Category Archives: Pastor Desmond

Don’t Let This Happen To You!

A snake never lingers in a well kept lawn. It lingers in search of food and or refuge.

 

Often times we despise the snake because of its characteristics, but yet we will find time to entertain and permit inhabitation when the characteristics of deceit are there and ever-present. It’s very simple if I want to move forward I need to clean up my own yard; and clear up those bushes and eliminate those dark corners , and I need to rid myself of negative people and thoughts. You see people in their fleshly or carnal mind will come to you in search of mess and or negativity they will eat your food, sit at your table, tell you how wonderful you are, while watching your tv and sucking up that good air condition all in all lingering and planning your demise or sowing seeds of discord.

The question is who am I entertaining? Ask your neighbor why do you find rest in my home? What have I fed you lately?

Don’t get bit!

Don’t Let that Text Fool You!

Don’t let that cell phone make you think that they are calling/texting you like they really care. You see these devices mean well, but sometimes the user doesn’t #leadinglikeafriend #livinginlove

Characteristics of A Good Soldier

In honor of Memorial Day. I found it fitting to share some key scriptures as it relates to the characteristics of a good soldier.

 

 

Just Call Me Opportunity!

I was recently talking to my son after the adrenaline of football practice, well his adrenaline, lol.  I Iooked at him and his face gleamed with such confidence. He then said, mom you know I listened to chance the rapper and he is inspiring and all, but you can just call me opportunity and for some reason that word opportunity stuck with me.

I just started praising God for opportunities and let me tell you, you really begin to reposition yourself when I started looking at all the ways that He’s made and all of the doors that He’s opened, my praise became so expressive that it overflowed into the remainder of the week.

When Bartimaeus got up that morning, he had no idea that Jesus Christ was going to be passing by him that day. He thought it was just another ordinary day: same place, same cry for help, same miserable, lonely, pitiful lifestyle. He had no time to prepare for Jesus; it was just an opportunity that was dropped in his lap. He had to seize the moment.He said, “I’m not going to miss this one, I’m going to take advantage. Jesus is coming so just call me opportunity!”

One must have a positive perspective despite life challenges, to seize an opportunity. The mind is complicated and has many pathways that has been deeply embedded over time. You know that inherently our brain will “choose the most energy efficient path.” What I’m saying is that our brain depends heavily on prior learning and in order to change it to a more positive view it will require repetition or practice. In fact, if you are over 25 years old depending on the complexity, it can take upwards of 144 days for your brain to embed into the motor cortex of the brain, which is involved in the planning, control, and execution of voluntary movements.  So just keep speaking life to your life, over your situations, and over your circumstances. Keep speaking life to yourself until your brain no longer sees the impossibilities of the moment but only the opportunity. Stop letting self hold you back! Have you prayed for, God has given, so seize the opportunity.

Tomorrow isn’t promised and I want you to just call me, “opportunity!”

This aspect of this devotion focuses on the pathway to positivity, or righteousness while preparing you for opportunity.

The challenge is to change my way of thinking!

-Lady Mel/ Pastor Desmond

Faith

I woke up this morning with faith on my mind. Regardless of your situation don’t lose hope.

Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see. 2 Through their faith, the people in days of old earned a good reputation. By faith we understand that the entire universe was formed at God’s command, that what we now see did not come from anything that can be seen. Hebrews 11:1-3 NLT

The question is : Do I represent unto God and others a life of faith?

Don’t lose hope. You have been hoping for it keep believing that it shall come to pass!

-Pastor Desmond

Why Do I Feel Like I’m losing this fight?

Ephesians 6:12 New Living Translation (NLT) 12 For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places (NLT).

The fight really isn’t against a political party, a human being, a particular denomination, religious belief, nationality, gender, race, or anything temporal . The reason that we may be losing the fight is because we have declared war on and toward the wrong target. People of God, we have not been called to fight a physical fight with physical weapons. We must put down our guns, we must put down our knives, we must put down any physical weapon that does not have the capacity to tap into an address the real force at hand.  What is this force at hand? The force at hand is spiritual. The power behind the force is simply the adversary. The adversary is the enemy of which no physical weapon of warfare can even contend with. John 10:10 declares that the enemy comes to kill, to steal, and to destroy. He has been destroyed because we have chosen to bring a knife (physical warfare weapons), to a gunfight (spiritual warfare). When I look at the woes and the injustices in society, I cannot see a race, gender, nationality, political party, or anything tangible issue but I must know that a spiritual fight is at hand. However, II Corinthians 10:4-5 (NLT) says,4 [a]We use God’s mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments. 5 We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ (NLT).

