The Daily Devotional Blog

Esther is one of my favorite women in the bible. I like her for many reasons. Namely, that she was focused and goal oriented. For instance: 1. She prepared. She did the hard work and got herself in order before she went to meet the king, her future husband. She had no idea if he would choose her. She just did what she had to do in order to go to the next level. So she accomplished what she had come to do, marry the king. 2. She listened. There's nothing like having someone in your corner with wisdom and who wants great things for you. Esther had two of those people. She had Mordecai, her cousin and Hegai, the king's eunuch (guard over the women/palace official). When Mordecai told her what to do to set herself apart (by not revealing too much), that's what she did. When Hegai told her what to do to gain the king's favor, she did those things. And she got what she came for, she married the king. My point is, Esther kept her mind on the prize. She prepare

There are so many things I like about God. So many. One of those things is when I want to know what to do, all I have to do is pray and ask Him to reveal the "secret" things about any given situation. Yes, I just have a conversation with the Lord. I communicate what's in my heart, what I'm thinking, or what I'm going through. He always answers. All of us have that ability. In other words, we have been given the power to tap into the Source, the great I Am , the mighty among all mighty, in order to get clarity about situations. Remember Daniel? He was a wisemen, a prophet in the bible. Daniel didn't back down to fear. He used prayer and wisdom to get to the answers that would help him get things done. And God revealed information to Daniel when King Nebuchadnezzar was about to take the wisemen out. God reveals information the same way with me and you.

I often wonder sometimes how many times I've missed God during certain times of my life. As I reflect on the times He has spoken in the ways I clearly missed, I think wow that could have been an opportunity. But the danger in that thinking is that I can get bogged down with living in regret and disappointment. I refuse to reflect with regret and despair. I rather reflect and think of those times as learning milestones, a test for my testimony, and to help me (and others) go to the next level. Yes, it's a conscious choice I make to maintain positive thinking for growth. What this allows me to know is that God still speaks to me. And it's not too late for me to get things right and in order for progress and success with the strength He's given me. I want to hear Him from here on out and then I want to move accordingly. That's why I've been saying lately, speak to me Lord. And guess what? He does. 

When you want to know what to do or tell on somebody or get things right, you don't have to use your chain of command. Just start on the top, go directly to the boss, go to God. He'll help you. Yes, we have that luxury of going over people's heads, passing our supervisor, overlooking management. We can go straight to the source and get things handled. That's right, God is the beginner and the finisher of all things. He's the president of the company, each and every company. He's the big boss, the head huncho, the real McCoy. Now go straight to his office and tell Him, because He's always in his office.

For those of you who have been underestimated, I'm among you. Yes I have been passed over many times. But guess what? God never overlooks us. He will catapult us by leaps & bounds. There are many instances in the bible where people were underestimated. Take David for instance. When God told Samuel to look for a king, David was the last one brought in to be chosen among his brothers as the future king. But look at God. God had already chosen David before man did. So it doesn't matter if people overlook you or count you out. What matters is what God said He would do and the reason He put you on this earth. In other words, whatever God has for you to do, will get done. So there's zero reason to worry about people who tried to stop you, who are trying to stop you, or who will try to stop you. The writing is obvious. God never underestimates us. And that my dear friends, is what is most important.

In order for me to continue to hear the voice of the Lord, I simply must practice. For instance, last night I was supposed to call someone (or at least text) and I didn't. Then this morning that same person came in my spirit and I said, 'oh Lord, I should have made contact last night.' Why didn't I? One reason is that I procrastinate. I was always one of those people. I put things off that don't seem that important and that's not good. I'm just being honest when I say I procrastinate, because I want to repent to the Lord by asking for forgiveness and be delivered from that thing. Procrastination has probably held up a few blessings, that when totaled could have resulted in something great. I'm tired of doing that and I'm going to fix it. Being quiet to hear God's voice. In order to move on, to push through, to go to the next level, we have to hear and listen to God's voice. How else do we know we're on the right track? The one thin

Proverbs 27 :17 says, Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another . What that means to me is that the people who are around us, the ones we let in our lives, are the people who should make us better and vice versa. I am glad to finally have friends who make me better. If there ever comes a time when it seems they are not good food for the soul, then I will run fast and in a hurry. For now though, I have good people around me. I have people I love and who love me and that is pretty priceless, wouldn't you say? I hope you have people around you who are inviting you to good things and who are striving to live a life free of pain, because that makes life a whole lot better.

