Oh I Thought You Said Something

1 Peter 1:3 New Living Translation (NLT)

The Hope of Eternal Life

3 All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by his great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Now we live with great expectation,

I've been gone a while for the devotionals I know yall. I know. Don't kill me. I really had to get through some stuff. But God really dealt with me regarding those of new faith. When I say new faith, I don't mean just those who are young in age but those who are young in Christ. Thank God I come from a ministry with a young pastor, but there are some that are in ministries with those who don't understand their praise or who make people feel bad for how they praise God. 

There was video that surfaced on the internet of this little boy dancing I think it was during offering, but it was like your typical picking em up and laying em down. This baby was doing the floss and the shoot. What I loved about the video was that the older people in the video tried to join him. Now what really upset me was the comments. There were so many people talking about it was inappropriate, and I'm literally like how?!? So God took me to the story of the woman with the alabaster box. 

Luke 7:36-40 New Living Translation (NLT)

Jesus Anointed by a Sinful Woman

36 One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to have dinner with him, so Jesus went to his home and sat down to eat.[a] 37 When a certain immoral woman from that city heard he was eating there, she brought a beautiful alabaster jar filled with expensive perfume. 38 Then she knelt behind him at his feet, weeping. Her tears fell on his feet, and she wiped them off with her hair. Then she kept kissing his feet and putting perfume on them.

39 When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know what kind of woman is touching him. She’s a sinner!”

40 Then Jesus answered his thoughts. “Simon,” he said to the Pharisee, “I have something to say to you.”

“Go ahead, Teacher,” Simon replied.

What do we have here? We have a woman that is literally giving all she got and was being judged for it. To be honest, I hate the exclusivity of the church. I genuinely hate it. The church is supposed to be able to a place where people can gather and praise God together. But what tends to happen is people gather and place their own expectations on what people are supposed to do and how they're supposed to be. You have to shout this way. You have to dress that way. You have to show adoration this way. None of it is biblically rooted, but those are the expectations. 


Regardless of where we are in scripture, the fact still remains that the pharisee was judgmental towards the young lady because of her past. Hold on right there. This is my issue with the pharisees. They are too consumed with the past. They were an Old Testament believer. Scholars say that pharisees believe in the law given to Moses. They didn't even believe in Jesus. We are now in a place in scripture where the love of God has manifested in one way. He sent His only begotten son to Earth to die. He hasn't died yet, but it's coming. 

Not only were they consumed with the biblical past, but they were too consumed with the knowledge of this woman's past that they could not acknowledge of what she was doing right there at the moment. I used to support the idea that church hurt did not exist. But I truly believe that it exists for those who are new to faith for those who are coming into the realization that they need God and that is has not been their own goodness that has been keeping them. 

We obviously know that we need a job in some way, shape, or form to maintain. You can see the direct result. You go to work, you get the money, and you pay your bills. But sometimes it takes a little more work for people to understand that just being a good person won't keep life from happening to you. It is God. 

I remember when the glory of God hit my life one of the first time, I was 16 years old. I was dating a PK (thank God for His deliverance. Won't He do it 🙌🏾) at that time and within a week of each other, we both got into accidents that should have taken our lives. It was in that moment that he explained to me that it was nobody but God. That moment took me on a whirlwind of a new faith. But then I returned to the ministry that my parents went to and it shattered my faith. I wasn't mature enough in my faith to understand that the people in the building should not affect how I believe. So we have church hurt. 

Had this woman known what the man was thinking about her, she too may have experienced church hurt. The pharisee was being condescending to her. Not only that but he questioned Jesus. Let me tell you something--you gotta be bold to question Jesus the way he did. And this is why I love Jesus. I'm a little bit petty and this moment fed into every petty part of me. The man said something in his head and Jesus didn't just give him that look to let him know that he knows what he said. He answered the man's thoughts out loud. It checked him real quick and made him realize yes, Jesus is who He says He is. 

Luke 7:41-50 New Living Translation (NLT)

41 Then Jesus told him this story: “A man loaned money to two people—500 pieces of silver[a] to one and 50 pieces to the other. 42 But neither of them could repay him, so he kindly forgave them both, canceling their debts. Who do you suppose loved him more after that?”

43 Simon answered, “I suppose the one for whom he canceled the larger debt.”

“That’s right,” Jesus said. 44 Then he turned to the woman and said to Simon, “Look at this woman kneeling here. When I entered your home, you didn’t offer me water to wash the dust from my feet, but she has washed them with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45 You didn’t greet me with a kiss, but from the time I first came in, she has not stopped kissing my feet. 46 You neglected the courtesy of olive oil to anoint my head, but she has anointed my feet with rare perfume.

47 “I tell you, her sins—and they are many—have been forgiven, so she has shown me much love. But a person who is forgiven little shows only little love.” 48 Then Jesus said to the woman, “Your sins are forgiven.”

49 The men at the table said among themselves, “Who is this man, that he goes around forgiving sins?”

50 And Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”

So the story continues and Jesus had to break this thing all the way down to him. Jesus came to repay sins. What he and all the bigots in the church have to realize is that some people have more debt than others. Some people have been through more than others. Yes, I've been through a lot, but my cousin has been through the same things and then some. 

The truth is you never knew what preceded that praise or what preceded that worship. When you went through a lot, you want to give a lot. Those who aint always have it and now have it are always the ones give it back to the community. But when you aint never been without they know where their help comes from. They know they would not be here without God.

Philippians 4:11-13 New Living Translation (NLT)

11 Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. 12 I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. 13 For I can do everything through Christ,[a] who gives me strength.

Who are you to judge how somebody praises God? Come here, David. David's son died and David danced out of his clothes. His wife said "It don't take all that."Don't let anybody stop you from praising. You were created to praise God. Scripture says let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise Him according to His excellent greatness. 

I wish people would realized that God don't owe you nothing. You should never get so comfortable that you don't think you have to praise Him anymore. As long as you have breath in your body, you owe Him. Because it could've been the other way. But glory to God for His grace and mercy. He is truly worthy to be praised.