Daily Devotional – 12/20/11 “You have work to do!”

As a gardener, do you ever throw seeds into the ground and then do nothing and expect them to grow?  I would assume no because without making sure the hole is deep enough, moist enough and has the right amount of light, etc., the seed probably wouldn’t grow, right?  Well, it’s the same way with prayer.  Haven’t you heard the scripture “Faith without works is dead?”  James 2:14 says “What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?”  I am here to tell you that faith WITHOUT works is surely dead.  If you don’t believe me, then go to your daily instruction book, that’s the bible, and read.  When God healed the blind man, he told him in John 9:7 “and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam”. So he went away and washed, and came back seeing.”  See, the man had faith that God could heal him but if he never went to wash his own eyes, with his own hands (work) he wouldn’t have his sight.  What about the man that was laying on his bed of affliction, for 38 years, outside of the pool of Bethesda?  Jesus asked him if he wanted to get well and then told him in John 5:8 “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.”  If the man didn’t pick up his own mat with his own hands (work), then he would have still been afflicted but because he did work, his body was healed.  Just like this man, God is speaking to somebody right now about something that is afflicting them and he is saying pick up your mat and walk, but you’re still laying there.  You know that you should have been gone from whatever it is that is causing you pain but you’re still laying on your mat.  You know that you should have left that cheating/abusive spouse years ago but you’re still laying on your mat.  If you’re still putting up the deed to your house for a child that keeps going back to jail and never learns his/her lesson, you’re still laying on your mat.  If you’re still gossiping with that same friend who always tells your business and leaves you crying and hurt, you’re still laying on your mat.  Baby, God is telling you to pick up your mat and walk, so what are you waiting on?  If it’s fear, then that means your communication to God is broken because he says in Matthew 8:26 “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” Is it because you’re scared of falling? God says in Proverbs 24:16, “for though a righteous man falls seven times, he rises again.”  Is it because you’re afraid that you’ll be alone?  Well God promised in Hebrews 13:5 “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”

So many times we pray, whether in our car, at home kneeled beside the bed, in our prayer closet, lying in bed or on the couch, because it doesn’t matter where you pray just as long as you do; but once we pray we think that our work is done and God is to do the rest.  But that’s not the case.  Praying to God is asking him for something that you may need or confirmation for a change that you want to make, but it’s not the work.  Faith is the belief that it is already done but working for it is completing the job.  See, praying is like asking your parent for permission to go out with friends. Faith is asking like she has already said yes because you’ve already told your friends you can go but following the rules and coming home on time is completing the job.  You have to put something in if you expect to get something out.  There isn’t much sense in going to the ATM to withdraw money if you know you haven’t put anything in the account.  Well, it doesn’t make much sense to keep expecting a withdrawal from God’s bank account when you never deposit anything.  If you have an illness in your body, how can you expect a healing if you haven’t asked for one?  If you’re tired and need rest, how can you expect God to send it if you never ask?  If you are wondering if the guy or girl you’re dating is the one, how can you expect God to send you confirmation if you never ask?  Matthew 7:7 says “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.”  The bible doesn’t say wait.  So why are you waiting?

There is a song by Leandria Johnson called I shall leap into my destiny (http://youtu.be/9w3rNPWi7DE). The lyrics say “Taste and see that the Lord is good and his mercy endureth forever. Don’t give up; your blessing is around the corner. Just remember, he wants you to have everlasting life.  I shall leap, leap into my destiny.”  The song goes on to say, “I will get everything God has for me.  Lord, no matter what I’ve been through, I shall leap into my destiny.”   Jeremiah 29:11 says “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.”  If this is what God has declared, then why are you wobbling at the first sign of defeat?  Sometimes it’s not the devil that is blocking our blessings but it is us by speaking death over them before they even happen.  If you don’t have the confidence in yourself, then why would somebody else.  It’s like me sitting in your chair to get my hair cut, but you say I don’t know if I can but if you want me too I will.  Chile, no!  If you don’t have faith in yourself, then how can I?  You have to stop being afraid to work for the things that you’ve prayed to God for.  If you asked God for a new car and he got you approved even after most of the banks said no, then you have to work to pay for it.  You can’t tell the finance company that God got it covered because it’ll be repossessed just as quickly as you signed for it.  If you asked God for a spouse, then you have to work at the marriage in order for it to grow.  You can’t just sign a marriage license and then you live your life and your spouse lives theirs because you both have to be on one accord, if you want it to last.  That’s called work. 

