Daily Devotional – 3/15/18 “Spiritually equipped!”

Read the next line carefully … You cannot join a fight and not expect to get hit. This goes for physical but it absolutely goes for spiritual. This is why you have to be careful the battles you choose to war against, spiritually, because you may find it to be harder than expected. This is also why you have to be careful the conversations you join and the pity parties you accept invitations too. And going just to be nosey can get you caught up in some stuff you aren’t ready for. Beloved, the enemy doesn’t like the oily and the anointed. The enemy cannot stand the fact your feet hit the ground this morning. The enemy needs you to shut up and die but you won’t and now you got the audacity to be praying for the very folk he’s trying to break. Guess what’s about to happen, the enemy will attack you. Why? Because he needs you to hush. This is why you cannot take on what you know you cannot handle spiritually. Stop trying to cover everybody who shows up at the altar when you know you are a spiritual lightweight. Baby, there are levels to the anointing and when you tap into someone else fight, you better be ready to fight for them and FOR SELF! Please understand me plainly. I am in NO way insinuating your inability to handle whatever it is you’ve think you can handle but I need you to be aware of the things you may not expect.

The enemy doesn’t play fair and he will send attacks, to your house, simply for being in the meeting. And if you are unprepared to see the attacks before they happen, bind the attacks before they get loose and cast down the attacks after they’ve infiltrated your home; you’ll find yourself needing the same help you just gave. This is why you cannot lightly discount the real prophets, preachers and pastors who are willing to go to war for people because their suffering is ten times harder than the average believers. When you take on the demons of others, you feel the effects. Why do you think those prophets, preachers and pastors, who are for real about this spiritual thang, find it hard to sleep at night? It’s not because the TV shows are good but baby there is some work being done in the spiritual realm and the majority of time, it’s not for their house. No, you don’t have to stop praying for people and please don’t stop going to war for those who need it. However, equip yourself for the battle before you find yourself enlisted in a fight that can potentially leave you wounded, scarred or on the brink of death. Paul says in 1 Timothy 1:11-12, “Whereunto I am appointed a preacher, and an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles. For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.”

Daily Devotional – 3/14/18 “This test!”

Not every test, you go through, is because of the enemy. Don’t get me wrong, he can get down, dirty and nasty which makes it is very easy to blame the enemy but what if it isn’t him, this time? Couldn’t it be God testing your faith, strength and belief in Him? Could it be God testing your ability to keep the vow you just made? Could it be God seeing if you will hold up to what you just said you were fasting from? Could it not be Jesus testing to see if you still believe what you’ve witnessed? When Jesus tested Philip, before feeding the 5000, bible says in John 6:6, “He was testing Philip, for he already knew what he was going to do.” See, Jesus knew what He was about to do but Philip didn’t. BUT Philip had already witnessed Jesus performing miracles. So in a sense, Jesus was trying to see if Philip’s faith had the, “I’ve seen what you can do and I believe you’ll do it again,” praises. For us, Jesus knows what He’s about to do in our life but you don’t. However, you have seen Him perform miracles, haven’t you? You have seen Him heal, haven’t you? You have seen Him make ways when your natural had already determined there was no way, haven’t you? You have seen Him regulate reprobate minds, haven’t you? You have seen Him provide, haven’t you? You have witnessed miracles, haven’t you?

Then what makes you think Jesus can’t do it, this time? Yes, I know you’ve rechecked things, for the fifth time and you can’t see it working. Yes, I know you’ve tried all the courses of chemo, surgery and medicine and nothing has helped. Yes, I know you’re looking at the natural and you can’t see how this check is going to do it. I get it. However, you have two choices. You can either do as the bible says in 2 Corinthians 13:5, and “Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves? Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you–unless, of course, you fail the test?” Or you can buckle under pressure and fail the test. Please understand, failing the test doesn’t mean you fail the course, it simply means you have some work to do. Philip’s response was based on what his eyes were seeing. He knew they didn’t have the resources to feed all those people. It’s didn’t mean, his belief was any less in Jesus but he was simply being realistic. You know how the story ends but what you may have missed is this. Jesus gave thanks, broke the bread and then gave the food to the disciples to hand out. Jesus put the blessing back into the hands of those who previously failed the test. Why? He needed them to work the miracle because working it made them partakers of it and not just witnesses. Beloved, you might have failed the test before but Jesus is about to take the very thing you failed at, give thanks, break it and then put it back in your hand for distribution to all those who need it. You simply need to stick close enough to get it. So you can’t give up based on what your natural sees, when you’ve been a witnessed to miracles before. This time, though, you won’t only be a witness but you’ll also be a recipient.

Daily Devotional – 3/12/18 “The need to be stretched!”

