Daily Devotional – 9/1/13 “Ushering in!”

It’s Sunday morning and I’m headed to church already in worship mode because I’ve realized that praise is the way I thank God for all He’s done. So, right now I’m ushering in (that’s showing in) the Holy Spirit! Yea, I’m ushering in healing! I’m ushering in those things in which I’ve spoken! I’m ushering in that anointing because I can feel it being rained down. I hear those chains dropping and the breath being released from those that have been patiently waiting on God and He has finally said yes! I hear the hand clapping of those who have been healed and the doctor is mystified! I can hear the shouting of those who have just been promoted and the qualifications weren’t on paper! I feel this fire in my bones that’s waiting to come out! Oh God!

I’m just thankful! Thankful because even though I don’t have the spirit of shouting, I can sing my praise. Even though I don’t have the spirit of dancing my praise, I’m devoted. Even in the midst of my wrong, God still writes my name. In the midst of my mess, God gives me a message. In the midst of my sin, God saves me. In the midst of my lies, God gives me life. In the midst of gossiping, God gives me His grace. In the midst of mistakes and misery, He gives me His mercy. In the midst of pain, pressures and problems, God gives me a praise. In the midst of my journey that’s sometimes jacked up with junk, God gives me jubilated joy. In the midst of crying, God gives me courage. In the midst of temptations, troubles, transgressions and traps; God touches me and deems me trustworthy. Yea, I’m yet thankful because you could have been headed to my funeral. You could pass me on the street begging for change, visit me in prison or rehab or see my face on a missing poster. Yet, here am I! A filthy rag that’s been dipped in God’s blood, cleaned from all my iniquities (even those from yesterday), shook out to shake off the stuff you thought would sabotage me, scars healed, brokenness mended, hope refilled, debts settled, mind regulated, tears dried, legs strengthened, hands stronger, eyes sharper and mouth renewed in order to become just who God had already made me. Oh! Look at me looking like I’m looking! A saint who sometimes sin yet repentance saves me! A person who isn’t perfect by man’s standard but I was purposely chosen and I met God’s requirements. Look at me! A turned up Christian with a testimony, testifying to tell you I’m thankful! Yea, I’m turned up; turn down for what when God never turns me down!

Daily Devotional – 8/30/13 “Man up!”

Yea, you shouted that it’s over on yesterday but do you believe it? Do you really believe it? You’re nodding and saying yes but you’re still worrying. You probably even lifted your hands with tears in your eyes but there’s still a little fear in your heart. Why? Don’t you trust God to handle what He promised He would? Then, “Oh ye of little faith, why are you so afraid? (Matthew 8:26)” You’re sleeping with the enemy yet you’re too afraid to roll over and tell them it’s over. Your overgrown son and disrespectful daughter, tell them it’s over. Your sister, that one that keeps her hands in your pocket even though she works too, tell her it’s over. You keep being used at work to do everybody’s work plus your own and you’re too scared to tell them it’s over. Baby, I told you yesterday that when you shout it’s over and you believe it; then the enemy has to flee. When you stop holding on to the stuff that’s weighing you down, you start rising. When you release the stuff that has you weighted down, you stop drowning. When you really start believing that all things are possible with God things starts to happen. Yea, you start having a little extra money, you start having a little extra energy, you start to smile more, you love more, you help more, you stop getting angry so fast, you speak to folks you don’t normally speak to, you go to worship service more, you get that promotion that you wanted, you have fewer pains in your body and you found the joy you had buried away. Yes, when YOU shout it’s over, things start to happen! Oh, I wish you’d stop being afraid to shout it’s over! You need to stand up and shout it’s over and then believe it to be. You can’t continue to go on in the situation that you’re in, so shout it’s over. You don’t have to keep facing the same hell day in and day out, so shout it’s over. That dark cloud that won’t go away, shout it’s over. The tears you keep shedding at the hands of the person who is supposed to love you, shout it’s over. Being walked over by friends, shout it’s over. That depression and suicidal thoughts, the sleepless nights, the drug addiction and alcoholism, the sleeping around and the adultery, the stealing and robbing and the pacing, the tossing and turning; SHOUT ITS OVER!

