Daily Devotional – 7/25/12 “Pray like its Sunday Morning!”

Heavenly Father,

As I petition your throne today, I must first thank you. I thank you for never taking your hands off of me, even when I do wrong, you never leave me. I must thank you for my being in my right mind and for having strength in my body that allows me to use the activity of my limbs. I thank you for giving me back everything I had on yesterday even if I didn’t act like I appreciate it. God, someone is reading this and their heart is troubled and I don’t know why, but I know that you do. God, I ask that you touch them right now and send that deliverance, they so badly need, into their life now. God someone is looking for confirmation to a decision or situation, send it to them now! Someone is dealing with some things that seem hopeless, but Oh God I know that you are able to send calm in the midst of a storm, send it now. God, someone got bad news from a doctor but you can send healing before any medicine is even given, send it now. Someone got fired or laid off from their job, but I know that you, God, are a provider, keep them now. Someone is dealing with the death of a love one, send rest to their weary mind today, oh God, do it right now. I know that I am just a vessel sharing your word but I ask that you touch my head, heart, mind, body & soul, so that I may continue to be a vessel for you. God anoint me with your blood; have your way in my life and whatever path you set before me, I am ready as long as you are the light! God bless the person reading this so that they may share your word with others. Touch now, anoint now, bless now, guide now and heal how! God, I come before you giving you all of me, even the parts that have yet to be cleansed because no one can clean them like you. God, I know that I am yet a sinner but I thank you because even I still make mistakes; yet you forgive me for my sins and I ask that you clean my heart so that I won’t make them again and only learn from them. I am the clay and I’m in your hands, mold me into the person you would have me to be and give me exactly what you would have me so say and guide me to do the things you would have me to do. God, I want my light to shine bright so that I may bring in those who are lost and wandering in the wilderness. I’m not perfect but that means there is still work to be done, so I cry out today WORK ON ME GOD! Work on me Jesus! Thank you for giving me a mind to work for you, for giving me the gifts that you restore to me every day and for giving me the encouragement to go even after folks have knocked me down. Thank you God! Now, I ask that you continue to bless my family, continue to strengthen Grandma to be the woman you’d have her to be and continue to surround us with your protection. Thank you for believing in me even when it is hard to believe in myself. Thank you for giving me all of you even when I don’t give you all of me. I will work for you God until the day you send that chariot of angels to bring me home. Thank you for never taking your hands off of me.

In your name I pray, Amen!

Daily Devotional – 7/23/12 “I’m in awe of God’s awesomeness!”

Even through my grief, strains and struggles; I am still able to see the goodness of God. See, in granddaddy’s passing I’ve seen the goodness of him no longer struggling to live and I’ve seen the peace that grandma now has because she doesn’t have to worry about him anymore. In my struggling and daily strains, I see the goodness of my breakthrough coming, so I have no reason to complain. Even in the midst of being lied on by family, talked about for trying to do what is good and going when I don’t feel like going; I see the goodness of God’s strength holding me together. Yes, I am in awe of the awesomeness of this Man! He can hold without me feeling his arms around me, he can make me feel his presence when I’m lonely without walking into my room, he can wipe my tears without me feeling his hands, he can soothe my fears without me hearing his voice and he can sustain me without even depositing money into my bank account. Oh, when I tell you about this awesomeness; it’s not because I’ve read it on the internet, heard about it on TV, seen about it through someone else’s eyes but it because I am a living witness. No, I won’t say I’ve had moments when I thought suicide was the only way out or days when I’ve turned to drugs, alcohol or men but that doesn’t mean I haven’t had bad days. But I’ve lived long enough (in my 35 years) to know that whatever I’m going through could be 10 times worse. I know that the things we deal with raising teenage children could be worse because we could have buried a child like some parents have. I know that the stress of the job can sometime wear us out but we could be without one which means no steady income or insurance. I know the things we have to deal with when the car won’t start or tire is flat could be worse because we could be walking in 100 degree weather but we’re not. Yes, I am in awe of God’s awesomeness because he doesn’t have to share it with me but he does; he doesn’t have to love me like he do, but he does; he doesn’t have to see about me on my sad days, but he does; he doesn’t have to send the sun when I’m in my storm, but he does and he doesn’t have to give me eyes to see, legs to walk, a mouth that talks and ears that hears but he does! I don’t need advice on how to serve my God, I don’t need inspiration to wave my hand, I don’t need to be pumped and primed to praise Him because if He stops right now sending me blessings; I still couldn’t thank Him enough!

