Daily Devotional – 7/10/12 “Church folk, I tell you!”

It amazes me how judgmental seasoned Christian sinners are. Yea, I said Christian sinners because we are all sinners but some of us play saved. I mean, how can you chastise a young girl for wearing a short skirt when that’s all you wore at her age instead of simply giving her something to put over her legs which may make her think about not wearing it again to church? You say a teenager shouldn’t do this, shouldn’t do that but what were you doing at that age? Didn’t you have to make mistakes in order to learn from them? It’s just mind blowing the rate we are losing our children to the streets and then we act like we don’t know why. Well baby, it’s because of folk who act like they’ve always kept all of God’s commandments when they are still sinning today. How do I know, because we’re human and will make mistakes? With the world today and the rapid rate of our children dying, we’ve got to make a change but we can’t do it pushing them away from God because some of them won’t get the chance to become adults and learn on their own. If every time a young lady or man comes to church and the first thing you do is start in on them about their makeup or clothes, you’re pushing them away. If you always got something to say about them having children out of wedlock, then you’re pushing them away. If you constantly bring them down because you think they should be living like they are 90, you are pushing them away. Don’t you know that God isn’t pleased? 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.” However, if you’re judging or talking about them behind their backs instead of trying to teach them then you aren’t doing your Christian duty. We’ve got to get away from that old mentality of do as I say but not as I do because that isn’t working. We need to grab a hold of our children because we are losing too many and I’m tired of it. Instead of telling them how they should look or act in church, get back to the old church days and have a lock in and teach them how they should carry themselves. Why don’t you start fellowshipping with the youth and young adults in order to give them role models to look up too instead of sticking them in front of a TV while you go to bible study? Children now are maturing faster than we even thought possible which means the things that you did at 17-18 are now being done at 12-13. Stop waiting for the right time to have the talk about sex because you’re probably too late. Stop waiting to teach boys and girls how to be respectful young men and young women because the world will do it for you. It’s time out for judging and it’s time out for having topics that cannot be discussed at the church because if I can’t learn the right way from Christian folks then I’ll surely learn the wrong way from the world.

The bible says in 2 Timothy 3:5, “They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. Stay away from people like that!” You know how you shout on Sunday morning and then Sunday by 9:00pm you’ve already cussed 3 people out, you’re a mess! See, if you look like you’re saved but you don’t act like you are, I am supposed to avoid you because you’re what the bible describes as a wolf in sheep’s clothing ( Matthew 7:15) and if I let you get too close you may just attack me. As Christians, we have to understand what our role is which is why I posted the devotional about the Church Covenant which says, “We further engage to watch over one another in brotherly love; to remember each other in prayer; to aid each other in sickness and distress; to cultivate Christian sympathy in feeling and courtesy in speech; to be slow to take offense, but always ready for reconciliation, and mindful of the rules of our Savior, to secure it without delay.” It isn’t our role to clean up and save worldly folk but it’s our role to bring them in to hear God’s word and through their hearing they’ll want to study for themselves and through their studying, they accept God, confess a belief in him and be baptized. See, you have to study God’s word in order to get an understanding because through your understanding you find faith and faith covers you with God’s favor. It isn’t the water that saves you but it’s your faith in the power of the one who created the water. Matthew 3:11 says, “I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.” It isn’t up to us to save folk because we can’t stamp their ticket to Heaven nor condemn them to hell, so stop acting like it. Show them through God’s light that is shining through you why they should be saved and not through the harsh words that come from your mouth. This is why the bible says in Ephesians 4:29, “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.” Yea, you may have a reputation for telling folks the hard truth and for running folks off from the church but you’re just like the seed that is talked about in Mark 4:14-15 that says, “The farmer plants the Word. Some people are like the seed that falls on the hardened soil of the road. No sooner do they hear the Word than Satan snatches away what has been planted in them.” Stop allowing how you used to be to affect who you are supposed to be. You have a responsibility to help fellow Christians but you are supposed to do so in a Christian way. And just because you think your way has been working, it doesn’t mean it has been. Why do you think everyone gets so busy when it’s time to work with you? If you don’t know then you need to take a hard look at yourself. We have to get back to doing God’s will before he takes his hands off of us. Let’s commit more to praying, helping and uplifting one another because sometimes you’re all the next person has. Don’t allow church to become a den of mess but allow it to be just what God has ordained it to be, a place of worship where he abides. 2 Chronicles 7:14 says, “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”

Daily Devotional – 7/9/12 “Earth has no sorrow..”

