Daily Devotional – 8/6/12 “Have you ever?”

Have you ever had an unsettling feeling in the pit of your stomach and couldn’t really explain why? You may feel like crying, shouting or like something bad is about to happen? Well, I have that feeling today and I just don’t know why. I’m not worried about anything or anyone in particular and I don’t think there is anything negatively happening around me but I still have this feeling. Don’t get me wrong, there is no doubt within me because I believe that everything that happens is in God’s plan so I have no reason to doubt because Psalm 34:17-20 says, “When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all. He keeps all his bones; not one of them is broken.” So, I’m going to take this unsettling feeling as a way that God is using to speak through me and I shall listen. See, I didn’t have a clue about a devotional topic today and I was going to skip writing one but then my husband text to see where the devotional was and when I said I may not do one he asked, “What’s troubling you?” I, then, realized that this isn’t about me because although I write these devotionals as my release; they are much more to those who read them so I couldn’t and wouldn’t be selfish. No matter what happens and no matter what the reason is behind this feeling that I have, I have work to do. I have to push through in order to see what it is God is trying to get me to see because had I wallowed in this feeling, then the enemy would have succeeded in what he sat out to do today which was to keep me from sharing God’s word. Well, the devil is a lie because I woke up with the use of every one of my limbs and in my right mind; so I will do just what God has ordained me to do. I don’t have to have a specific topic to tell you how good God is; how he’ll be there for you through the dark nights; how he’ll provide sleep when it just doesn’t want to come; how he’ll send peace when all hell is breaking loose in your life or how he’ll provide for you when you’re down to your last and it seems like there is no help coming.

Baby, I just stopped long enough to tell you that no matter what you’re facing, going through, just came out off, got away from, need to get away from, whatever you’re running from or whatever has you bound; God is able to fix it for you. Yea, I know that you’ve called on Him and it seems like He isn’t hearing your pleas, but He is. I know it seems like every time you get to see over the water you’re drowning in, something comes along to pull you down but just hold on. I know it seems like every time you reach for a glass of water, you’re tears are filling the glass but just don’t give up. Yea, momma may be gone; daddy may be a deadbeat; sister is doing you wrong because of jealousy; brother is hindering you instead of helping; church folks pushing you instead of praying for you; folks on the job is throwing rocks and hiding their hands but God hasn’t changed. So just wait, don’t give up or give in! I don’t have all the answers for you and I can’t tell you how long you’ll be in your storm but I do know that everything that starts will eventually have to end, so just please hold on a little while longer. I’ve shared this on Facebook for 2 days and I feel the need to share it with you today because I want, no I need you to know that you are capable of doing all things through Christ because He is your strength. Baby, get you some God and then keep you some God. Keep God with you like you do your cigarettes & lighter. Keep God with you like you do that chapstick in your pocket. Keep God with you like your driver’s license. Keep God with you like you do your badge for work or your car keys. Keep God with you like you do that $1.25 for daily Coca-Cola habit. All I am saying is keep God with you because He’s better than bread, he won’t mold, he’s better than milk, he won’t spoil, he’s better than insurance because he won’t drop your coverage and he doesn’t lapse, he’s better than the sun because he never goes down, He’s better than the moon because he doesn’t have to wait until nightfall to show himself and he’s much better than so called friends because he won’t stab you in the back. Child, get some God in your life and you’ll be glad you did! Yea, I just thought I stop by to let you know that no matter how you feel and no matter what is going on around you, God never changes. Have you ever tried Him? Have you ever trusted Him? Have you ever tasted His goodness? Have you ever allowed Him to see you through? Try my God because He’ll never let you down.

Daily Devotional – 8/3/12 “Just thought I’d tell you!”

Sometimes we think the devil is busy but couldn’t it be God clearing out the mess in order for you to hear the message so that you can take it to others in order to bless them out their mess? (I know, go back and read that sentence again so that it can marinate in you!) See, God removes folks who are hindering our work for him, so don’t think you’re being punished when she or he leaves because most times they weren’t yours to begin with. Yea, you lost your job but all you have to do is wait upon the Lord and he’ll send you the right one that you couldn’t see from all the hours you spent at the last one. I know that you’ve lost a family member and it’s hard (I’m talking from experience) but that was just your wake up call to get YOU together. Chile, the dead don’t have worries anymore but you do so why are you stressing over their passing when you need to be getting yourself together in order to one day see them again? Church isn’t any different. I’ve been sitting back watching the changes that have been taking place in our church, from needing a musician to the final stages of the renovations and if you’re looking through natural eyes, you might say they devil is surely busy down in Hollywood, MS; but if you’re looking through spiritual eyes then you’ll know that it’s ALL GOD! I am a firm believer that God is simply taking us through the changing process so that we come out fresh and renewed and just like I told Uncle Larry, we won’t have to go looking for a musician because God will send us who we need to have. Plus, (I’ll throw this in for free), we had a great rehearsal on last night with NO music and praises still went up. Don’t tell me that you have to have music and instruments to get your praise on because you don’t.

