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, November 25,  2020.

We always thank God for all of you and continually mention you in our prayers. 1 Thessalonians 1:2

A Little Goes A Long Way

Professional athletes are often known for the extravagant taste, and Lamar Jackson, the quarterback of the Baltimore Ravens, is no exception. In 2019 Jackson spent around $100,000 on watches. There was just one thing about the watches that Jackson purchased. He didn’t keep any of them. For Christmas, Lamar Jackson purchased a new Rolex watch for each of his offensive linemen. While Jackson is a household name and was named the NFL Most Valuable Player in 2019, he went out of his way to thank the guys who help him every week accomplish the extraordinary athletic feats that he has become known for.

No matter how much credit we personally get, there is always someone who has helped us along the way. It may be the teacher that noticed your talent for art, who inspired you to take up a career in design. It may be the spouse that continued to support your hair-brained schemes until one of them finally worked out. It may be the people on your team at work, who in tough circumstances, continue to show up and do what needs to be done for the team to be successful. Whoever they are, we all know that “they” are there.

Friends, take some time to appreciate the “they” who are always there. You don’t have to buy them all Rolex watches, but a word of thanks and appreciation goes a long way. So take some time today to think of all of the people that help you shine. Those unsung heroes can often be overlooked, but you know without them, you wouldn’t be who you are. Once you think of who they are, tell them to thank you and pray for them. It may not seem like much, but trust me, a little thanks goes a long way.

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, November 24, 2020.

Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. Philippians 1:6

Not Finished Yet

I am the king of the unfinished project. If you take a walk through our home, you will find what my wife affectionately calls the graveyard. The graveyard is the place where my wife puts my unfinished projects. Those shelves that I started on but got busy and didn’t finish are in the graveyard. The toy that I was putting together for my son then got distracted. It lives in the graveyard too. The drone that I had big plans to fly all over and take awesome pictures, it’s not quite finished yet and also lives in the graveyard. It is not that I don’t plan to get these things finished. It is just that something more pressing always comes up.

For many of us, we suffer from new thing syndrome. We like to start new things, but we only like them while they are new. When they get tough or mundane, or something else pops up, we run off to another new thing because it seems more exciting. The obvious problem is, when we are continually running off to new things, we never actually finish anything. That is why I am glad that God is nothing like us. God does not run off to the new things because he got bored, or it looks like it will be more fun. The great thing about God is when God starts something, He sees it through to the end.

Friends, there are times in our lives when we may feel like things are not going well and wonder where God is. We wonder if God is through with us or has put us off to the side. I can tell you for a fact that God has not given up or walked away. We have to learn to trust God’s timing in our lives. Just because it isn’t happening fast enough for us doesn’t mean that God isn’t working on it. So take heart, no matter what it looks like right now, as long as you are not in the graveyard, God is not finished with you yet.

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, November 23, 2020.

One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Luke 17:15-17

Out Of Practice

Not too long ago, I was at a friend’s home and realized that he had just put up a basketball hoop in the back yard. I looked around and found the ball, so I decided to take a few shots. I wasn’t exactly LeBron James, but back in the day, I was a capable basketball player. So I started taking shots. The first one was a little short. The second one was a little shorter. I decided to put some oomph on the third shout, and it hit the backboard hard enough to give you a few bricks to build a decent house. Shot after shot, was miss after miss. My friend came out and saw my little display of ineptitude and said, “Looks like someone is out of practice.”

He was absolutely right. It had been years since I had picked up a basketball. I assumed that since I had played before, I could pick right up where I left off. Instead, I had lost my touch, my form was off, and my legs were not helping at all. What was once natural was now a struggle. After a few minutes of shooting, something happened. One went in. Then another and another. I had gotten back into the grove. That’s when my friend snidely commented, “Maybe you should practice more often.”

Friends, like my jump shot, things in life go bad if you don’t practice them. For too many of us, the only time we are intentionally thankful is when Thanksgiving rolls around. There are times that we are really thankful, but the vicissitudes of life can take away that natural reflex of being thankful. Like the lepers that Jesus cleansed, sometimes life has gotten us so far down that we forget to be thankful day by day for the good things that are going on, so when a great thing happens, we are out of practice. This week we will all be a little more thankful because of the holiday, but let’s use this week to get back into the practice of being thankful every day. That way, we won’t fall out of practice.

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, November 20, 2020.

Understand, therefore, that the Lord your God is indeed God. He is the faithful God who keeps his covenant for a thousand generations and lavishes his unfailing love on those who love him and obey his commands. Deuteronomy 7:9

Some Exclusions May Apply

Unlike most people who have stories of their first car being a hoopty, I was lucky. Growing up in New York City, you didn’t need a car, so I didn’t get my first car until much later in life. I was good and grown, had a job, and I would be paying the note myself, so there was no way I was buying a hoopty. I wanted something nice, and more importantly new with a warranty. Because it was my first car, I wanted to make sure that if something went wrong with it, I could take it back to the dealer, and they would fix it. It was in the course of signing all of the many documents that one has to sign to purchase a car that I learned a precious lesson about warranties, “Some Exclusions May Apply.”