See, when God anoints you, even the devil in hell can’t take it away.  When folks talk about you, God will handle them.  When he says in 1 Chronicles 16:22 “Saying, Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm,” he wasn’t just talking about Pastors, Ministers, Bishops, Evangelists and etc., but he was talking about you too, if you’ve been anointed.  Anoint means to choose by or as if by divine election.  So, if God has chosen you, then that makes you anointed and the scripture is talking about you.  So let folks talk about you because the more they talk, the higher God raises you for them to see.  The more they hate, the more you pray.  If God uses your enemies as your footstool and if a footstool is used to elevate you to be able to reach things that are not within arm’s length, then you should welcome your enemies.  The more enemies you have, the higher your footstool.  Now, this doesn’t mean when you step on this footstool, you become so Heavenly bound that you’re no Earthly good because you can still fall, it just means you have a longer way down.  You have to accept what God has given you and with acceptance come appointment and with God’s appointing he sends anointing and with God’s anointing you’re available for the destiny that he has for you.

Daily Devotional – 12/19/11 “Go by yourself sometime!”

 Sometimes in my adult life I find the need to go places by myself. It’s not because I want to do things that I don’t others to know about, but sometimes I just want to hear myself think. So many times we get caught up in the lives of our spouses, children, family and work that we forget about ourselves until we are laying in a hospital bed suffering from a heart attack or stroke. Sometimes you have to go by yourself, even if it’s just to get a little piece of your mind back. I know that you like to have girl’s night out where you drink a little wine, eat some food and then sit around to let out some of the stress of the week but have you ever thought about taking yourself to dinner? You may find that you enjoy your company more than anyone else’s. Sometimes God is trying to speak to us but we are too busy talking to others to even listen. He’ll give you an urge to go for a walk, so that he can have some alone time with you, but instead you invite along 3 of your friends. Now, you’ve missed out on what it is God is trying to tell you. John 10:27 says “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.” But if you can’t hear God’s voice, then who are you following?

Take for an example, you’ve been without a job for a while and one morning you wake up and God drops in your spirit the name of a company and at the same time you get an email or text from somebody telling you about a job fair at the same company. You get dressed, but not before calling a few of your friends who need jobs too, to go with you. You all go to the job fair, you interview and you think you did great but there isn’t a call back. After a week, you get a text from your friend who is excited about their new job, at the same company you were sure would call you back. Now you’re thinking that I should have went by myself. Sometimes, God has a blessing in store for YOU and not the entourage that you keep around you. It’s almost like playing baseball and the player at bat just hit a ball that is heading your direction, but before you can jump up and get it, other players from your team beat you too it. Sometimes you need to go by yourself in order to get what God has for you. If you’re standing in line and you constantly allow folk to go in front of you, you will never get a turn.

Or maybe there is this coworker who you’ve had your eye on. He is single and so are you, so when he asked you out for a drink, you quickly said yes. But you didn’t want to go by yourself so you ask your girlfriend to go with you. You all have a great time and you plan on doing it again. But a few weeks pass and he doesn’t seem interested anymore, but you can’t figure out why. Then you stop at your local restaurant to pick up a to-go order you placed, at the bar, and guess who you just happen to run into; your girlfriend and your coworker. See, he was interested in you but when you bought your girlfriend along on your “date”, he assumed you weren’t interested in him, so he moved on. Now, they are out enjoying each other’s company because you should have went by yourself.

