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!

Daily Devotional – 8/27/12 “What is the big deal?”

Why do we spend time on ridiculous stuff when we could take that same amount of time and focus it on something positive? I mean, we spend time fussing at our husbands and sons about putting the toilet seat down but couldn’t they fuss that we don’t put it up? Think about it. The same effort it takes you to put it down is the same effort it takes for them to put it up, so what’s the big deal? Don’t you have bigger issues than that? You fuss at your son because he doesn’t put a garbage bag in the garbage can after taking out the trash but all the effort you spent hollering you could have used half of it to put a new bag in there instead of you having to wait until he comes in to actually get the bag and put it in. I mean really? You need to learn to pick your battles because some of them aren’t worth fighting anyway! You’re all hostile because you had to wait a little bit longer to get your food at the fast food place but had you went home to cook it would have taken a lot longer, so what’s the big deal? Stop rushing and stop complaining. Didn’t you read in Philippians 2:14 that says, “Do everything without complaining or arguing?” You complain when the traffic is heavy and then you complain when someone is going too fast. You complain when you see someone texting and driving yet you do the same. You complain when the kids don’t clean up and then you complain when they don’t clean like you like it. You complain when your spouse is late picking you up and then complain when he or she is on time and you say they’re rushing you. You complain when the job offers overtime and then complain when they don’t. You complain when the doctor is taking too long and then complain when they act like they’re in a hurry. You complain about the cost of groceries and them complain when you don’t have any. Baby, make up your mind!

What is the big deal because it’s raining outside, it happens. What is the big deal because there is a wreck on the expressway, it happens? What’s the big deal because your child has an attitude today, it happens? What is the big deal because folk talked about you, it happens? There will always be things happening around you and to you; that’s called life. Stop acting like it’s such a big deal when you get caught at the red light or at a railroad crossing because it’ll happen. Stop acting like it’s a big deal when you burn your toast because it’ll happen. Focus on the good and not the bad because I can guarantee that if you make a list of the good and the bad, the good will outweigh it every time. Yea, I know you woke up with a headache (bad) but you woke up (good), in your right mind (good), with the activities of your limbs (good) and with the strength to walk on top of the dirt that could have covered your grave (good). Yea, I know the bills outweigh your money (bad) but you have a job (good) with a steady paycheck coming in (good) and benefits (good) that allows you to be able to afford the wants and needs of your life (good). Yea, I know the doctor said you have cancer (bad) but you’re living (good), they caught it early (good), you have insurance to pay for your treatments (good), family and friends to help you through it (good) and a God who heals when all else fails (good)! So see, even when things don’t look good, it’s still better than it could be. Don’t dwell on the bad, the past and even on yesterday because today is new and fresh and you’re alive to see it. Get up out of that dusty pit you’ve put yourself in and live. Get up out of that corner you’ve backed yourself in and get your joy back. Get up out of your bed of loneliness and take your happiness back. Get up out of that dark room and reclaim your life. That depression, high blood pressure, diabetes, kidney disease, prostate/breast cancer, arthritis, migraines, sinus pressure, heartache, tears, being unemployed, abused and misused ain’t got nothing on God! Stop complaining and start casting your cares on the Lord. Stop whining and starting winning, stop playing and start praying, stop grumbling and start gaining, stop stalling and start shouting, stop running away and start rejoicing! God doesn’t need a complainer but he needs you to complete what you’ve started. Give to God and He’ll give to you. Go for God and He’ll go for you. Stand for God and He’ll stand for you! So what if things sometimes go wrong, it won’t be the first time and it surely won’t be the last so what’s the big deal?

Daily Devotional – 8/24/12 “Whatcha hiding it for?”

I didn’t have a devotional topic in mind this morning and even when I put my fingers on the keyboard, still nothing but then God took over. See, I’ve been thinking about granddaddy so much these last few days and sometimes my heartache feels like it was just yesterday that I was standing next to his bed when he finally received his rest and I want to cry. I want to be able to walk into the house that he lived in for over 60 years and hear him say; “Hey Marcy,” yet I know that I won’t hear him. I used to wonder what was the point of visiting somebody’s grave when it’s only his or her body there but if granddaddy’s burial place was a 10-minute drive, I’d probably be there everyday. Whew… I’m just so emotional yet through it all I’m looking for God in my tears because I know they have a purpose so I bow my head and pray for God to speak to me. I pray for His purpose in my heartache and in my strength and yet in my listening I received these words for you…

