Use your Faith to Get Up!
*To listen to this devotion in audio format, CLICK HERE.
You can never sink so low that God can’t lift you up. You may be in a deep valley today, feeling stuck at rock-bottom in some areas. It doesn’t matter.
The Lord is sending this word to you to tell you that if you exercise your faith, you will supernaturally be empowered to get up and be an example of God’s power to do anything.
As a child, I could not fathom doing the things God has anointed and graced me to do in ministry. I’m just a girl born to a pastor and first lady who grew up living humbly on the East Side of Buffalo, NY.
Living humbly, in my case, means that our family lived below the poverty line. Therefore, I know what it is to struggle.
What did struggle look like for me?
Being in a house with no heat, where layers of blankets could not stop the body aches caused by the bone-chilling cold. Coming home from school and learning the power had been shut off and hurrying to finish my reading and homework before sunset. Feeling afraid of the roaches that crawled and rats that roamed freely.
Rodents so big, in fact, they resembled cats and didn’t even run when someone entered the room.
Enduring uncomfortable periods of bouncing around from house to house, living with sympathetic relatives and church members that were kind enough to take in our large family and help feed us.
Crouching down in grocery store aisles eating food I could not afford to buy. Standing in line to get free toys from local charities during the holidays. Tearing into food that we received from pantries to fill our empty cupboards.
Licking the spoon clean on days when peanut butter on the spoon was lunch. On occasions when we had bread, appreciating the sweetness of syrup sandwiches. Scarfing down butter sandwiches. Learning to love the taste of ketchup sandwiches.
Handwashing jeans despite the painful burning sensation caused by the repetitive rubbing and harsh chemicals in soap powder. Having to boil water for baths when the gas was off. And washing up with icy water when time did not permit heating it.
Seeing someone get shot before my eyes. Battling fear of getting caught in the crossfire of gun wars, drug wars, and gang turf wars.
Struggle.
I had no idea what God had in store for this poor Black girl from the inner city. While I was in the struggle, I didn’t do too much dreaming; I was busy surviving. I didn’t know God had a plan to launch me in ministry and connect me with people worldwide. I wouldn’t have known what a podcast was, let alone expect that it would be downloaded more than a million times.
I didn’t imagine I would start a 501c3 nonprofit and be in position to give tangible resources—as well as dignity and support—to amazing individuals and families in need. The same kind of dignity and support others once gave me and my family in our most vulnerable times.
“God is visiting your low place and lifting you up for His glory. By faith, arise and step into all God has destined for you! ”
Whenever God graces me to speak to an in-person audience, make a television appearance, broadcast on the radio, write a devotion, or enter the studio to address believers—my “besties”— from all walks of life, I am in awe.
Psalm 113:6 says that God stoops down from Heaven and lowers Himself to come to our aid. 1 Samuel 2:8 says of the Lord, “He lifts the poor from the dust and the needy from the garbage dump.”
When others throw you away, God goes dumpster diving. He makes personal visits to the garbage dump. I’ve heard testimonies of how He visited the crack house, the jail house, the poor house, and even the homeless who had no house.
What a gracious God we serve!
Through my travels and interactions with people, I have repeatedly witnessed God lift the lowly to get glory. And I can say with confidence, if you put your faith in Him, He is more than able to lift you up too.
When you believe that the same power that resurrected Jesus from the dead will resurrect you from dead circumstances, you will witness a miraculous demonstration of His power in your circumstances just like the man featured in Acts 14:8-10.
This unnamed man experienced the ministry of Paul and Barnabas when they were on their first missionary journey to the Gentiles. The man lived in Lystra, a heavily pagan village in Asia Minor known for its idolatrous worship of Greek gods and goddesses. A temple dedicated to Zeus was just outside the city where Paul was preaching.
As Paul shared the Good News of Jesus in Lystra, he looked straight at this unnamed man who was crippled from birth and had never walked. Paul could see that this man had the faith he needed to be healed.
So, the apostle called out to the man in a loud voice and said, “Stand up!”
That’s when the man did what Paul said and jumped to his feet by faith. Not only did he stand up, but he also started walking despite never having done it before.
Hear me today. God sent me, a Buffalo girl from small beginnings, to encourage your heart. It doesn’t matter if you’ve never done it before, seen it before, had it before, or considered the possibility before. If you believe, you will receive.
Unprecedented breakthroughs come to those who believe. Generational cycles are broken in the lives of those who believe. You may have spent a long time in life’s metaphorical garbage dump.
In the trash.
Finances in the trash. Health in the trash. Relationships in the trash. Mental state in the trash. Self-esteem in the trash. Everywhere you look seems littered with trash. And because of that, you may feel discarded and disregarded.
But God, the divine trash collector, has taken notice of your faith. And He knows that one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. You are His treasure. His prized possession. Ephesians 2:10 calls you God’s masterpiece, created in Christ Jesus to do good works He planned in advance for you to do.
I know what it is to be disregarded and discarded. Growing up in poverty limits society’s expectations of you. But the Lord put His hand on me, and I put my faith in the One who was lifted up on Calvary’s cross. And He gave me power to get up.
You have that same power.
Despite life’s crippling circumstances, by faith in Christ, you can overcome a natural disability and receive supernatural ability to do all things through Christ who strengthens you. Jesus said in Mark 9:23, “All things are possible to them that believe.”
Come on, somebody!
Allow me to borrow the Apostle Paul’s words to speak to your faith and command it to stand up! I speak to your confidence and command it to stand up. I speak into whatever valley you find yourself in and command you to stand up.
Stand up and believe you will be healed. Stand up and believe that you will be set free. Stand up and believe that you will receive increase. Stand up and believe that your situation is turning around. Stand up and believe that the same God who healed me in the hospital, when I was paralyzed on my left side and restored my ability to walk is alive and well and active.
Against the odds, stand up and believe that your life will be a testament to the truth of what Jesus said in Luke 18:27 NIV, which is the sweetener I’m stirring into your cup of inspiration today: “What is impossible with man is possible with God.”
As you drink down the contents of your cup, I feel the presence of the Holy Spirit. I want you to receive this word as a sign from Heaven. God is saying, you already have enough faith to arise. So, put that faith to work and He will work for you.
This is just a little public service announcement for my temporary dumpster dwellers. The divine trash collector is stooping down and pulling you up.
He’s declaring over you, stand up! And if you obey, you will do what you’ve never done. Go where you’ve never been. Have what you’ve never possessed. Achieve what you’ve never accomplished. And reach heights to which you have never ascended.
God is empowering you to get up so His name will be lifted up.
Now, pray this prayer with me.
God, thank You for reminding me that You are a God who stoops down into the trash dump, into my lowest places, to lift me up. As I release my faith, thank You for releasing Your favor, transforming my life, and making me an example of Your miraculous power. I declare right now from the depths of my spirit, “Lord, I believe.” In Jesus’ name, Amen.
If you desire prayer, please allow me, along with my intercessory prayer team, to stand in faith with you for breakthrough. We would be so honored. We have seen God work over and over again. There is power in agreement. Click here to request prayer now.
As always, thanks for reading and until next time... may today's cup of inspiration uplift, encourage, and empower you!
