Daily Devotional – 9/16/13 “Be ready for your flight”

On Saturday, I had the chance to hear the new Pastor of our home church speak. Unfortunately, it was at the funeral of one of the members but he said something that stuck with me. His particular scripture came from 2 Timothy 4:6-8 which says, “For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.” See, a eulogy isn’t about the person who has died but it is about those of us who are still alive because we all have to die in this life in order to live again. Oh but in order to get to the living again part, you have to be ready for your flight. Yea; you have to already have your ticket, your affairs in order and then you have to be on time to catch it. I know you’re wondering how you do this but let me tell you.

First, you have to confess your belief in God, believe with your heart that He is who He say He is, be baptized and then willingly work for Him (this is getting prepared to pick up your ticket). Then you have to live a life that’s pleasing to God by running your race yet never losing faith even when you can’t see the finish line (this is going to get your ticket). Then, as you run your race and you come upon the obstacles that slow you down, those pits that knock you down, enemies who are standing by wishing you’d fail, friends who hand you hateraide in a water cup and family that won’t show up because they are secretly jealous; yet you keep running (that’s making it to the ticket counter). Then when it feels like your legs can no longer carry you but you still run, your body is about to give out on you but you still hang in there, it feels like you have no more breath in your lungs but you continue to breath and you’re stumbling but not quitting (that’s paying for your ticket). And then when it’s all over with, when you’ve lived a life that gives the dash between your birth date and death date purpose and when you’ve done all that you know you can do; you finally get your ticket with your name spelled out and stamped across it “Paid in Full” and destination, “Home.” Oh, when you’ve asked for forgiveness for the sins you’ve committed and then stop committing those same sins; you’re preparing for your flight. When you praise God in the midst of your pain, sickness or disease, being talked about, smile when you’re being chastised for your beliefs, shout even when you’re being picked on because of your gifts and laughed at because of your anointing; you’re preparing for your flight. When you’ve forgiven and forgotten about the things that hurt you; you’re preparing for your flight. When you never lose faith, you’re preparing for your flight. When you can boldly say, talk about me as much as you please because the more you talk, the more I’ll bend my knees; you’re preparing for your flight. Don’t get caught up at security because you haven’t cleaned the mess out your pockets. Don’t get caught up at the ticket counter because your ticket can’t be found and don’t get left behind because you got too much weight on your shoulders to board the flight. Be ready for your flight when the time comes.

“However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me–the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace. Acts 20:24”

Daily Devotional – 9/13/13 “Faith, blind faith!”

Have you ever tried walking with your eyes closed or ever imagined how your life would be if you could no longer see? I would think you’d probably bump into things, walk into doors or walls or cause all kinds of chaos until you got used to it, right? Well, being and living as a Christian is just like this. The only difference is, we walk around with our eyes open and yet we still bump into stuff like other folk’s folk, walk into sin like lying and stealing and break stuff like commandments. However, God has given us faith, this blind faith that carries us through all of it. It carries us through storms, tests, death, being lied and cheated on, being looked over and even sickness. This faith, this blind faith covers us no matter where we are and it guides us even when we don’t look where we are going because 2 Corinthians 5:7 states, “For we walk by faith, not by sight.” See, on this journey we will encounter all kinds of obstacles while we walk. Some obstacles we will see and some we won’t; we will encounter all kinds of enemies, some we know and some we don’t but no matter what it is we have to walk as though whatever it is, God has already worked it out. Why? Well because He has. See, God tells us in Jeremiah 1:5, “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.” Yea, God already knows the paths that we’ll walk because He has ordained them and He knows what we can bear because he made us! This is why we have to walk like nothing can stop us. Oh, it’ll slow you down but it cannot stop you unless you allow it. You have to walk towards the promise that God has made like you see it printed in the sky and we have to walk like there are no bumps in the road, no curves to the street, no hill to climb and no darkness ahead because 2 Corinthians 4:18 says, “So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”

