The Daily Dose with Dr. Daryl L. Williams

A Word every day to get you on your way!

Here is the Daily Dose for Thursday, September 24, 2020.

Now repent of your sins and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped away. Acts 3:19

Forgive and Forget

I have a friend who is a divorce attorney. She spends her days and nights separating people who, at one time, had pledged to be with each other until death do they part. Because she sees marriages as they are coming apart, she has a unique insight into how this happens to couples. So one day, I asked her what does it take for people to not wind up in her office. Her answer was simple yet amazing. According to my friend, most couples could stop the march to the courthouse if one party could say two words in time, “I’m sorry.”

In her learned opinion, an apology would stop people from what for many is the worst day of their lives. She told me what marches people to court is someone has said or done something, and they didn’t apologize. A well-timed apology does three things. First off, a well-timed apology assuages anger. It stops the aggrieved party from continuing to escalate in rage. Secondly, a well-timed apology shows that the apologizing person accepts responsibility for what they have done. That responsibility lets the other person know that they are cared for. Finally, a well-timed apology lets both parties start over if they want to. It gives them a choice to not continue down this road but to go in another direction.

Friends, in the same way that a well-timed apology can stop a divorce, a well-timed apology can keep you in good stead with God. All of us have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. All of us have done things that we are not proud of and should not have. All of us also have the chance to go to God for forgiveness. No matter what we have done, if we go to God and repent, God is faithful to both forgive and forget.

Be Blessed,

Rev

The Daily Dose with Dr. Daryl L. Williams

A Word every day to get you on your way!

Here is the Daily Dose for Wednesday, September 23, 2020.

All scripture is inspired by God, and it is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. 2 Timothy 3:16

By The Book

I will always remember my middle school principal Mrs. Rosen. She was that tough school administrator that you were just not going to get anything past. Running in the halls? She’d bust you. Sneaking snacks in class? She’d bust you. Passing notes in the hallway? Consider yourself busted. Eventually, everyone was going to face the wrath of Mrs. Rose unless you played by her rules. You see, for Mrs. Rosen, there was only one way to do things. You do them by the book.

On your first day of school, every student was issued a student handbook. In that handbook was everything you needed to know. It told you what the rules were for going from one class to another. It told you what the rules were for how to act in class. It gave you the rules for recess and the lunchroom. It also laid out the punishments if you were in violation of the rules. So if you followed the book, you never wound up in trouble. It was a guide to making it through her school.

Friends, life is better when you know the rules. The rules will not only keep you out of trouble, but they will also guild you towards a good life. For believers, our rule book is the word of God. When we turn to the word, we know what to do and what not to do. We know what God expects and what displeases God. But most of all, we know the promises of God, and God always lives up to his promises. So next time you have to make a life decision, go by the book.

Be Blessed,

Rev

The Daily Dose with Dr. Daryl L. Williams

A Word every day to get you on your way!

Here is the Daily Dose for Tuesday, September 22, 2020.

So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord – who is the Spirit – makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image. 2 Corinthians 3:18

Shock and Awe

If you have ever been to a wedding, you know there are two high points in the ceremony. There is the end when the couple is pronounced man and wife, and they kiss, but the massive moment is the bride’s entry. No matter what has gone on to that point, when the bride comes in, there is a hush that falls over the crowd as everyone looks on as the bride makes her big entrances. The bride gets special music, an escort, a runner to walk on, and all eyes are on her as she arrives. It is quite a glorious moment, but there is one thing, often the bride is wearing a veil. All that build-up and you can’t clearly see the person that everyone has been waiting for. Everyone except me, that is.

For me, the most significant moment comes just after the arrival of the bride. I wait for the moment when the groom lifts the veil and sees his bride for the first time. Every time I have seen it, the same thing happens. The groom looks at his wife to be, and it is the best moment of his life. He may have has seen her before but never quite like this. The look of joy, amazement, and awe that washes over every groom when the veil is removed is my favorite part of the wedding. At that moment, the groom sees clearly the wife that he has been only getting glimpses of until that moment.

Friends, there will come a day when we will all see the glory of the Lord face to face. We have all seen glimpses of the glory of the Lord, but we have never seen it fully. We have seen enough to know that God is real, that his glory is unending, but we haven’t seen it in its fullness yet. Yet, one day we will see all of it. The veil will be removed, and we will see Him face to face.  I believe the Lord will certainly smile when he sees us, but it will be nothing compared to how the shock and awe we will be when the veil is removed, and we can finally see him.

Be Blessed,

Rev

The Daily Dose with Dr. Daryl L. Williams

A Word every day to get you on your way!

Here is the Daily Dose for Monday, September 21, 2020.

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere-in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. Acts 1:8

Unstoppable  

I was never a big video game player, but I loved playing EA Sports College Football. I had gotten pretty good at it, but I had a buddy that I just couldn’t beat. No matter what plays I called, how hard I tried, or what game strategy I used, he always won by one score. The games were close, but I just couldn’t get over the hump. After my latest beating from him, he asked me a question. He wanted to know why I never used the boost button. In every game we had played, I have never used the boost button while my player was running. The reason was pretty simple, I didn’t know there was a boost button.