Baby, when it seems like one moment you’re walking on top of the world and the next the world is on top of you, it’s simply your season changing. Don’t believe me? Then you need to read Ecclesiastes 3:1 which says, “To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.” See, God works in seasons in our life, why do you think we have 4 seasons of weather? The same way we experience the season of winter, spring, summer and fall; we experience seasons in our Christian life. We experience winter when the storms that are raging in our lives that leaves ice on the ground which causes us to slip and fall back into worldly desires and it causes power outages, which is the light of God, from shining in our lives to keep us from doing right. During the spring season, the storms are still there but they aren’t as bad as winter. Yea, you’ll experience a lot of rain but you’ve gotten used to it now, so you’re prepared with your rain boots and umbrella. You’ve started to pray a little now because you don’t feel like all hell is breaking loose in your world and you’ve started to see a little sun shining through the clouds. During the summer season, the storm clouds are few and far between & during this season, your praise is more real than it has ever been, your marriage/relationship seems to be going good, the kids are acting right, you got a little money left after paying bills, you got the job you applied for (the one you wanted) and all seems to be well. But then the wind picks up and it has blown the death angel into your home and he took momma with him. The leaves are falling outside and the tears are falling on the inside because the doctor says cancer. The weather is starting to get a little chilly and so is the relationship between you and your spouse because it seems like things were just going good, now you’re asking, “What’s happening?” The kids are acting up in school, job is stressful and the car keeps cutting off. This isn’t God taking his hands off of you; it’s simply you going into your fall season. See, during this season, the devil is trying to get you to fall so he’s keeping his hands on your back, pushing, but keep reading God’s word that says, “Though they stumble, they will never fall, for the LORD holds them by the hand (Psalm 37:24).” Then if you do happen to fall, read Psalm 20:8 that says, “They are brought to their knees and fall, but we rise up and stand firm.” God didn’t say you wouldn’t have moments of falling as long as you get back up. Don’t allow the fall season to take you out because it’s just getting you ready to go into your next season. There isn’t a certain way our seasons appear and it really doesn’t matter how they come as long as you trust God through them. God hasn’t given up on you when hard times come, it simply your season changing. Hold on!

Daily Devotional – 8/2/12 “Tomorrow isn’t promised!”

Reflecting over the past month and how things have surely changed, I am reminded that death nor trouble nor blessings have a specific date to show up. See, death comes at an instant even for those who have been toiling a while, death still comes quickly with the stopping of their heart and their breathing. Trouble also comes in a blink of an eye because one minute you’re driving home and the next you can be in the back of an ambulance fighting for your life or walking around the grocery store and then the next minute gone from a heart attack. Blessings, they too, come in an instant because one minute you’re drowning in depression and the next you’re swimming in progression. My point is, don’t waste too much time wondering if, wandering lost and just simply wavering between to have faith or not because while you’re crying over the things that are going wrong you’re missing out on the things that are going right.


This is why you have to stay prayed up, faith filled, favored down and salvation wrapped. Child, don’t even let the enemy get a foot into your home because you’ll have a hell of a time getting him out. Just to let you know; the only way the enemy gets into your home is by riding with somebody else, so be careful who you open your door too. You are equipped with what you need to handle the struggles, strains, circumstances and situations of walking in the flesh but you have to believe that you can. The bible says in 1 Corinthians 1:27, “But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong.” See, God doesn’t choose folk who have already qualified themselves but He qualifies those whom He calls. You’re wondering why God chose you to be the Youth Director with all the stuff you’ve done in your past but He chose you because He knew those things made you strong enough to be a testimony to all those after you. You wonder how God could take somebody walking the streets, strung out on drugs, with a filthy mouth and attitude and turn them into a living testimony for the world to see but know that He had a purpose and a plan for them all along. Baby, God can take a whoremonger and turn them into the best husband. He can take an alcoholic and turn them into a Preacher who minsters to thousands with very little effort. He can take a prostitute and make her one of the best Congresswomen. He can take a crackhead and turn her into the best mother you’ve ever seen. And he can take a wretch like me who isn’t fitting to live and not ready to die; pick me up, dip me into his blood (baptism water), whisper to me “It’s all good now”, forgive me of my sins and erase my past and turn me into somebody who writes devotionals for you to ride by simply putting my fingers to a keyboard and my eyes on Him! Isn’t that worth a praise break? There isn’t anybody who can make me doubt this Man because I know for myself what he is capable of doing!


