Daily Devotional – 10/12/12 “Oh you’re going through but wait!”

The time quickly got away from me today so I wasn’t going to write a devotional but God whispered, “Time doesn’t matter because somebody needs a word today!” See, I sometimes get this thang twisted and start feeling like this is all about me when I’ve got to stop and realize that it’s not. Yea, somebody is dealing with some stuff that is getting the best of them but hold on a minute. Somebody is dealing with depression and they’ve been in it a while but just wait a moment. Somebody is contemplating suicide because they can’t seem to get their head above the water that seems to be drowning them but please wait! Somebody, maybe you, is dealing with the after effects from the death of a loved one but wait. Somebody may be lost because they gave up on God a long time ago but He’s still waiting on you to come back so come on. Yea, I know that you may be without a job, health insurance, family may have cast you out, and friends have turned their back on you and sending you to voice mail every time you call but wait because the bible says in Psalm 34:6, “In my desperation I prayed, and the LORD listened; he saved me from all my troubles.” See, just because you’re dealing with this thing called life and it seems to be hard right now, don’t throw in the towel. God isn’t giving up on you so don’t be quick to give up on Him.

Yea, the doctor may have prescribed you some pills to help with your mood but I’m simply prescribing God because the bible says in 2 Corinthians 4:17, “For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever!” I know you’re asking, “But what about now?” Well, for now, you hold on and ride out your storm. See, we all have to experience storms and yes, some storms last longer than others but that’s because we aren’t paying attention to what God is trying to get us to see while we are in our storms. We are quickly trying to get the storm to end while God is trying to get us to see His reasons behind it. Yea, see, God is sending you into your storm so that He can get you to let go of those gossiping friends who are hindering your work for Him but all you see is the rain falling. God is trying to get you to close the door on that trifling boy or no good girl yet all you see is the strong winds that are blowing. God is trying to get you to see that the person on your job who you keep spilling all your secrets too is the main one pouring salt in your wounds every time you keep getting passed over for that promotion yet all you feel is the chill from the cold weather. You’ve got to open your eyes to see exactly what it is that God is trying to get you to see. You probably can’t keep a boy/girlfriend long because you still got all the baggage from your previous relationships dragging you down. You can’t get ahead because you constantly keep looking back and you can’t get from under what is drowning you because you keep getting in the boat with the hole in the bottom.

Baby, the only way you stop yourself from drowning is by stop panicking every time it feels like you’re losing. The only way you stop yourself from sinking is by changing boats. The only way to stop folk from talking about you is by stop giving them the information to talk about. God isn’t making you suffer because you’ve sinned more than the next person but He is allowing you to suffer because the bible says in 1 Peter 4:13, “Instead, be very glad–for these trials make you partners with Christ in his suffering, so that you will have the wonderful joy of seeing his glory when it is revealed to all the world.” So, go through your trials and then come out triumphant. Go through your storms and then come out shouting. Go through your depression but then come out dancing. Go through your sickness and come out successfully restored. Go through your pain and then come out praising. Go on and cry but then cheer up and come out confessing of your confirmation of courage. Yea, deal with the depression, see about the sickness, cut out the crying, release the rage, hang up the hate, wipe up the whining you keep dropping, handle the hurt and hold up your head, stick your chest out, straighten your shoulders and your back and then put one foot in front of the other and keep moving. The world doesn’t stop because you’re having a bad day so why do you? You’re still living for a reason so find that reason and live! The next moment isn’t promised so make the best of what you have now!