The warrior spirit. Ready? Power. Strength. Resilience. Push through. Flying high. The warrior spirit is in the person who doesn't stop when pressure comes. They fight until the war is over. They never give up. They may get scared and tired every now and then, but they keep fighting. That's what any great man or woman in battle does. He or she never departs from the post, never aborts the mission. Stays until game over . Are you a warrior?

David , like Esther , is one of my favorite people in the bible. David was a whole lot of things. He was a shepherd of sheep, he was a loyal friend, he was a poet, he was a mighty warrior, he was a king and much more. My pastor, Pastor Henderson, at New Beginnings Church in Matthews , NC talks a lot about David. And I have decided I want to learn more about David for myself. So I have began a study, if you will, on David. My study right now focuses mainly on reading about him in the bible. I intend on reading other books about him, as well. What I am finding is that David consulted with God in just about everything he did. Particularly when he wanted to know whether or not to go into battle, David seeked the Lord, he called upon the Lord for direction, and the Lord told him what to do. So far I am in the book of 2 Samuel and there hasn't been a military battle David has lost. Isn't it awesome, when we consult God, how He will direct our paths? David was victorious, bec

Sometimes we have those times when our life changes based on a single event. It's a event that Don't look back. becomes a game changer, a defining moment, a time when you know you will never be the same. This is what happened to me back in March, 2014 during our church fast. I had a meeting with a man of God. And I was reminded how the Lord saw me and what He wanted for my life. In that meeting, I cried one of the last cries about past situations I was letting control me, I was letting control my life. After that meeting, I still cried, but it was my last cry about situations that dogged me for years. I cry no more, at least not about those things. Today I am a new creation. A new creation in Christ. What an awesome feeling.

Thank God for true people, true friends, the people we can count on. You know how we can tell the people who are in our corner, in our camp, on our team? When we mess up (and we will) , they will still like us, they will still love us, they will still accept us and they won't change how they treat us. I'm not talking about "yes" people who tell us what we want to hear. I'm talking about the people who will tell us the truth with no judgment and who have already forgiven us before we even mess up. Isn't that awesome? Those are the people to keep close.

How many worshippers in the house? You better open your mouth. You better put up your hands. That's right, dance like David danced. Praise him like David did. Praise the Lord, yall. God loves it when we worship Him. And worshipping Him changes things. I feel the energy sometimes when the entire room praises and worships Him. I felt it Sunday at church. In fact, I've been feeling it lately, like I never quite have before. It's amazing.

Sometimes we are unfairly judged. It may be because of something we said, something we didn't say, something we did, or something we didn't do. If we feel we have been unfairly judged, the good news is that the feeling is temporary. God's word is always strength and comfort in the midst of it all. I looked up scripture concerning judgment and I stumbled across this one:           Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment" John 7:24. What this scripture means to me is although I may look a certain way, I am different than you may think. It doesn't matter what was said about me, if a person doesn't really know me, then they shouldn't think they know me, right? So, we must keep our head up and keep doing the same things we've been doing, because consistency is not overrated. Remember that.

There's no place better, no place stronger than God's House. The House of the Lord is the most powerful house in the world. More powerful than my house, more powerful than your house, powerful than the White House, more powerful than any house. The Lord's house is the house that rules. It's the powerhouse and the house of: Strength Comfort Fellowship Peace Healing You name it, the list goes on and on If it's good then it dwells in, from, and about the House of the Lord. Your one-stop shopping for all things Christ. It's just not the same being anywhere else. Aren't you the blessed one.

That's right, push through. Don't stop talking to God. Continue to hear His voice of direction. Seek His face in all you do, because He is the voice of reason. You know what all of this is, right? It's your prayer life.  Yes, it's your PUSH (Pray Until Something Happens).  Keep doing that and watch God.

Did you know that palm trees bend, but they don't break? They have the amazing capacity to weather storms and constantly stand, because their root system is wide and firm. Isn't that amazing? The palm tree is one of the most fascinating trees I've ever heard about. It's fascinating for many reasons, namely, its resiliency. Its bounce back. Its ability to literally weather the storm. The palm tree doesn't fall down...well not completely. It's left standing after all is said and done. Just like you.

