Just who you are supposed to be, so why do you doubt your God given abilities? You let folk talk you out of your blessing like a car salesman talking you out of more money. You let folk decide what you’ll do with your life instead of being the best you that you can be. You let folk tell you that you won’t ever do this or you’ll be just like him/her but what do you want? It doesn’t matter if your mom used to walk the streets, you don’t have to follow in her footsteps because your footprints won’t match hers anyway. So what if your dead was a drug addict, it doesn’t mean you have to be because your fingerprints won’t match his anyway! Don’t you know that God says (me paraphrasing) “Before I allowed your dad’s sperm to meet with your mom’s egg, I knew who you were?” Ephesians 2:10 says, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” Yes, God knew the path AND the detour you would take in this life because He paved it! Jeremiah 29:11 says, “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” Why would He allow you to be abused, because it made you stronger and an advocate against violence? Why did He allow you to get a taste of the world only to tell you not to conform to it, because He wanted you to then allow the world to conform to you? This is why Proverbs 16:4 says, “The Lord has made everything for its purpose, even the wicked for the day of trouble.” Oh, I just wish you could see the potential that you have. I just wish you could see the good in yourself when you look in the mirror. I just wish you could have enough faith in yourself the way you do in that chair you’re sitting in. For once trust the purpose that God has for you the way you trust yourself to walk through the house in the dark. You are just who God made you. The mistakes of the past no longer matter unless you allow them too. Who people call you only matters if you answer to it. Stop trying to please folk and please God because once you do this, He will be pleased to please you. (You’ll get that in a minute) While you’re trying to worry about folks you need to realize that the one behind you wants your spot, the one in front of you don’t want you to take theirs and the ones on the same level as you is trying to get before you so they’ll say anything to make you doubt yourself but like Jesus asked in Matthew 14:31, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” So how will you answer when someone ask, “And you are?”
Daily Devotional – 4/29/13 “Well then!”
I’ve been sitting here trying to figure out what to write and nothing would come to mind. I asked God what He would have me to share with His people on today and still nothing. I saved 2 topics in my phone on yesterday but they didn’t even fit this morning. I thought about not doing a devotional today but even that didn’t fit so here I am wondering yet again. Wondering why someone like me would be an encourager to someone like you. How could I encourage someone? Why was I blessed with this gift but then one of the scriptures I jotted down yesterday came into my thoughts which says in Romans 9:20, “But who are you, a human being, to talk back to God? Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this?’” Ok God, you got me there. Oh but hold up because God wasn’t finished getting me back in line because Romans 9:21 says, “Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for special purposes and some for common use?” (He told me!) See, here I am trying to question why when God has already answered with why not? Here I am trying to see the logic in me encouraging you when it’s been you that has been encouraging me all this time. Yea, I know I am the one that writes this devotional that is shared but it isn’t simply about that but it’s about the lives that are affected because of it.
See, someone is going to read this and may be angry over things that are happening in their lives at this very moment but have you stopped to think that maybe you’re going through is the way to your break through? Yea, you wondering why you have to be the one who’s sick but baby can’t just anybody rock a bald head from chemo, the scar from transplant surgery or open heart surgery. Can’t just anybody tell a drug addict or an alcoholic how to live after the drugs and alcohol. Can’t just anybody tell a testimony of how God raised you when you should have been buried in that dusty grave, how that bullet should have blown your brains out but it grazed you instead, how that car should have claimed your life but it left you with only bruises from the seatbelt, how that abusive husband should have snatched your life but instead he made you strong for the husband that God was waiting on you to see or how that job thought they had defeated you when they said no but they were simply moving out the way for your career. Oh, I’ve got to leave this thang alone because it’s causing some shaking in my spirit but you needed to know this morning that you shall overcome, you shall be greater than that which is against you, you shall be better than those who want to see you fall, you will live and not die, you will be victorious and not a victim and you will win and not lose! How do I know? Because I’ve been promised by a King that everything you ask for will be given!
