Have you ever stopped to think that you’re drowning because of all the stuff you’ve got weighing you down? I mean, you’re still holding on to the fact that he said he didn’t love you the same way you loved him so you’ve allowed that anger to tie itself around your neck and it’s weighing you down. You’re still trying to keep up with other folks by spending when you don’t have, going when your tail should be at home and giving when you ought to be asking; so now the debt has you tied down and you’re drowning. Yea, I know that momma or daddy may have died and left you in this mean world but baby it was their time so stop allowing your mourning period to last too long because it’s weighing you down and if momma/daddy is gone; they can’t save you no way. You’ve got to untie that weight from your neck, shoulders and back because if I shall tell you the truth, the water you’re in isn’t deep enough to drown you if you would just stand up. Yea, you’ve taken a teaspoon of water and added to it with your tears and now it’s a pool but it still won’t kill you unless you allow it too. Stop drowning in anger, hate, debt, sickness and diseases, other folk’s problems and especially in things you can’t control and let it go. Yea, the bible says in Job 14:1, “Man who is born of a woman is few of days and full of trouble,” but after you read this read John 16:33 that says, “I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.” Oh, still not enough then read John 14:27 that say, “I am leaving you with a gift–peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.” No, still don’t get it? You still don’t understand why you have to go through, why you seem to have more trouble than some, why your sickness won’t go away, why your tears won’t stop and why your burdens won’t get lighter; well it’s because it’s your time to go through! Yea, it’s your time to suffer but after your storm, Philippians 4:7 says, “Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.” Isaiah 26:3 says, “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.” Simply God saying, Trust in Me and I will trust in you and then you shall have peace but not just any peace but a perfect peace that only I can create, a perfect peace that only I can give and a perfect peace that only I can take away. Stop allowing yourself to be weighed down with more problems than what you’ve already been promised. See, when the trouble comes that God has promised, He already has the means available for you to get out of it but if its trouble that you’ve found for yourself, it’ll take a little more time for your solution to come. Don’t add to your trouble but add to your praise!
Daily Devotional – 11/7/12 “You voted but have you prayed?”
I mean, if we all can band together to vote, why can’t we band together to encourage each other, pray for one another, help each other, pull those up who have fallen, feed those who are hungry, clothe those who are without and stop judging those who may be going through? See, I think that if we all had the same determination we’ve had the past few weeks on getting folks to vote as with getting folks to pray, we may just be better today than yesterday. (But these are simply my thoughts). My bible tells me in James 5:16, “Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.” Yea, you voted but have you prayed? I don’t mean just on last night as the election results came in but I mean have you been praying? It’s crazy that on last night God heard voices of folk he hadn’t heard in a while simply over this election when the bible says in Ephesians 6:18 says, “Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.” Yea, you voted but have you prayed? Don’t you know that God has a plan and a purpose for everything that happens? The devil has to ask permission before he can even step to you but you’d rather put your trust in human flesh who will let you down rather than a Man who has never wavered in His promise to you. 1 Timothy 2:8 says, “I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling;” oh and 1 Timothy 2:9 continues by saying, “And I want women to be modest in their appearance. They should wear decent and appropriate clothing and not draw attention to themselves by the way they fix their hair or by wearing gold or pearls or expensive clothes.” See, God isn’t concerned about your Obama or your Romney sticker but He is concern about your heart, your mind, your body and your soul. Yea, you voted but have you prayed?
