Daily Devotional – 3/2/12 “Keep talking, I’m listening!”

Have you ever talked to someone about something exciting or important to you and they seem to not pay attention but as soon as you stop they say, keep talking I’m listening? Does this sometimes work your nerves, because I know it does mine? But as I was thinking about the devotional topic on last night this came to mind because I would imagine God, as being an omnipresent (means everywhere at the same time) God, he would have to listen to a whole lot of folk talking while doing other things and when you stop, because you don’t think he’s listening, he sends something or someone your way to let you know to keep talking because he’s listening. Isn’t that something? Just because you’ve been praying for guidance and it seems like God isn’t hearing you he says keep talking I’m listening and then someone comes by with the message you need to hear. Even at times when it seems like you’ve been on your knees forever and no help is coming, God is saying keep talking I’m listening. The bible says in Psalm 145:18, “The LORD is close to all who call on him, yes, to all who call on him in truth.” See, when you are speaking to God you have to come before him with a clean heart, the right spirit and in truth because John 4:24 says, “For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.” And when you come before him in the right way, he listens even though it seems to you he doesn’t hear.

There was a woman, a single mother, who thought she had everything together until her storm came. She lost her job and it seems like every where she turned in a application it was being denied, even though she was well qualified. She was scrambling to keep food on the table and the little she had was almost gone. She was trying to keep a roof over their head even though it seems like the manager was knocking every day. She was on her knees every night, after the kids went to bed, praying and pleading with God to hear her. She said it was if he had forgotten about her. She was praying for food and clothes for the kids, she was praying for a job so that she could keep the small apartment they shared and she was praying for rest because she was barely sleeping. She kept saying, “Lord, are you listening?” A few days later when she woke, she got the kids up for school and all she had for food was a few eggs and bread so she fixed what she had for breakfast. She sat at the table going through the things she know she needed to do today, the second thing after dropping the kids off was finding a job. When she opened the door to her apartment she found 3 large bags of groceries, some clothes for the kids and a paper with a place circled that was looking for a receptionist that wasn’t far from where she lived. She couldn’t believe it so she began thanking God and in the midst a small card dropped that simply said, keep talking I’m listening. See, what she didn’t know was the place she did her nightly prayer was near the wall of her neighbor’s bedroom and he listened to her night after night and God touched his heart and gave him the means to be the blessing that she needed in the time she needed. Just because it seems like God is too busy to hear you, he is simply saying keep talking I’m listening!

Don’t you know when things happen to you that make you stop in your tracks, it’s God? He doesn’t have to always drop a blessing in your lap to let you know that he is working but he uses folk here, on earth, that look just like you and I to be your blessing. Don’t believe me? God can send a work luncheon on the day you’re hungry with no money. God can send a friend who stops to drop off a card with $20 in it, to thank you for all you do; just at the time you need gas money. God can give the Pastor a message that is the answer to the question you’ve been asking and he can send a job opening as a confirmation to your faith. Just because it seems like God is too busy to hear you, he is simply saying keep talking I’m listening! I know you may be asking why is the death angel choosing my family, why is cancer attacking my body, why aren’t my kids acting right, why does my car keep stopping, why did my job close and why did my friend leave and it seems like God doesn’t hear you but he is saying, keep talking I’m listening. He replies by saying, “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot (Ecclesiastes 3:1-2)”, the cancer is just a test that’ll be healed real soon, your kids are being kids just keep praying for them and building their foundation in me, that car of yours is no good so I had to remove it in order to send you a new one, your job closed because it was stunting your growth and hindering your elevation and them folks that left they were blocking your blessings and stopping your praise.

God is omniscient, which means all-knowing. He already knows what his children need before you even ask but you still have to ask. But he says in Mark 11:24, “I tell you, you can pray for anything, and if you believe that you’ve received it, it will be yours.” Keep praying, keep fasting, keep believing, keep holding on and keep the faith because although it seems like God isn’t paying attention, he says KEEP TALKING I’M LISTENING!

