Daily Devotional – 3/30/18 “Public death, quick burial!”

After the Jewish leaders accused Jesus, tried Him in front of a court of unpopular opinions, beat Him, mocked Him, spit on Him, put a crown of thorns on His head, made Him carry a cross to Golgotha Hill, nailed Him to that same cross, laughed at Him and shot dice for His clothes; they had the audacity to not want Him to hang there because the following day was Sabbath. So you mean to tell me, they had no care for the Savior yet they didn’t want to contaminate the Sabbath by reminding them of the crucifixion? They’d done all these things to Jesus, while He was still saving folk (the criminal next to Him) and thinking about others (us and we weren’t even there) yet He couldn’t stay where they’d hung Him. A Man who came, willingly, to drink our cup of suffering couldn’t hang on the Sabbath. And in order to speed up the process of Him dying, they ordered for His legs to be broken and His body immediately removed. Oh but when they realized He was already dead, they still pierced His side. Unknowingly to them, they were simply fulfilling scripture.

However beloved, don’t think, for one moment, there aren’t those who are plotting your public death but quick burial. See, they want you to hurry up and die because they cannot have the death of your dreams overshadowing their day. They need you to hurry up and take your last breath so they can swoop in, clean up the mess and go on to their celebration. Because if folk see the RIP on your business, you vision, your destiny and your purpose; they may actually cry for you and not celebrate them. Don’t worry about them though, you’ll rise again because they have no power over you. When Pilate told Jesus, he had the power to release Him or let Him go, Jesus replied in John 19:11, “You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.” In other words, when you walk in the authority of God, nobody can do to you what God doesn’t allow. All you have to do is be willing to be used. Because they that publicly ridiculed and accused you are the ones guilty who will have to pay for the crime and while you’ll be soon set free.

Daily Devotional – 3/29/18 “It has to finish!”

Words have the power to change everything. You don’t have to believe me. Ask somebody who’s had to stand before a judge waiting on a sentence of guilty or not guilty. Ask the man who has had to wait on the answer to his proposal. Ask the person who had to hear cancer or remission. Ask somebody who has heard the words, time of death. Ask the person who was at the edge of their cliff but heard, you’re hired. Words can change everything. And when Jesus spoke the words, “It is finished,” His words changed the course of our lives and we weren’t even thought of yet. Jesus’ war cry, “It is finished,” signified an end to His sacrificial purpose on the cross. It was His cry that symbolized the ending to Him taking on the guilt our committed sin deserved. It is finished. Words Jesus spoke to let those who tried know, they didn’t win. It is finished. Words for those who once doubted to now see, you didn’t do anything but what My Father allowed. It is finished. In other words, the work of my flesh is done. It is finished. Call answered, obedience obeyed, prophesies pleased, ransom resolved and debt cancelled. It is finished. Sting taken from death. It is finished. God’s justice justified. It is finished.

Beloved, I don’t know what you are facing. I don’t know what you’ve had to endure. I don’t know the voices you hear, in the stillness of the night. I don’t know the suffering that’s threatening to close your mouth. But you’ve got to go through because in the end, when it’s all said and done; It has to finish. And regardless if it is manifested in the natural or in that great getting up morning; know that it has to finish and you will win. Your war cry will not be in vain. It has to finish.

Daily Devotional – 3/28/18 “What do you thirst for?”

Hours after Jesus was tried, beaten, mocked and hung; He says, through a dry mouth. “I thirst.” He’s probably feeling the effects of dehydration, by now because if you remember, He refused to drink the first time the soldiers offered Him the wine mingled with myrrh. But why would Jesus now say, I thirst? Again, this is simply Lakisha’s thoughts but here is what I gathered from this scripture. Jesus wasn’t requesting a drink of water but He was letting those, who were waiting on Him to die, know His body now lacked what it needed to endure life. You don’t have to take me at my work, I told you this is just me allowing you to peek into my thoughts, but when I looked up the words thirst and thirsty it says this. Thirst is a lack of the liquid needed to sustain life and thirsty is a need to drink something. If you look up the word thirst in Hebrew, you will see that it signifies a strong spiritual desire. So in essence when Jesus said in John 19:28, “I thirst,” He was saying, “I thirst for my daddy.” This is why when the soldiers put the vinegar soaked sponge to Jesus’ lips, bible says in John 19:30, “When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, “It is finished:” and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.”

Beloved, what do you thirst for? It is to be famous or faithful? Do you thirst to be greedy or grateful? Do you thirst after the word or the world? Do you thirst for that which can sustain your life or satisfy your momentary moment? What do you thirst after? As for me, I thirst for what I’ve been given access to that’s never-ending like Psalm 42:2, “My soul thirsts for God, for the living God; when shall I come and appear before God?” Because I want to be one of those counted in the number that Revelation 7:14-17 speaks of when it shares, “These are the ones who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. For this reason they are before the throne of God and serve Him day and night in His temple; and the One seated on the throne will spread His tabernacle over them. Never again will they hunger, and never will they thirst; nor will the sun beat upon them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb in the center of the throne will be their shepherd. He will lead them to fountains of living water and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” This is what I thirst for. What about you?

Daily Devotional – 3/27/18 “Make it personal!”

I don’t proclaim to be a bible scholar. I don’t know every scripture. In fact, I don’t even know where every book of the bible is located. I used to be able to name them all in order but child, time has changed some things. Anyway, my purpose in saying this is, in reading and studying the bible, God has given us answers to everything we can possibly think of. He tells us how to overcome evil, how to pray, how to seek Him, what to ask for, His promises, His commandments and etc. However, the one thing the bible doesn’t show us is how to deal when God is the one who is against us. In Matthew 27:46, while Jesus still hung on the cross, after He’d been nailed and pierced and while He suffered; He cries out from His flesh in Hebrew, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” Which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Now, what is interesting and important here is, Jesus said this in Hebrew. Why is this interesting and important? Because most of those standing below Him, didn’t understand what He said. I know this because bible shares in Matthew 27:47, “When some of those standing there heard this, they said, “He’s calling Elijah.”

Jesus was having a human moment, where He probably felt disconnected from His father. We’ve all had those but this is not what I need you to focus on. I need you to see that Jesus cried out to His Father in a language His Father understood but the people didn’t. They didn’t need to know that Jesus felt forsaken and alone by the one He’s been telling them about all this time. Jesus didn’t need to broadcast to the crowd, His pain of feeling like His Father had abandoned Him. Because no matter how Jesus felt, this was an intimate moment between He and His father. And sometimes beloved, you’ll feel just like Jesus; forsaken, suffering and alone. There might be a time you feel like God is intentionally ignoring you, a time you feel like He’s deserted you and you want to cry out. That’s fine but sometimes, the moment you need to have is not for people but for purpose. Sometimes, your cry needs to be personal between you and your Father because the fact of the matter is, some of those standing around are happy about your suffering and aren’t listening anyway. Those who heard Jesus, only caught the first word of what He said and assumed He was calling on Elijah. Imagine what those around you hear.