When you work on your job, you work on the unseen promise of a check in 2 weeks because you have faith that’ll it be deposited at 12am. When you drive your car, you drive with the unseen hope that it will make it to your destination because you have faith in the money you’ve spent. When you get up in the morning, you stand without knowing if your legs will hold you up yet you do with faith that they will. When you sit down in a chair, you sit without knowing if it will stand but you have faith that it will. Isn’t this the same kind of faith you should have in God who has already promised you He’d be there? Don’t you walk through the house at night with the unseen faith you won’t stump your toe on the end of the couch or trip over something the kids have left lying out? Don’t you put your trust in that person you just met who is smiling in your face? Then why not trust the only Man that has never lied, broken a promise or ignored your call? Unlike man, God never fails yet you are quick to doubt Him. Faith is your belief that God exists. Faith is your belief that He’ll never fail. Faith is your belief that He’s always there because faith is “the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1).”

“Mark 11:22-24, And Jesus answered them, “Have faith in God. Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”

Daily Devotional – 9/12/13 “Hell now but Heaven’s reward!”

Have you ever wondered why your Christian walk is so much harder than your worldly one? Are you wondering if things would be better if you just went back to your old ways? Well, I am here to tell you no because even though things seemed easy, in the world, you were paying a cost for them. Yea, you were sleeping with someone else’s husband who was paying your bills until you went to the doctor to find out you have something you can’t get rid of (STD or baby) – you paid the cost. Yea, you were a big drug dealer with money in your pocket, cars in the driveway, expensive clothes and shoes but then you get caught up and now you’re in prison – you paid the cost. See, nothing is free and if it seems too good to be true, it may just be. Oh but when you decide to let God in and you read the bible, He lets you know up front that this journey won’t be easy. However, He tells you in Isaiah 45:2, “I will go before you and will level the mountains; I will break down gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron.”

Yea, with God in front of you, your obstacles won’t seem as bad and your past won’t matter. Yea, you may stumble over some rocks from the leveling of the mountains, but your wounds, they’ll heal. You may encounter scrap metal in your skin from the breaking down of the gates, but they’ll heal. You may even get knocked down a time or three but that won’t matter as long as you get up. You may be talked about along the way but that doesn’t matter as long as you don’t answer to the names you are called. Oh, you don’t have to worry about those folks who close the door in your face because they can’t stop what God has already set in motion because there is nothing, absolutely nothing that man can do to stop God’s anointing. I know that when you do right, the enemy is busier but it doesn’t mean that God is not there for Psalm 138:7 say, “Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve my life; you stretch out your hand against the anger of my foes, with your right hand you save me.” See, with God as your protector, danger may come but it won’t take you out because my bible tells me in Psalm 20:6 “Now I know that the LORD saves his anointed; he answers him from his holy heaven with the saving power of his right hand.” So when folk put their mouth on you let them talk because God got it covered for Psalm 29:11 say “The LORD gives strength to his people; the LORD blesses his people with peace.” I don’t know about you but there’s something about the peace of God that won’t allow you to shed a tear even when you’re hurting, remain calm in a situation that used to make you act a fool, give you understanding at a time you thought you couldn’t do it, allow you to sleep when all hell is breaking loose around you and allow you to smile when you should be crying and living when you should be dying. God just works that way! So even when it seems like the world is closing in on you, hold on! You may be going through hell now and you may even be suffering but heaven is worth it.

Romans 8:18 says “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.”

Daily Devotional – 9/10/13 “It may be expired!”

You’re sitting there wondering why something or someone won’t work right; well it or they may just be expired. Yea, you’re wondering why you get so full of hell when you walk into the job; well your time there may have expired. You’re trying to figure out why the relationship is no longer working, well it maybe expired. Now, let me explain something here. If your marriage was built correctly from the beginning on God’s foundation and it’s fixable, fix it. Oh, but if you got that man from his wife’s bed or that woman from her man’s arm; she or he isn’t yours anyway. How can you make something work with someone who doesn’t belong to you? Don’t you know the bible says in Proverbs 18:22, “He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the Lord?” Read it again because it says the man FINDS his wife and not the other way around. Stop looking and let him find you. Stop trying to make things work or stuff taste better when it’s past their expiration date. Do you drink spoiled milk, eat molded bread or sit in a chair you know can’t hold you? Oh, I know you may ride on tires that should have been thrown out a long time ago but every time you do, you put your life and the life of those riding with you in danger. Well, it’s the same way with holding on to things that have expired.

