Category: Devotions

Hey y’all!!

So I hope this post finds you all well!! I posted on my social media accounts about a week ago about doing a 21 day Release fast where we will eat healthy foods and release beliefs, experiences, and attitudes that limit God’s ability to move and operate in our lives. We will release things that counteract our faith and are directly contrary to the Word of God. I’d love for you to respond with whatever you’re releasing so I can agree with you in prayer. You can also read the affirmations and prayer below and agree with these too! I also plan to do a prayer call weekly. After it ends, there will be a book club reading Emotionally Healthy Spirituality by Peter Scazzero, a book that has been life-changing for me.

So 21 Days of Release kicks off today! If you’d like to join me, email me @ lifeinspiredbygod and I’ll add you to the mailing list. Without further ado, here goes!

Day 1: I release the need to control. I release the need for things to go my way. I release the need to know what things look like or what to expect. I also release the experiences that told me to expect the worst and influenced me to try and control the outcome instead of waiting on God.

Affirmation: God is in control. I trust God and know that as Proverbs 16:9 says, God establishes my steps and makes them sure. I trust that as Romans 8:28 says, all things will work together for my good. I trust that God is a good father and gives great gifts to His children. I trust that God will never leave me or forsake me. I uproot the root of control, instability in my childhood, trauma, and every other experience that caused me to not trust God and try to control situations and others to protect myself from pain. I trust God that He has a future and a hope ahead of me.

Prayer: Father, thank You for new life! Thank You for this time of releasing. Thank You that You love me so much, so much that You didn’t want to leave me as I was. I thank You for this time of growth and transformation. I thank You for this season of healing! Today, right now, I release control. I release needing to have everything figured out and wanting things to go my way. I release having to have everything planned out so meticulously that I leave no space for You to blow my mind. I release the memory of every event that told me I couldn’t trust anyone including You and that my way was best. I release the belief that with my intervention, I controlled the outcome. Today I affirm You are in control. I affirm I trust You. I trust Your will and Your plans. Jeremiah 29:11 says that Your plans for me are good, to give me a future and a hope, and are not for harm. I thank You for a clean slate and that today I walk in newness. I seek You first for the plans you have for me and I see Your guidance all around me. I surrender to You, Your timing and direction. I receive Your peace. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Love ya!!

Hey y’all! I know this is different than my typical devotional, but I felt the need to share this. Many times we don’t recognize opportunities to walk in love toward others. Having felt shame about parenting choices I made and make daily with my son and confronting the feelings I have, God reminded of an opportunity I missed to walk in love towards someone else. I hope this inspires you to scrutinize your interactions with others and be more cognizant in the future of how you represent Christ to others through your words and deeds.

Dear Woman Who Lived Above Me in 2007-2008,

I wish knew you so I could apologize to you in person. I’m now in your situation, a single mom with a toddler. Our only face to face contact was brash because you insisted I come to you directly. I was in graduate school for my Masters, working on my thesis. More than anything I wanted a peaceful quiet home so I could work on my code and write.

Only that is not what I got. You and your beautiful daughter, who should be about 11 or 12 now, lived above me. I interpreted the regular crashes I heard as vases being knocked down and TVs falling. Now having an active toddler who regularly flips his table and knocks down his basketball goal, I cringe thinking of the frustration I may have added to your life. I don’t know where you are, but I hope you have forgiven me.

When people ask me what time my son goes to bed or when he will be potty-trained, I break a little inside because I am trying to juggle it all alone. I feel shame at the fact that he still co-sleeps and cries when he does not want to go to bed without me. I know I need to get him in the bed, but I am often scrambling to get him fed after getting home at 6:30 after work. I sit him in front of the TV for hours on end or let him use the tablet to play some educational game. I get frustrated when I go to the restroom to be alone, only for him to be behind me moments later. As I write this, I think of you and how I made you feel, and perhaps others made you feel, all those years ago.

I have fears about letting people keep him for me because I cannot protect him, but I am working on that. I wonder, did you have any help or were you going it alone. The only knowledge I have of you is the noise, and our single interaction. I came to your apartment after having complained to the office countless times, after myself and others heard the loud noises. It was late, and I came and stood outside your door annoyed. You accused me of being like all other black women (which was bizarre) but now I understand. You felt threatened and judged because I came to ask you to monitor the noise, telling you it sounded like appliances falling. I was young — 22 at the time — and very opinionated. I thought I was right and refrained from reacting despite your attacks. Sometimes I feel like responding like that, lashing out at those who offer unsolicited opinions, but right now I feel your pain. I hope you and your daughter are well, and that you didn’t allow the insensitivity of others to judge your parenting ability.

I pray you are well, and I hope you forgive me. I hope you realize you don’t owe me or anyone an explanation of your parenting choices. Love your child, adjust where necessary, and love your child some more.

Sincerely,

Marquita