Daily Devotional – 3/1/12 “What makes you different?”

Is it because your skin is a different shade or color? Maybe it’s because your hair is long and mine is short? Is it because you are taller or shorter than me or it’s probably because we think, talk or sound different or because you got a little more money in the bank, a nicer car or house and a better job? Could that be the case? No, maybe it’s because I’m a sinner and you’re a Christian. Is that why you think you’re different? Well, that may be your thought but the only thing different about a sinner and a Christian is that one repents and the other hasn’t learned. Romans 3:23 says, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” That means you too, the one who has their nose in the air looking down at somebody who isn’t living life the way you think they should. You know, it’s crazy how Christian folk get so biblical that it makes them no earthly good and now all they find is fault in other folk. But baby, if you were so perfect you’d have Jesus beat and I honestly don’t think you can walk on water, heal sickness/blindness and feed a multitude with mere morsels. Don’t you know that no matter who you are; man or woman, black or white, sinner or not we all still bleed red blood if cut open, we all have the same intestines, the same amount of bones, 10 fingers and 10 toes, we have to put pants on one leg at a time, a sock on one at a time, etc. – in other words we are all still the same.

As a Christian, it isn’t our responsibility to beat folk over the head with God’s word but it is our responsibility to help them know it and most times they learn it by looking at us. If you carry yourself like the person God has made you then a sinner, in the world, will see God in the way you live and they’ll want to get to know your God. See, when you accept God into your life your walk, talk and attitude should be different. You shouldn’t want to go to the same places you used to go and you shouldn’t want to do the same things you used to do. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” When you accept God’s calling on your life, it changes you but it doesn’t make you different because if you stump your toe, you’ll scream just like a sinner because you’re still the same – human. Yea, I know that you’ll have a different mindset and a different way of doing things, that’s fine but don’t raise yourself up too high because it’ll hurt a lot more coming down. Don’t you know the only time you are supposed to look down on anybody is when you reach down to pick them up? God didn’t elevate you to the position you are now to become rude, unpleasant, malicious and hateful for the bible says in Philippians 2:3, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.”

God called you for a specific purpose and when he placed that calling on your life, he made you strong enough to handle it. Not because he wanted you to act like you are better than others but because he wanted you, the strong to now help the weak. Don’t believe me, read Romans 15:1 which says, “We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves.” See, God didn’t call you because he thought you were better or different from me but he called you because of the folks that were around you. Let me break this thang down. You hang out with a group of 4 friends and you all smoke, drink and only God knows what else but these 4 look up to you. One day, God touches your life and you feel a total change has come over you. You don’t want to do the same things you used to do so you don’t drink, smoke or hangout anymore. You’ve started going to church and you have a job now and you’re on the right track. Your friends still can’t believe the change but you no longer have time for them because they aren’t on your level. Then God stops by one night while you’re sleep and he says, “Son, why are you treating your friends differently? Don’t you know that I didn’t touch you and bring you up out of that situation to turn your back on them, but I chose you because they look up to you and if anybody can get them to come to me, it would be you? Don’t be so quick to leave them behind because you have a responsibility to save those who are lost.” God doesn’t call those who are qualified for the work that shall be done on earth but he qualifies those who he calls. God used Moses to lead his people to freedom and he was a sheep herder, he used David who was still a young boy to defeat Goliath, he used Mary and Joseph who were peasants to be the mother and father to Jesus and he used Abraham who was 75 years old.