I suggest you take a moment to see the awesomeness of God in your life now, right now. Yea, I know you may be drinking tears for water, you may be missing the way your pillow feel because you can’t sleep, feet are tired from pacing, body is worn out from always working or mind is tired from trying to think of ways to pay Paul when you still need to pay Peter but just stop and look. There is a purpose for everything that we go through. Let me say it again, THERE IS A PURPOSE FOR EVERYTHING WE GO THROUGH. Yea, it’s Monday and folks have called in and left you to handle the work but God knew you could do it which is why he allowed you to get peaceful rest on last night. Yea, I know you only have $20 to hold you until Friday but God can make it where you’ll still have that same $20 bill on Friday when you get paid. Yea, I know you didn’t have the money to pay your tithes on Sunday like you wish you had but God knows. Stop wondering if you’re being punished because it seems like you’ve been in your storm too long; God may just have you hidden under the clouds until all the crap settles that hit the fan. I’ve told you before that when it seems like all Hell has broken loose, it’s just God shaking up the stuff around you and once it all settles down; the things that needs to be left will be there and the things that don’t, won’t be. Take a moment to look around and see the awesomeness of God in your situation because he may have the door open for you to walk through but you won’t see it until you look.

Daily Devotional – 7/20/12 “Look through your spiritual eyes!”

While driving to work this morning, I had 2 people to pull in front of me and had I not being paying attention I could have had a wreck yet I’m thankful because I had my eyes open and my mind focused. Now, when I got to my desk I begin thinking about it and I realized that the enemy was trying to detour my path and had I not being paying attention, he probably would have succeeded. Then it made sense because while we’re working on this Christian journey , the enemy’s job is to make us unbalanced but if we’re paying attention God will have our eyes open to see the enemy’s traps AND then avoid them. Isn’t that great news? See, had I been texting or messing with the radio I could have had an accident the first time and when that didn’t work, he tried again but Oh, my God still has work for me to do here so the enemy’s attempts didn’t work. Yea, I know the devil’s sole purpose is to throw us off of God’s path but I’m reminded every day that God has us surrounded with his protection as long as WE STAY in his protection. Psalm 91:1-6 says, “Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty. This I declare about the LORD: He alone is my refuge, my place of safety; he is my God, and I trust him. For he will rescue you from every trap and protect you from deadly disease. He will cover you with his feathers. He will shelter you with his wings. His faithful promises are your armor and protection.” See, God’s protection for us doesn’t change but we sometimes change the direction in which we’re walking which takes us from under it. You know good and well that God didn’t tell you to meet that man/woman at the hotel on lunch and now you’re mad at him because somebody backed into your car but had you had your tail at Taco Bell like you said your car would be fine. Oh and if I shall tell the truth you’ve been some places and done some things you shouldn’t have and the only reason why you didn’t get caught is because of God’s protection. (So I’ll pause and let you say thank you Lord).

The enemy uses the moments that we’re distracted to slip in because he knows we aren’t paying attention and we surely aren’t talking to God then so it’s his prime opportunity. That’s why the bible says in 1 Peter 5:8, “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” He knows you had an argument before you left home so he sends your coworker by, smelling all good, to see how you are and before long you all have exchanged numbers. Now, you’re walking around the house being real rude so that you can have an excuse to use that number in your phone but James 4:7 says, “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” Or the kids have worked your nerves all the way to church so he allows you to go into worship with anger on your heart because he knows the Holy Spirit isn’t abiding in you and now you leave church worse than before you came and you want to blame the preacher. No, child; it isn’t the preacher, it’s all you because Ephesians 4:27 says, “For anger gives a foothole to the devil.” You have to stop being so wishy washy in your relationship with God and so easily persuaded. If you’ve made a vow to stop smoking, don’t give in just because somebody said you can’t do it. If you’ve committed yourself to making your marriage work, then stop responding to the text messages that are being received. You don’t have to go the wrong way just because you have the chance too because an easy route doesn’t necessarily make the best route to take. I’ve told you before the devil can make a patch of dirt look like fresh green grass, that’s if you’re looking through natural eyes, and you’ll fall for it every time. We’ve got to get back to this spiritual thing. See, in your natural eyesight you’ll see trust but in your spiritual eyesight you’ll see God saying it’s just temptation. In your natural eyesight you’ll see love but in your spiritual eyesight you’ll see God showing you that it’s just lust. In your natural eyesight you’ll see marriage but in your spiritual eyesight, God will show that it’s just misery looking for company. That’s why God says in 1 John 4:1, “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.”

