Daily Devotional – 10/28/11 “Why are you mad?”

 You woke up this morning with a chip on your shoulder bigger than Texas and then you say, “I woke up on the wrong side of the bed.”  But the real truth is, it’s not the side of the bed that is the problem but it’s you.  See, you get up on the same side of the bed every day because it’s the side you always sleep on.  Stop blaming the bed for the frown on your face and the attitude in your voice because it didn’t cause it. 

You’re mad because your baby’s daddy is a deadbeat but wasn’t he trifling when you laid down with him?  You had to know there was a chance you could make a baby when you weren’t using protection, right?  If he was a horrible boyfriend, then chances are he will be a horrible father.  If you couldn’t count on him to come and change a flat tire when you were stranded then you should know that the chances of getting those pampers he promised are slim to none.  So why are you mad?  You had to have seen all of the signs before you bought a baby in this world.  Now you want to run to court to put him on child support when he has never worked in the eight years you all have been dating.  You want him to support the child but you’ve been supporting him the whole time.  Chile, stop it!  You’ve got to take responsibilities for the choices that you’ve made.  Stop hating him and wishing bad on his life because ultimately you are to blame and it’s only hindering your praise.  He has probably gone on to make other babies and more problems so why are you still allowing him to ruin you?  Let it go and learn from the mistakes that you made and move on.  God has given you a blessing in the baby or babies whose face you look upon every day.  Stop making their lives miserable by constantly talking about their no good daddy.  Everybody around you knows because you keep saying it.  Love them unconditionally and place your heart in God so that the next man than comes along goes through God to get it and then you’re know they are daddy and husband material.

You’re mad because your sister, brother, mom, dad or uncle wouldn’t let you borrow the money you asked for; when actually it is not borrowing because you probably don’t have it to give back so it’s giving.  Have you ever called to ask them how they are instead of always begging?  Maybe they are having a bad day or really don’t have it to give.  But you always think they got it because of the way they dress or carry themselves, so now you leave pissed off and telling everybody.  Don’t you know that your mouth is blocking a lot of the blessings that God has for you?  You’re constantly talking about everybody when they don’t always give you what you want, but your attitude is different when your needs are being met.  But aren’t you capable of working and providing for yourself?  You’re mad because folk won’t take from their household to fill your needs or help you pay your bills when you should be doing it yourself.  Why are you mad?  Get up and change your circumstances.  If you don’t have a car, get a bus route and a few dollars and go job hunting.  There are plenty of places that are offering and willing to help but they won’t track you down to give it to you, get up!  Stop with the woe is me attitude because you are not the only person with problems and it isn’t your family or friends responsibility to provide for you and your house full of children.  Get up off your butt and do something!

You’re still mad at daddy because he wasn’t there for you growing up and you are now over 30.  Get over it! Daddy is the one that has missed out on your life.  What have you missed?  Didn’t mom still provide for you, wipe your nose when you were sick, attend school functions when she could, raise you with morals and character?  Daddy is the one that has to answer to God on being an absentee father so why are you trying to condemn him too?  Let go of the anger and resentment that you have in your heart for him because it’s blocking your path to God.  Your dad has moved on and has a new family and may even be a Christian in the church but God still has the final say in his life so why are you mad?  Let it go!  Having hate and malice in your heart is stopping your prayers and praise from reaching God and in this day and time, you need all the blessings you can get.  Stop allowing man to rob you of what God has for you by fighting battles you can’t win.  Just because you are angry and mad won’t change the past and it surely won’t change your daddy.  Let it go baby and move on because God has blessings and work for you to do but he can’t reach you with all this other stuff built around you.  Tear down the walls and stop treating every man who comes along like your daddy.  Just because he left doesn’t mean every man will leave.  You need to break the curse and start today!

