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.

Daily Devotional – 12/27/11 “What’s your New Year’s Resolution?”

It’s a few days before the New Year and you’re probably already making “resolutions” for 2012, right?  I am going to start a new diet and stick to it.  I am going to get on a budget and stick to it.  I am going to church every Sunday and I’m going to pay my tithes right.  I am going to let go of all the bull crap this year because it is a new year and new me!  I am not going to let folks use me this year, I am not going to let my baby daddy walk all over me and I’m going to start treating folks better.  But my question is, “Why wait until the New Year?”  All of these things can be done, right now.  You don’t have to wait until the year changes to change because you will be the same person on 1/1/12, right? 

If you have an addiction that you want to get rid of, do it now and stop saying that you can’t.  If you want to give up those cigarettes, put them down.  If you want to lose weight, then stop piling all the food on your plate.  If you know you can’t afford the house you’re in, move.  If you can’t afford the credit card charges, stop using them.  All of the things that you are declaring will be different in the New Year can actually start now.  A resolution is defined as an intention made or an expression of opinion.  But how do you know if you will even make it into the New Year?  Proverbs 27:1 says “Don’t brag about tomorrow, since you don’t know what the day will bring.”  You are waiting for the year to change and it could be worse than 2011, then what will you do?  If you have intentions on changing, then start now. James 4:14 says “How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog–it’s here a little while, then it’s gone.” So, why wait?

Watching the news and seeing the devastation that has changed some families’ lives over this Holiday Season, it lets me know that no one is promised the next hour.  One moment you are enjoying Christmas and the next, you’re watching your home be destroyed by fire.  One moment, you’re talking to your sister on the phone and the next; you’re identifying her body because a drunk driver took her life.  Why put off for tomorrow what you can do today?  Don’t wait until tomorrow to tell me you love me, because it might be too late.  Don’t wait until Sunday to get your praise on because you may not see it.  Don’t wait until momma is gone before you get your life in order because she just might out live you.  Don’t wait until you think it is the right time to join church, because there is never a right time.  Ephesians 5:15-17 says “So be careful how you live. Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise. Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days. Don’t act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do.”  

God wants the best for you because if he didn’t he wouldn’t bless you every day.  I know that you think just because you’re struggling, there isn’t a blessing in it but I am here to tell you there is.  See, in your struggling you get strength and with strength comes stability and stability brings with it salvation.  Salvation is defined as somebody or something that protects or delivers another from harm, destruction, difficulty, or failure.  My Salvation, your salvation and our salvation is God.  Psalm 28:7 says “The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise him.”  I know that you think because death keeps attacking your family, that there isn’t a blessing in it but the bible says in Philippians 1:21 “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”  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.

There isn’t anything wrong with making New Year Resolution but why do you have to wait?  Matthew 6:34 says “So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.” Live for today and allow the present to be just that, a gift.  If you spend more time worried about changing in the New Year, you’ll forget about today.  Philippians 4:6 says “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.”  Isn’t that enough to get you through?

Daily Devotional – 12/26/11 “The Day after Christmas!”

It was the night after Christmas, when all through the home, everybody was stirring, because momma was looking for a comb.

So she could wrap her hair and take her butt to bed, because the few glasses of egg nog went straight to her head.

The stockings were flung on the floor, but no one cares, because the candy and gifts were no longer there.

The boys were all in front of the TV with the Xbox on loud but the girls could care less because they were still floating on a cloud.

See, momma had gotten them the dolls they wanted, they couldn’t put them down, so no one in the house, for now, was walking with a frown.

They had all went to church on yesterday and gave God his due praise, for them being thankful and for their bodies he raised.

Momma made sure everybody knew the real reason for Christmas and it wasn’t a green tree, but about the birth of Jesus and all his good deeds.

She didn’t take Christmas lightly and she made sure they all knew the story; she wanted them to know that God got all the glory.

It wasn’t about the decorations, the lights or the money that we spend; but it is to celebrate the birth of a Man who would save us from our sin.