Please note this … Not all things we go through are caused by the enemy because God sometimes sends us test just to see if we are ready to be elevated but if you haven’t been studying His word, you won’t be able to tell the difference. That’s why you have to, “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth,” as it says in 2 Timothy 2:15. Study God’s word and pray with a clean heart so that your eyes can be opened to see the traps, messy folks and situations that have been set by the enemy in order for you to avoid them or at least get the strength you need to handle them. If you go into a fight blind, you’ll lose every time. Be careful of the folks you call friends because not everyone has your best intentions in mind. Be careful of the roads you’re traveling because not all have signs letting you know that danger is ahead. Be careful of the Spiritual Guide you’re following because not all of them are reading the map correctly. Study for yourself so that when you seem to be off course, you’ll notice it in enough time to get back on it. Open your spiritual eyes and then look again because not everything is as clear cut as it seems.

Daily Devotional – 7/19/12 “I mean, really?”

I was listening to WDIA in the car this morning, not by my choice, but I heard Bobby O’Jay say that some white people try to act black and some black people, when they talk with sense, try to act white. Now, I don’t know about you but I’ve always thought he was kind of special (not in a good way) and this just further proved my point. I mean, why can’t all people just generally be themselves? Just because a white person sag their pants does it mean they are trying to be black? Why can’t they simply just want their pants to sag? And if a black person talk without using slang and Ebonics can’t it simply mean they just know how to talk without it being them trying to act white? God created all of us and in doing so, He created us in His image which means once we get to Heaven there won’t be an issue of race, anyway, right? It just saddens me the way some folks think. There isn’t a black or white way to act but there is simply a right and wrong way to act. Am I acting white because I choose to get a college education? Are white people acting black because they want their hair braided or they eat soul food? What is really going on in our society? Romans 12:4-5 says, “Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other.” See, it doesn’t say we are divided by race/nationality but we are all one because when all the crap boils down we all bleed red blood, we have the same organs, we all put one leg in our pants at a time, a shirt over our head and one shoe on at a time. It doesn’t matter that your skin may be lighter than mine because if you need my heart and I’m a match it’ll be placed in your body. If we are Christians, like we are supposed to be, then we are keepers of each other and it shouldn’t matter about how different we look or speak. God didn’t place barriers on the relationships with each other, society did. God’s second commandment says, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these.” (Mark 12:31) Do you think Jesus was concerned about the difference in the folks that he healed and delivered? No because Matthew 12:50 says, “For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.” Yea, I know that the world has placed us in the predicament that were in but that doesn’t mean we have to stay there. You won’t go to a certain neighborhood because the news says it is the most dangerous but don’t you know that you can be killed on the streets of Collierville just as easily as you can in North Memphis? Death has no respect of person or place, so stop acting like you can only get killed at night around a certain group of people. When it’s your time to leave from this side, it’ll just be your time. We don’t have to try to be anyone other than who God made us because when we stand before Him at judgment, He’ll be concerned with the work that we’ve done not how we wore our pants or spoke with the proper grammar.

My prayer is for folks to be who God made them and not who the world has turned them into. God didn’t make you meaner than a rattlesnake that’s just how you choose to be because His word says in Proverbs 17:17, “A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born to help in the time of trouble.” God didn’t make a woman shave her head to look like a man, that was your choice, because the bible says a woman’s hair is her glory (1 Corinthians 11:15). God didn’t say you had to have a certain tie on to worship Him or a certain degree to read His word, society did, because He said in John 15:16, “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.” He didn’t say for whites to pray to Him on Tuesday, blacks on Wednesday, Mexican on Thursday and etc., but He said in 1 Thessalonians 5:17, “Never stop praying;” and Ephesians 6:18, “Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion.” You don’t have to be anyone other than who you are because you are created in God’s image and for His purpose. You don’t have to conform to the world around you but let the world conform to you. It doesn’t matter that we look different because you are still my brother, my sister and I’ll pray for you no matter when or where. It shouldn’t be an issue of trying to be like someone else because if we are all living like we are supposed too then you trying to be like me should be you getting your walk with Christ right. 2 Timothy 2:15 says, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” God made each of us and yes our skin is different, our hair texture is different and the way we eat or dress is different but we are still the same underneath it all. No one has to act a certain way because the color of their skin dictates it but act the way you are supposed to act, the right way. We are all the same because we were all created by the same. “For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him; Colossians 1:16.”

