The Daily Devotional Blog

Some time ago I had a conversation with somebody who criticized a speaker/leader I know. The speaker was someone who speaks often and has a high-profile position in the community. He was criticized because the person didn't like a few things he said, although the person still supported what he stood for. In other words he wasn't so far off to say or believe something so crazy that people didn't follow him anymore. He was still on point in his message. It's just the person didn't like something he said and how he said it. My stance was that it is normal for anyone to stumble, mess up, and fall short sometimes even if that person is a high-profile speaker. I told her to cut him some slack considering how much he actually spoke. Who gets everything right all the time? Not even Lebron does and he is the best basketball player ever :). The more we do the more chances we have to stumble and the more we do the more chances we have to get things right. So there really...

That's right, I'm getting "high as a kite" in the Lord God.  And it's the best high there is. There's nothing that will ever come close to how high we can get with the Lord; how high we can go with Him. " For the Lord Most High is awesome,   the great King over all the earth " ( Psalm 47 :2). The sky is not the limit. There is no limit with God because He's unlimited. That means no matter the opposition, we can get high with Him. No matter the pressure, we can get high with Him. No matter the heartache, we can get high with Him. No matter what, we can get high with Him. "I cry out to God Most High, to God, who vindicates me. He sends from heaven and saves me, rebuking those who hotly pursue me. God sends forth his love and his faithfulness" ( Psalm 57 :2/3). And when we get high with God there is no limit in what we can do and where we will go. Therefore, I am going to continue getting high with Him and I'm going to stay...

I don't know about you, but I know I don't give thanks to God enough. I look around and although things are not always ideal, I am blessed and highly favored by the Lord. I know it. How about you? Would you say that about yourself? All of us really should. We are so blessed to have what we have and as long as we're not wasting our time comparing ourselves with others and missing out on what's important, then we truly have alot if we have Christ Jesus. And when He lives in our lives we are so much more ahead of the game. I don't thank Him enough for being so instrumental in my life. For having the impact He's had over the things I know about and intercepting so many more of the things I know nothing about. I can only imagine. 1 Thessalonians 5 :18 tells us to "rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."  So, I'm going to take a moment right now and say again,...

If Jesus lives in your heart, guess what? I've come to remind you that you are covered by His blood. " In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace,   which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight" ( Ephesians 1 :7/8). That's right, you are covered by the blood He shed for you when He died on the cross for us. He even died for the people who hated Him. Isn't that something? That's Jesus for you though. He loves. He is made of love. And there is nothing we can do that will ever change that. He loved us then and He loves us now. Can we say that about man? No we can't because we all fall short and we can be in love one minute and out the next. Not Jesus though. He loves us in spite of ourselves. That just makes me feel great, because that means that no matter what, you and I are covered and protected against anything, against any weapon, against any element that comes against...

In the book, When Misfits Become Kings , the author, Mark Casto, writes about the people God used who were different, sometimes isolated, and in many cases cast aside, to do great work for the Lord God.  "At some point each of us has felt disconnected, unqualified, and alone, as if we are nothing but a square peg in a round world" Casto (p. xxv). If you have been used by God or will be, then join the crowd. Being alone sometimes (not necessarily lonely) goes with the territory. Queen Esther is my favorite female leader in the bible, because she accepted all that God had for her. She was ok with being alone as she prepared for what she wanted (the king) and she sacrificed to become the queen. Of course her mission is much bigger than that as the story progresses. Yet she didn't let anyone or anything get in her way. "What we do in private, in secret, has the power to refine us. And that inward transformation has turned many misfits into the king or queen of t...

Regarding what the Lord God says about you, you rock and you're awesome. Yes it's true. His love for us transcends the test of time and it never runs out. I hope you feel about yourself the way He does. You are wonderful in His eyes for many reasons, namely that He made us all in His own image. Isn't that great? To be made in the same exact image of the Holy One Himself. Genesis 1 :27 is proof to that fact and says, "s o God created man in his own image,   in the image of God he created him;   male and female he created them."  That's a great image to behold. Simply remarkable. It's a blessing really, but we don't often give it much thought, do we?   Nevertheless, yes you rock, because of the God in you. The God who made us all to "b e fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it..." (Genesis 1:28). He continually blesses us to do just that, as well. Wow. I hope you are rejoicing right now, because that is another...

"In the house of the righteous there is much treasure, but trouble befalls the income of the wicked" ( Proverbs 15 :6). Are you righteous? Asked another way, are you free from sin or are you free from living an evil wicked messed up life? Only you can answer that, because I have no clue. That's between you and God. I can only speak for myself and tell you that I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that my house is righteous for sure. Now, you didn't hear me say my house was flawless or perfect or anything like that right? And you won't hear me say those things, because that would mean I was crazy to think such things. All I'm saying is that my house -- figuratively -- has treasure there. No I don't have silver and gold around the house. But I have a blessed house, because the Lord lives there and no crazy hazy dazy goes on. Of course I wish the same for every person, but it's a choice we all have to make for ourselves. If you've been coming to...