So, yea, you may have voted and you may have even gotten others to vote but have you been praying for your neighbor who has been unemployed for 6 months and still looking for work? Have you prayed for the student who has been bullied every day since school started or the young man who was jumped into a gang because he doesn’t feel loved by anybody at home or the young girl who is pregnant and doesn’t even know who the father is because she has been taught that you give love with what’s between her legs. Have you stopped to pray for the mother who was diagnosed with breast cancer or the father with colon cancer? Have you stopped to pray for the child who has been at St. Jude the majority of his or her young life? Have you prayed for the police officer who inflicts pain on folks by hiding behind his badge, the teacher who is addicted to cocaine, the principal who is a closed door alcoholic, the gym teacher who takes advantage of the students they are supposed to protect or the guidance counselor who finds joy in stepping on the dreams of kids? Have you prayed for your friend who is going through and is contemplating suicide or have you even taken the time to hear the pain in their voice in between you asking them if they’ve voted? Have you even prayed for yourself in the midst of all this? Yea, you were quick to offer a ride to the voting polls but you don’t even respond to the text when someone ask you to take them to the grocery store (unless you get something out of it). Yea, you were in line when the polls opened but then you drag your tail to worship service an hour late and then expect God to fill you with the Holy Spirit as soon as you walk in the door. Please don’t get me wrong, I am glad that you voted because it is a right that many fought for us to have but God gave His ONLY Son so that we could sin and then be forgiven for it, die so that we can live again, get hurt by folks and have our hearts mended, be sick and get healing, be considered last but be made first and even be knocked down but can get up better than you were before. So, don’t get it twisted thinking that I am trying to make light of the situation but what I am saying is, put the same determination into your faith in God and into the gift that has been designed especially for you. Yea, you voted but have you prayed?
Daily Devotional – 11/6/12 “Go through your battle to get your blessing!”
Yea, I know that you are tired of being told that everything will be alright because you are trying to figure out why you are always going through but have you ever stopped to think that maybe you aren’t getting what God is trying to give to you? I mean, obviously, you’re going through but have you stopped long enough to see why? Really, have you? Don’t you know that in order to get a testimony you have to first go through the test? In order to get your healing you have to go through hurt and sickness. In order to get your break through you have to be broken. In order to get up, you’d have to be first down and in order to get out; you had to first be in. Baby, don’t you know that if you had everything you wanted you surely wouldn’t work for what you needed. So, go on through your battle because then you’ll appreciate your blessing.
Still don’t get it? Let me break this thang down for you. God took you through cancer in order for you to appreciate the skin that you’re in. Yea, you went through chemo and you lost your hair, a few pounds and maybe even your breast but after it was all over with you probably got a better grade of NEW hair, a NEW body and some NEW breast, so you got your blessing. Yea, you used to be a drug addict and you’d sell anything to feed your addiction but you’re clean and sober now and in the mist of your deliverance you got a NEW appreciation for your body, a NEW life and maybe even a NEW spouse; so you got your blessing. Yea, you got fired/laid off from the job you gave 15 years too but when all the dust settled you realized that you have the right knowledge and connections and even the right finances to start your own NEW business or to get the NEW career path God had already laid out for you; so you got your blessing. Ok, so your boy/girlfriend left you and you thought your heart would never mend but then one day you met your NEW wife or your NEW husband who treats you like royalty and who made you forget all about the past; so you got your blessing. Yea, your car got repossessed but now you truly appreciate the NEW one you got even if it was used. Yea, you’ve been through this and maybe even that but aren’t you still living to see this NEW day? Then, stop complaining about your battle but go through it in order to get your blessing.
Will it always be hard, no but it won’t always be easy either; this is why God says in Isaiah 41:10, “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” 1 Peter 1:7 says, “These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold–though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.” So, you aren’t being tested because you’re worse than anyone else but you’re being tested because of who you are and whose you are. Stop acting like you’re the only one going through, you’re the only one who has lost somebody or something, that you’re the only one sick or even the only one sick and tired because you’re not. God places us in the fire but we won’t get burned. And if the truth shall be told, we come out better than we were before we went in, so go on through it. Go on through your battle and then get the blessing that God has for you!
Daily Devotional – 11/5/12 “You still got time!”
So much is happening in the world with hurricanes, unemployment, suicides, massive killings, sickness is everywhere you turn, health care cost steady going up and paychecks are going down, saints are hiding and sinners are out in the open, family hating on one another and friends are becoming enemies.. I mean, what is really going on? Folks expect Pastors to fix all the problems and then when they don’t, they run from the church but baby, knowledge and problem solving is your responsibility. Stop acting like the only time you can open up the bible is on Sunday morning inside of a church building because if you study that same bible more, you’d know that the church is in you. Now, this doesn’t mean you don’t have to fellowship with others from time to time because the bible says in Ecclesiastes 4:10, “If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!”