God doesn’t look at your resume and he doesn’t call your references to see if you are qualified for a position in his kingdom but he looks at your heart for 1 Samuel 16:7 says, “The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” God doesn’t have you interview in front a panel of folks and he doesn’t make you pass a test to be elevated, but he looks within you for Jeremiah 17:10 says, “I the LORD search the heart and examine the mind, to reward a man according to his conduct, according to what his deeds deserve.” You are who God made you and I am who God has made me but we are still God’s children so there is no difference. Although our outside appearance looks different, our inward heart and mind should be the same, if we work for the same Father. Stop trying to pattern your life after worldly folk but allow the world to pattern themselves after you, if you live right. Yea, you won’t be perfect and you will make mistakes so stop acting like you don’t. You will stumble sometimes and you may even fall but let me see all of you and not just the person who always seem to have it together. Let me see the trouble in your life sometime so that I can see the works that God can do. Let me see you struggle sometime so that I can see how God can make a way out of no way. Let me see you going through your storm so that I can know that God can bring you out. Show the world all of you, the good and the bad, so that they may want to know the God that you have in you.

Daily Devotional – 2/29/12 “Your wife, your watchman!”

Yesterday’s message was to the women, so today I couldn’t dare leave out the men. I can’t write this from a man’s point of view, because I am a woman, but I can write it from my point of view to men. Now, I know you’re wondering how a woman is supposed to be a watchman over her husband but I’ll explain in a minute. As I said on yesterday and as everyone knows, woman was created by God’s hands from a rib from man’s body and in creating woman and man, God did so in his image and in his likeness. Now, because woman was made from man using a part of him, he is supposed to love her with all of him because she is him. As a man, if you follow God, he’ll lead you to your wife (your rib) and when you take vows you become one flesh for the bible says in Genesis 2:24, “Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.” See, when you stand before God proclaiming the love for your wife you are binding yourself together as one and this is a binding contract that the 2 of you sign before God so you are supposed to be in it until death. I know, you may say that a woman changes after marriage, she nags all the time or she doesn’t want to give love like she is supposed to, but just hold on and please stop with the thing that we (women) are supposed to be submissive to you because you’re the head of the house. We got it and it doesn’t have to be told to us every day!

Now, you are supposed to be the head and as the head, you are bound to certain things that you are supposed to do. Number 1, the bible says in Ephesians 5:28, “So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself; for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church.” See, when you, as a husband, disrespect your wife, you are in a sense, disrespecting yourself because she is a part of you. When you hit your wife, you are hurting yourself because she is a part of you. God made you the head of the house but he didn’t give you beating rights. God made you the provider but he didn’t make you a punisher. Stop treating your wife as your child just because you have the authority to be the head for Colossians 3:19 says, “Husbands, love your wives and never treat them harshly.” Yea, I know there will be times when her mouth keeps going and you wish she’d be quiet but it’s in a woman’s nature to have the last say, so just be quiet, leave the room and let her calm down (plus you being in her presence makes her madder). Number 2, you are the provider and it is your duty to do what you have to do, within God’s line to make sure your family eats because the bible says in 1 Timothy 5:8, “But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.” Now, this doesn’t mean that woman shouldn’t also be a helpmate because men need help too although they won’t always say it. Yes, the helper needs to be helped sometime. Number 3, you have to carry yourself worthy of being followed. Titus 1:7 says, “Since an overseer is entrusted with God’s work, he must be blameless–not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain.” This scripture says overseer and was geared toward the overseer of church but I think it fits here because as a man you have been entrusted, by God, to oversee your house therefore God’s work so you must also be all those things mentioned above. It is your responsibility to be a role model for your son and an example of the type of man your daughter wants to marry. You, as the man, instill the core values and morals in your children. Yea, they may stray from it while they are going through their rebellious faze but if you start them out on a strong foundation, they’ll have something to rebuild on once everything else has been blown away.