I know that it has been a minute since I’ve posted a devotional, please accept my apologies. My grandfather who I talk about often had been really sick but God took all of that away from him on Tuesday, July 3rd at 12:45AM and although it has been very hard and I would give anything to have him back, I wouldn’t want him to come if he would have to endure the sickness and the anguish he has these last few years. See, I’ve lived long enough to know that when the blood stops flowing and there is no more breath on this side, it simply means a new body on God’s side. So, I rejoice in knowing granddaddy’s suffering ended when he took his last breath and that feeble body he was locked in was left here because he received an entire new body that doesn’t have scars from the many surgeries he’s endured or the radiation he had to take. It didn’t matter about what he had on or that he had lost a lot of weight because none of that matters now. God had a new robe waiting for him that fit him perfectly, he had slippers that conformed to his feet because they were made just for him and all the weight he’d lost was restored back to him. So, don’t grieve for me yet rejoice at the goodness of God that took place the other morning at grandma’s house for granddaddy just received the rest that we all long for. John 16:22 says, “So you have sorrow now, but I will see you again; then you will rejoice, and no one can rob you of that joy.”


Yea, we sleep on this side but over on God’s side you get rest that has no end. On this side we praise God on Sunday but over on the other side every day is Sunday. On this side we endure stress from all our labor, pain and sickness, being lied on, talked about and misused but on God’s side all we endure is rejoicing. On this side we die but on the other side we live. Don’t you know that in order to live again that you must die? Yea, so dying isn’t all that bad. Sure, it leaves families mourning but in the morning God will dry your tears and fill your heart with peace that no man can understand. See, through dying we gain deliverance because death is simply delivering us back to our maker. Is it hard? Yes but it’s bearable if you have your heart in God because he won’t allow no more to come upon you that he hasn’t already prepared us to handle. Is dying hard for those left here, yes, but living is even harder. I won’t lie like I won’t shed tears because I miss that man who has always been my daddy and the first man I’ve ever loved but that’s just my flesh talking because as foe me my soul is rejoicing for having him here with me for 35 years. Granddaddy did his living and even though God promised us 70, some 80 years, granddaddy lived to be 84 and he was in his right mind until he took his last breath so I won’t complain. He knew who I was and I was the last person he saw so I won’t complain. He is no longer suffering and in need of things that he can’t get or do for himself so I won’t complain. I know the sorrow this world has for me is nothing compared to the healing that Heaven gives so I’ll keep living until God says otherwise. Will you do the same? Don’t take life, especially your own, for granted because it’s precious and you, I, they or we can be gone in a blink of an eye. Yea, I know that sometimes the going gets hard but it’s not over so stop giving up and giving in. You have a Father who will do anything for his children, all you have to do is ask. And just like any parent, there is sometimes a no in the midst but don’t fret because the no’s are for your good.

I’ll rejoice in granddaddy’s living and I’ll rejoice even more in his leaving because it’s a way we all have to go in order to meet God. Now, I have to live right so that I can meet granddaddy again because I can’t keep dwelling on his passing for he paid the cost and is just getting what he purchased which is a new home with his Father so I can’t be mad at him for doing so. Jesus said in John 14:1-3, “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.” So I’ll just tell granddaddy goodnight until I see him again.

Daily Devotional – 7/2/12 “You can’t miss what you can’t measure!”

Grandma said this to some of my nieces on Sunday afternoon and I instantly grabbed my phone to make a note of it because I knew it was a perfect devotional topic. She told them this after listening to a conversation they were having about a boy because she wanted them to know that who or what is meant for them will definitely be. See, we spend so much time getting caught up in mess that we miss out on the opportunities of making memories or we lie so much that we don’t have time to leave a legacy but if you can’t measure who or what’s in front of you then you shouldn’t be allowing them or it to consume your world. I know it’s easier said than done but as I stood by my granddaddy’s bedside most of last night, I was sad at the frail body that now lies there, yet my spirit is rejoicing for all the good and bad times I’ve shared with him. Yes, even the bad because I wouldn’t take a dollar for the journey we’ve shared because it was ours to take and our memories and mistakes to make. Oh, there isn’t anything I wouldn’t give to get my granddaddy off his bed of affliction but it’s out of my hands. I’m so use to the strong black man that was the head of his household, who helped raise his 10 children, then his grandchildren and even some great grandchildren. A man who was known at our high school because he was a willing worker, no matter when or what they called him for. A man who didn’t mind giving out whoopings when you got out of line (ask any of those who grew up on Clovia Lane/Cloverdale) and a man who never sidestepped the truth, who always told you like it was regardless if it hurt your feelings and one who had your best interest at heart even though at the time it didn’t seem like it! I cherish the memories that I have with me simply because I can miss because I can measure.