You know it for yourself and with a strong belief in God and a strong belief in self; you’re ready to win this fight. See, sometimes you have to give your own self a standing ovation to admire the things you’ve overcome and the heartache and disappointments that got you there. Don’t be afraid to pat yourself on the back and don’t be afraid to congratulate yourself every now and then. You are supposed to be your number one fan because if you don’t believe in yourself, you’ll have a hard time getting someone else too. Now, this doesn’t mean brag on yourself but let your work speak for you. This also doesn’t mean walk around with your nose in the air because no matter how far up it gets, you can still smell crap a mile away. Toot your own horn, congratulate yourself, encourage yourself and give yourself a round of applause but don’t allow your head to get bigger than what your body can carry because the last thing you want is to knock your own self down. Take the time to live before your chances run out. Your life has been purposely made for you so don’t spend time allowing your time to run out. No man knows their day or hour so live every day like tomorrow isn’t promised simply because it’s not.

“Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out; you formed me in my mother’s womb. I thank you, High God—you’re breathtaking! Body and soul, I am marvelously made! I worship in adoration—what a creation! You know me inside and out, you know every bone in my body; you know exactly how I was made, bit by bit, how I was sculpted from nothing into something. Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth; all the stages of my life were spread out before you, the days of my life all prepared before I’d even lived one day.” Psalm 139:13-16 (The Message Bible)

Daily Devotional – 7/31/12 “Sooner or later!”

I know that it looked like your storm was coming to an end and as soon as you stepped out, without your umbrella, the clouds begin to roll in again; but I’m here to tell you that even though you may not have a physical umbrella to cover your head from the rain that’s pouring, you still have a spiritual one that you never have to remember to grab. See, God hasn’t forgotten about you simply because it seems like you’ve been under the storms clouds for a while now, so hold on. Yea, the clouds of depression, having more bills than money, more sick days than well ones, death keeps taking the folks you love, folks on the job acting slick slow and the kids are constantly messing up; BUT GOD! I’ve said this before: The storm you’re in isn’t to punish you; but the rain is simply washing off the dirt that has been thrown on you from haters, it’s washing off the mud that covered you when folk drug your name from here to there, it’s washing off the blood from being stabbed in your back, it’s washing off all of the signs that folk have placed on you calling you this & that and it’s preparing you to enjoy the sun that’ll shine once the storm is over. Don’t you realize that just because you can’t see other folk struggles it doesn’t mean they aren’t going through? If I looked like the things I’m going through I’d be tore up, hair all over my head, shoes raggedy, pants with holes in them and an overall mess. Just because your account is in the negative, your cable might be off, you got a cut-off notice for your lights and your rent is late, you don’t have to look like it. Deuteronomy 31:8 says “Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD will personally go ahead of you. He will be with you; he will neither fail you nor abandon you.”

Stop thinking that just because folks are being blessed they don’t have a stormy season because either they’re going through now, about to go through or just coming out of one and if they tell you that all their days are sunny; they’re a lie and the truth isn’t anywhere in them! Stop fretting because baby you shouldn’t look like your problems! Stop worrying about how folks look at you just because you may need food stamp assistance because most of them need them too. Stop being concern if folks will talk about you if you catch the bus because most of them are hiding their car now from the repo man. Stop catering to folks because they surely won’t cater to you! Ok, so you’re in your storm; it’ll end sooner or later. Baby, while you are trying to conform to folks somebody you know, that’s probably close to you, doesn’t even think you deserve the job you got, but look at God. Somebody you know is still trying to figure out how you got approved for the car you got, but look at God working. Somebody is wondering how you made it through cancer with the life you lived when others, they feel are better, died but look at God working this. Somebody is questioning how you manage to still have money left over from paycheck to paycheck when all you do is shop but look at God working this thang! Somebody is even trying to see how God could have picked somebody like you, who used to be on drugs, dancing in night clubs and sleeping with anyone who would lie flat; clean you up and now you’re the minister of music at church but LOOK AT GOD WORKING THIS THANG OUT! See, while they are trying to figure it out, God has already worked it out. While YOU are trying to figure it out, God has already worked it out. While they are counting your blessings, they are simply adding theirs to yours. While they are counting you out, God is simply adding pegs to your footstool and lifting you higher! So go on and tell them to talk about you, lie on you, scandalize your name, try to ruin your relationship, and keep on digging that ditch for you because when it’s all over with God has you covered so all is surely well! Because when I no longer look at what I used to be or how I use to look, I see how I was meant to be. I am who God has made me, so I will pray every day “Turn my eyes from worthless things, and give me life through your word,” Psalm 119:37. Sooner or later God is going to turn this thang around for you! All you have to do is say YES LORD! See, when you give yourself and your problems over to God, he will work it out for you; sooner or later. Not all your days will be sunny but even on your bad days; your rejoicing will still be the same! God has this thang worked out but you have to believe it. You may not be where you want to be and you may not even have what you think you should have but hold on because sooner or later, things will have to get better!

