Daily Devotional – 2/18/13 “Live a life worth celebrating!”

I was sitting here thinking about what to write this morning and I didn’t have a clue. So, I went back to see what I had written this time last year and the devotional on 2/17/12 was entitled “What will your dash say?” and the wheel started turning. There was a funeral at our church on Saturday for one of the older members who passed away and it was the second one in 2 weeks and both times the funerals weren’t really a celebration of their life. I mean the services were both so dry yet the program said “Home going Celebration”. On the way home my daughter asked why I was so quiet and it was because I was reflecting back on my granddaddy’s final service and how much different it was. See, we celebrated his life because his life was worth celebrating. It just doesn’t make sense to have a person live their life in this mean old world and then once they die, we don’t celebrate their life especially if they’ve left a legacy behind. We should be celebrating that they’ve gotten out of this hell and are now headed to truly live where pain no longer resides, no judgment among folk, sickness can’t get in, no killings, no stealing, no hurt, no jealousy and no backbiting. There’s no this is mine and this is yours, no copays for doctor’s visits, no surgeries to schedule, no chemo or dialysis to take, no scars on your body, no glasses to wear, no wigs to put on and you don’t even have to worry about a change of clothes. A place where there are no bills, bill collectors, past due notices or phone calls all day long! Oh, isn’t this worthy of a celebration?

Yea, I know I’m in my feelings this morning but I’m feeling some kind of way. Yea, I want my life to speak for me when I die from this world to live again. I want my dash to say that I used to be nobody but God stepped in and made me into somebody, so celebrate it. Somebody can say, ”My dash will represent the new me because even though I used to be a drug addict, I committed myself back to God and he dipped my broken body in his blood and I came out clean and whole;” so celebrate it! Someone can say, “My dash will represent the new me because even though I used to lie and steal, God came into my life when I invited him and now I lie with him during the good and the bad and I only steal away when I need to pray;” so celebrate it! Somebody can say, “My dash will show that even though I made mistakes, God forgave me for them over and over, if I asked:” so celebrate it! Someone can say, “I was once afraid to acknowledge God before folks that I knew but when I realized the power that he can place over my life, how he can bring me through storms, comfort me when friends are gone, heal me when sickness comes and send rest when I toss and turn, I proudly proclaim to be a child of the king!” so celebrate it!

All I’m saying is live a life worthy of being celebrated when your time on this side is over.

Daily Devotional – 2/15/13 “Check yourself!”

God has done it once more and again! He touched you early this morning with His anointed hand and gave you sight in your eyes, hearing in your ears, the ability to speak when you open your mouth and even the use of all your limbs. He gave you your mind back because you knew where you were and who you were when you looked in the mirror and He gave you everything back that you had on yesterday even if you didn’t thank Him for them, so why are you complaining? So, you woke up with a little pain in your body, sinuses acting crazy, throat a little sore or body a little tired; baby somebody laid down last night healthy and didn’t wake up this morning. Oh, you complain about the job you got that pays the bills to maintain the space you live in, the car you drive, the clothes you wear, the food you eat and the extracurricular activities you indulge in when someone has been fighting with unemployment for months after they were laid off and on the verge of losing all of their things. You even got the nerve to complain about food you have in the refrigerator, the free food somebody gave you, the $1 biscuit you had the money to buy or even the lunch the job purchased when somebody is digging in someone else’s trash right now looking for scraps. You need to check yourself! If you’re still mad about the gifts you didn’t get on yesterday, imagine your life without your spouse or significant other. While you’re at work complaining about the gifts you did get, think about the husband who would have loved to shower his wife but she died a few months ago or even the wife who had to make funeral arrangements for her husband on yesterday. Check yourself! You could be a lot worse than you are. You could even be a little better if you checked yourself from time to time.

Daily Devotional – 2/14/13 “Don’t let today ruin tomorrow!”

Yea, it’s Valentine’s Day but it has always been God’s day so start by thanking Him. Now, before your attitude gets rude because you didn’t get what you wanted for Valentine’s Day, sit back and think about the things that your spouse or significant other do every other day of the year. See, love should be shown EVERY DAY and not just today. Yea, it is set aside to show your love but don’t allow what you didn’t get today to ruin what you might get tomorrow. And before you get bent out of shape, know that the bible says in Ephesians 4:26-27, “And don’t sin by letting anger control you. Don’t let the sun go down while you are still angry, for anger gives a foothold to the devil.”