Many of us don't like it when we're confronted with opposition or adversity.  It causes too much discomfort, pain, or is just an inconvenience. Yet, there are times when that pressure is good for us, because it makes us grow and in some cases it makes us grow up. You heard it said before that resistance makes muscles grow, which is true. Yet here's the thing: our muscles grow the most at rest. Thus, we can look at opposition and adversity as something that makes us progress more when we're in a "restful" state -- when we're not in the midst of the "trouble." You get what I mean? Put another way, when we're just doing our thing, grinding day in and day out, focused on the tasks at hand and we're doing that with zero stress or worry, then we are in a restful posture and our muscles (skills, talents, etc) are growing and becoming stronger. We are still making progress even when we're at rest (ie, at peace). " May the Lord giv...

"But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind" ( James 1 :6). That scripture is pretty cut and dry. Ask God for what you want and need and stand on those petitions. Don't waver, don't toss, and don't turn. Just stand firm. It doesn't matter how long it takes, just believe He will do what He said He would. How do you know what He said? Read the bible until something resonates with you so much so that there's no denying it's for you. That's when you know it was God and nobody can tell you otherwise. He has different messages for us depending on our situation and what is necessary in our lives. So when you go to Him, go with full confidence that He will act simply because it's you humbly going to Him. You have to believe it and not doubt. I know what you're asking for may seem far away, but once you get a hold of God's word, He will deliver on i...

Do you know what being born-again, saved, or salvation means? For starters, all three of those terms mean the same thing. Joseph Prince sums up salvation pretty well. He says, "Salvation is to be saved—from hell, from a broken relationship with God, and from the curses that plague mankind as a result of Adam’s fall in the Garden of Eden." Prince doesn't get all deep about it, although he can, because he's deep like that. Yet on his website he keeps things simple in his explanation, which I like, so if you want to know a little more about salvation in addition to reading the scriptures, you can check out what he has to say about it. According to the scriptures or the bible, to be saved or salvation is the following:  "...if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For ...

We all know we have to watch our mouths, right? I'm talking about watching our lying mouths. " Truthful lips endure forever, but a lying tongue is but for a moment. " ( Proverbs 12 :19). As you ponder those words, do you know anybody who just lies all the time? If so, it's something they (we) can all work on if it's an area of struggle for any of us. And especially if it's to the point where we like to hear ourselves talk so much we make up elaborate stories about any and everything. After reading Proverbs 12 I thought I would blog about it, because it's an important issue that needs attention. We should give it the floor, because what we say can and will be used against us. And I don't want doom and gloom for anybody simply because we're not watching our lying tongues.  Proverbs 12 is what many of us are striving to do: complete the hard work on ourselves and become better than the day before, because we all need help in some of the ...

How many times have we overthought things so much we end up getting nothing done? Sometimes we can overthink our way right into oblivion and never-never land if we're not careful. If the Lord put something in our heart to do and we try to wait until everything is lined up perfectly, we may never get it done. We may think we're being a perfectionist, but lots of perfectionists find themselves miserable and unfulfilled, because nothing will ever be good enough. And when we continue to keep looking at the paint drying, that's a long wait of getting nothing done. That means we're not much different than the lazy person. " Slothfulness [laziness] casts into a deep sleep, and an idle person will suffer hunger ( Proverbs 19 :15). We have to be careful so we don't fall into the trap of going nowhere fast.  So, instead of thinking on things making perfect sense, we have to just step out and do it. Don't think about it anymore. Just take a chance. It'...

There is so much to write about purpose that I am surprised I haven't written much more.  I talk about it often on my vision boards page. I need to talk about it alot more, because so many of us aren't living it. We're just going through the daily motions of our job, home, school, and any other extracurricular activity we having going on, which is probably for somebody other than ourselves. In fact, many times we put ourselves last within all the other "stuff" we have going on. The other sad part is we could still do all of that and still live a purpose driven life. Many of us just won't do it, because as soon as things get difficult, we stop. Let me tell you, purpose and easy don't go together. They don't match. If we are going to go towards everything the Lord has for us there is no getting around doing the challenging and constantly going out our comfort zone. Purpose involves total trust in God. There's no half-stepping on that. It...

Yesterday I got some disappointing news about something I wanted to do. The answer I got was a no, because it wasn't a good time to do it. After hearing the declination, the first thing I started to do was to sulk and think about what had just happened. My body posture started to negatively change. Then I quickly shifted back to mobility mode. I got back to working on what I was doing. That entire episode lasting about 5 seconds. I immediately started writing my ebook again. Instead of getting myself in the "sad zone" I regrouped and kept on keeping on. I thought oh well, I'll just try again when things are different and that's that. No big deal. I consciously flat out refused to give any attention to it. Not another moment. You see, that was my problem just a few short years ago. I would give my setbacks, disappointments, and issues prime-time. Instead of going to God I would give them to the devil. No mas! I refuse to go back. I refuse to live like that a...

What do you think about these scriptures? A scoffer does not like to be reproved [corrected], he will not go to the wise ( Proverbs 16 :12).   Without counsel plans fail, but with many advisers they succeed (Proverbs 16:22). The ear that listens to life-giving reproof will dwell among the wise (Proverbs 16:31). Whoever ignores instruction despises himself, but he who listens to reproof gains intelligence (Proverbs 16:32). The message is pretty clear, wouldn't you say? It means, when coming from the right person, be open to being corrected, admonished, and rebuked. It's to help us. Have smart/wise people accessible whenever we need them. Maintaining such relationships is extremely important for growth. Be attentive to those who speak wisdom and not reject it just because it's not what we want to hear. If we want to become better and more disciplined, listening (and applying) wisdom to our lives will deem us intelligent, not stupid (see Proverbs 12 :...