Daily Devotional Day & Night

HAPPY TUESDAY!

We’ve been learning over the last few weeks, how important it is to live in a praise state of mind, with a heart full of thanksgiving. When we live in such a way, it frees us up from the murmuring, complaining, double-mindedness, and blatant sin. I challenge you, for one week [if you don’t do this already], before you get up out of bed drop to your knees in prayer. Thank God for the gift of another day, as well as for all of the blessings you’ll receive. Then surround yourself with positive music, friends, have positive thoughts, and even try reading your bible. I was just making a note to myself, that if I can find an extra hour in the day to go to work out my body, I can match that time in working out my Spiritual muscles as well. I was listening to Dr. Stanley this morning and he said, “We need to stop making God the dessert and make Him the main course”. That was one of those “ah ha” moments for me, because I never thought of it that way. Just as we tithe our income, we have to tithe our time—give God our first fruits, and He’ll bring blessings tenfold upon the rest. Today’s black history quote is, “Living a life is like constructing a building: if you start wrong, you'll end wrong.” ~ Maya Angelou. Enjoy the remainder of your day, and be blessed family!

Today’s scriptures are about recognizing and understanding our sinful nature. You’ll find in the Word of God that the thing most important to Him is our love. However, we can’t truly love Him with all of our heart, until we experience the spirit of humility. The word humility is defined “the quality of being modest or respectful”, which is definitely not a bad thing. In God’s eyes when we learn to live with humility, we’re better open to His love. One of the things He hates most is pride, which is the absolute opposite of humility. Pride is one of the reasons why so many Christians go unfulfilled, and stray away from God. If you ask the average Christian if they loved God, their answer would be “Yes I love God with all my heart”, but they’ll turn right around and live like the rest of the world.

Jesus gave up His life because of our sinful nature, so He understands our selfishness and pride. This is the main reason why He’s always waiting for us to humble ourselves and repent. We can’t be redeemed until we ask for redemption. Why do you think the All-knowing, All-powerful God requires us to confess, ask, seek, and knock, and He’s omniscient? He requires this so that we can experience humility, which will in turn help us properly receive. When have faith in Him, and love Him with everything we have, we’ll reap abundantly.

God knows that it’s not one human being on this earth without sin. Since the resurrection of Jesus Christ, sin is no longer the issue in our life, but it’s the failure to repent that’s the issue. It’s not enough to confess our sins and ask for forgiveness, but we must go to God with a sincere heart, with all intentions on not committing that sin again (notice I said “intention”). God knows our heart, and so He knows if we’re genuinely remorseful for sinning against Him, or if we’re just going through the motions. Remember, it’s not about the sin itself, but about humility, repentance, and loving Him with all of our heart (it always comes back to this).

Nobody is perfect, so instead of pointing out the flaws of other people, it’s up to us to look in the mirror. None of us are above the strength that Christ gives us, which is given equally and freely to every believer. God has a will for each of us, and He gives us the tools to complete His will, but it’s up to us to find out how to use them. I somewhat feel like Paul, when he spoke to about the thorn in his flesh. He said: …Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Cor. 12:7-10)

There’s a test around every corner, and when we grow in our Spirit, the tests become more evident. There are so many things that I look back on now, and think wow I was being tested and I failed miserably, but now I’m able to hear the Holy Spirit’s warnings [most of the time], so I follow His guidance to overcome temptation. The only way I received this breakthrough is that I’m constantly acknowledging my weaknesses, yet claiming the strength of Jesus Christ. As soon I pass judgment on others, or think that I’m too “holy” to make such frivolous mistakes, the Holy Spirit has ways to reminds me that I am only human, and to never say never

If you’ve been shying away from accepting Jesus as your Lord and Savior, because you somehow think you’re lifestyle is too “worldly”, or that you’re too sinful to be a Christian, I pray that you understand that it’s not just you, but it’s all of us. This is the way that we’re created, and Jesus offers us freedom from the bondage of sin. A

Life without Christ may be fine on surface, but try a life with Him. All God requires is for you to humble yourself and confess your sins, ask for forgiveness, and ask Jesus to be Lord of your life. He doesn’t require you to stop your old habits, or try to change who you are before you do this, because you’re incapable of doing it on your own. He’ll take you just as you are—flaws and all. Join the club, I’m as flawed as the next man, it may not be as many or the same types, but I’m flawed nonetheless. However, I know the promises of God, and He promised to love me no matter what, and when I confessed Jesus as my Lord of my life, He begun a good work in me, and it won’t be complete it until I reach Heaven. He’ll do the same for you! Take a few moments to take the God Quiz right now, and be free! My favorite verses today are: To will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. (Romans 7:18-19)

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Daily Devotional Day & Night

HAPPY FRIDAY!