Stop with all the foolishness! Stop being an angry female or male! If you didn’t get that job that you claimed, it wasn’t yours.  If you’re spouse chooses to leave, he or she wasn’t yours.  If you lose your house or car, it wasn’t yours.  God won’t give you anything he won’t give you the means to keep.  Stop looking at all things as blessings from God because you know that most of this mess you got yourself in and now you’re crying to God to get you out of it.  If you asked him to get you out of debt and they repossessed your car or foreclosed on your house, why are you mad?  If you asked him to bind your enemies and folk left, why are you mad?  If you asked him to release the strongholds that have you bound and stressed and you got laid off, why are you mad?  If you asked him for confirmation in a decision and then you receive an email, phone call or text, why are you doubting or skeptical?  Didn’t you ask?  Stop asking for stuff you’re not ready to handle and stop acting like God is punishing you because you’re having it hard right now.  I can guarantee that everyone you know has been, is about to, or is coming out of a storm. 

So, again, I ask why you are mad.  If you still have a reason to be, then you need to open your bible to Proverbs 14:29 that says “People with understanding control their anger; a hot temper shows great foolishness” or John 1:19 “Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry.”  You can also read my post entitled Dear J.O.H.N Letter. 

Daily Devotional – 10/27/11 “What’s your attitude?”

While having a conversation with my teenager on last night, I tried to explain to her that not everything she wants will always be within her grasp.  I had to tell, this child that because you expect things to happen doesn’t necessarily mean they will.  Then I thought about the different attitudes of folk.  Some of us have an expectancy attitude, some a wishful or a hopeful attitude, some an don’t care attitude and others a grateful attitude.

See, she has an attitude of expectancy which will get her nowhere, no time soon.  She is like some people who expect things to be handed to them without working for it.  It is like praying for God to change you but you’re not willing to help.  You say “Lord, can you please change my smoking habit because it’s killing me” but instead of you putting the cigarette down you EXPECT God to come down and snatch it from your lips.  Chile please!  In order for the taste of nicotine to be taken from your mouth you have to work towards it and the first step is throwing it away.  If you expect things to go your way all the time, you will constantly be disappointed.  I don’t know if Momma ever told you but the world isn’t yours and you can’t always have it your way.  You expect God to pay your bills when they’re due but you don’t pay tithes and you blow every dime you get.  You expect folk to jump when you call but you can’t be depended on if your life depended on it.  You expect momma to always be there to bail you out but what will you do when she is gone?  When you’re expecting a baby, nine months later he or she is born the expectancy is gone so what makes you think you can continue to expect things to go your way without it coming to an end?  Expectancy leads to hurt, hurt leads to hate and hate leads to hell.  Is this your path?

Maybe it’s not.  Maybe you have a wishful attitude.  “I wish the Lord would bless me with a new car.”  “I wish I didn’t have to go to work.”  “I wish folk would stop talking about me.”  Wish means a hope or desire for something and hope is defined as the emotional state which promotes the belief in a positive outcome related to events and circumstances in one’s life.   It is the feeling that whatever you want can be had or that everything will turn out for the best.  It’s like someone being in a car accident and instead of praying for healing you hope or wish for it, “I wish God will send a healing.”  You are hoping that God will show up but you haven’t called him.  You are hoping that healing will come, but you haven’t asked for it.  But Psalm 37:4 says “Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.”  Take for an example, you are hungry and you have no money.  You sit at home saying “I shoal wish someone will bring me a sandwich,” you are hoping that someone will.  But if you prayed with faith that God would do what he said he would, he’d send a neighbor by with some leftovers or a friend to call inviting you to dinner.  What are you wishing for when God promised in Matthew 7:7 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you?”  What are you hoping for when God promised in Matthew 21:22 “If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer?”  Wishing leads to disappointments, disappointments lead to deceit and deceit leads to hell.  Is this your path?

