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!

Daily Devotional – 6/5/12 “You are what you eat!”

Sounds crazy but I don’t mean what you physically eat, I mean spiritually. See, when you’re hungry you have to eat in order to satisfy that hunger right? Well, I would think when you’re spiritually hungry; you have to also eat to satisfy this hunger too, right? God says in John 6:51, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.” And when you eat this bread, which is God, you should become what you eat, literally. See, when you eat this bread you should become loving instead of being hateful, you should be helpful instead of a hindrance, you should be smiling and not frowning, giving and not stealing, building up instead of tearing down and rejoicing in the face of the enemy instead of fleeing. When you eat this bread, you become the likeness of God because he made us in his image. He made us so that while we are in the world, we don’t become the world which is why you have to be careful what you eat. Yea, the devil will make heartache look good by adding sprinkles but you need to look beneath them in order to see the mess he’s about to give you. Don’t you know that a good baker can take a cake that is falling apart, piece it back together and cover it with icing to make it presentable; the devil can too? Just because it looks good enough to eat, it may not taste so good when you bite it. I know, I know; that sister looked sweet dressed up in that skirt that was hugging her hips with her 5’ stilettos on and you couldn’t resist but as soon as you bit in to her you soon found out that she was as sour as a lemon. Oh, that brother that you thought was a tall, cool glass of lemonade turned out to be a little cup of vinegar after you drank what he was offering. That’s why you have to be careful about what you eat and drink. Jesus said in John 4:14, “but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

Will you always eat what is pleasing to your spirit, no, but those things should be a snack and not a full meal. See, a snack is something small that you eat to satisfy you until you can get to lunch or dinner and it’s not meant to make you full. Well, mess and messy folk, in this world, should be snacks but we make them into our breakfast, lunch and dinner. You know how you get so wrapped up in your friend’s problems that now they are consuming your life and you can’t even get a word in during the conversation because she is too busy venting? Well, had you given her a few minutes to vent and then said what you said, that 2 hour conversation would have been over in 15 minutes. Or you spend 10 years with a person who you knew was not the one for you; they couldn’t be trusted as far as you could throw them, faithful if it cured cancer and dependable if their life depended on it but you stayed. Now, you’re miserable and your miserable attitude makes other folk miserable when that person should have been a snack. Stop trying to make a snack into a full meal because it won’t work. If that girl was “loose” or that guy was abusive when you met, you can’t change them because they have to change themselves. You can’t eat something bad and not expect it to have side effects. You knew you couldn’t eat that spicy food because it makes you sick but you did anyway, you’re to blame. God told Adam and Eve not to eat the apple from the tree of good and evil, in the Garden of Eden, but they did and because they did they had to deal with the side effects. God said to Eve, “I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you (Genesis 3:16),” and to Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat of it,’ “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life (Genesis 3:17).” You can’t eat stealing and not expect to get caught; you can’t eat lies and then expect the truth and you can’t eat death and expect life because what you eat gives you exactly what you want. When you eat in the world you get tests but when you eat God’s word you get a testimony that turns toiling into talents. When you eat in the world you get pity but when you eat God’s word you get positive peace that makes you praise. When you eat in the world you get mess but when you eat God’s word you get a merciful miracle that makes you meaningful. When you eat in the world you hope things work out but when you eat God’s word you get faith that allows you to act like it’s already done. When you eat in the world you get sickness but when you eat God’s word you get salvation that is satisfying to a sin sick soul. When you eat in the world you may get an early grave but when you eat God’s word you get grace that makes you grateful to gain God’s glorious gifts. When you eat in the world you get misery but, oh, when you eat God’s word he gives you magnificent mercies and miracles that make your ministry miraculous!

Be careful what you eat because it could be the reason you haven’t been elevated past where you are. If you find pleasure eating gossip every morning instead of praying, eating hate instead of love, eating pride instead of praise, eating nastiness instead of nurturing; you may want to change the menu you’re ordering from. SEE, GOD DOESN’T FAVOR YOU BECAUSE OF WHO YOU ARE BUT HE FAVORS YOU BECAUSE OF WHOSE YOU ARE!

Daily Devotional – 6/4/12 “If your God doesn’t answer, try mine!”

