(click the image below to find your polling place)

Royce West (click image for more info)

Mary "MJ" Hegar (click image for more info)

Chrysta Castañeda (click image for more info)

Roberto R. "Beto" Alonzo (click image for more info)

Audra Riley (click image for more info)

Teresa Hawthorne (click image for more info)

I know this is an Old Testament scripture but I want to show you the Greek word for justice:

dikaiosuné- justice, righteousness of which God is the source 

As believers our first response to today’s current events is prayer, there’s no justice without God. We want justice, we want change, but more than anything we want to see “God’s kingdom come, His will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” 

Micah 6:8 isn’t a message for the “black church” or for the “white church” but for The Church. We are all called to live justly, to not only love to receive mercy but to show mercy, & to walk humbly with God always ready to carry out the will of our Father. 

Racism is a principality & can only be defeated with an united front, we can no longer be “Black Christians” or “White Christians” or “Latino Christians” or “Asian Christians” but Kingdom Christians wearing the full armor of God so that we can stand firm against ALL the strategies of the devil. 

We will see justice, we will see change, we will be united, & we will advance the kingdom of God! 

-Imani 

Our Christian journey is all about faith, faith in a creator that we cannot see, faith in heaven that we cannot see, faith in outcomes that we cannot see, faith down a path that we cannot see, faith in being forgiven, faith in being set free, faith in being healed, faith in being transformed, faith in being saved. We live a life of faith with faith believing that the God we put our faith in is faithful to fulfill everything He has spoken to us. 

The faith that we possess is a gift from God, by faith we are saved & by faith we live the life that God has predestined us to live.

It’s scriptures like these & many others that stir up our faith when our feelings get the best of us when we begin to walk by sight, depending on our own wisdom, & forgetting “The Word”. From the beginning of time, any good thing that God gives the devil tries to take & pervert from sex, money, marriage, family, entertainment, personality traits, talents, to our faith; he is like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 

God gives us faith to believe His word so the devil will try to sneak in & take our gift of faith, & instead use it to have us in our feelings worried, anxious, depressed, angry, offended, mistrusting, backsliding, envious, & believing the report of men instead of the One who knows the beginning from the end. 

Any great army or team studies their opponent & as soldiers in the army of the Lord & players on Team Jesus we must study our opponent the devil in order to learn his tactics & plays, & in the words of Pastor Green, “Go get your faith!” The devil is constantly trying to take away our faith, shooting firey arrows at our heart, whispering lies into our ears, & setting up cyyyycccllllessssss cyyyyyyyclleeeeessss in order to have us feeling like God isn’t there or that we aren’t good enough for God. 

Today Pastor Green shared three things that faith does for us when we put it over our emotions:

1. Faith gives you a new language

• Faith says “I am”, “with God all things are possible”.
• God created the entire universe through what He said, even when Jesus was emotional about Lazarus' death He spoke life & he was resurrected. So if we are created in God’s image then we too possess the power to speak things into existence (according to God’s will of course).

2. Faith is teaching you a new lesson 

• When our faith is tested we are given the opportunity to grow, to mature, & to learn. We are able to go deeper in our relationship with God & see new dimensions of who God is.
• Jesus learned obedience by the things He suffered, it is often the trials of life that cause us to depend on God more.

3. Faith is loosening whatever God quickened

• Jesus spoke a word & Lazarus rose again; however, he still had to be unwrapped.
• It’s the word of God that gives us faith, but it’s our willingness to do the work that makes it move. Faith without works is dead, we must do our part to see the things that God spoke come to pass.

He SAID you will be debt free, make the budget. He SAID your family will be saved, pray, fast, & walk in the spirit. HE SAID you will be an author, write the book. He SAID you will be healed, drink the green juice. He SAID resist the devil & he will flee, cut off everything & everyone that you know causes you to fall. 

Faith is not about a feeling but about The Word, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God (John 1:1).” We must continue to stand on The Word through the storms, the deserts, the loneliness, the hurt, the pain, the disappointments, the failures, the mistakes, the temptation, & the silence. Our faith is in God, the creator, the Alpha, the Omega, the immovable, unchangeable, founder & perfecter of our faith, not in our feelings that come & go. 

So when we find ourselves in our feelings like King David in Psalm 22:1 crying out “My God, My God, why have you abandoned me? Why are you so far away when I groan for help?”...we can go get our faith in verse 22 & proclaim the goodness of the Lord. 