While you are being jealous over the things other folk got, you don’t know the hell they’ve been through to get it. You’re mad about the roses your coworker got but they could be for the beating she had to endure last night. You’re upset because you didn’t get a new ring like she did but you didn’t see the struggle her marriage overcame from this time last year. You’re mad at your husband because he didn’t go all out for you but did you go all out for him? Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy holidays just like everyone else but I’m not materialistic. I don’t have to have the roses delivered to my job because they’ll soon die. I don’t need a box of chocolates that will add a few more pounds to the ones I’m trying to lose. I don’t need a teddy bear that will sit and collect dust and I definitely don’t need a balloon from my husband as a way to show his love. Did he buy me things, yes but he also knows that I would have been just fine without anything because I am not wanting for nothing! All I’m saying is, if your spouse or significant other has been a constant in your life this past year and they give and show love every other day, don’t lose focus in the worldly mess of today.

1 Corinthians 13:4-8 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, endures all things. Love never ends.

Daily Devotional – 2/13/13 “I’ve said it before and I’m saying it again!’

If you don’t like where you are, what you’re in, the mess you keep cleaning up, the marriage that isn’t worth fighting for anymore, the job that’s a dead end, boyfriend or girlfriend who is only free when they want to be, friends who only call when they need advice, family that always need help but never give any or church that has more gossiping tongues than the world – CHANGE IT! I’ve come to realize that in order to change your mess you have to first change you. See, it’s like a vacuum cleaner. (Go with me) If you use a vacuum cleaner for too long without emptying the container, cleaning the hoses and/or the rollers; eventually it’ll stop picking up and instead it’ll leave more dirt. Well it’s the same with you. If you never let go of your past, if you never clean out the baggage from past hurts and pains, if you never move on, if you never change, if you never truly give God whatever your burdens are; how can you honestly move on because all you’re doing is leaving a trail of pain, confusion, hurt, tears and depression that you keep going back to pick up. Yea, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again; fix you and then fix your mess. You can’t keep praying for God to move in your life if you won’t move. You can’t keep praying for Him to open a door for you if you won’t walk through it. You can’t keep begging Him to help carry your burdens if you keep struggling to carry them all. You can’t keep asking Him to give you rest if you keep staying up at night. You want happiness but you keep yourself chained to the past hurt. You want joy but you keep weighing yourself down with worry. You want to be loved but you keep holding on to the one that keeps hurting you. Baby, if he or she hasn’t changed in all this time, they probably won’t so now it’s time to stop focusing on them and focus on you because either they’ll see the change in you and change or they’ll see the change in you and leave. If they leave, let them go. Whatever, whoever is meant for you is for you and they won’t leave. Stop chasing what is not yours because if it is they wouldn’t be running. Do you have to chase your paycheck on payday? No because it’s yours. It’s the same way with a spouse or significant other. If you have to chase after them, check their phone, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter or email; they aren’t yours. Give trust until trust is broken and then they earn it back. But forgive and in forgiving FORGET because if you don’t forget, you bring up the past hurt and pain every time you think about it. The past shouldn’t have a bearing on your present or your future because Isaiah 43:18 says, “Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old.”

Deuteronomy 31:6 (The Message Bible) says, “Be strong. Take courage. Don’t be intimidated. Don’t give them a second thought because God, your God, is striding ahead of you. He’s right there with you. He won’t let you down; he won’t leave you.

Daily Devotional – 2/12/13 “If you’re going through hell …”

Keep going! See the only way to get out of something that you’re in is to keep going because if you stop then you remain there. Yea, I know that it seems hard but keep going. I know it’s easy for me to say it to you because I’m not walking in your shoes but keep going. I know that sometimes things can be going great and then all of a sudden the crap hits the fan but keep going. Your days won’t always be bad, your checking account won’t always be in the negative, your husband or wife won’t always act like a stranger, your family won’t always hate, your kids won’t always act like you didn’t raise them, your job won’t always be this stressful, your Christian walk won’t always be this hard so keep going. Yea, I can tell you these things because I’ve learned these things through experience. The robbing one to pay another syndrome, the sleepless nights, stressful days, tear-stained pillows, burden down shoulders, scarred up knees and no voice from constantly praying and calling out to God, hungry with no food or money moments, no gas in the car but plenty of places to go and no energy to do even when you have a lot to do! Yea, I get it but what I’m telling you is :: YOU CANNOT STAND STILL IN THE MESS YOU’RE IN! Keep moving. If you keep walking through the hell you’re going through, you’ll come out of it because it won’t last.

Ecclesiastes 3: 1-8 says there is “A Time for Everything”

  • For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven.
  • A time to be born and a time to die.
  • A time to plant and a time to harvest.
  • A time to kill and a time to heal.
  • A time to tear down and a time to build up.
  • A time to cry and a time to laugh.
  • A time to grieve and a time to dance.
  • A time to scatter stones and a time to gather stones.
  • A time to embrace and a time to turn away.
  • A time to search and a time to quit searching.
  • A time to keep and a time to throw away.
  • A time to tear and a time to mend.
  • A time to be quiet and a time to speak.
  • A time to love and a time to hate.
  • A time for war and a time for peace.

So even though you’re going through hell, keep going! You’ve come too far to give up now. Just hold on but don’t stay still. Keep going!