When they told me it was a bumper-to-bumper warranty, I said, “Great, now no matter what, it is your problem.” That’s is when the person I was working with pointed to this paragraph at the end of the warranty that pointed out the things that would void the warranty. It seems that if I failed to properly maintain the car, that would void the warranty. Also, if I made certain modifications to the car, that would void the warranty. Also, if I used the car in certain unspecified ways, that too would void the warranty. After all of that, I was a little discouraged about my warranty, but my dealer made a good point. She said, “It’s a great warranty because if you do your part, we will absolutely do our part.”

Often times we forget just like we have to do our part with a car to keep the warranty in effect, we have to do our part with God to keep receiving the blessings of God. While all we need is faith to be connected to God, the blessings of God come by following his will and his way. You can’t expect blessings if you live outside of his will, add things to his way, or don’t keep living by faith in his commands. Yet, God is always faithful. He always reminds us that when we do our part, he will always do his part. But God is greater than a warranty because even when we make mistakes, his grace is all we need.

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, November 19, 2020.

Because of the Lord’s great love, we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. Lamentations 3:22

You’re Still Here

At many colleges, there is a puzzling ritual. They sit all of the freshmen in an auditorium, and some very official person comes and makes an inspirational speech. The speech usually is to welcome these new faces to campus, give them some hope, and excite them about the road ahead. Then typically, some other official-looking person, in the effort to make the new students know what a serious endeavor this is, tells them to look to the left and look to the right because one of these people will not be here by graduation. I suppose it is supposed to be motivational, but since everybody has looked at somebody, that means nobody is supposed to be here by graduation. Like I said puzzling.

Yet, for the believer, we know that we are going to be here. We know this because God loves us enough that he will not let us not make it. We will all have our good days and our bad days, but God promises that he loves us enough that our bad days won’t be the last of our days. God promises that he loves us enough that mishaps, troubles, and mistakes can’t make him give up on us. He loves us through our flaws and promises that even when we fail, his love never will.

Friends, you may have some days when you feel like you are not going to make it. You may even have some days when you feel like everyone is wondering how you are still here. Those are the days that should put a smile on your face. It is on those days that you know you are only still here because God still loves you. It is on those days that you know beyond a shadow of a doubt that there is still a purpose for your life and a god that is making all thing work together for you. So take heart, and keep your head up. The proof that God is real and that He loves you is that you’re still here.

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, November 18, 2020.

I will not die. Instead, I will live to tell what the Lord has done. Psalm 118:17

Tell Your Story

I remember growing up in church and sitting through testimony time. Testimony time was when people would get up and tell their stories of how far the Lord had brought them. You would hear stories about people who had been in jail, found the Lord, and had set their lives on track. You would hear stories of people who were on drugs, then they found the Lord, and now they are clean, sober, and living for Jesus. You’d hear stories of miraculous physical healing, marriages that had been saved, and all manner of things that the Lord had done for people throughout life. To tell the truth, as a little child, I found the stories boring because you always knew how they would end, but as I got older, I went from bored to jealous.

I was jealous because I didn’t have a story like any of the ones I had heard growing up. I hadn’t been to jail, survived being on skid row, or recovered from a life-threatening illness. Even worse, I had two parents, a happy childhood, and while everything was not perfect, more or less, we had lived a modest but pretty comfortable life. It was because things had been relatively drama-free that I was jealous that I didn’t have one of those great testimony stories to tell. When I mentioned it to my father one day, he told me something interesting, “That’s their story. You get to tell your story.”

Friends, if you are reading this, that means you are still alive. If you are still alive, then you have a story of what God has done for you. It may not be as dramatic and some other stories. It may not have twists, turns, and a miraculous turnaround like someone else did. And that is fine. Your story is your story, and you need to tell it. It is your story that may reach, inspire, and speak to that other person that has a story like yours and let them see that God is in the life of people like you. But most of all, God has kept you, and that is worth talking about. So take some time to tell your story. You never know who might be listening.

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, November 17, 2020.

Teach me to do your will, for you are my God; may your good Spirit lead me on level ground. Psalm 143:10

Follow the Leader

Do you remember playing follow the leader as a child? It was a simple game yet lots of fun. One person would be the leader, and then everyone would do what the leader did. If the leader went to the slide and slid down, everyone went to the slide and slid down. If the leader ran to the sandbox, everyone ran to the sandbox. You’d do this for a while until there was a new leader, and then you’d follow that leader. The game was great as long as you had a good leader, but if you got a bad leader, the game would fall apart.

There were two types of bad leaders, the doing too much leader and the doing too little leader. The doing too much leader was the one who always wanted to do stuff that the group was not capable of doing. This was the leader that wanted to run three miles, scale a building, and zip line back to the monkey bars. The doing too little leader was the one who wanted to just sit down “Indian style” and do nothing. While these leaders were very different, they were both bad for the same reason; they didn’t take their followers’ needs into account as they led. They both lead by doing what they wanted to do, not recognizing that they had to lead their followers somewhere that was good for them as well.