Maybe it’s not.  Maybe you have a don’t care attitude.  You don’t care what folk say about you, you don’t care what they cost, you don’t care how they feel and you don’t care when folk walk away.  But in actuality you do.  You care what folk say but you don’t show it so you go home and cry yourself to sleep.  You do care about the cost of this and that but you’ve got to keep up with the world so you’re spending yourself into debt.  You do care about folk’s feelings but you have to stay “hard” so you speak without thinking and then regret it later.  You do care when folk walk away but instead of admitting your wrong, you let them leave and then wonder why you have no friends.  Bay-beh, that don’t care attitude will leave you with a lot of restless nights.  Keep acting like you don’t need nobody and you don’t care about nobody, you’ll eventually have nobody.  Every time your daughter comes to you to talk, you have to holler and scream until she is in tears, not taking the time to hear what she has to say because you don’t care about anybody’s feelings and then you wonder why she is pregnant at 14 or not talking to you anymore.  You cut your spouse down with your harsh tongue and then why wonder why they found comfort with somebody else who knows what to say and how to say it.  You wonder why folk don’t call you or come around you anymore but that don’t care attitude has ruined all your relationships. The bible states in Ephesians 5:2 “Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us and offered himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God.”  You not caring leads to carelessness, carelessness leads to condemnation and condemnation leads you to hell.  Is this your path?

Maybe it’s not.  Maybe you have a grateful attitude.  If you don’t you should. You should be grateful for the blessings that God gives every day.  When you had a place to sleep last night and woke up this morning, that’s a blessing.  When you saw your family rise, you were in your right mind; you had food and an appetite – that’s a blessing.  The car you drive, the job you have, the friends that call – all blessings! These are still not enough?  When man said cancer, God covered you through chemo, surgery and radiation and all you lost was hair – a blessing!  When man said cancer free – a blessing!  When folk said you wouldn’t be nothing and now you’re a college graduate with a career paying six figures – that’s a blessing!  You’re still not convinced?  How about you still got momma, daddy and all your brothers & sisters, you still make it even though your money ran out 3 days before you get paid or your gas light was on but you made it home.  Isn’t that enough to make you grateful?  See, God didn’t have to do it but he did.  Every morning we wake up God sends new mercies our way to protect us from the dangers of this world, from the hate people have because of how you look, from the lies people tell, from the obstacles placed in our path, from falling into the ditches that have been dug for us and from the death that is spoken over our lives!  If you don’t believe me, read Psalm 27:5 that states “For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his tabernacle and set me high upon a rock,” or Psalm 31:20 that says “You hide them in the shelter of your presence, safe from those who conspire against them. You shelter them in your presence, far from accusing tongues.”  Isn’t that good news?  Doesn’t it make you grateful to know that even though we sometimes forget God, he doesn’t forget us? Aren’t you grateful that because we have been dragged from pillar to post, we don’t look like?  Aren’t you grateful that even though we have sometimes faith, God got all time blessings?  Doesn’t it make you grateful that even though you don’t always do right, God is still here?  When your way is dark he sends light, when you fall he sends strength to get up and when you get knocked down it doesn’t knock you out.  Isn’t that enough?

You should be grateful!  Being grateful leads to giving, giving leads to grace and grace leads you to Heaven! Is this your path?  If it isn’t you may want to change tour guides.

Daily Devotional – 10/26/11 “Don’t be quick to judge!”

 Have you ever picked up a book because of the cover, flipped it over to read what it is about, buy it only to be disappointed by it?  Have you ever purchased something that you saw on TV and it was not what you expected or even received a gift that you automatically knew you wouldn’t like only to love it?  Maybe you judge a person by what they wear, by the color of their hair or by what other folk say.  You know, your girlfriend says “I can’t stand that girl because she thinks she is better than everybody else because she wear name brand and carry name brand purses, she ain’t all that!”  Then there you go.  Every time she walks by, you roll your eyes, not because she has ever done anything to you but because your friend don’t like her.  But one day you see her in the break room and she speaks to you, a conversation starts and by the end of it you’ve met a new friend because you realized that she is not the clothes that she wears or the purses that she carries.  Had you stopped earlier to speak to her you would have realized that most of the clothes she wears comes from her local Goodwill stores because she shops in the “rich folk” neighborhoods and the purses that she carry comes from Marshall’s.  Had you stopped to get to know her instead of judging, you could have had a friendship a long time ago.

