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

Daily Devotional – 10/23/11 “You shouldn’t look like your problem!”

When I woke this morning and realized that I had overslept, I rushed to get dressed without first taking the time to thank God for waking me. I didn’t take the time to thank him for my family rising around me or the food I had in the refrigerator, because I was in a hurry. I didn’t stop to pray for those that woke up this morning with a weary mind or those who had been up all night toiling with the problem of this world because I was rushing. I didn’t stop and ask God to protect us our journey in the rain but he bought us safely anyway. I didn’t stop and ask him to keep my mind but he did anyway. Isn’t it good to know that God doesn’t treat us like we treat him?

But then I got to church and opened my bible to Matthew 11:28 which states “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” I realized that no matter what I face if I take it to Jesus, he’ll work it out! See, I realized that no matter what I go through I don’t have to look like my problems. Just because my bills are late, my boo don’t love me anymore, job isn’t treating me right and my head is hurting, it doesn’t have to show on my face. If I don’t wipe the tears from my face then it’ll show that I’ve been crying. If I don’t shake the dust from my clothes then it’ll show that I’ve been dragged through the dirt. If I don’t change my shirt with the holes in the back then you’d know that I’ve had folks turn on me. If all I show is the problems that I have how will you ever see my deliverance? If I never show you the love that God has given me how can I bring you, who are in the world, to God?

If I never get up out the hole that has been dug for me how can I move on? If I keep waiting for somebody to walk by and pull me out, they may never come and then this hole becomes my grave. If I have to wait for folk to pray for me then God might not ever know my situation and if he doesn’t know how can he come see about me? Matthew 11:29 says “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”

So many times you run to friends for help and they need more help than you do. We are so busy waiting for folks to pray for us that we don’t realize their prayers may not be getting through. Why do we have to wait for things to happen to us before we reach out to God? Doesn’t he deserve your praise when things are good? You were shouting the loudest when your light bill was due but was quieter than a church mouse when the income tax check came. You had your own amen corner when your car was broke down but then won’t even come in the rain when God blesses you with a new one. You were crying uncontrollably when husband/wife left but then stand there yawning when they come sliding back. But Psalm 100:4 states “Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.” This doesn’t say just when it’s convenient for you or when you feel like it.

Your problems shouldn’t dictate your life. Your problems shouldn’t determine the way you praise. If you don’t comb your hair, it’ll show by your tangled ad nappy hair. If you don’t bathe, it’ll show by the smell of your body. If you don’t change your clothes, it’ll show by the stains they have. If you don’t pray, it’ll show in your relationship with God. If you don’t study his word, it’ll show by your walk with God. If you don’t praise him, it’ll show by your testimony.

Just because you’re broke doesn’t mean the world has to know it. Get up and comb your own hair, polish your own nails, wash your own car and fix your own food. Just because you’re without a car, doesn’t mean the world owes you. Get up, get a bus map and a few dollars and keep it pushing. The world won’t stop because you’re suffering. Let go of that attitude that you have because baby you’re responsible for you. Don’t think because you have your problems on your shoulders you’ll get help to carry them. Folk got problems of their own without reaching for yours. Take those same problems, write them down, find a scripture in the bible and put them there. When you close the bible, turn off the worry because God is taking over. Just because you’re going through doesn’t mean you have to look like it! You shouldn’t look like the problem that you have. Let go and get God. Let go and let God.

Daily Devotional – 10/22/11 “What is this?”

What is this that I feel deep inside and it keeps setting my soul on fire?  What is this that has me acting strange and makes me want to run when no one is chasing me? What is this that makes me loves my enemies even when they lie on me, smile when I feel like crying or sleep when I should be pacing the floor? What is this?  This feeling that makes me wants to do right when I want to do wrong.  What is this that makes me forgive when I want to hold a grudge?  

