Daily Devotional – 3/23/12 “Death is mandatory, living is optional!”

I’ve only experienced a few deaths in my lifetime and no matter how close to home death is it’s still a reminder that we all have to die from this life in order to live again with God. Now, I know that it sounds strange but this is the way God left it. See, we all know that death is the way to get to Heaven and to God but what we fail to realize is that living, here on earth is an option that we have to choose. Let me break this down to you. You get up every day with a fresh anointing that God has placed on your life, with new mercies and with health, strength and a right mind yet you choose to live today mean and depressed because things aren’t going the way you want them to go. You have the option to be happy or sad and you choose sad but why? If you choose to curl up on your couch for 3 days without being bothered by family and friends, that’s your choice but God has given you the option to live which is why he woke you up today. You can choose to be the meanest person in the world every day but God has given you the option to smile, that’s why he allowed those muscles to work in your face. You can choose to take your life, before it’s your time to go, but God has given you the option of living which is why he hasn’t sent the death angel to take you yet. Yea, death is a mandatory thing because in order to see God in Heaven you have to die from the fleshly body in order to be with him in your spiritual body but at this moment you’re living is the option that he has presented to you.

No one can make you live the life that is being given to you each time you open your eyes because it has to be your choice. Just like Baskin Robbins offers 31 different options of flavored ice cream, God gives you the option of living minute by minute and hour by hour everyday but it’s up to you to take it. You have to choose to live. You have to choose to have life. You have to choose whether to be this or be that. You choose to be a drug addict, an alcoholic, a whoremonger, an abuser or just plain unhappy. You choose because just like living, these are all options that you can either choose or not choose. Philippians 1:21-24 says, “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! I’m torn between two desires: I long to go and be with Christ, which would be far better for me But for your sakes, it is better that I continue to live. Knowing this, I am convinced that I will remain alive so I can continue to help all of you grow and experience the joy of your faith.” So you see you do have the option to live and in choosing life, live it. Don’t keep being tied down in unhappy places because they drain the life out of you. Don’t keep being pushed into tight spaces because they suck the life out of you. Don’t keep walking into unsafe territories because then you’ll have to fight your way out and it can possibly snatch your life from you. Choose to live and live to choose. Choose life and let it be a life that is pleasing to God and to you.

When you die on this side you leave sickness and gain singing in the Heavenly choir. When you die on this side you leave pain from worldly mess and gain praise on golden streets that never end. When you die on this side you leave hurt from friends, hate from family and gain the Holy Spirit which never leaves you. Oh when you die on this side you leave tears, struggles, situations, circumstances, temptations, bills and mistakes but on the other side you gain a new life with rejoicing. See in living you get heartache, but dying you gain a never ending heartbeat. In living you get mess but dying you get the Messiah. In living you get pain but dying gives you never ending praise. In living you get sleepless nights but dying you gain rest. In living you get strife but dying gives you shouting. In living you get worldly stuff that can be taken but dying gives you a home that man’s hands didn’t touch. In living you go through hell but dying gives you Heaven. Revelation 21:1-4 says, “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” See, when you get to Heaven all of the things down here won’t be a thought anywhere in your mind but that’s when it’s your time to go. That’s why you have to live! Don’t rush death because we all have a date set. Yea, life down here can get too hard and it seems like it’s getting too much to bear but you’re strong enough to endure it because God made you in his image and as long as you have him you have the strength to overcome.

So, don’t be afraid the live for Romans 14:8 says, “If we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord,” and then be afraid to die for Psalm 23:4 says, “ Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.” In your living, when your going gets tough and your obstacles seem to get bigger by the minute, keep living because God promised that all that he ordains he’ll also give you the means to maintain it. Even in your living when it seems like dying will be easier, keep trusting in God to give you all that you need. Even in your living when it seems like the world is against you, keep praying for your enemies because when the world turned against Jesus yet he still asked his father to forgive them. You do have the option to live and although you may suffer, don’t let you’re living be in vain. God has a purpose for your life which is why he gives it to you every morning. Choose to live and then live to the best of your ability. Yea, I know that the death of a loved one can hurt you to the bottom part of your soul but its mandatory however your living afterwards is optional. You have the option to keep on breathing, so do it. I know that the sudden death of a brother or sister makes you weak in the knees but you have the option to still stand because God will give you that strength. I know that you thought you’d have a few more years with your spouse because the doctor said the cancer was gone but you have the option to continue living after they are gone by keeping their legacy alive. Choose the option to live because you don’t have a choice in death.

