Lakisha, the Author

Daily Devotional – 5/7/13 “Get a squirrel like mentality!”

This time last year, this was the topic of my devotional and as I sat here thinking about what to write; this seemed to fit. Why, because we have so many people giving up and giving in when this isn’t how God equipped up. Like I shared on yesterday, Galatians 6:9 says, “So we must not get tired of doing good, for we will reap at the proper time if we don’t give up.” See, when a squirrel climbs it doesn’t matter if rain is falling, if the wind is blowing or even if there are branches in its way because it has somewhere to go. Shouldn’t this be the same for us? Yea, it may be raining in your life and it seems like you’ll never get it right because you keep going left but keep climbing. You may have received bad news from the doctor but you’re not dead, so keep climbing. You may have even received a pink slip or was laid off from your job but you’re still capable of working, so keep climbing. Even if you’ve applied for 10 jobs and they all said no, keep climbing. Deuteronomy 28:13 says, “If you listen to these commands of the LORD your God that I am giving you today, and if you carefully obey them, the LORD will make you the head and not the tail, and you will always be on top and never at the bottom.” On your Christian journey, you will encounter some branches of hate; some leaves of hurt and a few rough places called mistakes but keep climbing and don’t give up. Besides, no one ever told you the road you’re walking or the mountain you’d be climbing would be easy, so why do you give up so easily?

You do know that as you go along and the higher you get, you will be knocked down when the wind starts blowing and the branches start swinging or that you’ll probably get cuts on your hands and knees from climbing, so why are you crying? Get up, dust yourself off, and clean up the wounds you have, bandage the cuts and try again. Just like a baby squirrel has to learn to climb, so do we. And just because you’ve probably reached the top it doesn’t mean that you won’t sometimes fall and even if you never fall all the way to the bottom, you can still fall enough to make you take notice. This is because sometimes, we get to the high places and forget about who got us there. We start making a little more money and then stop paying tithes. We start working a little bit more and then become too tired to fellowship with God. We start hanging out more with the top people and now God has been placed on the bottom and we have to wonder why he has to send us a reality check instead of a bonus check. Baby, God doesn’t elevate us so that we can become an earthly mess but he elevates us because he knows what we’re capable of being because it was He who designed us. Jeremiah 1:5 says, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”

God says believe in me, accept me into your heart and work for me and then we stand before the church accepting God, get baptized, attend church for 2 Sundays and never come back but Ecclesiastes 5:4 says, “When you make a promise to God, don’t delay in following through, for God takes no pleasure in fools. Keep all the promises you make to him.” God says have a mustard seed size of faith in Him but as soon as the ship starts rocking from the storms of life, we start doubting but God is asking, “Why are you afraid? ” Don’t you know that if folk knock you down, God can lift you up or when folk have walked all over you, He can clean you up and make you look and feel new? Aren’t you aware of the healing power God has in the hem of His garment, then why do you speak death and not life when Proverbs 18:21 say, “The tongue can bring death or life; those who love to talk will reap the consequences?” You are capable of climbing to higher heights but you have to first stop being afraid to climb. Get a squirrel like mentality and climb. However, don’t get there and look down at those below you but reach back and help others come up. What sense would it make for you to be alone when all you have to do is reach over and pull the next person up? God has enough power to give us all mountains and tree tops to reach but we have to keep climbing because there isn’t another way to reach the top without it!

Daily Devotional – 5/6/13 “Can’t help but be blessed!”

When you can see from the eyes you have, hear from the ears you have, talk from the mouth you have, walk with the legs you have, touch with the hands you have, breath from the lungs you have and function from the portion of mind you have; you can’t help but be blessed. See, as I sat on Saturday morning and watched a dynamic women of God proclaim His word and then hear the Pastor of the church say “You can’t tell me a woman can’t bring forth the word,” I realized that I can’t help but be blessed! When I sit and write these devotionals, pray for folk, encourage folk and bless folk I don’t even know only to receive messages, text, comments and emails of thanks; I can’t help but be blessed. When you still got a little money in the bank after paying bills, a job to go to when so many are without, a car to drive which means you can afford it and gas, a little pain in your body which means you can feel, warm skin which means your blood is flowing; you can’t help but be blessed.

On the way to work this morning my husband was playing this rap CD of my nephews and cousins and I don’t normally do rap music because I don’t but I listened to a few of the tracks and I was in awe. I sat there with tears in my eyes listening to the talents of these young men who society would normally cast out as nobody’s and I wondered why they would allow such great talent to go to waste when they can’t help but to be blessed. I mean, so many of our young men and women are wasting their talents/gifts when they can’t help but be blessed. Some are writers and too afraid to journal their thoughts which could potentially lead to a book or song. Some are artist and too scared to share their talent with the art teacher who would be blown away. Some are even singers, yet they won’t open their mouth to allow their voice to be heard. Baby, you need to stop being afraid to use your gift because you’ll soon realize that you can’t help but be blessed. This goes for adults too because there are many of us in the same boat too afraid to step out on the water for a fear of falling but guess what, if you fall and don’t panic you’ll rise back to the top. You’ve been given another chance because you’re reading this so you can’t help but be blessed. Stop wasting time and talent and get this thang going! You’ve been given a gift so stop wasting it on the “but, ifs, could have, should have, they said and I might” and get to work because with a God like the one I serve; you can’t help but be blessed!