Daily Devotional – 7/18/12 “Faith is all you’ll need!”

Yea, I know that death seems to have you surrounded lately, it seems like you can’t get your head above water or you can’t get the sickness to leave you alone but hold on! You do know that God won’t allow His righteous children to be forsaken, right? Well, Psalm 37:28-29 says, “For the LORD loves the just and will not forsake his faithful ones. They will be protected forever, but the offspring of the wicked will be cut off; the righteous will inherit the land and dwell in it forever.” That means if you are honorable, good, just and upright in the things that you do, God won’t allow you to be thrown out, discarded, abandoned or rejected yet you’ll always receive his favor. So, don’t fret because the devil seems to be busy in your life right now because God says; when you’re down He’ll pick you up, when you lean He’ll be your leaning post, when your way is dark He’ll be a light unto your path and when you can’t go any longer He’ll carry me. He promises to be your mother when she’s gone, a friend when they walk away, a healer when you’re sick, and food when you’re hungry… So why are you worrying about things of this world? Haven’t you realized that bills will still remain, lying will never die and folks will hurt you although God remains just who he says he is? Then why won’t you put your trust in God, this way those who you trust will have to go through Him to get to you which means He’ll protect you! I know you’ve heard the saying, put your heart in God so that those who want a piece of it will have to go through Him to get it? Then what are you waiting for? God says, “Why are you so fearful, oh ye of little faith?”(Matthew 8:26) When the door gets closed in your face, didn’t I give your hands strength to knock with? When folk talk about you, didn’t I give you knees to go down on to pray for them! When you mess up, didn’t I give you a mind to think and learn from your mistakes? When your heartache seems to be too hard to bear, am I not a heart fixer? When folk speak death in your life, didn’t I give you a tongue that speaks life? (Proverbs 18:21). When the car stops, didn’t I give your legs strength to walk? When money is low, am I not your provider! When times are hard, won’t I be your way-maker? When folk leave, am I not always there? When sickness comes, am I not a healer? When the job lays you off, don’t I always come through? When your husband/wife doesn’t act right, don’t I wipe your tears? When your gas light is on, don’t I get you home safe? Then where is your faith?

God is asking, “Why is your faith wavering, indecisive, uncertain or undecided? Do I give you a reason to question me?” God says, “You put more faith in material things and people than you do me, someone who has never let you down. You have faith that the chair you sit in will be strong enough to hold you but not my hands? You have faith to walk through the house in the dark without worrying about stumbling over stuff yet you won’t go where I send you. You have faith that the restaurant food won’t harm you yet you won’t feast on my word. Don’t you know that I am who I say I am? Where is your faith? Don’t you know that faith is being sure of what you’ve hoped for and certain of the things that we do not see (Hebrews 11:1)? Then why do you doubt the power that I possess and the power that I’ve given you?” See, God has given us the power to speak life over ourselves and He has given us power to overcome the strongholds and traps that have been set by the enemy but we have to believe, first in Him who gives the power then in the power that we receive. Ephesians 3:16-19 says, “I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge–that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”

Isn’t that enough for you? Stop fretting and worrying over things that can’t control you and stop putting your life in the hands of folk who can’t place you in Heaven nor banish you to hell. Put your faith in God, who is the only person who won’t break a promise; neither will He hurt, mislead or abuse you. Having faith allows you to win a fight that you weren’t supposed to. Having faith allows you to fall knowing that you’ll get back up. Having faith allows you to keep going even though your gas light is on. Faith gives you favor although you seem to have lost your flavor. Faith allows your fears to be faint and your fights to be few. With faith you get a solid foundation on which to stand and with this foundation you gain favor and with favor you’re fulfilled and with fulfillment you’re fruitful which means everything you touch is flowing with God’s fire and with this fire there is no fault because the Father has filled you with a fresh anointing that makes you feel like running when no one is chasing you, dance when it doesn’t matter who’s watching, sing even if it’s out of tune and shout because God is just that good. Yea, faith is all you need. Even when you can’t see the end walk like you know where it is because faith will be your guide! You better tell somebody about the faith that God has given you and show it to them every time they see you walk pass. Faith is better than sliced bread because it never molds. It’s better than milk because it won’t spoil and it’s far better than fake friends because it won’t stab you in the back. You’d better get you some!