Oh, I’m claiming victory not defeat today and I am speaking life back into your dead situations. So, if you can’t shout it’s over; I am standing in the gap declaring today that you shall live and not die; you shall win and not lose; you shall dance and not doubt; you shall be healed and not sick, you shall be the lender and not the borrower, you shall be first and not last; you shall be greater than your problem! Oh, when you shout it’s over; you’re shouting that it will be and that it has to be over. Shout it’s over, let it go and then get on with your life and stop looking back. You are greater than the mess you’re in but you have to first believe it. Shout it’s over and then let it be. You can’t say it’s over and then keep going back to get it. It can be over if you allow it to be because you can only take what your hands, heart and mind will accept.

“Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 2 Corinthians 3:17”

Daily Devotional – 8/29/13 “It’s Reaping time, again!”

What does this mean? Well reap means to obtain something, especially as a consequence of previous effort or action. Now consequence means something that follows as a result. So in Lakisha’s breaking down of this thang, reap simply means to obtain something for a previous thing you did or for a previous thing you went through. Yea, see you thought all that hell you’ve been through was for nothing but now it’s reaping time. Yea, you thought all that sickness that attacked your body was for nothing but now it’s reaping time. You thought all those dark nights when you were shooting drugs in your veins was for nothing but now it’s reaping time. When you were drowning your sorrows with the alcohol, you thought it for nothing but now it’s reaping time. When you thought that heartache was too much to bear, when you thought the crying would never end and the debt would never decrease; well I’m here to tell you that it’s reaping time. Yea, cancer took your hair but now you’re getting ready to reap some new hair. Yea, that man or that woman walked off with your smile but now you’re getting ready to reap God’s joy. Yea, the repo man may have taken your car but now you’re getting ready to reap a car that will be paid for. Yea, the bank may have foreclosed on your house but you’re getting ready to reap a home that you can now afford without struggling. Yea, the drug man or the liquor store may have taken all of your money and even your family but now you’re getting ready to reap deliverance. Yea, your old church may have broken your spirit but you’re getting ready to fellowship in a place where you’re going to reap the Holy Ghost. Oh, it’s reaping time saints.

You need to stop wallowing in your situation and shout it’s over! See, when you shout it’s over and you believe it; then the enemy has to flee. When you stop holding on to the stuff that’s weighing you down, you start rising. When you release the stuff that has you weighted down, you stop drowning. When you start believing that all things are possible with God and you believe it, things starts to happen. When you empty out of all the bad stuff you then have room for some new stuff. When you remove the things that are blocking your blessings, you start to receive! Oh, I wish you’d stop being afraid to shout it’s over! The trials, the pain and heartache, the dark nights, the crying days, the depression, the suicidal thoughts, the unworthiness you feel, the hate and anger you have, the unemployment, the loneliness, the abuse, the pacing and whatever else you’re going through; I declare and decree that it’s over! It’s reaping time for God’s deliverance and salvation, for shouting and not sins, for dancing not doubting, for winning not losing, for being first not last, for being the lender not the borrower, for being healed not sick, for living not dying and for your purpose not your problems! Reap it but don’t keep it because the more you give the more God gives to you so when you are blessed be a blessing to others because God rewards those efforts! I just thought I’d share this again (from 2012) because somebody needed to know, today; that after you sow, after you’ve gone through hell, after you’ve looked the enemy in the face, after you fought, after you’ve cried you shall reap a harvest that man’s hands cannot destroy or take away!

“Don’t be misled: No one makes a fool of God. What a person plants, he will harvest. The person who plants selfishness, ignoring the needs of others—ignoring God!—harvests a crop of weeds. All he’ll have to show for his life is weeds! But the one who plants in response to God, letting God’s Spirit do the growth work in him, harvests a crop of real life, eternal life. So let’s not allow ourselves to get fatigued doing good. At the right time we will harvest a good crop if we don’t give up, or quit. Right now, therefore, every time we get the chance, let us work for the benefit of all, starting with the people closest to us in the community of faith.” (Galatians 6:7-10 The Message Bible)

Daily Devotional – 8/28/13 “Wait!”

