Daily Devotional – 1/3/12 – “But God Moment!”

Have you ever had a “but God” moment?  A moment where you realized that no one could have brought you out the situation that you were in or fixed a problem that you were having but God?  See, but is a word that is used in the middle or the beginning of a sentence to introduce something that is true even though it is contrary to what was just said.  You know when your teenager asks if they can borrow your car and you say “Yes, but not now.”  In this case, I’ve placed my but at the end of the sentence because it has more of a profound effect on the abilities of what God can do.  You know like being in the car, driving while you are playing around with your cell phone and you look up at just the right moment to keep you from rear-ending somebody?  If so, you probably said or at least you should have said, but God!  See, it’s at those very moments you know that it was nobody but God that could have saved your life and some months, if not years, of pure hell. Maybe this wasn’t your moment, but I’m sure you’ve had a few, I know I have. Maybe it was receiving a check in the mail at right moment or receiving that bonus at work even when you didn’t expect it because you didn’t know what you would do.  It was “But God!”

Maybe you don’t text and drive but maybe you drink and drive.  I know, I know, you weren’t drunk but you had a few drinks before getting behind the wheel, right? Then you were driving under the influence.  It doesn’t matter that you weren’t feeling intoxicated or even looked like it, but get pulled over by a cop who smells it on your breath or just happen to have an accident and see what happens.  If you’ve gotten home safely from all those girls nights, Christmas parties, New Year’s Eve celebrations, then you’ve had a but God moment.  If you didn’t, then you surely should have because you should know that it wasn’t you that protected you while you were driving, it wasn’t you that kept a person or a dog from crossing in front of you, it wasn’t you that keep the other cars from coming into your lane and it wasn’t you who kept you from going your usual route home because they had a checkpoint out, but it was God.

When you were in the world doing any and everything that you were bad enough to do, it was God that kept you.  When you were drinking out of other folks bottles and passing cigarettes around from person to person, it was God that kept you from diseases.  When you were sleeping with any and everybody, God kept you from STDs and HIV.  When you sit back and think about some of the things you use to do and realize that you shouldn’t be alive, that’s your but God moment.  When you make it home and your gas light has been on all day, it was but God.  When the doctor said cancer but when he opened you up, they found nothing, it was but God.  When your husband left and you didn’t think you would make it, but you found out you were better off without him, it was but God.  When you don’t know how you keep making ends meet with the amount of money you bring home, it was but God.  When momma/daddy died, you didn’t think you could breathe without them but you’re living, it was but God. Even when you don’t realize it, you’ve had a “But God” moment.  Some of us have a lot of these moments because God is truly good.  All you have to do is sit down for a minute and reflect back over your life, you’ll see those but God moments and even if you didn’t say it then, I know that you are probably saying it now. Humph, it wasn’t anybody but God!

The bible says in Psalm 18:2 “The LORD is my rock, my fortress, and my savior; my God is my rock, in whom I find protection. He is my shield, the power that saves me, and my place of safety.” See, it was God that kept your mind after the years of drug, alcohol or spousal abuse.  It was God that picked you up, cleaned you up and placed your feet back on the right path after years of wondering lost.  It was God that gave you your sight back when you too blind to see that man was doing you no good.  It was God that wiped your credit report clean when you got approved for that car, house, apartment or loan.  It was God that gave you rest after you had chemo or dialysis all day long.  It was God that added experience to your resume when you applied for that job knowing you weren’t qualified on paper.  It was God who covered you when your car rolled 3 times and you came out without a scratch.  It was God who protected you when robbers invaded your home right after you left.  If was God that made you a few minutes late so you could avoid the car wreck in front of you.  It was God that bought you home safely from college even when you could barely keep your eyes open.  So, yes, you’ve had some but God moments, it’s just taking you a little longer time to realize it.  But that’s alright, because God works even when we don’t give him credit.  Unlike folk, we sometimes do things just so our name can be called and we are recognized.  However, Philippians 2:3 says “Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves.” It’s not always about what you do for yourself that God is taking note of, but it’s what you do for others.  If God wanted you to only help yourself, then I would imagine he would have only given you one hand. Proverbs 19:17 says “Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will repay him for his deed.”  I’m so glad that it was “But God!”

