Yea, look at you; looking like you’re looking. See, folk could see the stains from the tears you cried all night but they don’t because God woke you up this morning, in your right mind so that you could get yourself together so instead they see your smile. Yea, folks could see you struggling because you’re tired from pacing all night but God gave you the strength to shake it off and instead they see your joy. Folk could see the pain in your heart from it being broken by that so called love, from being talked about by family, from being misused by coworkers and hurt by church folk but God works on the inside of you every day to mend what men breaks so instead we see the love you have for others. Oh, look at you looking like you looking! Yes, folks could see the scars from being stabbed in the back from folks who promised to do you no harm, they could see the scars on your knees from the constant prayer you have to do to maintain, they could see the scars on the front on you from being drug to hell and back on your good day, they could see the marks on your shoulders from carrying the weight of the world or they could see the scars on your feet from standing on them for 12 hours trying to provide for your family; however, but, nonetheless, God picks you up every time you get knocked down, dusts you off and stands you back up right so that all folks see is the God in you that allows you to continue to go on. Yea, look at cha! Chile, God got you in this thang and if He wanted to take you out of it, He would have by now so you go ahead and look like you looking because it could be worse. You could look like the pain you feel, you could look like your past mistakes, you could look like those names they call you, you could look like the nobody folk said you’d be, you could look like the nothing folk said you’d do in life, you could look like that statistic society has deemed you, you could look like that crack that should have taken your life, you could look like all the mess you’ve encountered BUT YOU DON’T! Because God has you looking like you’re looking and it looks pretty good to me!
Daily Devotional – 6/5/13 “Please God!”
Stop trying to please folk! I can promise you, this day, that there will always be someone talking about the wrong you’re doing and someone talking about the right. There will be someone talking about you if you lose weight and someone talking about you gaining. There will be somebody talking about the man you’re dating and then they’ll turn around and talk about you when you proudly proclaim you’re single. Yea, folks will smile in your face acting like they’re happy for you when all along they’ve been wishing for your downfall. So, why are you are trying to please them? Don’t you know the bible says in Isaiah 2:22, “Don’t put your trust in mere humans. They are as frail as breath. What good are they?” When Jesus says in Isaiah 51:12; “I, yes, I am the one who comforts you. So why are you afraid of mere humans, who wither like the grass and disappear?” Oh, but when you please God; there isn’t anything the haters can do to stop your elevation. When you please God, let them talk because the more they talk; the more your territory is enlarged. When you please God, your enemies are used as your step ladder to raise you higher. When you please God, the grave they dug for you, will be used for their demise. When you please God, that knife they were trying to stab in your back will be too dull to even cut skin. When you please God, that hell they’re wishing over your life will be turned around for them. Yea, when you please God and not man! This is why 1 John 3:22 says, “And whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him.” I’ve shared this a few times before but again it fits …
While you’re busy trying to please folk, somebody you know, that’s probably close to you, doesn’t think you deserve the job you have but look at God. Somebody you know is still trying to figure out how you got approved for the car you drive but look at God working. Somebody is wondering how you made it through cancer, survived that stroke, and recovered from that heart attack, drug or alcohol abuse with the life you lived when others died but look at God working this. Somebody is questioning how you manage to still have money left over from paycheck to paycheck but look at God working this thang! Somebody is even trying to see how God could have picked somebody like you, who use to be on drugs, couldn’t cope without an alcoholic beverage, could out dance anybody in the night clubs, didn’t mind putting your hands and mouth on folk when they stepped out of line, didn’t care what folk thought about your clothes or hair, would sleep with every man or woman who would lie flat or do some strange thangs for a little change; yet He did and He cleaned you up, erased your past, blotted out your transgressions and continues to forgive your sins and now you’re ministering His word but LOOK AT GOD WORKING THIS THANG OUT! Excuse me while I sweep around my front door. Someone is trying to figure out how God can take a girl who was raised in the ghetto by a single mom with 3 brothers and 3 sisters, graduated from a North Memphis School, deemed another statistic by the world’s standard, not fitting to live and not ready to die; yet He snatched me from the pits of hell, dipped me in His blood, forgave me of my sins, cleaned me up and gave me a new heart, gifted me for His ministry and said He would allow this same gift to open doors for me but LOOK AT GOD WORKING THIS THANG OUT FOR ME! Stop trying to please them because they can’t stamp your ticket to Heaven and stop trying to please “they” because they can’t send you to hell. Please God because when you do, He’ll reward your efforts.
