Daily Devotional – 9/5/12 “It’s revival time!”

No, I don’t mean at the church on the corner or even your church but I mean its revival time in your life! See, revive in the dictionary means to come back to life, consciousness, or full strength, or bring somebody back to life, consciousness, or full strength but my definition is another chance to walk on top of the dirt that could be covering your casket, another chance to smile when you could be getting your last bath from the funeral home, another chance to trust God when you could be facing this mean world alone and another chance to be thankful for the things you have because you could be a “have not”. Yes, it’s revival time!

Yea, I know that your life may have been hard growing up but you’re grown now. I know that you may have looked into the eyes of an abusive spouse in the past but that’s the past now. I know that you may have been homeless once but you’re not now. You may have been without a job before but you have one now. You may have never even felt love back then but you have it now, so you’ve been revived. The bible says in Psalm 71:20, “You have allowed me to suffer much hardship, but you will restore me to life again and lift me up from the depths of the earth,” – this means you been revived. Ok, so folks used to talk about you, lie on you, scandalize your name because they were jealous of your blessings, tripped you up when you walk because they wanted the directions to where you were going and even tried to pull you down from your elevation because they wanted to beat you to the top but Psalm 71:21 says, “You will restore me to even greater honor and comfort me once again,” – which says there is some reviving going on! Baby, you don’t have to look for your present in your past because you won’t find it there. You don’t have to look for your happiness in the heartache of your past relationship in order to move on because you won’t find it there. You don’t have to look for a new way to live because it’s already on the inside of you and all you have to do is revive it. Cry out to the Lord, “Restore us, O Lord God of hosts! Let your face shine, that we may be saved!” (Psalm 80:19)

Don’t you know that when a revival is done it is supposed to be for the reviving of a dying spirit, soul and mind? A revival is meant to revive your joy after the world has tried to quench it. A revival is meant to revive your laughter after grief has stolen it away. A revival is meant to revive your rest after pacing has taken its place. A revival is meant to revive your smile after tears have taken over. A revival is meant to revive your heart after all it has felt is hurt from folks who said they’d love you until death do you part. A revival is meant to revive your prayers in the place of the pain you feel. A revival is meant to revive your faith when fault is eating you up on the inside. A revival is meant to revive your trust when trust is the last thing you want to do. It is revival time y’all! This world is getting crueler, folks are getting meaner, children are more disrespectful and disobedient, spouses are less forgiving, jobs are few and far between, friends are scarce and enemies are doubling in size. Its time, RIGHT NOW, for us to be revived!

See, getting revived means were getting our spirits refreshed which renews us to a better state than we were before that allows us to be ready to rebuild what has been torn down, reap from what has been sown in God’s soil, reach for our goals that have become reachable with God’s power, recover from the traps the devil thought would take us out, release the chains that have bound us for too long, remove the shades from the windows so that we can enjoy the sun, repent for the sins we’ve made, repair any relationships that we’ve broken and resolve any hurt that we’ve caused because with being revive it now allows us to rejoice righteously in God’s rewards. Yea, there is some reviving to be done, are you ready?