We’ve got to stop worrying over mess and messy people, hurting each other, damming, condemning and fighting each other because time is winding down to get it right. More young folks are dying with old folk’s diseases, more women are being killed at the hands of those who are supposed to love them; men are killing each other over jealousy or because they’d rather rob than work and babies are dying because we are too selfish to take care of them like the bible says we should! Stop living like you’re better than me because we are all just saved sinners who still sin! Stop waiting for folks to encourage you to do well, do it for yourself! Stop living like you got all the time in the world to correct what you’ve done wrong, do it now because the next hour isn’t promised! Cherish the life you have now and stop wanting for things that aren’t yours. If folks have left, let them go; they weren’t yours to begin with. If the job let you go, press on; it wasn’t yours to begin with. If the doctors have given up, push on; it wasn’t your battle to fight anyway. You can’t miss what you can’t measure so get off your pity box and pray because God said He’ll handle your problems if you’d just give them to him! If they can’t measure up, then you shouldn’t be measuring them. You are worthy because you are God’s. You are gifted because you are God’s and if you don’t value yourself then you can’t expect anyone else too. 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 says, “Don’t you realize that those who do wrong will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Don’t fool yourselves. Those who indulge in sexual sin, or who worship idols, or commit adultery, or are male prostitutes, or practice homosexuality, or are thieves, or greedy people, or drunkards, or are abusive, or cheat people–none of these will inherit the Kingdom of God. Some of you were once like that. But you were cleansed; you were made holy; you were made right with God by calling on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” You aren’t perfect which means you will make mistakes but learn from them. You don’t have to chase a blessing because what’s yours is yours. Stop accepting everything and simply falling for anything. Just because you have children that doesn’t mean you have to buy what dude is selling when he smiles in your face, be patient God has your blessing coming so don’t block your view with mess. Just because your credit isn’t A1 it doesn’t mean you have to take the first offer the dealership or mortgage company gives you, be still and allow God to negotiate on your behalf. And just because you’ve had sickness for most of your life, don’t allow the doctors to treat you with half of what they should be because you’re still living which means God isn’t ready for you. Don’t give up on yourself because folks have given up on you, it was simply their mistake on missing a gem!

So stop focusing so much time on storing up junk in this world that you can’t take with you but store up treasures for your Heavenly home. Matthew 6:19-21 says, “Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. For wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.” See, when you tarry over material things then you’re material minded which takes your eyes off your purpose but when you store up Heavenly things, your mind is steadfast on reaching Heaven. Now, when I say treasures I mean things like praying, praising, helping others, loving and giving because these things are like the materials you need to build your home here but you’re simply building your mansion there. When you use God’s measuring cup He’s making sure misery don’t outweigh the miracles he has for you through his message because in His message He’s ministering to your mind which allows you to be mindful of miserable, mischievous mockers who block your ministry by meddling when you’re meditating or being malicious when they should be merry so if they don’t measure up to your magnificence then don’t measure down to their mess!

Daily Devotional – 6/28/12 “Baby, let me tell you!”

If you’ve ever doubted that faith you have, let me tell you what a little will do for you. When my grandma came home from the hospital on yesterday, she was still in a lot of pain from the arthritis in her right shoulder and arm. The pain was almost unbearable but because of the infection she has in the finger that she burned, (long story – I’ll tell you later), the doctors can’t really treat the shoulder. Anyway, on last night after 2 pain pills with no relief, she told me she wanted me to rub her down with some oil that her nieces had left her when they came to visit. So, I picked up this small bottle that said “anointed oil” and I began to rub it into her arm from her shoulder down to the swollen tips of her fingers and as I rubbed I prayed. I prayed with faith, that’s acting like what I am about to ask God for is already done, and I asked God to restore her whole arm back like it was. See, I didn’t need to ask him to make it like new because I just needed him to restore it back to like it was. So, I rubbed and I prayed and when I was done, I put her to bed because Mark 11:24 says, “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” Baybee … When I got up at 7AM this morning, I went into grandma’s room … (Look at God working this thang out) she was up putting on a new gown after she had already combed her hair and freshened up. I asked how her arm was feeling and she said, “Oh, it feels a lot better than it did yesterday.” Now, let me break it down for you so that you can feel what I feel. On yesterday, grandma asked for a walker to help her get to the bathroom, this morning she didn’t need it. On yesterday, grandma couldn’t lift her arm to touch her face and today she could put a gown over her head. On yesterday, she could barely move for the pain and on today she was up all by herself. On yesterday, man said you’re defeated but today God said, it ain’t over yet! Oh, when the bible says you only need faith the size of a mustard see, I’m a living witness. When God said, ask and it shall be given; I’m a living witness. When God said, I will never leave you nor forsake you; I’m a living witness. There isn’t anybody that can tell you how good God is for you until you try him for yourself. You don’t have to go by what I say, try him for yourself.