Daily Devotional – 6/4/13 “This, then, is how you should pray!”
Now, let me point this out … Everyone is entitled to pray however you’re comfortable with, I’m simply expanding on the word which is found in Matthew 6:9-13. Again, this is only my interpretation or from my point of view. With that being said, the question is now asked “How is the Lord’s Prayer all that I need?” Well, I’m glad you asked. Pray, then, in this way:
“Our Father who is in heaven (This is clarifying who you are calling upon to hear your plea because you’re not just calling on any father but you’re requesting the help of the Father in Heaven who is able to see about you in the midst of your trying times; one who can pick you up, dust you off, dry your tears and make your scars be removed and He doesn’t even have to be in the room.) Hallowed be your name (This is letting your Father know that to you His name is sweet among your lips, Holy, Blessed, Respected, Sacred and Sanctified.) Your kingdom come (Requesting for God to send His kingdom down from Heaven because living down here is Hell for I’ve read that in His kingdom there is no dying only living, there is no crying only joy, there is no day of the week because every day is like Sunday, there is no sickness only healing and there is no sorrow only singing, there is no misery only His mercy and there is no I but us!) Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven (You’re asking for God’s will to be done down here because it’s already done up there. God’s will? It’s to acknowledge Him and not be ashamed, love thy brothers & sisters, keep His commandments, to lean not to your understanding but to trust His, to walk right so that your light of God shall shine, to not conform to this mean old world, to study His word and to pull off your past and step into your present.) Give us this day our daily bread (Now, this isn’t physical bread but this is you asking God to feed you on this day with the nourishment you need to go on, for the strength you need to carry your burdens through the storm when it seems like it won’t end, for the energy to go on when it seems like you’re walking alone, for hope when yours seem to be evaporating and for patience when the pain is getting to be too much.) And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors (This isn’t financial debts but this is you asking God to forgive you for the sins that you’ve committed after you’ve forgiven those who sin against you. See, you can’t ask God to forgive you for the hate you’ve had against daddy for leaving when you haven’t forgiven him for leaving. Yea, you have to forgive and forget because if you don’t you still hold on to those feelings every time you think about it. Forgive debts in order for your debt to be forgiven.) And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil (Pause … Temptations come because of our flesh however 1 Corinthians 10:13 says, “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.” So, this part of the prayer is praying for your flesh to be strengthened so that you can resist and not led to temptations and delivered from the evil that may have you surrounded. See, you will be tempted because you live in a fleshly body but when you pray to not be led into temptation, God will open your eyes to see evil before it even reaches you. That’s called seeing things through you spiritual eyes because your natural eyes may see things differently.) For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. (For you have dominion, you have all the authority and you have the honor to make this so continually, constantly and always. Amen (expressing agreement to the things you’ve just requested in prayer).” This may not be enough for you but it surely will do!
Daily Devotional – 6/3/13 “Stuck and you don’t even know it!”
