Daily Devotional – 4/6/12 “Good Friday!”

Now, I know someone woke up asking what is good about this day but let me tell you. You woke up this morning, that’s a good thing. You opened your eyes and could actually see, that’s another good thing. You moved your arms and legs and they worked, another good thing. You could feel with your hands and feet and speak with your mouth which is yet another good thing. You didn’t have to wait for someone to open the door, you didn’t have anyone telling you when to do this and that and you didn’t have to eat the food that someone else chose because you were in your own home instead of being behind prison walls. You didn’t need help to the bathroom to handle your business and you didn’t have to worry about being poked and prodded by some doctors and nurses because you’re not in the hospital. And your family didn’t have to identify your body at the morgue or visit the funeral home to make last preparations for your home going celebration because you are yet alive, so yes this is a Good Friday. See, this time many, many years ago God’s only son was getting prepared for his execution. I can imagine Jesus still praying for folks as they prepared the cross, the heavy cross for him to bear. I can only imagine Jesus still forgiving folks even though they were preparing a crown of thorns for his heads and for their fists to hit every part of his body. I can even imagine Jesus not mumbling one word against those who found joy in the suffering he was about to endure, yet you got up with a reason to complain. Matthew 27:12 says, “But when the leading priests and the elders made their accusations against him, Jesus remained silent.” Even with the crowd yelling for him to be crucified, Jesus said nothing; see he didn’t need to explain himself because he had done no wrong for the bible says in Matthew 27:18, “For he knew that it was out of envy that they had delivered him up.” Yet, you scream the loudest when you know that you are guilty. When they hung him in between 2 thieves, mocked him for the promises he made, laughed at him for saving others instead of saving himself, he still never said a word. See, Jesus knew the promise that his Father had made him so he didn’t need to worry about what the folks did to him. Although they pierced his hands and feet with nails, they could never pierce his spirit. Although they speared him in his side, they couldn’t take away the power that God had entrusted him with, so Jesus had no reason to worry because he knew his Father was a man of his word.

So, why are you so quick to fall when trouble comes? Don’t you know that God is a man of his word? Yea, I know somebody woke up this morning without a job, but you’re still living and able to hit the streets to find one. I know that somebody woke up hungry because they didn’t eat on last night, but all you have to do is swallow your pride and ask for help. I even know that somebody is crying because they can’t buy their children clothes and Easter baskets for Sunday, but try teaching them the real reason we celebrate Easter. We’ve gotten so accustomed to Easter egg hunts, when bunnies have never laid an colored egg in their life. We spend more money on clothes and shoes for the kids that we forget about spending time telling them about the greatest sacrifice that was ever made. I know that someone is mad because they didn’t get this day off but just imagined what Jesus had to go through when he had to work on Good Friday. He was stripped down in front of a crowd of folks who wanted him to suffer because they couldn’t explain the power that he possessed. He was beaten because they found joy in inflicting pain on him. He was made to carry a cross, the same cross that he was going to be nailed too, while he was marched through crowds of people spitting on him because they chose not to believe. He was nailed to that cross and hung between 2 thieves, although he had never committed a crime. He was made fun of when he cried out to his Father before death swallowed him up and his spirit was released. He was wrapped in borrowed clothes and laid in a borrowed tomb, all because folks choose not to believe in him and the things he could do. So, why is this a good Friday? Because you have the choice to be who you want to be, go where you want to go and do what you want to do. You still have to wonder why this is a Good Friday, because you have to work when you have a job while there are millions without one. You got the nerve to complain about this Good Friday, when someone is sitting in a clinic with a huge needle in their vein receiving chemo, radiation or dialysis when all you have is a headache. You got the audacity to complain because your child doesn’t have a new dress while a parent in sitting in St. Jude wishing her child could smell the fresh outside without it compromising his immune system. Is this a Good Friday? Yes, because while you have a chance to celebrate the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus, someone is preparing to bury their son or daughter, mother or father, sister or brother. Is this a Good Friday? Yes ma’am, yes sir; because it could be Messy Monday, Trouble Tuesday, Weeping Wednesday or Temptation Thursday but instead you get Good Friday! Is this a Good Friday, yes it is! Why, because Jesus endured in order to ensure we’d be forgiven of our sins, if we simply asked? I’d take Good Friday every chance I get because it lets me know the ultimate price that God had to pay by sending his only Son to Hell in order to reach Heaven!