In worship service on yesterday morning, my pastor, Uncle Larry spoke from 1 Kings 18:16-24 entitled “When your God doesn’t answer, change your God!” This was intriguing to me, so I found myself reading the entire chapter for in this particular scripture, Ahab, a leader, was evil and the people of Israel followed him and didn’t mind disobeying God’s commandments, they even stopped believing in God and started worshipping another God, Baal. Because of this God sent a famine over their land, you know to get their attention but after 3 years of being disobedient, God sent his servant Elijah to them to present himself to Ahab. See, God needed to show them that their God didn’t really exist and if they believed in him and turn from their wicked ways, he would send a great rain, one which they desperately needed. So Elijah obeyed, he presented himself to Ahab and asked him to gather all the people on Mount Carmel. During this meeting, it says in 1 Kings 18:22-24, “Then Elijah said, “I’m the only prophet of GOD left in Israel; and there are 450 prophets of Baal. Let the Baal prophets bring up two oxen; let them pick one, butcher it, and lay it out on an altar on firewood—but don’t ignite it. I’ll take the other ox, cut it up, and lay it on the wood. But neither will I light the fire. Then you pray to your gods and I’ll pray to GOD. The god who answers with fire will prove to be, in fact, God.” All the people agreed: “A good plan—do it!” Elijah couldn’t just say his God was real but he had to show them, you know how God has to sometimes do to us. So the people of Baal did what they were told and after placing their sacrifice on the altar they begin praying to their God. They prayed and they prayed but after hours and hours of praying with no response, Elijah began to make fun of them for Verse 28, says he mocked them by saying, “Call a little louder—he is a god, after all. Maybe he’s off meditating somewhere or other, or maybe he’s gotten involved in a project, or maybe he’s on vacation. You don’t suppose he’s overslept, do you, and needs to be waked up?” See, Elijah was simply trying to get them to understand that they couldn’t serve 2 Gods which is why in Verse 21 he asked, “How long are you going to sit on the fence? If GOD is the real God, follow him; if it’s Baal, follow him. Make up your minds,” but they never said a word. So they prayed longer, louder and even start cutting themselves with swords and used every trick they could think of and still not a word or flicker of fire from their God. Elijah finally had enough and he said, “Enough of that—it’s my turn. Gather around.” And they did. The watched him as he placed twelve stones, one for each of the tribes of Jacob, into the altar in honor of GOD, he dug a fairly wide trench around the altar, laid the firewood, cut up the ox and put it on the altar. Then he had Baal’s people drench the ox, the wood and the trench with water 3 times just to make sure they knew there was nothing funny about God working. See, when God works, he works this thang out in your favor without tricks and gimmicks. Now, when it was time for Elijah to make his sacrifice, he prayed to his God and verse 38 says, “Immediately the fire of GOD fell and burned up the offering, the wood, the stones, the dirt, and even the water in the trench.” When this happened, “All the people saw it happen and fell on their faces in awed worship, exclaiming, “GOD is the true God! GOD is the true God! (Verse 39)”

But why does God have to send a sign for us to believe that he’ll do what he said he would? We know that his first commandment says in Exodus 20:3, “You shall have no other gods before me,” yet, as a people we’ve allowed ourselves to get caught up in material things that have now become our God. You know how the car trumps church service because it’s almost new and you don’t want to add miles to it but you drive everywhere else. The job trumps your fellowship with God because you’ll take a vacation day to go shopping but not one on a Sunday once a month to commune with Him. The club even trumps God because you’ll use your tithe money to buy clothes, alcohol and pay your way in and then complain that the Pastor is taking all the money for himself. Child, you can’t keep straddling the fence because either you’ll soon fall or you’ll get a splinter in your butt and neither is better than the other. Please don’t be offended, I don’t need to convince you that my God is better than your God because I’ll let his work speak for him but I’m saying you need to choose. I’m not saying that you have to give up doing some of the things you used to do but you can do them better. I didn’t say you had to stop wearing what you want, just wear it better. The bible says in 1 Corinthians 10:31, “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” He didn’t say you couldn’t drink but he says don’t get drunk (Ephesians 5:18). He didn’t say you couldn’t dance because Ecclesiastes 3:4 says, “A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance.” If God didn’t think we wouldn’t ever sin, why do you think he made repentance for us by sacrificing his only Son? God knows you’re not perfect but you’ve got to make up your mind; the world or God? You can’t serve man Monday through Saturday and then God only on Sundays because it doesn’t work like that. When you become filled with worldly stuff, then God’s business gets pushed to the back which is why 1 John 2:15 says “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” You know that when you try to provide the same amount of attention to 2 things at the same time, one will suffer, right? It’s like trying to blow air into 2 balloons at the same time. When you take your mouth off of one, the air releases so the only way for you to get one the size it needs to be, you have to continue to blow into it, which means the other one will be left out; at least until you finish with the first one. This is the same way with trying to serve God and the world. When you focus on the world, then God’s plan for your life is placed on hold until you are finished but will you finish in enough time to go back and get God and if you do, will he still be in the same place you left him?