Daily Devotional – 4/26/13 “Is your foundation strong?”
Before a house, apartment, condo, building or any structure is built; the foundation has to be laid. Now, the foundation has to be extremely strong in order to endure the weight that is then built on top of it because if it isn’t, then it’ll start to crack and will eventually sink. Well, being a person, a Christian person; it’s the same. When you accept Christ for yourself, you receive a foundation. Now this isn’t any old foundation because 2 Timothy 2:19 says, “Nevertheless, God’s solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness.”” See, God’s foundation is solid but in order to keep it that way you have to believe in Him, have faith in Him, study His word for yourself and then do the work that He has commanded you do. Knowing this and doing these things ensure you have a strong foundation and like I stated on yesterday when the storms, the tests, the temptations, the sickness, the hurt, the pain, the job losses, the depression, the without days, the have not moments, the giving up periods, the giving in minutes, the suicidal seconds and the throwing in the towel days come they might blow away a few things but they won’t shake your foundation. Yea, when the cancer comes it might take your hair and a few pounds but it won’t take the foundation (You). When your spouse leaves it might cause the rain to fall (tears) but it won’t crack your foundation (You). When the drugs and alcohol sucks you in it may blow away a few family members or friends but when you decide to get clean for yourself you’ll realize that your foundation (You) is still standing. Yea, the storm comes and wipes away your house in the way of foreclosure but your foundation (You) is still strong enough to claim another home. Yea, the woes of this world may have you thinking about burning your building (suicidal thoughts) but then you snap out of it and find that your foundation (You) is strong enough to wipe off the ashes and rebuild. Oh, I know every time you look around you see hell or you’re catching hell but don’t let that crack your foundation. Will you fall, yes! Will you make a mistake, yes! Will you sometimes go where you know you shouldn’t, yes! Will you do some things you know are wrong, yes! Will you lie sometimes, yes! Will you judge folk sometimes, yes! Will you sometimes take your gift for granted, yes! Will you sometimes gossip with folk, yes! Will you sometimes stray from the path that God has placed before you, yes! However, but, nonetheless, even so, yet, still; if you never mess with, crack or move from your foundation you’ll have someplace to rebuild. Don’t ever allow folks to tell you that you’ll be nothing; Abraham and Sarah were old but they became parents. Don’t ever allow folks to tell you that you’ll never do anything; Noah was a drunk but he built the ark! Don’t ever allow folks to count you out; David killed Goliath after folk doubted him.
To sum it all up, if you build your foundation strong; it’ll stand after the storm. If you build your foundation strong, it’ll remain after the flood of tears. If you build your foundation strong, it won’t crack from the weight of the world. If you build your foundation strong, it won’t sink when your burdens seem to get be too much. This is why Matthew 7:25 says, “The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.” Who is this rock? Well 1 Samuel 2:2 says, “There is none holy like the Lord; there is none besides you; there is no rock like our God.” Is your foundation strong?
“For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” 1 Corinthians 3:11
Daily Devotional – 4/25/13 “Somebody’s watching!”
I know sometimes you get in a mood and you could care less about who’s watching you but you should. Yea, I know that you don’t care about who’s talking about you or even what they’re saying but I simply stop for a minute this morning to tell you that somebody’s watching. No, I don’t mean God because He is always watching but I mean folk around you and at some point in time, you should care. If you’re a mother or a father you have someone watching you. If you’re an older sister or brother, someone is watching you. If you’re an aunt, uncle, cousin, friend or even enemy; someone is watching you. If you’re a boss or even a leader on your job, someone is watching you. If you’re a Christian, someone is watching you! Does this mean you become someone you’re not, no; but it means be the best you that you can be. See, someone is always watching you and if they look up to you then they imitate you and if they envy you they still imitate you. So why don’t you care? Does it not matter that your children see you smoke or drink which means they may want to try it too? Does it not matter that your son or daughter sees abuse in the home so they think it’s the way things are supposed to be? Does it not matter that your children see you working everyday but your significant other lays around all day so they think that’s the way it is supposed to be? Does it not matter that the kids you’re raising see you playing church so they think this is the right way? When will you realize somebody’s watching you? Yea, I know you think it’s cool to be 40 and dress like your teenager but it’s not. You even think it’s cool to post Facebook post, Instagram pictures and Tweets with cursing, misspelled words and half naked pictures but it’s not because somebody’s watching and then you have the nerve to get mad when your son, daughter, nieces or nephews post the same mess. But baby, you started it and they are simply following your lead. Why don’t you straighten up so they can? I know, I know; you can teach a child and they still go astray but grandma taught me that if you build a strong foundation they will always have something to build on. Why do you think the foundation is still standing when a tornado destroys a home? It’s because it was built strong enough to endure the storm which means it’ll be there when you’re ready to rebuild.
