Daily Devotional – 6/1/18 “What if it’s protection, not punishment?”

What if it’s protection and not punishment? You know, the thing you are mad at God for. What if it’s protection and not punishment? When Joseph was sold by his brothers, accused of rape, thrown in jail and endured all he did; it wasn’t punishment but it was God protecting the very thing growing on the inside of Him. And he had to go through it in order for the anointing to be cultivated until it was time to be birthed. What if it’s protection, beloved? I’m talking to you, who is in a place of despair because you cannot understand why things aren’t happening for you. I’m talking to somebody who is about to give up because nobody is requesting your services, they will not call you to speak, they will not buy what you’re selling and they will not support whatever it is you got going. But what if this is God’s way of protecting you because the very thing you’re trying to give away is worth selling? What if this is God’s way of protecting your gift from those trying to use it for their gain? What if this is God’s way of ensuring you are ready before you take the platform? What if God closed your womb because He needs you happy and healthy before, during and after birth? What if God gave you sickness in order to strengthen you for the work that needs to be done? What if God is protecting you to make sure nobody else can get the credit?

What if it’s protection and not punishment? Bible shares in Isaiah 54:17, “No weapon that is formed against you will prosper; and every tongue that accuses you in judgment you will condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their vindication is from Me,” declares the LORD.” Yes, it hurts. Yes, it hurts a lot but if you are obedient and faithful, it has to pay off. Why? Because bible tells us in Deuteronomy 28:1, “Now if you faithfully obey the voice of the LORD your God and are careful to follow all His commandments I am giving you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth.” This is especially true in those times when it’s quiet and nobody is calling, when the pain is at its all-time high, when it feels like you’re being tormented for doing good, overlooked for your anointing, misused for the message God gave and beat up for the blessings you are due. What if it’s protection? God hasn’t allowed your bank account to grow because He needs you to be able to turn some folk down who continually use you. God hasn’t made your name known because you aren’t ready to handle the warfare that comes with promotion. So, you cannot lose hope because 1 Peter 5:6-7 says, “Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, so that in due time He may exalt you. Cast all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.”</span? God cares enough about us to protect, provide, pardon, partake, perfect, perform, prevent, promise and promote. It may not be punishment but protection.

Daily Devotional – 5/31/18 “I will not explain!”

Stop trying to explain to folk how you made it, especially when most of them never believed you would. Stop feeling sorry for walking in purpose after you’ve survived being knocked down, too many times to count. Beloved, you have to get to a place where you tell folk, “I will not explain.” See, they weren’t there those days you contemplated suicide when the pain was too much. They were not there the nights you had to drink yourself to sleep because you were tired of being alone. They were not there those Sundays, after you’d preached real good and checking account still in the negative. They were not there those times you were abused by the one who vowed to love you. They weren’t there when you had to figure out how to feed a family of four, for a week, with the $20 you just borrowed from grandma. They weren’t there when you had to deal with being broken because you are anointed. They weren’t there when you were rejected for being righteous. They aren’t there when you encourage everybody else yet still suffering. They are not there when the voices, in your head, would not let you rest but you made it. They weren’t there when the depression, sickness and a shut womb almost shut you down but didn’t. Baby, don’t you dare explain!

From here on out; stand with your head high, your shoulders back and your neck on go to roll and to tell folk … I WILL NOT EXPLAIN! I will not explain why I love who I love. I will not explain why I live where I live. I will not explain why I drive what I drive. I will not explain why I put up with what I put up with. I will not explain why I serve like I serve. I will not explain why I do the things I do. I will not explain why I worship God like I do. And I definitely will not explain why God called me because you don’t understand it. Please hear me well, this is not personal but let me take it there for a line or two. You hear the sermon but you don’t see the hours of studying, missed times with family and friends and the struggle of carrying this mantle. You see the books being written but not the hours it takes to make sure it’s right, the money being spent when there were years of no sales and royalties. You see the glory but before you speculate, ask for the story. To make it plain, keep your mouth off of folk’s lives and blessings when you don’t know the hell they have endured and/or still enduring. Either be happy or hush. For our testimony is now Galatians 2:20, “My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

Daily Devotional – 5/30/18 “Protect your gifts!”

Beloved, you need to be just as protective of your spiritual gifts as you are with your social security number, credit, bank account, children, wig and etc. See, whether you know this or not, there is folk who will pimp out your gift, pay you a little bit for it and then pat you on the head and say, “good job.” They will call you, at the last-minute but not while they were planning. They will not recommend you publicly but will pull on your knowledge privately. They take what you say from Facebook and repost it as their own on Twitter. Protect your gifts. This means you cannot accept every invitation, respond to every message, sit at everybody’s table and glean from just anybody. I get it, he or she looks to be anointed but what kinds of fruit are they bearing. You grew up with them but this doesn’t mean they’ve grown with you. Be protective of your gifts. Think about it. Would you put your life in just anybody’s hands? Would you go up to a complete stranger and give them the keys to your house or your bank card? Then why are you allowing somebody to handle your gift when they keep mishandling theirs? I don’t care how long they have been in the ministry, everybody is not capable of being a spiritual guide. In fact, some will keep you close simply because your gift is the only thing keeping them afloat. You have to protect your gifts because folk will use them and sometimes, not for your good.