Daily Devotional – 4/5/12 “Cry if you must!”

Somebody woke up this morning and after hearing the news report about rain or seeing the rain fall, you begin to think that just like outside, the rain won’t stop dropping in your life. But baby, I stopped by to tell you, the rain is meant for your good. Like I said on yesterday, I know the window of life you may be looking out of only shows dark clouds, lightning, rain and you hear the thunder coming but it’s not for your bad. No, because when the rain comes it’s either to wash away mess/dirt or to water the seeds you’ve sown? See, when you’re in a relationship with someone who is not the man or woman for you, they tend to throw dirt on you. Not actual dirt but they cause you to be dirty and degraded every time they call you out your name, every time they lie to you or on you, every time they cheat or break a promise. Then you pray to God for guidance so he sends the rain and it starts falling when they decide to leave or you finally decide to do what is right and put their butt out. This is simply God washing away the dirt because see, if you sweep it, it only gets deeper into the carpet or your clothes and although it seems like it’s gone from the surface, it’s still deep enough to affect you. Don’t believe me, put on some white socks and walk on the floor. You have to put water on the mess in order to completely remove it, so God sends the rain. Yea, I know that during this storm you may feel like you’re losing but hold on. I know it may seem like you’re drowning but all you have to do is stand up. God is not a man that he should lie and when he said he wouldn’t forsake you, he means it. Matthew 7:25 says “The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.” See, if you have your feet planted in the right soil, the storm won’t be able to move you. If you have your house built on the right foundation, even water can’t make fall. Yea, you may bend from the wind but you won’t break. You may even get more water than your bucket can handle but it’ll never be too heavy to carry. Welcome the rain and then stand in it with your arms outstretched ready to accept your cleaning and once you are cleansed, don’t go back playing in the dirt.

If that person left, you lost the job you say you loved, your favorite car was totaled or you are still grieving, honey, stop trying to hide the tears that you’re shedding because they let folk know that you’re alive and it’s also another way to let God know that he’s working in your life. See, I’ve always said that tears are just liquid prayers from your eyes to God’s ears during those times you can’t find the words so don’t feel bad because you cry. Haven’t you realized yet that when the Holy Spirit dwells within you, you’ve got to get your praise on and sometimes that means crying? Plus the tears you are sowing now are only watering the harvest that you shall soon reap. Don’t believe me, the bible says in Psalm 126:5, “Those who sow in tears shall reap with shouts of joy!” For when harvest time comes, you won’t have to shed anymore tears because you’ve sown enough to last you through that season. As a parent, you’ve had nights you had to cry from some of the choices your child made but then they finally grow up and get back on the right track and all the mess they used to cause, they don’t do anymore; you watered your harvest. As an adult, you cried many days from not knowing how you would pay your bills when the money always ran out before time but God allowed you to work hard, save a little money and now you’ve retired and enjoying the life you have left to live; you watered your harvest. As a cancer patient, you cried those evenings when the chemo treatments made you want to die when you had to eat but couldn’t keep nothing down, wanted to go but had no energy or had to breath but it hurt so bad but now you’ve been cancer free for 4 years and healthier and happier with no trace of cancer; you watered your harvest. That day in the doctor’s office when she said you had to lose weight or die from diabetes, you walked out crying but you didn’t stop walking and now 6 months later and 30 pounds gone she says the diabetes is now under control; you watered your harvest. When man said if you didn’t find a kidney soon, you’ll die so you cried and cried, but then you received a phone call to come into the hospital right now because a match had been found and now 10 years later, you’re still living, you watered your harvest.

Don’t be ashamed to cry because some days crying makes you feel better. Don’t be scared to cry because crying doesn’t make you less than the man or woman God has designed you to be. James 1:12 says, “God blesses those who patiently endure testing and temptation. Afterward they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.” Yea, I know that it seems like your drinking tears for water, but just hold on. I know that it seems like you’ve cried and you may even be saying like Psalm 6:6-7 says, “I am worn out from sobbing. All night I flood my bed with weeping, drenching it with my tears. My vision is blurred by grief; my eyes are worn out because of all my enemies,” but hold on because even though you may be worn and tired, tell your enemies like Psalm 6:8-9 says, “Go away, all you who do evil, for the LORD has heard my weeping. The LORD has heard my plea; the LORD will answer my prayer.” God has heard you and he will come and see about you in your time of need. Don’t be ashamed of the tears you cry, just don’t wallow in them for too long. As like anything that starts, it shall end maybe not when you expect it to, but in God’s time. So cry on if you must!

