Daily Devotional – 2/8/12 “Pray about it!”

When I walk pass you and smile, is it too much to ask for a simple smile back or even an acknowledgement? Just because you have an attitude, you don’t have to take it out on everyone around you. Your day goes bad because you allow it. People make you mad because you allow it. Your bills are past due because you allow it. It is not because God hasn’t given you the necessary requirements to make your life better. He woke you up, that’s a blessing! He allowed your mind to be right, that’s a blessing. He gave you the ability to have a talent to get the job you got, that’s a blessing! But instead of thanking God for these things, we complain. Please know, what you complain about someone else is praying about. While you are taking your husband, who is doing all he can to provide, for granted, someone is weeping over the casket of their husband. While you constantly take momma and daddy for granted, someone is at the hospital saying goodbye to theirs. While you are constantly complaining about your son or daughter who is doing all they can, someone is looking for theirs in the dark alleys because they are strung out on drugs. While you’re complaining about the job that’s funding your lifestyle, someone has been in line at the unemployment office since 5:30AM. I won’t tell you that all things will be ok but the bible states in Romans 8:28, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” According to God’s purpose! Not yours, not mine and not your family so be careful of the purpose you’re following because it might just be leading you to Hell!

I know it may seem like even though you study your bible, it seems like you can’t hear God’s voice. You go to church every Sunday but it seems like the more right you do the more wrong shows up. You go to bible study & prayer meeting, but it seems like your prayers are not being heard. You’re doing the best you can but every time you turn your crying is outweighing your laughter, heartache is overshadowing your happiness, pity is replacing your praising & strife is taking over where shouting once reigned. It seems like every time you reach for Heaven Hell is on your back pulling you back! So what do you? Do you leave God’s word because the world seems better? Do you backslide because the temptations you’re facing are too hard to ignore? I’m here to tell you to hold on! 1 Peter 5:7 says “Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.” Even though your rope may be breaking, find strength to reach beyond that break! Put your feet on the side of the cliff that you’re hanging over and push yourself up. Even though you may be tired and sweat is dripping from your brow, hold on! God says in Jeremiah 29:11, “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.” So, if you’re at a point where you can’t hold on, let go with the faith that you’ll land safely where God has prepared for you. As I stated above, God doesn’t have plans to harm you because he needs you to do his will but you have to have faith big enough to realize this. Hebrews 11:1 says, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Just because you can’t see and touch God, it doesn’t mean he’s not there because faith will show you.

God needs you wholeheartedly to do his will. Matthew 7:21 says “Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter.” If you’re at a point where you can’t do God’s will because of worldly things, then you need to make some changes. If your job is stressing you out, move! If your bills outweigh your money, downsize! If your kids aren’t acting right, parent them! If folk are talking about you, so what! They talked about Jesus but he still endured & died in order for us to be free. If there’s anything that holds you down, release it! If you’re in an abusive relationship, get out! Don’t think that God will maintain the mess you’re in. It’s time now for you to get YOU right. There isn’t anybody that can do you like Jesus and can’t anyone answer to Jesus for you but you. God does hear and answer prayers but he has to also know your voice. Talk to him consistently! Believe in what you’re asking for and know that it’s already done. 2 Chronicles 7:14 says “If my people who are called by MY name should humble themselves, pray & seek my face and turn from their wicked ways; then I will hear from Heaven, will forgive their sins and heal their land.” But you have to talk to him. You don’t have to be down on your knees, in a secret closet or even in church to pray. God wants you to pray to him however and wherever you are. He said in Luke 9:26, “If anyone is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.” Don’t be scared to praise God when you want because John 15:7 says, “But if you stay joined to me and my words remain in you, you may ask any request you like, and it will be granted!” Isn’t that worth a prayer every once in a while? I’ve found that praying at all times will cover you during the times that you can’t. Pray about it!

Daily Devotional – 2/7/12 “Say Amen!”