Daily Devotional – 3/22/12 “God’s puzzle!”

Have you ever purchased a puzzle with a lot of pieces with the thought of putting it together? If the answer is yes, then you know in order to get it to look like the picture on the front of the box, you have to first dump all the pieces out, scatter them around and if you’re like me you put all of the edge pieces together in a pile, right? Well, this is only to make it easier on you when you start to fit the pieces together. Now, have you ever thought that is how your life looks to God? If Genesis 1:26 says, “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth,” then he knew how he wanted you to look (the picture on the box). Now after he has the image of how he wants you to look and in order for him to put you together as the final masterpiece he has to pour all the pieces out, scatter them around and move all of the edge pieces together in one pile in order for him to start his work. Yea, when everything starts to fall apart around you and you don’t know what to do or what direction to take, that’s simply God pouring out the pieces. When it seems like all hell is breaking loose in your home, that’s simply God pouring out the pieces. When it seems like you take 2 steps forward only to be pushed 4 steps back, that’s simply God pouring out the pieces. See, he has to shake up the stuff that has been going on in your life and the only way for him to do it he has to pour out the pieces. Then when it seems like things can’t get any worse but they do, that’s just God scattering the pieces. When it feels like you can’t take any more weight on your shoulders because you might fall, that’s just God scattering the pieces. When it seems like your knees are worn out from praying but nothing is getting better, that’s simply God scattering the pieces. See he has to look through all the pieces of this and that in order for him to see what has to be used, what has to be removed and to be sure there are no extra pieces of stuff hanging on that can potentially through him off when he’s putting you back together. Now, you’re wondering why you seem so all alone, where your family and friends are when you need them and if you’re in this thang by yourself; but that’s simply God putting all the end pieces together in a pile. See, the end pieces surround you in order to shield you from the attacks of the world, they put up a barrier against evil things and evil folk to hinder them from coming through so God has to make sure they will all be there when he needs them.

Now as you start to see a little light peeking through the darkness that’s simply God starting to put the pieces together. When it seems like you’re starting to breathe better because now your head is rising above the water, that’s simply God putting the pieces together. When you feel the weight starting to lift from your shoulders, it’s simply God putting the pieces together. I told you before that God is creating you in his image and he knows what he wants the final piece to look like so it doesn’t take him long to put the pieces back together. He just simply needed to remove a few extra pieces that were distorting his image of you. Those friends that are no longer there after the crap hit the fan, they were the extra pieces. When your spouse ran because the heat became more than they could bear, they were the extra pieces. When your job fired you because they couldn’t understand why you needed time off, they were the extra pieces. When your church home didn’t do it for any more so you had to find a new one, they were the extra pieces. All of the things that caused you to not look like God’s final masterpiece was thrown in that pile and guess what, you look better even greater without them.

Stop trying to add pieces to the image that God has created. 1 Timothy 4:4 says, “For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving.” Stop trying to be something that you know you’re not. If you know that you can’t handle more than one drink, stop at one instead of trying to hang with the “big girls” because they won’t be around when you get that DUI. If you know you don’t steal from department stores then don’t do it just to be with the in crowd because I can guarantee you, they’ll leave you holding the bag when security shows up. If you know you love your spouse and take your vows seriously, don’t cheat just because your friend is doing it and egging you on to meet the friend of the person they are cheating with because when it’s judgment day, you’ll have to give an account of your actions and not theirs. Stop trying to make those things that don’t belong fit into your life because they only make your image look bad. Baby, you’d better watch the company you keep because most times you’re guilty by association even when you aren’t doing anything. You are God’s masterpiece and he made you strong. He put you together on a firm foundation so that when worldly folk and things try to move you, you don’t lose any of your pieces. When you accepted God into your life, he glued you to him just like folk sometime glue puzzles to their foundation in order for them to be framed or for others to see the work that they’ve done. 2 Timothy 2:19 says, “But God’s truth stands firm like a foundation stone with this inscription: “The LORD knows those who are his,” and “All who belong to the LORD must turn away from evil.” Show all the work that God has put into creating you by loving, caring, sharing, giving, praying and staying in his word. Show others the masterpiece that God created when he worked on you by letting your light of God shine. Don’t allow folks to peel your pieces off by stealing your joy and don’t allow holes in your artwork by filling your heart with hate for folks who have hurt you. Be the work of art, the masterpiece that God created so that when he looks at you he says, “That’s my work and it is good!”

