Daily Devotional – 10/15/11 “Better late than never”

You start a book, home project, weight loss goal or even school with your mind up that you’ll finish.  You start off great and everything is exactly where you need it to be.  Then stuff happens!  The kids need you to take them somewhere, your money gets funny, you go out with friends & eat way more than you should or the task at hand gets to be a bit much.  All of a sudden, your plans have taken a back seat.  You get discouraged because you started something and just can’t seem to finish it. 

But I’ve learned that it is not about the starters but about the finishers.  In a race, many people begin at the beginning bell, but during the race some get sick, some catch a cramp in their leg and some gets too tired to make it to the end.  However, when the time comes to crown a winner, the announcer never says anything about all of those who were counted out because they are only concerned about the ones who crossed the finish line.  In the bible, it states “But he who endures to the end shall be saved.” (Matthew 24:13)

See, it doesn’t matter when you finish, just as long as you do.  It’s the same as saying, it doesn’t matter how many times you fall just as long as you get back up.  The devil will come into your life as many times as you allow him too.  Each time he shows up, his goal is to destroy you.  Yes, he may seem like he is winning in the beginning when it seems like all hell is breaking loose. You know the times when the kids you’ve raised don’t even look the same to you, your checking account stays in the red even when you’re working all the overtime that is offered or your body is attacked by sickness at every turn.  But if you stay the course (God’s course) and praise your way through, you will come out victorious every time.  God never promised that all your days would be good but that he would be there to see you through them.  If you don’t believe me, read the story of Job.  Even after all he’d endured, his faith never wavered and his trust in God never failed.  When his storm was over, all the devil had taken was replaced with twice as much as he had before. (Job 42:10) Because he completed the race, his reward was worth what he had to endure.    

So, find time to finish that book or the home improvement project.  Go to the gym or add a 30 minute walk on your lunch break to reach your weight loss goal.  Schedule some time to finish the classes that you’ve started at the local college.  Finish what you’ve started because it’s never too late.  What if God gave up on us the way we give up on things?  How would our life be?  It would be like God giving you the strength to climb a mountain but in the middle he removes that same strength and now you’re stuck there.  It is a bad situation to be in, huh?  Aren’t you glad God doesn’t work that way?

I tell the kids, all the time, that turning their homework in late is wrong.  However, turning it in late is better than not turning it in at all (but shh… don’t tell them that!) Finishing the race or the goal that you’ve set matters!  It doesn’t matter when you finish just as long as you do.  It also doesn’t matter if you’re last just as long as you finish.  Matthew 20:16, states “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.” The saying is true, it is better late than never!

Daily Devotional – 10/14/11 “To tithe or not to tithe”

The pastor stands before the congregation in the midst of the service and says, “I need every Christian in this house, if you love the Lord, to give me $100.00!”  You’re sitting there with your grocery money in your pocket and think that if you don’t give, it may show others that you don’t really love God, so you give.  Then Monday comes and you are without grocery and the last $100 that you had.  You call the church and they say, we will have to take it before the deacon board and get back with you, while you are your family go hungry.  Baby, if God wanted you to give your last few dollars to the pastor he would have told you himself and you would not be without.  See, God won’t ever put you in a position of being without if you are doing what HE ask.  Don’t be foolish! If you’ve already paid your tithes, you have done what God has asked.

We have gotten away from studying God’s word for ourselves.  We think that if Passa said it, it must be true.  But little do you know that same Passa can be leading you straight to Hell and you haven’t even realized it.  You don’t see if until you get to church one Sunday and his position is vacated.  2 Timothy 2:15 states, “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”

Malachi 3:10 states “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the LORD Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.”  Bring the whole tithe, the 10% of your earnings to God’s house and watch him show out in your house.  He doesn’t say bring me all that you have, but just a small portion so that my house can be fed.  We fall into the greediness of the world and the Pastors who stand before you Sunday after Sunday begging, “God said for each of you to give me $20”. Stop it! God hasn’t said any mess like that! We want to feel honored when the Pastor of 15,000 members know our name because we are one of the biggest giver.  But let sickness attack you or a family member and see who shows up at the hospital.  Let death knock at your door and see who stands to do the eulogy.  You get the same privileges as any other paying member.  Just because you are giving your all to the church doesn’t mean they will give their all to you.  If you are doing what God has asked you to do by paying your tithes every Sunday, every other Sunday or once per month, you should be able to see Pastor’s face when you’re on your bed of affliction or going through.  You shouldn’t have to be a gold member to get counseling or even a word of prayer over your life.  

Leviticus 26:3-5 states, “If you follow my decrees and are careful to obey my commands, I will send you rain in its season, and the ground will yield its crops and the trees of the field their fruit. Your threshing will continue until grape harvest and the grape harvest will continue until planting, and you will eat all the food you want and live in safety in your land.”  In other words, if you do what I ask and keep my commandments, you shall not be without because God has promised that your land will bear food for you to eat and safety in your place.  The land in which he speaks doesn’t just mean land where fruit is planted; it means the land where you are planted because you yield the fruit.  It is like I said before; when you become a Christian you are rooted in God.  In order to yield fruit worthy to be eaten you have to supply it with the nutrients and water that it needs to grow.  This means, you need to study God’s word and feed it into your soul so that the fruit that is yielded from you are worthy of him. Psalm 67:6 states, “Then the land will yield its harvest, and God, our God, will bless us.”