When I prayed for a topic this morning, the word Amen kept sticking out to me. So, in my research this morning I thought about the word Amen and what it really means. According to Wikipedia it means, “So be it,” or in other words, I am in agreement. In the Christian church it is usually found at the end of a prayer which means you are in agreement with the prayer that was just spoken. Then I remembered the song, “Let the church say amen,” so I pulled it up to listened to the lyrics. One part says God has spoken so let the church say amen. Then I thought about life and all the things we ask God for and instead of saying “so be it” or Amen in agreement, we question the reason why certain things happen. You asked God to bind your enemies then get mad when so-called friends aren’t around anymore. You asked God for an increase in money then complain when overtime is offered at your job. You asked for a car because you’re tired of asking for a ride and/or walking then you complain about the gas prices. You asked for a mate then complain because they call too much. You ask God for healing then complain about the medicine the doctor prescribes. You asked God for guidance and then second guess the path that he sets before you. You ask God for a sign and then ignore it. You ask God to open doors for you and then you’re too scared to walk through them. You ask God to move your mountain or obstacle that’s in your way and you’re still turning back to look at it. You asked God for help and then you still worry! You asked God to give momma/daddy rest and then you question him when he sends the death Angel. Where is the Faith? If God has done what you’ve asked him too, shouldn’t you say amen? Humph, even if he hasn’t done what you thought he should, you should still say amen.

See, sometimes God blocks us from doing certain things, not because we are not worthy of it but because we aren’t ready for it. Let me explain. You’ve been praying for a new job with better hours and pay and every time you put in an application, the answer always seems to be no. Then you question God as to why but if you take a good look at your current job you’ll find that you haven’t even given it what it requires or deserves. You always run a little late, your work could be better but because you aren’t happy, you don’t give 100%, you call in and take off just because you want too and you can’t even manage the money that you’re currently making so how can you possibly manage more. If you put the same amount of effort into the job you have now, that it truly deserves, then God will know that you’re capable of handling more responsibilities. It’s like me allowing my teenager to get a part time job after school when she can barely handle the classes in school. Why would I give her more responsibilities when she’s having trouble with the ones she already has. It’s the same way with God. Luke 16:10 says, “If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones. But if you are dishonest in little things, you won’t be honest with greater responsibilities.” See, just because you have the qualifications and you think you can handle the responsibilities of the new job, God knows that you’re not ready for it so why would he put you in a place to fail?

If you have God in your heart then you should know that he won’t take anything from your grasp without a purpose, so you should say amen when a door closes. Just because you didn’t get approved for the car loan you applied for, say amen because it doesn’t mean you’re not deserving of it, God is simply saying wait! Just because you found out you got cancer in your body, say amen because it doesn’t mean God is ready for you to give up, he’s simply taking you through the storm to toughen you up to be able to handle other things that may come in your life. See, when man says no God is saying not right now. Man may say you can’t but God is saying it’s not your time. Man may say you won’t but God is saying stand still and watch me work. Sometimes old stuff has to be torn down in order to receive the new so God sends a storm that rages like a tornado because even after a tornado has demolished your home, the foundation still stands and if you’re foundation is built by God, it’ll still stand after your storm. So when your storm comes, as it will, it’s simply to wash off all the old stuff in order to restore your newness, so say amen. After folks have lied on you, talked about you, drug your name through the dirt, pushed you into a small dusty grave, stabbed you in the front & the back and counted you out; God sends the rain for you to shower in, so say amen. See, he washes away the dirt that has been thrown on you when folk say you won’t ever be anything worthy of your name, so say amen. He washes away the blood from all the cuts and scrapes you got when your best friend stabbed you in your back because she was jealous of your blessings, so say amen. He washes away the mud from under your nails from climbing out of the ditch that your family pushed you in because they didn’t think you deserved the elevation God has placed on your life, so say amen. With God, it doesn’t matter about the number of times you see trials and tribulations as long as you come out of them renewed. All you have to do is say to God what it reads in Psalm 71:20, “Though you have made me see troubles, many and bitter, you will restore my life again; from the depths of the earth you will again bring me up.” It doesn’t matter the number of times you get knocked down because God is only concerned about you standing back up. If you decided to give up every time you made a mistake, you probably wouldn’t be where you are. Say amen for the times you’ve fallen because they make you grateful for the times you’re up. Say amen for the enemies who come into your life because they should make you stronger. So amen for the mistakes and errors that you’ve made because they should make you wiser. Say amen for the times momma says no because it should make you more appreciative of the times she says yes.

