of your enemies might just join in.
“Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” Mark 11:24
Daily Devotional – 11/15/13 “What would they find?”
I wonder how many church doors would still be open if undercover agents from the DOC (Department of Christianity) were to raid them. I mean, how many churches would actually pass the raid and how many will be shut down as being a nuisance to the community? Seriously! If an undercover agent went in would they find God being glorified or gossip? If an undercover agent went in would they find willing workers or wicked witnesses? If an undercover agent went in would they hear God’s message or mess? Would they find a family of blood bought believers who will stand for one another or would they find the enemy dressed in sheep’s clothing ready to tear each other down? What would they find? Would they find deacons praying or preying? Would they find the usher opening doors or shutting them in folk’s face? Would they find the mothers teaching young girls or simply pushing them out the church? Would they find the choir members singing or sinning? Would they find the pastor teaching or simply talking? What would they find?
Every Baptist church I know has the church covenant posted on the wall yet not many teach it when is states, “When we accept Christ we do so in the presence of the Father, Son and the Holy Ghost and we enter this agreement joyfully with one another as one body.” So, why is it so easy to laugh at somebody who is going through like our time isn’t coming? Why is it so easy to wish bad over folk’s blessings like we won’t soon have a prayer request? Why do we find it easy to be a pain in the butt instead of a praying partner? Why do we find it easy to push folk down like we’ve never had to be pulled up? When will we get back to the real church? The kind of church where the pastor doesn’t have to pump and prime for praise or amen, he kind of church where you leave acting and looking like you’ve been there, the kind of church that has open doors at all time and not just on Sunday, the kind of church that doesn’t mind going outside the 4 walls to reach others and the kind of church that is based on God’s word and not the world. Where are they? Will all the real saints please stand up?
Lakisha, the Author 