“This storm is just a shower to cleanse me of the dirt that have been thrown on me by my haters. I won’t be afraid to cry and I’ll walk through the rain because when the SON shines, I’ll be renewed and through my renewal comes restoration and with restoration I am being restored back to a previous state or an even better one that allows me to reach my full potential so now I shine like pure gold. Yea, the rain may fall but I’m covered by the umbrella of God’s grace and mercy that always keep me dry!”

Daily Devotional – 4/04/12 “You’re made to withstand the heat!”

This sounds crazy, right but it’s true. Let me explain. When I first started writing my thoughts, from God, on paper, the second or third was entitled the Potter and I thought it was fitting to go over this again. Why? Because folk have gotten to the point where they are letting even the feel of a little heat break them down even after God has made them capable to withstand it. How do I know that God has made us strong enough, because he is our strength? Psalm 28:7 says, “The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song.” See, when a potter is making pottery, he or she uses clay on a wheel that is then shaped into all different shapes and sizes. Most times, not even a skilled potter can get it right the first time, so when they make a mistake they take the SAME clay, start over and reshape it. That’s because even though the clay was battered and bruised it is still usable and after numerous tries the final piece of pottery is then created. Then the pottery is placed into a high-temperature, heating source that seals the clay into its shape & gives it its strength and shine, thus creating the masterpiece that was envisioned by the Potter and the potter’s hands. Isn’t it something how a regular piece of clay can be twisted, turn, rolled over, shaped, reshaped and then placed into a high heat fire and made into a bowl, cup or plate that is now considered fine china in somebody’s china cabinet?

Well, you are the same way. You are that fine piece of china that has been created and your worth is so high, no man can afford to pay it. How do I know? Because God is the potter and he has taken you, a regular person, twisted, molded and shaped you into the masterpiece that you are today. So why are you selling yourself so cheap? Don’t you know that you’re the son/daughter of a king which makes you more valuable than the few dollars someone pays for you? Stop selling yourself short. Will you have moments of insecurity and feelings of unworthiness, yes but sometimes, it takes numerous tries to get you right because you keep coming apart, you keep getting bruised or battered and knocked off the wheel but God said, that’s ok for even the righteous man fall 7 times but yet he can be raised (Proverbs 24:16). God even puts you in high temperature situations; storms, trials, tribulations, heartache, grief and struggles, in order to make you strong enough to endure all that the enemy will try to hit you with. See, if you aren’t strong then when you get knocked down, you’ll shatter instead of bouncing back up. If you aren’t strong, when somebody stabs you in the back, it’ll leave an open place in your skin instead of a scar that if taken care of can be gone in no time. If you aren’t strong you’ll be swept up in the chaos of life, after being broken into pieces instead of picking them up, putting them back together and living. God has made your skin tough enough to handle being lied on, talked about, name being drug through the mud, folk wishing bad on your life & even speaking death in certain situations. He made you with tough skin so when folk try to walk all over you; you’d be able to take it without wavering. He made you tough so that your skin could handle the tears that will be shed and the scars that you’ll get from being stabbed in the back, front and sides. He made your shoulders strong enough carry the weight of the world on them without falling over. He made your legs and arms strong in order to carry those that may need you in their time of need. He made your feet strong to stand in the face of adversity and still march on even after you’ve felt like giving up. He even made your knees strong enough to endure a satisfying prayer life, for the times you’ll surely need them.