Proverbs 11:2 says , "when pride comes, then comes disgrace,  but with humility comes wisdom." What an obvious statement, yet people often disregard it, especially when promotion comes. The big head sometimes creeps in when we start thinking we did it all ourselves. You know what that's called, right? It's called pride. And pride is a limited emotion. It normally ends up hitting a brick wall and breaking fast. Thus, l ittle do some realize, promotion comes from one person. The Lord. Period. End of story, which means that God puts decisions on man's heart to act as the go-between to promote or elevate someone. God makes that happen. Not any man (or woman). The moral of the story is that we better acknowledge who it is who really promotes and elevates us and thank Him every chance we get. That way, when we are sure to give Him the glory, our promotion, our elevation will stay in tact. Humility over pride wins out all the time. That's how we stay on top.

True story: About a year ago I had to take an important 3 hour drive. I decided to take the back roads to save time, so the roads were unfamiliar. When I left the house it was raining a little, but nothing too bad. About an hour into the drive, the rain and wind got worse. The rain came more and the wind blew harder. Very hard. I was in a storm.  Since I had to be there by 7am, I had to leave my house at 4am, so it was dark the entire time. It was even more isolating because I was the only one on the road most of the time. The road had many unknown curves, inclines and declines. It was scary and even dangerous at times. As the storm got worse I got more afraid. I was alone and I was cold because the heat in my vehicle was out. I drove very slowly and at times I wanted to turn around to go back home or pull over to wait it out, but I thought if I turn around I would be back to square 1 and if I stopped I may get stuck out there, so I continued to drive. Almost the entire drive

God is the rule changer, the deal maker, the changer of many things . He makes things happen that shouldn't normally happen. Yes, he is in the life-changing miracle-making business. If anyone says it can't be done, the next moment in a split second, that thing has changed. So this is my self-talk when I want something to happen that maybe shouldn't happen naturally:      If I don't try, how is it going to happen? They have to hire somebody, why not me? They have to sell that house or car to somebody, why not me? They have to get their college enrollment up, why not me? They have to increase their gym membership, why not me? In other words, things will change if God says they will change. That makes it so anything is possible. My mother used to always say, "people do what they wanna do." So if God says people will hook you up, then that's what they will do it even if their regular rules or procedures might dictate otherwise. God makes al

I like what Paul wrote in Ephesians 6 . He encouraged us to put on the armor (the shield, the protection, the defense) of God for us to be strong, mighty, and influential in the land. That is one of the main reasons we exist. I am going to break down and interpret each line of scripture that Paul talks about, because they are powerful words. The following is what Paul said: 10  Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. The Lord will give us what we need (the strength, power and boldness) to move on with our goals. 11  Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. Trust in God and stay atuned to Him. That way we will be able to stand boldly against any plot against us. 12  For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. When people and things come against us, it

God exudes love . Everything about Him is good, loving, and gentle. God is not mean or the dark. He is kind and His light is bright. He is the light of the world . Who else can say that? Nobody. No thing. No place. So that means God can never hate you, only the opposite, He can only love you. Because the truth says, God is Love. Not much to write here. It's just that simple.

The Lord will give us what we long for in our hearts, but it will cost us something. We have to count up the costs. We have to be careful what we wish for. 

The Lord is truly the greatest. No person, place or thing is greater than He is. Period. End of story. That's great, because He makes all things good for us, His children. His kingdom.  There's a song by Vashawn Mitchell called, Greater. I love it, because the lyrics are so telling. S ome of the lyrics go like this:  " Searched all over, couldn't find nobody.  I looked high and low, still couldn't find nobody. Nobody greater, nobody greater than you Lord."  The search is over. There is only one person in this world, in this universe, who is the greatest. He is the great "I Am." He is everything. Without Him, we are void of life, void of love, and void of peace. We are nothing and can do nothing even if it seems we are doing something. We cannot truly exist without Him. I'm talking about Jesus Christ, the great Savior of the world. Let those words get into your spirit, let them soak up who you are as you continue to know Him, because no p