Daily Devotional – 10/10/12 – “A prayer when weeping is taking over your Wednesday”

Heavenly Father, whose in Heaven, blessed and sacred is your name, may your kingdom come and may your will be done on Earth as it is done in Heaven. Father, this morning as I petition your throne; I must first thank you for allowing me to see another day, for allowing my limbs to have activity, for allowing my mind to be regulated, my steps ordered, my head anointed, my heart beating and my blood running warm through my veins. God I thank you because even when I don’t do what I know I should, you still bless me. When I don’t go where I should, you still walk with me. When I don’t say what I know I should, you still give me power in my tongue. When I don’t love like I should, you still allow folks to love me. God, I thank you because even when I don’t deserve to live and I’m too mean to die; you still allow me a fresh anointing to see another day so I must thank you. Now God, I come to you this morning as a filthy rag asking to be cleaned. God I need you to go in and do surgery on the inside of me so that I can be better than I am. God I need you to search my heart and remove hate, search my lips and remove gossip and search my head and mind and remove all the things that prevent me from being a better worker for you. God, I need you bind the enemies attacks on my life today, on the lives of my loved ones, my friends and even my enemies. Oh God, we need your help down here. Somebody is fighting a battle within themselves, today and they’re losing. God someone is fighting the demons of alcohol, cocaine, heroin, prescription drugs, sex, peer pressure, bullying, being abused and used; bind them now. God I ask that you bless the person reading this because they are going through something now and they can’t understand the reason for it but I am not asking you to explain it to them but I am asking you to give them strength to endure until the end comes. God somebody reading this is dealing with the sickness of a loved one, the loss of a loved one, the abuse at the hands of someone who said they loved them, sickness or disease, depression, debt that can’t get from under, obstacles they can’t go over and a mountain they don’t have the strength to climb; God do it for them today. Somebody is asking a special request from you, God, and although I don’t know what it is, I am asking on their behalf that you fill it, if it is your will. Somebody is asking for healing, heal now. Somebody is looking for deliverance; deliver them like only you can. Somebody has been running from you, going from church to church or not going to church at all but I know that you can stop their running today. Let them know that your doors are always open and that they can come. God, this world is in an uproar and we need your touch. Touch all those who are claiming to stand for you yet they are doing their own thing. Touch all those who are standing for you and doing the right thing. Touch those who don’t know what to do because I know that you do. We need you down here God and although we can live without you, our living wouldn’t be the same nor would it be worth it. Oh God, I need you and I don’t want to go along without you. Continue to bless me so that I may be able to be a blessing to others. Continue to go with me so that I may continue to go for others. Continue to be just who you are God because there is no other like you. Thank you God for giving me life, thank you for giving me a fresh anointing and thank you for blessing me even when I don’t deserve it. Now, God as I submit this prayer to you I ask that you touch that person whose faith is wavering because they think you’ve forgotten about them. Whisper into their spirit and let them know that no matter how hard this road gets, they are not alone. Do it now God like I know that you can. This prayer I submit to you, this day, because I know that tomorrow is not promised. In your name I pray, amen.

Daily Devotional – 10/09/12 “God’s favor!”

Stop feeling like you’re inadequate (not deserving) to be where you are because you’ve been placed there for a purpose! Yea, see; you’re looking at the folks around you who seem to have more experience on paper but you’ve been experienced through grace. They may even have the years under their belt but you have the belt of faith tied around your waist, so you’re covered. Why do you think you’re there? You didn’t even think you would get the job but then after the second interview you realized that it was yours. No, it wasn’t because of you but it was because of whose covering you. Don’t you know by now that God’s favor precedes you? While folks are trying to figure out how you got blessed with what you got, you don’t have to explain because what is already understood doesn’t have to be.

Oh, somebody’s spirit needs to be ministered too this morning, so let me break this thang down for you. When you’re covered by God’s favor, it’ll go before you into that job interview/promotion, doctor’s appointment, car lot when you’re trying to get financed for a loan, mortgage company when you’re trying to get approved for that home you want and even to the bank when you trying to get the financial backing to start your business. Yea, when you’re covered by God’s unmerited favor (Unmerited means not deserved which means even though we don’t deserve it, God gives it anyway… I’ll give you a few moments to let that soak in your spirit.); you got collateral that doesn’t have to be appraised, you have a signature line of credit that doesn’t have to have a credit report ran on it and you have a never ending balance that will never decrease or increase with interest. This is why Ephesians 1:11 says, “In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will.” See, when God predestines us, it means that He has already decided our path, our fate, our life, our trials, our tribulations, our storms, our spouse, etc., before we were even created because predestines means to determine beforehand; preordain; to set apart for a particular use, purpose or to appoint or ordain beforehand. Isn’t this great news? God knew I would be ministering to you in this form even when I didn’t. He knew that this gift that He had blessed me with would make room for me because He had already predestined my life so when I have a momentary loss of common sense to think that I can’t, I’ll quickly snap out of it to know that I can. Will you? God has already designed your life, so trust Him and go where He sends you, say what He wants you to say, do what He wants you to do and live as He wants you to live because you are destined for greatness because He has always designed it beforehand. So believe it and then receive it!

