Daily Devotional – 11/5/13 “There’s still time!”

I just happened to look back at my devotional for the same date on last year and would you believe it’s still relevant right now. On 11/5/12 my devotional was entitled “You still got time” and the year before on 11/5/11, it was “What’s blocking your path” and still today I ask, what’s blocking your path because you still got time! Time to live instead of acting like you’re dead, time to serve God instead of man, time to go right instead of always choosing left and time to move to get what’s yours. Isn’t that something? I mean with all the things that are happening in this crazy world from folks getting mad at being laid off to come back and shoot people, folks walking into schools and killing children, cancer is on the rise, bullying is taking over not only in schools but on jobs too, health care cost steady going up and paychecks are going down, saints are hiding and sinners are out in the open, family hating on one another and friends are becoming enemies.. I mean, what is really going on? Church has become a business for profit instead of being in the business of praise and then those who are in the church raise more hell than the ones outside the church. We want to blame the preacher for all the problems when you need to realize that your salvation depends on you. See, the pastor is responsible for teaching God’s word but you have a responsibility to study it. How can you honestly know if what the folk who stand behind the pulpit on Sunday is saying is true unless you open your bible? And how can you pass any test without first studying to take it?

Stop blaming others and please stop blaming things for you not getting what or where you need to be. Ok, so what if there is something blocking your path? Either you move it or you go around but don’t just sit there. If you know the interstate will be closed for the next hour, are you going to sit there or find an alternative route? Then why are you allowing an obstacle to stop you? Yea, I get it; it’s hard, you’re tired of trying, you’re tired of being turned down, you’re tired of getting nothing you ask for; so what? Oh, you’re going to give up but then what purpose would that serve? If whatever you’re standing in front of isn’t helping you, you may want to change what or who you’re looking at. All I am saying is; you need to stop playing with God before your time runs out. While you’re spending all your time trying to get yourself together, your time may just be too far spent before you’re able too. Baby, God doesn’t choose you to do His will because you are perfect but He chooses you with your flaws because those are perfect for the job He needs to fill. Don’t you know that if God waited on perfect folk, His will would never get done because NONE of us are perfect? Why don’t you allow God to clean you up because once He does, all the stuff folk throw at you won’t dirty your spirit although it might stain your clothes. The next moment of your life is not guaranteed, so stop waiting! Live YOUR life and stop blaming it on the obstacle instead choose a way to make it obsolete.

Daily Devotional – 11/4/13 “Wait!”

I’ve been sitting looking at the computer screen trying to figure out what to write about today. Trying to figure out another way to tell you what I always tell you. Yea, you know that things will get better, that trouble doesn’t last, that your joy will come, that things will get better if you hold on, that God hasn’t left you, that your test is only temporary, your storm has to end and all that but what do you do in the midst of waiting? What do you do in your storm? What do you hold on too while all hell is breaking loose? What do you do when you still can’t sleep after praying? What do you do when you feel like you’re all churched out? What do you do when it seems like all you’re doing is smiling to keep from crying and too tired to keep up the front that everything is alright? What do you do? Well, to be honest with you … I don’t have all the answers but I can tell you that giving up isn’t an option. Nope! Giving in isn’t available either, so what now? What will you do? (I’m asking you?) My husband asked me the other night, what do you do when you keep praying for the same thing and still haven’t gotten an answer? I told him, you stop praying and wait because if you keep asking it’s like you don’t believe you’ll get whatever it is you ask for. See, many times we keep going to God with the same prayer request but how do you feel when you keep getting the same email or voicemail from the same person asking you the exact same thing every time? This is the way God feels (I suspect). God heard you the first time, so wait. Wait until He answers for 1 John 5:14-15 says, “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And since we know he hears us when we make our requests, we also know that he will give us what we ask for.” So, just wait. Oh, you may be facing something terrible now and you have a hard time understanding why you have to go through it but why not you? Are you too good to not go through trouble? Are you anymore worthy that you don’t have to go through hell when Jesus did? Baby, you haven’t faced nothing compared to the torment He endured for us, so just wait. Wait on your answer. Wait on your deliverance. Wait on your breakthrough. Wait on your promotion, the answer to your loan request, the healing you so desperately need or whatever it is you’ve asked for. Stop rushing God and wait. However, while you’re waiting pay attention and take notes because you may be missing the real reason you’re going through the situation you’re in. I’ve learned that no matter what you’re facing; there is a reason for it and obviously God deemed you worthy enough for this test because He knew you’d studied enough to pass it. So don’t fail it now that it’s almost over. Yea, you may be tired and can barely hang on or in there but just wait. Your pay off is right around the corner. Don’t miss it turning back, giving up, letting go or giving in. Wait!