Please be encouraged, continue to stand on God’s word, & have faith that it will come to pass.

Preaching to myself,

Imani Nailah

We have all heard the sayings, “there’s a time & place for everything” or “they were at the wrong place at the wrong time” or even “they were at the right place at the right time.”

The point is timing is important, whether it’s cooking, baking, healing, playing a game, deep conditioning your hair, resetting your cable box, waiting in line, etc. things take time. We seem to have some concept of this in the physical sense; however, we live in a “popcorn” society that wants everything to happen NOW. This “I want it now” mentality, mixed with the “prosperity gospel” doctrine can leave saints feeling like “God didn’t hear my prayer, so let me help Him out”. Let me give more, do more, volunteer more, serve more, advertise my gifts more because I need God to move NOW, I need the vision to come to pass NOW, I need everything He promised me RIGHT NOW. And we can be left feeling burnt out, overextended, & further away from God because we are out of alignment with His timing & ultimately playing the role of God in our lives.

In Ecclesiastes 3:1, King Solomon tells us that “for everything, there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven.” Since God is Alpha and Omega, & knows the beginning from the end we can trust in HIS TIMING & that He will finish the visions, the dreams, & the desires that He placed inside of us (Revelation 22:13, Philippians 1:6). God has great plans for each & every one of us, He created us with purpose for this specific time before we were even born (Jeremiah 29:11, Ephesians 2:10). The promises of God are not manifested in our lives by “our works” but by faith in Jesus, in God’s word, & in believing everything He says is true (Hebrews 11). When we put our faith in God, overTIME our lives or “our works” will reflect that, we don’t “work” for God’s promises because we are all in need of His grace & there is nothing we could do to deserve it.

In Verse 11, “Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time…” We should not get caught up in the comparison game because it’s a deadly game to play. Comparison, can literally kill joy, peace, dreams, relationships, confidence, identity, plans, finances, visions, & so much more.

This past Sunday, Bishop Anthony Gilyard said something that has been replaying in my mind all week. He said, “12:49 doesn’t come before 12:37 because it knows its time is coming", that hit me like a ton of bricks. 12:49 doesn’t think 12:37 is better than it, that 12:37 is more special, that 12:37 is more anointed, that there is no room for 12:49 because of 12:37; instead 12:49 realizes that they both have a distinguished place on the same clock & it will soon be its time.

God knows what He’s doing, He knows what He has placed inside of you & what needs to take place beforehand in order for Him to bring it out of you. Instead of comparing ourselves to others or getting upset with God because He is not meeting “our expectations” or “our timing”, we should be seeking Him & asking what do you want me to learn, how do I need to grow, prune me, make me into someone you can use, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts (Psalm 139:23).”

Find peace in God’s goodness, His faithfulness, His mercy, His grace, His word & trust that as you seek Him everything else will be added & the path will be revealed (Matthew 6:33, Psalm 37:23)

No time is wasted, stay faithful & your season for harvest will come.

Preaching to myself,

Imani Nailah

According to the Happiness Index conducted by Harris Poll; in 2017, 33% of Americans said they were happy with their lives. People with an annual income between $50,000 and $74,999 were happier than people who had an annual income between $75,000 and $99,999. It’s very obvious that more money does not equate to happiness. However, of the 33% who said they were happy with their lives, 71% attributed it to their spiritual beliefs.

I used these numbers to illustrate the importance of purpose. Sadly so many people will never live a life of purpose, because true purpose can only be found in God and walking into that purpose requires obedience and obedience requires discomfort. We would rather conform to the world, be hindered by opinions, & do what society says instead of what God says because it goes against the status quo and moves us out of our comfort zone.

What is that thing that fills your heart with passion? Or that thing that gives you righteous anger or breaks your heart to the point where you feel like you just have to do something about it? Those thoughts can be leading you towards your purpose, & with God’s help he’ll walk you into the reason you were born.

You may not not know where to start, feel that you are not qualified, or that you made too many mistakes so you can’t be used. But God delights in our weakness so He can show himself strong, He gives us the grace to fulfill our purpose so that we can experience him being a helper, a provider, a restorer, a miracle worker, a way maker, a promise keeper, words when we didn’t have any, a negotiator, a friend, peace of mind, joy, courage & so much more.