It’s not always about you getting your way because your way might be the wrong way. Be grateful and say amen for the No you sometimes hear because it makes you appreciate the Yes. See, while you are trying to figure it out, God has already worked it out. While folks are counting your blessings, they are adding theirs to your bucket. While folks are counting you out, God is simply adding pegs to your footstool and lifting you higher! So go on and tell them to talk about you, lie on you, scandalize your name, try to ruin your relationship, and keep on digging that ditch for you because when it’s all over with God has you covered so all is surely well! So say amen because when I no longer look at what I used to be or how I use to look, I see how I was meant to be. I say amen because I am who God has made me, so I will pray every day “Turn my eyes from worthless things, and give me life through your word,” Psalm 119:37. I’ll say amen because what God has for me, it is for me. I’ll say amen because I stand in total agreement with what and who God has ordained for my life. So, when fake, phony folks walk out, I’ll shout amen! When the car won’t start, I’ll sing amen because I know that God has something better for me. When the job hands me a pink slip, I’ll say amen because there’s something better for me that was being blocked by the old. I’ll say amen because I’m in total agreement with what God says, so “So be it!”

Daily Devotional – 2/6/12 “Can’t you see that I’m a Christian?”

We often say to God: I am a Christian, can’t you see? I go to church on Sunday even though I get there late, sometimes hung-over with a headache. But, at least I’m there for goodness sake! I know I may not wave my hands or give you praise like I could, but at least I’m there giving you all that I think I should. Isn’t that good enough? I might gossip a lot and talk about folk I say are my friends, but that’s alright; you said you’d forgive me, isn’t that right? I sometimes hate on people’s blessing because I feel like I should also be getting blessed, but that’s alright, because I’ll just take a little from them and leave them a little stressed. But, I’ll have time to ask for forgiveness because I’m young and in pretty good shape, so right now I’ll just continue on and change before it gets too late. I sometime take my blessings for granted and disrespect my mother. I even misuse people like; my friends, family, sisters and my brothers. I know that I’m supposed to be my brother’s keeper to be there when they need me and do some good deeds, but I’ll spread their business faster than a gardener planting seeds. I’m supposed to pick up those that fall, pray for those that are lost; but usually I’m only on “Christian duty” when it is convenient for me and paying a cost. Doesn’t that still make me a Christian, isn’t that ok? Won’t you forgive me for it, isn’t that what the good book say? I know I’m supposed to pay tithes from the job that you’ve blessed me with, but I saw this pair of shoes that I just had to have so and I had to get them quick. (I’ll pay you later, k? God you know my heart!) I saw this man begging and even though I had the extra money, I decided not to give because he should get a job too, doesn’t he know I have a life to live? Humph, you didn’t say be a fool! But I am a Christian, can’t you see that, I got time to get myself right. So just wait God, give me a little more time to work on my Christian light.