Daily Devotional – 1/2/12 “Monday’s Message”

It’s the first Monday of the New Year, do you feel any differently? Have you kept most of the resolutions that you made or did they all go out the window when you woke up Sunday? I’m here to tell you, if you really want to make a change, you won’t wait until New Years to do it. Somebody made a promise to lose weight but you haven’t started yet. Somebody said they were going to stop smoking, but the first thing you grabbed on Sunday morning was your cigarettes and lighter. Somebody said they would start going to church more, but you didn’t get up yesterday because you were still hung-over. I can only imagine how busy the line was to God in the wee hours from folk begging God to get them home safely after drinking. God probably heard from folks that he hasn’t heard from since this time last year.

God has made us who we are and we should change, if the way we are living hinders us from doing God’s work. Ephesians 2:10 says “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” You don’t have to make a change simply because the year changed, but you should change because you want your walk for Christ to be better. See, God doesn’t look at your past like folks do because he promises in 2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” When you choose to walk on God’s side, he throws away all of your past sins and he wipes the slate clean. He doesn’t bring up stuff you use to do and who you use to be when he becomes angry like folk do. He doesn’t look at your past mistakes to see if you are good enough for this and that because he doesn’t judge. He doesn’t have to pull your credit report to see if you qualify for your blessings and he doesn’t need 3 references to approve you. Once you’ve accepted God into your life, you are new. I’m so glad that I don’t have to wait until 1/1 to change because I can decide to change at any time. In Ezekiel 36:26 God says “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.” When God gives you a heart of flesh, he gives you a heart that can feel love, give love, help others and enjoy life. When you have a heart of flesh that is given by God, you’ll be able to handle the dirty looks that you get from folk because you are no longer the same, you’ll be able to handle when folk walk out on you because you don’t hang out in the same places and you’ll be able to handle when folk push you down because they think you’re better than them.

This is a new year but if you’ve been dealing with foolishness all year, you didn’t have to wait until now to make a change. You knew before the New Year that you shouldn’t be 39 and living at home with your parents and your 4 children, you need to change. You know that your spouse isn’t faithful but you didn’t have to wait until now to change that. You know that you haven’t been giving God 100% of you, but you didn’t have to wait until now to change. You should’ve change a long time ago. If you continue to put off whatever change that needs to be made, you might not have a chance too. Stop waiting until you think the time is right because the time will never be right. There’ll always be a bill that has to be paid when you think you have a little extra money to pay tithes and there always be a friend that calls you on Saturday night to keep you from going to church on Sunday. You have to decide when it’s your time to change and you don’t have to wait until a New Year.

Daily Devotional – 12/30/11 “Hate on me if you please!”

I know that you’ve probably got a mile long list of New Year’s Resolutions for 2012 and one is probably that you are not going to let what folk say about you get to you.  Yea, you – the one that’s worried about what folk say because God is blessing you in YOUR season.  Chile, let folks talk because the more they talk the more God hears your name.  See, when folks utter your name and they mean it for your bad, God is listening and the more they talk the smaller their blessing bucket gets and the larger yours becomes.  Let them folk hate because the more they hate the higher your footstool becomes to raise you up over the mess! Hmph! God don’t deal with mess but he shonuff deals in mercy and while you worried about who is doing the talking and what they are saying, God has already worked it out.  See, a gossip (one who is always running their mouth about other folks business) is usually a liar and the bible states Proverbs 12:22 “Lying lips are an abomination to the LORD, but those who act faithfully are his delight.” So, as long as you are faithful, thankful and a blessing to others, God will continue to bless you even when you think you don’t deserve it.  When you feed people even when you don’t have much, he’ll never let you go hungry.  When you offer shelter to folks when you are barely making it, he’ll never let you be without. When you praise him in and out of your storm, he’ll always be your protector and your provider. 