So, when you have to ask why me, think about this; why not you? You are strong enough, capable enough and able to handle the heat from being hurt by your baby daddy. You are strong enough to handle the heat of being betrayed by your husband or wife. You are strong enough to handle the heat from the children acting out. You are strong enough to handle the heat when you see the eviction notice on your door, the pink slip with your name on it or the cut off notice from the light company. You are strong enough to handle the sadness in the doctor’s eyes when he says there is nothing more he can do. You are strong enough to endure 6 months of chemo or dialysis or heart transplant surgery. Yes, you! You don’t have to be army strong to fight the world’s battles because you are God strong, for the bible says in 1 Samuel 17:47, “And all this assembly shall know that the LORD saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the LORD’S, and he will give you into our hands.” So stop trying to conform to the world that is against you when the bible states in Romans 12:2, “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” Will folk hurt you, yes! Will folk lie on you, yes! Will folk wish death over you, yes! Will they try to block or steal your blessings, yes! That’s why God says in Deuteronomy 31:6, “So be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid and do not panic before them. For the LORD your God will personally go ahead of you. He will neither fail you nor abandon you.”

Think for yourself! Be yourself! For God, the potter, has made YOU in HIS image ( Genesis 1:27). He has made you strong enough to endure the heat and he will never leave you so it’s alright for you to stumble and even fall, sometimes, but don’t stay down. When you get knocked off your feet, take a moment to get yourself together and stand back up. Repeat after me – I am strong enough to handle the heat so today I’ll stop hiding and running from it! I am strong because I am God’s!

Daily Devotional – 4/3/12 “Praise Now, it could be worse!”

After watching the celebration of gospel on Sunday night, I heard the song entitled “Praise Now it could be worse by James Fortune” and the lyrics alone is a devotional. See, when you think you’re at the back of the line, look back because someone is standing behind you. When you think that you’re at rock bottom, reach down because you’re lying on top of someone who has fallen further. Just when you think you are the only one broke, with no money or food; walk the streets and see the folks living under overpasses, digging in the garbage or begging at the red lights. Child, you’d better praise RIGHT now because your situation could be worse. While you are constantly complaining about your child that still lives at home with you who has his right mind and able to be half way decent, somebody’s child is lying in an alley after overdosing on cocaine, somebody’s daughter is walking down Third St about to sleep with a man who has AIDS and she doesn’t even know it and somebody’s son was just killed in a car accident because the other person decided to drive drunk. Yea, you’d better praise God right now for your life because it could be worse. While you are complaining about the job you have that pays you and gives you the benefit of going to a doctor; somebody is dying from cancer because they don’t have the funds to be seen for the chemo they need, somebody had to choose whether to eat on last night or get their blood pressure medicine and somebody drunk themselves to death trying to deal with the pain in their body that didn’t seem to go away. You’d better praise God right now for your life because it could be worse. Let me say it again, you’d better praise God right now for your life because it could be worse! Be thankful for what you have and stop wishing for what other folks got because although it may look good to you, not everything that glitters is gold. You woke up this morning with a fresh anointing from God, he put breath in your body, he allowed your eyes to open to know that you’re alive, he allowed your arms to throw the covers back, he allowed your legs to hang over the side of the bed and your arms to lift you up, he allowed your mind to be right in order for you to know where you were, he allowed you strength to get up and start your day and he allowed you to have things to do and the ability to do them, so you’d better praise now. Exodus 15:2 says, “The LORD is my strength and my song; he has given me victory. This is my God, and I will praise him–my father’s God, and I will exalt him!”

Yea, I know somebody might be mourning the loss of a loved one but you should be rejoicing because when you’re absent from this side all of your troubles are over. I know that you might be upset about losing your job but you should be rejoicing for the obstacle God just removed from your path in order for you to see the blessing that it had been blocking. I know you think that God is punishing you by putting sickness in your body but rejoice in the fact that God doesn’t punish you for your wrongdoing but he forgives and that the sickness may just be ridding your body of all the harmful things so that you can be made whole. Your situation could be worse. Your circumstances could be worse. Your living arrangement could be worse. Your children could be worse. Your job could be worse. Your car could be worse. Your family could be worse. So praise now! PRAISE RIGHT NOW! Praise God right now for the blessings that you have and even for those things that have been taken away because whatever you’re facing is not meant to take you out, so have faith! Yea, the window you’re looking out of is only showing dark clouds, thunder, lightning and rain but have you thought that maybe God is sending the rain in order to water the seeds you’ve sown? Leviticus 26:4 says, “Then I will give you your rains in their season, and the land shall yield its increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit.” Yea, God knows you’ve been sowing into the spirits of others by always helping so he is sending the rain to water those seeds so that now you can reap from your harvest and be abundantly blessed. God knows that you’ve sown seeds of sleepless nights dealing with the effects of dialysis but he is sending the rain now to water those seeds so you can reap a fulfilling healthy life. Stop thinking that everything that happens to you is because you’ve not always been good because baby every Christian is one sin away from backsliding but that’s why God gave us a mouth and tongue to repent with. You’d better start praising now because it, your life, could be worse.

