Will you have done all that you wanted to do? Would you have said all that you wanted to say? Will you have tried all the things you wanted to try, eat all the things you wanted to eat, see all the places you wanted to see? If you don’t get to see tomorrow, will you be satisfied with the life you’ve lived or will you have some regrets? Then why aren’t you living every day to the fullest? Yea, you may not have any money in your pocket but that doesn’t mean you can’t turn the music on and dance. Yea, you may not have a car to go and hangout with your friends but tell them to bring a dish and have a party at home. So what if you don’t have the money to get a manicure and pedicure, make it a mom and daughter day at home and paint your own nails. Just because you might not have the means it doesn’t mean there is no way. Make the best out of what you have now because you may not see tomorrow for James 4:14 says, “How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog–it’s here a little while, then it’s gone.” See, even on your best day you can be sick enough to die so why put off for tomorrow what you could be doing today? You keep saying, I’m getting myself right and then I’ll go to church but if we could fix ourselves, I don’t think we would need God and his saving power. You say, I’m getting my finances together and then I’ll pay my tithes; then why do we need to pray to God for blessings if we could simply bless ourselves? You say, when I get 50 pair of shoes I’ll help others but if God has given us the ability to have an overabundance of this and that, why shouldn’t we help those that are in need? God isn’t worried about the shoes/clothes that you are wearing because he’ll only be concerned with the many folks you help to clothed. God isn’t concerned with the nice car you drive but he’ll want to know how many folks you let ride when they needed a way. God doesn’t care about the square footage in your home but he’ll want to know if you allowed folks to stay when they had nowhere else to go. God is pleased that you’re no longer addicted to drugs, glued to a bottle, sleeping around, stealing and hurting folks but now he wants to know how many you shared your testimony with. It does no good to know God and then not share Him.
Many times we think it’s only the Pastor’s duty to save a sinner when the bible says in James 5:20, “remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and cover over a multitude of sins.” See, it’s just not up to the man or woman of God to help those who are struggling or lost but it’s up to each one of us and if I don’t see tomorrow, I don’t want to stand in front of God, when the judgment comes; being chastised because I was too selfish to share what I’ve learned from studying the bible for myself. Yea, it easier to study for yourself because then you don’t have to try and explain it to someone else but why be selfish? It’s like I’m sitting in bible study and the person next to me is confused about the scripture that is being taught. Now, I could be mean, turn my back and act like I don’t see them and as soon as tomorrow comes, I don’t live to see it and when God ask me why didn’t I help, what answer would be sufficient enough to give? No answer because it wouldn’t have cost me nothing to slide over to help them understand God’s word. This is the same for every aspect of your life. If you see someone struggling with something that you can help with, don’t turn your back because you never know when the time will come when you need the help. I am not saying that you have to go looking for mission work but I’m saying when you see it don’t act like you didn’t. If you see me having a hard time carrying 4 books to class and you’re going to the same class, what would it hurt you to help me? If God presented himself to you now and said that today would be the last day of your life, would you be satisfied with the way you’d leave things? If the answer is no, you have some stuff to do. Stop waiting for folks to change because folks can’t get you to Heaven. Stop waiting for the time to be right because there is never a right time. Stop waiting for your money to be better because it’ll never be. You have the opportunity now to do what you need to do. If you can’t go to church on Sunday, have worship service for yourself. You don’t have to be inside the 4 walls of a building that has been designated as a church to have church because church is in you, that’s simply the place to meet with other folks who share the same belief to fellowship. You don’t have to be standing at the altar to give God your burdens; he’ll take them from you when you give them to Him even if you’re sitting in the middle of your bed. You don’t even have to be a Deacon who has kneeled down to pray because you can pray in the car if you’re in communion with God.
