Daily Devotional – 5/11/12 “Reach beyond the break!”

Are you at edge and it seems like you can’t hold on? Are you tired of being broke when you just got paid? Are the kids acting like strangers in your home? Does it seem like all hell is breaking loose around you no matter how hard you pray? Do you want to let go because your rope is breaking? Well baby, reach beyond that break, hold tight and pull yourself up because if you keep holding on, reaching past the breaks that’ll happen from time to time and if you keep pulling yourself up, you’ll eventually reach the top of that cliff that you’ve been hanging over. See, once you reach the top of that situation that has you feeling like you’re sick and tired of being sick and tired, you’ll get your healing. Once you’ve reached the top of that circumstance that has you feeling like you’re bound and in prison, you’ll get your breakthrough. After you’ve reached the top and passed all those footholds the devil was standing in, the bumps that used to be friends and sharp edges that used to be haters; you’ll be able to stand tall, while wiping the tears from your face, the dust from your clothes, dirt from your hands, footprints from your shoulders that folks used to push themselves up and bandage the scars from the knives that were stabbed in your back to shout loud and proud, “I’m so glad I made it!” After going through the storm, you’ll appreciate the sun. After being broke for so long, you’ll manage the increase that God sends. After being used, abused and lied on, you’ll wait for God to send you who you are supposed to have in your life by way of friends or a spouse. After you’ve been to hell, you’ll appreciate the word that God left for you in Romans 12:2, “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”

Yea, I know it’s easy to get caught up in what other folk do and say but listen to that small voice from God because he won’t steer you wrong. When all those friends are gone after your money runs out, God is still there. When your boyfriend leaves because your coca cola bottle shape is gone, God is still there. When your girlfriend packs her bags because your black hair is now gray, God is still there. When the job closes down after you’ve given it your all, God is still there. He never abandons you although you often leave him because his word says in Deuteronomy 31:8 “Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD will personally go ahead of you. He will be with you; he will neither fail you nor abandon you.” Although, it may seem like you’re walking this path all alone, you simply need to go back where you left God, take his hand, believe in your heart and trust him so that he can show you the right way to go. God doesn’t leave us and he won’t force his way in but we have to open the door to receive him because Revelation 3:20 says, “Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends.” See, if you accept God because he has been forced upon you, you’ll leave him the first chance you get but when you open the door and accept the calling he has over your life, for you, you’ll proudly accept and wear it for the world to see. Don’t give up because other folk are telling you what they get while in the world because while they are being blessed, it comes with a price because the devil blesses too but his always comes with a high price to pay. Didn’t your grandmother tell you that if it looks too good to be true, it probably is? Yea, I know you met this man and he wines and dines you at the most expensive restaurants and buys you the most expensive shoes and clothes but you pay him by walking the streets all night. Yea, you got this fine young girl who all the guys wants and she’ll do whatever you ask her to do in the bedroom but she has you stealing from your own mother to satisfy her hunger for worldly things. Yea, I know you don’t go to church because the world has much more to offer but pushing it through your veins, you won’t last long. Yea, you may be enjoying the perks of the world but they aren’t free. Don’t give up so easily when the clouds start forming in your life on God’s side because the devil can shine a green light on dead grass to make it look good from a distance.

God has you covered and he won’t allow anything or anyone to stop you from reaching the placed he has designed just for you. Yes, God has a place that has been tailored just for you because it’s for you. How can he do this? Well in Jeremiah 1:5 God says, “I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb. Before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as my prophet to the nations.” Can’t just anybody sit in the chair behind the desk because it won’t fit their butt the same, they can’t wear your new suits because it won’t hug them the right way and they can’t even handle the financial blessings that will come because it won’t fit in their checking account. Why not, you ask? Because, God has it all designed just for you. He has the walls and the carpet the color you like. He picked out the comforter set and curtains to match the bathroom because he knew you would love it. He even designed the kitchen the way you’ve been dreaming of and it’s all for you and all you have to do is reach beyond the break in that rope and pull yourself up. Now, wait because there is a catch! The only person that can take this away from you is YOU! So get out of your own way, stop sabotaging your own dreams, stop talking yourself out of the blessing that’s in front of you, stop settling for anything, stop falling for everything and stop listening to other folks because they want what you have. Yes, you are worthy! Yes, you can do this! Yes, you can be that! Yes, you can go there! Yes, you can live there! Yes, you wear that! Yes, you can say that! Yes, you can marry who you want! Yes, you can date who you want! You can do whatever you want to do because God has given you exactly what you need to do it! Don’t ruin it for yourself because you’re too good for that. Reach beyond that break in that rope and watch God work this thang out for you in your favor! Everybody can’t handle the favor that God has, so put it on and rock it and show them how it’s done!