He explained that if I pressed the boost button, my player would run faster, and I might score more. This was a totally new revelation to me. The next time we played, I was armed with this new knowledge, and the game was different. I went from losing by a score to winning by three scores. Actually, my friend stopped playing the game with me because I never lost to him again. In my own power, I was good, but I was losing. Once I knew about the boost button, I became unstoppable.

Friends, God has supplied us with a boost button in real life, the Holy Spirit. There are some things that you simply are not going to be able to do without the Holy Spirit. You will work hard, you will get close, but you won’t make it because by yourself you are not enough. The Holy Spirit is God’s hand in our lives, giving us the boost that we need to do all the things that He is calling us to. So don’t keep going through life losing by a point or two over and over. Receive the power of the Holy Spirit and become unstoppable.

Be Blessed,

Rev

 

The Daily Dose with Dr. Daryl L. Williams

A Word every day to get you on your way!

Here is the Daily Dose for Friday, September 18, 2020.

Work hard so you can present yourself to God and receive his approval. Be a good worker, one who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly explains the word of truth. 2 Timothy 2:15

 

Stay Focused

All of us have asked ourselves from time to time, where did the week go. We know we spent all week working, we know the days passed, but we look back and have no idea where the time went. Those are the weeks that frustrate me the most. They are frustrating because I know I had a plan at the beginning of the week. I know there were things that I wanted to accomplish before the end of the week. I also know that it is probably my fault that I don’t know where the week went by then end of the week.

I know it is my fault because I know that throughout the week, I made a lot of small decisions that wasted away the week. Every time I choose to check social media instead of focusing on a priority, I gave away part of the week. Every time I watched reruns of old television shows instead of focusing on what I wanted to accomplish that week, I gave away a part of the week. So at the end of the week, looking back, I shouldn’t really have wondered where the week went. I should have just totaled up all the pieces I gave away.

Friends, hard work is important, but so is being focused. Every time we trade away time on our priorities, we are giving up some of the time that God has given us to do what we were put here for. All of us have God-given talents, and we all have God-given assignments. Every week we have to make sure that we are using the time that God has given us to fulfill the assignments he has for us. Social media and leisure will always be there, so we need to make sure that if God asks us how our week was, we won’t say that we don’t know where it went. Instead, we can answer well because we know where every minute went.

Be Blessed,

Rev

The Daily Dose with Dr. Daryl L. Williams

A Word every day to get you on your way!

Here is the Daily Dose for Thursday, September 17, 2020.

Dear friends, we are already God’s children, but he has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is. 1 John 3:2

A Clear View

Do you remember playing follow the leader as a child? It was a simple game. The leader did something, and then everyone else did it. The tricky part of the game was, the further away you were from the leader, the more difficult it was to follow. The people closest to the leader had a clear view, so they could mimic what the leader was doing easiest. As you got further and further away from the leader, you were more guessing what the leader was doing and trying to do that.

Because I wanted to win in follow the leader, I would always change my position to see the leader more clearly. If I was at the back of the line, I would try to get closer to the front. If there were people taller than me in front of me, I would angle to the side to always see the leader for myself. That way, I knew that what I was doing was what the leader was doing.

Friends, as believers, it is our goal to become as much like Christ as possible. There will be times when we feel distant and can’t quite see Christ. There will also be times when we feel close to him and can see him clearly. No matter where we are, our goal is to make the adjustments to see and follow him as clearly as possible.

Be Blessed,

Rev

The Daily Dose with Dr. Daryl L. Williams

A Word every day to get you on your way!

Here is the Daily Dose for Wednesday, September 16, 2020.

But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. 1 John 1:9

Let It Go

I still remember the 1995 NBA Finals. That year the Houston Rockets played the Orlando Magic for the NBA championship. I didn’t really have a dog in the fight, but the year before, the Rockets had beaten my beloved New York Knicks, so I decided that I would root for Orlando strictly out of spite. Things looked good in the first game. Orlando was ahead in the closing moments, and Nick Anderson, one of the better shooters on the team, was fouled and going to the line to shoot his free throws. Anderson, typically a reliable free throw shooter, proceeded to miss four free throws in a row costing Orlando the game and the series.

Four missed shots in the first game shouldn’t have cost the team the series, but that failure did something to Nick Anderson. He couldn’t shake off the misses. For the rest of the series, he was a shell of himself. The player who was going to be integral to the championship run suddenly could hit the side of a barn with a shot. What’s worse, he was never the same as a player again. Those four missed shots stuck with Nick Anderson for the rest of his career as he faded from being a promising star in the making to Nick “The Brick” Anderson.

Friends, many of us have had Nick Anderson moments in our lives. We have made a mistake or had a failure, and it stuck with us. We keep looking back on it, carrying it with us, and reliving it. We think about it so often that it continues to affect us years later. I want you to know it does not have to be that way. We have all made mistakes, fallen short, and messed up. Your mistakes are not the sum total of who you are and should not define your future. You have to let them go. The best way to let the mistakes of the past go is to take them to the Lord. If you confess your mistakes to the Lord, he will take that monkey off your back and give you a new future. It is up to you though, You can be free, or you can keep carrying the monkey.