God doesn’t expect you to be perfect and He doesn’t need you to fix what you’ve broken before you come to him because he says in 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” He knows you haven’t been all that He has designed you to be and He knows that you’ve done some things you’re not proud of but that’s alright because he says in Isaiah 43:18, “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.” He even knows you haven’t loved, helped and cared for folks like you are supposed to but that’s ok too because He says in Ezekiel 36:26, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.” God knows you’ve been suffering and that you’ve been in your storm or cast out by so called friends but He is saying just hold on, “For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland (Isaiah 43:19).” God isn’t allowing you to suffer because you’ve sinned but He is allowing you to suffer because it makes you stronger and he wants you to be appreciative of the blessings you already have. So stop complaining about your little because someone has less. Stop complaining about your feet when someone lost theirs to diabetes. Stop complaining about your hair when someone lost theirs to chemo. Stop complaining about your children when a parent buried their son/daughter on yesterday. Stop complaining about your job when someone was in line at 5:00AM waiting to get unemployment yet they want to work. Stop complaining about your car when someone has always had to ride the bus. Stop complaining about the stomach ache when someone can’t even feel the pain in theirs. You are living RIGHT NOW, so act like it. Stop waiting for the sun to come up tomorrow because although it will, you may not. Take advantage of today because if you don’t live to see tomorrow, there won’t be a thing you can do about it then but you can sure start now.
Daily Devotional – 6/12/12 “It’s time out for time outs!”
We are living in a society where girls think it’s cool to be sexually active at 13, pregnant at 15, called a bitch by their girls, called mane and brah (bro) by a guy they are supposed to be dating and guys think it’s ok to be disrespectful to girls, walk around with their pants sagging and have a baby momma while in high school but I am here to tell you that there’s nothing cool about it. When did it become acceptable to be degraded and used or even be the degrader or user, even at a young age? We allow kids to dress like they want, wear their hair like they want, go wherever and do whatever they want but when did we stop being parents? I can remember growing up and never being allowed to spend the night at other folk’s houses because our parents were concerned for our safety but now when a child ask, we say yes without talking to the other kid’s parents, knowing who all stays in the house, will their mother be home, does she have rules or anything. I mean, what in the world is going on? We stopped disciplining our children because folks said that it’s child abuse but you made it through just fine and you got your butt whooped every time you were out of line, didn’t you? Now, you give a time out for talking back, not doing the chores, failing school, coming home late and lying but baby, in this day and time; it’s time out for time outs. I’ve told you before that the bible says in Proverbs 23:13 “Do not withhold discipline from a child; if you punish him with the rod, he will not die.” I’m not saying they should be disciplined because you just felt like exercising but I am saying discipline them when the time calls for it. If a child who is living in your house, eating your food, watching your cable TV, using your electricity and water and all the amenities you work so hard at having; can stand in your face saying what they won’t do, when they’ll do it and how they’ll do it, they need to have the hell knocked out of them!
Child, it’s time out for babying children. With social networking, cell phones, internet, TV and the fast paced changing of this world; the things you did at 17, children are now doing at 12. Yea, you thought you were doing something when you found your dad’s cigarettes at 13 but kids now know how to buy their own at that age. You were cool when you could sneak a beer from the refrigerator at 16 but kids now are slick enough to have somebody buy them a whole 6 pack. I know you didn’t think your baby was ready for the sex talk but she can probably tell you more than you ever could imagine. Yea, you had sex at 16, 17 but now kids are experimenting at 12 and by the time they get 18, they are parents to 1 or more babies. I’ve learned now that it’s not the boys that are the majority of the problem because the girls are far more aggressive in asking for and getting what they want. With picture messaging, plain text messages have taken on a whole new meaning. Now, girls are taking nude pictures of themselves and passing it to guys because it’s the cool thing to do when it’s actually the dumbest mess I’ve heard of. You don’t check their Facebook pages and cell phones because they won’t let you, Girl you’d better wake up and face reality because once something has been placed on the internet, it is never gone and you can delete it 50 times, it can still be found. Don’t you understand that children have become clever in their antics now? Yea, they use codes and a different lingo to talk and text and it goes right over our heads because we don’t take the time to learn what it means. Do you even know what WTH, WTF, POS, IDGAF, FWM, AF or being on Pluto means? I suggest you take the time to read messages, Facebook posts and Tweets because while you are dropping them off at the movies, they are going out the other door and into a car that’s waiting. STDs and HIV has no name and it’s an epidemic that’s growing faster than it should be. I am not saying that all fault lies with the parents because kids do what they want do when they are not in your presence but don’t act like your child is the best judge of character and won’t ever do wrong. My husband and I are raising a 15 year old daughter and a 12 year old son and sometimes I have to look at these children because although their physical appearance doesn’t change some of their actions make them look different. Will I ever say what they won’t do, NO because peer pressure and society influence plays a big part on the decisions they make and all we can do, as parents, is teach them AND discipline them when they do wrong. Yes, I said discipline because it doesn’t matter how old they are, if they get out of line I have some helpful ways to put them right back in it.