In the midst of a storm, no need to panic. That won't work. In the midst of drowning, no need to panic. That won't work. Operate with calm, in a cool fashion, in a collected manner, and you will be able to function much better and WIN. People also respect people who handle things that way because people think it's an organized and professional way to go about challenging situations. More of the Good News:  "The LORD gives strength to his people; the LORD blesses his people with peace." Psalm 29:11

Why your Testimony is Important Many people believed in Jesus because of one woman’s testimony. She was the Samaritan woman who spoke to Jesus at the well. After her encounter with Jesus, her life changed. She wasn't the same person, so people thought wow if she can change so can I.  After the people heard her testimony, t hey said, “we no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.” This is the story from John 4:39-42 . And the moral of the story is, share your testimony, your story, your journey about how the Lord impacted your life and people will respond. Watch.

Change is hard, isn't it? But it must happen in order for growth to occur. Usually it's the hard things we experience that allow us to value who we are. It was that change that took us to the next level even if we went kicking and screaming, we are better for it. So we have to embrace those things that challenge us. Think about it, aren't you much better for the bitter pain you went through in order to get to the other side? It wasn't easy. And of course you wouldn't want to go through any of it again, but the lesson was worth where you are now. Yes all of those changes you went through, brought out the best in you so it wasn't all that bad now, was it? The process from a caterpillar to a butterfly is a painful one, but well worth it. Now you are even more beautiful and you can fly .  

Stay in the race. No matter how hard things get, k eep going. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer . Romans 12:12    

Don't grow weary of well doing because joy really does come in the morning or at some point. Problems are temporary, so keep praying and keep hope alive. Don't abandon that desire that longs in your heart, because what you dream about hasn't come yet. Look, I know how that feels. I'm in the same boat. I've been waiting for some things for so long that it's easy to just give up especially when those thoughts come in to abandon the dream.  But I know what the Lord said about me and I refuse to go let go of it. So keep on keeping on. You must not abandon the mission. That means, do not and I repeat, do not grow weary of well doing. You've come too far to go back now.

Stop being anxious, stop worrying, and start speaking positive words over your life. If any negative thoughts come in, go to automatic shift mode and quickly change those thoughts. It works. You will find you are able to relax, everything relaxes. Try it. I do it all the time and I'm telling you, it works. The proof: Proverbs 12:25 says, "Anxiety in a man's heart weighs him down, but a good word makes him glad." So speak good words and listen to good words. Then watch what happens. You will be calm, cool, and collected. Those are other words for relaxation.

It's amazing how we forget about God when we feel we are successful (ie, status, position, title, job, money, houses, cars, etc). Yet when we were down and out, when we had nothing, we were crying at the altar and we gave God much of our time.  As God elevates us, we can't give in to the temptations that will come around. You've heard it before, new levels new devils. We have to be careful if we are to be fruitful and multiply.  So as God blesses us with those things we desire, we have to continue to praise, honor and worship Him. We must make the time to stay prayed up, read His word, praise and honor His holy name, and sing His praises. We must stay humble because going on without God will be an empty temporary existence. As we move to new heights we have to tell ourselves I won't go, Not without God .

We have to watch the people who tell us we're crazy for pursuing a DREAM they don't understand.  Just know that God birthed a DREAM in you for HIS glory. Not to make a bunch of scaredy cats comfortable because they're too scared to live out their own dreams.  Trust me, I know it's hard, but keep doing your thing and watch God. God put that dream in you to be blessed to be a blessing. That means the Lord will give you abundant resources in order to help people. Isn't Jesus awesome?  'Our dreams are to help someone else. Comfort is to help ourselves' ~Bruce Wilkinson'

I stumbled across a great book yesterday. It's called The Success Principles, by Jack Canfield. He said many things that resonated with me and some of the people I know.  For instance, Canfield said:   "You will never become successful as long as you continue to blame someone or something else for your lack of success. If you are going to be a winner,  you have to acknowledge the truth—it is you who took the actions, thought the thoughts, created the feelings, and made the choices that got you to where you now are. It was you!" Isn't THAT the truth? Although I didn't have time to read much of the book, I thought, wowwww yes that was me. Yet I have come to the realization that I have been my worst enemy when it came to accomplishing the things I should have accomplish, but no mas . No more holding up the many blessings and successes the Lord has for me. It's never too late to get what's mine. That's right. The Lord said I will restore all

You know why you're awesome? Because God does not make junk. It's impossible. It will never happen. You know why? Because God is perfect ( Matthew 5:48 ). Isn't that great? It's great for many reasons. One reason why it's great is that you are not an accident. It doesn't matter how you were conceived, it doesn't matter the mistakes your mother and father made, you are awesome. God knew exactly what He was doing way before your parents did, He knows what He's doing now, and He will always know what He's doing.  So that means since God is perfect, you are perfectly made too and if you are perfectly made, you are indeed awesome. Get it? Good.

