Daily Devotional – 11/8/18 “Preparing for what you asked for!”

We’re in the month of November and for some, you’ve already started planning for Thanksgiving and Christmas. You don’t even know what tomorrow holds yet you’ve already made preparations. You have the list of things you need, waiting. You are eagerly anticipating the sale ads as you map out plans for this holiday season and all you need is for the date to show up. You’re set on go, ready for what you expect to happen, without knowing if it will. Question for you … why don’t you wait in expectancy of God the same? You don’t bombard the stores, rushing them, but you’ll rush God. You don’t rush the calendar, yet you’ll rush God. Why not, instead of getting angry at God’s timing, you prepare in advance for what you are expecting? Instead of getting upset that God hasn’t moved, by your calculation of time, why not prepare for what you know will come? You’ve prayed for the husband but are you prepared for him? You’ve prayed for the child but are you prepared? You’ve prayed for the increase in finances but have you prepared for it? You’ve prayed for the door to open but are you prepared for when it happens?

A few years ago, my husband and I were living in a rental house yet I knew this wasn’t what God had for us. So, I started preparing. I made notes of what I wanted in a house as I waited on God to move. I made preparations for the house note and we hadn’t even signed papers or been preapproved. But I know what I heard God say. I had no idea when but I know what I heard. Beloved, on this spiritual journey, we have to be prepared for what we’ve asked of God even if we don’t know when He’ll do it. God says if I ask, it shall be done so when I go in prayer, I come out preparing to receive what I know God will do. This is called faith. Bible shares, faith is the substance of things hoped for. Faith means I’m claiming it before it has my name attached. Faith means I am prepping to live well even while I’m still sick. Faith means I’m making plans for the day I no longer live paycheck to paycheck. Faith means I’m cleaning out the garage for the car I know my credit can’t get yet. Faith means I am memorizing the directions to the house I haven’t been approved for yet. Faith means I am rehearsing for the assignment and I haven’t even been called for it yet. Faith means I am buying the business suits for the business that hasn’t even been birthed yet. Faith means I am preparing sermons for the pulpits I haven’t been invited to yet. Faith means, although I don’t know when it’ll happen, I know it will happen so I’ll prepare for it.

Daily Devotional – 11/6/18 “Purpose!”

I don’t know who needs to read this but your purpose will never stop chasing you. Yea, you might ignore it but it’ll still be there. You may never walk in it but it’ll still keep waking you up at night. I don’t know who needs to read this but your purpose only dies when you do. You can keep allowing fear to talk you out of it but it’ll still be there. You can sit on it and it’ll still be there when you stand up. Why? Because God said, as plainly as possible, in Proverbs 16:4, “The LORD has made everything for its own purpose, Even the wicked for the day of evil.” Let me type this again … The LORD has made everything for ITS OWN PURPOSE! ITS means belonging to so in this scripture, ‘its’ is referencing God. God made everything for Himself and God doesn’t leave loose ends to just lollygag in the wind. He has a purpose for everything He makes, especially you. I don’t care who said you’d never make it, God made you for His purpose and He doesn’t make mistakes. I don’t care if your business didn’t succeed the first time, God made you for His purpose and He doesn’t make failures. I don’t care what is tied to your bloodline, God made you for His purpose and He has the ability to destroy every curse.

Beloved, you have a purpose and God will ensure you get to it. Why do you think He kept you and your mind while you did all those drugs and alcohol? Why do you think He allowed you to survive when you were having unprotected sex and didn’t get an incurable disease? Why do you think He allowed you to beat what doctors said would kill you? Why do you think He allowed healing when a degenerative disease should have been your portion? Beloved, you have a purpose and this is why you are still here. When will you get up? You are still alive so when will you get up and write the vision? You are still graced for this so when will you get up, write the vision and get to work? Your purpose is yours to do what you want with it and it’s pass/fail ratio depends on your performance/fear. What are you going to do? You can keep grumbling or you can get up. You can keep complaining or you can conquer. You can observe or you can occupy. You can be a passerby or a participator. You can be the borrower or the lender, the worker or the employer … you get it, right? Then get it. IT=PURPOSE!

Daily Devotional – 11/5/18 “Fear God and lack for nothing!”

Psalm 34:1-10 says this, “I will bless the LORD at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul makes its boast in the LORD; let the humble hear and be glad. Oh, magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together! I sought the LORD, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears. Those who look to him are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed. This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him and saved him out of all his troubles. The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them. Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him! Oh, fear the LORD, you his saints, for those who fear him have no lack! The young lions suffer want and hunger; but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing.”

