The Daily Devotional Blog

Daily Devotional Podcast. Follow along with blog post. Do you know that when we follow the steps that God orders for our lives, we will be better off? I know that for a fact. I had to finally let go and let God instead of trying to make everything fit into my life and doing things my way. I had to respect that God is a God of order and discipline. He does things in excellence. He's doesn't do things in an unorganized, chaotic, haphazard, or sub-standard fashion. That means He's not going to bless a mess. He's not going to put His stamp of approval on the things we want that He knows aren't good for us. It doesn't matter how much we plan and how hard we work, God is not going to bless things that He knows won't work in our favor. It doesn't matter how much blood, sweat, and tears we shed to get it. If God didn't ordain it for our lives, then it's not going to work for any considerable amount of time. It doesn't matter the accolades or

Sometimes we simply have to encourage ourselves in the Lord and if that requires dancing or whatever it is you want to do in Jesus name, do it. 2 Samuel 6 :14 says, "and David danced before the Lord with all his might." And guess what? There was absolutely nothing wrong with that. Many of us should take a cue from David by rejoicing and being glad in our circumstances. If we can dance, clap, shout, or whatever, like David danced, we are blessed, because there are some people who can't. Have you ever stopped and thought about that? Sometimes we get down about what we have and don't have when we don't even realize how so blessed we are.  If we can move even a little it, we are blessed in the city and blessed in the field and we should rejoice and be glad about that. I take a fitness class and one of the participants has a problem with one of her feet, yet guess what? She is in the fitness class dancing with complicated exercise moves. What an awesome thi

Daily Devotional Podcast. Follow along with blog post. Do you have a vision for your life or do you just go with whatever the flavor of the day is? Do you just flow with whatever comes your way? Or do you live on purpose for a purpose? I ask you this, because we all have a vision. We all have a purpose. And God wants each of us to tap into that purpose. How do you zone in on your purpose? What makes you cry? What touches your heart? What lives in your heart? Whatever those things are, they may key to the reason you were created. They may key to the reason you will make a difference in somebody else's life. You were not made by accident. You were created on purpose for a purpose.  Thus, we all must know why we are here or we're just walking the earth with no real direction. We may think we're going somewhere, but the reality is nowhere is going in us. God purposed us to go forward, not backwards and not to remain running in place.  Proverbs 2 9:18  says that w

Daily Devotional Podcast. Follow along with blog post. "Gracious words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the body ( Proverbs 16 :24).  Don't we just love the positive? Positive words. Positive people. Positive things. Positive places. Besides the fact that Jesus loves us and died for us, being positive is one of many reasons to easily love Him -- He was and is positive. He was positive when He walked the earth and He is positive today. Jesus is love. He is generous. He is awesome in power and might. Why do you think He has so many followers? It's easy to follow a positive Jesus. That's all He can be, because He's so filled with love. I'm so blessed to be in the kingdom of God. Don't you think you are, as well?  Jesus was full of gracious words. I don't know one instance in the bible when He didn't use powerful positive words to get His message to people and many followed Him too. When it comes to gracious words

Daily Devotional Podcast. Follow along with blog post. Many of us have heard the scripture,  " No weapon formed against you shall prosper,   and every tongue which rises against you in judgment   you shall condemn.   This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord,  a nd their righteousness is from Me,”  s ays the Lord" ( Isaiah 54 :17). Heavy-duty huh?   I think   many of us like that scripture, because it is so empowering. When we're up against the odds and all is coming against us it makes us feel like, 'yeah, comon enemy, that's all you've got?' It's just another reminder that no matter what and who comes against the saints of the Most High, the Lord will run interference continuously. I can only imagine how much He's shielded us from. How much He's protected us from. We don't even know the magnitude of it. Nevertheless, I do know that there is nothing that can stop the will of God. If He said you were going to go some

Daily Devotional Podcast. Follow along with blog post. Are you a laborer? If you are, you have a heart for the people. You have a heart to help others. They're not many laborers though.  Matthew 9:35-38   speaks to plentiful harvests, but very few   laborers .  That's what Jesus told the disciples when He was moved by the people -- the lost souls, who were treated harshly and were helpless. That means they were probably having a difficult time, mistreated, and underestimated by the people who came into contact with them. That was unacceptable to Jesus and it should be to us too. Where are all the grinders for Jesus? The laborers? He wants us to help the lost, because they need us to point them in His direction. If we want a plentiful harvest, we're going to have to labor and there's no way around that.  So, I ask you again, where are all the laborers? There's a plentiful harvest to be gotten. Are you willing to do whatever it takes to get the harvest Je