God will do just what he says he will, if we ask with faith. I don’t have to tell you with pages of information or a multitude of scriptures because I’ve told you before that “faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see, (Hebrews 11:1).” See, with faith there’s no failure because God has filled us with his favor to face the fire without touching the flames and once we come out we’ll be renewed and through His renewal comes restoration and with restoration He is restoring us back to a previous state or an even better one that allows us to continue to work of the Kingdom until the time comes to reap Heaven’s reward!

Daily Devotional – 6/26/12 “You’re just a saved sinner!”

So stop acting like your salvation is greater or better than mine because Ephesians 2:8-9 says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” I know, I know; you’ve been saved since you sat on the mourners’ bench at revival when you were 12, you always got your bible in the car or you can recite some scriptures but that doesn’t make you a better Christian than the next person, it means that you’re just a saved sinner! Yea, I called you a saved sinner instead of a Christian because everybody sins and if you say you don’t you’re lying. See, the only difference between you and the sinner in the world is that you repent, sometimes. God isn’t concerned so much with the date you allowed him to come in but he’ll ask how many others you brought to Him afterwards. He won’t be concerned with that dusty bible you got in the back window of your car but he’ll ask how many times you opened it for those who were lost. And God won’t ask you to recite a scripture when you’re standing before him at judgment but he’ll want to know how many you shared with the non-believers. As Christians, we get so caught up in trying to outdo the next person with the biggest hat, the loudest amen or the longest shout that we forget about the real reason for our praise. Baby, God isn’t concerned with all the material mess you’ve stored up here because He looks at your heart, soul and the work that you’ve done to get to Heaven. I told you on yesterday that you need to read the agreement you agreed to when you became saved because most of us aren’t doing hardly any of the things we should be. Don’t get me wrong, I am just as guilty, which is why I can testify on it. Do I always say the right thing, do the right thing, go to the right places and act like a Christian 100% of the time, no! However, I work daily to change that. Does God want us to be perfect? Yes, because the bible says in Matthew 5:48, “You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect,” but this doesn’t mean we are punished when we make mistakes. Don’t you think God knew we would make some mistakes? Of course He did, this is why he sent his only Son to Earth in a fleshly body for John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” Now, you may want to read that again because it says, for God so loved the world. See, God’s purpose for sending Jesus was to save us for in John 6:38, Jesus says, “For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me.” If God wouldn’t have sent Him, most of us wouldn’t be here now because we’d be too comfortable in our sin instead of fearing God. We’d be ok with cheating, stealing, killing, backbiting, lying and gossiping instead of keeping his commandments and we’d be fine with being drunks, drug abusers and whoremongers instead of abiding by what we agree to when we accept God. I shared this yesterday but it fits here because the covenant says in the 3rd paragraph, “We also engage to maintain family and secret devotion; to religiously educate our children; to seek the salvation of our kindred and acquaintances; to walk circumspectly in the world; to be just in our dealings, faithful in our engagements, and exemplary in our deportment; to avoid all tattling, backbiting, and excessive anger; to abstain from the sale and use on intoxicating drinks as a beverage, and to be zealous in our efforts to advance the Kingdom of our Savior.”

Which simply means, “We also promise to worship as a family as well as in secret prayer in order to educate our children on doing the work of our Father; to seek the salvation of those who are like me, on this Christian journey so that I maybe watchful of things happening in the world; to be fair in the things I do; keep the promises I make and be a role model by carrying myself right; to avoid gossiping, backbiting and being angry all the time; to refrain from being a drunk so that I am passionate in my work to advance my Father’s Kingdom.”

Yes, God knows your heart which may just be a bad thing especially if you are always angry or bitter over mess. Stop treating folks like your path to Heaven is easy because we are all striving to get there with Hell on our backs. Stop trying to push me out the way so that you can get ahead because you might just run into the storm that was meant for me and you can’t handle what I can. Stop wishing for the blessings that you see me with because although you see the glory, you surely don’t know the story of how I got them. We are all saved sinners trying to be better Christians, so don’t think you are paying more than I am. We must abide by God’s word to love one another, to pray for one another even in our sickness, to lift one another up when we fall and to be a guide to those who are lost. We should all practice what is said in 1 Corinthians 9:22-23, “When I am with those who are weak, I share their weakness, for I want to bring the weak to Christ. Yes, I try to find common ground with everyone, doing everything I can to save some. I do everything to spread the Good News and share in its blessings.” It is our responsibility to help one another through the sharing and teaching of God’s word instead of trying to beat the hell out of one another with harsh criticism and hate. We are all sinners, well this is what the bible says in Romans 3:23, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Oh, BUT (don’t you love but) Romans 3:24 says, “Yet God, with undeserved kindness, declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins.” So, please know, I am no better than you and you are no better than me. Yea, you may be in your blessing season now but don’t count me out because I’m in my stormy season, yours will be around soon!