What is your purpose? Who are you? What are you supposed to be doing? These are questions we have all asked ourselves. These questions had kept me up at night for the past two years. Who am I, and what am I supposed to be doing? What is my purpose?

If you were in Church that Sunday morning at Christian Heritage Church in Tallahassee, Florida, in 2010/11, you’d visibly see how terrified I was to be called out by a visiting Pastor whom Pastor Ron McCants had invited to preach. I can worship in the presence of a billion people; standing alone with the minister in the presence of a few hundred people is a different story.

It isn’t easy to think of perfection in the world we live in now. Each time we flip through our news feed, something is tugging at our heart’s core. There are wars around us, and injustice in our human systems is a daily struggle. The evil permeating people's hearts is unimaginable, forcing us to ask, “How does this end?”

The dictionary defines love as "An intense feeling of deep affection.” It’s one of the shortest words in it. The four-letter composition would imply simplicity; however, it’s anything but. For some of us, it’s everything we’ve ever wanted, while for others, it’s something they would one day like to know.

Throughout the Bible, there are various moments where God tells someone not to be afraid. Each of those times came at a time when the hearer had every reason to be very afraid. In one instance, Joshua, the leader of Israel after the death of Moses, was leading the Israelites to their promised land (Exodus 3).

If you’ve heard a champion speak, you'll see and hear the confidence that can only come from a place of certainty of victory. The voice may be calm, yet everyone listens because it resonates. This is especially true after the race or battle is won. I am not talking of a weightless, proud noise from an empty cymbal …

I was reading about “The Coat of Many Colors” recently, and it was fascinating to see that while the coat played a massive part in it, there was more to that love story. The story is about Joseph and his father’s love for him before and after the coat. Genesis 37:3 says, “Now Israel loved Joseph more than any of his sons because he had been born to him in his old age.”

Picture Jesus in the room you are in right now. Think of Him sitting right there, before you, hanging out in your space, just like He did at a Pharisee’s house in Luke 7. The thought, although intriguing, is intimidating. The questions going through my mind are: what do I do, and how should I act? Should I sit, stand, smile, or be still?

Maybe it’s because of my calling or because of Mum; I love talking about God. I became a Christian at fifteen, and before then, although I was oblivion to the depth of God’s love for me because of my parents’ walk with Christ, my life was filled with the topic of God. Mum sings and talks about Him like He’s right in the room.

I didn’t start driving early; when I started, I spent days studying the big book to pass the test. I asked my teacher many questions and watched him show me how to signal, turn the wheel, check the mirror, and other necessary skills. I took the time to learn to ensure I’d be ready to keep myself and everyone around safe when I got behind the wheel.

If I can believe in the law of seed time and harvest time and the law of the breaking of the dawn, then I believe in the preeminence of the Lordship of Christ. If I truly trust the emotional bond I share with my husband, mother, and father and the selfless love I pour on my children, I can, without any doubt, attribute that nature to God in me.

Despite David’s despair in Psalm 43, his response in verse 4 acknowledges his delight and joy in God. He said, “Then I will go to the altar of God, to God, my joy and my delight. I will praise you with the lyre, O God, my God.” I can relate because I started college during one of the most challenging times for my parents.

Although I have nothing against them, I’ve not subscribed to New Year's resolutions since I became a Christian. They place way too much demand on my humanity. In addition, they emphasize things I need to do for myself and less about the God side of the deal: lose weight, get a degree, change my fashion sense, or advance in a career.

Thank God we made it! We’ve stepped into another year and the beginning of a future we get to create with God. Although 2023 was a year with many challenges, He remained God at each turn. Despite the uproar, fidgeting, and confusion, we were shielded by His goodness.

Why has the story of the baby born in a manger captivated humanity generation after generation? It’s not a typical heroic story saturated with valors and splendors but one simplified by love. Despite the never-ending efforts to squash its validity, the story keeps reaching hearts from one end of the earth to the other.

When Beaver and his friends in the sixty's sitcom "Just Leave It to Beaver" decided to wear their monster sweatshirts to school, he ignored his parents' instruction and wore the shirt anyway. When the school reported him, he told his Dad he wore the shirt because he thought the other boys would do the same thing.

I have signed off a few letters and received a few ending with ‘Faithfully yours.” We adopted these two words as a sign of formality and a simple way to end a message. However, until a recent study in my Bible Group, I never thought much about growing in faithfulness as a fruit of the Spirit.

In a world filled with castles of pride, where people always want to find a way to put themselves above others, it’s important to know who you are as a child of God. The value man places on you can not compare to the worth God places on you.

Talking from a place of God’s goodness comes from the seed of gratitude and intentionality. It’s not the human default because we are wired to think of what doesn’t work and ignore what does. While God permits tears and lavishes us with love in our seasons of pain…

We often place a massive demand on our history to determine our present and future outcomes and, in turn, reduce the immaculate glory of today. While our past plays a significant role and is relevant for today, and our today is vital for our tomorrow, it’s crucial to learn to build from them to avoid the pitfalls of yesterday.