See, most times we block our own blessings, not because we are not deserving of them but because we got other folks catching them as they are falling down. Sometimes, you have to go by yourself in order to get stuff for yourself. If you need a particular item at the store and you know the store carries many different versions of it, the only way you can ensure you get the right thing is to go get it yourself. There’s nothing wrong with having a walk, lunch, or even going to a movie with you. With the hectic world we live in, the ever changing society and the stress we face daily, sometimes peace is needed, by yourself. But how can you have an honest conversation with God when you got 5 people in the car? How can you hear what God is trying to tell you if you got 3 people walking and talking with you? Matthew 7:24 “Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock.” See, God has a purpose for your life but how can you do the work that he has ready for you if you aren’t listening to his instructions? It’s like putting together a bookcase without the written instructions in the box; usually you’ll make a few mistakes before you reach to get them out. It’s the same way on this Christian journey. Without God’s word and listening to his voice (his instructions) you will make a few mistakes before you reach back into the box (the bible) and get them. You have to hear God in order to do the work that he has for you to do and to be able to do it in the right way. Now, he doesn’t always speak to you but he can speak through your Pastor but if you are too busy texting during his message, you’ll miss it too. Go by yourself sometime in order to get the blessings and the instructions that God is trying to give to you. It’s alright to be by yourself, you came in the world by yourself, didn’t you? Even if you’re a twin, like I am, you still came in the world by yourself because you can’t come out together.

Daily Devotional – “There aren’t any losers with God!”

I may not be all that God has destined me to be, YET, but I am nothing like I use to be.  When I look at myself and where I am, in this life, I won’t be disappointed because God has anointed my walk and with his anointing comes trials but those trials leads to triumphs and with every triumphs comes my victory and  my victory makes me victorious!  So I’m good because I’m living.  I may not wear a $200 pair of shoes, but I can walk just fine in the ones I got for $19.99.  I may not be able to buy a $100 pair of jeans, but the ones I found at Goodwill for $4 fits me just as well.  I may not live in a $1.5 million dollar house, but where I am living is my home, so all is well.  See, I’ve found that the clothes and shoes folk wear, the car they drive, the house they live in and the money in their pocket won’t get them a free pass through Heaven’s gates.  Yea, you may look good but how is your heart?  Because Matthew 15:18 says “But the words you speak come from the heart–that’s what defiles you.”

So, I won’t wish for what others have because I don’t know what they went through to get it.  Just because I see you riding in a new car, I don’t know you’ve endured years of spousal abuse and the car was just another “sorry” gift.  No, I won’t wish for the clothes that you have on because while I’m wishing for that shirt, you’re out stealing it and just because I wasn’t there when you got, I’m still held accountable for receiving stolen goods.  No, I won’t wish for the husband you got because even though it may look like you all have the perfect marriage, behind closed doors, he is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. No, I won’t pray for yours because I am just fine with the blessings and the gifts that I have.  Instead I’ll keep praying for God to enlarge the territory that I already have or better yet, allow me the resources to keep what I already got.  So many times, we keep adding to the pile of mess we already got and before long we are hoarders.  If you consistently add bills on top of the ones you got, without paying a few of them off, you will soon find yourself in a world of trouble. If you keep adding air to a balloon, it’ll eventually pop.  Well, so will you if you keep adding stress to your life. 

You’ve got all these bills and you can’t even enjoy life because you’re spending almost every day working every hour that is offered just to keep your head above water.  Why work yourself to death for things you can’t enjoy? If you know you can’t afford it, change it.  If you know you don’t need it, cut it off.  Use better judgment with life matters. Reduce that cable bill that you’re paying over $200 for even though you’re never at home to watch it and you don’t have to open up a new credit card at Macy’s just because the cashier asks you too.  You know you have a wallet filled with ones now that you’re barely paying so why add fuel to an already burning fire?  You do know that stress can kill you, right? Then what good are your hands?  Ecclesiastes 9:10 says “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the grave, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom.” Yea, I know that you’ve been on your job for 20 years and I assume they appreciate all you do, but you’re no good to them dead and as soon as they can, they’ll have an ad in the paper to re-hire.  Their business doesn’t stop because you did.  But had you chosen to lessen your load and release a lot of the stress that you’ve been under, you’d probably still be here.  Ecclesiastes 5:18 says “Even so, I have noticed one thing, at least, that is good. It is good for people to eat, drink, and enjoy their work under the sun during the short life God has given them, and to accept their lot in life.” 