God answered: Who are you to choose when it’s ok to do my will? When I am the one that’ll see you through any situation, if you would just keep still! Who are you to choose what Sunday to give me praise; when I was the one that lifted you, your bowed down head I raised? Who are you to be a “fair weather” Christian, a some-timer for me; when I am the one that has kept you, all your problems I solved and I’m just who I said I’ll be? Yea, I’ll forgive you but you have to ask with your own mouth and believe it in your heart, but don’t you think today might be a good day to start? Will you get the opportunity to change before your time on this earth ends, will you be able to apologize to your family, say I love you to your friends? Will you get the chance to show me that you’re walking on the path I chose? I guess you’d better start today to be the Christian I’ve ordained you to be, before the blood in your veins get cold! I’m not trying to scare you, I’m just telling you like it is because you can’t pay the cost at the gate by shedding a few tears. When it’s judgment day, you won’t have a chance to press a button to rewind because no matter how long you’ve lived, you’ve had ample time. To get yourself together and to do my will, but you take it as a joke and choose all the cheap thrills. When you should be reading the bible, keeping my commandments and repenting of your sins but I’m always here for you and I’m standing at your door, just waiting to be invited in. Please don’t get me wrong because Christians can have fun too, just don’t get too “crunk” because even though you can have wine, the sin is getting drunk. If you studied my word more, you’d know these types of things but it looks like you’ve got it all figured out, from what I’ve seen. If you don’t need my help and think you can handle things on your own, then fine, you’ll reap what you sow! But don’t get mad when I don’t come faster when your voice I don’t know. You may want to take a step back to get your life in order before the time gets too late, because death will surely come even though you don’t know the date. I’ve prepared a place for you to come but you have to make the choice, I just pray you have enough time to hear and understand my voice.

Our response: Oh God, why have I wasted so much time trying to live in this world? Trying to keep up with this bad boy or fast tail girl? I will make a change because I want my name on your roll and I want to be in your number, so I can’t allow folks to knock me off my Christian stroll and cause me to fumble. I will become the person that you’ve ordained me to be and I will not be ashamed to tell the world, show the world that I am a Christian, you will see!

Daily Devotional – 2/3/12 “A prayer for the youth!”

I woke up this morning at exactly 4:13AM with my granddaddy on my mind. I didn’t know why God woke me up but I prayed for him. See, while I’m trying to figure out why God still has him here after countless folks have gone on after him, God is simply telling me, “it’s in my hands.” While I’m trying to figure out what work he still has for him, God is simply saying, “It’s in my hands.” I look at granddaddy and I know that it’s nothing but God because while he’s laying on his sick bed, he should be much sicker that he is, but he’s not. He should have bed sores on his body from laying in the same spot every day but he doesn’t. According to the doctors, he should have been dead, but he’s here. Our family is so blessed and yet we take it for granted every day. We got young boys & men that hang in the streets, yet they are protected when mothers and fathers have buried more than one of their children. We got young girls & women who want to live the fast and glamorous life and yet they are still protected when others are strung out on drugs, prostituting themselves or dead.

This morning I am saying a prayer for MY FAMILY and for all families because God knows we need it! With the children facing more peer pressure daily to fit in, facing bullying because other folks want to portray being hard and with the obstacles they have to overcome at younger ages now, we need prayer. It amazes me the lengths the young women will go through to please a boy who has no control over their life. They’d rather degrade themselves simply because they want the notoriety or the distinction of saying they are in a relationship with him but as soon as it’s over or she stops “performing” for him, he tells all his boys about the things she has done. Then the boys, who should be young men but they aren’t, how they can walk around with their pants sagging to the ground, filth coming from their lips, tattoos everywhere (even though they are underage) and no respect for anyone. I have to sometime ask myself, who are these children? It breaks my heart to hear about the senseless killings of teenagers by the hands of other teenagers. I sometimes wish things could go back to the days when there was no cellphones, Facebook, Skype and etc. See, then folks got along because no one was concerned about the clothes you wore because everybody had the same, which was a little bit of nothing but then folks took that little bit and turned it into a lot. Folks didn’t worry about this or that because they respected adults and then if you disrespected an adult, they could whoop your butt and then send you home. However, now we have to worry about if a 13 year old has a gun in his pants or it’s no longer shocking when a 14 year old girl is pregnant. What is this world coming too? Is it just me who’s wondering these things? What is wrong with our young ladies? Don’t they know they are worthy of so much more? What is wrong with our young men? Don’t they know they are supposed to be the head of their households? What is going on? Please pray with me on today. It is my prayer that this prayer is forwarded to your friends and family so that we may all join in together to save our children. If we don’t grab them now, the streets will.