No one can make you serve God just like no one can make me serve the devil, it’s a personal choice, however, you can’t serve both because the devil can’t bless you like God can and God will never bless you like the devil can. Choose today to get off the fence. If the world is where you want to be, do that until you are ready to commit yourself, wholeheartedly to God because serving God is a work that needs your full attention because with society being the way it is, today, we got a lot of work to do. Let me give it to you straight; if your God can’t create a world in 7 days, create seas/rivers with the command of his voice, make man out of dirt, a woman out of a man’s rib, heal your body & wipe your tears without touching you, snatch you from the doors of hell just by reaching out and forgive you even though you keep doing wrong; you’re serving the wrong God. If you have to get a buzz from alcohol instead of walking into God’s house, if you have to get high from smoking weed instead of from the Holy Spirit, if you have to cry from the hurt of the world instead of having joy and if you have to run from folks instead of rejoicing; you need to change your God. If you find joy in other folk’s tears and rejoice from other folk’s pain; you’re serving the wrong God. If the God you’re serving isn’t answering your prayers, try my God. If the God you’re serving can’t fill you up when you’re hungry, rock you to sleep when you’re restless, calm your nerves when you’re pacing, light the path you’re walking when it gets dark, carry you when it feels like you can’t go one, add more rope to the one you’re holding when it’s about to break and cushion the ground before you fall; you’re serving the wrong God. If the God you serve can’t make you feel warm on this inside and you haven’t drank anything hot, make you want to dance when there is no music, shout when you have no money in the bank and walk on even during the storm; you’re serving the wrong God. Joshua 24:15 sums it all up; “But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.”

Daily Devotional – 6/1/12 “What in the hell is going on?”

I know this is a Christian devotional and I probably should have said world instead of hell but with the world the way it is today, I’ve got to keep it real with you. The kids these days have no sense of urgency, no regards to what should be a priority and even a don’t care attitude when the world will chew them up and spit them out the first chance it gets. While sitting at my parents-in-laws on yesterday, we were talking to the kids about their attitudes and the fact that they expect things to be handed to them and it doesn’t seem to be registering. I’ve been trying to teach my daughter that the world doesn’t revolve around her and if she doesn’t realize it now, she will be in for a rude awakening once disappoints slaps her a few times across the face in the world. See, I’ve come to realize that the generation of children now couldn’t survive without parents. When I was 13, my sisters and I were responsible for our household because my momma had to work. She didn’t work because it was the cool thing to do but she worked because if she didn’t, we went without. We were able to cook, clean, wash clothes, take care of babies and anything else that needed to be done. We didn’t know the meaning of half cleaning a bathroom or not making a bed. We didn’t sleep if there was a dish in the sink and when we were of age, we worked during the summer because it was the responsible thing to do. Now, oh Lord, kids can’t even get a decent grade in school when school is all they have to do. They act like we are getting on their nerves when we tell them to clean the room they aren’t even paying for. We give them cell phones, name brand shoes/clothes, video games, nails, hair fixes and money to hang out when we hardly ever get the chance too. Am I blaming the parents, partially, because we share part of the blame? We didn’t have 19 pairs of shoes and we turned out find. We even shared clothes with each other and we survived. Now, they need a shoe to match the color of the strips in their shirt or a new pair of jeans because somebody else got them. We don’t even discipline them anymore because we have a Now & Later attitude whereas a child does something now and we say we’ll get them later. What in the hell is going on? The bible says in Proverbs 23:13, “Don’t fail to discipline your children. They won’t die if you spank them.” You didn’t die with all the whooping you got, did you? And then you had to go and get the switch or belt for your own punishment. However, with the “new age” parents, we allow the child to set the rules of the games but when did the play change? I mean, if you were disrespectful with your mouth, you got hit in your mouth but, now we tell them, “Say it one more time and I’m going to …!” What? What are you actually going to do later that you should have done then?