I pray all is well with everyone, and you're enjoying the end of another workweek (for most). I'm doing well, a little tired and worn out by the rain. I enjoyed the basketball banquet last night, it was interesting, but the food was really good. The Dubliner Restaurant is in the lobby of a hotel in northwest DC. I have my “mini class reunion” tomorrow I'm so excited! I haven't seen some of these people in over 13 years, so it's going to be really fun. I apologize for not sending the devotional yesterday, but I didn't have time to do it. I'd like to wish my cousin Lamont a happy birthday. I pray you have a wonderful weekend, and whatever you do, do it for the Lord.

Today's scriptures are about avoiding boasting and pride. One of my favorite verses of scripture is, " I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." (Philippians 4:13) This verse has gotten me through some tough times, because it helps me realize where my strength comes from, and understand that I’m not alone in this fight called life. God has a way of putting us in situations where we have to depend solely no Him, and when we humble ourselves, we'll be delivered and/or strengthened. How many times have you prayed for something and received it, and given yourself the credit for it? We do it all the time, and that's a dangerous thing. We judge people, and totally forget to evaluate ourselves. We sometimes look down on others because of their situation or circumstance, completely forgetting that it's only by the grace of God that we're not in their situation. Pride is like a double-edged sword, because it could cause us to take on the wrong attitude. Pride is like a pebble that if dropped in the ocean, it could possibly cause a small wave or a tsunami. There's a difference between being proud of your accomplishments and growth, while giving God all of the honor and the glory, and just walking around with your nose turned up, with a super man (or woman) complex. What we must realize is without Christ we are nothing. God gives us all things, and it's by His grace that we even wake up in the morning, and it's important for us to understand that. He has created us for His purpose, and He takes time to grow us up, and mold us into righteous human beings. He expects us to share our testimonies with others, in hopes that it would touch someone’s life. In the flesh we are not worthy of the many wonderful blessings that He gives us everyday. However, through the blood of Christ, we've become worthy, and we must be sure to recognize His place in that. Mark 7:20-23 says: ...“What comes out of a man, that defiles a man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within and defile a man.” These are the things we should be careful to avoid, and the best way to do that is through humbleness, meekness, and always giving God the honor and praise. When we start taking the praise and worship we put ourselves in the place of a god, and that plants and inferior spirit in us, and make us feel impervious. For example, in the food industry the Executive Chefs run big kitchens, and they have Sous Chefs, a large staff of cooks, and stewards, which makes their jobs much easier. The Executive Chef gets all of the praise, and granted they are running the operation, but he/she couldn't do it without the people around them. In some cases this will make them too proud, and they might start to treat the staff wrong, and overwork the Sous Chefs. Eventually they fall because of pride, and this is why a lot of restaurants or businesses fall, a failure to recognize, thank, and praise their help. This is an analogy of our lives, because we're in control of what we do on some levels, we have free will, we decide to choose right or wrong. God gives us a number of components to ensure we're taken care of, such as Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, and a legion of Angels for protection. It's because of Him (them) that we're even breathing. Do you understand how many car accidents He's helped us avoid, or bad situations He's removed us from? Do you know how important it is when you're minutes away from having a car accident and you avoid it, to say “thank you Lord for saving me”, instead of saying, "I sure am a good driver". Or, when you receive a promotion at work, to say, "Thank you Lord for the strength you've given me to accomplish this", instead of saying, "I sure worked hard for this and I deserve it"? Having the right attitude in life strengthens our relationship with God, hence allowing us to fall right into His will, which equals, peace, joy, and happiness. Proverbs 29:23 sums up what I'm trying to say: A man’s pride will bring him low, But the humble in spirit will retain honor. Pleasing God is much more important than impressing man, so be careful not to brag, boast, or forget to acknowledge Him in your blessings. Jesus is the best thing that has ever happened to me, He's my ever-present help in my time of need. Every good thing that has come out of my life comes from God, and without Him I am nothing. I believe that in my heart, and because of it He's opened lots of doors for me, and the people around me that I'm a vessel to. Thank you Father for your love, mercy, and grace, I love you, in Jesus' Name, Amen. If you don't know Jesus for yourself, I suggest you get to know Him, and watch your life transform for the better. I say all the time that wealth, prestige, and pride will not get you into heaven, and surely won't guarantee your peace and happiness on earth, only Jesus could give you that. My favorite verse today is: By the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. (1 Corinthians 15:10)

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