Stop bringing a stick to a gunfight!

We are in a spiritual warfare. The reason we continue to lose the fight is because we are addressing spiritual warfare with physical weapons. When we really look at the defeat we are experiencing in our lives, the cruelty in our society, ranging from in our homes to worldwide,it is impossible to see that we are facing a real adversary with real opposition. However, God has equipped us with necessary weapons to tear the adversaries BEHIND, every moment, just read Ephesians 6:10-18. You are not weak, you’ve just got to equip yourself with the right weapons.   You have the power to defeat the enemy and reclaim your: family, job, child, health, society, life, victory, peace, hope, joy, mind, church, and whatever it may be. You have been given the spiritual weapons of warfare.

We must stop focusing our time and resources on fighting a person or thing but must build a culture as well as society who is able to discern the true opposition at hand. Throw your stick down and receive God’s Spirit, get some Word in you, and stand up on the promises God. No Weapon formed against you, in whatever capacity, shall prosper……….. Stay tuned…. 

-Pastor Desmond

Have you ever wondered why it keeps breaking?

Delight thyself also in the Lord: and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass. Psalms 37:4-5

I remember years ago, I had a  ’92 Jeep Cherokee and when things would go wrong  I would get under that bad boy, find me a book and make some repairs. However, things keep going wrong on the truck so I would keep trying to fix it but things kept breaking. So after a while I brought it to the professionals. What would took me a day and a half to fix, took them about a half an hour. Now mind you it did cost me some money, but I didn’t have that problem again. After countless times of trying to save money and fix it myself, I finally realized that it was beyond my expertise and abilities. If I had not realized that fixing my Cherokee was beyond my expertise, I would’ve continued experiencing it having to be repaired.

Sometimes, God will allow things to keep breaking, in hopes that we will realize that fixing it has nothing to do with our own ability. Stop trying to fix it yourself, because you cannot. You are broke and broken because you’re doing repairs that you have no business doing. You were not made to have to fix it because in the midst of you trying to fix it, you become broken. Let God do the repairs because He will save you time and money. Just give it to the Lord!

-Pastor Desmond

Letters and Scriptures for Incarcerated Loved ones

I recently received a request to send scriptures to a loved one that is incarcerated. I have taken some time out and decided that I would submit scriptures and some encouraging words. If you would like this emailed to you for your loved one and or friend submit to me their first name and last name as well as your email address because this is where I will send you the letter.

Ask Pastor Des: Why is it that every time I go to someone for help or advice , I either get a slap in the face or shunned away like they don’t want any thing to do with me?

You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. 14 Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.15 You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. Psalm 139:13-15 (NLT)

This is in Response to ASK PASTOR DES request:
I want you to know that there is nothing wrong with you. When God made you he took his precious time to stop all that was being done to create such a great and wonderful person. Sometimes those that we may seek for advice may not have our best interest at heart. It is good to have those that we can go to for advice, on the other hand we do have to be careful of those that we allowed in our personal life. We must seek to place our trust and care in God. Peter instructs us to cast or give our cares  to the Lord because he truly does care for you. Even in my own life I had to learn this because there were people that I thought I could confide in but later found out that they did not have my best interest at heart. Seek God and he will place you in the company of those who love and care for you as well as will hear your concerns. They will not only hear your concerns and be in prayer with you but they will give sound biblical advice under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
Blessings and love to you,

Pastor Des

Here are a few scriptures for you to read Psalm 139:13 ; Psalm 139:14 ;Psalm 139:15

God’s Timing Part 2

God’s Word alone is unshakable. We can wait for the Lord knowing that, no matter how dark the night is, his light will break through in our lives, bringing abundant joy through a more intimate relationship with Christ.

Waiting doesn’t mean that you don’t have hope.  Hope sets the foundation it is your feet that goes and get it so continue to work toward while you wait with patience for the Lord to for fill his purpose for your life.

The natural man is so self-sufficient. We turn here and there and expect help from natural ability, from friends, or from circumstances, But in the spiritual life we are taught to distrust self and to depend upon the power of the Holy Spirit. Keep trusting His timing in your perspective season of your life.

Remember:

He may not come when you want Him, but He’s always on Time!

-Pastor Desmond