Bay-bee, you’d better get it together. Kids, these days have it all wrong. They talk more than they listen when the bible says in Proverbs 23:12 “Commit yourself to instruction; listen carefully to words of knowledge.” Even in my adult days now, I still listen to my parents and grandparents because they have the knowledge of all we are trying to do. Yea, I know that you may be a young parent but that doesn’t mean we stop parenting and parenting starts from when they are hold enough to learn right from wrong. Deuteronomy 6:6-7 says, “And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.” Instead of your daughter being on the phone while you cook dinner, teach her how to make the cornbread. While your son is chilling on a Saturday, he should be cutting the grass while you are edging in order to learn how to take care of his house someday. If we don’t teach them, how will they know?” Teach a young man to be responsible and respectful so that he’ll know how to treat young ladies. Teach a young lady how to be responsible and respectful so that she’ll know how to treat young men. Teach them the value of a dollar so that they won’t be 18 and sign away their life the first time a credit card application comes in the mail. Teach them how to love themselves, first, so that they won’t fall for the first person whispering in their ear. Teach them how to pray so that they can call on God when times get hard. Teach them how to worship so that the Holy Spirit can abide in them and speak for them when they can’t. Teach them how to be responsible drinkers when they get 21 so they won’t end up dead or in jail before they turn 22. Teach them how to work hard for the things they want instead of stealing and robbing folks. Teach them that it’s ok to love themselves but not become self-centered and full of themselves. If you have a trade, teach it to them because even if they act like there aren’t interested now, they will be when they least expect it. If you start early building their foundation, they’ll always have it to build on. Will they sometimes stray, yes but they’ll have a starting point to go back too. This is why the bible says in Proverbs 22:6, “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.”

We are living in a society where kids are maturing faster than they ever have so before the world turns them into another statistic, we have to ground them. No ma’am, no sir; there isn’t anything cute about a 3-4 year old cussing, rapping and popping their butt. If they can do all that, they need to be potty trained. Folks aren’t laughing with you when they see a child being disrespectful at a store, church or school but they are laughing at you for being crazy enough to allow it to happen. My grandma always says you get them where they cut up at. Proverbs 29:15 says, “To discipline a child produces wisdom, but a mother is disgraced by an undisciplined child.” So, instead of going to the school to act a fool with the teacher, act one with the child that’s cutting up and I can bet they won’t want that embarrassment again. See, while you are running up to the school to “show out,” you knew your child was hellish before you even sent them to school so stop acting like they do no wrong. You should be the main one sending thank you notes during teacher appreciation for them folks having to deal with the child you don’t even want to deal with. And if you got a problem with the teacher, discuss it alone and not in front of the child because the last thing they need to know is you can’t stand the teacher. Another thing, stop discussing grown folk business in front of children who have no business being in the business! Tare their tail up when they are disrespectful to the adult in the house who is not their biological mom or dad instead of saying that you will. You’re mad at your husband because he came home late, so what, the kids shouldn’t know it. You get mad at your wife because she didn’t give you any loving last night, the kids shouldn’t know it because you want to talk about it in the car. Grown folks business is grown folks business. Child, get cha life right! Now, don’t get me wrong, as the child gets older some things they need to experience in order to understand the goodness of God but they shouldn’t have a hand in everything that goes on. Let them see you sick so that they can understand when you say God is a doctor in a sick room. Let them know that you are temporarily out of funds, when they are asking for $200 tennis shoes and the light bill is due, so they’ll know that God can make a way when it looks like there is no way. Let them know that God can bring joy instead of you finding it in a bottle of alcohol. Let them see that God is the love you need instead of finding it between the legs of the many men/women you have coming in and out of your life. Ask yourself, if I died on today can my teenager/young adult survive in this world. If the answer is no, then it’s not too late to start because you have work to do. If the answer is yes, you still have work to do because learning happens every day. Yea, you may think you got it all under control and that your child will never do this but if a child is breathing, there isn’t anything they won’t try to get away with. Stop acting like your child doesn’t make mistakes because everybody does.

We’ve got to get back to teaching the right way instead of telling it to them. We’ve got to get back to paying attention instead of paying them to do the chores they are supposed to do. We’ve got to get back to praying for/with them instead of praying they make it to 18 to get out of your house. We got to get back to making them worthy of God’s blessings instead of making them go to church on Sunday where they text or sleep the entire time. We’ve got to being the parents that God has made us. The bible says in John 5:19, “Jesus gave them this answer, I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.” And women are supposed to adhere to what the bible says in Titus 2:3-4, “Likewise, older women are to show their reverence for God by their behavior. They are not to be gossips or addicted to alcohol, but to be examples of goodness. That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children.” Don’t be quick to throw in the towel when your child makes mistakes because kids, young & old, will make mistakes because no one is perfect but God. Haven’t you realized by now that once you’re down and old, these same children you’re walking over will be responsible for you? Don’t be too quick to give up on them because they may just return the favor and then you’ll be sitting in a nursing home crying because no one will visit you. Start off with a strong foundation of Christ and his commandments and if they ever leave, they will have something to return to and to rebuild on. I know that times get hard and sometimes you feel like giving up, but someone cared for you when you needed it. You can’t be mad or sad when they are consumed by the streets if that’s the only choice you’ve given them. Stop giving up so easily on your child. Sometimes you have to take your hands off but that’s only when you have placed them in God’s hands.