Daily Devotional Podcast. Follow along with blog post. The Lord is with you. The Lord will never forsake you. He will never leave you high and dry. And no matter what any of us does, He forgives us, because of His love and faithfulness towards us ( Psalm 136 ). Why would He want anything different than that when He is filled with nothing, but love? So, keep pressing, keep striving towards the prize. Keep moving. Continue to press in, press forward, and strive for the best that He wants for our lives. It doesn't matter if things have changed. It doesn't matter if our life is not what it was before. It doesn't matter what others say or don't say about us. It doesn't matter who is with us and who is against us. Nothing matters when it comes to God wanting the best for His children. He is going to come through for all of us when we live a life of pressing into the great things He has for us. Don't you give up. Don't you dare stop going forward. One

Daily Devotional Podcast. Follow along with blog post. Isaiah 61 :7 says "Instead of your shame you will receive a double portion, and instead of disgrace you will rejoice in your inheritance. And so you will inherit a double portion in your land, and everlasting joy will be yours." So, there you have it. There's no shame in your game. There's no shame or disgrace in the life you've live. It's been lived, what happened happened. There's no erasing anything. And there's no condemnation to those in Christ Jesus ( Romans 8:1 ) . He has wiped the slate clean and you have been forgiven for everything ( Hebrews 10:17/18 ).  He will give turn your mourning into gladness and sorrow into comfort and joy ( Jeremiah 31:13b ) . You are created new in Him ( 2 Corinthians 5:17 ).  So you see, there is absolutely no shame in your game. Don't bother looking back. Keep going forward. If you find your mind wandering back, immediately shift it to somethi

Genesis 1:27 says, "So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them." None of us are a mistake or an accident. God planned us and God wanted us. That's all that matters. Do we mess up sometimes? Of course, but God never messes up. He never has an accident. He never creates accidents. He has a plan for every one of our lives. We are all valuable in His eyes. So, we can’t sleep on God, we can’t box Him in. He can make something happen in or through anyone. He's God all by himself. We will be disappointed if we limit Him. We must believe that we are here for a reason. We are not just sucking air out of the atmosphere. And nothing just happens. God works masterfully. He's organized perfection. I'm writing these words for a specific reason. You're reading them for a specific reason. That's all I know. What happens from here on out is still beyond our control regarding how God will use you and I.

Did you know God has alot for you?  Like a double portion? Like double for your trouble? Like blessings for all the mess you've been through? Oh yes, His word is clear. "Instead of your shame you will receive a double portion, and instead of disgrace you will rejoice in your inheritance. And so you will inherit a double portion in your land, and everlasting joy will be yours"  ( Isaiah 61 :7).  What fabulous news that is -- that God will give you everything back you've lost, plus a whole lot more, plus double the blessings. That's right, all the hell you've been through, God will give you blessings that far exceed your pain. Then you will be able to tell the world what He did for you and others will believe your testimony of His goodness. Then they will believe God. They will know He is real. Then He will do it for them when they follow the steps. All because of your diligence in standing firm in your faith. Yes yes yes you've earned your wings. Yo

Daily Devotional Podcast. Follow along with blog post. Philippians 4 :6 says, "do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God." Do you know there are people who don't ask God for what they want? I'm serious, they don't. I know, because I used to be that person. I would ask God for the minor things, but I didn't ask for really huge things. And of course huge and big differ from person to person, but I knew what my huge was and I didn't ask. I knew what my dreams were and I didn't ask. How crazy was that? Crazy, but true. So I'm here to tell you to not to do crazy, because crazy doesn't get you what you want. Being smart gets you what you want. Being faithful gets you what you want. I ask big now, because I know I serve a big God. And if you are a child of God, you too serve a big God and He will reward those who diligently seek Him. I don't kn

Daily Devotional Podcast. Follow along with blog post. Do you know there are many features of the bible? Like knowledge, wisdom, joy, and peace, to name a few. And when it comes to peace, the bible is amazing yet again. Sometimes I listen to my bible app at night, because not only does it help me to gain knowledge, I can use it in my life to help myself and to help others. It helps me relax, in order to get to that, oh so peaceful place, after a sometimes stressful day. It's a great resource and source of peace. It really is. Have you tried it? Even if you sometimes need help sleeping, try the bible. Not that it's so boring that it will put you to sleep -- although some parts are a bit more difficult to get through than others, it will help simply because of the peace that surpasses all understanding. It's true. Philippians 4 :7 says,  "And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."  T

Daily Devotional Podcast. Follow along with blog post. Be yourself. Walk to the beat of your  own  drum. Walk in the anointing (special godly purpose) the Lord God gave you. There's too much in life to deal with so why not just stay in our lane and do whatever it is God wants us to do? When we do that we're much happier and definitely much more effective. It's about doing what we were born to do.  "He  anointed us,   set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come ( 2 Corinthians 1 :22). For much of my life I didn't operate fully in my gifts, but today is a different day. I'm no longer holding back. I'm no longer concerned about what anybody says. None of that means a thing to me anymore. I figure if time is going to pass anyway, I may as well do what God told me to do. I may as well walk in my gifts and my anointing. The same is the case with you. Don't let anybody hold you back.