Daily Devotional – 3/21/12 “In God’s time!”

Somebody woke up this morning in a rush for God to send them a confirmation or an answer to their prayer. Somebody paced all night long crying out to God for him to come and to come now. Somebody worried all day yesterday about a situation that they supposedly turned over to God but took it back when he didn’t come fast enough. Well, I stopped by for a moment to let you know that everything works in God’s time and not yours. Yea, you know that you should have died a long time ago but God keeps sparing your life trying to give you time to get it together. You know that car wreck was supposed to kill you but instead God allowed you to walk away with just a few scrapes and bruises because he is trying to give you time to get it right. You know that bullet that went into your chest was supposed to kill you instantly but God turned that thang around so that it missed your main artery because he’s trying to give you time to forgive folks who hurt you. Baby, you’d better wake up and realize that God won’t keep sparing you when you keep not caring. You want God to show up as soon as you open your eyes from praying with the answer to your question, but it doesn’t work like that. Why, because God moves at his own pace and at his own time. When Mary and Martha called for Jesus to come heal their brother Lazarus, he tarried for 2 more days because he had to wait for his Father to give him the power that he needed in order to wake him from his sleep. So when he finally came Lazarus had been in the tomb for 4 days but Jesus simply prayed “Father, I thank you that you have heard Me. And I know that you always hear me, but because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that you sent me,” (John 11:41-42) Even Jesus had to wait for God’s time.

So stop rushing God when he is trying to do his will. I know you are trying to see if you should take this job but if it is meant for you, they’ll wait. I know you need to decide if this car loan is the one for you, but it is meant for you, they’ll wait. Philippians 4:6 say “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” God has a specific reason and time for everything that he does. That’s why Ecclesiastes 3:1 says, “There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven.” See, if God showed up every time you snapped your fingers, you’d be too busy counting your blessings instead of thanking God for them. If God came to get you out of trouble as fast and you got in it, you’d never learn from your mistakes. Sometimes God has to allow us to wallow in our mess in order for us to learn the error of our ways because if he snatched us out of every bad situation right when they happened, how would you stop making that mistake? You know how you’ve had too much to drink but you still get behind the wheel, swerving while you driving and as soon as the police get behind you with their lights on you start praying to God expecting him to change your blood alcohol level before the cops get to your window. You get caught stealing and now you want God to make the shirt disappear from your bag before the security guards checks it when you know you shouldn’t have been stealing in the first place. No, God doesn’t work that way. He allows you to go through the consequences for your actions in order to learn from them.

Don’t you know that a baby will continue trying to touch the hot stove even after you’ve told them 4 times not too, until they touch it and get burned? Well, God is the parent telling you not to do certain things and even though he’s told you over and over, you do it anyway until you get burned and now you expect God to drop everything he’s doing to come and see about you. No ma’am, no sir, it doesn’t work that way! He told you not to rob and steal, yet you do and as soon as you get caught and go to jail, you become a jail house preacher when you could have been one outside the bars. God says don’t commit adultery but you do until that person’s spouse catches you and all the crap has hit the fan and now you’re at the altar crying your eyes out. God says don’t lie but you do until it catches up to you and now you’re trying to back paddle out of it by quoting scriptures. Child cut it out! God’s word says in Ecclesiastes 8:5-6, “Those who obey him will not be punished. Those who are wise will find a time and a way to do what is right, for there is a time and a way for everything, even when a person is in trouble.” If you’ve done wrong there will be a time to pay for your actions and although it may not come at the time the wrong is done, it will come. If you’ve been blamed for something that you haven’t done, the time will come for your wrong to be made right as well. That’s why Proverbs 12:21 says, “No harm comes to the godly, but the wicked have their fill of trouble.”