See, we “Christians”, are quick to speak ill of others because of outside appearances.  We don’t take the time to see what is on the inside. But the bible states in Luke 6:37 “Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.”  Have you ever taken the time to see why I don’t smile or why I seem to stay to myself?  Have you taken the time to get to know me before you judge me?  I might not be smiling because I’ve been up all night with a sick child or because there is pain in my body.  I might not be the life of the party because I’m shy and not a people person but does that give you the right to talk about me?  Yea, I may dress and act like I got money in my pocket but all the time I don’t have a pot or a window to throw it out of.  But because I know how to match my clothes and shop on a budget, that gives you the right to judge me?  Just because I walk around with my head held high doesn’t mean I think I am better than you, it just means I know who I am and whose I am, therefore there is no reason for me to be down.  Just because I don’t join in with your pity party, it doesn’t make me more or less than you because I don’t deal in pity just praise. 

Romans 2:1 says “You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things.”  When you judge me, you are judging yourself.  When you speak down on me you are speaking down on yourself.  I may dress differently than you but that doesn’t make me different from you.  I put pants on one leg at a time, just like you.  I put my shirt on over my head just like you.  I sin just like you.  I make promises that I sometimes don’t keep just like you.  I have good days and bad days just like you.  So what makes us different? 

Don’t get mad at me because I don’t get drunk and act a fool.  Don’t hate on me because I’ve chosen a different path than you.  Don’t condemn me because I choose to go to church on Sunday, bible study on Wednesday and choir rehearsal on Thursday.  Don’t write me off because I don’t raise my children the way you raise yours.  Just because I do things differently don’t make me better, just different.  So why judge me?  I hurt just like you hurt, I bleed red blood just like you do, I put food in my mouth to eat just like you do and I cry tears just like you do.  So why judge me?  Does it make you feel or look better?

You look at the blessings that God gives folk and judge them harshly but do you even know what they’ve been through to get them?  You haven’t seen the nights they were up sick from the chemotherapy treatments, the pacing they’ve done when a child didn’t come home, the sleepless nights when there was no food in the refrigerator but having hungry mouths to feed, the long days of working overtime to get extra money for Christmas dinner or the scars on their knees from the hours of praying to God for his mercy.  You haven’t seen the long commute to work because of the 2 buses she had to take, the sacrificing her lunch money so her child could go to a school dance, the constant wringing of her hands because her arthritis is getting worse or the tear stains on her face from missing momma who recently died.  You haven’t seen the bruises she tries to hide from her abusive husband, the clothes that she wore from yesterday because she doesn’t have any more or that all of her possessions are in her car because she doesn’t have a place to live.  But you judge.

When you no longer sin or make mistakes, when you can heal me of my sickness, when you can raise the dead and walk on water, when you can forgive me of my sins, when you can take being beaten all night, dragged from judgment hall to judgment hall, wear a crown of thorns, take being speared in the side, nailed in your hands and feet, buried in a borrowed grave and raise yourself from the dead; then you can judge me.  Until that appointed time, don’t judge me! You are no better than me and I am not better than you!

“How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.” Luke 6:42

Daily Devotional – 10/25/11 “What are you tired of?”

We’ve all heard the saying, sick and tired of being sick and tired, right?  We are quick to say it.  Girl, I so sick and tired of being sick and tired! Man, I’m tired of this and that!  Then I have to ask, “What are you tired of?”  Are you tired of being broke? Do something about it.  Sit down and plan a budget and stick to it.  Stop wasting money on the name brand clothes and shoes for the kids to go to school in only to get there and act a fool.  Some of us are getting ready now to spend entire paychecks on Christmas for children who have just about everything they could ever ask for.  But we don’t care, we spend until we are broke and then what.  Two days later we’ll be screaming, I shouldn’t have bought you anything, when they are standing in our faces talking back.  You do notice the word we, because I am also talking to self.  But this year, we are doing Christmas differently because the children will be volunteering some time at local charities because, believe me, they don’t need anything.  If your paycheck is running out before the next one comes, then some changes need to be made.  Stay at home on the weekend and instead of club hopping, shopping, and/or eating out.  There is nothing wrong with going out dancing with friends, but if you can’t afford it, stay at home.  There is also nothing wrong with shopping, if you have the extra money, but if you don’t stay at home because you probably already got 3 of what you’re buying anyway.  Instead of constantly out eating with your girls, plan a girl’s night in and ask everybody to bring a dish and bottle of wine.  Stop trying to keep up with the Joneses because they are struggling too! There are ways of saving money.  Go to the beauty shop every 2 weeks and the nail shop on the off week, put groceries in the house for the week and take your lunch.  Start thinking and stop spending.  Luke 16:11 says, “So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches?”