Proverbs 10:19 says “When words are many, sin is not absent, but he who holds his tongue is wise.” When you hold your tongue it doesn’t make you weak because many times you get caught up with your emotions and then you say stuff that you may soon regret.  But if you let what folks say and think about you roll off your back then they will eventually find somebody else to talk about.  However, if you keep jumping into mess with folks who don’t have anything better to do but belittle others, then you’ll soon be covered in it too.  Proverbs 26:20 says “Without wood a fire goes out; without gossip a quarrel dies down.”  So what, about what folks say about you?  It doesn’t matter what you’re called, it matters as to what you answer too.  So what, folks say you did this and that to get your job, if it isn’t true then why are you worried? Let your work speak for you.  So what folks say you must be doing this and that to have the house you stay in and the car you drive, if it isn’t true why are you worried?  If God ordained it, he’ll surely give you the means to maintain it. So what folks said you’d never amount too much, now you’re a success in your career and they are begging for a job, show them the goodness of God in your life.  You don’t have to do what folks say you do and you don’t have to be who folks say you are but be who God made you.

When you stoop to the level of the person who is calling you out, then you become just as sinful as they are?  It’s like you jumping off a bridge to see what’s at the bottom because somebody is screaming for you to jump when you know the only thing at the bottom, for you, is death – would you jump?  Then why would you argue with a foolish person when it only makes you look just as foolish? Now, I know that sometimes this can be easier said than done and it’s hard to turn the other cheek but baby, sometimes walking away is in your best interest.  Proverbs 10:11 says “The mouth of a righteous man is a well of life: but violence covers the mouth of the wicked.” Then the bible goes on to say “Blessings are on the head of the righteous, but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence (Proverbs 10:6).” See, when you keep your mouth you keep your blessings and you keep God’s protection over you.  Now, if that doesn’t keep you from running your mouth, then I don’t know what else to tell you.  Sometimes, keeping your mouth keeps your life; don’t believe me, read Proverbs 11:8 which say “A righteous person is delivered out of trouble, and the wicked takes his place (World English Translation).  You’re mad because you’ve applied for a manager/team lead position but you keep getting overlooked.  But, child, if you’re the one always complaining about other folk, gossiping about other folks business and always tending to things that have nothing to do with you, who would promote you?  If management won’t give you small responsibilities, what makes you think they’ll put you over folk’s personal information?  See, your mouth has preceded you and they’ve already counted you out.  Proverbs 20:19 says “Whoever goes about slandering reveals secrets; therefore do not associate with a simple babbler.”  So shut your mouth sometimes and you’ll soon stop blocking your own blessings. 

Let folks talk! Let folks hate! Let folks judge! Let folks do them but you continue to do you.  If your goal is to stay out of mess, then keep your mouth.  Tell your haters to hate and your enemies to wage war against you because even on your bad days, you’re even closer to God.  When folks hate, they hinder themselves and in their hindrance comes your healing and through your healing comes hope and with hope you got faith and faithfulness paves the way for favor and favor ain’t fair but it sure is fabulous.   

Daily Devotional – 12/29/11 “Forgive!”

If I’ve made a mistake and I apologized, would you forgive me?  If I didn’t come when you called and I apologized, would you forgive me?  If I wasn’t there when you needed me and I apologized, would you forgive me?  Often times we answer yes, but do we really forgive?  You say you forgave me, but each time we argue, you bring it up.  Yes, I know I cheated once, but you said you forgave me and we’ve been making it work, so why do you keep bringing it up?  Yes, I know I wasn’t there for you when your mom died, but you said you forgave me so why do you still have that hanging over our relationship?  Yes, I know I went out of town when I was supposed to celebrate your birthday, but you said you forgave me so why do you bring it up every year?  Forgiveness means that you have pardoned me for the mistake or wrongdoing and pardon means to release.  So, it ultimately means that you’ve released me from any further punishment from whatever mistake that I made, or so you said.  Proverbs 17:9 says “Love prospers when a fault is forgiven, but dwelling on it separates close friends.”