God has given you a life to live and he didn’t mean for you to work it away.  So go through all the trials and tribulations and get up with your arms high claiming the victory over your circumstance.  Say, I may be temporarily out of funds now but it won’t last.  Say, I may be without a car now but it won’t last.  Say, I may be without a job now but it won’t last.  Say, I may be arguing with my spouse now but it won’t last.  Say, I may be sick now but it won’t last.  Say, I may be grieving now but it won’t last.  2 Corinthians 4:17 states, “For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.” Isn’t that worth shouting about?  All the troubles that we face now are just preparing us for what God has already promised! And if that isn’t enough, the troubles you face make you stronger and wiser to face them, if they shall come again.  The next time trouble beckons you out to the middle of the ring, you’ll be ready and able to handle it, not because you’ve the champ in KO’s but because you’ve been prepped and prepared by the best trainer ever.  And even though you may get knocked to your knees in the first round, you got someone standing in your corner with his arms stretched out ready to be tagged in.  See, when you tag God into the ring, your battle then turns into rejoicing and with rejoicing come restoration and with restoration comes relief and relief brings rest.  Because once you’ve rested you’ll be ready for battle and after the battle comes victory.  You can’t claim victory without first winning the fight and with God, there are no losers.   

 

Daily Devotional – Is that a revolving door?

How can you expect your life to be sane when you have it open for any and everybody to walk through?  Your life shouldn’t have a revolving door for folks to walk in and out every time they feel the urge too. If every time the going gets hard and your spouse or significant other runs out faster than the money, they aren’t meant for you.  If every time you have a bad day and need someone to talk to and they can’t because they are talking to their friends, then they aren’t meant for you.  I’ve found the only places that have revolving doors are the places that expect you to keep coming back to use them.  You know like hotels, malls and grocery stores.  See, they’ve installed the doors that allow folk to go through quick and easy because they want you to keep coming back and if you’ve installed these types of doors in your life, then you attract those types of people.

We have to guard our lives against the evil of the world and the attacks of the devil and just because something is placed in our path, it doesn’t necessarily mean we have to pick it up to move on.  I’ve found that sometimes it’s better to just walk around it to avoid getting the problems that come along with it.  This starts by first guarding your heart.  Proverbs 4:23 says “Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.”  If you allow every man or woman, that comes into your life, to take a piece of your heart, eventually you won’t have anything left.  I’m often reminded of the saying, “If you place your heart in God, folk will have to go through God to get it,” and I’ve found that to be true.  But if you got it sitting out on the coffee table, like a bowl of candy, every time somebody walks by they take a piece of it.  Don’t believe me, leave some candy lying out and see what happens to it.  After folks, who have come for the wrong reason, leave, you’re left with a heart that’s missing pieces.  Have you ever put a puzzle together only to get down to the very end to find that some of the pieces are missing?  Now all of the hard work you put into completing the puzzle is wasted because with missing pieces, it’s incomplete.  It’s the same way with life.  If you’ve put years into a relationship and it leaves you with a broken heart, you feel incomplete.  Now, unlike a puzzle, you can’t buy another heart and start over but you can repair it before you jump into the next relationship because being incomplete can cause problems, a lot of messy problems. Because Matthew 15:18 says “But the words you speak come from the heart–that’s what defiles you.”