You have to choose to tithe.  We all know that it is in God’s word because Proverbs 3:9 states, “Honor the LORD with your wealth and with the first and best part of all your income.” God doesn’t have to use the Pastor to tell you what you need to pay because it’s already there in his word.  Your tithes should be taken out first before anything else is done.  If you remove it from the bank or your check registry first then you’ll know what is left to work with.  Once you get into a habit of paying your tithes, you won’t even notice it and it will become second nature.  If you choose to give over your tithes, then do so.  But do it with a cheerful heart and not because of what someone will think or because you feel obligated too.  Trust me; God won’t punish you because you didn’t throw $50 on the altar when asked at church.  Now, the devil may come along with a few of his tricks to make you think that but God doesn’t work that way, he is not a messy God. 

Stop allowing folk to talk you out of doing what is right.  “Girl, you know that money is going to the Passa cause look at the car he driving.”  “Man, why you paying money to that church when it ain’t nothing but a rip off, they ain’t nothing but a business!” Or you talk yourself out of it by saying, “God knows my heart!” or “I want to give but I needed these shoes I saw last week.”  A church has to run as a business in order to get business done.  They have bills to pay just like any household.  Why does the Pastor have to be using tithing money to pay his car note when he gets a salary just like any other employee?  However, if the Pastor or member of any church is doing wrong by the church and its money, it is up to God to handle that not us.  We are too busy trying to do God’s job that we miss out on our own blessings.  You’re so busy worried about what the church is doing with the money that you aren’t following what God has asked you to do. 

If you’re going to pay tithes, do so but without complaining.  If you are not going to pay tithes, don’t but without complaining.  I don’t need to hear why you are or are not paying tithes because it’s between you and God.  I won’t be standing next to you on judgment day.  I can’t answer for you and you can’t answer for me.  You do you and I’ll do me!

2 Corinthians 9:7 , “Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”

Daily Devotional – 10/13/11 “What if God .. “

 I can’t speak for you but I’m shonuff glad God doesn’t bless us based on our works for him!  Most of us would be complainers, whiners, backstabbers, enemies of our brother & sisters, gossipers – WAIT, we do that now don’t we?  We ride with our bibles in the car but can’t give someone a ride because they may get dirt in our car.  We shout with the best of them on Sunday morning & then curse out momma on Sunday evening.  We can speak scriptures better than anybody and gossip about the Pastor in the same breath!  Chile, God won’t bless OUR mess.

If God blessed us based on how we serve him, most of us would be tore up from the floor up!  We stay out all night on Saturday drinking & dancing and then roll our eyes when church runs over a little.  We stand at altar call with our eyes closed because we are tired instead of praying.  You sit back and text all during service and then wonder why you’re not understanding God’s word.  You ask the Pastor to anoint your head with oil because of the pain in your body and then say that he has no power when the pain won’t leave.  Chile, there is no power in the oil, the power is in your faith!  The pastor can pray over your body day after day but if you don’t have the faith and belief that you can be healed, healing won’t come.  Mark 9:23 states, ‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for him who believes.”

If God blessed us based on how we treat others, most of us wouldn’t have a pot to _________ in and a window to throw it out of.  You disrespect your parents when God commands us to honor thy father and mother (Ephesians 6:2) and then wonder why we are constantly robbing Peter to pay Paul.  You keep wishing bad for and lying on your coworker because you’re jealous of their blessings and then wonder why you can’t be promoted when Exodus 20:16 states, “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.”  You keep wishing sickness on your brother but then wonder why you can’t get relief for your migraines. Job 4:8 states, “My experience shows that those who plant trouble and cultivate evil will harvest the same.”

You’ve got to know that God won’t bless you in your mess.  At some point in time you’ve got to get up out of your pity party and do for yourself.  You can’t be mad at your sister because she won’t keep taking from her family to give to you when you are able to work.  You can’t keep saying that daddy hasn’t done anything for me when you’re still living under his roof and paying no bills.  You can’t keep being mad at your spouse when they say something about your friends being at the house everyday eating up the food you’ve worked hard to get for your family.  Stop wallowing in could haves or should haves.  The past is the past.  Today is the present and should not be taken for granted.  With cancer affecting more families and death claiming more family members it’s time now to get to know the Lord. 

It makes no sense to buy a plane ticket with no destination.  It’s the same with dying.  It’s crazy for you to live in Hell all your life and then die and go to Hell when God has promised you a life in paradise, if you choose him.  Get your ticket and make sure it has been stamped with the right destination because waiting until the last minute may prove to be an ultimate mistake.  You would hate to get to the gates and then can’t pass through the metal detectors because you’re carrying the wrong stuff.  Let go and let God!

