Daily Devotional – 11/29/11 “Why are you giving up so easily?”

When I wake up in the morning, I sometimes forget to thank God for waking me, but he does it still.  I sometimes rush through my day without acknowledging him after he has protected me on my journey, but he does it still.  I sometimes eat without blessing my food, but yet he continues to give me an appetite and food to eat.  When I got bills due and no money and I worry even though I’m not supposed to, he still sees me through.  When folk talk about me and friends walk away and I don’t understand he guides me.  When I don’t give God his due 10%, he still blesses me with a check and money left over even after the bills.  When I’m too mean to acknowledge him, he still acknowledges me.  If God can love us this much, why can’t we love each other half as much? John 3:16 says “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

1 Corinthians 13:7 says, Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.”  So I wonder why we, as Christians, give up so easily when we are supposed to love one another.  You get mad at each other and instead of cooling off for a few minutes, talking and working it out you hold grudges.  If mothers & fathers, sisters & brothers can’t get along with one another, then how can you expect your children to get along?  If all they ever see among you all is fighting, then this is what will happen when they get together. The bible says in James 3:2, “We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check.”  Now, I’ve been around for a while and I’ve yet to find a perfect person, so stop thinking that you are.  Yea, I know that you are dealing with a lot of things, but who isn’t?  Talk to somebody, deal with it and get over it.  If your life is miserable, the only person responsible for it is you.  Stop acting like you are the only one that faces trials and tribulations because Job 5:7 says “People are born for trouble as readily as sparks fly up from a fire.” But we feel a little bit of heat and we back up.  If you gave up cooking each time you got burned in the kitchen, you’d never eat.  But just like burns, the old skin peels away and new skin grows.  It’s the same way on this Christian journey.  When folk talk about you, lie on you, knock you down, stab you in the back, turn on you and plants evil in your way, they are simply the old skin peeling away. But when the new skin grows back, you’ll barely have a scar to remind you of the pain you’ve just been through.  Even a potter has to put his pot into a hot fire to cure it before he uses it, but it comes out shining like gold.  So, when the heat feels like it’s getting too hot for you, don’t give up because even if you get a little burned, you won’t even be able to tell it when you heal! 

When our children make mistakes, like they all do, we give up so easily.  Yea, she got pregnant at 16 but so did you and nobody gave up on you.  Did you ever take the time to educate her on how hard it was for you being a teenage parent or the correct way to protect herself when she became sexually active?  Did you even notice the change in her attitude, the way she dressed or carried herself?  Have you taken the time to tell her that she is beautiful and worth waiting for or that she needs to place her heart in God in order for the right boy to find her?  Probably not because, remember, you didn’t have time.  You were so busy from the job you work, the church activities and helping other folk that you’re missing out on raising your own children.  You tell her you don’t care where she goes and who she goes with, so guess what, she doesn’t care either.  What else is she to do?  You’ve given her all the free time she needs to get pregnant, a STD or even HIV.  You’d better take the time to care.  Just in case you didn’t know, you not caring only opens the door for somebody else too, the wrong somebody.  Don’t give up on her, but show her the mistake that she has made so that she learns from and won’t make it again. 

You got a son who is 16 years old.  He was a start athlete and honor roll student and heading into his senior year.  Over the summer he started hanging out with a new set of friends. You notice the sagging pants, the new gold necklace on his neck and the new pair of shoes he is rocking, but you don’t say anything.  When you try to talk to him about it, he doesn’t listen so you stop trying.  He comes in a little later week by week, but you shrug it off.  “I tried to talk to him but he won’t listen,” is what you tell yourself and others.  School starts and he doesn’t have an interest in it anymore but again, you’ve tried to talk to him.  He starts skipping school, grades begin to fall and now he is off the football team.  Now, after giving him up, you try to talk to him but it’s too late.  He thought you didn’t care then, so why are you caring now?  You’re tired and frustrated and have tried all you know to do, so you give up again.  Then one late night, you get a knock at the door from police a detective informing you your son was shot by a rival gang a few blocks from your home.  You’re in shock because you never knew he was even in a gang.  You wonder why, because you gave up too easily.  

