Daily Devotional – 10/10/18 “Go get your stuff!”

It’s Wednesday and someone is watching time get away from you because something or someone from your past is trying to delay the purpose assigned to your life. Yea, this thing or person has shown up and it’s wreaking havoc on the very thing you thought would work this time. Now, you’re crying yourself to sleep because it seems all your hard work was in vain. You cannot concentrate because you’re worried about folk finding out who you used to be and they may not understand. You’re wandering aimlessly through your day and the weight of this thang is getting heavier. Well baby, I’m stopped by to give you a quick word. It shouldn’t be a shock to you because I’ve told you before. You shouldn’t be surprised by this but I’ll share it anyway. Here it is … The only person, place or thing; alive or in the process of being created that can keep you from getting what God has for you is YOU. Take back the rights to your story, deliver your own message and let folk know; if I survived all the hell I’ve been through, I’ll be doggone if I allow you to stand up and tell my story wrong. Yep, I did that. Yep, I did him/her. Yep, I said that. Yep, I went there. Yep, I wore that. Yep, I was a member there. Yep, I was foolish then. Yep, I wrote bad checks. Yep, I’ve filed bankruptcy more than once. Yep, that was me. Oh but now!

See, when you take back your power, you take the power out of the hands of others. When you tell your story of what you used to be and look like, no one else can hold it over your head. This is why, sometimes, you have to pull rank and tell folk … Look, I don’t care what my background shows, I will not allow you to demean my present character because I am not that person anymore. I don’t care what my arrest record shows, I will not allow you to destroy my present because I am not that person anymore. And if that means you keep your job, keep it. If that means I will not receive help from you, I don’t want it. If that means you no longer want to be friends, goodbye. I am no longer in the business of trying to convince you I’m worthy. Yeah, the old me would have but this is the new me and I don’t care what you think. God made me who I am. He constructed me this way and if you have a problem with who I am, now, take it up with God because I’m done explaining. Beloved, get your power back and then go get your stuff. How? By trusting God’s love for us and His word because He says in Isaiah 55:11-13, “The rain and snow come down from the heavens and stay on the ground to water the earth. They cause the grain to grow, producing seed for the farmer and bread for the hungry. It is the same with my word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it. You will live in joy and peace. The mountains and hills will burst into song, and the trees of the field will clap their hands! Where once there were thorns, cypress trees will grow. Where nettles grew, myrtles will sprout up. These events will bring great honor to the LORD’s name; they will be an everlasting sign of his power and love.”

Daily Devotional – 10/9/18 “Getting up is the hardest part!”

I had to be at work “earlier” because I am facilitating a training class for the next two days. Sure, I get nervous every time I have to stand in front of people (even when I preach) but that’s not the issue. No, the real issue is getting up earlier. Baby, it’s a struggle because I stay up at night. However, here is what I’ve realized. The hardest part is getting up. What do I mean? Well, once my legs are over the side of the bed, my feet touch the floor and I get that one good stretch in; I am good. The hardest part is getting up. What does this mean for you, the person reading this? It’s simple really … the hardest part is getting up. Yea, you’re struggling to get out of debt, sickness, a bad relationship, a dead-end job or maybe your spiritual war but the hardest part is getting up. Why? Because it’s easy to lay back down. It’s easy to turn over and pull the cover over your head. It’s easy to close your eyes and pretend it don’t exist but it’s hard getting up because then you’ll have to face the reality of your day and/or your problem(s). Yet the blessing is, when you face what you’ve been running from, you now have a chance to be free from it.

I know you’re tired but it’s time you get up. I know it hurts but it’s time you got up. I know your surroundings look dim but it’s time you get up. I know it doesn’t look as if things will work out but it’s time you got up. Swing them legs over the side of your bed (burdens, emptiness and destruction), put your feet on the floor, stand up, get a good stretch in and go forward. The hardest part is getting up but once you’re up, move because although you fall, the failure is in not getting up. This is why the word tells me that I am, “persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed (2 Corinthians 4:9).” The hardest part is getting up but getting up is where you blessing is. Bible says, “take up your mat and walk.” Yea, the hardest part is getting up but Bible says, “your faith has made you well, go in peace and be freed from your suffering.” The hardest part, beloved, is getting up but when you do, stretch and then go forth to conquer the world.