Daily Devotional – 9/4/12 “What are you waiting on? “

I mean you know that relationship you’re in isn’t progressing, so why are you staying? You know that job isn’t taking you anywhere, so why aren’t you looking for something better? You know that car isn’t worth the money you’re dumping into it, so stop! You know that you haven’t felt good in days, so why should someone have to beg you to take your grown butt to the doctor? Why are you procrastinating on doing what you know you should be doing? Is it fear, then that means your communication to God is broken because he says in Matthew 8:26 “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” Is it because you’re scared of falling? God says in Proverbs 24:16, “for though a righteous man falls seven times, he rises again.” Is it because you’re afraid that you’ll be alone? Well God promised in Hebrews 13:5 “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” Yea, keep waiting until you buy some clothes for church to get back in church because the next time you get there it maybe by way of the funeral home. See, God isn’t concerned about your shoes matching your belt or whether the dress/suit you have on is name brand because He is simply concerned about your spirit and if your spirit was right, fleshly stuff wouldn’t matter as much to you anyway. Well, Romans 8:5 says, “For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.” Yea, keep waiting on him or her to change before you get your happiness back because the next time you see it may be standing at Heaven’s gates when Psalm 37:4 says, “Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” I know, you’re saved but you’re waiting on your husband/wife to get saved before you join church and work on God’s side but 1 Corinthians 7:13-17 says, “And if a Christian woman has a husband who is not a believer and he is willing to continue living with her, she must not leave him. For the Christian wife brings holiness to her marriage, and the Christian husband brings holiness to his marriage. Otherwise, your children would not be holy, but now they are holy. But if the husband or wife who isn’t a believer insists on leaving, let them go. In such cases the Christian husband or wife is no longer bound to the other, for God has called you to live in peace. Don’t you wives realize that your husbands might be saved because of you? And don’t you husbands realize that your wives might be saved because of you? Each of you should continue to live in whatever situation the Lord has placed you, and remain as you were when God first called you. This is my rule for all the churches.” See, when you’re saved and doing the right things, the right way, for God, it covers your whole house! Believe me when I say this; if you are walking God’s path and His changes are evident in you, the unbeliever will soon be willing to meet the person who has changed you for themselves, so let them see it.

Stop waiting for things to come to you, go get what you want. If you want a college degree, go get it. If you want a new dress (and you’re able to afford it) go get it. If you know you need a part time job to get out of debt, go get it! If you need help for your grieving, go get it. If you need medicine for your sickness, go get it. What are you waiting on? If you know your house needs fixing, do it. If your car needs new tires, don’t wait until you have a blow out that can kill you, change them! Stop waiting and wasting time. The only person you should be waiting on is God because it says in Isaiah 40:31, “But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.” The only vision (plan) you should be waiting on is God’s plan for you because Habakkuk 2:3 says, “For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end—it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay.”

God is a just God and He will give you the desires of your heart, if you wait on Him; not on man. Stop waiting for this and for that which may not be what you want, for tomorrow which may never come or for your next birthday you may not see. Do the things that you should be or that you want to do now because you may not get another chance too. Tell folks you love them and mean it. Help folks without them having to beg and enjoy it. Give without expecting it back (if you’re able too). Live like this day is your last because it might just be. Stop waiting and be willing. Stop waiting and start walking. Stop waiting and be a right now witness. Stop waiting and start working on your vision. Stop waiting and start … whatever it is your heart desires to do. God has made you the head of your life, so live it!

Daily Devotional – 8/31/12 “It’s Friday Baby!”

Father Murphy walks into a pub in Donegal, and says to the first man he meets, “Do you want to go to heaven?” The man said, “I do Father.”

The priest said “Then stand over there against the wall.” Then the priest asked the second man, “Do you want to go to heaven?”

“Certainly, Father,” was the man’s reply.

“Then stand over there against the wall,” said the priest. Then Father Murphy walked up to O’Toole and said, “Do you want to go to heaven?”

O’Toole said, “No, I don’t Father.”

The priest said, “I don’t believe this. You mean to tell me that when you die you don’t want to go to heaven?”

O’Toole said, “Oh, when I die, yes. I thought you were getting a group together to go right now.”

Don’t you know that laughter is good for the soul? Well Proverbs 17:22 says, “A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit saps a person’s strength.” See, when you laugh it flows through your body like medicine does from an IV; it soothes those places that have hurt abiding in them and it mends the broken places and makes them like new. Yea, I know that it seems like God isn’t hearing your prayers, your tears never seem to stop, your pacing is never over and sleep just won’t come but Job 8:20-21 says, “But look, God will not reject a person of integrity, nor will he lend a hand to the wicked. He will once again fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with shouts of joy.” But you have to trust and believe that He will. It may look like you will never be happy again after your husband left you for somebody else but you will. It may even look like you’ll never get your head above water after the bills have sucked you under but you will. It may even look like there is nothing to laugh about but there is. God hasn’t left you and He’ll never forsake you but you have to believe that. You aren’t being punished because you have to do a few more chemo treatments, take insulin for your diabetes, medicine for your high blood pressure, dialysis for your kidneys, pills for migraines, shots for arthritis or even pills to help you sleep; that’s just simply the test that you have to go through in order to write your testimony. Stop waiting for folks to make you happy because happiness comes from within. Don’t believe me? Then read Proverbs 15:13 which says, “A happy heart makes the face cheerful, but heartache crushes the spirit.” Stop giving your heart out to folks who will make it unhappy and you know that they will. No, folks can’t take your heart or your happiness because they are both on the inside of you which means you have to give it to them, so stop giving it away and then acting like the world owes it back. The bible says in Psalm 37:4, “Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” This means that if you put your all in God, He’ll give you all your heart desires.