If every time I come around, you bring up the mistakes of my past, I’ll eventually stop coming.  Why do I have to constantly be reminded of things that I use to do when the bible says in Isaiah 43:18 “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past?”  Yea, I may have been addicted to drugs and/or alcohol, but I’m not anymore.  God has cleaned me up, thrown my past sins in the sea of forgetfulness and made me new, so why do I have to keep answering to you?  Yea, I may have been a deadbeat dad, but I apologized and I am here now, so why do you keep belittling me?  Yea, I know that I use to run away every time things got hard, but I’ve changed and I don’t run anymore so why do you keep pushing me away?  If you said you’ve forgiven me, then why are you constantly judging, criticizing and waiting for me to mess up again?  If Jesus, after being whipped all night, made to wear a crown of thorns, drug from judgment hall to judgment hall being punished for crimes he didn’t commit, made to carry his own cross, nailed to that same cross, pierced in his side, hands and feet, can still ask for forgiveness from his Father for the ones who has done all these things (Luke 23:34); then who are you to constantly make me suffer?

You may have never been addicted to drugs but if you shop every day, then you have an addiction, so why can’t you forgive? You may have never cheated on your spouse, but if you’ve thought about it or lusted after another, then you’ve cheated, so why can’t you forgive?  You may have never been a thief, but if you’ve ever walked off with someone’s pen and didn’t return it, isn’t it the same, so why can’t you forgive?  Proverbs 23:7 says “For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he.”  Forgiveness is not for the person who committed the mistake or wrongdoing but it is for you or the person who it was committed against.  If you constantly hold hatred towards a person that has done you wrong, then it consumes you because hate eventually turns into resentment and resentment turns to bitterness and bitterness turns you into an ugly person that no one wants to be around.  The bible says in Proverbs 10:12 “Hatred stirs up quarrels, but love makes up for all offenses.”  If you hold hate for anyone then it blocks you from receiving what God has for you.  If you don’t believe me, read 1 John 4:20 which say “If anyone says, “I love God,” yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.” 

If God keeps forgiving you every time you run to him when you’ve made a mistake, then who are you to constantly have me begging for forgiveness?  If God treated us like we treat our own family and friends, then most of us would be tore up, raggedy, filthy and not worth the breath that he puts into our bodies.  But because he forgives us each time we repent, our slate is washed clean and God doesn’t dwell on the past.  But, oh, we show up in church on Sunday morning ready to show out for God with our praise and dance and then argue all the way home because you saw Sis. So and So look at me and you think something must be going on because it’s what I use to do.  Chile, God isn’t hearing your foolishness.  You won’t forgive your spouse, your brother, mother, father or co-worker but you’ll quickly forgive Pastor Lying when he stands in the pulpit confessing his sins after it has been brought out to the world.  Baby, get it together! Forgiveness is the same for everybody and I know folks say, I’ll forgive but I won’t forget, then you haven’t forgiven because with forgiveness comes forgetfulness.  If you forgive then you should forget, that way you don’t keep bringing it up because each time you bring it back up, you are stirring the pot. 

So, forgive! When you think you can’t forgive or you don’t want to forgive, read this sentence over. In your forgiveness you gain favor and favor increases your faith and your faith makes you fruitful!

Daily Devotional – 12/28/11 “And the award goes to… “

There was this woman who lived in this big expensive house, drove an expensive foreign car and was the head of her law firm.  She came from a big Christian family but because of her work and lack of time, she rarely got home except for the occasional holidays and when she did, she came with the biggest gifts.  Her siblings didn’t like when she came home to visit because she would often brag about this and brag about that and she always made sure everyone knew that SHE was the one sending money home to help their Mom because she had it to give.  She never did any good deeds because she was caring but she was always acting like she was performing in front of a packed audience.  She always acted like she was performing to get an academy award.  Whenever one of her siblings asked her for anything, she could never keep it private because she wanted all to know what SHE had done.  Soon, her brothers and sisters stopped asking and they stopped inviting her to family dinners and holidays because they could no longer deal with the stories of her fancy life.  But she didn’t care because she thought all they did was beg anyway like she owed them anything.