Proverbs 19:18 says “Discipline your children while there is hope. Otherwise you will ruin their lives.” I’ve said before and I’ll say it again, if a child is old enough to hit back, they are old enough to get hit. There isn’t anything cute about your 2 year old hitting you, your 3 year old knowing what music to shake her butt to or a 4 year old cursing at the appropriate time a curse word is needed. Proverbs 29:17 says, “Discipline your children, and they will give you peace of mind and will make your heart glad.” Will they always give you peace, no, but that’s why mistakes are to be learned from. Will they always make your heart glad, no, but that’s why we have prayer. If you discipline them when they do wrong then they’ll know their actions have consequences. You can have an open relationship with your child or children because if you don’t someone else will, but know when to draw the line by letting them know you’re their parent first and friend second. Don’t parent them when it’s convenient because you want to be their friend all the time but parent all the time and then be a convenient friend. Allow them a venting session to say whatever it is they need to say without them getting in trouble but only give them a small amount of time and then it’s over. Allow the opportunity to discuss drugs, alcohol, sex and peer pressure without you getting angry or being judgmental. Don’t always assume, just listen and if discipline is needed, give it. Proverbs 22:6, “Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it.” You need to understand that the atmosphere they are accustomed to will be the atmosphere they sometimes choose. If a girl always see momma cursing and being mean to daddy, they think this is a way a man should be treated and if they see daddy always knocking momma upside the head, then they think this is how a woman should be treated. We have to teach them and although they act like they’ve never been taught sometime, they’ll remember it. We can’t expect them to cook dinner, to clean a bathroom, the kitchen, make a bed or handle household business if we never take the time to show them how. We can’t expect them to be good wives/mothers and husbands/fathers, if we never teach them. Be a parent! Stop acting like you’re a teenager when you’re in your 30s or older. Stop wearing your children’s clothes or dressing like you’re 17, club hopping like you’re 18 or drinking and smoking like you’re 21 because you have to be mindful about the eyes that are watching you. You can’t expect them to get up and go to church on Sunday if you’re hung over and never go yourself. Teach your children how to be productive young men and young women by setting a great example to follow. Discipline them just like you were disciplined before the world does because while you are giving them a time out they are setting a time to go out. The world is cruel and it doesn’t care about your 18 year old “baby” so before they get a cold hard look at reality at the hands of someone else who means them no good, you’d better get a grip and take control. It’s time out for time outs and time in for real life parenting!
Daily Devotional – 6/11/12 “I pray your strength!”
As I walked into the job this morning, I learned that 3 coworker’s lives were forever changed, over the weekend, due to death knocking on their doors. 2 are dealing with the passing of their husbands and 1, the death of a son and although I know that death is something we all have to face, it makes it even more relevant that you have to live for today because time stands still for no one. While you are still trying to make it up in your mind to live right, you might not have tomorrow to do it. Yea, you keep saying I’m going to church next Sunday and then it’s next Sunday and the Sunday after that but soon it won’t matter because somebody else will be rolling you down to the altar in your favorite color casket. I know you may think you have time to get yourself right but what if you don’t? Stop wasting the time you have now! You walk around with a funky attitude mad at the world when the world never asked you to change for it; you changed because you chose too and stop blaming the bed because you say you got up on the wrong side when you get up on the same side every morning, the only thing different is you. You don’t have to become a product of your environment but be productive in the environment you’re in. Your past only dictates your future when you allow it to be present in your future. So go through all the trials and tribulations and get up with your arms high claiming the victory over your circumstance. Say, I may be temporarily out of funds now but it won’t last. Say, I may be without a car now but it won’t last. Say, I may be without a job now but it won’t last. Say, I may be arguing with my spouse now but it won’t last. Say, I may be sick now but it won’t last. Say, I may be grieving now but it won’t last because 2 Corinthians 4:17 states, “For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.” Isn’t that worth shouting about? All the troubles that we face now are just preparing us for what God has already promised! And if that isn’t enough, the troubles you face make you stronger and wiser to face them, if they shall come again. The next time trouble beckons you out to the middle of the ring, you’ll be ready and able to handle it, not because you’re the champ in KO’s but because you’ve been prepped and prepared by the best trainer ever. And even though you may get knocked to your knees in the first round, you got someone standing in your corner with his arms stretched out ready to be tagged in. See, when you tag God into the ring, your battle then turns into rejoicing and with rejoicing come restoration and with restoration comes relief and relief brings rest. Because once you’ve rested you’ll be ready for battle and after the battle come victory and you can’t claim victory without first winning the fight and with God, there are no losers.