She explained to them how Mary and Joseph were chosen, as Jesus’ parents, by God and how he had placed the love for him in the top & bottom of their heart.

They read the story in Luke starting with Chapter One up until his birth in Chapter Two and she explained all of the things that his parents had to go through.

She wanted her children to know that Jesus is the real reason we celebrate and without him we’d be lost, because he sacrificed it all, it didn’t matter about the cost.

Jesus could have been selfish and thought about himself like some of us do, but he paid the cost for the sins he knew we would go through.

So, as you enjoy the leftover food and play around with the toys and such, thank God for Jesus, just because he loved us so much. 

When you are taking down the decorations and putting up the tree, thank God for Jesus because of him, we are free.

When you are returning the ugly sweater or the gift that you didn’t ask for, thank God for Jesus because he has more blessings in store.

When you want to be ungrateful because you didn’t get as much as you thought; thank God for Jesus because his pain was not for naught.

Naught means nothing but Jesus paid the ultimate price, just so we could all enjoy the blessings that God promised in this life.

God is waiting, he stands at the door ready to come into your life, and he’ll even give you the strength to handle this world’s strife.

But you’ve got to open the door and invite him in to stay and stop running when it’s a rainy and cloudy day.

Not all your days will be great, but God had made you strong enough to endure; so walk on with him because he’ll be around to carry you when you fall, I know this to be true.

Believe in God; trust him even when you don’t always do right, because God says in 2 Corinthians 5:7, “For we walk by faith, not by sight.”

Daily Devotional – 12/25/11 “Your birth potential”

After Mary was chosen to carry God’s only Son, she had no idea that she was giving birth to such a Man as this.  A man who could heal folk’s illnesses by just a touch or a few words, give sight to the blind, feed a multitude with mere morsels and walked on water because he could; not to brag but to show you the power of faith. A man who could calm raging seas when folk was afraid, wipe out cities when there was hell leading the people and raise folk from the dead.  He was this type of Man to do all these things just to be sacrificed so that we could be free to sin and then is forgiven.  Mary had no idea the potential of the person she brought into this world but God did.

Just like Mary, you don’t know the potential your life has, but God does.  He knew before you were born what he had planned for your life, so you had birth potential. Jeremiah 1:5 says “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”  He knows that you’ll be able to handle the tests that he sends your way and even the attacks by the enemies because he has approved them too.  That’s why everybody’s storm and testimony is different. If he wanted everybody’s trials, tribulations and tests to be the same, then he would send them to the world and not just to you.  See, God doesn’t send storms to take you out but it’s just to refresh you while you’re walking this journey because he knew that you would get dirty while going. The storms are just to refresh you which restore you to your original state before the storm which is usually greater than before.  He doesn’t want you to give up but he wants you to give whatever you’re going through to him. When Jesus walked into new places, he wasn’t always received but he had kingdom business to do, so he went anyway. He didn’t allow what folks said and how they treated him to deter him because he knew that once his work here was done, he’d have a much greater reward waiting. It’s like you giving your child a treat after they get a great report card or doing their chores. It’s the same with you because not every place and everybody will accept you, but work on. If you stopped every time somebody counted you out, you’d never have anything.  Go on because your reward from your Father is much greater than one anybody on Earth can give.

So, on the Christmas Day, remember the real reason. It’s not about the gifts that you gave the kids to open but it’s about the birth of a Man that never judged, could turn water to wine, open his mouth and thousands listened, had healing powers in his hem of the clothes he wore and even loved those he knew would betray him. Christmas is about fellowshipping and bringing families together. Gift giving is good, sometimes great, but to look upon the face of all my family members and friends, is one of the best. I thank God for Jesus and I thank him for allowing Jesus to be sacrificed for me. Even when I don’t say thank you, bow my head to pray and lift my arms to praise him, he stills! I thank God and today I say Happy Birthday to you, Jesus, and your work & struggle was/is not in vain!