Yea, I know that you’ve heard the saying that when you’ve done all you know to do you have to take your hands off, but that’s only when you are placing them in God’s hands.  If you were in a boxing match, you couldn’t throw in the towel and then expect a victory.  But when you throw your towel into God’s ring, you are simply tagging him in to finish the battle for you.  So why are you giving up so easy?  The folk on your job said that you’d never get promoted and now you’re the store manager.  Folk in the church said you’d never amount to nothing, now you’re preaching with your own church.  The people in the neighborhood said you wouldn’t amount to nothing because of how you were raised, but now you’re a college graduate with a career.  “Don’t become like the people of this world. Instead, change the way you think. Then you will always be able to determine what God really wants-what is good, pleasing, and perfect. (Romans 12:2)” You wore hand me down clothes growing up, but look at you now.  You got more clothes than days to wear them and more shoes than places to walk.  You didn’t have much growing up but momma and daddy made a way for you and now you are returning the favor by taking care of them when all of the hateful neighbors ended up in nursing homes. 

Isn’t that enough to make you want to hold on?  You may be struggling with some things and it looks like there isn’t a light at the end of your storm but God says “I am the way and the truth and the life (John 14:6),” so keep walking until the storm clears.  Momma is gone and the holidays are approaching but God says “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest (Matthew 11:28),” so hold on the tears will soon fade away.  You’ve been asking for confirmation on something but God says “when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind (James 1:6),” so ask like it’s already done.  Don’t be quick to give up on God because he won’t give up on you!

I may not have the strongest back, but I’ll pull you up when you fall.  I may not have all of the answers but I’ll answer when you call.  I may not be rich in the world, but if I got it and you need it, I’ll share.  If you need a shoulder to cry on, ears to listen and arms to hold you, I’ll be right there.  I may not be a perfect Christian because I’m an unfinished work of art so if I do something wrong, charge it to my head and not my heart. But don’t give up on me and I won’t give up on you.  Let’s pray this thing out and allow God to see us through.

Daily Devotional – 11/28/11 “Kids, I swear!”

I can remember doing something as a child that I knew I was not supposed to do and then momma would say, “You remember this when you have children.”  Of course as children, you never think about the smart remarks under your breath, coming home late, getting in trouble at school or sometimes talking back, until you actually have children and they start acting like strangers in your house.  You sit back and think about the times you did this or that and ask if the treatment you get now is payback for all the things you did.  You know all the times you skipped school to go met Mr. No Good, when you knew that when momma found out she would spell his name across your backside or the papers you accidentally threw away that had the big F in red across the top that was supposed to be signed and returned.  Do you think about all the things you did then and wonder if now you’re getting back what you put out?  It wasn’t funny then but now that you think about it, it makes you thank God for keeping your crazy behind safe.

I sometimes sit and wonder what makes children try some of the things they do.  They will tell a lie so quick when the truth would surely do.  You ask them if they have homework and they say no before you get the full question out.  You ask them how things are going at school and they’ve made the lie so good that you think they are an angel at school when the teacher hates to see them coming.  We, as parents, have become so busy that we don’t take the time to parent anymore.  We don’t check their backpacks anymore and most kids don’t even carry one and hardly brings books home, but we think they are passing.  But, oh, let the interim come home with the D’s and F’s and we act all shock.  But honey, I’m sure you know your son or daughter by now to know that in order to pass they need to study and if there are no books coming home, it’s most likely none are being opened at school.  I’ve found that the world and its technology has become a hindrance to our kids.  They use so much slang when talking and texting and then we wonder why they fail English and Reading.  We’ve allowed them to talk any way around the house and then wonder why the teacher can’t understand them when they ask a question. 

When my sisters and I were in school, we came home and did our homework at the dining room table.  Momma was a stickler for good handwriting and using wrinkle free, clean notebook paper.  If we had too many eraser marks on our paper, we had to do it over, no questions asked.  But after a while (and many do overs), we knew what momma expected and she no longer had to say it.  We knew that if we bought a bad grade in the house, you got in trouble for it.  Then, we had to answer to granddaddy and he didn’t take excuses.  But now, we go on the kid’s word.  We don’t drop in at the schools, we don’t look in their backpacks/purses, we don’t email the teachers or even use the things that we’ve been given to stay on top of our kids.  We gotten so lazy that we allow them to skate by on education and then once they hit the real world, they can’t make it.  The world is a hard place and it isn’t easy at all to find a decent job that can become a career.  The job place has become so hard, that more people are working beyond retirement years because they can’t afford to retire.  People used to say that it was easy to get a job at a fast food restaurant but it’s not anymore.  Even these places are looking for high school diplomas now. 