My prayer for you:
Heavenly Father, I come petitioning your throne this morning, first to say thank you. Thank you Father for waking us up this morning and allowing a fresh anointing over our heads, for being in our right minds and for giving us all the things we had on yesterday even if we were too stubborn to thank you for them. God, right now I ask that you stop by the homes of all those grieving and give them comfort. I won’t ask that you stop their tears because tears are liquid prayers but I’m asking you to just be in their presence. Let them know they are not alone and although they are weeping now, their joy will come. Now, oh, God touch the person reading this so that they never fall without you being near to catch them and they never lean without you having a leaning post nearby. God touch their bodies; lighten their feet so that they never walk in a dark place alone; strengthen their legs so that they’ll be able to walk for you all the days of their life; strength their knees so that they can kneel in pray daily; strengthen their hips/thighs so that they can handle the days when the path seems to have no end; strengthen their spine/back bone to be able to handle being walked over and stabbed by folks who are supposed to love them; strengthen their rib cage so that it can be a protector of the major organs they need to live each day; strengthen the heart so that it can handle heartache and pain without causing it to stop; strengthen their shoulders so that they can carry the burdens of this world without staggering and falling; strengthen the arms and hands to be able to carry the excess burdens that have fallen from the shoulders, to the trash so that it doesn’t become a stumbling block in their way; strengthen the neck so that it can handle turning the other way when folks slam doors in their face; strengthen the mouth so that nothing unclean shall come from it; strengthen the nose so that it can smell mess before it even enters their personal space; strengthen the eyes so that they can see evil coming before it makes it arrival; strengthen the ears to be able to ear exactly what folks are saying, clearly; strengthen the brain so they know right from wrong, good from evil; when to say no/yes and how to live according to your word. God I ask these things because I know you are able to do it. Send hope to the mother who feels there is no hope. Send a helping hand to that father who feels helpless in their situation. Send a way out for the sister whose back is against the wall. Send guidance for that brother who is thinking about suicide. Send your word to the person who is fighting their addiction to let them know they can be made whole if they repent with their mouth and believe with their heart. Remove the strongholds that have our children bound today, God. I asked that you release the chains of peer pressure, bullying, teenage pregnancies, STDs, attitudes, disrespectfulness, thoughts of suicide and sickness from their bodies. God this world is changing at a rapid rate and we are losing more children than we are supposed to, so I ask that you touch their hearts and minds so that they won’t be so easily influenced by the enemy and so they don’t give up or in so quickly. God, I’m calling on you because we need you right now. God build us up so that we can be strong soldiers for you. Bind us together, as one, so that one shall not fall without someone being close enough to catch them. I don’t know every situation my brother or sister is facing now but I know that you‘ve equipped me with the Holy Spirit that intercedes on my behalf. I thank you for your never changing grace and your never ending mercy. I believe these things and I speak these things, now! I am standing in the gap praying on behalf of all those who don’t know how to pray for themselves. Thank you for allowing me to be a vessel. Oh, God, when I can no longer do the work that you have for me to do here, when I won’t be able to pray for my brothers and sisters; when you sign my name in your book of life and all my toiling will be over; I want to be able to hear my name called to receive rest until the day you shall return for your people. I thank you God for blessing me, continue to strengthen my body so that I may work for you. Bless each life that is touched by this devotional and let it reach the magnitude so that they know, you are real and you’re able to do just what you’ve said in your word. Believe on today; my brother, my sister and then receive what God has for you. These many things I ask in your son Jesus name.
Amen
Daily Devotional – 6/7/12 “Your problem but God’s purpose!”