Be Blessed,

Rev

The Daily Dose with Dr. Daryl L. Williams

A Word every day to get you on your way!

Here is the Daily Dose for Tuesday, September 15, 2020.

I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Galatians 2:20

Yes, Jesus Loves Us  

Being a parent changes you. On the day that your child is born, everything becomes different. You look down, and you see this little, wrinkled, wrapped up human being, wearing a hat of all things, and you know that nothing is the same. You know that you want to protect them from any type of pain or struggle. You know that you have to find a way to provide for them. You know that there is nothing that you wouldn’t do for them and that if it came down to it, you’d happily give your life to save theirs. In short, the day you become a parent, you suddenly know a different level of love.

It is on that day that parents get a small glimpse of how Jesus feels about us. We get a glimpse of what it means to be willing to give yourself up for someone else. We get a glimpse of the deep, profound, abiding love that God has for us. We, for a moment, know that no matter what this person does, no matter what mistakes they might make, we will always love them. We will still care for them. We will always want the best for them. They are our child, and no matter what, we are going to be there watching, intervening, and wanting the best for them. That is how parents care for their children.

Friends, Jesus loved us so much that he took our place. He loved us then, loves us now, and will always love us so much that he willingly gave himself up for us. No matter who you are, and no matter what you may have done, Jesus loves you so much that he was willing to trade places with you and die your death so that you would not have to. He didn’t do it for the perfect people; he did it for the flawed, mistake-making, completely imperfect people like you and me. Yes, Jesus loves us.

Be Blessed,

Rev

The Daily Dose with Dr. Daryl L. Williams

A Word every day to get you on your way!

Here is the Daily Dose for Monday, September 14, 2020.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 2 Corinthians 5:17

The New You

One of the things I enjoyed most about college was meeting people from all over the world. My college had students from forty-seven of the fifty states and from several countries around the world. Meeting people who had grown up differently from you was always a fascinating look into the cultures of different places. One of the first people I met was a guy named Jeff, but he preferred to be called J-Dog. J-Dog was a gangster. He had come to college to get his life back on track because he knew that streets would eventually get him if he didn’t turn things around. J-Dog had the best stories of the things that he had done, gone through, and survived. It was like listening to first-hand accounts of all the movies and music videos I had seen.

One day we were having a dorm movie night. This was back in the days of VHS, and J-Dog had provided the movie for this evening. As the film was ending, a strange thing happened. It seems the movie was recorded over another program. There it was plain as day, a lovely family dinner, probably around the holidays. And there was J-Dog, in a jacket and tie, speaking without an accent, and hugging his little sister. That day we found out that there was no J-Dog. J-Dog was a character that Jeff invented when he came to college to escape his “bland, middle class” upbringing. Needless, to say we never called him J-Dog again.

Friends, like Jeff, we can choose who we want to be. No matter where you came from or what you have done, you can always choose Christ. When you choose Christ, you become a new person. The old you does not have to inhibit the new you. No matter the mistakes you have made, regrets that you may have, or issues you have dealt with, in Christ, you are a new being. So take off the old you, and feel free to introduce the world to the new you.

Be Blessed,

Rev  

The Daily Dose with Dr. Daryl L. Williams

A Word every day to get you on your way!

Here is the Daily Dose for Friday, September 11, 2020.

For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity but of power, love, and self-control. 2 Timothy 1:7

Your Choice 

Well, why did you do that? I just couldn’t help myself. These were the words that started the segment that I was watching on Maury. Yes, I admit it; when I am sick in bed, I watch the Maury show. I know it is not good television, but it is very entertaining. This episode was about women who cheat, and the men who love them. Or maybe it was men who cheat and the women who love them. Either way, it was about people constantly cheating in relationships. As this couple told their story, one thing became clear, it was not the fault of the cheater. They just couldn’t help themselves. Every time, they just couldn’t help themselves.

When we say that we just can’t help ourselves, what we are really saying is, I did it, but it is not my fault. Yes, I was there. Yes, I did do it, Yes, it was wrong. No, it is not my fault. That is how many people go throughout their lives. Nothing is ever their fault, and they are typically correct. Once you have decided that you are not going to control yourself, then nothing is ever your fault again. It is the ultimate get out of jail free card, but it is also incredibly dangerous. While nothing is your fault, you also have to live with all the things that you have done. And from what I saw on Maury, nobody ever wants to live with the consequences of the things that are not their fault.

Friends, don’t ever say the words “I just couldn’t help myself,” or “It’s not my fault,” ever again. One of the blessings of God is that he gives us the power to control ourselves. God knows that there will always be temptations in the world and opportunities to do the wrong thing. He loves us so much that he doesn’t send us our unarmed. He arms us with the power of self-control. Self-control is simply trusting the power of God to lead you in the right direction in life. When we do that, things stop being our fault, and they become our choice. So as you go throughout the day, remember, it may not be your fault, but self-control always makes it your choice.

Be Blessed,

Rev