We’ve got to get back to caring as parents.  When kids act up and get bad grades, whoop their butts, punish them and take away some of that expensive stuff you’ve bought by going in debt. Get them a library card and make them read more.  Give their tail a bed time and take away the cell phones and computers at that time.  Give them something constructive to do on the weekends instead of hanging out with friends and spending your money.  Stop running to the school showing your tail when you know your child is the class clown.  If you got a problem with the teacher, then handle it with the teacher but don’t put the child in grown folk business.  (Let me throw this in for free, if you co-parent with the mother or father outside of your household, discuss grown folk business out of the presence of the child(ren).)  STOP PUTTING KIDS IN GROWN FOLK BUSINESS.  Whatever issue you got, deal with it like an adult.  Stop with all the cursing, the neck rolling and attitude.  You know good & well your child probably did exactly what the teacher said he or she did but instead you listen when they say “She just don’t like me.”  Yea, she probably doesn’t like them but it doesn’t mean she won’t teach them.  It’s like when you say “I can’t stand you sometimes,” to your child but it doesn’t mean you don’t love them.

I always say that I won’t ever say what my child won’t do out of my presence.  I know that I did things when I wasn’t in the presence of my mom just like you know your child.  So, please stop with all the dramatics when you see her cursing on Facebook or posting inappropriate pictures.  There is nothing wrong with having an open relationship with your son and daughter that allows them a door to talk to you, but it doesn’t mean you stop being a parent and start being a best friend.  You are the parent and that means that you have to parent.  If your son wears a size 30 in pants but you buy him a 34, they will sag.  If your daughter wears a size 13 and you buy a 10, they will be tight.  If you tell her you don’t care what she does, then she won’t care.  If you don’t tell him the safety in wearing a condom while having sex, it’s safe to assume he won’t use them.  If you don’t tell her the proper way for a young man to treat her, she will probably fall for the first one that whispers in her ear or buy her a $5 combo from McDonald’s.  The bible says in Proverbs 22:6 “Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.” If they do happen to stray, they usually come back because of the training they’ve received.  When you’ve raised a dog from a puppy they know your training and sometimes, like they sometimes do, they run off, stay gone for a few hours or days but they return home.  It’s the same way with children, your job is to train them so that they know right from wrong and when they make a bad choice they learn from it. 

It is getting harder and harder to raise children.  Whether you are a single parent or in a 2 parent household, it’s hard.  That’s why we have to help one another.  If you see my child doing something that you know is wrong, say something and then tell me.  We have to stop putting on blinders when it comes to kids now.  They are growing up faster and the world is changing every day.  Check their backpacks, purses, cell phones, Facebook/MySpace accounts, open the doors in your house to see what they are doing and be careful of the company they keep.  Sit down and talk to their friends and their friend’s parents.  Don’t be quick to drop them off at so & so’s house or allow them to go to everybody’s party.  You are responsible for your child.  If you don’t feel comfortable with the person she is riding with, then say something.  If you don’t feel comfortable with the person whose house he or she is staying over, say something.  Again, you are responsible for your child (ren).  Don’t believe me, read Psalm 127:3 which states, “Children are a gift from the LORD; they are a reward from him.” Cherish the gifts you’ve been given because once they are gone, you can’t get them back.

Daily Devotional – 11/27/11 “What’s with the attitude?”

I am the type of person that when upset or in a bad mood, I tend to be very quiet. I’ve found this to be better than going off on those around me who have nothing to do with the reason for it. I know that things happen; slow drivers, nagging co-workers, stress at home and all that, but is that type of attitude really the only end result? You’ve had a long day at work or school, I get that, but why does the entire house have to deal it with? Why can’t you go into your room or take a drive to clear your head? Coming home with hell on your back won’t make you feel better, I can assure you.

It’s like you washing the car, then it rains and now you’re pissed because the car is getting wet. But didn’t you just use water to wash it or better yet, why didn’t you check the weather first? So why do you have an attitude? The only person to be mad at is you.

It’s like you are out partying all night on Sunday when you know you have to be at work at 8am on Monday. When the alarm clock goes off you’re so mad that it gets thrown across the room. But why are you mad at the alarm clock when you knew you had work while you were dancing until 2AM? Isn’t this your fault? If you can’t answer, I will. Yes, it’s your fault, so why the attitude?