Our Father whose in Heaven, blessed is your name, your kingdom come and your will shall be done on Earth as surely as it is in Heaven. God, thank you for this day and for our daily bread and forgive us of our sins, those we commit knowingly and unknowingly. God, I come to you as your humble servant thanking you for all that you’ve done for me & my family. I thank you for giving me sight this morning when I opened my eyes, for strength this morning when I moved my arms and legs, my right mind to speak with when I opened my mouth, an appetite when I went into the kitchen and the rest I received on last night. God, I thank you for my family and friends who you protect on a daily basis even when we are too stubborn to ask for it. Now God, I’m asking you on this morning for a special blessing and deliverance over our youth. God, they are going astray at a fast pace and we, as parents and family members, no longer know what to do. Lord, we pray for them daily but it seems like this generation is getting worse and worse and we now know that can’t nobody turn it around like you can. God, I ask that you go into the schools and bind the enemies of peer pressure, gangs, drugs, alcohol, sex, attitudes and bullying. Lord, we don’t know all that children face on a daily basis but I know you do because you are everywhere. Lord, touch the mouths of those children who want to talk smart, touch the eyes and necks of those who find themselves wanting to roll them when an adult is talking. Lord, touch the minds of those who need to learn but are having trouble and scared to ask for help. Lord, guide the one that is wondering down the wrong path because they are following the wrong crowd. God, dry the tears of the child who is crying because of the mean things the other kids are saying. Protect that young girl who is pregnant and hasn’t told anyone and the boy who has an STD and too ashamed to tell his mother so that she can get him the help he needs. Cover and protect the young man or woman who may be a victim of domestic violence or molestation. God, I am placing the youth of this world in your hands today. Guide the ones who have turned to gangs because they don’t feel loved at home and the ones who don’t have a home to go too. God send them a safe place and a kind word on today. God stop by, heal and protect the children with cancer and diseases that hurt their bodies each day. Continue to give them the strength to endure. Remove hate from the hearts of those that have it, comfort those who may be dealing with the loss of someone or something & provide for those that maybe without. Lord God, do it because I know that you can. God I’m asking for a special blessing for the young folks today because they are growing up too fast and haven’t recognized yet that life in the world has consequences. Open their eyes to see the error of their ways and give them the strength to come running home to you to ask for forgiveness of their sins. God continue to bind the grown folks together so that one may not fall without having somebody on all sides to catch them. God, I know that you’re able to do it and I am standing steadfast on your word and I will not waver from it. Send your anointing on today because we can surely use it. Thank you God for always hearing my prayers and I humbly submit this to you on behalf of all the parents, aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents who are in need of your touch, today. We need you Lord God and I stand in the gap as a soldier in your army. You’ve never failed me yet and I believe in faith on the changing of our children. Amen.

Daily Devotional – 2/2/12 “Are you happy?”

I mean, are you truly happy or are you walking around with a smile on your face to keep from crying? You ride in your car every day, smelling good, looking good, hair done or a nice cut and smiling because you want the world to think you got everything all figured out and all is well when actually you’re at home drinking tears for water. Baby God never told you to conform to this world. What he said was “but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is–his good, pleasing and perfect will (Romans 12:2).” See, you want the world to think your marriage is going great so you put a show on for folks but you’re living in hell in your own house, behind closed doors. You want folks to think you got all you need and never stress over anything, when you’re one paycheck from being homeless because you’re living in a house you can’t afford. Child, you’d better let it go. If the man or woman you got at home isn’t contributing to your happiness, maybe some changes needs to be made. If the kids can’t do what you need them to do and you’re stressing about them, then maybe some changes need to be made. Stop acting like you don’t have any problems because you worried about what folks might say when the truth of the matter is, they are having just as many problems as you and they are doing all they can to hide it.