Daily Devotional – 5/10/12 “That was your blessing!”

Don’t you know that God has a blessing with your name on it? However, so many times you are too busy lifting other folks up that they receive the blessing that God is dropping on you. You are so busy helping other folks get ahead that you’re missing the blessing that is meant for you. You are so busy encouraging others that you’ve missed the encouragement that you need. Now, you’re depressed or in a slump. Well baby, I stopped by to tell you that sometimes you need to lift, help and encourage yourself! I’m not staying stop doing what you know is right but I’m simply saying stop blocking your own blessings. Have you seen the commercial of the guy who is standing in line at the grocery store and he allows the person behind him to skip and that person wins $50,000? Well, it’s the same as you allowing others to receive the blessing that is meant for you. Let me break this thang down. Picture this, if you will. God is above you getting ready to drop a blessing on you and it’s what you’ve been praying and fasting for but just as God releases it, you go and lift your girlfriend up above you and she receives the blessing that’s yours. Now, this wouldn’t be a problem but see, this is the same friend who you have to lift every week when her cheating boyfriend leaves after she just took him back. Every time he leaves, you go running over there to pull her out the dump she’s placed herself in and now she has received what was meant for you. Child, if she hasn’t learned from the 50 conversations you’ve had over the past year about that man, she won’t this time either because she will only get what she wants to take. I’m going to repeat this because somebody missed it – You will only get what you allow others to give.

Now it’s time for you to lift yourself. See, while you are constantly allowing folks to skip you, you are giving your blessings away and instead of you realizing it, you blame God when God is doing what you’ve asked him to do. In 1 Samuel 30, when David and his soldiers returned home to find their homes burned and their wives and children missing, they became discouraged but instead of David waiting for someone to pull him up, 1 Samuel 30:6 says, “but David encouraged himself in the LORD his God.” See, it shouldn’t have to take someone telling you you’re smart before you should believe it. It shouldn’t take me telling you that you can be somebody before you know it for yourself and it shouldn’t take validation from a man or woman to know that you’re beautiful or handsome. You should look in the mirror and see all of this for yourself. Stop allowing the way the world thinks to corrupt who you are because Genesis 1:27 says, “God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.” If God wanted you to look like everybody else, he wouldn’t have made different races, shapes, sizes and ethnic backgrounds but because of technology, media and reality TV, we’ve stop believing in ourselves and think the way things are on TV are the way things are supposed to be for us. Well baby, those folks have struggles just like we do but it’s dressed up to look like they don’t when the bible says in Job 14:1, “Man born of woman is of few days and full of trouble.” Being a star on TV doesn’t make you exempt from trials and tribulations. Yea, Evelyn and Tami from basketball wives may have money in the bank but look at the hell they have to put themselves through to get it. Stop selling yourself short, believe that you can do whatever you set your mind too and then encourage yourself to get it. Yea, your mom or dad can make you go to school but they can’t make you learn, the same way I can give you God’s word but I can’t make you believe.

Stop allowing folks to get what is rightfully yours. God has a blessing for each one of us but if you keep allowing folks to get in the way of you receiving it, it’s your own fault. What happens if someone calls your name while you are throwing a bowling ball down the lane? If you aren’t focused you’d probably get a gutter ball, right? This is because you’ve allowed somebody to get in your way. Again, you don’t have to stop helping when you’re needed, encouraging whoever needs it or being a shoulder for folks but take a little time for yourself because being in the hospital or dead won’t allow you to help or encourage anybody. Be where you need to be in order to receive what God has for you. Yea, I know your friend always call you when she is depressed but can you count on her to be there for you if the roles were reversed? Yea, folks depend on you the most because you are dependable but who can you depend on? It’s alright to say no when your plate is full or to turn down invitations when you know you don’t have the energy to go. Stop saying yes because you don’t want to hurt folk’s feelings because they won’t stop hurting yours. You are destined for greatness but you’ll never get there if you keep allowing folks to pass the same way you won’t reach the top if you keep allowing folks to skip because by the time you go, all the seats will be filled. Grab your blessing because it’s meant for you!

Daily Devotional – 5/9/12 “Trust should be given!”

