The Daily Devotional Blog

Have you ever had problems with self your confidence or self image, because of the challenges and situations you have found yourself in? I have. John Maxwell says, "Courage is the result of confidence. It is not the difficulties that defeat us. It’s the lack of confidence that defeats us." If you have been reading my blog for any length of time, you know my testimony. You know there was a time when I didn't walk in confidence. I thought I was confident. I thought I had it all together, but one day I realized that I wasn't as confident as I thought I was. You see, I was achieving worldly goals like gaining an education, I had a good job, I was serving in my church, I had decent relationships (nothing to brag about), and I was the best mother I knew to be. Life was ok. Yet this was the thing: late in the midnight hour, I would be depressed. I would wallow in my grief about the pain I had suffered during different parts of my life like when I lost my twins 5 month...

In Joyce Meyer's book, How to Hear From God, she says , "God wants to speak to us about the plan He has for our lives. His plan is a good plan, but we are in danger of missing it if we don't learn how to listen and obey God's voice" (p vii). Makes sense, right? When we make a plan, that plan will not happen unless we execute it. Same with God. We have to work His plan.  It amazes me when people say they want a job or want to lose weight, but do nothing to make it happen. There's a great plan nicely laid out and nothing -- no movement. How are we going to get the things the Lord has for us without action? No job offer is going to just show up in our inbox and no weight is going to miraculously fall off of us when we're doing nothing to get fit. Don't we sometimes wish things were so easy? Life doesn't work that way though. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.  The bottom line is that we have to be in constant communication (via prayer and re...

May God grant you your heart's desire and fulfill all your plans! ( Psalm 20 :4). I pray that whatever great lives in your Godly heart, comes to pass very soon. Why can't you get what you want? You're worthy to get it. God can give you want you've always wanted and it doesn't have to be just for other people. If you can dream it, you can do it. If God placed it in you, He wants it to happen for you. All we have to do is play our position and He plays His. Simple. So what is it you want? What has always lived in your heart since you were a little kid? What do you see others doing that you know should be you too? Who is living your dream? God says in Psalm 20:4 that you can indeed get the desires of your heart and guess what? It's not too late either. It's never too late. Remember that, because there's alot more for your life and it's obtainable if you believe it is and you're willing to work for it. As a matter of fact, it won't really be ...

You're going to make, because the Lord said so. "For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end—it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay" ( Habakkuk 2 :3). In good times and not so good times, you're going to make it. And if this is a great time for you, praise the Lord and keep praising Him. Never stop, ok? Or if it's a bit challenging, know this: weeping may endure for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning ( Psalm 30 :5). That means any challenging situation is temporary. Even at my lowest I knew that. I knew pain wouldn't be forever. I knew, because I knew the Lord and I know Him even better today. Yes, I knew God. I knew Jesus -- whatever word you like to call Him. And I knew He had more for me to do. Writing this blog was one of them and so many other things I'm not yet doing. I can see the vision very clear though. I saw it since I was young, but I didn't know exa...

I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord" ( Psalm 27 :13/14). You know what's up, right? That's a clear scripture of David when he was going through alot with the people who were coming for him. The people who were out to get him. Look who he ran to though, God. I just love a person who runs to God when they have issues, circumstances, and setbacks. Maybe I have much respect and admiration for them, because there was a time when I didn't run to Him first. I ran everywhere else. Now I know where I went wrong and I'm here to encourage you that God is there for you. He is a refuge and a safe place for you just as He was for David in Psalm 46 :1. So when things get tough and unfortunately they will, let Him be the first you go to for safety. He will not let you down. He's God and He knows what He's doing, so be strong and wait for Him. He...

This goes out to all the encouragers, the edifiers, the lifter-uppers. We need you and I'll go as far as saying that God "needs" you too. He wants you to continue to inspire people with your words and your good deeds. You say and do much to make people feel better and you may hardly get a thank-you, but know this: the Lord sees you. He sees everything. 1 Thessalonians 5 :11 says, " therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing." I commend you, because of the gift of hospitality you have. There's nothing like a friendly and generous person. My heart easily connects with such people, because I am similar to you. So this blog post is to encourage the encourager since you probably don't get it as much as you give it. Just know that people notice you and their day and life are brighter, because of you.   Hear what Sha Sha has to say about encouragement. Sha Sha is my avatar, so her face is based on my face an...

"Grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. Amen" ( Ephesians 6 :24). Isn't it great that we're covered with the amazing grace of God? At least the ones who put their trust and faith in Him, that is -- the ones who truly believe in Him with all their heart and all their soul. If it weren't for His abundant grace, where would we be? I shutter to think.  When Jesus died for us, He died so we wouldn't have to. Do you know there were instances in the Old Testament where people were taken out by God for sins and mistakes? But when Jesus died on the cross He took those sins, so we wouldn't have to die. He took the fallout from our sins, if you will. Now we are covered by His grace. That doesn't mean we are free to do whatever it is we want to do whenever we want to do them, especially if they are unlawful things. Jesus didn't die for that. We still have to follow the law and rules of the lands, yet Jesus is there to ...

My unofficial motto these days seems to be, 'don't despise humble/small beginnings.' It seems just about everything I have been doing has started small. And guess what? That's totally ok with me. Starting slow, many times, sets a solid foundation that is necessary for getting to and maintaining the next level. So, it's all good. I'm not rushing God anymore.  Not despising humble beginnings is a message taken from the book of Zechariah 4 :10. According to the Bible Project , Zechariah 'was a prophet who challenged and motivated the people of Israel to rebuild God's temple after the exile from Babylon and to look for the fulfillment of God's promises.' Zechariah didn't want the people to be worried about starting from ruin, starting in the gutter, starting from little to nothing. He didn't want them to despise those things. We shouldn't either. Don't worry about starting small. This blog is gaining steam, but let me tel...

"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 me and died for me, that's one of many reasons I love Jesus -- He was and is positive. He was positive when He walked the earth and He is positive now. He is love. He is generous. He is awesome in power and might. Why do you think He has so many followers? Why do you think the bible is the most awesome book ever? Jesus. God. Omnipotent. Jesus was full of gracious words. I don't know one instance in the bible when He didn't use powerful words to get His message to people. Who would follow a negative person? Nobody would good sense, right? Nobody in their right mind. I follow Jesus, because He is whom I have chosen as my Great Father. The one who is all-knowing. Thus, the one who has the best for me and the one who knows the be...

Be confident, be brave, and be courageous when it comes to walking into your destiny, walking into your future, walking into what God told you.   Remember what He says in Proverbs 16 :3 , which is to , "commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established". Look, we aren't going to get anywhere committing our ways to nobody and nothing else ok? We have to be faithful to what Jesus said and He will continuously direct our paths. Standing on what He said will enable us to get to our destiny regarding what we're going to do here on earth, in a timely and focused manner. God is not a God of disorder, chaos, or disarray. He does things perfectly even if we don't see how certain things will happen. When we are committed, that means we trust in the Lord with all our heart, and do not lean on our own understanding. In all our ways we acknowledge Him, and He will make our paths straight ( Proverbs 3 :5/6). And all of that means to continue on despite wha...

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 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. I was in a fitness class recently and one of the ladies has a problem with one of her feet, yet guess what? She was in a fitness class dancing with complicated exercise moves. I thought, wow what an awesome lady. She's not letting what some might have seen as a disability affect her. She was moving to the beat and working extremely ...

There's freedom in living with intention and purpose. And when we know our intention and purpose in life, we are strong, because we can do all things through Christ who gives us the strength to do them ( Philippians 4 :13). "And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose" ( Romans 8 :28). Do you know your purpose? If you do, you are most assuredly living with intention, you're living with passion, and you enjoy waking up in the morning to go tackle the things you love. It's not a chore or a weighty task to embark on the sometimes rough and challenging journey you're on. You know what you live for and it doesn't seem like work at all. It's like Lebron James and basketball. He loves what he does and he even makes it look easy.  Living with intention -- living with purpose -- what a great place to be. That's how I feel about my blog. I didn't always feel that...

"Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him, on those who hope in his steadfast love" ( Psalm 33 :18). That means stand strong, stand firm, and stand steady in the Lord who gives you the power to get so much. He gives you the power to get peace, joy, happiness, wealth, great relationships, and much more. Does that mean that everything will always go perfectly? You know the answer to that. What do I say in my applicable blog posts? The answer is a resounding "no", nothing goes according to the ways we want them 24/7. If anybody tells you that, just know that they are thinking more like the Pharisees and Sadducees, who thought if tradition and rules were followed then things would be perfect. And they were quick to judge others except themselves, especially if they saw anything that went against tradition (urrrrrgh, that's one of my least favorite words). Anyway, they were clearly against Jesus and even wanted to test Him  ( Matthew 16:1-12 ).   ...