Laugh a little more today, smile a little bit more tomorrow, relax and let the worry go! Take your happiness back and you’ll be glad you did. Yes, God promised that we would have trouble but He didn’t say all the days would. Why do you think the bible says in Ecclesiastes 3:12-13, “So I concluded there is nothing better than to be happy and enjoy ourselves as long as we can. And people should eat and drink and enjoy the fruits of their labor, for these are gifts from God?” You should be happy because you deserve to be happy! Stop allowing the world to make you bitter and mean. You are the only person who can give your happiness away. Take it back right now and enjoy it!

I’ll leave you with this last joke!
A drunk man who smelled like cheap wine sat down on a subway seat next to a priest. The man’s tie was stained, his face was plastered with red lipstick, and a half empty bottle of gin was sticking out of his torn coat pocket. He opened his newspaper and began reading.

After a few minutes the man turned to the priest and asked, “Say, Father, what causes arthritis?”

“My Son, it’s caused by loose living, being with cheap, wicked women, too much alcohol and a contempt for your fellow man.”

“Well, I’ll be hornswaggled,” the drunk muttered, returning to his paper.

The priest, thinking about what he had said, nudged the man and apologized. “I’m very sorry. I didn’t mean to come on so strong. How long have you had arthritis?”

“I don’t have it, Father. I was just reading here that the Pope does”.

Daily Devotional – 8/29/12 “Are you still hoping?”

Baby, at this point in your life your mind should now be the expectancy level. Instead of hoping for things to happen you should be expecting for things to happen. See, expect is defined as to look forward to the probable occurrence or appearance of. Now, I’m speaking in the way of blessings and not mess because you should be expecting a cure for your arthritis, that new job, that new car, that new house/apartment/condo, that new spouse that belongs to only you, that mending for your heart that is broken, the drying of the tears that won’t seem to stop, the receiving of rest that you can’t find on a bad night, the comfort when momma is gone and daddy is no where around. Yea, you should be expecting these things by now. Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with hoping because Romans 5:5 says, “And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us,” but don’t just hope alone because with hope you have to have expectancy. Let me break this thang down. When you pray to God you hope that He hears your prayer and then you expect Him to come and see about you, right? When you hope for a callback from that job you applied for, you go in expecting to get the job. When you hope for a solution to the sickness in your body, you expect the medicine that the doctor gives, to work. See, in order to have hope you’ve got to also expect. This is why I said, before, that your mind should now be at the expectancy level because if you keep hoping that God hears you when will you expect him to send what you’re asking for?

Again, there is nothing wrong with hoping for this and hoping for that, but when will you expect to receive it? If you’re hoping for your check to come, it will eventually but when will you expect it to be there? If you’re hoping that your boyfriend will ask you to marry him, he can continue to drag his feet because you haven’t given him a date of when you expect him too. It’s like loaning someone money and you tell them you hope they will pay you back and they hope they will too but if you never give them a date of when you expect them too then they will pay you when they feel like it. You have to expect things to happen in order for them to happen. This doesn’t mean you get all cocky and arrogant in your expectancy from God and from folks but it means you have that type of faith to know that God will come just like he promised and folks will do what they say they will. See, if I pray with the hope that God will enlarge my territory; I’ve also got that type of faith to expect it to happen so now I’m clearing space in order to receive what I’ve asked for. I can’t say God isn’t coming to see about me if I never expect Him too because I’m only hoping He will. When will you expect your breakthrough? When will you expect your miracle? When will you expect your storm to be over, for your crying to stop? When will you expect to be elevated up instead of always being down? You’ve got to expect your healing to come! You’ve got to expect your financial breakthrough to come! You’ve got to expect for your husband or wife to come! You’ve got to get to your level of expectancy in order to get somewhere new. Psalm 62:5 says, “My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him.” God is your expectation because Psalm 62:6 says, “He only is my rock and my salvation, My stronghold; I shall not be shaken.” Expect and then get! Don’t stop hoping but with hoping expect. Hope for your miracle, hope for your blessings, hope for your deliverance and then expect to receive it! You are worthy of all the things that God has promised but you have to expect to get them.