Daily Devotional Podcast. Follow along with blog post. When I look at the 'Hall of Faith' in  Hebrews 11 , I can't help but think that the people who did great feats of God were the people who were the most different. Although some of them may have been uncomfortable to do the things they did, they nevertheless, did them. That's what it's going to take to do the things ordinary people won't do. Are you one of those people who isn't afraid to be different, isn't afraid to be the odd one out, and isn't afraid to stand alone? If so, then you have the makings of a great leader who God can use to do mighty things. Like many of the leaders in  Hebrews 11 , going to high levels will require being alone  and  lonely sometimes. And it will require being isolated and sometimes even alienated in order to do what God wants you to do. Being such a leader may even take being misunderstood, being labeled crazy or weird, and some even thinking you're a

Weekly Podcast. Follow along with blog post. We are still discussing TD Jakes' book, Soar! Build Your Vision from the Ground Up, and this week's podcast/blog references some of my takeaways of chapter 4, It Takes Two, Inspiration and Innovation.  On page 71 Jakes says, "we must keep our entrepreneurial dreams alive by finding a way to express our creative capabilities even within our contemporary confinements." In other words if we are working a full or part-time job, we know we can't just quit, so we should gain as much experience and value from that job, then when we're in a good place to venture out, we will be more equipped to do so. It's about being patient and realizing we are, so we don't step out too fast. I made that mistake before and I'm wiser today because of the hard lessons I learned from it. I believe God will open doors when we're ready as long as we stay in tune to his ear. Jeremiah 33:3 says, ‘Call to me and I will a

Daily Devotional Podcast. Follow along with blog post. God does everything in excellence, doesn't He? So we have a great and majestic role model.  God is not at all a half-stepper. And He's not a man that lies, so when He does things He does things just as His word says, in order and perfectly. He operates in a way where people take notice. When God is in it, it is build like a rock. Yes He's God like that and His standards of excellence are the highest ever. And since we are children of the Most High, we have the ability (and responsibility) to do things as He would -- to the best of our ability.  Yet, I have to start with myself and honestly and personally stating that, sometimes doing everything in order, is easier said than done. There was a time a couple of years ago when I just sat around and didn't move on my gifts. I was lazy and inconsistent. TV, radio, and the internet were my fake-friends and I didn't read on a normal schedule either. So

This is Sha Sha, my avatar, so her face is based on my face. F ollow along with blog post below. Did you know God will not hold back all He has for us? We may not get everything we want, but let me assure you, we will most definitely get everything we need. If we will just trust Him to do what He said He would do in our lives, we will have all of our needs met and many of our wants. Yet we read God's word and we pray without ceasing, but we're not walking out what we say we believe. Why? Either we trust God or we don't. We have to push through even when things don't seem to be working in our favor. We cannot give up. When you watch super athletes, notice how they don't stop even when they're down. They continue on despite being beaten up on, despite that they may be in last place. And whether they come back to win or not, they stayed in to the end. That is the blessing. They never abandoned what they believed in, so they can still be called winners an

Daily Devotional Podcast. Follow along with blog post. “In the morning, Lord, You hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before You and wait expectantly” ( Psalm 5 :3).  Yes, God hears our prayers .  Not only in the morning, but anytime. Remember that. We need to   know that God is there for us always. The time of day really doesn’t matter, because He's there in the midnight hour, in the noon day,  and  in the morning. That's right, His spirit still hovers over the earth, so keep that in mind whenever you want to "supper" with Him. Let’s focus on the morning though, because that’s a time when many of us are starting our day and it’s an opportune time to spend with the Lord. It doesn’t have to be for hours. Whatever your personality and relationship is with the Lord will determine how long and what that looks like. Just know you don’t have to do what another person is doing. Whatever works for you and God, go with it, because He hears your voice any