Daily Devotional – 7/27/12 “Rear back and then get back up!”

There’s a story that is often told by ministers that goes;

There was a young man who wanted to win a bear for his girlfriend at a carnival so he went up to this booth to play the game. When he stepped up, the guy running the game said; “Son, the object of this game is to take the ball and throw it at this doll until you knock her down but you only get 3 tries.” The young man was excited because he was a little league pitcher and knew it would be easy, so he took the ball and threw it but when it hit the doll; she simply reared back and then got back up. Not being defeated he tried again and the doll did the exact same thing. By this time an older man walked up and said; “Son, why are you wasting your time and money trying to knock this doll down for a bear you can easily go buy at a store? Don’t you know the maker of that doll put something on the inside of it that when she is hit with anything she simply rears back and then comes back up?”

See, the moral of the story is; your maker, God, has placed something on the inside of you that allows you to overcome any obstacle that’s thrown at you by simply rearing back and then getting back up. Yea, see rearing back means you get knocked over yet you don’t get knocked out. Rearing back means you might wobble but you won’t fall. Rearing back means you may get the wind knocked out of you but you’re still living. Don’t you know you have that capability inside of you? Yea, you have the mechanisms already on the inside of you to be knocked back but not broken! (I’ll give you a second to let that sink in) It’s like when the enemy came in and attacked your body with sickness but now it’s been 5 years and you’re still cancer, high blood pressure or dialysis free. It’s like when man handed you that pink slip 6 months ago yet you haven’t missed a meal or a bill. It’s like when that man or woman who was supposed to love you until death did you part left when times got hard, yet your heart didn’t turn to stone. It’s like when your so-called friend was the one who stabbed you in the back even after the numerous times you bailed them out yet you still trust folks. It’s like when family talked about you because they thought your blessings should be theirs and yet you’re still being favored by God. Humph! Don’t you know that God won’t allow you to be hurt at the hands of your enemy? I know it seems like they’re winning the battle but baby that’s just one round; you got plenty more to go so just hold on. Who cares because they got you breathing hard or your legs shaking, you’re ready for this if you’ve been paying attention to your trainer because Psalm 144:1-2 says, “Blessed be the Lord, my rock, who trains my hands for war, and my fingers for battle. He is my loving God and my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer, my shield, in whom I take refuge, who subdues peoples under me.” So why you worried when you have a team mate waiting to be tagged in who has never lost a match? Psalm 18:2 says, “The LORD is my rock, my fortress, and my savior; my God is my rock, in whom I find protection. He is my shield, the power that saves me, and my place of safety.” Yea, they may be laughing at you from the sideline, that’s ok, because you got somebody on your side that doesn’t worry about the naysayers because he can’t be counted out only counted on and he can’t be defeated yet he doesn’t have to boast of his winnings. Stop being concerned about the lengths folks will go through to hurt you because although it’ll sting your flesh, it’ll only last as long as you allow it too. You are destined for trouble because you’re living but don’t allow the trouble to turn you into somebody you’re not. You don’t have to be mean because folk are mean to you, smile in spite of the way your heart is feeling. You don’t have to do folk wrong because they do you wrong, laugh in spite of the tears that are filling your eyes. You don’t have to push folk down because they pushed you when all you have to do is pray while you’re down and then dust yourself off when you get up and keep on moving! When the world seems to be throwing stuff at you to knock you down, simply rear back but then get right back up! Being down doesn’t mean you’re out; it’s just a momentary time out to catch your breath. Now, get up and get back out there because there is work to be done. Rear back, because there will be crap thrown at you, but then get back up!