I don’t want to be a part of the 67% who are unhappy with their lives & stuck in their comfort zones when I serve a God who is willing, waiting, & ready to grace me out of my comfort zone so that I may experience a life lived 100% in purpose.

Now that brings God glory.

Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. -Ephesians 3:20

Preaching to myself,

Imani Nailah

As we travel through life we collect things, people, memories, habits, stories, pain, etc.

Some of these things are pleasant, we don’t mind others seeing them or sharing these parts of our lives. However, there are also things that are shameful, embarrassing, painful & we take these big inconvenient things & downsize them so that we can fit them into our personal carry-ons in our attempt to travel lightly, to make everything fit, & to only take the very best parts of what we think we need. However, we are also responsible for making sure our carry-on gets to our destination, making sure it meets the standard, making sure it fits, that the contents are approved, & that we fit them into specific containers.

Most of our lives don’t fit into a small carry-on because we have baggage. We need multiple outfits to cover ourselves, & the size of our personal care items that we use to cover the imperfections of our lives would not allow us to get past security. Our bags must be checked-in before reaching our destination. 

The good news is that God is not intimidated by our baggage, in fact provision has already been made, the people & processes are already in place to get our baggage from one place to the other. The Lord doesn’t want us to get rid of our baggage, but for us to depend on Him to carry it, to depend on Him to use it for His glory, to depend on Him to cause all things to work together for our good, to depend on Him to use it as a catalyst to reach His intended destination for our lives, & to depend on Him to give us access to areas that our baggage would not allow us to reach without His grace.

Our testimony is in the baggage, deliverance is in the baggage, praise & worship are in the baggage.

Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”
Matthew 11: 28-30

God knew we would mess up, He knew they would hurt us, He knew that plan would fall through, He knew the insecurities we would feel, He knew the baggage we would carry & if we can depend on Him & trust Him to be a promise keeper & the lover of our soul, He will make a way!

Baggage brings balance.

Preaching to myself,

Imani Nailah

Hair done, car serviced, nails done, membership paid, tickets purchased, takeout ordered, the list can go on and on full of things, services, and people that we spend our money on. But somehow there are months where our tithes don’t quite make the list and our offering is the change we had leftover from a more “pleasurable” or “prioritized” purchase. To no surprise the month ended just like every other month, BROKE, living paycheck to paycheck.

In a sermon by Pastor Steven Furtick, he mentioned a conversation he had with a business man. The man said he didn’t understand how churches stayed open because they service clients that don’t always pay for the services they receive. Although he took a comedic approach when sharing this story, this is the reality of many churches; congregations are dishonoring God by not returning the tithe.

Sometimes we put more faith in the gift, than the giver under the misconception that God is not able to supply all of our needs. In the Black community we are not far removed from slavery, sharecropping, Jim Crow and other institutionalized forms of oppression that normalized the experience of living from a place of lack and being seen as less than. In my personal experience I remember growing up hearing my parents fighting about money, seeing my father overwork himself so that we could have enough money, and now as an adult I sometimes view money from a place of lack even though I have more than enough to supply my needs.

I believe that the lack of faith we have with our currency, stems from the lack of understanding we have for the currency that Jesus paid for us. It doesn’t make logical sense for Him to love a wretch like me, for Him to have died and shed His blood for a sinner like me, for Him to leave the 99 just for me. It’s hard to trust something you don’t understand, and without understanding God’s love, God’s grace, God’s mercy, God’s power, God’s word, and seeing God as Lord over ALL including our finances we keep a closed fist and a hard heart when it comes to “our” money. We believe that the church just wants our money, instead of seeing it as our duty to return the tithe and bless the house that blesses us because it is God who truly provides us with money.

Not only does the Lord provide us with the ability to get wealth, He also provides us with air in our lungs, a pep in our step, movement in our limbs, a place to lay our head, food in our bellies, eyes to see the works of His hands, ears to hear the sounds of His glory, peace, joy, love, companionship, answered prayers, protection, eternity & so much more than this world could ever give us. For these unlimited reasons I gladly return to Him my tithe & praise Him with my offering. 

I strongly believe that the church is God’s provision on earth, that He calls us to build His temple so that we can be a blessing to others (Matthew 9:35-38). God has a heart for those in need, and anything that God has a heart for we should have a heart for. There are too many churches across the nation for poverty to continue to increase, for health to decline, and for people to suffer in silence. God commands us to be a light and to be love in this dark world, and honoring His house with our finances increases our capacity to fulfill the Lord’s command. 