God will put you in a painful place, intentionally and allow you to hurt. God will deliberately place you around folk who talk about you, all day long and you’ll know it. God is going to assign you some stuff to do, you know don’t make sense to your natural. God is going to strategically place you at tables with the same folk who have denied you access, more than once. God is going to send you into places ‘they’ said you didn’t deserve entrance too. God is going to give you First Class tickets to platforms people said you didn’t belong and you’ll see them roll their eyes. God is going to methodically put you in covenant with some people who have screenshots of you in their phone. Those same ones who wake up every morning talking about you in group texts will be the very ones God sends you to help. And He’s going to fill the audience with people who will never clap for you. You want to know why? It’s to stretch you. Beloved, God is stretching those who have been in the background, passed their time. God is stretching those of us who have been overworked and underpaid. God is stretching those of us who has a sound for this season. God is stretching those of us whose shoulders are now strong enough to carry the mantle. God is stretching those of us who are now capable of paying the cost for oil. God is stretching those of us who are no longer afraid but now are willing.

But why do we need to be stretched? To keep motion in our joints, to prevent muscle fatigue and to keep us from snapping. You don’t have to believe me but pick up a rubber band that has been sitting somewhere for a while and stretch it. More than likely, it’ll snap. When you work out and you don’t stretch (before and after); you may find it hard to move the next day. This is because there has been no mobility given to the joints/muscles. Oh but had you stretched, you would still feel the workout but you’ll be able to handle it better. So you see, God has no choice but to stretch those of us He is about to use. This is to ensure we can handle the pulls and the pushes and still be able to move afterwards. And it’s to make sure we can be stretched and then bounce back to look like nothing ever happened. Sure, it’s going to hurt but that is only for us to remember being stretched in the first place because when we do; it ought to make us thankful to have survived. If that isn’t enough, think about this … if Jesus could stretch out His arms for us, when we didn’t deserve it, surely we can be momentarily stretched for Him because He does.

New Book Alert – The Pastor’s Admin

The Pastor's Admin Banner

PRE-ORDER HERE

THE PASTOR’S ADMIN

Coming March 20, 2018 from Lakisha Johnson and Laquisha Rucker

**DISCLAIMER** This is Christian FICTION which includes some sex scenes and language. ***

Daphne ‘Dee’ Gary used to love being an admin … until Joseph Thornton.

She has been his administrative assistant for ten years and each year, she has to decide whether it will be his secrets or her sanity.

And the choice is beginning to take a toil.

Joseph is the founder and pastor of Assembly of God Christian Center and he is, hell, there are so many words Daphne can use to describe him but none are good. He does things without thinking of the consequence because he knows Dee will be there to bail him out. Truth is, she has too because … it’s her job, right?

A job she has been questioning lately.

Daphne knows life can be hard and flesh will sometimes win but when she has to choose between HIS SECRETS or HER SANITY, this time, will she remain The Pastor’s Admin?

EXCERPT::

“No, this time you don’t get to apologize. This time, I’m the one who’s sorry for staying with a piece of man like you. I’m the one who is sorry for giving my all to you when I knew it was too much for you to handle. I’m the one who is sorry for ever thinking my favor was fashioned for you. This time, I’m the one who is sorry for ever giving you a position you weren’t trained for.”

Coming March 20th

PRE-ORDER HERE

The Pastor's Admin

Daily Devotional – 3/9/18 “Two choices!”

God can give you an abundant blessing and it still will not grant you abundance if your mindset is limited. Think about this … God wants to stretch you, in every area of your life and what you’ve been praying for, finally shows up. The career you’ve been dreaming of which can give you the house, car and a few dollars in the bank but it’s in another state. The book idea that can soar you beyond your wildest imagination but it’s not what you’re used to writing about. The lead pastor position but it’s a church that is smaller than you pictured. A car but it’s not the model you pinned to your vision board. The spouse but they don’t fit the requirements on your list. The promotion but it’s not the department you wanted. The healing but it can only happen going a route you hadn’t planned on taking. And now you’re still stuck because the thoughts, in your mind, made you believe it was outside of your limits. What do you do now? Well you have two options.

Number one: You can hush and continue to bust your butt in that dead-end job. You can hush and continue to sleep in the room you grew up in at your parent’s house. You can hush and keep accepting the minimum because that’s what your mind has made you believe you’re worth. You can hush and keep stopping at the limit OR Number two: You can take the limits off. You can stop placing a limit on what you think you’re worth. You can act like the millionaire until your net worth matches your mindset. You can walk like the promotion until it reflects beside your name. You can walk like you’re healed until healing comes forth. You can act like your 2002 Nissan is a Benz until it’s parked in the garage. You can act like you are worthy of being a spouse until someone changes your last name. You can walk in the mega until it manifest itself. Baby, I may not be preaching to hundreds, down in Hollywood, MS but I act like I am. I may not have thousands in the bank but I act like I do. I may not walk in hundred-dollar shoes or dress in designer but I act like I do. You might now know my name when I walk in but I act like you do. Why? Because I’ve taken the limits off. I stopped praying for God to bless me with the amount of my monthly mortgage, I asked God to pay it off and then some. I stopped asking God for an amount to sustain me, just this week, God I need you to make me prosperous for the rest of my life. God’s word says in John 14:13, “Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.” So why are you putting a limit on your limitless God?