Stop living like you’re dead and stop burying your blessings because you’re afraid they may hurt somebody’s feelings or that your haters may get jealous! So what!! You made it through cancer, radiation, chemo, dialysis, high blood pressure, blood clots, and diabetes; shall I go on? Migraines, sinus pressure, toothache, alcoholism, drug addiction, sex addiction, being lied on, abused by the hands of someone who was supposed to love you, being homeless, without a car, lights off, no food in the refrigerator, money in the bank or your pocket, no job … still not enough? You made it through surgery when the doctor said you wouldn’t, you made it when momma/daddy died even though it felt like you’d never breath again, you made it when your spouse walked off, when the doctor said you got a STD you still survived, you walked off from that accident that should have claimed your life, that bullet grazed you when it was meant to pierce your heart, that knife didn’t go deep enough even though it was meant for your lung, that gang was stopped by the police on the way to jump you in so you got away… my point is YOU’RE LIVING SO ACT LIKE IT. All the things that should have killed you didn’t. Those things that would have killed you didn’t. Those things that meant to stop you, they didn’t succeed! Those things meant to quiet your praise, didn’t work. Those folks, who kept putting their mouth on you, can’t hurt you. Those folks who always whispering behind your back, can’t hinder you. That person, who hurt you and thought they had your joy, didn’t win! That person, who thought they’d stolen your smile, didn’t get it. Baby, don’t you get it? God is trying to come in but you’ve got to open the door. Stop worrying about what folks say, what folks do, how other folks will look at you and all that because there will always be somebody hating on what you have because they feel like it should have been theirs. Live for you and appreciate what you have. God blessed you with what you have and he didn’t stop sending down blessings when He gave you yours.

Don’t you know that God gives each of us different gifts/talents? Well the bible says in Romans 12:4, “For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function.” Stop being ashamed to use your gifts and blessings because Romans 12:6-8 says, “In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you. If your gift is serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, teach well. If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly.” Which simply means, whatever your gift, use it to the best of your ability! 1 Corinthians 12:7-11 says, “A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other. To one person the Spirit gives the ability to give wise advice; to another the same Spirit gives a message of special knowledge. The same Spirit gives great faith to another, and to someone else the one Spirit gives the gift of healing. He gives one person the power to perform miracles, and another the ability to prophesy. He gives someone else the ability to discern whether a message is from the Spirit of God or from another spirit. Still another person is given the ability to speak in unknown languages, while another is given the ability to interpret what is being said. It is the one and only Spirit who distributes all these gifts. He alone decides which gift each person should have.” It isn’t up to you the gift that you receive but it is up to God, so why hide it? Who cares because folks think that what you’re saying isn’t true because as long as you’re doing what God has given you to do, then you are doing your job. Do I think that everybody believes what I write, no but that’s their opinion because I am simply using the gift that has been bestowed upon me. Do I do it for worldly gain, no because the bibles says that my gift will make room for me, so I don’t have too.

Stop hiding your gift out of fear of hurting someone’s feelings because you may do a better job, they may be glad for the help. Stop hiding your gift because you don’t want to hear what others have to say, who are they anyway? Your gift was made for you and no one else can do with your gift what you can so use it. God has blessed you to be able to teach when a lot of others can’t. God has blessed you to cook when others can’t even boil pasta. God has blessed you to sing when others couldn’t carry a tune in a bucket. God has blessed you to be an encourager to others when some folks can never find the right words to say. God has blessed each of us with a gift that is specifically for us so don’t hide it. 1 John 2:27 say, “But you have received the Holy Spirit, and he lives within you, so you don’t need anyone to teach you what is true. For the Spirit teaches you everything you need to know, and what he teaches is true–it is not a lie. So just as he has taught you, remain in fellowship with Christ.” As long as you remain in fellowship with Go, he’ll remain in fellowship with you and your gift will continually be renewed. So use what you have because what sense does it make to hide it anyway?

Daily Devotional – 8/23/12 “It’s okay to not be okay!”