I’m not sure who I’ve been speaking to these last few devotionals but somebody is facing something that they are about to let destroy them. I don’t know what situation you’re in, what issues you’re having or even what problem you’re facing but God wanted me to let you know that His purpose for you is bigger than your problem. Jeremiah 29:11 says, “For I know the plans I have for you,” says the LORD. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” So, don’t allow it to make you doubt, that’s the enemy talking and don’t allow it to make you question God because that’s the flesh talking. Yea, you may be sick and tired of dealing with the chemo, radiation, dialysis, insulin, heart disease, high blood pressure, arthritis; and all the daily medication you take but hold on because James 5:15 says, “And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.” See, faith is like you walking to the kitchen during the night when you need something to drink without turning on the lights. You do this because you are familiar with the path that you’re walking and you trust it to be the same. Well, faith is trusting God to carry you during your sickness and although you can’t see your healing, it’s there but you’ve got to keep walking and trusting God to do just what he said he would. When the woman in the bible had the issue of blood, she toiled for 12 years yet she never gave up because she trusted Jesus’ word and although she couldn’t see her healing she kept going until her healing came, so you can’t give up now because you’ve come too far. Yea, I know, it’s easy for me to say because I don’t have to deal with the needles, medicine, side effects and nasty nurses but I know your healing is coming, so don’t give up and throw in the towel because I am standing in the gap for you on today, praying for your healing. I’m praying like it’s already done 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.”
Maybe it isn’t sickness that has you down but it’s heartache because you’ve been hurt by folks who are supposed to love you, misused by folks you trusted, let down by folks who made you promises and stepped on by folks you thought would help but that’s alright because a broken heart can be mended. Psalm 34:18 says, “The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” God knew folks would let you down because folks live in the flesh, this is why Romans 8:8 says, and “Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.” See, when you’re in the flesh you take man at their word so when they break a promise you’re devastated you get your feelings hurt and your heart broken but Galatians 5:16 says, “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.” Yes, I know you still have feelings when you’re in Christ but they don’t get hurt as much and you don’t allow it to consume you like it used too. You know how you were in the world, folks would do you wrong you’d return the favor; when folks talked about you you’d talk about them; when folks pushed you down you’d get up and push them back but then you chose God. Now when folks talk about you, you say go on and talk about me as much as you please because the more you talk the more I bend my knees. When folks lie and scandalize your name, you keep walking because you allow the truth to speak for you and when folks push you down, you let God pick you up because when he does, the scars become your testimony. Heartache is something that we all have faced or will face but don’t allow it to consume you. Folks let you down, ok, what’s next? Folks stepped on the love you gave and the trust you offered, ok, now what? Folks lied on you, we know, but what are you going to do now? You can’t keep using the excuse that daddy wasn’t around for you getting attached to every guy that walks in your life because you’re old enough now to recognize what’s not in your best interest. You can’t keep holding on to the fact that momma was mean to you growing up, baby you’re grown now; get over it. You can’t keep allowing that trifling brother or sister who leaves when the going gets tough to come back every time you get your head above water because they say they love you when you know they are using you. Some of the heartache and disappointment you feel can be avoided if you used your heart and not your head. You can’t expect God to keep removing your enemies if you keep running to chase them down. If folks leave, let them go so that you can grow because you can’t move if you got a room full of mess blocking your way. Yea, you’ve been hurt, misused and abused but you can’t keep allowing that to control your life because it’s consuming you. Let go of all that. You don’t need to look for love because if your heart is in God, he’ll send love to you. You don’t have to look for faithful friends and trustworthy folks because when your heart is in God, they’ll find you. James 1:21 says, “So get rid of all the filth and evil in your lives, and humbly accept the word God has planted in your hearts, for it has the power to save your souls.”
Being a Christian doesn’t make you exempt from having problems but don’t allow those problems to overshadow your purpose. I know your problem may seem big but that’s because you’re looking through your eyes but when you look through God’s eyes, you’ll see that your problem is nothing compared to the purpose God has for you. Proverbs 16:4 says, “The Lord has made everything for its purpose, even the wicked for the day of trouble.” You’re wondering why you have to suffer so much when you work so hard (problem), because God’s wants you to be appreciative of the increase when he drops it in your lap (purpose). You’re wondering why you can’t get a job in the field you’ve been studying for no matter how many applications you fill out (problem), because God is creating it just for you and it takes time (purpose). You’re disgusted because you keep getting hurt by folks who say they love you (problem), because God is allowing you to go through the trash in order to find your treasure (purpose). You’re wondering why you always get sick with this or that (problem) because God is cleaning you up from the inside out in order for you to live a longer, fruitful life (purpose). God always has a purpose for his children; we just have to stop complaining long enough to see it. Don’t count yourself out because although it’s your problem, it’s God’s purpose and His purpose is always bigger!
“Although your problems come with pain, the pain is proving that you’re not perfect but yet a person who God has picked to be placed at this point and through prayer you’ll be prescribed a promise of praise that allows you to be purified and through this purification process you’ll prosper and through your prosperity you’ll get power and with this power you get God’s protection that allows you to prevail and once you prevail, you’ll have the patience to pursue your purpose!”