If your church home isn’t feeding your spiritual need, your time there has expired. If your car keeps sucking all the money out of your pocket, your time together has expired. If the medicine you’re taking is no longer helping your ailment, it’s time has expired. If all you do is cry and complain, your hope has expired. If you constantly snoop in other people’s business or search through other folk’s phone, your trust in them has expired. If you have to question God, blame Him for your situation, turn your back on Him or constantly complain; your trust in Him has expired. If you have to pace the floor when you can’t fix the problem, weep in the middle of your woes, place pity where praise should be and worry over small things; your faith has expired. So, what will you do? Will you throw out all the things that have expired or will you stand up and renew your hope, faith and trust in the Master who has never steered you wrong? Will you clean out all the expired mess in your home or will you leave it there to stink up the place? everything has an expiration date. If you don’t believe me then turn your bible to Ecclesiastes 3 and read the following verses. Verse 2 says, “A time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot,” which means people have an expiration date; it’s called dying and even things that are planted because when they expire, they are uprooted from the ground. Heartache, yes it has an expiration date; it’s called getting over it which is why verse 4 says, “A time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance.” Verses 5-8 goes on to say, “a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.” So you see, all things have an expiration date. Bad relationships do, it’s called moving on. Sickness has one, it’s called healing. Sorrow has one, it is called joy. Suffering even has one too, it’s called peace.

“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.” Ecclesiastes 3:1″

Daily Devotional – 9/9/13 “Even he has a praise!”

The song by Tasha Cobbs, “Break Every Chain,” has been in my head since worship service on yesterday. No, it wasn’t the first time I’ve heard the song because I’ve always liked it but on last night my sister sent me a video of my nephew singing a part of the song and it piqued my interest. Why? Well, firstly because he is 4 and secondly because he kept singing “I hear the chains falling,” and he sung it like he knew exactly what he was singing about and who he was singing too. How can he when he’s only 4? How can he know anything about that song? Yea, I know you might say it’s because he heard the choir sing it on yesterday but what if it isn’t just that? See, Proverbs 20:11 says, “Even a child makes himself known by his acts, by whether his conduct is pure and upright,” so isn’t he making his reasons known? Or maybe he wasn’t singing for himself but for those around him. He could have been singing to God to break the chain of pain that he sees my sister dealing with. He could be singing to God to break the chain of stress he sees my mom dealing with. He could be singing to God to break the chains that we don’t even see yet. Yea, too many times we take for granted the things children see and what they pick up on. Why can’t he get his praise on for God at the age of 4? Why can’t his praise reach God’s ears? Why can’t his prayers move mountains or ask for healing? Didn’t Jesus say in Matthew 19:14, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these?”

I get excited when I see small children or children of any age paying attention during worship service because it means they are watching and listening. I love to hear my nephew sing the songs we’ve sang at worship service or mimic my uncle’s preaching once he gets home because it means he’s learning. Will he always be like this? Probably not but the bible says in Proverbs 22:6, “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.” Yea, I hear the chains falling and they are the chains of generational curses, peer pressure, gangs, stereotypes, judgment, bullying, drug abuse, sickness & diseases, teenage pregnancies, molestation, abuse, school dropouts, giving up, rape, social media and anything else that is attacking our children. I hear the chains falling of our children consistently dying by violence or at the hands of parents who are supposed to protect them. I hear the chains falling and I will continue to pray for them to fall in order to give more of our children a praise. Yes, even he has a praise at the age of 4 and if more adults would, couldn’t you imagine how much better things would be? Yes, even he has a praise!