As a man, you have a greater responsibility because your family is in your hands. When you choose to be a deadbeat dad or a lousy husband, it isn’t up to the woman to make you pay for that because God will judge you for it and you will be judged. Why? Because God has given you these things to take care of and if you choose not to, then you’re going against what he has destined for your life. Just because your baby momma is acting like a female dog, it doesn’t give you the right to walk away from your child. For the record, paying child support doesn’t take away those responsibilities because they still need a daddy. So, take her butt to court and get some visitation rights. So, stop hiding behind what she is doing or saying because she’ll have to stand before God on that. Finally, a woman is destined to be her husband’s watchman because who else, besides God, can have his back better than his woman? It’s like 2 police detectives who are partners. They have to have faith and trust in one another to know that when they go into a hostile situation, they are covered by the person standing behind them. It’s the same way in marriage. Your man is stronger, wiser, more determined and better at what he does when he knows he has someone just as strong, wise and determined standing behind him. (By the way ladies, standing behind your man doesn’t make you less than a woman so stop thinking you have to always stand beside him because standing behind him shields and protects you). You are his watchman because Proverbs 31:11-12 says, “Her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value. She brings him good, not harm, all the days of her life.” Men, be the man God has destined you to be. Just because you’ve fallen and made some mistakes, so what, get up and dust yourself and start being who you are supposed to be. Provide for you home, love and respect your wife and raise your children! God has made you the head, so your family needs and depends on you.

Daily Devotional – 2/28/12 “Your husband, your helpmate!”

I know this is a daily devotional and there are both men and women readers but this morning, I am talking to the women. Now, I am not bashing you or trying to tell you how you are supposed to be as a woman or wife, but I am simply being obedient to God’s message that he gave me to share. I pray this reaches who ever needed to hear it on today.

I sometimes wonder why it’s so easy to give up on a marriage after all the time and effort that has been placed into it. I also wonder why people enter into a marriage under the umbrella of God, by standing in a church and getting married by their Pastor, only to throw it away a few years later because of worldly issues or gossip. I guess the question is how many people actually get married for love? In this day and time, it’s very rare to see a couple marry and stay married like it used to be. I look at my grandparents who have been married for 60+ years and I sometimes wonder how grandma managed to do it with all the things they had going on back then. Granddaddy was 15 and grandma was 13 when they married and they’ve been together ever since in spite of the obstacles they had to overcome. Grandma handled the home when granddad had to travel and work and she raised 10 children, most times alone, on far less than parents have today yet she held on. I see how she is now that he is sick and even though we think she doesn’t have the strength to take care of his needs and hers, she never waivers in the battle. They can argue one minute and the next she’s cooking dinner, fixing his plate and bringing it to him and the argument isn’t brought up again. However, in this day and time women have become independent so they feel like they don’t need a man to provide for them but the bible says in Genesis 2:18, “The LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” As a woman, it is our duty to be the helper to our husband. We are supposed to bring him up when the world beats him down; we are supposed to wipe the tears from his eyes when they fall when he’s having a bad day; we are supposed to care for him when he is sick and listen when he wants to vent about the stress of his day because the bible says in 1 Corinthians 11:9, “for indeed man was not created for the woman’s sake, but woman for the man’s sake.” This doesn’t mean that men are allowed to treat a woman any kind of way because she was made from his rib so he should treat her as he would treat himself because she is a part of him. How do I know that I am a part of my husband because God said so? Let me explain. If God ordained your life and ordered your steps before you were even formed in the womb, don’t you think he knows who you are going to marry? Now, many times we choose folk for ourselves and that doesn’t last but when you allow God to send you to the man who is supposed to be your provider, your protector, your best friend, your confidant, your back washer, your umbrella holder, your car door opener, the arms to hold you when the world is doing you wrong, the secret place you need to go when family isn’t acting right; in other words, your all and all! The bible says in Genesis 2:22, “Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.” See, God brings you to the man who is all you need but you have to let God do it.