Daily Devotional – 10/12/11 “The prayers of the righteous..!”

I know what prayer can do! I know exactly what prayer can do!  Isn’t it amazing how God works? James 5:16 states, “Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” 

  • Effectual means producing or able to produce a desired effect and fervent means exhibiting or marked by great intensity of feeling.

Oh, when we asked for prayers for the healing of grandma’s body, the effectual fervent prayers were sent up.  Prayers were sent from the lips of Christians praying everywhere.  Fervent prayers that reached God’s ears! Fervent prayers are still going up.  Yes, you prayed and God showed up and showed out.  You prayed and God worked that thang out! You prayed, and God…! Psalm 34:15, states “The eyes of the LORD are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry.”

When the righteous prays, God listens.  Don’t you know that prayer can get you out of a bad situation? Prayer can get you home when the gas light is on and the hand is on empty.  Prayer can keep the lights on when the bill hasn’t been paid.  Prayer can remove cancer even before the doctor goes in with his knife.  Prayer can give you understanding in the midst of a storm.  Prayer can be your light when standing on a dark road.  Prayer can be your protector when the world is against you.  Prayers can ___________________! Can you fill in the blank?  Don’t you have a testimony on how God has seen you through?  When folk were on number 9 getting ready to count you out the fight, didn’t he pick you up?  When folk stood over you laughing when you were down, didn’t he raise you up?  When folk stabbed you in the back while smiling in your face, didn’t he remove the knife while stitching up the hole?  When folk walked away and said you wouldn’t be anything, didn’t he prove them wrong?  When the doctor said you only have a few weeks to live, didn’t God show up & give speak life?  When your enemies tried to pull you down, didn’t God step in and make them your foot stool to overcome them?  When the devil placed obstacles in your way, didn’t God give you strength to endure while going through and power to move them in time? Didn’t God do just what he said he would?  He said in his word, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” (Matthew 7:7) Isn’t that enough?

But you must first pray with the right mind, heart & soul.  You ask God to harm the spouse of the person you’re seeing because you want them for yourself or you ask God to remove the person in a certain job because you want it for yourself.  Chile, stop! God will not hear or attend to such foolishness.  James 4:3 states, “When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.”  God doesn’t work that way.  When you ask in faith with the right mind and motives, God will hear your cry.  For Matthew 21:22, states “If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.”  Ask for and believe that the job is yours! Ask for and believe that your body will be healed! Ask for and believe that momma/daddy will be healed! Ask for and believe that whatever circumstance or situation you are dealing with won’t last long. 

The prayers of the righteous will avail.  You don’t have to wait for Pastor, Evangelist, Missionary, Bishop, Elder and Reverend So & So to pray for you; pray for yourself!  Just like God doesn’t have to use folk to tell you something, you don’t have to use folk to ask him for something.  Psalm 34:4 states, “I sought the LORD, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears.”  It says I, not him, her, they, we, them or us but I sought the Lord.  It’s good to pray for others but it is also good to pray for you.  Sometimes the person who is asking for harm in your life is the one that you’re asking to pray for you.  How do you know that they can get a prayer through? God probably hasn’t heard their voice in forever, speaking to him, but that’s who you constantly run to for prayer.  You keep wondering why your head won’t stop hurting, it’s because the person you’ve asked to pray for you is wishing sickness on your body.  Just because they go to church every Sunday means nothing, the devil goes too.  Look at the life they live outside of church.  Is it pleasing to God? If the answer is no, then you probably should be praying for them.  Stop waiting until Sunday morning at altar call to talk to God.  God is omnipresent which means he is present everywhere at the same time.  God is willing and able, but you have to ask!

“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. Psalm 71:20”

Daily Devotional -10/11/11 “Lord, I’m thankful!”

Lord, I thank you for trials and tribulations because they make me strong. I thank you for sickness because it makes me appreciate the well days. I thank you for when I’m down because it makes me appreciate being up. Lord, I’m thankful for the storms because it makes me appreciate the sun. Yes, Lord I’m thankful Lord!

For times when it seems like there is more trouble than I can handle I’m yet thankful. For times when there are more tears than smiles I’m still thankful! Because I know that not all days will be good but that I’ve been equipped with the right stuff to bear it.

When sleep won’t come, God gave me eyes to read his word with. When I’m pacing the floor at night he gave me a mouth to talk to him with. When my bills are due and checking account is already overdrawn he gave me knees to pray on and faith to know that all things will work out. When friends are gone and I feel alone, God is my comforter!

So if you’re facing a tough time right now, death has shown it’s face in your family, sickness has attacked your body or the enemy is trying to defeat you; hold on! Grab that line that has you attached to God and hold tight. If it seems like there’s a break, reach beyond it and if you can no longer hang on, fall! But fall with the faith that you’re landing safely in God’s arms. Because once you land, you’ll bounce right back up on your feet, ready to run on!

God has your back and he won’t let you suffer for long. But you will suffer! But suffering gives you the testimony of your victory once you’ve overcome. So be proud of the scars you’ve gotten, show them off! Let the world know that you are victorious!