My uncle spoke on this topic on yesterday and you know it stayed with me because I was trying to figure out how I can be stuck and not know it but then I started listening to him and reading. He came from Matthew 6:5-7;14 and this really got me because this particular scripture is talking about prayer and I thought again, how I can be stuck and not know it if I’m praying? So, I kept on reading and me and my Holy Spirit got excited. See, many times we are stuck in our situations because we aren’t praying right. Yea, we get all caught up in our feelings and start rambling on about this and mumbling about that but this isn’t how we should pray. We think we are supposed to be kneeled down at the altar or on the side of our bed with our hands clasped together, head bent and eyes closed but that isn’t right either. I can remember when I lived with my grandparents that every night my grandfather would get ready for bed (real early) and after coming from his bathroom he would go into their room and close the door and before he got in the bed, each night, he would kneel and say his prayers. I know I said that this isn’t right but his routine was and I’ll tell you why. Matthew 6:6 says, “But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” See! The word says that you don’t need an audience to pray, you don’t need a building that has been deemed “church”, you don’t need deacons nor an altar but what you need is a place to yourself. Oh, and remember when I said you get caught all up in your feelings? Yea, Matthew 6:7-8 says, “And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.” God doesn’t need you to repeat what you’re going through, He knows; all He needs is for you to recognize the mess you’re in and then acknowledge that you need His help. He gave you exactly what to say that’ll cover everything and it’s called “The Lord’s Prayer” and it’s all you need when you seek God’s guidance. (I’ll break it down tomorrow). All I need you to get out of this devotional today is, you’re stuck in the mess you’re in and you don’t even know it because you aren’t reaching God the right way. Pray to Him and not to those nosey, messy folk around you who’s listening trying to block your blessing. Stop waiting until Sunday morning because the next minute of your life isn’t promised. Stop waiting because you think you aren’t praying right because prayer is simply having a conversation with your Father. Get you a place to pray where you won’t be bothered. You don’t need an hour because all it takes is a few minutes for you to reach the prayer line and then let God handle it.
Daily Devotional – 5/31/13 “Why, though?”
You’re still questioning God? You still doubt His infinite power, His wisdom and His promises to you? Is it because you can’t see them? Well, you don’t question the air and you don’t see it; yet you breathe it every day. You don’t question the cook at the restaurant although you eat the food they cook. You don’t question that chair you’re sitting in, yet you trust it to hold you. You don’t question the sun, even though it’s bad for you, yet you enjoy it while it’s out. So, why do you question God? Didn’t you read Proverbs 3:5-6 that says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths?” Doesn’t He show up right when you need Him the most? Doesn’t He make a way when all you see is a dead end? Doesn’t He heal your body after the doctors have given up? Isn’t He the one listening to you cry when folks do you wrong, when they tell you no or when they turn their back on you? Doesn’t He still forgive us even after we’ve sinned for the same thing we promised Him we wouldn’t do anymore? Yet, you’re still questioning, doubting and questioning some more. God says go and you still standing asking why. God says move and you’re still questioning how many steps to take. God is telling you to help somebody and you’re still asking Him why that person. God is telling you to step out and trust Him and you’re still standing at the back because you’re worried about failing but haven’t you read what it says in Hebrews 11:6, “And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him?” Then why are you still there? You don’t have to keep wondering about why this is happening to you, why you haven’t done this or that, moved here or there, gone farther or given up this; it might be because you’re aren’t listening. Stop listening to your girlfriend who keeps telling you to leave your husband because she might just have her eye on him. Stop listening to your boys who keep telling you to ignore her call because she might just have the answer you need. Stop listening to your co-worker who keeps saying that medicine won’t work; just because it didn’t for her it might just heal you. Stop listening to “they” who say that diet won’t work because it might just be the help you need. And stop listening to those folk who keep talking about your pastor because baby they are after the messenger and you should be after the message. To sum this up, you need to listen to God and stop questioning Him. Obviously He has you where you are for a reason, so trust Him and then listen for your assignment when it’s time to move. How will you know its God speaking? Well, John 8:47 say, “Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.” So, make sure your heart is right, your mind is made up, your feet are walking in the right places, your hands are dipping in the right bowl and your spirit is hooked up to the right spirit and you’ll know.
Lakisha, the Author 