I ask again, “What are you tired of?”  Are you tired of that relationship that is going nowhere?  Do something about it! You are constantly going home to a house (because it is not a home) where the stress level is shooting pass the roof and when you walk in your attitude changes and everybody notices.  But your house should be your home where you can go and release the stress of the world, where you can relax from the hectic day you’ve had and where you should be able to laugh and tell somebody about your day.  Home should be where your heart is and if it isn’t, change it.  I’m not saying divorce or pack up right away and leave but if changes need to be made then make them.  Pray, sit down and talk, pray and fast, go to counseling and pray, fast and pray some more.  If the both of you are willing to change, then a change will come.  The change does not come if one or both of you are too stubborn to realize that you need to.  Marriage is a sacred covenant that should not be entered into if it’s not for keeps.  Yea, people change and sometimes love is placed on the back burner but if this man or woman was worth your heart before what’s the problem now?  If there is cheating involved or your spouse is an unbeliever, the bible gives you the right to divorce.  (2 Corinthians 6:14 and Matthew 19:9) Now, if your home is unhappy because you got folk there (other than your spouse) that is making it that way, change it as well.  I know that you are always helping folk and it’s hard to say no but for your own sanity, sometimes you have too.  Whether it is grown kids that should have been on their own, family members or friends who always run to you when they hit rock problem but can’t find them in the day time with a flashlight when you need help; change it! You have to choose to be happy and if home is not happy, then YOU have to change it!  Because everyone deserves a place of happiness!

So what are you tired of?  Is it being talked about, lied on, passed over for jobs, turned on by family or not having someone to count on? Well, child, these things are promised so get over them.  Folk will always talk about and lie on you so give them things to talk about.  Become more than what they would have ever expected.  Use your haters as your motivators and as your step stool to reach higher heights.  When doors are being closed in your face it doesn’t mean it’s locked, so don’t give up keep knocking because eventually someone will answer.  If folk walk away from you, let them go, family included, because if they are meant, they’ll return.  Stop chasing folks that walk away because if they left you once, they’ll do it again.  What or who God has for you will be for you. If you spend all your time chasing those that mean you no good, when will you have time to see those that are meant for you?  Stop worrying about the stuff that you can’t change, focus on those that you can.  Let go sometimes and laugh, dance like no one is watching, sing in the shower or just live.  Your life is precious but if you keep allowing the job to weigh you down, what folk say about you get you down or stressing yourself out about bills and no money, you are sending yourself to an early grave.  Stop rushing your life, slow down and enjoy it.  Matthew 6:33 says “Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.”   Isn’t that great news? Let go of the stuff that keeps you from living.  Stop spending your entire weekend on work stuff because if you’re in the hospital over the weekend, won’t it wait until Monday?  Matthew 6:34 says “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”  Set aside time to talk to God, whether it is on your drive to work, while you brush your teeth or before bed.  Spend some time with him so that he may know your voice when you call him.  Just because you are a Christian doesn’t mean he knows you.  It’s the same way as moving into a new neighborhood.  Just because they see you move in don’t mean they know you.  Spend some time getting to know God and he’ll get to know you. 

“Then Jesus said to his disciples: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear.  For life is more than food, and the body more than clothes.  Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds!  Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life?  Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?” Luke 12:22-26

Daily Devotional – 10/24/11 “Don’t count yourself out!”