Daily Devotional – 10/8/18 – In the company of grace

Growing up, I’d often see and/or hear my grandmother praying. If she wasn’t praying, she was humming either Amazing Grace or an old Hymn. I didn’t realize it, when I was younger but I now know that when grandma prayed, we were in the company of grace. When grandma prayed, she was asking God to cover her family. When grandma prayed, she was keeping us safe from the enemy’s grasp. When grandma prayed, she was asking God to spare our lives. When grandma prayed, we were in the company of grace. See, grace is the free and undeserving favor God shows us or in other words, God not giving us what we deserve. Even at 89 years old, fighting cancer, still in her right mind and capable of doing things on her own; Grandma is still a praying woman. I don’t know about you but I get excited when I think about God sparing me because I am in the company of grace. This means, even when I am making silly mistakes and getting caught up in stuff I ain’t got no business being in; somebody else grace can save me. You may not believe me but Paul’s grace, in Acts 27:42-44 that saved a group of people from being killed. For it reads, “And the soldiers’ counsel was to kill the prisoners, lest any of them should swim out, and escape. But the centurion, willing to save Paul, kept them from their purpose; and commanded that they which could swim should cast themselves first into the sea, and get to land; And the rest, some on boards, and some on broken pieces of the ship. And so it came to pass, that they escaped all safe to land.”

And get this. Paul wasn’t covered in grace because he’d been always good and faithful. Fact is, he used to persecute the very church he then preached about. Yet he was covered because of who God is and God always has a remnant of grace for His people. For this is what God told Elijah when he thought he was the only prophet left after the others were murdered by Baal. Bible shares in Romans 11:5-6, “So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace. But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace.” This says, if grace was given based on our works, it wouldn’t be free and undeserving. Yes, God gives us grace but sometimes it’ll be the grace of others that will save our life. And this is why it’s good to be in the company of grace. Who are you around? Are you around some folk whose grace can cover you when you’re in the fight of your life and your strength is weak? Are you around some folk who will lie on their face for you in prayer when hell is dragging you over the coals of chaos? Are you around some folk who knows it’s nothing but God’s grace and aren’t ashamed to say it?

Here is a video of a message I had the honor of sharing on last week. “In the company of grace.”

Daily Devotional – 9/27/18 “I almost missed it!”

This past weekend I attended a Women’s Retreat called, “Loving Me Again” (#LMA2018) facilitated by Lisa Knowles-Smith of the Brown Singers. If you are from Memphis, then you know who Lisa is and if you are not, Google her and allow her music to bless you. Initially, I was only going as a vendor (to sell books) but what I didn’t know, God had other plans and His plan was being set into motion way before we even got to Atlanta. See, I was going to sell books but God was sending me to change hearts. I was going to gain new readers but God was sending me to gain new souls and I almost missed it. No, you do not understand. I literally, paid for the vendor spot on the very last day because I did not want to spend money and not make any, never realizing this was bigger than me, all along. Y’all, I got to sit on a panel with Lisa Knowles-Smith and Tammi Haddon and it wasn’t planned. I got to meet women from different states, backgrounds and careers, I got the chance to encourage women and I sold some books. God was shifting me and I almost missed it because I was basing this event on what had happened in the past.

I was hesitant because I have been to, more than a few events, spent money to travel etc., and not made a dime. Those past events almost made me miss this event. How many of you have missed a blessing because it reminded you of something that happened before and the memories were not good? How many times have you missed the help, you needed, because you based it on history? How many times have you missed the relief, you sought after, because it looked like rebuke? How many times have you willingly forfeited the very thing needed to shift you because it reminded you of the thing that suffered you? While I was on the panel, one topic kept coming up. It was forgiving and forgetting. If you have been following my blogs, you know that I believe you cannot forgive without forgetting but here is what I need you to understand. When I say forget, I do not mean erasing it from your memory (we do not possess that power) but I mean remember it differently. In other words, you cannot forget the abuse you suffered but forgive then remember that you survived what he/she tried to do to you. I need you to remember that what they tried did not win. I need you to remember that what bruised you didn’t burden you but it birthed in you the boldness to build when you should be broken. Do not miss your opportunity, this time because of what it looks like. Trust that God has it already worked out in your favor. Psalm 40:5, “Many, O LORD my God, are the wonders which You have done, And Your thoughts toward us; There is none to compare with You. If I would declare and speak of them, They would be too numerous to count.”