Now, you don’t think that other lady’s husband is your soul mate and expect God to bless your relationship. Girl stop! God isn’t messy and he doesn’t deal in mess. What makes you think God will bless your relationship with someone who stood and took vows with another but then sleeps in your bed when it’s convenient? And just because you may call his name a few times when y’all are together, it doesn’t mean he’s in the midst. (It’s harsh but it’s true). What makes you think a man who is cheating on his wife actually respects the one he’s cheating with? You’d better wake up. If you have a man at home who is working and contributing to the household, you’d better be thankful. If you have a man at home who puts gas in your car, you’d better be thankful. If you got a man at home who can tell when you’re having a bad day or knows when you’re uncomfortable in a situation just by the look on your face, you’d better be thankful. And Lord knows, if you have a man that can put up with your crazy family drama, you’d better hold on to him and be thankful. However, if the man you’re married too doesn’t make your eyes light up when he walks into a room, has to be told to check your oil, put gas in the car, asked for money for groceries and can’t be depended on when your car stops, then some changes need to be made. This doesn’t mean call the divorce lawyer, but it means some talking needs to happen. It is a man’s responsibility to be the provider for his wife but how can he be when you’re constantly telling him you can make it with or without him, or saying I don’t need you or always belittling him when he make a mistake. Your husband should be able to make mistakes because after all he is human but that doesn’t mean you kick him while he’s down. If your husband losses his job and he’s trying to get back on his feet, then help him. If your husband can’t let his guard down in front of you then who can he depend on, besides God? Your husband should be able to cry in front of you without feeling weak. Your husband should be able to fail in front of you without being worthless and he should be able to take chances with you as a support. Proverbs 31:11-12 says, “Her husband can trust her and she will greatly enrich his life. She brings him good, not harm, all the days of her life.”

If your husband needs you then be there for him. Stop allowing your friends to dictate how your marriage/relationship goes. You got the nerve to listen to the friends who have never been married and can’t keep a steady relationship, yet they are quick to give advice. They tell you to go home and check your husband’s phone and your crazy tail do it when he has never given you a reason not to trust him but since they’ve planted the seed of doubt, you keep adding water to it. Now you thinking every time he takes a shower before work he must be seeing somebody who works there or if he is a little late coming home he must have made a stop. Girl, keep on acting crazy and that good man you once had will be gone before you know it. Stop letting folks mess up your home. You’re over at your girlfriend’s house complaining about your husband. He’s smothering me, he always doing everything, I can’t even pump my own gas or he’s always around. But didn’t you pray for a provider, a husband that God said was yours? You don’t understand why he doesn’t want you to hang out every weekend with your friends or why they are always hanging at your house. Then you say, “I just wish he would leave me alone.” Now, he’s fed up with your lack of concern for him and your marriage. He has done all he can do but you say you don’t need to change. He files for divorce and you don’t fight it because you got your girls and they are probably saying “Girl, he ain’t no good no way, you can do better,” so now you’re alone. A few months later you see him in the store but wait, he isn’t alone because the person pushing his basket is the same friend that was listening to all the complaining you were doing. You need to watch your mouth, stay your tail at home and keep your husband! Many times, the ones gossiping are the ones wanting what you have. Will your marriage be perfect all the time? No, but it should be worth working on. Will all the days be good? No, but hold on through the good and the bad. Will the mountain have no bumps and rocks to climb over? No, but the bumps, rocks and grooves gives you something to hold on too going up. Will you sometime argue? Yes, but that means there is making up to do afterwards. Will there be hard times? Yes, maybe even a lot of them but if you go through the hard times together, it’ll make enjoying the good times so much better. Your home should be a place of refuge from the world. When you step inside of your home, you should be able to leave all of the stress behind because you know that being there with your family means you’re safe. Don’t give up so quick on the person whose hand you joined in marriage because the bible says in Mark 10:9, “let no one split apart what God has joined together.” God will do what he said he’ll do, but you have to do your part. A marriage is hard work but it doesn’t have to be hard. Laugh together and if needed, cry together. Live together and love together. Pray together and stay together. Mark 10:8 says, “and the two will become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two, but one.”

Daily Devotional – 2/27/12 “Monday’s mess is tomorrow’s message!”