The lyrics of the song say:
You’ve been saying that you’re tired of going through
Seems like everyone else is blessed but you
Preacher telling you, your miracle is on the way
Paid your tithes, you’re confused cause your rent is late

So you may not have a mansion in a gated neighborhood
But at least you have a roof over your head
You say your body needs a healing, well the healer’s here today

Praise now, it could be worse, Praise now it could be worse

You complain about the job that you don’t like
Do your best, working hard they don’t treat your right
Boss is telling you, your raise is coming soon
With no notice, you’re laid off, what do you do

You’ve been waiting on your blessing
Don’t you know you’re already blessed
You should thank the Lord for what you already have
If it wasn’t for Jesus, tell me where would you be
Praise now it could be worse!

Daily Devotional – 4/2/12 “God’s hospital is open!”

That’s right, God has a hospital where there is healing for your sin sick soul. The question is why haven’t you allowed him too? You are constantly dibbling and dabbling in the world thinking that if you duck and hide God won’t see but baby, God is an everywhere God so he sees and hears all. Don’t think that because you’re in a dark park that God can’t see. Don’t think that because you’re whispering on the phone that God can’t hear and please don’t think just because you erase text messages, he don’t know what you’ve sent. God knows because he knows you and if you sin, you do it from your heart. That’s why your prayer should be every day, Psalm 51:10 “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.” See, God knew we would sin but that is why he left his word and he anointed common folk to be able to guide you back to the right path but you have to be willing to get the help, accept it and then use it. That’s where the church comes in. The church is God’s hospital for sin sick souls but you have to go and be seen and the great part about this hospital is you don’t even have to make an appointment to be seen because you’re healing starts when you walk through the door, there is no deductible to be met and you don’t have to sign in and wait for your name to be called. You have the ability to be healed and saved from your sins but you have to be willing to be changed and healed.

See, the church is a place of worship and if you come in knowing that you’re leaving and letting go of all the mess from the past week then you leave better than you came. However, if you come through the doors without an expectancy of God’s grace you’ll leave in the same way you came. Don’t you know that if you walk in with your head held high, a praise on your lips, a clean heart knowing without a shadow of a doubt that God will do what he says he’ll do all the stuff you’ve endured Monday thru Sunday morning won’t matter? If you come to God’s hospital ready to be healed, you’ll receive just that, then the crying you came in with will be gone, the hurt from folks won’t hurt so bad, your broken heart will be mended and the strength you lost from carrying the past weeks burdens will be renewed. If you come to God’s hospital ready for your healing! That’s why your lips should be saying every day, “O LORD, if you heal me, I will be truly healed; if you save me, I will be truly saved. My praises are for you alone! (Jeremiah 17:4)” How do you receive healing for your sin sick soul? I’ll tell you. First, trust God and stop worrying about Dr. Pastor because his job is to teach you God’s word, like writing a prescription, but salvation is your choice, just like filling the prescription and taking the medicine in order to be healed. Secondly, you have to actually go to church in order to get the healing you need just like you have to go to the doctor’s office. Thirdly, go in prepared to get your healing, that comes with studying God’s word on your own, just like you research when you’re self diagnosing yourself. Finally, receive your healing by speaking it over yourself with the power that it’s already done. Proverbs 18:21 says, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits.” The hospital for your sin sick soul is open but it won’t come to you the same way you have to open the door to allow God to come in. Try it for yourself and unlike the rising cost of medical bills, it’ll only cost you 10% (that’s tithing) which is much cheaper than visiting the ER. You will sin, but God forgives. You will have temptations but God can give you the strength to overcome them. You will have days of wanting to give up but God won’t allow you too. Visit God’s hospital for all you need. I can guarantee that no matter how bad you feel when you walk in, it can all be released with the power of God and the Holy Ghost. When you sick, shout yourself well. When you’re down, dance yourself happy and when you’re in pain, praise it away! You have the power and God has the prescription. Matthew 21:22 says, “And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.”