Yea, when you’re covered by God’s favor, man can say no but God is saying keep going! When you’re covered by God’s favor, the doctors can say you’re dying while God is saying keep living. When you’re covered by God’s favor, folks can say you’ll never be nothing while God is saying you are already something. Oh, when you’re covered by God’s favor it’ll speak for you when you have no words, it’ll go for you when you have no more energy to walk, it’ll pull you up when folks have knocked you down and it’ll heal the wounds from folk stabbing you in the back. Oh, God’s favor will cover you in your storm, it’ll protect you when folks are speaking bad over your life, it’ll increase your finances when you don’t think you’ll have enough, it’ll increase your medicine when you know you should be out of it, it’ll increase the gas in your car when you know you should have run out by now, it’ll strengthen your eyesight when you can’t see in the rain, it’ll increase your energy when you couldn’t keep your eyes open while driving, it’ll increase your love for others even after you’ve been hurt so many times before and it’ll even increase your forgiveness when that’s the last thing you’ll want to do. God’s favor is having a friend close by even when you think you’re alone, it’s being full when you know you haven’t taken a bite to eat, it’s laughing when you know you should be crying, it’s loving when you know you should be hating and it’s forgiving and forgetting even when you know they aren’t even worth your forgiveness. God’s favor is flawless and it doesn’t cost an arm and leg to get. Oh, I am grateful for His favor because even when we are in our mess, it covers us; when we should be scared, it calms our fears; when we should be counted out, it makes us able to be counted on and when we should have been dead, it allows us to live. God’s favor is worthy of having and He’ll give it to you if you ask!

Daily Devotional – 10/08/12 “Yea, It’s Monday and??”

Yea, I know it’s Monday but where is the same joy you had on yesterday? Where is the smile you woke up with on Saturday? Where is that pep in your step you had when you left work on Friday? Where is that strong faith you displayed while singing in church yesterday? Or that determination you had to be better after the altar call prayer? Where are you this morning? Don’t you know that just because the days of the week change, your faith shouldn’t? Monday comes around at the same time every week so stop blaming it for your bad mood. No, it isn’t the side of the bed you got up on because it’s the same every morning. Stop allowing yourself to be a different person every time the wind blows. Be the person God has made you to be everyday because He has a purpose for your problem, He has a plan for your pain, He has a solution for your suffering, He has a blessing waiting after your battle, a shout after your struggle, a silver lining after your storm and a story after sickness. Yea, God has something for you but you have to believe that. Proverbs 16:9 says, “The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.” Yea, see, He won’t allow you to go through hell only to come out hellish but He’ll take you through hell and then bring you out a helpmate. He’ll take you through cancer to make you caring. He’ll take you through heartache to make you happy. He’ll take you through unemployment to make you understanding. He’ll take you through being lied on so that you may live. He’ll take you through lying on folks to making you a leader among many. He’ll take you through backbiting to make you the best. He’ll take you from gossiping to delivering His gospel. He’ll take you from being lost to loving. He’ll take you from wandering to being a witness and from dying to doing! Yes, God will! This is why Proverbs 3:5-6 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.”