Stop rushing God and stop rushing time. If it’s meant for you to have a new job, car, house, spouse, baby or friends; they’ll come when the time is right. Haven’t you notice that things seems to fall into place when you least expect it? That’s because God is working on his time and not ours. If he worked on our schedule some of us would be worse off. You know this to be true when some of us will sleep the day away, some of us are never on time and then when we do show up we complaining, some never stay the entire time and then when you do you complain and some just don’t have a care in the world about nothing or nobody so they move when they say move. You know that your sister asked you last night to drop her off at work this morning at 8AM and although you agreed and charged gas money, you still didn’t show up to 8. What if God treated us the same way? You’d better stop taking God for granted because when you need him the most he won’t be there. Stop taking time for granted because when you need it most, it won’t be there and stop taking folk for granted because when you need them most they may not be there. God moves at his time because he knows what you need, when you need it, how you need and where you need it to be. Take him at his word and let him do his part, concentrate on yours!

Daily Devotional – 3/20/12 “He’s preparing you!”

God has placed you into whatever situation that you’re in, not be torn down, abused, cast out or accused but to overcome it with strength and dignity because he’s already prepared you for it and he knows you can handle it. “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future,” Jeremiah 29:11. See, God knows what you can handle before he even sends it your way because he made you who you are and because he knows you belong to him! He prepared you for the surgery and the chemo that came along with the breast cancer, why do you think you started working out again and eating healthier? He prepared you for the downsizing at your job, why do you think you updated your resume and started checking out the career sites and job fairs? God prepared you for momma/daddy leaving, why do you think you started spending more time at their house talking about all the things they wanted you to know? God was even preparing you for that car that ran the red light and almost took you out, why do you think you had your brakes changed earlier when you normally ride them until they squeal? Yes, God knows the trouble that will present itself in your life because he promised it in the Garden of Eden for Genesis 3:17 says, “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.”

See, just because you’re a child of God, it doesn’t mean all you’ll face will be trouble but it means that trouble will come and you have to work harder to overcome it. Stop thinking that trouble started when he made you because we’ve all been bound to it for Job 14:1 says, “ Man who is born of a woman is few of days and full of trouble.” Stop acting like you’re the only one going through a situation because we all have to face them for Job 5:7 say, “Yet man is born to trouble as surely as sparks fly upward.” So, why do you think you’re the only one facing a storm or have a dark cloud over your head? Baby, I’m here to tell you that we all have a storm to face because either we’re going through one, coming out of one or getting ready to go through one! The only difference between you and I is how we choose to handle it and when it comes. God has already prepared us for the storms and trouble but sometimes we forgot all the things we’ve been taught. We don’t read our bible like we should, we don’t pray when we know we could and we don’t treat folks the way God would, so when trouble comes it catches us off guard and now we act like we can’t make it through. But God gives us everything we need, daily; to overcome whatever obstacle we have in our way. He gives us the necessary weapons to fight against the stress, temptations, turmoil, strife, dead end streets and closed doors that we will have to face. If you don’t believe me, then follow this checklist to see if you have what you need to overcome trouble.


1.    If you’re living and breathing, check it off!
2.    If you’re able to hear, see, smell, taste and touch, check it off!
3.    If you can move your arms, legs, head, hands, feet, mouth and eyes, check it off!
4.    If you can feed and clothe yourself, comb your own hair, wash your own body and brush your own teeth, check it off!
5.    If you can remember what you did yesterday, what you have to do today and make plans for tomorrow, then you’re in your right mind so check it off!
6.    If you can bend your knees, then you can pray so check it off!
7.    If you have God on the inside of you, then you have the strength you need, so check it off!
8.    If you believe and take God at his word that says “The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged (Deuteronomy 31:8), check it off!
9.    If you believe that God never fails, check it off!
10.    And if you believe that God hears and answer prayers, then check it off!

If you have more than one checked, then you have what you need to win against trouble. 2 Chronicles 20:17 says, “You won’t fight this battle. [Instead,] take your position, stand still, and see the victory of the LORD for you. Don’t be frightened or terrified. Tomorrow go out to face them. The LORD is with you.” Even though this scripture was talking to Judah and Jerusalem, then, it’s speaking to you now. When trouble comes, God has already prepared you so take your position, stand firm on God word, stand still in your faith and see the victory that God is about to give you. Don’t waver in the battle when it seems like the enemy is winning because it isn’t over until God says it’s over. Just hold on because he’s simply preparing you for something and although you may not be able to see it yet, just hold on and stay the course because you’re strong, capable and tough enough to get through it!

Daily Devotional – 3/19/12 “Junk the junk!”