See, after you’ve been shut down, you have to go through a period of waiting to be started back up because if you’re started back up too soon; it’ll only put you back in a position to be shut down again so just wait. Haven’t you realized by now, every time you rush you’ve forgotten stuff? Then why are you rushing? Ok, I know that you’re ready to get past the pain, you’re sick of the sickness, tired of being drowsy with debt, worn out from constantly chasing a dream that doesn’t seem like it’ll come true and fatigued from fighting in the world’s unfair fight but hold on, wait! Job 5:17 says, “Blessed is the one whom God corrects; so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty.” So, you see; this time, this situation, this circumstance, this storm, this test, this going through moment is God’s way of blessing you but you first have to be prepared to receive it. Yea, this shut down period that you’re in is for a reason and even though your eyes are probably blurry from crying and you can’t see, 1 Peter 8-11 (The Message Bible) says, “Keep a cool head. Stay alert. The Devil is poised to pounce, and would like nothing better than to catch you napping. Keep your guard up. You’re not the only ones plunged into these hard times. It’s the same with Christians all over the world. So keep a firm grip on the faith. The suffering won’t last forever. It won’t be long before this generous God who has great plans for us in Christ—eternal and glorious plans they are!—will have you put together and on your feet for good. He gets the last word; yes, he does.”

So, don’t throw in the towel just yet; use it to wipe your tears. Don’t wave your white flag of defeat yet, stick it in the ground. Don’t give up now, you still have a ways to go. Don’t lie down and die, you still have living to do. Don’t consider this the end because it’s really just the beginning. So, just wait! Go on through whatever you’re facing and wait it out. Don’t rush God because you might not be ready for the blessing at the end. Don’t rush your storm because you might not be prepared for the test afterwards. Don’t rush your answer to your prayers because you might not be ready to receive it and don’t keep knocking on that closed door because you just might not like what you see when you open it!

Daily Devotional – 8/27/13 “Shut down to start up!”

While at work this morning, my computer kept acting like it was on vacation even though I’m not. Now, as sat here waiting on it to decide to work, I was still trying to decide on what to write and then as I reached to shut it down, God spoke this in my spirit; “the same way you have to shut your computer down to make it act right, I have to sometimes shut you down in order for you to start up.” Wow! Then it donned on me, when sickness attacks your body and it has you feeling like giving up is the only option; that’s simply God shutting you down only to start you back up. When your job gives you a termination notice after you’ve dedicated years of your life, that’s simply God shutting you down to start you back up. When your best friend is now the enemy, your spouse is acting like a stranger, kids acting brand new, co-workers hating and church folk manipulating; that’s simply God shutting you down to start you back up. I know you’re asking why God needs to shut us down only to start us up, well I am glad you asked. See, sometimes we become so attached to people that we forget about praising God. We start working and worshipping gets pushed back. We start hanging out and helping is no longer an option. We get promoted and then become a problem, get sick and then start sinning, get blessed and then become a burden and get a gift from God only to give it away. This is why God has to shut us down because we start acting like we don’t want to work. You get the car you’ve been asking for and now instead of bible study on Monday you’re at happy hour. The Pastor asks you to teach Sunday school and now you think you know more than the next person. You get an increase on your check and now you feel like you can look down on the next. You get approved for the car and now you won’t even give a ride when someone calls. Well baby, let me drop this in your spirit. Just because you’re being blessed now it doesn’t mean that you can’t be shut down. Just because you have it all together, right now, it doesn’t mean you can’t be shut down. Just because you think you have all the answers, now, it doesn’t mean you can’t be shut down because even though your hands may be helping if your heart is filled with crap; your helping means nothing.

To sum this up let me say this; sometimes God has to shut us down in order to start us up because this is the only way to get our attention. When you can’t understand why it seems like your life is in chaos, why all hell is breaking loose around you, why nothing can go right, why it seems like you’re walking in circles or no matter how much you work you can’t get your head above water; that’s simply God shutting you down to start you back up. So, go on through your sickness, pain, unemployment, disappointments, being talked about/lied on, being knocked down and used because after the shutdown you’ll start back up in the Savior’s secure mode where you won’t mind shouting about God’s significance, serving the spiritually sick, saving those who are still sinking in sin, sharing the strength you now have and striving to be stronger so that you never stumble over the same situations again. Yea, sometimes God has to shut us down but that’s simply to start us back up the right way!

“Friends, when life gets really difficult, don’t jump to the conclusion that God isn’t on the job. Instead, be glad that you are in the very thick of what Christ experienced. This is a spiritual refining process, with glory just around the corner.” 1 Peter 4:12-13