God is leading the way for you. He is ordering your steps. He is with you, so walk (and dance even) with the love and power He gives you as you go forth and multiply. Yesssssss, you're awesome when you can say, "for you [Lord] formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb .  I praise you [Lord] , for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well" ( Psalm 139 :13/14). Confidence is a must as we walk in the purpose the Lord has given us, because the assignment we have over our lives will be a blessing to people.  As you know, if you've been coming to my blog for some time, I am in the business of helping people with their faith and confidence. I remember how it was to have very little of both at one time in my life when I was a walking depressed person. Yep, I sure was. I didn't know it at the time, because I was busy achieving worldly goals, but hardly any of those goals touched pe...

Most of us have heard the phrase, 'God may not always come when you want Him, but He's right on time.' Isn't that the truth? I know that in more ways than one. Just yesterday I saw Him work in my life. I was trying to get certain technology for a project and it was extremely difficult. Hardly anything was coming together and I had been trying for months, close to about a year actually. Anyway just a few days ago I stumbled across a great system that will help me tremendously. It will allow me to help people faster and more efficiently. Now I know why those doors didn't open. Now I realize why nothing was coming together regarding that. Sometimes we try to bust down a door or two or ten and then we eventually realize why they never opened. God has something bigger, better, and more efficient. And yes that can all be in the form of people, places, and things, like technology in my case. God came right on time and I'm so thankful. I think we can also call tha...

Sometimes I wonder how many of us really realize how blessed we are to be so loved by God. We really are blessed. And what else comes with that love is the love we can have for each other. In other words, not to exist with hate, which doesn't come from God. When we are thankful, grateful, and blessed we should be in a loving posture. In fact how can all those things exist in a person who does not love? Quite impossible, wouldn't you say? When I think over my life I know there were many situations when God gave me favor, grace, and mercy -- many times -- and I didn't really deserve any of it. Now, that's love. So why would I not operate in that same love? Why not thank God for the many things He does for us like giving us life and enabling us to wake up to the magnificent world He created for us? No, it's not a perfect world, far from it, but it has much magnificence, because the Lord made it. So I will continue to look at the splendor of it all as I'm remi...

"In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters" Genesis 1 :1/2.  God is real folks and His spirit still hovers over the earth. That means that although God doesn't have a human body, He is nevertheless, still everywhere. 1 Timothy 1 :17 says, "to the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen."   God is available to us at anytime and we can have a great relationship with Him. I don't know what I would do if I didn't have reciprocal communication with the Lord. My life would be so much different -- so unfulfilling with no direction. I don't know about you, but I want to know God is dwelling among us in this world, because that makes it so I (we) will be ok. It's about knowing He is still alive and that His spirit is looming right now at t...

If you're in a good place spiritually and emotionally, stay there, because you're probably in a joyful place. Don't let anybody steal your joy. It took too long to get there, especially since you've more than likely been through alot in your life. Being joyful is not worth giving up when you finally get there. It probably took much pain that now you're convinced to where your quiet strength comes from. God was the one who got you through it and He is what helped get you to where you are now. There is no giving that up for nothing, because it came at a high price. James 1 :12 says,  "blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him."  So, being joyful is being blessed. When you're joyful you don't let every little thing bother you. When you're joyful, perfection means something totally different to you -- it doesn't...

I think most of us over a certain age remember the famous Franklin D. Roosevelt quote,  "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself." Well, let me tell you, I can most definitely relate to that quote. I lived in fear for many years of my life. Primarily, fear of the unknown more than anything. So for many years I didn't act on my goals or what lived in my heart or take chances. I wasted a lot of time being afraid of absolutely nothing. In fact sometimes I still deal with a little of that today. It's nowhere close to what it was before, but I have to be careful, because sometimes it can take me longer to step out and do things. Sometimes I'm still a little concerned about the negative that could happen. If I'm not careful that old 'what will they say?' may pop up or 'will I gain support or lose support?' As a result I'm sometimes initially hesitant of making bold steps, but I step out anyway. I step out despite that fear. Some of w...