Ecclesiastes 3:12 says, “I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live.” What sense is it to have food and no appetite, a bed and sleep won’t come, a closet full of clothes with no desire to wear them! If God gives you new life and new mercies every morning, shouldn’t you enjoy them? Ecclesiastes 8:15 says, “So I commend the enjoyment of life, because nothing is better for a man under the sun than to eat and drink and be glad. Then joy will accompany him in his work all the days of the life God has given him under the sun.” See, if you enjoy the blessings that God gives then you have joy and when you have joy, you have peace and with peace you have understanding and with understanding comes knowledge and knowledge leads to power. But if you’ve allowed someone or something in the world to steal your joy, then they steal your power. If you go into your job with hell in you every morning, it’s time for a change. If you go into your church home with hell in you every Sunday, it’s time for a change. If you go into your home with hell in you every day, it’s time for a change because if you continue to go into these places with hell, then you essentially come out worse than when you went it and that’s not good for anybody. When you come out with more hell in you, it makes you a road-rage driver, a hollering parent and an unwelcomed co-worker and who wants to be around any of you? Not me! Why should I have to put up with your mess, when I got problems of my own? The only way for you to get your happiness and joy back you have to take it!

If the mess you’re in isn’t pleasing to God, then you aren’t pleasing to him. If you know your child isn’t acting right in school which is causing you stress from the calls and emails you keep getting, change it. Take away all that cute, expensive stuff and get them back to the basic. The bible says in Proverbs 13:24, “Those who spare the rod of discipline hate their children. Those who love their children care enough to discipline them.” If you keep telling them you’re going to discipline them and you never do, then they take you as a joke. You need to stand up and take the reins back. If the house you’re in is causing you more money than it’s worth, move! If the car you’re driving is costing you more than it’s worth, trade it. If the job you’re on is causing you more headaches than what they pay, change it. See, the common factor is all of this is YOU! You choose to be happy and you choose to let folks steal your happiness. Can’t anybody take what’s yours unless you give it to them or they are robbing you and I surely don’t think anybody with a gun will say, “Give me your smile!” When your smile is gone your joy is gone and when you joy is gone, God isn’t present because the bible says in Nehemiah 8:10, “The joy of the Lord is your strength.” See, when you have God you get the Holy Spirit as a bonus and I’ve told you before the Holy Spirit will have your back on them days when you feel your smile fading. On those days when your heart is so heavy and you can’t say a word, the Holy Spirit speaks on your behalf (that’s if your heart is right.) Galatians 5:22 says, “But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness.” When you have the Holy Spirit, you can’t help but be happy but you have to have the Holy Spirit. Let me say it again for those that may miss it! If the Holy Spirit gives you all these things in your life, you can’t help but be happy but you must, first, have the Holy Spirit. I don’t just mean on Sunday morning, but I mean all the time because when you have the Holy Spirit in you, it’ll show in your walk, your talk, the way you carry your purse or bag, the way you dress and comb your hair and the way you feel about everything. When the Holy Spirit is present, the world won’t be allowed to do you any harm.

You have a right to be happy. Even in the midst of times when you may be temporarily without funds, be happy. When the car won’t act right and kids are acting like strangers in your house, be happy! When folk talk about, be happy! When they gossip about you, be happy! When you keep putting in job applications with no return call, be happy! When sickness attacks your body, be happy. In all things, count it all joy! Be happy because happiness leads to hope and hope leads to healing and with your healing comes helpfulness and when you’re helpful you get honor from God and with this honor comes hospitality and hospitality from God leads you to Heaven’s gates!