Let me explain what I mean and please excuse my language but we are all adults and some things need to be said.  If you dress like a whore (or hoe) then you invite people through your door that treats you like one.  You dress in skin-tight jeans, with your butt hanging out and then you have the nerve to get mad when a man grabs you or approaches you like a prostitute but you leave the house looking like one.  Another thing that bothers me is the fact that women, young and older, refer to themselves as a bitch but then get mad when someone else calls you one.  For those that don’t know the real definition,  a bitch is defined as a female canine, a malicious, unpleasant, selfish person, especially a woman; lewd woman; a person who performs demeaning tasks for another; servant or  convict who is in a homosexual relationship and/or dominant relationship willingly or unwillingly in the prison setting (www.dictionary.com).  Now, I don’t know about you but I’ve never been nor do I intend to be any of those things, so bitch will never be a name I’ll answer too. Just because I may have an attitude or think a little more about me than you do, it doesn’t place me in this category.  If you’re a single mom and you allow every man who whispers in your ear to come and lay up in your home, what kind of example are you setting for your children?  How can they really learn what a meaningful relationship is if yours change more than the days on the calendar?  Titus 2:3-4 says “Likewise, older women are to show their reverence for God by their behavior. They are not to be gossips or addicted to alcohol, but to be examples of goodness.  They should encourage the younger women to love their husbands, to love their children.”  How can you raise a woman if you are not willing and able to act like one?  It’s like me trying to teach Algebra, when I’ve never taken the class myself.  How can I expect others to understand what I’m teaching, if I haven’t learned it for myself?

Please don’t get me wrong because I am not telling you to close the door on life or stop living but I am saying that may be you should do some security checks.  You have to go through them at the airport, court-house; jail houses and even some jobs so why not screen the folk that you allow into your life?  Don’t you submit to an interview, background check and drug screening before getting a job then why should your life be any differently?  Your employer wants to know who they are hiring and you should want to know who you sleeping with.  You meet Joe on Saturday night at the club and talk to him all week, then on Friday night you invite him over to your house and he spends the night and never leaves.  Now you got him walking around with your teenage daughters and you know nothing about him. Or you meet Sandra through a mutual friend who has told you all the good things about her.  You go out on a few dates and you seem to hit it off because she has the same determination you have and you both have things in common.  She’s a mother and you’re a father, so you think this will work.  You invite her to move in, after a few months of dating, only to find out she acts like she has split personalities.  Now, had you taken the time to look pass the smile and the short skirts she wore, you probably could have pick up on some of the clues but you were blinded by the chatter of friends and the smell of her sweet perfume.  You set yourself up for heartache and then you want to cry “Why is the Lord forsaking me?”  Baby, God wasn’t in that mess when it started but now you want to call him when you it’s finished.  If you are looking for a husband or a wife, then stop! Don’t you realize that if God has already predestined your life then he already has your mate chosen?  Jeremiah 29:11 says “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.”  But he can’t send them if your way is blocked with run down cars that are on flat.  In order to receive a blessing, you have to remove those things that are keeping you from getting them.  Psalm 37:4 says “Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.”  He didn’t say give him a list of your wants, he simply says put your heart in me and I’ll give you what your heart desires.  God wants you to be happy so that you can do his work.  You can’t spread his word if you are sitting in a corner crying over someone who wasn’t yours to begin with.  You can’t help those in need if you’re at the bar every night drinking away your sorrows.  But God said in Matthew 6:23 “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” 

If you put God first in your life everything else will have to go through him and going through him protects you from getting hurt.  It’s like having unprotected sex and now a few weeks later, you’re crying because you might be pregnant but had you been protected first, then you wouldn’t have these fears later on.  Now, I’m not saying God is like unprotected sex, but you get my point!  If you protect yourself with God’s blood first, you won’t have fears later on.  You have to replace that revolving door that’s in your life and take up that mat that says anyone is welcome.  Your life is not meant to include everybody because everybody is not for you.  I told you yesterday that some folks closest to you are questioning how you got this and that even though they claim to be happy for you.  The best friend that you tell all your business too is secretly wishing to get where you are.  You know your friends are messy and they are the main ones causing the trouble in your house but you keep running to them.  They are giving you advice on how to get back at your husband, but I can bet you a paycheck they won’t do it to theirs and while they send you out to check his voice mail and text messages, their husband is never at home either, but you can’t talk her into doing it.  Child, you’d better wake up!  After your husband/wife is gone, that friend is too because I can guarantee she can no longer hang with you because you’re single and even though she tore up your home, she won’t allow you to break up hers.  Keep folks, including family, out your business.  Whatever happens inside your home ought to stay inside your home.  You’ll find that a whole lot of mess stops when you put your lips together and stop talking. 