Have you ever asked someone for something but talked yourself out of it before it was even given?  You say to your mom, “I know you are going to say no but can I go to the movies with my friends?”  What else can she say but no?  You’ve already counted yourself out without giving her an opportunity to answer.  You go to the Lord in prayer and the first thing you say is, “Lord I know you might not do it but can you help me get approved for this car?”  Why would you get the answer you want when you already doubt?  Mark 11:24 says “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”

When you’re praying for a new career, business venture, healing, love, financial increase or for peace; you have to ask with faith and belief.  If you’ve already told yourself that you can’t do it, why would God bless you with it?  You’ve been planning to start a business for years now; you’ve researched everything and have all of your things in order.  You pray daily for God to send you the confirmation you need but when you pray you say, “Lord, I think I’m ready to start this business so if it’s meant can you please show me a sign?” If you doubt yourself can you honestly expect God to drop the business in your lap only for you to fail?  You’ve got to have faith that God can do it and then believe in yourself.   Haven’t you read the story of the little engine that could?  Now, you can chant to yourself, I think I can, over and over but if you don’t really think you can then you can’t.  You have to chant, I know I can! I know that God can do it and because he believes in me, I believe in me.

Would you get into a boat with a captain that tells you, I think I can handle this or on a plane with a pilot that tells you that he has some doubts about himself flying the plane?  It’s the same way when we come to God with our shaky prayers and our fears.  “Lord, I think I can handle the mortgage on this new house.”  “Lord, if you would just give me this new job, I think I can do it.”  “Lord, I know you blessed me with this gift but  …” You are already counting yourself out.  It’s like being in a boxing match and your opponent has knocked you down, instead of getting up before the 10 count ends you throw in the towel on number 2.  How do you know you can’t handle it, have you tried?  In order to experience the taste of a new food dish, you have to first eat it.  You can’t tell how it taste until you put it in your mouth.  You won’t be able to know if you can handle a situation until you stand in it. 

If every time God brings something to you and you doubt yourself, it’s like telling him to give it to the next person and come back to you.  God asks in Matthew 8:26, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?”  How many times do you think God will continue to try to bless you?  It is almost like me trying to give you something but every time I come you say, give it to her or him.  Eventually, I am going to always give it to him or her because that’s what I expect your answer to be anyway.  Isn’t that crazy?  Why does God need you to tell him to whom to bless when he has enough power to bless everyone, every day and at the same time?  Don’t give away your blessing trying to bless someone else.  Stop counting yourself out of the equation. 

Believe in yourself!  Matthew 7:7 states “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.”  Ask in faith with a heart that is free from hatred, malice and strife for your brother.  If you go to God in prayer with hate in your heart for your mother, God isn’t listening to your prayers.  Mark 11:25 says “And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.”  Whatever anger and resentment you hold for anyone let it go! It only hinders you.  It doesn’t hurt them because most times they’ve forgotten about the issue that you’re holding.  Why not let it go?  What good is it doing for you to bring up something that happened 15 years ago at every family function?  Pretty soon, you’ll notice the crowd of folks listening is down to 1, you!  Let it go baby! Stop making the weight of burdens on your shoulders 25 pounds when they only start off as 1.  You’ve made the situation bigger and now you’re mad at the world for not seeing it your way.  It’s like you being with your sisters and you all are picking up your own trash and when you all are done and finally dragging this large bag to the dump you decide you’re not ready to throw yours in.  You continue picking up trash in other folks area and now your bag is too heavy to carry and you’re mad because your sisters won’t help.  But why should they offer to help you carry someone else’s trash when you should have thrown yours away a long time ago?  Chile, folk got enough stuff of their own to handle without offering to carry somebody else’s. 

Matthew 17:20 says “Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you!”  Isn’t that great news?  Isn’t that enough for you to believe in yourself?  Stop counting yourself out because usually you’re the only other one counting for yourself.  God believes in you because if he didn’t he wouldn’t give you new mercies every morning.

“What do you mean, ‘If I can’?” Jesus asked. “Anything is possible if a person believes.” Mark 9:23