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.”

    Daily Devotional – 9/26/18 “Are you on guard?”

    Just when I thought my bout with migraines was over, only to be hit with one yesterday that had me down for the count. I mean, it came out of nowhere, like they typically do. Yet, here I am today typing a devotional. I still have a slight headache but I am here, in my right mind and blessed because I woke up in my bed and not in the hospital. I am grateful because oftentimes I am reminded things could be worse, much worse and while I could turn this into a “the devil meant it for my bad,” kind of devotionals, I will not. Sickness happens. Migraines happens. Bad days happens and many times, we cannot predict them or control them. What I will share is, sometimes we let our guards down before the battle is over. See, I have not had a migraine in months. Sure, I have had sinus issues but no migraine. Vertigo but no migraine so I got comfortable and let my guard down and baby, did I pay for it. As I thought about it, this is, sometimes, how some of us are with the enemy. We let our guard down when it seems like he is no longer punching and kicking. We let our guard down when it looks like we are in the end stretch and winning the game. We let our guard down when it looks like all is well when the bible shares in 1 Peter 5:8, “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”

    The enemy never leaves us alone; although he may get quiet, he is not gone. I know somebody is thinking, you cannot predict a migraine let alone an attack but I never said anything about predicting when it would happen. I said, be on guard for when it happens. See, had I been on guard I would have had migraine meds in my purse when my vision started to blur and my head begin to hurt. However, because I let my guard down, I did not have what I needed and by the time I got to my weapon(s) (at home), the migraine was at full capacity and kicking my butt. Are you following me? I let my guard down and did not have what I needed, within reach that could help me fight off an attack. I let my guard down and it knocked me down. I let my guard down and it wounded me. So let me ask you, do you have what you need or is your guard down too? Could you handle an attack, right now or is your battle gear packed up? Can you go toe to toe, at this moment or would you be down for the count? Are you on guard or will you be caught slipping? For the bible shares in Luke 21:34-36, “Be on guard, so that your hearts will not be weighted down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of life, and that day will not come on you suddenly like a trap; for it will come upon all those who dwell on the face of all the earth. But keep on the alert at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are about to take place and to stand before the Son of Man.”

    Daily Devotional – 9/25/18 “Check the reins!”

    God isn’t upset at the size of your offering but He may be a little taken back by the way you give it. Bible shares in 2 Corinthians 9:7, “Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” In other words, give what your heart has already decided but do so gladly, not reluctantly. Can we be honest? Sometimes we think, the more we give the more God will give to us. Truth is, He will give us what we deserve because God does not reward us based on the quantity but He will by the quality. Beloved, God rewards our faithfulness and the pureness of our heart. You don’t have to take me at my word but bible shares in Jeremiah 17:10, “I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.” This is the KJV because I need you to get the full understanding of just how much your heart dictates your reward. Sure, you can be the best tither but how’s your heart? You can be the most devoted member but how’s your heart? God searches the heart and He tries the reins.

    What are reins? We know them as the straps we hold and use when we ride a horse but it also means the seat of the feelings or passions. Seat = base. To break it down, the base of your feelings or passions, the underlying foundation or simply how you truly feel. Jeremiah 17:11 continues by saying, “As a partridge that hatches eggs which it has not laid, So is he who makes a fortune, but unjustly; In the midst of his days it will forsake him, And in the end he will be a fool.” You cannot prosper from something that is not yours and this is why you have to check the foundation of your giving. If you give just to be seen, you need to check the rein. If you sow for privileges, you need to check the rein. If your offering is to outdo others, you need to check the reins because God does not reward us by the size of our giving but He will by the character of our heart.

    Dear God,

    Forgive me. Forgive me for thinking my unwillingness to give would be overshadowed by the amount I sowed. Forgive me for trying to bribe you with my behavior. Create in me, a new heart rooted firmly in you and remove anything that does not fit because God, I want to be rewarded because you’ve searched my heart and found me to be due the honor. I want to be rewarded because you’ve tried the reins and they are righteous. I want to be rewarded because my ways are aligned to your ways and they are good. I want a reward that shall sustain and maintain, not forsake me. Thank you God for it is in your name I pray. Amen.