Is this the joy that God promised?  The joy the world didn’t give and surely cannot take away.  Is this the joy that can bring me sunshine on a cloudy day, healing when my heart is hurting, comfort when friends walk off and keeps me smiling on my job in the midst of haters?  Is this that joy?  “The joy of the Lord is your strength.” Nehemiah 8:10            

Is it the peace that God promised?  The kind of peace that can surpass all of man’s understanding and calm the waves when the storm is raging.  Is it the same peace that can hold you when the doctor gives up on you, family turns their backs and doors are being closed in your face?  Is this the peace you find when you take a ride to clear your mind or a walk to sort things out?  Is this the peace you find when you got more problems than solutions and more bills than money?  Philippians 4:7 says “And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”  Isaiah 26:3 says “You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you.”  Do you want this peace?  It can be found and it is free if you trust and believe in God.

Deuteronomy 28:13-14 states “The LORD will make you the head and not the tail, and you only will be above, and you will not be underneath, if you listen to the commandments of the LORD your God, which I charge you today, to observe them carefully, and do not turn aside from any of the words which I command you today, to the right or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them.”

Isn’t it good to know that you’ll always find comfort even when no one is around, arms to hold you when you are by yourself, someone to talk to when friends won’t answer the phone, guidance when you can’t find your way and healing when the world has broken you down?  God is that type of love, peace, healing and understanding.  God is a shield against the attacks set by your enemies and he promised to be a fence around you that will keep you out of harm’s way. 

What is this you ask?  It is God.  Do you have him? Do you want him?  He can be found if you open that door that he is standing on the outside of knocking.  He is worthy of the good and bad days you face, the tears you sometime shed and the restless nights you sometime have.  He is worthy when the sun shines and when the clouds loom and he is worthy on your sick days as well as your well days.  If you don’t believe me, try him for yourself.

Daily Devotional – 10/21/11 “The devil paid for it!”

There was this old woman who lived next door to this atheist man (who didn’t believe in God).  Every morning this woman would shout praises to the Lord for blessing her and each day the neighbor would hear and curse.  One particular morning the woman prayed to God that she was just about out of food and no means to get any but was thankful anyway.  The man, upon hearing this, went down to the local grocery store and purchased 2 bags of food.  When he got home, he placed the bags on the lady’s front porch and rang the doorbell and hid in the bushes.  The woman opened the door and when she saw the bags she immediately went into a praise break.  She thanked God for blessing her one more time! The man jumped out the bushes and hollered, “you old fool your God didn’t buy them groceries I did.” The lady continued on with her praise on the front porch.  The man hollered again, you old fool didn’t I tell you that your God didn’t give you food, I did!” The women stopped and looked up towards the sky and said, “Lord, I thank you for showing up and blessing me one more time.  But what I like about your blessing this time is you made the devil pay for it!” 

Isn’t God good?  This is a story that my Uncle Larry likes to tell and today it fits so perfectly with what God would have me to share today.  See, so many times we go through things, bad things, which prepare us to handle the good things.  I take that as the devil taking us through hell to get us to Heaven. 

In Job 1:11-12 the devil asked God “But what do you think would happen if you reached down and took away everything that is his? He’d curse you right to your face, that’s what.” God replied, “We’ll see. Go ahead—do what you want with all that is his. Just don’t hurt him.” Then Satan left the presence of God.”

You work for a woman who is the devil in a blue dress.  Every time you do something right, she says something bad.  Every time you try to take 2 steps to get ahead, she pushes you 3 steps back.  Most of the ideas that she pass off as her own are yours but you never get the credit.  Then this position becomes open and from the job duties, it seems to be a hard job that no one can keep.  She asks you to apply for it, not because she thinks you’re capable of handling it but because she wants you to fail.  You pray and fast about the job, apply for it and get it.  You step into the position with your heels on, looking & smelling good, with the faith that God won’t let you fall.  You flourish in the job and everyone who is anyone is noticing.  Not only do you rise above the devilish woman but now you’re her boss.  Isn’t it good news how God has a way of making the devil pay for what’s yours?