Yea, it’s Monday but you’re living when somebody, who was healthy, laid down on last night and didn’t get up this morning. Somebody was on their way to work this morning but didn’t make it because somebody else ran the red light. Somebody was depressed and took their life, yet you’re still living through your pain. Somebody had to identify the body of a loved one who overdosed on drugs, yet you left yours sleeping at home. Some parent buried their child this morning yet you dropped yours off at school. So be grateful for what you have and although you wish it could be more somebody has much less! So be grateful. Somebody woke up this morning worse than you are yet you’re still complaining. You’re upset because you had to get from under the covers when someone is sleeping under a cardboard box. You’re mad because the house was cold and you had to turn on the heat but imagine the woman sleeping in a car who can’t afford to run the heat because she only has a few dollars left for gas. You’re cursing because you don’t feel like cooking breakfast but just stop for a moment and think about the single dad who is trying to figure out the next meal for him and his kids. While you are complaining about the temperature outside, somebody is living in it every day and night. All I am saying is, stop blaming Monday for your blue mood because it’s all you. Yea, things aren’t going like you want them too but it’ll get better. Your bank account may be smaller than you want it to be but you can work on that. Your job may not be the career you want but you can change that. Your body may not be the shape/size you want, work on it. You don’t have to blame Monday because just like it came, Tuesday will be here before you know it bringing the exact same issues unless you change the issue, not the day.

Daily Devotional – 10/5/12 “You have to rise to get it!”

As I sit and I think about my life, I get happy all by myself. See, I don’t have to be at church with the music playing and the pastor pumping me up to praise God because I can do it all by myself simply by thinking about all He has done for lil ole me! Yea, I won’t allow rocks to cry out for me because when I think about the fact that I could be preparing to bury my child but I’m not, I rejoice. I could be saying my final goodbyes to my momma but I am not or she could be saying her final goodbyes to me yet she’s not, I rejoice! When I think about how much worse my life could be and it’s not, I rejoice. When I walk into a job that was meant specifically for me when somebody has been waiting at the unemployment office since 5AM, I rejoice. When I can pick up the phone and call my husband, my children, my sisters, my brothers, my cousins, my aunts, my uncles, my best friends, my grandma and they all know my voice, I rejoice. When I can cut on the computer and see my name typed on a cover of a book that can be purchased online, I yet rejoice! I rejoice because I am blessed like that! I REJOICE BECAUSE I AM BLESSED LIKE THAT

When God promised that your gifts would make room for you, He keeps His end of the promise but do you believe? When God says that your weeping may endure for a night but you’ll get joy in the morning, do you believe it? When God says that power of life and death is in the power of your tongue, do you believe it? When God says ask and it SHALL be given, do you believe it? When God says your healing is only a prayer away, do you believe it? No, all your days won’t be good but they won’t all be bad either but in order for you to get something that you need or even something that you want, you have to have faith and then rise up and get it. Every time Jesus healed folk in the bible, He told them to rise up, go or stand up and receive your healing because your faith has made you well. Don’t believe me, let me show you.

  • Luke 17:19, “And Jesus said to the man, “Stand up and go. Your faith has healed you.”
  • Luke 7:50, “Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”
  • Mark 5:34, “And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace. Your suffering is over.”
  • Matthew 9:22, “Jesus turned and saw her. “Take heart, daughter,” he said, “your faith has healed you.” And the woman was healed from that moment.”
  • Matthew 8:13, “Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go! It will be done just as you believed it would.” And his servant was healed at that very hour.”

All you have to do is believe it for yourself, have faith that it can be done, ask for it and then rise up to get it! This is why 2 Corinthians 5:7 says, “For we walk by faith, not by sight,” because if we used only our sight to take us into places or to meet folk, we would probably miss out on a lot of things. So today, I stopped by today to tell you that in order to get your healing, your blessing, your gift, your tears dried, your bank account increased, your territory enlarged, your heart mended, your mind regulated, your situation changed, your obstacles moved, your husband or your wife, your career, your home, your car, your happiness back, your sleep back, comfort and sun after your storm; you need to have some faith that can’t be shaken by the storm, moved by the wind, knocked down by folk, stepped on by your enemies and counted out by you; that mustard seed type faith and then get up and move because with YOUR faith and God’s promise ALL things are possible.