All I’m saying is build your foundation strong so that when the storms, the tests, the temptations, the sickness, the hurt, the pain, the job losses, the depression, the without days, the have not moments, the giving up periods, the giving in minutes, the suicidal seconds and the throwing in the towel days come they won’t last. Why won’t they last? Because you’ll realize that someone is watching you and you are better than these momentary moments instead you’ll rebuild your hope which will reignite your faith and cause your light to shine greater than it ever has so that all those who are watching you can see you rise from the ashes or the dusty grave that was meant to cover you with the tools ready to rebuild on the foundation that can never be broken. Somebody is watching you so make it count.
Jesus says in Luke 6:46-48, “If you work the words into your life, you are like a smart carpenter who dug deep and laid the foundation of his house on bedrock. When the river burst its banks and crashed against the house, nothing could shake it; it was built to last. But if you just use my words in Bible studies and don’t work them into your life, you are like a dumb carpenter who built a house but skipped the foundation. When the swollen river came crashing in, it collapsed like a house of cards. It was a total loss.”
Daily Devotional – 4/24/13 “What is going on?”
With husbands murdering wives, police taking lives, children being taken or running away, news not worth watching on any day, politicians lying, more kids dying, reality TV ratings being raised, cemetery expanding because they need more graves, terrorist attacks on the rise and they don’t even try to hide behind a disguise, weather acting crazy and more folks getting lazy, drugs being pushed into more veins and everyday our men are being slain. Parents are burying children when that’s not the way it should be but what are they to do when they’re in the streets because violence is all they see? Domestic abuse is more common in the house because men and women have stopped respecting their spouse. Folk would rather steal than get a job to make a living because they’d rather take than to be given. What is going on? What is really going on? Some say it’s the end of the world or we are living in the final days but does that give us the right to not heed to what God says? He said we should love one another, help those who have fallen and prop up those who lean and not act like hypocrites being messy with gossip or just being mean. What is going on? What is really going on? Where are the Christian, bible toting, prayer warriors who sometime sin yet they repent? Where are those who aren’t afraid of going where they are being sent? Where are the ones who don’t judge others because they sometimes make a mistake because they are on the same course as you, trying to get to Heaven’s gate? Where are those folk who don’t mind showing that they are on God’s side because they understand the sacrifice He made when His only Son died? What is going on in this world today? I’m just trying to understand. And please stop blaming the President because he is only one man. Try blaming the mess that you tune in to watch every day or blame those dang rappers, some you can’t even make out what they say. Blame the violent words that are being blasted in our children’s ears or the fact that sometimes things are just the way it is. Yea, you can raise children to do right or to say the right words but that doesn’t mean it’ll always happen like it did when they were small boys or girls. Things happen, most of the stuff we can’t control but don’t stop living, loving, making plans and setting and beating goals. I don’t know what’s going on but I’m trying to figure it out but in the meantime I’ll continue to do what I know to do and that’s simply not to doubt. Not to doubt God but to take Him at His word and be the best person I can be while living in this world! Yea, time is getting harder and harder to understand but I’ll continue to trust in the Man.
Lakisha, the Author 