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 says “Be joyful always, pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

 

Daily Devotional – 12/14/11 “My Storm Shower!”

You’re facing a tough time in your life right now because the holidays are upon us and it may be the first one without a loved one, you may have more bills that seem to be hitting you all at once, your car may be acting up, children acting like strangers in your home and to top it off you may be sick.  Now you’re wondering if God is allowing all of these things to happen to you because of past mistakes that you’ve made, because you didn’t pay your tithes on Sunday or because you had some evil thoughts going through your mind.  I also know that you’ve probably heard the saying that either you are going through a storm, getting ready to go through a storm or coming out of a storm because it’s a part of what has been promised before you were even born, right?  Well, have you ever stopped to think that maybe the storm you’re going through is not punishment for things you did when you were 15 but because God is simply washing off all of the stuff that have been thrown on you by your enemies? If you have done things that you know you shouldn’t have done and you’ve repented for them, why would God come back now to punish you?  The bible says in Isaiah 43:18 “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.” Yea, I know that you used to steal but that was just preparing you to steal away from other folks and have a one on one fellowship with God.  I know that you used to lie on folks but that was just prepping you to lie with the Father, The Son and The Holy Ghost.  I know that you used to step all over folk to get what you wanted but it was just preparing you to step out on Faith and believe in God’s word.  I know that you used to prey on folks to hurt them but that was just preparing you to now pray for folks.  Ezekiel 36:26 say “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh.”

I believe the things we go through, in our everyday life, are just God’s way of testing our faith, belief in him and our praise for him.  Just because it seems like you can never make ends meet now even though you were fine months ago, it doesn’t mean God has taken his hands off of you.  But he is simply trying to see if you will continue to trust that he’ll see you through.  You think that because your boyfriend left that it’s something you’ve done wrong and God must surely be punishing you, when you knew that God wasn’t anywhere in the relationship to begin with and if you be honest with yourself, you’ll see that while he was there he was more of a hindrance than a helpmate anyway, so it was time for him to be moved.  John 15:2 says “He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.”  It was simply God’s way of removing the dead weight from your tree and now you have to stop trying to sew it back on because although the thread may hold for a moment, it won’t last and it’ll eventually break again.  God doesn’t have to keep track of the times you’ve made a mistake so that he’ll make you pay for them later, he doesn’t have to write down the number of times you cursed in one conversation or the many times you’ve lied to your parents because he doesn’t work that way.  John 15:3 says “You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.”    

So, the next time the rain starts falling in your life, as it will, stop acting like you’re being whooped by God.  After you’ve worked all day in the yard and you’re sweaty, musty and got dirt all over you, don’t you take a shower?  Well, 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.  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.  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.  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.  It doesn’t matter about the number of times you see trials and tribulations as long as you come out of them renewed.  Psalm 71:20 says “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 a baby decided to give up every time they fell, when learning to walk, I’d probably think they never would.  If you decided to give up every time you made a mistake, you probably wouldn’t be where you are.  Somebody you know, that’s probably close to you, doesn’t think you deserve the job you got, but look at God.  Somebody you know is still trying to figure out how you got approved for the car you got, but look at God working.  Somebody is wondering how you made it through cancer with the life you lived when others, they feel are better, died but look at God working this.  Somebody is questioning how you manage to still have money left over from paycheck to paycheck when all you do is shop but look at God working this thang!  Somebody is even trying to see how God could have picked somebody like you, who use to be on drugs, dancing in night clubs and sleeping with every man who could lay flat; clean you up and now you’re the minister of music at church but LOOK AT GOD WORKING THIS THANG OUT!  See, while they are trying to figure it out, God has already worked it out.  While they are counting your blessings, they are adding theirs to yours.  While they 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! 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 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.  

“This storm is just a shower to cleanse me of the dirt that my haters throw on me.  I won’t be afraid to walk through the rain because when the SON shines, I’ll be renewed and through my renewal comes restoration and restoration is restoring me to my full potential so now I shine like pure gold!”