You’re in a relationship with the devil in a blue suit that is dragging you to hell and back, when he feels like it.  For some it may be physical abuse and for others it can be mental.  When he is having a bad day, you’re having a bad day.  He feels like you need to be knocked around or that the walls in the house deserve a hole or two.  He cheats because he can and he knows you aren’t going anywhere because he’s told you that no one else wants you.  He says you aren’t this and won’t be that, all the while knocking your self-esteem lower.  He spends every dime you got in the bank, purse, wallet and pocket and then leaves only to come back when the money does.  But in the midst of it all, you’ve been praying, your faith never wavering and God has heard you!  You finally left and after some time you’re dating again.  You meet the man (that you’ve prayed for) and know that they are sent from God.  You don’t experience any of the things you use too and if you argue it doesn’t last because you both are praying soldiers in God’s army and doing this thing the right way this time.  Now you know what a real relationship is and you’re so thankful to God for sending you this man to share it with.  See, the devil paid for your happiness, this time!  He saw that he couldn’t break you with all the hell you’d been dealing with so what else could he do?  It’s like to story of Job.  After all he had been through he never gave up on God and when it was over with everything he lost was given back to him double.  Is that good news?

You deal with complaining folk all day long, those who don’t realize the depth of their blessing giver or the blessing.  Through it all you stay prayed up and you even pray for them.  You keep wondering why they complain so much and yet you’re the one with cancer.  You’ve come to realize that all of the strife you’re facing is just a test and if you hold on just a little while longer joy will come!  Then you get the call you’ve been waiting for, the cancer is gone and you’re in remission!  Then you say, “thank you God for blessing me with healing and for making the devil pay for it!” All of the chemotherapy treatments, surgery, radiation, sick days and losing your hair were preparing you for what you had already been ordained for. 

The devil places people around you to deter your faith.  You know that friend that never goes to church, never prays nor fast and don’t want to hear what you have to say about God but always seems to have everything they need.  She stay in a big house, drives fancy cars, got money in the bank, bills paid and never sick.  She tells you that she doesn’t pay any tithes and look what she has.  You do know the devil blesses too?  She wants you to know that you can have all these things too without praying but she never mentions the price she pays for them.  Yea, she has all of the materialistic things but she goes to hell and back to get them.  That car, after getting her head beat in by her boo.  Those clothes, from the money she gets from all the men she has to sleep with and the black eye well it came free.  She makes it all looks good when it’s covered up, but remove that makeup and the high dollar clothes and shoes to reveal the real girl and see if you still want it! 

Sometimes, God has to take stuff from to see how strong your faith is.  He allows the devil to attack you but never killing you to see if your faith moves like a windshield wiper, back & forth.  When you go through the fire with your belief in God, you never get burned just a little smoke in your clothes and in your hair.  It’s almost like a bet between God and Satan.  God says to Satan, if I remove all their blessings and they deny me, they are yours but if they don’t you have to pay for all of their things to be returned, twice what they lost. 

Just because you can see the greener grass through the hole in the fence, doesn’t mean it’s healthy because it could just be a green light shining on brown grass.  Yea, you may be facing something hard in your life at this very moment but hold on! You may be without a job and a place of your own, got paid today and checking account still in the negative, robbing Peter to pay Paul and you may be sick; but hold on! After the rain stops and you close your umbrella to enjoy the sun, you can look towards heaven and tell God, “thank you Lord for deliverance and for making the devil pay for it!”

Keep a cool head. Stay alert. The Devil is poised to pounce, and would like nothing better than to catch you napping. Keep your guard up. You’re not the only ones plunged into these hard times. It’s the same with Christians all over the world. So keep a firm grip on the faith. The suffering won’t last forever. It won’t be long before this generous God who has great plans for us in Christ—eternal and glorious plans they are!—will have you put together and on your feet for good. He gets the last word; yes, he does. 1 Peter 5:8-9

Daily Devotional – 10/20/11 “Just a thought”