Why do you complain about Monday, when it comes around the same time every week? I would think that if you’re walking on top of the dirt you should have something to be thankful for instead of taking it for granted. Yea, I know you had a long weekend and it seems to fly by although the week creeps slowly, but you’re still alive, aren’t you? Then be grateful. I know you didn’t act like you were supposed to act on Saturday, you didn’t go to church on Sunday, didn’t pay your tithes like you are supposed to and you didn’t thank God like you should but he kept you and you’re alive one more day to change, so start now. There isn’t any need to be mad at Monday because you partied all weekend, when you knew you had to be up to get the kids off to school and then off to work. Just be thankful that your kids got up and that you have a job to go to. Yea, it’s Monday which means a new week and the same routine where there are new responsibilities, new issues, new problems and same bills, the same money in the bank that was there the last time you looked, the same food in the refrigerator and you have the same kids with the same set of problems! So what? There will be circumstances that you face, every day, that seem like they are too big for you to handle. There will always be more bills than money, some dark clouds looming overhead, some sleepless nights, tears to be shed, going left when you should go right, being talked about, lied on, being overlooked for a job that should have been yours, being misused by so-called friends, hated on by family who is supposed to love you and sickness in your body. But these are just some of the things that have been promised because the bible says in Job 5:7, “People are born for trouble as readily as sparks fly up from a fire.” However, no matter what you face, there is nothing too hard for God. God said he’d be our refuge in the time of trouble (Psalm 9:9). He said when we walk in darkness; he’d be our light & our salvation ( Psalm 27:1). He said when family forsakes you; he’d pick you up ( Psalm 27:10). When you feel like your enemies outweigh your friends, he said “I’ll make your enemies your footstool” Acts 2:35. He said, “For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock.” ( Psalm 27:5)

See, Monday comes with mess, Tuesday has Temptations, Wednesday brings weeping, Thursday has troubles, Friday holds failure but then here comes Saturday with strength that allows you to dance into Sunday with Soul Stirring Salvation that allows you to handle the recurring week of Monday mess, Tuesday Temptations and etc. Don’t be too hard on Monday because it’ll come again just as sure as you live. Yet, be thankful. Get up with joy and thanksgiving and then YOU set the tone for your day. If you allow God to direct your path, then you’ll have joy all day long, but if you allow the devil and his folks to steal the joy you got, then they’ve allowed you to push God to the back because God is your joy. If there is no joy in your face, your light of God is off which may mean you need to add some oil to your lamp by praying, fasting and studying God’s word more. Stop blaming the side of the bed you get up on, because it isn’t the problem when you know you sleep on the same side every night. Stop blaming your spouse because if they make you unhappy, leave. Stop blaming the job because if it has you stressed out, find a new one. Stop blaming the car because it wouldn’t start, God gave you legs so walk to the bus stop (you could use the exercise anyway). Stop blaming folk who keep letting you down when you knew they couldn’t keep a promise if it was tied to their arm. God says in John 16:33, “These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.” Which means, even though the world brings you trouble, I’ve already taken over the world, so I got you covered, as long as I’m with you. Jesus says in John 15:18, “If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first.” Now, the world hated Jesus enough to beat him all night long, drag him from judgment hall to judgment hall, make him wear a crown of thorns, speared in the side, nailed his hands and feet to a cross that he had to bear and afterwards buried him in a borrowed grave when he had done no wrong, so comparing your minor troubles to this, has no comparison. When you’re able to handle all those things, then you can complain but until then, rejoice in knowing that God never brings mess that doesn’t have a message.

So, stop wallowing in self-pity and doubt. Get up out the rut you’ve thrown yourself in and do something. If you don’t like your weight, exercise. If you don’t like your hair, cut it or add some to it. If you don’t understand the things in front of you, study. It’s not because it’s Monday that has you in a bad mood, but it’s you. Just as fast as Monday came this morning, Tuesday is on the way, so get prepared. Use Monday’s mess as a message, Tuesday’s Temptations as a testimony, Wednesday’s weeping as a weapon, Thursday’s trouble as a test and Friday’s failure as a footstool. Whatever you go through is not as a means to take you out but simply a way to prepare you for something greater. So smile, because your face and your attitude look better when you do.