You’re a teenager and upset at the world because your daddy isn’t an active part in your life. You got momma, uncles, aunts and other folk who are raising you, providing for you, feeding you, clothing you and taking care of you when you are sick but you still want the daddy who won’t return your calls. But now you walk around with a chip on your shoulder like the world owes you something. You take out the frustrations you got for daddy out on momma and you know, because you’re old enough to realize, that it’s wrong. Why is momma being battered and bruised because your dad won’t step up? Isn’t she there when you keep getting in trouble at school, when you need shoes & clothes, money for this & that and isn’t she listening when you want to talk? Then why are you beating her down daily with the attitude? As a matter of fact, why are the folk around you getting the brunt of it when it’s no one’s fault but daddy? If you got an issue with him, deal with it. Sit down, write him a letter, seal it, put a stamp on it and mail it. If he reads it or if he does not, you’ve done your part. Now get up out of the ditch you’ve dug for yourself and live. You’re allowing life to pass you by and it isn’t fair, especially not to God who has entrusted you with gifts to use. Stop being the class clown, the one student teachers hate to see coming or somebody who is always causing trouble. Be the person that God has made you to be because the person you are now isn’t it. You’re better than what you’ve become. You’re better than what you’ve been acting like. But guess what? It’s not too late because you still have a life to live, so live it without the attitude. The attitude is rude and it’s makes you ugly.

Again, I know that stuff happens, it’s life! However, those around you shouldn’t be miserable because you’re having a bad day. Deal with it because the world will always throw things in your path that weren’t supposed to be there. That has been promised since before you were born as a result of Eve’s choice in the Garden of Eden, so what makes you exempt from suffering?

There will be days when you don’t feel like going, but go on. There will be days when you don’t feel like doing, but do it anyway. Even through your tiredness, press on. But do it with a clean spirit and without mumbling. If your attitude is jacked up when someone ask you to do this or that, please don’t do it! I’d rather you tell me no when I asked you to drop me off at work than deal with your mean spirit all the way there. I’d rather you say no when I ask to borrow $10 than deal with the complaining you do when you hand it to me. If your plate is too full with everything you’ve got going, then let some things go. You are one person and even when you feel like you can do it all, you can’t and your body will show you. So, deal with what you can deal with and let go of stuff you can’t. Stop with the attitude because it can block the many blessings that God has for you.

Daily Devotional – 11/26/11 “Sweep around your own front door”

I wonder if you feel or look better when you talk about me, but child I’m not worried because I am covered by the blood you see. 

I don’t have to try to fit in with the world to be all cool, because God promised in his word, that he’ll make my enemies my footstool. 

You do know what that is, a footstool, I mean? Oh, well it allows me to reach things higher than you and I don’t even have to lean. 

God has placed a shield around me to protect from folk like you, when you always gossip and lie, it seems that’s all you do. 

You’re always throwing rocks and then running to hide your face, but baby I suggest you get yourself together before it’s too late. 

Stop worrying about what I have sitting on my front porch or the leaves in my yard, because if you want something to fix, look at home, you won’t have to look far.

I don’t have to worry about the bones you have buried in your backyard because I have my own, the same way you don’t have to worry about what I reap, because if I reap it, it’ll be sown.

You don’t have to drag my name through the dirt in order to make yourself look good, because you’ll be blessed just like me if you do what you should. 

Stop digging ditches for me by scandalizing my name, because I have struggles and strife too; it’s hard playing the world’s game,

If you took as much time minding your business as you do mine, then you’d be able to do more God work and let your light so shine.

But instead you find fault in belittling your sister and brother, whom God says you should love, but you’ve allowed the devil to put his hands around your neck tighter than a glove.

Yea, you call yourself a Christian when it is convenient for you, but even the devil studied and he knows God’s word too.

So, don’t be fast to sweep my front or back door, when you got chaos, backbiting, and judging laying all over your floor. 

Clean up your own house sometimes and then invite me in, but don’t expect me to join in with you in your daily sin.

Yes, I make mistakes too because I’m not perfect but a work in progress; so I don’t need your messy self adding to my stress. 

So when you feel the need to peek through the hole in my fence to see my mistakes and faults, I hope you have your eyes closed when God starts throwing salt.

See, he is the only way that is able to make you pay for the things you try to do, so I am not worried about the things you try to put me through.

You can continue to talk, spread lies and drag my name through the dirt, because you won’t have a bearing on where I go when I leave this earth.

God has promised me an eternal home in paradise, one that he has built; so I’ll continue to let you be you and I’ll be free from guilt.