Daily Devotional – 11/1/13 “Resist the devil!”

You do know that you can resist the devil, right? The bible says in Ephesians 6:11, “Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil,” because the fight against the devil isn’t physical but it’s spiritual. See, the devil uses the anger you have built up on the inside of you to gain access to your home. He uses that bitterness you have against men to get you to attack and run off everyone who comes within your vicinity. He even uses the little taste of jealousy you have for your brother to start a fight at every dinner you attend. Why? Well, because you’ve given the devil a foothold to stand in. How else did he get in? You sit around and play his game every time you get drunk and drive and then you have the nerve to get mad at God when you wind up in jail. God didn’t do and if the truth shall be told, the devil didn’t either; you did. The devil only used what you gave him and multiplied it. So, when will you take responsibility? When will you grow up? When will you get over it? How else can you fight against a spiritual attacker if you aren’t strong enough for the battle? This is why Ephesians 6:13 says again, “Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm.” Resist the devil and he has no choice but to flee because it’s at that point he has no place to reside. Haven’t you realized that with all that mess you have on the inside of you the devil has made himself at home, in your home? Yea, he has a favorite spot on the couch right beside you and he is even sleeping between you and your spouse. When will you give him his eviction papers?

Yea, it’s easy to walk away but whoever you constantly walk away from may not be there when you get back. Yea, it’s easy to give up but what happens when there is nothing else to try? Yea, it’s easy to throw in the towel but then what will you have accomplished? The devil can surely make it look easy when you walk away but then what? Why not fight as hard for the things or people you need like you fight for the things you think you want because I’ve learned in my 36 years of living that anything worth having is worth fighting for because it means it’s mine. Stop giving up on folks because they’ve made a mistake, forgive. Stop giving up on yourself because a door has been shut in your face, shout because it wasn’t yours and then move to the next one. Stop giving in when folk talk about you but rejoice in the fact they know your name. Stop dwelling on the mistakes you made and learn from them which makes you wiser. Resist the devil and all of the folks he has doing his dirty work because they’ll soon leave you alone. Submit yourself to God, believe that He will do exactly what He said and resist the devil and he will, he has too, he shall, flee!

Daily Devotional – 10/31/13 “Stop playing with the devil! “

You got the nerve to act like you don’t know how the devil got in your house when you were the one who brought him in. You claim you don’t know why he’s so comfortable in your house when you’ve been the one that made him feel welcome. Yea, you’re trying to figure out why he keeps playing games with you, well maybe because you keep playing with him. You do know the devil isn’t your friend, right? Oh, he might make that thang look good but you’re paying a price. He lets you think the grass is green until you jump the fence and find out it was just the lens you were looking through. He’ll let you think that man or woman is the one you need until you leave the one you got at home only to find out they were the worst you could find. Yea, he’ll make you think you’re eating something sweet until you bite into it and realize it’s sour but you trusted him when you knew good and well, he was the enemy and if he’s shown his true self before chances are he hasn’t changed. What makes you think the devil would do right by you if he betrayed God? Doesn’t your bible say in 1 Peter 5:8, “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour?” Then why are you closing your eyes around him? Ephesians 4:27 says, “And do not give the devil an opportunity,” yet you still allow him to ride.

Yea, you know anger gives the devil a foothold to stand yet you still hold on to stuff that happened years ago. You’d rather steal when Ephesians 4:28 says, “If you are a thief, quit stealing. Instead, use your hands for good hard work, and then give generously to others in need.” You’d rather lie, gossip, belittle others, chastise and judge those who are trying to do good when Ephesians 4:29 says, “Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.” And you’d rather hinder the Holy Spirit when you sit on your praise, mute your testimony and abandon your mission to keep others from talking about because they devil keeps whispering in your ear that folks will laugh when Ephesians 4:30 says, “And do not bring sorrow to God’s Holy Spirit by the way you live. Remember, he has identified you as his own, guaranteeing that you will be saved on the day of redemption.” When will you stop playing with the devil? When will you show him the door and mean it? When will you finally realize you have nothing in common? Stop wallowing in pity because pity is where the devil swims. Stop with the anger, revenge seeking, tearing down of others and being bitter because all these things are requirements for his team and he doesn’t play fair. I mean, my bible tells me in James 4:7, “Resist the devil and he will flee.” What does yours say?