I wonder how much better you’d be if you prayed for me as much as you talked about me?  I wonder how many more blessings you’d receive if you would help me instead of always hurting me?   I wonder how many more doors you’ll close because you’d rather tear me down instead of building me up.  You consistently talk about folk and wish bad on their life and then wonder why you can’t get a prayer through.  John 13:34 says “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.”  Why is that so hard? When you hear folk gossiping about me pray for me.  When you see me struggling, be there for me.  When you see me lost and having a hard time finding my way, guide me.  When you see me crying and hurting, love me.  When you see me hungry and cold, feed and clothe me.  Don’t give up on me, don’t walk away from me and please don’t talk about me.  Not all the days that I am given are good days so are you willing to be there for the bad?  Isn’t this what a Christian is supposed to do?  James 5:16 states “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.”

But we would sometimes, rather, put our trust in man and then get mad when it falls through.  But God says trust in me & I’ll never do you wrong (Proverbs 3:5). It’s like when you put your trust in a chair, not knowing if it will hold you up each time you sit in but you do anyway with the expectation that it will.  Trusting in God is the same way.  Every time we trust in God we do it not knowing what blessings will be sent our way but with the expectation that one will.  We believe in the reported news that we see on TV and what folk say only to learn that it may not be true, but God says I am the word and I never change (John 1:1).  It’s like when you read the newspaper each morning.  You may read a story of a coworker who has done something awful and without knowing for sure, you take that printed news as the truth and now you treat or think of that person differently.  But next week while reading, you see a small insert about the story and learn that the information that was printed, last week, wasn’t all true after you’ve judged this person so harshly.  But if you blow the dust off your bible and read it sometimes, you’ll see that its word never changes.  1 Corinthians 4:5 says “Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men’s hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God.”

Be careful who or what you commit too because not everybody or everything is sent from God.  You do now that the devil has folk working for him the same way God does?  See, the devil will send that fine young man or woman to you just when he has you low enough.  They’ll come in whispering all the things you need to hear and show you that being in the world is much better than being with God.  They place these blinders on your eyes that will have you looking one way, to that one patch of green grass on their side of the fence.  They’ll put their arms around your shoulders to keep you from looking around so that all you see looking forward is joy.  You happily go along because all you see is sunshine, no dark clouds and rain like you sometimes see on God’s side.  You go along because you’ve been promised a place like none other on their side.  But once the devil has you, he’ll remove the blinders and his arm from your shoulder so now you get the full picture.  You see that on his side the bad days greatly outweigh the good and now you’re begging God for mercy.  The great part about God is that he doesn’t hold grudges and he doesn’t count the number of times you’ve given up on him because to him it’s not about the starters but about the finishers.  God’s word says you may be, “persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed,” ( 2 Corinthians 4:9) and “They are brought to their knees and fall, but we rise up and stand firm.” (Psalm 37:24)

Every now and then you will fall, but that’s alright, as long as you get back up.  Sometimes hitting rock bottom is the best because you’re the lowest that you’ll ever get but during these low times, don’t count yourself out! Pray your way up, praise your way through and shout your way out!  Sometimes you have to get in a closet or an empty room and give God a crazy praise.  You don’t have to wait until Sunday morning because you can praise him now.  You don’t have to wait until altar call, pray now.  You don’t have to wait until the choir sings to lift up your voice to God and you surely don’t have to wait for the Pastor to pump and prime you; get your shout on now!  What if Sunday never comes, will you have wasted the time that you could have used to praise God? 

Stop wishing for the blessings I’ve received because you didn’t go through the same storm I did to get them.  You are wishing for my marriage but you didn’t see the heartache I had to endure to get my spouse.  You are wishing for my job but you didn’t see the doors being shut in my face before I got it.  You are wishing for my car but you didn’t see the numerous rejections I received before I received it.  You’re wishing for my smile but didn’t see the many nights I cried myself to sleep to get it.  Be careful what you ask for because your legs may not be as strong as mine to walk the path I did, your shoulders may not carry the weight mine did and your back probably won’t take as many knives as mine has!  God isn’t short on blessings, but you have to ask him for and be ready to work to get them.