Galatians 6:7-9 says, “Don’t be misled–you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up.”

Daily Devotional – 5/3/13 “Scandal isn’t real life!”

I just thought I’d throw it out there. Yes, a man is supposed to earn his wife but that means her respect, her trust, her love and her support; not her body! Scandal isn’t real life so stop thinking that everything in your life will work out like it did in Olivia’s because you haven’t seen the end yet. Yea, I know they make it look easy but what’s glamorous about being the mistress or even about being the one that’s the mister? Since when is it cool for the mistress to be chosen and your marriage vows thrown away like yesterday’s trash? Don’t you know Hebrews 13:4 says, “Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous?” Yea, I know we all make mistakes but don’t think just because you have now been chosen as number one; it makes it right because it doesn’t. Oh, let me tell you; I enjoy Scandal just as much as the next person but do you think I’ll pattern my life around it, NO! Why not, you ask? Because Scandal isn’t real life! But now because Olivia told Fitz to earn her, you got all kinds of text messages going out today saying the same thing but baby if you’ve been giving up the goods for a few pieces of change already; he’s earned it and so have you. You’ve both earned a fast ticket straight to hell unless you repent and get right. TV is for ratings and not for imitating. Get your life right!

Daily Devotional – 5/2/13 “Do you know what today is?”

Well … It’s my birthday (and you guessed it, my sister’s too)! Yep! But let me first stop and give praise to God because every time I turn around, He keeps right on blessing me. See, not only has He allowed me to see 36 years of living but also 15 years of marriage; so I am indeed blessed.

Have all the years of my life been great? No, but they have been lived so I am blessed. Have all of the years of marriage been great? No, but they have been together with one another so we are blessed. See, we sometime take time and people for granted until time is no longer on our side or we’re standing at the casket of our love ones. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve had those moments before but then I began to realize that tomorrow isn’t promised to me because I’m young because kids are dying every day and I’ve also come to understand that marriage isn’t for everyone but it’s for me. Yes, it’s hard work but any relationship is. The relationship with your children, coworkers, church members, gym buddies … are all relationships that you have to work on and it is hard work. I am in no way saying I have the perfect marriage but it’s mine and the way to keep it that way is to keep folk out of it. See, not everyone who is around you is pulling for your relationship. Yea, some want it and some want you! Yep, I said it! Some want the relationship you got and some want you to be available whenever they call because they are miserable and you know misery loves company. All I want you to get out of this post today is this; value the relationships you have. Will there be some wanting to give up moments, wanting to throw in the towel days, crying and yelling, some arguing and maybe a few cuss words; yes but that’s all a part of it just don’t give up on it unless it’s the only option you have. For 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 says, “Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things and endures all things.”

Daily Devotional – 5/1/13 “And I am?”

Just who I am! I am a sinner who was saved by the blood when I walked up and sat on the mourner’s bench (in revival on night), confessed my belief in God and His power, accepted Him into my life and was baptized in the water. I am a sinner who sometimes sin, lie, curse, occasionally drink, dance to worldly music, sometimes worry, sometimes say no when I should help, sometimes stay when I should go, sometimes miss the message from the messenger and sometimes frown instead of smile. I am a sinner who sometimes falls asleep without praying and eat without saying grace. I am who I am. I am a person who makes mistakes but I repent for them. I am a person who is sometimes tempted but I hold fast. I am a person who sometimes gets discouraged yet I pray. I am a person who sometimes gets sick but I’m living. I am just who I am. Do I always read my bible, no. Do I always do what God says I should, no? Do I always walk the right path, no? But I am who I am. Do I always use my gift, no? Do I always encourage those who are discouraged, no! Do I always pray for folk instead of myself, no! But I am who I am. I am a girl who was once broken but I’ve been healed, once hurt but now I’m well, once cried but now I have joy, was once in the dark but I’ve seen the light shining from on the inside of me, was once on the wrong path but with God, He made it right, was once dying but now I’m living, was once singing “I was battered, bruised and cast aside” but that’s been replaced with “Now I got the Lord on my side.” Oh, I am just who I am!

Who are you? Are you who you are supposed to be or are you hiding behind what the world say you should be? Somebody said you weren’t wife or husband material but look at you now. Somebody said you weren’t deacon or usher material but look at you now. Somebody said you’d never preach in anybody’s pulpit but look at you now. Somebody said you weren’t motherly but look at you now. Somebody even said you’d be a deadbeat like your dad but look at you now. Somebody said you’d be broke but look at you prospering. Somebody said you’d be nothing but look at you rising. Somebody said you wouldn’t make it through high school but look at the diplomas on your wall. Somebody that’s probably close to you said that you’d always be dancing in the club but look at you now dancing at the altar of God! Somebody said you’d be flipping burgers the rest of your life but look at the manager title on your badge. Somebody said you’d always be catching the bus but look at the keys in your pocket/purse. Somebody said this but who are you? Somebody even said that but who are you again? As for me, I am exactly who I am, who I will be and who God has made me! I am just who I am.