Daily Devotional Podcast. Follow along with blog post. 2 Corinthians 5 :17  says, "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come."  You can walk in confidence in knowing that, because it's about knowing who you are, what makes your tick, and what drives you. Do you know who you are? When we know who we  really  are, then we know who we are in Christ. We no longer look back at who we used to be, we look at who we are now and who we are becoming. We focus on the new creations, not on what's old and passed away. When you know yourself you don't have to convince others to like you, to love you, or beg anybody to do anything for you or with you. I'm not saying we don't need people, because we all need people. I'm just saying that when we know who we are, we know how to operate from a loving, godly, peaceful, and strong place of confidence and we don't need anybody's approval. No bragging,

Daily Devotional Podcast. Follow along with blog post. Do you have goals? Do you have something you've wanted to do for a long time, but haven't done yet? Do you think you've run out of time? Do you think you've missed your opportunity? I've come to tell you that if you're listening to this podcast or reading this blog post, it's not too late for you to do anything you've always wanted to do, because you're still breathing. And apparently you're still in your right mind, so you can still do what you want to do. Time is still on your side and God is definitely not finished with you yet! Know that. If time is going to pass anyway, why not just do your your thing and be productive? Have you ever said, 'no I can't do that, because it takes too long?' If so, those words are a no-go. They stopped me for many years and they shouldn't be given another nanosecond of air time. And just in case you didn't know, the founde

Daily Devotional Podcast. Follow along with blog post. Do you know, Jesus will give us the keys to the kingdom of heaven? If we let Him, that is. Do you want to be used by Jesus to do great works? Do you want to tap into all He has for you? It’s the choice we all have to make at some point. In  Matthew 16 :19 Jesus said,  "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven."  That's what Jesus told Peter regarding the power Jesus had given him and how he could  continue Christ’s work on earth in preaching the gospel and declaring God's will to men. He also wanted to armed with the same authority He had. That didn't mean take the place of Jesus. There's only one Jesus. It meant walk in authority, leadership, confidence, and the power to draw all men (people) to the Lord.  Today nothing has changed. We have that same authori

Daily Devotional Podcast. Follow along with blog post. Do you know that faith with works is alive, but faith without putting some effort behind it, is dead?  James 2:14-26   is proof of that.   In other words, nothing will move in our lives if we don't move.  God didn't just create us to wait around for things to happen. He created us to  make  things happen, right? Remember, we can do all things through Christ who gives us the strength. And  Philippians 4 :13  is also   proof of   that. What I'm trying to convey here is that we can't just sit around and hope upon hope that our chances for that golden opportunity will just drop out of the sky. We may be waiting forever. Although I am far from achieving all that God has for me, I had to bust a move to get things going. I was waiting and waiting and nothing happened until I finally sat down at my laptop and started writing and the same for my podcast. Did I know exactly what I was going to write or what I wou

Daily Devotional Podcast. Follow along with blog post. "Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert" ( Isaiah 43 :19). You heard it right folks. Isaiah 43:19. God said He would do a new thing and if He said it, it's a done deal. It doesn't matter if we see it naturally. When it's done in heaven, it's a guarantee that it's done on earth. Do you not perceive it? Perceive it, because God is doing something new in your life, which I see as a definite positive. Yes, God is springing up something new and behold, the old is passing away - fizzling out. It's true, because God will make a way out of no way. It's true since God is the God of the impossible  and  the possible. And it's also true since God is used to defying what man said could not be done, should not be done, and would not be done. He's done it many times before and He

Remember, Jesus is still Lord and when we trust in Him with all our heart, and not rely on our own understanding, He will bring us through ( Proverbs 3 :5). When we do that, we will be strong with anything that comes our way, because our strength comes from the Lord. When we do that we will be strong enough to conquer the obstacles that will surely come. What have you been through? Whatever it is, guess what? None of your challenges have been for not. They are too make you stronger. I know from experience that you will get through every struggle, challenge, obstacle, or anything else. And you will come out stronger and better. God is the one and only God of any and everything. Don't think He won't bring you through, because if He brought me through He will do it for you. We just have to believe Him, listen to Him, read and trust His word (it's paramount that his word is in us), pray without ceasing, and be with the people who will build us up. That’s called faith and G

Daily Devotional Podcast. Follow along with blog post. Do you know you were born on purpose for a purpose? Oh yes and do you know because of that, better days are coming for you? God is aware of what He is still going to have you to do in this life. And He is aware that no weapon that is plotted, connived, schemed, or conspired against you, will ever harm you. He is aware that all you've gone through and all you may be going through, is a divine set-up to get you to the point where you will come out victorious with something to talk about. Yes and amen. You will have something to say and something to do. Your created life was done deliberately for you to encourage and uplift those who need you. So, God is going to use you and use you in a mighty way. Better days are coming. They have to come, because God's magnificent plan over your life is filled with abundance. So, just in case you're down, lift your head up. Just in case you're down, raise your eyes to the M