If you’ve ever watched the show hoarders or even seen folks who hold on to any and everything, then you know that harboring junk can kill you, right? When you have your life so clustered with junk it can ultimately smother you which cuts off your breath and kills you. So why are you still holding on to the stuff that you should have thrown away a long time ago? You know that old car hasn’t worked in years, so why not junk it? Those old clothes that you have in the closet in the spare bedroom that you haven’t worn since the 80’s, junk them. Those old boxes in the attic that you said you were going to go through when you moved in the house 10 years ago, junk it. That old boyfriend/girlfriend who only comes around when they need something and then run when the something runs out, junk them too. There isn’t any reason why you need to go through stuff you haven’t seen in years because I can guarantee that if you haven’t needed it in all this time you won’t. You still got receipts from 92, for what because whatever the receipt is for you can’t return it now, junk it! Isaiah 43:18 says, “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.” See, if something is in the past then it’s where it needs to be. That’s why I always say that you should think back over your past life but don’t look back because if you look back then you’ll want to turn back.

It’s like being a recovering drug addict but you’ve decided to keep the old needles and crack pipes around so that you’d remember the things you used to do but how could that possibly make sense? You’re recovering from an abusive spouse but you decided to keep all his stuff in the house or you’re a recovering alcoholic and you keep the bar stocked with old bottles filled with water so that you can remember. No, that’s just plain crazy because those aren’t memories, that’s junk! See, there is a huge difference between memories and junk. Saving pictures from your marriage is memories but saving a letter your husband wrote when he left you 7 years ago is junk. Yea, I know you say you’ve moved on but if you still read it occasionally, then you haven’t. Let it go so that you can move on. Junk it! Saving items from your son when he was a baby are memories but saving the receipt from when he went to jail 12 years ago is junk. Yea, I know you saved it so that you could remind him of the mistake he made but if he has learned from the mistake, went to college, got a decent job and has a family of his own now, you need to let it go. Stop holding that over his head because it you keep bringing that up from time to time, he’ll eventually resent you for it. Junk it! Stop holding on to things and folk that should have been thrown out a long time ago. If the things you all used to do together isn’t tickling your fancy anymore then make a change. If you and best friend partied every weekend together but now it’s not your scene, then she should respect it and if she can’t then she needs to be junked. If you and your husband spent Sunday’s at the house or out shopping but now you want to spend it at church and he can’t understand that after months of you going, then he needs to deal with it. Now, I could say junk him but that wouldn’t be fair or right because if you and your spouse are unequally yoked (which means spiritually) then it’s up to you to show him God by the way you carry yourself because eventually he’ll want to get to know your God because 1 Corinthians 7:14 says, “For the Christian wife brings holiness to her marriage, and the Christian husband brings holiness to his marriage. Otherwise, your children would not be holy, but now they are holy.” Now, if your husband or wife chooses not to get to know your God then 1 Corinthians 7:15 says, “But if the husband or wife who isn’t a believer insists on leaving, let them go. In such cases the Christian husband or wife is no longer bound to the other, for God has called you to live in peace.”

See, God didn’t place us here on Earth to live in turmoil. He said that we would face trouble but not in our own home. Your home should be a place of peace where the outside world doesn’t have a place, where you find comfort on those days the job has been stressful, a place of protection when it seems like your enemies are everywhere you turn, a place of forgiveness when you’ve made a mistake, a place where love abides when you can’t find it anywhere else, a place where there’s joy when you’ve cried all day long from the burdens you’ve had to carry and a place where you find rest when your soul is weary from fighting worldly battles. Your home should be your home and not a battleground. That’s why you have to junk the junk because as long as you hold on to mess, there is no way you can be blessed! Box up all the anger, hostility, hatred, resentment, un-forgiveness, selfishness, bitterness and plain old meanness and JUNK IT! 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.” God has plans for you, for your life but he can’t show them to you or even bless you with it when you can’t hear what he is saying. Unblock your way by removing all of the junk! In order to receive a blessing you have to make room for your blessing. Junk the junk and do it starting today. Say I apologize, I forgive you, I love you, I’ll pray for you, let’s pray together, let’s start over, let’s work on this thing or even better, let’s let God work this thang! All of these make room for your growth by removing all the things that are/were hindering you. Junk the junk because it doesn’t look good on you anyway!