See, trouble is everywhere and it finds you even when you try not to find it, so stop spending all of your time being mad at the world and the folks in it. Stop listening to all those who are constantly running you from church because while you are at home on Sunday, they are at church. Go to church for yourself and form your own opinion. Stop going off of what happened when you used to go or the thoughts that folk had when you were little. Study God’s word for yourself because you may just find that you enjoy it. All I am saying is; you need to stop playing with God before your time runs out. While you’re spending all your time trying to get yourself together, your time may just be spent before you’re able too. Baby, God doesn’t choose you to do his will because you are perfect but He chooses you with your flaws because those are the things that He can correct. Don’t you know that if God waited on perfect folk to do His will, it would never get done because NONE of us are perfect? Why don’t you allow God to clean you up that way once He does, you’ll have a brand new walk, talk, attitude and plenty of gratitude. The next moment of your life is not guaranteed, so stop waiting! Live YOUR life and stop trying to please everybody.
Daily Devotional – 10/31/12 “Just a thought!”
Yea, I know that today is set aside to celebrate Halloween but while you’re dressing up and getting the kids prepared to trick or treat, you really should stop to Hallow Him. You know the Him I am referring too, right? Well, hallow is defined as to make somebody or something holy or to have great respect or reverence for somebody or something. See, while you are carving your pumpkins, why don’t you reshape your attitude? While you are setting out the bowl of candy, why don’t you set a better example for the folks who look up to you by studying God’s word? While you gathering all the kid’s candy to pick out your favorites, why don’t you gather them together for prayer every now and then? No, I don’t have a problem with Halloween or any other Holiday because they aren’t the issue but the issue really is the amount of time you devote to getting prepared and the amount of money you spend on candy and costumes and then on Sunday, you won’t even get out bed to go and worship with anybody. All I am saying is, while you’re enjoying this Halloween, Hallow God sometimes. (I’m just saying!)
I just thought I’d share that with you this morning. But any who! …
There is a prayer line called, “Prayer with the Girls”, that is held EVERY morning at 6:30AM and when I tell you it has been a blessing to my life; that would be an understatement. See, sometimes even I have a bad day, a moment of weakness to kick in, a time when my storm is raging like a hurricane, when the enemy tries to flood my mind with worry and even times when family don’t act right but who encourages the encourager? How can I look discouraged when you are coming to me for encouragement? How can I look raggedy and tore up when you’re coming to me for hope in your dying situation? How can I tell you to keep going if I keep stopping? How can I lift you up if I’m farther down than you? Well, baby I just stopped by to tell you that I SHALL NOT be defeated in this battle because it’s not mine to fight. Yea, God has given me a gift that has manifested itself into a ministry (a devotional, encouraging, teaching, sharing, believing and receiving ministry) and I will not be defeated simply because the enemy is trying to get me to quit. No ma’am! No sir. This is what I accepted when I accepted the gift that God blessed me with. When He told me to tell you to hold on, I accepted it. When He told me to tell you that your trouble won’t last, I accepted it. When He told me to pray for you, I accepted it. When He tells me to keep going even though I don’t know where I am going, I accept it. When He tells me to reach out and get it even though I don’t see anything, I accept it. Yes, I accept this calling that God has placed over my life; the calling to be your encourager, your walking diary when you need to talk, your friend when you don’t want to be alone, your shoulder when your tears won’t stop, your mattress when you need to use my lap to lay across, your leaning post when the world is trying to beat you down and your midnight prayer partner when I am whispering your name to God without you even asking. So, I won’t grow weary in my doing. I won’t give up or give in. I won’t waver when the enemy punches seem to knock the wind out of me but I shall continue on. I have some strong encouraging folk in my corner, so I will be just fine!
Morning Prayer with the Girls, Conference Call – 312.340.6650 Access Code #2492681
Every Morning at 6:30 sharp! You will be blessed…
Lakisha, the Author 