The bible shares in 2 Peter 2:1-2, “But there were also false prophets in Israel, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will cleverly teach destructive heresies and even deny the Master who bought them. In this way, they will bring sudden destruction on themselves. Many will follow their evil teaching and shameful immorality. And because of these teachers, the way of truth will be slandered. In their greed they will make up clever lies to get hold of your money. But God condemned them long ago, and their destruction will not be delayed.” You have a responsibility to protect your gifts. Be careful of the hands you allow to mold your gift when they don’t have the oil or the ability to. Be careful of the mouths you allow to speak over and on your gifts when their tongues don’t hold the anointing. Be mindful of those who only mention your gifts when it benefits them. If you don’t, you run the risk of being hurt, burned out and turned from God. In summation, protect your gifts. How? By praying for yourself, attaching to others who believe in you without a cost, having a stable home/marriage, developing valuable friendships, taking days off, laughing sometimes, allowing yourself to be fed, listening and taking constructive criticism.

Daily Devotional – 5/29/18 – Don’t give up because it hurts!

You cannot give up just because it hurts. Beloved, do you not realize that in order to get what you’ve been praying for; you might have to be stretched, broken, bruised, lied on, feelings hurt, broken promises and/or left by yourself? Do you understand that when you pray for guidance, there may encounter some grief and groans? Do you not get that when you surrender to God you may come across some suffering and sacrifices? Do you really not comprehend that when you are trying to recover, there may be some feelings of regret? Or how when you’re trying to get clean, confusion shows up? Or when you decide to abstain from what you’re addicted too, you find yourself easily angered? Being honest sometimes hurts. Getting to the right level of righteousness might reveal some rebuke, you were not expecting. But you cannot give up.

Baby, if I can be transparent for a moment; there are some days I want to give up. Yea, I may be in ministry, I may look strong, I may have a smile on my face and a prayer for you on my lips but there are some days, I don’t want to be holy. Why? Because it is painful. Painful in the physical and painful in the spirit. And, if you didn’t know this; a spiritual being who has been called to lead, encounters more pain. You may not believe this but when we get in the midst of your fight, we get hit too. It is part of our calling but if I give up every time I feel a little hurt and pain, I’d never make it. It is the same for you. I’ve come to understand that when I pray for enlargement, God has the need to stretch me in some places that can accommodate my blessing. Look, when a woman is in labor, her body has to stretch and be pulled in order to push out the baby. Even if she happens to need a C-Section, her body still has to endure the stretching and the pulling. In other words, pain. Without pain there is no produces of purpose and without purpose there is no growth. What I need you to get is … You cannot give up simply because it doesn’t feel good to you. Well, technically you could give up but then you’d still be in the same place wishing you would have allowed God to work. So, I’ll end it like this. You can’t give up because there is too much on the line in regards to you!

Daily Devotional – 5/25/18 “You’re missing it because of the messenger!”

You’re praying to God to come and see about you. You’re crying out to Him, over and over about something you need. Yet, you are sitting there thinking God has forsaken or forgotten you. You are angry because you think He’s ignoring you. You will not go to worship service because the enemy has you asking, ‘what’s the use?’ You have even contemplated doing some stuff you know isn’t right. Before you do, I need to tell you something. It is not the fact God is forsaking you (He doesn’t), it’s not that God is intentionally ignoring you (He doesn’t) neither has He forgotten you (He will not). Just maybe, the real reason you’re missing the message or the blessing is because you don’t like who God is using to send it. “I don’t like women preachers.” “I don’t like the way he/she sounds.” “I don’t like the way he/she looks.” “I remember how they acted in school.” This is the kind of crazy thinking that keeps us bound. See, you’re too busy counting the mistakes folk made in the past. You are listening to what folk are saying and waiting on somebody else to confirm what the prophet said. Can you not just believe God?

Understand me … there are some folk who are not right. They are sent to discourage you, throw you off your game, make you doubt and all that but this is why you have to be right. Yea, you will, absolutely, know when someone’s motives are wrong, when you are right. Right what? In right standing, with the right frame of mind, the right spirit and the right ability to discern. Bible shares in Matthew 7:15, “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.” How will you tell? Keep reading because bible says in Matthew 7:16, “You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they?” Stop getting angry at God because you sowed that $100 seed to a person who talked real good but can’t bare nothing worth eating. Baby, God has need of messengers and sometime, what you are waiting on may not be packaged or delivered how you think it should. Don’t miss your message or blessing because of the messenger but validate the authority, of the one bringing it, by the fruit they bare.