One day they received a call that she had been in an accident and was in the hospital.  By the time they made it, they were notified that she was in a coma and the doctor’s weren’t sure if she would ever wake up.  But while in the coma, she was visited by God.  She thought he was coming to her because of all the things she did to help folk and because it was her time.  But God has another thing in mind.  He asked her how she thought her life had been and if she thought her ticket to Heaven had been stamped.  She replied, “My life has been great, well, since I left for college.  I became this big time lawyer, I live in this fine house, I drive this fine car and I have more money than I know what to do with.  Every time my family begs, I help them and they never pay me back. So, yes, I think my life has been great and my ticket has definitely been approved.”  God looked her over and he said, “Where do I fit into your life?  Have you ever stopped once to thank me for the path you’ve taken?  Have you ever given to your local church, helped someone in need because it was in your heart to do so or prayed for others who are not as well off as you?  Have you ever prayed to me since all your days have been good?” She said, “No, but I help folk when they beg and they never offer it back, so isn’t that enough?” God simply replied, “No!”  She asked, “Why not? Isn’t that enough since I give when they ask?”  God replied, “No, because when you help people it’s not because it’s the right thing to do, but it’s because you want your name called in order for you to be recognized.  But haven’t you read my word in Matthew 6:1 which says “Watch out! Don’t do your good deeds publicly, to be admired by others, for you will lose the reward from your Father in heaven?”  Don’t you know that it’s not about the acts that are performed on a stage that I count but it’s the ones done when the curtain has fallen?  See, when I sent my only Son as a sacrifice so that you could be free, it wasn’t so that I could be recognized but it was because I knew of the things he could do.  When I sent you down the path to the place you are now, it wasn’t for you to become so high up that even I wouldn’t dare reach but it was because I knew the person that you could be.  I knew that you could be the one to help others when they asked and you’d be a shoulder for others to lean on when they needed it.  But look at you!”  She wept as she listened to his words.  God then opened her ears to hear the pleas of her loved ones begging her to fight to live because they loved her.   She wept some more.

God said, “My child, I left the bible for you to read and study as a way to me, not just to be used as a bookend.  If you studied more you’d know that my word says in 1 Corinthians 13:4 “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.”  There is no need for you to boast and brag because your work should speak for you.  If you do good things then others will see.  If you share what you have been blessed with, then it shall be returned to you with an added blessing.  You don’t have to speak about yourself when your good deeds come from your heart.  John 5:31-32 says “If I testify about myself, my testimony is not valid but there is another who testifies of me, and I know that the testimony which He gives about me is true.”“  As she listened and the tears streamed down her face, she began to realize the mistakes that she made.  She asked God to just give her one more chance to live a life that is pleasing in his sight.  She promised that she would talk less, listen more and study a lot more.  So God granted her request.

After two days, she opened her eyes to a room filled with family members and all she could do was cry.  When she was able to speak, she made a promise to them that she would be more of a sister and daughter to them than what she had been before.  She asks them all for their forgiveness as she works toward being a better Christian on God’s journey.  She asked them all to pray with her, for her and they were all happy to do so.  As of that moment she realized that the life she has is not because she has been all good and because she was great at what she did but it was because of the goodness of God.  She knew that all she had could have been gone a long time ago but because God had given her another chance she was ready to change. 

See, sometimes God has to lay us on our back before we look up to him and he has to knock us to our knees before we reach out to him.  The next time you want to act like you’re up higher than anybody else, know that you can be knocked down faster than you did climbing the ladder up.  Just because you have more than the next person and you don’t have to struggle from paycheck to paycheck, don’t act like you’re better than your neighbor.  Please know that the person you step on going up may be the person’s whose hand is outstretched to help you back down.  The person whose shoulders you stepped on to boost yourself up may just be the ones to help carry you when you fall.  The bridge you thought you’d never have to cross again may be the only one available when the rain won’t stop falling in your life.  Be careful where you put your lips when everything is going good because you may have to eat those words when you walk into the interview and the person you cursed is the one doing the hiring.