I have a Heavenly Father who does see me. He knows me and knows what I’m going through. Not only does He see and knows, but He cares. He has not abandoned me; neither has He forgotten about me. He’s with me, always. Nevertheless, there are times when I find myself in a crisis and these feelings of uncertainty resurface. PSALM 42:9 Sometimes I ask God, my rock-solid God, “Why did you let me down? Why am I walking around in tears, harassed by enemies?” (MSG) PSALM 77:7-10 Has t

There are so many people among us who are brokenhearted, shattered, and in need of great help. They’re crying out! They feel abandoned, unloved, and forgotten. As Christians, it’s our responsibility to reach them. It’s our responsibility to encourage them, pray for them, and to lead them to Christ. We must let them know that they are not overlooked nor rejected. They are indeed thought of and loved. We must seize the moment! Throughout the day, hurting men, women, teens and y

flowers very well, I still enjoy receiving them, smelling them, and beholding them as elegant and exquisite emblems of love on display. They are beautiful and so are their fragrance. “Give me my flowers while I can smell them,” my grandmother would often say. Like myself, she believed in the importance of giving flowers while the person is alive and well. When I say “flowers,” I am not necessarily referring to the flowers we touch and smell, though they’re wonderful to rec

I enjoy reading the story of Jesus and the Samaritan woman. In fact, I wrote a chapter about their encounter in my book, Walking in Freedom! I love how Jesus made it His mission to meet the Samaritan woman right where she was, in her neighborhood and her environment. Even though it wasn’t the norm and was something the Jews frowned upon, Jesus went to a Samaritan village and waited for woman to arrive at the well. Look at Jesus’ approach. He could have avoided that entire reg

I’ve made a commitment to the Lord to be faithful to this devotional ministry. To be honest, it has been very hard, extremely hard. Some days I’m crying, some days I’m excited! Some days I’m angry, some days I’m rejoicing! Some days I’m discouraged and frustrated, while other days I’m inspired and hopeful! Whatever type of emotions or feelings you can think of, I experience them. Sometimes I feel burdened down with this assignment God has given me. Because I made a commitment

All of a sudden, the bus driver decided to change up on us. Instead of picking up the kids at the bus stop in that 4-7 minute window, she arrived whenever. And we had to be ready. So unpredictable. To make sure my son didn’t miss the bus, we had to leave the apartment extra early. Some days it was very frustrating for both of us trying to figure out if the bus had passed or if it was running late. JAMES 4:14, HCSB You don’t even know what tomorrow will bring — what your life

Satan is the Christian’s enemy who sets traps, ambushes, plots, and schemes to make us fall, and he wants us to fall victim to them all! He watches us as we stumble and he enjoys it. And when we fall, he wants us to stay there in that fallen state because he is the fallen angel. He wants us to be just like him. So he tells us things that he thinks will keep us down. He says things like: I knew it! I knew it! I told you so! You’re always messing up. So, why try? Look at you, y

mouth, if I’m not careful, can get me in a lot of trouble (Prov. 21:23). On a daily basis I have to remind myself to use wisdom when I speak, to be mindful of what I’m going to say and how I’m going to say it. Without using wisdom and without thinking before I speak, my mouth can offend others. On many occasions I’ve had to humbly go to another person and ask for forgiveness because of what I said and how I said it. James says, “No one can tame the tongue. It is restless and

Well, lately, sacrifice, has been my problem. Instead of unselfishly giving of myself to serve God and others, I became self-absorbed. I took the easy way out by convincing myself that I wasn’t being narrow-minded, and I wasn’t being mean. Why not me? I thought. I’m always concerned about people and their needs. So, why not me? Honestly, I think I’ve been wanting it to be all about me for a while. Yes, yes, I know the saying, “It’s not about you.” But here recently, I’ve been

Often this quote comes to mind when I get caught up in my own way of thinking. Occasionally God has to remind me that my gifts and talents have to be for Him and Him only. Everything I do has to honor Him and bring Him praise. Not me. Sometimes God says to me, “Rhovonda, it doesn’t have anything to do with you. But it’s all about Me. I’m the Star. I’m God. I get the glory, not you. I get the praise, not you. I created everything; therefore, everything must praise Me.” (Psalm

I want to give a shout-out, encouragement, and send prayers to you who are ready to give up. I speak blessings upon you who are contemplating throwing in the towel. Are you ready to walk away because God has not removed that thorn in your flesh? Are you ready to give up because He has not taken away that sickness, handicap, weakness, difficulty, relationship or whatever it is that’s causing you hardships? I’m praying that you don’t quit. Would you believe that your suffering

episodic acute stress on Mondays. I think it’s because we have such high expectations to get so much done on the first day of our work week. Peradventure we procrastinated doing our workload last week that we have to play catch-up this week. In Philippians 4, Paul encourages us to not worry, instead pray and ask God for everything we need. 6 Do not worry about anything. But pray and ask God for everything you need. And when you pray, always give thanks. 7 And God’s peace will

I believe in a perfect church here on earth, a place where no one feels left out, and all are welcomed. With one voice, everyone worships God the Father, Jesus Christ, the Son, through the Holy Spirit. Altogether we sing praises to God, worshiping His majesty. It’s a perfect church where there are no big I’s and little you’s, but we do it all in the name of the Lord and in love. I believe in a perfect church like the one in Acts 4. A church where the message of Jesus is share