This Psalm was sung by David while he hid in a cave running from Saul. He says, “for those who fear him have no lack!” What is fear? We take fear to mean scared of but fear here means reverence; as in respect. What David is saying, when we respect God we want for nothing. See, when you have respect for a person, you will not intentionally do anything to hurt them. When you respect someone, you will not purposely set out to cause them pain. When you respect someone, they are often who you think about before you do something out of character. And respect doesn’t stop. For me, I still respect my grandfather and although he is no longer living on earth, I will not do anything to taint his name. I’m grown but I still respect my mother by not disrespecting her. It is the same for God because I chose to follow Him. Beloved, God doesn’t want us to be afraid of Him because then we serve out of bondage and control and this isn’t the God we serve. And, why would God need to control us by fear when serving Him is a choice we make? To fear God is to respect Him because if we respect Him, we will not do anything deliberately to hurt Him. When we fear God, we serve willingly and not unwillingly because when we do, we lack for nothing. When we fear God, we shall not want. “Fear the LORD, you his godly people, for those who fear him will have all they need.”

Shall we pray?

God,

I come before you for somebody who needs to be prayed for right now. Someone is about to give up, give in and let go but God, I know all our days were not meant to struggle because you’ve encamped about us legions of angels who are at our command. So, I ask you to cover me while I call down every demonic thing that is trying to rise up against your people. Protect me while I decree deliverance for your people from the hand of witchcraft that seeks to destroy the mantle you’ve given. God, you didn’t create us to struggle every day! You didn’t make us, by your hands, for us to die in debt and sin. You made us! You made us to recover, receive, be fruitful and multiply. You made us to overcome. You made us to be well and wealthy. You made us to be healed and whole. You made us to speak life. You made us! You made us victorious and I refuse to stay in the sunken place when you’ve made us survivors. Today God, we shall come out. And by your release of the Holy Spirit, I command you ma’am, sir to come out. Come out of the struggle gospels, today we survive. Come out of the misery, you must survive. Come out of bondage when God has adjudicated your case and cleared your name. Come out, it’s time to be free. And I declare that although we have to struggle, sometimes, we’ll survive every time. By God’s power.

Amen.

Daily Devotional – 10/31/18 “Life!”

Today, someone is celebrating a birth and someone is grieving a death. Someone is celebrating the remission of cancer and someone is just being diagnosed. Someone is dying while someone will live from the donation of their organs. Someone is contemplating suicide while someone else is celebrating this being the best time of their life. Someone is closing the doors of their worship center and a new one is opening. Someone is being fired while someone else is being hired. Someone is looking at the darkness of despair while someone is enjoying the light of happiness. Life and man, life is hard. And while you want to figure it out, truth is, you cannot. While you try to research it for understanding, truth is, it’ll only leave you with more questions. Questions like, why do children die, why does God allow the innocent to perish, why does bad things happen, why can’t cancer be cured and etc.. I wish I had the answer or even the direction to point you in but … life! Beloved, this didn’t just start happening. Sickness, violence, death, hardships and disappointments have been since the beginning of time and you cannot lose hope, now. Yes, it hurts. Yes, it leaves us confused. Yes, it leaves us angry. But life!

We may never understand what makes a husband/boyfriend murder his wife/girlfriend. We may never understand why cancer keeps causing death. We may never understand why our organs stop working. We may never understand why some wombs are shut. We may never quite understand life but life is life and sometimes it can get hard. Sometimes, life can be hard. Sometimes, life is hard. Yet we have to hope that one day it will not be. We have to hold out hope that one day life will not be this hard. We have to hold out hope that one day we won’t have to shed tears, visit doctors, get stuck with needs, go through chemo, dialysis or radiation. We have to hold out hope that one day we will never have to say goodnight to loved ones. We have to hold out hope that one day our battle will be over. Until then we have to scuffle with this thing called life but “I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13”

Dear God, give us strength to hope. Give us strength to hope in expectancy of the day when all of our troubles will be over. Give us strength to hope even when it doesn’t seem like it’ll work out. Give us strength to hope even when it doesn’t work out the way we thought. For we know if we place our hope in you, there has to be joy that overflows. Hold and comfort us, letting us know we are not alone. We can stand, sit, sleep and wait in hope. Amen.