I never tire of Hebrews 11 :1 . It says faith is the assurance or confidence of the things we hope for and the conviction or evidence of the things we don't see. In other words, we don't have to naturally see it to believe it's going to be manifested in our lives. In other words, we can trust that God will bring it to pass. That's faith. Have faith. Hebrews 11: 1 is one of those scriptures that sums up our foundation in Christ. We absolutely cannot go forward without faith. And we can't go forward thinking we have to have everything figured out, otherwise we don't think God will do it. Faith doesn't work that way. We won't be able to figure it all out. God is not limited in what He can do and He's not flaky like people are. He's the same everyday, which means He's reliable and steady. He can and will do anything anywhere anytime He wishes no matter who can comprehend it. So, our best bet is to simply rely on Him and have faith that H...

Nope nope nope, I can't do it, I can't stop. I won't stop. Not when I know within my knower that God has more for me. I won't stop no matter who or what comes my way. You see, I've gone through too much to be rattled by what anyone says or does. I know my God is more powerful than that and I know my purpose.  If you've been coming to my blog long enough, you know I know what it is I'm doing in my life and what I will do. I know that based on in Sharon's heart and I stay committed to that. So yes I'm absolutely serious when I say, "can't stop, won't stop." It's that serious. I know now that people can benefit from the knowledge and wisdom I have and I'm going to open my mouth to use it. I know it helps people, because they've told me so. I don't say any of that in arrogance or pride (those things are not from God). I say them with confidence and humility (yes, people can be confident and humble).  I had t...

It's time to start saying "yes" to you. It's your time to focus more on you. Some of you have been focused so much on others that you have neglected yourself and I know God doesn't want that for any of us. He wants the best for us, because He loves us and He wants us to be our best. How many of us can say we are striving for that? How many of us can say we are putting ourselves first for a change? Look, I'm by no means saying we need to neglect others who are in our care or walk away from our responsibilities. That wouldn't be wise at all. What I am saying is that in order to be any good for anyone else we have to be good to ourselves. Sometimes we have to say "no" and guess what? Everyone is going to be alright. Nobody is going to fall over and collapse because you said that word. In fact sometimes it would empower them to know they don't need you as much as they thought. That maybe just maybe they can really make it without you being...

I often hear over and over again that consistency is the key to doing great things. I even blog about it from time to time, because I totally agree. Consistency is everything. Considering that, even though we may miss it sometimes or even hit a foul, we have to continue to swing at the ball. We can't just stand there and watch it go right past us. We have to get in the game. We have to keep doing the things that will get us from A to Z and we have to do them on purpose with purpose. None of us is perfect and we may fall short at any given time, yet if we're on the right track, then getting to where we're going should happen much more efficiently. Thus, we have to keep working at hitting the ball out of the park and with practice we will make it. Yes, I do believe that. And I believe continuous and deliberate focus will get us closer to our goals. Keep your eyes gazed on God, what He's telling you, and keep swinging. You'll make it.  Proverbs 4 :25-27 says, ...

Proverbs 18 :16 says, " a man's gift makes room for him   and brings him before the great." Back in May I blogged about how your gifts would make room for you. Well, today I want to further elaborate and say that some of us are still not using them for God's glory. We are sleeping on our gifts. And if you're like I once was, you are not using them due to fear of failure, fear of success, worry about what people will say, discomfort with putting yourself out there, and the list goes on. Look, I'm here to tell you that you have to get over that stuff. I stifled myself with all of that whack crazy thinking and all it did was get me further away from my calling and thus, further away from helping those I could help. I know you want to help people and it seems nothing is happening, right? Well, what can be expected when there is nothing consistent about your endeavors? When the full effort is not there? I know what that is like too, because I wasn'...

If the Lord God is sending you to big places you have to go. You can't be so afraid of the unknown that you don't step out. He is sending you there to help people. He is sending you there for you to show people God. You have to know what it is He has for you and go forth in it. Do you know where He's sending you? I don't mean exactly. I mean do you know the direction? Do you know the area to which you operate? At a minimum we should know that. And we have to be strong and resolute in knowing it. Otherwise we will go off in another direction that the Lord didn't send us and where we will end up, nobody knows. We don't want to go there.  So look, here's the deal. You have to spend some time with God and commune with Him. He will direct your paths and make them smooth as silk (see Proverbs 3 :5/6 ). You have to stay focused on the task(s) at hand and not be distracted by anything, any person, or any place. When you know what He told you, you have to walk...