Daily Devotional – 6/6/12 “I got a feeling everything is going to be alright!”
Yes, I do! And although you may only see clouds when you’re looking up now don’t stop looking because soon the SON will shine. How do I know, because I am a living testimony? Have I had a major illness, no, but I’ve been sick and now I am well. Have I been homeless, no, but that doesn’t mean I’ve always had a good night sleep but I’m functioning. Have I been without food, no, but that doesn’t mean I’ve always had an appetite yet I haven’t lost a pound. Have I lost my mom or dad, no, but that doesn’t mean I don’t mourn with you when you face death but God can wipe my tears. Have I lost my leg, arm, hearing or vision; no, but that doesn’t mean I always appreciate them yet God gives me the ability to use them every day. See, God doesn’t favor me because I’ve been good at keeping his commandments all my life but he favors me because I am his child. God didn’t choose me because I was gifted but he chose me and then gifted me. So, when I tell you that everything will be alright, it’s because I know. Yea, it’s your season to go through the storm, don’t give up now because God won’t have you toiling in your storm too long but you have to go through. This stormy season you’re facing, it’s for a purpose, so instead of asking God when he will get you out, ask him what he wants you to get out of it. 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 you see God hasn’t forgotten you just because you’re facing a little trouble now but he thought about you this is why he allowed trouble to come.
I know that sounds crazy but God has to send trouble in order to see if you can handle it and if you can, he elevates you to the next level. You know how when you’re in school and at the end of the semester you have finals to test you on what you’ve learned the past few months to determine if you should be passed to the next grade, well the storm you’re in is the final at the end of the level that you’re currently on. The great thing about God’s final exam, there are no failures just refreshers. See, God can’t promote you until he knows that you’ve learned all that he wanted you to learn where you are, so he has you to take the final. The final is the storm and all the hell you’re going through in your current position. If you go through the storm and come out refreshed, renewed and stronger then God sees that you’re ready for your next level but if you come out a little shaken but not defeated, then he knows that you need a little more time so he allows you to stay where you are. Yea, you’ve been praying for God to enlarge your territory but in order for him to do this you have to be able to handle the territory you have now. Now, the territory I am referring to is any aspect of your life that you would like to see increased. You pray for God to increase your earnings yet you can’t even manage the earnings you have now. You pray for God to give you a husband yet you can barely take care of yourself. You pray for God for another job and you’re taking the one you have for granted. See, God uses edification, that’s instruction, in order to educate us and through education we gain enlightenment and once we have been enlighten we have to be evaluated because we can’t be elevated without being evaluated. Let me say it again, we can’t be elevated until we are evaluated.
I’ve told you before that I never thought I’d be writing a daily devotional for you to read and although I don’t know the many my words touch on a daily basis, I still write. Why, because every day God is blessing me and he has a purpose for my life and this devotional. He’s not blessing me because I ask him too but it is because I am allowing him to edify, that’s instruct, my life. Are all my days great because I am doing the will of God? No, that’s because I am not perfect and I still make mistakes but I don’t stop because then I would have been defeated and being defeated is not on my train of thought. I don’t know the next level that God has planned for my life and I’m not trying to figure it out, I’m simply following the bread crumbs that he has left for me. Am I ready? Yes, because God is preparing me and he’s preparing me for the things I haven’t even seen yet. How do I know because I just got a feeling that everything is going to be alright! Have you ever had a feeling that you really couldn’t explain? Where you felt like crying but there is nothing wrong or hurting, you felt like shouting and it isn’t even Sunday, you felt like something is stirring on the inside of you that makes you want to dance and no music is playing, you feel like running and no one is chasing you; like something is about to happen and you don’t know what? Well, I got this feeling and although I can’t explain it, I don’t need too. God is working and I’m taking my final now because I’m in my storm but don’t worry because I enjoy dancing in the rain. So, see you aren’t alone when it comes to facing trials and hardships, so stop thinking that you are. Yea, you may be going through something at this very moment, that’s ok, it simply God evaluating you on what you’ve already been through. So, sharpen your pencil and take the test because after you’ve been evaluated, push the button on the elevator that’ll take you to your elevation. Don’t fret because it seems like the walls are closing in on you or you think you can’t take anymore because I got a feeling that everything will be alright!
Lakisha, the Author 