The wonderful thing about following God is that he is a great leader. He leads us by his spirit to the places that are good for us. He leads us to paths of righteousness. He leads us to level ground. He leads us out of the darkness and into his marvelous light. What you always know is that where he is leading is better than where you were before and will result in your good. Today, make the commitment to follow the leader because he always takes you to the right place.

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, November 16, 2020.

I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Psalm 27:13

See It Through

I have bad news; in life, you will have disappointments. I want to put this upfront because I don’t want it to be a surprise to you anymore when something goes wrong. I don’t want you to be shocked when you don’t get the promotions. I don’t want you to be disturbed when the relationship falls apart. I don’t want you to lose your cool when someone talks about you behind your back, plots against you, or actively work towards your downfall. I want you to know that this will happen, it should be expected, and most importantly, it does not matter.

You see, too many of us have bought into the notion that we will not face problems in life. We somehow began to believe that if something was meant to be, it would not require work, effort, or overcoming, but that simply is not true. On your way to your destiny, you will have setbacks, face challenges, and have people actively work against you. I want you to know those times are coming, but they are not going to stop you. In the worst of times, don’t get distressed, depressed, or despondent. Just keep believing.

When you have a disappointment in life, you have to remember that it is just a part of life, and then keep believing. Keep believing that there will be better days after this. You have to keep believing that you are more than an overcome, and you’re going to prove that by overcoming this. You have to keep believing that God is still in charge and will give you all you need. Last but not least, you have to keep believing that you will see the goodness of God in your lifetime. Like I said, the bad news is you will have disappointments, but the good news is you will see God work it out before it’s all over.

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, November 13, 2020.

Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Colossians 3:12

Change Your Clothes

Growing up, I had three sets of clothes. I had my school clothes, my church clothes, and my play clothes. Each set of clothes had a specific purpose and were worn for specific occasions. My school clothes were for school. It was not that we wore a uniform. These were just the nice clothes that I had not outgrown and were presentable for public consumption. My church clothes were, by contrast, my Sunday best. Those were my suits and ties and dress shirts, and hard bottom shoes. These were the clothes reserved specifically for the Lord’s house. Finally, you had my play clothes. Play clothes, in most cases, used to be school clothes or church clothes. They were now just not the right size, or I had created some flaw in them that made them no longer acceptable for their intended purpose.

One day while visiting my relatives, I forgot what clothes I had on. We had just come home from church, and as boys do, we started playing. It started off simple. Just tossing the ball around. After a while, tossing the ball became a touch football game. Touch football soon escalated to tackle football, and that is when my mother came out of the porch and saw us. All of us still in our church clothes rolling in the grass, having the time of our lives, and she went off. She ordered all of us to go to our respective houses and change clothes immediately. So off, we all scurried, knowing that there were going to be some unpleasant conversations ahead of us because we had on the wrong clothes.

Friends, like little boys after church, when we become children of God, we have to change clothes. Because God has freely loved us, shown us compassion, kindness, gentleness, and patience, it is only right that we clothe ourselves in the same things. The clothes that we wore before we met the Lord are no longer our style, and they no longer fit. We have to make sure that we put on the clothes worthy of children of the King of Kings. So when you get dressed in the morning, no matter what else you put on, make sure you clothe yourself in the things of our God. And if not, as my mother would say, get in that house and change clothes.

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, November 12, 2020.

You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead, they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone else in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. Matthew 5:14-16

Be Best

What your favorite outfit? You know the one that you put on when you are going somewhere, and you want to be seen. It may be what you wear when you go to formal occasions, what you wear to weddings, or maybe the outfit that makes you feel great when you have to make a presentation, but all of us have that favorite outfit. It is the outfit that we don’t wear to hide in the corners, but we wear it to let people see us at our best. The only problem with that favorite outfit is that you can’t wear it every day. You save it for those special occasions when you want to be at your best, but that means that every other outfit is less than your best.

Every day we should be wearing our best outfits. Your best outfit is not in the clothes you have on, but in the life that you live. Your best outfit starts with you making the decision to be seen. The decision to show up and show the world who you are. You were not made to sit in the back, on the sidelines, or to shrink in the shadows. You are gifted beyond measure and able to do anything you set your mind to, but it won’t matter unless you choose to show up. Every day, in every place, in every way, you have to show up and be you. Not anyone else, just be the strong, confident, capable you. In other words, every day put on your best.

Showing up and being your best can be intimidating. There are times that we all feel like we just don’t have it today or that we are not good enough for the challenge ahead, but believe me, you are. You are ready. You are capable. You are powerful. Now you have to let your light shine. God did not put all He put into you for you to shrink back, hideout, and be less than. He uniquely gifted you to be seen by others so that you might see him. So step up, step out, and never stand back. Every day is a day for you to let your light shine, take the stage, and be your best.

Be Blessed,

Rev