Yea, you read this right because I said; it’s okay to not be okay all the time. If every time someone walks by and asks how you’re doing and you reply, “Oh, I’m great,” you’re probably telling a story. See, not everybody is great all the time and it’s okay to admit that. You don’t have to be “Blessed and Highly Favored” every time I speak to you because at some point folks will need to see you go through a test in order for them to believe your testimony. I mean, how can I believe that God healed you when I’ve never seen you sick one day? If I’ve never seen you down then how can I really believe that God lifted you? If I’ve never seen you without, then how can I know that the God you’re serving actually provided for you? No, I don’t mean you have to be tore up and raggedy every time you’re going through trials and tribulations but at least let me know, sometime, that you’re human.

My daughter asked me to write on this topic on yesterday because I was talking to her about doing some devotionals for teenagers and once she gave me the title, I had to really pray on it because I needed to know what God would have me to say. See, I realized that during the times I don’t know she’s watching me and even the times she acts like she isn’t listening to what I’m saying, she is. Yes, I talk to her and even my son, a lot because this world that we’re leaving in is terrible and I want them to know that when they have moments of wanting to give in, they should give it over to God instead. The youth and young adults in this world are facing a lot more than what we could possibly think of and if we continue to sugar coat stuff instead of telling them the real deal; we may have issues on our hand long before the time we should. Baby, it’s time out for talking about birds and bees because we need to be talking about sex. Yea, it used to be cute to drop them off at the movie with a boy they like but honey, now the movie theater is too dark to hide a lot more things that kids are not afraid to be doing in public. While you are trying to keep your baby a baby, she or he can probably tell you more about the “birds & the bees” than you could have ever imagined because when you allow them to have a phone with internet, computer with internet and cable TV, what can we really expect? Have you stopped to listen to the music they have blasting in their ears, well you just might want too. Children are dealing with grown folk issues so they need to know how to handle grown folk issues. So, see; stop acting like everything is always okay around the kids when you know that it isn’t. You don’t have to have them all in your business but be honest with them because if you can’t afford to buy them a $100 pair of shoes because you have to make sure they have lights, tell them. What sense does it make for you to have them going to school with name brand stuff on from their head to their feet only to get there and put the teacher through pure hell and then you’re at work hungry because you can’t afford a $2 sandwich. Child, you better wake up. If you don’t pay but $9.99 for your jeans, theirs shouldn’t be far from it.

Stop acting like you’re okay all the time because sometimes it is okay to not be okay. Sometimes getting a hug can make it all feel all right, if only momentary, but if every time I see you and you’re acting like you never have a bad day why would I offer you one? Again, I am not saying that you have to become a whinny, miserable person but I am simply saying let folk see God working in your life so that your testimony is true. When 1 Peter 3:15-16 says, “But in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame.” This is simply saying, be always ready to answer when someone ask you about the God you’re serving. It doesn’t matter if they talk about you when you walk off because if you do what you’re supposed to do the right way and with the right tone, God will handle the rest. See, when folks ask you about the God you’re serving after they’ve seen the things he’s done for you, they’ll be quicker to believe you and even try Him for themselves. However, if you try to tell me how God has fed you when you were hungry yet I’ve never seen you hungry; how God has made a way for you when you didn’t have a car; yet I’ve never seen you without one; how God has healed you yet I’ve never seen you sick; how God has wiped your tears yet I’ve never seen you cry – I may just have a hard time believing you. This is why I say; it’s okay to not be okay! Stop trying to act like you got all your stuff together because you’re afraid of what they world may say when the world will chew you up and spit you out on your best day. Stop trying to conform to what folks think you should be, act the way they think you should act, walk the way they think you should walk; eat what they think you should eat and all that because truthfully who in the hell are they anyway? 1 John 2:16 says, “For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world.” Which is why 1 John 2:17 says, “And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever.”

You don’t have to act like you got it all together all the time because everybody, yes everybody, goes through a storm. You don’t have to be strong every day because we all have to hurt before we can heal; there’s no way around it. You can’t mend a heart if it’s never been broken the same way you don’t put Neosporin on a place that has no cut. In order to heal you have to go through some hurt so act like it. You don’t have to wear a badge of your hurts and past mistakes but let somebody see you down sometimes so that they’ll see the goodness of God in your getting up. Let somebody see you sick so they can see the power in God’s healing. Let somebody see you cry every now and then so that they can see his grace when he wipes your tears. Let them see God working in you so that on the days when you know it’s okay to not be okay, you’ll actually be okay!