Yea, I know that you think that folk should gain your trust but who are you to be so picky? Don’t you expect folks to trust you, then why can’t you give them the same? If you’ve met someone or if you’ve known someone and they’ve never given you a reason to not trust them, then you should. Trust them, I mean. Why are you treating your current spouse like they were the one who hurt you because of your previous relationships? It isn’t his/her fault that you picked the wrong people to love/lust on before them so they shouldn’t be held accountable for the pain that was caused to you by them. It’s like you getting mad at your new doctor for the surgery your old doctor performed when it makes no sense. Yea, ok, you’ve been hurt in the past, get over it! I know folks took the love you gave and stepped on it, pick it up and dust it off and get over it! If you are still alive through all that you’ve been through, you are a survivor, so move on. Stop holding on to the things other folks have done because it makes you bitter which then turns to resentment and resentment turns to anger. Now, you’re just one big ball of angry mess who will eventually be left alone. Yes, so your baby daddy turned out to be a deadbeat, well he was probably a deadbeat dude before he ever became a daddy but you were too blinded by the sex to see it. (Harsh but oh so true) Now, you treat every man who comes after the way you should have been treating him before you laid down with him. Child, you better wake up before you send away your true blessing of a man! Yea, your boo thang turned out to be the name of a gardening tool (and I don’t mean rake) and now you got the nerve to be a stalker to every girl you’ve dated since but had you listened to your momma when she said that girl ain’t the one, you wouldn’t be in the mess you’re in. But, no, you decided to give it a try anyway and now you’re making every girl after her pay for the deeds she done. Boy, you’d better man up before you push away the rib you sacrificed to be the one God designed for you.

When you love, that for real shonuff love, you won’t have a problem trusting because love covers whatever ailed you in the past, that’s why 1 John 4:18 says, “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.” See, when you love for all the right reasons, there won’t be any wrong reason. This doesn’t mean that you’ll have a perfect relationship because nothing nor anybody is perfect, besides God/Jesus, but what it means is whatever you face you’ll be able to overcome when you handle it together. You’ll deal with the bad days because the good days will outweigh them. You’ll deal with sickness and disease because you’ll have the strength to carry the other one when they can’t walk. You’ll deal with money problems because you’ve learned to live off the little in order to be able to handle when your breakthrough comes. You’ll be able to handle the attacks from the enemy when he sends temptations your way because you have that trust with each other that surpasses other folk’s understanding. When you love with God’s love, trust will automatically come because you’ll be able to handle everything else and then you won’t give up so easily. Psalm 84:12 says, “O LORD Almighty, blessed is the man who trusts in you!” See, when you trust in God, God places trust in you which then leads to you being abundantly blessed. When you trust in God, God places trust in you and it won’t allow you to dwell in hurtful places because Psalm 31:14-15 says, “But as for me, I trust in You, O LORD, I say, “You are my God.” My times are in Your hand; Deliver me from the hand of my enemies and from those who persecute me.” God will remove you from any situations or circumstances that will causes you harm when your trust is in him. This doesn’t mean that hurt won’t come but God won’t allow you to stay and wallow in it for too long.

Now, trust should be given unless it has been broken in the past, then it is earned but this only refers to the same person. If your teenage daughter has broken the trust that you’ve given her time and time again, then she needs to earn your trust back but don’t hold her accountable for the things her older sister put you through. If your spouse cheated on you, then they should earn your trust back when you forgive but don’t hold their mistakes over their head. If you’ve forgiven someone for things they’ve done to betray your trust, then you have to forget it and let it go and if they have changed and are proving to you that they are worthy of being trusted, give it to them. Don’t keep searching the kid’s rooms, checking your spouse’s pockets, going through the cellphone, cellphone records, looking at emails or following them in a separate car because when you go looking for stuff you find stuff. And when you’re looking, the enemy is constantly whispering in your ear so even if you do find something you’ll turn it into something it’s not because you’re looking at it in anger and from a place of distrust, so you’ll see what you want to see. When you’re looking through distrustful eyes, you’ll turn a meaningless conversation between coworkers into a full relationship. When you’re looking through distrustful eyes, you’ll be quick to listen to your friends who say your spouse is cheating because they saw him/her drop somebody off at home when this isn’t new to you but because it came from someone else, the wheels start turning in your mind. If you forgive then you have to forget because they work together. If you decided to take back the person who broke your trust then you’ve got to start giving them the trust back and stop bringing up their old actions. Matthew 6:14-15 says, “For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” Besides, you’ve had to be forgiven for things you’ve done in the past so who are you to make other folk suffer for mistakes if they’ve apologized and you say you’ve forgiven them? Don’t be too quick to throw your hands up and the towel in on someone just because they didn’t stay on the pedestal you placed them on because sometimes you can lift a person higher than they are able to handle and when they make a mistake your heart is broken. Leave the elevation to God because when it’s done by him, falling is sometimes in the plan which means you can fall without getting hurt and plus you can get back up better than you were before you fell. God made us so that we could love and being in love means trusting the one you’re with. Trust so that when trials and storms comes you’ll have someone to go through them with.

