Category: Devotions

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Daily Devotion

Come as You Are
 
"As for those who seemed to be important–whatever they were makes no difference to me; God does not judge by external appearance–those men added nothing to my message."  Galatians 2:6 NLT
 
But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." 1 Samuel 16:7 NASB
 
I know I was meant to write this because I remembered it…sometimes I'll get ideas of devotion topics to write and lose them. Obviously they aren't things God wants me to share on.  But this bothered the crap out of me!!! Okay so people!!!!  I haven't found this title in the Bible, but I know it to be doctrine–God is no respecter of persons.  Black, white, brown, blue, man, woman, child, old people, young people, etc, God does not love you any less or any more than the next person.  God does not rank me a better Christian because of my deeds and it applies to you as well.  That alone should let you know that He will accept you and every flaw, every piece of luggage you carry with you, and every single thing about you.  Jesus healed lepers, the outcasts of society, so I know He can do anything for us if we are willing to let Him do His work.
 
I was particularly angered at a conversation I had yesterday with a friend.  I have noticed many Christians, regardless of age, are very judgmental.  And the sad part about this is that so many souls are at stake.  So many lives hang in the balance because some so-called Bible Thumping Christian gives them a witness that casts stones at the things they do.  I do not believe that one sin outweighs another, but I do believe that God can forgive them all.  I'm not saying I agree with things or accept them because I don't agree with a lot of things.  But God loves each and every one of us in spite of ourselves, whether we are a two-faced back-stabber, a liar, a cheater, or even a Hypocrite.  When Jesus died, His death absolved us of the condemnation to an eternity in hell without Him.  It is by believing in Him and accepting Him that we are saved–Jesus' action saved us, not being a "Good Christian!"  I mentioned some of my plans to her, and she immediately began to question my behaviors. The Spirit reminds me that it is God who qualifies us for whatever His will is for us…not anyone else!  I learned to control my anger yesterday, and let the Spirit speak for me…whether it fell on receptive ears, I don't know.
 
When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her."  John 8:7
 
I love reading the story of the Adulterous Woman because it reminds me of the compassion God has for us.  He is our defense against any that come to accuse us.  We are NOT condemned people–the Spirit will convict you if you listen, and yes we are to turn away from sin.  But most people fail to realize that it is God that does the transformation, because in your own power you cannot do any true change.  We cannot change unless we allow God to change us, to teach us to walk in love, and to literally tear off the old you.  I was glad He made me over, and is still doing so, because that conversation could have went a whole different route.  God does not judge you by how you dress, or the music you listen to.  He looks at your heart…are you willing to allow Him to use you for His work?  Are you willing to allow Him to take the wheel and steer you where He needs you to go?  Are you willing to get up and pick your cross back up to follow Him when you get off track?  We inherit righteousness from Christ and many other wonderful things…but not a single one of those things gives us the right to judge someone else.  If you feel strongly about something, you should pray for that person and watch God work…because He may not fix what you see wrong in that person, but He will definitely change how you see and make major changes in your life.  It all boils down to walking in love, agape love that is, that unconditional love a parent is supposed to have for a child, forgiving all wrongs.  We can come to God where we are and He will change us into that perfect reflection that He desires us to be.
 
"You may think you can condemn such people, but you are just as bad, and you have no excuse! When you say they are wicked and should be punished, you are condemning yourself, for you who judge others do these very same things."  Romans 2:1 NLT

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"No weapon formed against you shall prosper; and every tongue that rises against you in judgment you shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of God and their righteousness is of me," says the Lord.  Isaiah 54:17
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Daily Devotion

Through His Eyes

"You should clothe yourselves instead with the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God." 1Peter 3:4 NLT

Hey everybody! I know its super late…but this weighed heavy on my heart tonight. If you don't love anyone else, please love yourself. It really hurts my heart to witness how poorly many people view themselves. I know how it feels to have a poor view of myself. Its only by the grace of God that I was delivered from that. When you have an unhealthy view of yourself, you inadvertently negatively affect those around you. Your pessimist view of self can't stay bottled within, and of course like toxic waste it infects its surroundings. Like foul air that swiftly permeates its surroundings, the lie that you believe about yourself will spread and infect other areas of your life as long as you allow it. You have to view yourself the way God sees you. You are truly precious, so valuable that God wanted to save you from eternal damnation by receiving a pure sacrifice.

I've noticed that many black people here in Charleston have the crabs in a bucket mentality and still heavily believe in the dark skin versus lighter skin paradigm. I personally recognize myself as brown because that's all I am, a shade of brown. Beauty is more than the reflective surface of your skin; on the contrary, the most beautiful person may not be the most attractive outwardly but have a heart of love for all. I'll never forget this day…when I was still taking heavy doses of steroids and had gained quite a lot of weight, I absolutely hated how I looked. I nitpicked about everything I could, my skin, my stomach, my everything. I felt like I was being held prisoner in my own body and God knows I prayed every single day to not feel that way and for deliverance. You see, I had some negative experiences during my childhood and associated beauty with being skinny and having long hair. Luckily my prized hair had not fallen out like most people with a lupus diagnosis (I told yall I didn't have lupus! Lol). But everything else was foreign to me. I cried every single day over the changes I had no control over. I couldn't control how the medicines made me feel or look and I wanted it to go away. But thank God for the angelic child He had cross my path one day at K-Mart.

I don't really even remember what I was looking for, but the little boy had stopped and dropped his hand from his moms and stared at me. She came back and told him to come on, then he said "she's pretty" about me. It made me cry because I didn't see what he saw. I saw the scarred body from uncontrolled weight gain, the rashes and acne scars from the varied medicines I now had to take, and the broken heart because for once there was something I could not fix. I learned that day that he saw what I could not see and God opened my eyes. Since then I have come leaps and bounds and I love myself for who I am, scars and all. I get a little sad from time to time, but I know that God saw something in me worth saving.

So sorry its so long…and I actually had to wait to finish this. Getting the spirit mentioned above is no easy process. You must submit to God every single thing that is bothering you or weighing you down. Stop merely looking at life through your physical eyes and look beyond the things that hinder us from truly seeing each other. Once you love yourself unconditionally, you can truly love others.

"And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'" Matthew 22:39 NIV

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