So clean your yard before you try to jump the fence into mine, because you may just trip coming over and then what will you find?

Sweep around your own front door before you try to sweep around mine, all the time may be taken cleaning yours, because there is no telling what you’ll find.

Daily Devotional – 11/25/11 “Black Friday”

Somebody woke up this morning in tears because they couldn’t afford any of the black Friday sales. You’ve been trying to figure out how you’re going to make ends meet the last few weeks and now that Christmas is coming up, you don’t know what to do. You just celebrated Thanksgiving with family and you ate more than you should have and yet you’re still down. You have a place to sleep, healthy kids, food to eat, TV to watch but yet you’re still down. You’re not upset because you got bad news from the doctor, your lights are off, car won’t work or death has knocked at your door but because you don’t have money to shop. Are you serious, really? You’d rather get up at 1am, get dressed to stand in a line that is wrapped around a building for an $8 toaster or blender when Wal-Mart will have 30 of them next week? You’re crying because you want to get this Xbox game for your son that he’s been asking for, but he is failing at school. You’re crying because you can’t afford the new cell phone your daughter wants but she won’t even clean up her room after asking 12 times. Chile, cut it out! You weren’t raised with none of the stuff that kids these days get and looked how you turned out. You never stood talking back and being disrespectful to your parents but you allow yours to do it and then you turn right around and reward them. No ma’am! No sir! This is foolishness. If you don’t have the money for it, then tell them no and if you can afford it and they are undeserving, tell them no. But instead you’re wrapped up like a mummy in clothes, trying to stay warm for a Black Friday sale.

If I stopped ten (10) people coming out of Wal-Mart this morning and asked them if they got what they came for, all of them would probably say no. So why are you rushing to spend money you don’t have anyway? You’re rushing to put yourself into debt that it’ll take you half of next year to get out off. You’re rushing to get a TV that the store only ordered fifteen (15) of and there is 100 people wanting the same one. I don’t know about most of you but Black Friday is just another Friday for me. I’m at work while the kids are at home probably still asleep. I don’t think standing in a check-out line for 2 hours is worth the sale price of any item and I’ve never had the desire to get pushed and shoved for a few dollars off anything. Because I know that if I “Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you your heart’s desires. (Psalm 37:4)”

It is simply amazing to me the lengths that folk will go to in order to get to an item on black Friday but come Sunday morning you couldn’t beat them out of bed for church. Yea, they’ll quickly spend a few hundred dollars in Target but complain about giving God 10%. But wasn’t God the one who blessed you with the job when you knew you didn’t meet all of the qualifications? Hasn’t he kept you from drowning in bills even though you haven’t worked in months? Hasn’t he given you all that you’ve asked for simply because you believe his word in Matthew 7:8 that says, “For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened?” Then why can’t God get some of the same time you put into Black Friday? You go to bed early so you won’t miss the sales but you complain about the time church starts. You spend the few extra dollars to get those shoes you want but complain when you have to put $2 for offering. You stand in line for 4 hours to get in the store and then 2 hours to get out the store but you roll your eyes when church service last a few minutes longer. You’re excited to visit 4 stores to get the sales but let the secretary announce a church outing and you’re the first one mumbling under your breath.

Doesn’t God deserve the same dedication you put into Black Friday? You’ll put in a vacation day for the sale but you wouldn’t dare miss work for Sunday worship. Haven’t you read Matthew 6:19 that say “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal?” Worldly possessions can be taken from you just as quickly as the breath from your body. Not all folk are holy and they sit back and wait for you to purchase all of the things they want so they can go in, once you’re gone, and get them. You are so busy rushing from store that you don’t even notice folks watching you. You’d better slow down and get your priorities straight. I’ve said this a few times before but I think it needs to be said again. Christmas isn’t about the gifts under the tree, the tree nor the decorations. We need to get back to the real meaning. Stop taking the Christ out of Christmas because he’ll be the one you’re calling on afterwards when the money is gone. I am not saying don’t spend the money you’ve worked hard for but if you know you can’t afford to then be realistic. Yea, I know that the bills will always be there even after you’re gone but MLGW won’t take excuses when they come to shut off your power. There are plenty of ways to give gifts without spending every dime in your pocket and if you honestly look around, there is probably not much your kids need anyway. Be smart this holiday season and get back to the real reason for it. Matthew 6:20 says “But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.” For the blessings and the joy that God has waiting for you can’t be taken away and you don’t have to wait until Black Friday to get it.