Daily Devotional – 8/28/12 “Do they even care?”

Isn’t it crazy that you’re worried or concerned about people who aren’t even concerned about their own self? Yea, you’re concerned because your sister is sick yet she won’t even go to the doctor. You’re worrying yourself sick because Uncle Joe is killing himself with the drugs he shoots in his vein everyday yet he continues to do so. When will you start to care about your own well-being? Listen, if you’re grown and capable of getting your own stuff together yet you choose not too, that’s your fault. What sense would it make for me to constantly take you to rehab only for you to go in and not stay? If I’m sick, I have to be responsible for taking the medicine the doctor has given me and if I make a mistake I have to face the consequences for MY actions. Stop trying to take care of folks who are capable of taking care of themselves. If a grown woman or man can’t feed him or her self and they’ve been at home all day with food or the means to feed themselves, they need to starve. If a grown man or woman are sick and won’t take themselves to the doctor, then they must like being sick. If a grown man or woman is a drug addict, alcoholic, abuser, user, liar and/or backstabber and they don’t get themselves help; then why are you stressing missing your blessing because you’re too tired to pray cause you’re too busy guessing their whereabouts? Baby, you’d better let it go. When someone is ready to help him or her self they will. I’ve said this before and I’ll throw it in for free now …God won’t take nothing from you that isn’t His because that would make Him a thief and He doesn’t steal. If you have a problem that you want God to fix, heal or remove from you; give it to Him and watch Him work it out! Don’t believe me? The bible says in Psalm 55:22, “Give your burdens to the LORD, and he will take care of you. He will not permit the godly to slip and fall.” This says YOU have to GIVE. Still not convinced? Read 1 Peter 5:7 which says, “Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.” It still hasn’t marinated in your spirit? Then go back to Psalm 37:5 and read where it says, “Commit everything you do to the LORD. Trust him, and he will help you.”

This says commit everything you do to the Lord; not your neighbors, coworkers, grown children, spouses, family and friends but what you do! No, I am not saying stop praying for folks because there isn’t anything wrong with praying for folks since this is what we are supposed to do but there is something wrong when you’re losing weight stressing over somebody else’s mess. Your son is grown and he knows he shouldn’t be with that women who keeps sending his butt to jail yet you’re up crying and signing over your house to keep getting him out. Your daughter is grown and understands full well that if she keeps lying down with everybody there’s a strong possibility she may get something antibiotics can’t cure; so why are you concerned if she isn’t? Yea, your sister knows that if she keeps failing her classes, she’ll lose her scholarship but she doesn’t seem to care, so why are you? Yea, your cousin knows that if he keeps living in the streets with an attitude that nothing can stop him, something eventually will yet he isn’t concerned, why are you? Child, do your part; which is pray for their well being and for their eyes to eventually look to God for help but that’s all you can do. You can’t make a person go to the doctor, rehab, counseling, school, church or anywhere else they don’t want to go because if you do, they either won’t stay or they won’t follow the rules. When a person is ready for help, they’ll seek it for themselves and then they’ll stick with it.

God is willing to help them but they have to make the first step. Family and friends are willing to help but they have to make the first step. The teachers are willing to help but they have to make the first step. The constant in all of the above statements is … There is help for them but THEY have to be willing to ask for it and then accept it for themselves? Why are you constantly caring when they don’t? Pray for them and then pray for and care for yourself because when you’ve worried yourself sick, they’ll still be doing the same thing it was that you worried yourself sick with. They have to care for themselves and then they have to ask for the help for themselves. You can’t help anybody that doesn’t want to help him or her self. Ask yourself the question, “Do they even care?” and if the answer is no, move on!