Daily Devotional – 5/8/12 “You’ve prayed and you have faith, now what?”

You’ve been down on your knees all night praying for God to come and see about you then you got off your knees with the faith that he could do whatever it is you asked him for but what else did you do? You do know that in order for God to help you, you’ve got to also help yourself, right? How can God help you pay your bills if you have no money towards them? Yea, saying you got faith that God will come through is great but he won’t produce a money tree in your backyard because you have to have something in order for him to increase it. How can he bless you with a job and you haven’t filed out any applications? I know that God knows your talents but these companies who are hiring don’t. You’ve got to put in a little work. It’s like you praying for God to bless you with a new car, yet you haven’t been to one car lot. Yes, God gives us blessings and some of the things we pray for but we have to also work because these things don’t magically appear. Didn’t you read the scripture in James 2:26 that say “Just as the body is dead without breath, so also faith is dead without good works?” Then stop with the woe is me syndrome and do something. Yes, you’ve prayed and you even have faith but now what?

You’ve been fasting for 2 days because you want God to take away the sin that you’ve allowed to bound you but I’ve said it before, God can’t take anything that doesn’t belong to him because that would make him a thief. If you have sin inside of you, give it to God and then he can help you get over it. Don’t you know if God could snatch sin from our mouth, hands, head and heart without us doing any work, we wouldn’t have sinners? When we allow ourselves to get caught up in the world, it’s not God but it’s the flesh. So God can’t take what isn’t his or what he didn’t give. It’s like you standing with a cigarette in your hand begging God to take the taste of nicotine out of your mouth but God can’t remove it when you’re still using it. The only way for you to begin to get rid of your addiction, you have to first give it up. Yes, you have faith that it can be done but now what? The bible says in James 2:14, “What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone?” You have to help God help you and that’s by praying, having faith and then working. You pray for God to forgive you for committing adultery and you promise to never do it again but you answer every time the sin calls, you reply every time they text or you go running every time they say. Child, stop answering the phone! Make up your mind to stop and then stop. Yea, you’ll still have temptations but with giving your sin to God he’ll give you extra strength to fight them off. You can’t pray for a change, have faith that is can be done and then go back to sleep because James 2:17 says, “So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless.” You say, “Lord, can help me get this extension on my light bill?” then you go get on the couch to watch TV instead of calling or going to even ask for the extension. Honey, no! I guess you expect your account to appear on someone’s screen and then for them to know you need and extension and when your payday is? It doesn’t work that way. You’ve prayed and you got faith, so now work towards showing God that you really mean what you pray, he’ll do the rest.

Pray to God, have faith and then work! God can help you when you pray but you have to show him that you’re willing to accept the help he’s giving. If you pray and have faith that you can stop cursing, then work on stopping. Think before you speak and watch how your conversation changes. If you pray to stop smoking, stop buying the cigarettes or the marijuana and have faith that God will take away your desire for it then work on not picking it back up. If you pray for God to change the way you treat folk and you have the faith that it can be done, start treating them differently and watch God change your entire attitude and way of thinking. If you pray and have faith that God will stop you from drinking, stop going by the liquor store but work towards changing. To sum it all up and to make it plain, you have some work to do. You can’t expect God to help you pass a test if you never take it. You can’t pray for God to fix your marriage if you aren’t willing to work on changing whatever is wrong. The same way you can’t pray for God to heal you if you aren’t willing to take the medicine the doctor is giving. Pray for your change or for what you need, have faith that it can be done or given and then work toward making it happen. If it is your desire to attend worship service more, make a change in your schedule and go and let God do the rest. I know folks and even I have said let go and let God, this hasn’t changed but when you let God have it work so that he can keep it. If you’ve given him the hate that you’ve had bottled up in your heart, work towards loving so that you don’t reach back for the hate. If you’ve given him the doubt that you once carried around, work towards now believing so that the doubt never returns. When you’ve prayed and you have the faith that your prayer has been heard, work for your blessing. Mary Mary’s new song says, go get your blessing! God has your healing, he has your deliverance, he has your new career, house or car but you need to go get it. If God dropped blessings into our laps so easily, who would know what suffering feels like? Go get your blessing! Go get your healing! Go get your breakthrough! It’s your time, so go get it. You’ve prayed and you have faith, now what?