It's amazing how we're too busy for God. Too busy to give Him a bit of our precious time. Too busy to go to the house of the Lord because we have too much going on. Too busy to have a conversation with Him because there's not an ounce of time left. Too busy to read His word because how in the world can we squeeze in another thing? What if God was too busy for us? Then what?

A golfer was once asked how he was able to win so many championships. He said, "I see every shot in my mind before my body gets involved." So that's how he wins. In other words, he wins before he wins. Before he even makes a move he paints the picture, he gets the image, he sees himself successful. Awesome.

Confidence looks good on you No matter what, we must believe in ourselves. Remember how I laid around (mostly at night) feeling sorry for myself? Well guess what? I wasted a lot of time just waiting for things to happen, waiting for things to fall out of the sky. Guess what else? It doesn't work like that. You have to get up and get going. I always thought I was the most confident girl in the room. Now I know that wasn't the case, because confidence is when we're with people and when we're by ourselves. What do you in your alone time? How do you feel? That's when we know how much confidence we really have. Confidence is silent and confidence is loud, but not the rowdy kind of loud. The effective kind of loud where we're making a positive difference and making an impact. Believe and you will achieve  As I go through life I realize what I need to do to put that confidence to work no matter where I am. How I make that work is by listening to God'

So I'm reading 2 Chronicles 20 , the story of how King Jehoshaphat defeated the armies of the Moabites and Ammonites (with some of the Meunites). I read it because during Sunday's sermon, Pastor Henderson, my pastor at New Beginnings Church in Matthews, NC, suggested we read it for perspective about praise. Pastor Henderson preached about the praise we all have in us that will help us fight our battles. Like Jehoshaphat, all we have to do is praise God, show up, and collect the plunder of our enemies. Yes the haters, because we all have haters, the people who wish us harm and may even try to do us harm, the people who want to take us out. Yet that can't dismay us. It can't make us give up. We can't let that scare us. When we sing the Lord's praises, 2 Chronicles 20:17 says, You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the Lord will give you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out to face them tom

So I'm reading 2 Chronicles 20 , the story of how King Jehoshaphat defeated the armies of the Moabites and Ammonites (with some of the Meunites). I read it because during Sunday's sermon, Pastor Henderson, my pastor at New Beginnings Church in Matthews, NC, suggested we read it for perspective about praise. Pastor Henderson preached about the praise we all have in us that will help us fight our battles. Like Jehoshaphat, all we have to do is praise God, show up, and collect the plunder of our enemies. Yes the haters, because we all have haters, the people who wish us harm and may even try to do us harm, the people who want to take us out. Yet that can't dismay us. It can't make us give up. We can't let that scare us. When we sing the Lord's praises, 2 Chronicles 20:17 says, You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the Lord will give you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out to face

What is success to me? So many things, namely, how we do what we do, how we work when no one else is around. Integrity. Having people count on us without lies coming out our mouths every 2 seconds. Success is being reliable. Success is hard work and showing ourselves approved by God.

The laughing robot goes through life in a robotic state. It goes to work, goes to church maybe, goes to school maybe, takes the kids to the next practice of some sort, goes home, fixes dinner, watches TV, then goes to bed crying itself to sleep or crying throughout the night. Yes laughing robots cry too, but only late at night when no one is around. It awakes all throughout the night in a state of sadness, depression, despair, and no real hope. The next day the process starts all over again, because it is programmed for laughter, fake happiness and facades of joy. The laughing robot goes through life laughing whenever it needs to laugh, talks whenever it needs to talk, and acts as though it's happy. Deep down it's not happy though. It has no joy and fear has taken the place of its faith. Even in church the laughing robot believes things will get better, yet when it gets back home the process begins again. The laughing robot's soul has died. It's a black hole of not