The Israelites were just like us faithful in one season, faithless in the next, walking in the light one day, and hiding in the dark the next. Although they were a mess, God loved them anyways & in their obedience in building His temple God promised to bless them now and in future generations (Haggai 2). God blesses us for Himself, for others, and for ourselves, and we do not need to be perfect to receive a blessing from God.

We will all reap what we sow. When we sow in response to God’s perfect love for us with our money, our time, & our gifts, not only will we reap the benefits, but God will allow others to be blessed from our blessing (Acts 20:35). 

So don’t block the blessing!

Preaching to myself,

Imani Nailah

We sometimes find ourselves in a rut, feeling stagnant, losing sight of the vision that God placed in our hearts because our reality does not match what God said. However, in Numbers 23:19 we can be reminded that,

So instead of allowing our present circumstances to determine how we LOOK at the prospect of our future, we need to SEE through the lens of our omniscient God. Pastor Green put it this way, “to LOOK means to direct your eyes in a particular direction, but to SEE means to notice or become aware of what you’re looking for.” In John 6, the disciples LOOKED at 5 loaves of bread & 2 fish, but Jesus SAW 5,000 men being fed. So stop LOOKING for signs, people, resources, time, finances, & start SEEING what God has already placed in your possession. Pray for vision, & have the self-discipline & obedience to SEE it through.

Instead of LOOKING at what you don’t have, start SEEING what you do. You may not have a publisher, but you have a computer to write the book. You may not have the restaurant, but you have a kitchen to perfect the recipes. You may not have the investors, but you have access to the internet to research how to put the business plan together. You may not have the audience, but you have the platform to share your gifts. 

You have all that you need already, you just have to see it!

Whatever God said in His word, He is going to do. He said He would guide my feet & light my path, but He didn’t say He would walk for me, nor did He say He would light up the entire path at once. 

So let’s embody Diana & Michael in The Wiz; they traveled down the yellow brick road with what they had, & as they went their next steps were lit up & every resource, connection, & opportunity presented itself as they sought out The Wiz.

Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. -Matthew 6:33

So worship God with what you have even if you LOOK at it as not enough, & in His timing & in His way you will SEE it become more than enough. 

Preaching to myself,

Imani Nailah

What breaks your heart? What gets you worked up? What can you talk about passionately for hours?

These are the questions that help us discover our purpose, & through the divine intervention of the Lord Jesus Christ he calls out to us & directs our steps. In our relationship with Him and our obedience to Him, He walks us into our purpose, into the Promise Land. 

God created each one of us for a time such as this, on purpose for a specific purpose that no one else can do the way you would do it. Our purpose is not confined to the four walls of the church, everyone is not called to the pulpit. 

The state of the education system may break your heart so your purpose could be in the classroom, lack of representation may get you worked up so your purpose is being in front of the camera, police brutality is an issue & you may have the ability to use your voice & your passion to organize & inspire movements. 

This word is filled with problems, so you have a purpose! 

God wants to & is ready to use you. Do not let your past, fear, doubt, guilt, shame, “unpreparedness”, or the opinions of others, allow you to disqualify yourself from being used & fulfilling your God-given purpose. 

If you don’t know your purpose, ask God to reveal it to you. If you know it & you feel like you are not prepared for it, it’s okay; God doesn’t want a know it all, He wants somebody who needs Him. Don’t walk into your purpose without God.

Problems ignite purpose, & mistakes build platforms. Your mistakes do not stop God from using you, He already knew you were going to mess up. Moses messed up, Adam & Eve messed up, David messed up, Saul messed up, Peter messed up, pretty much any Bible character besides Jesus messed up. 

So we have no excuses! Walk boldly into your purpose because You Only Live Once!

John 2: 1-11
Joshua 1:9

Preaching to myself,

Imani Nailah

Really think about it, what if God was like “nah bruh everything is good over here so I really don’t feel like waking you up today or I don’t feel like making both of your legs work today or all that money you’ve been saving up I don’t want you to have it, it’s gone now.”

But He is so good that He gives us the wonderful & free gift of grace & pours out his love even though we don’t deserve it.

I do a family devotional with some of the women in my family & someone had asked why a certain person didn’t join & their response was that “they didn’t have time”. It breaks my heart when I hear people say they don’t have time for God, what I really wanted to say was ”God had time to wake you up this morning” lol but the Bible tells us not to condemn each other so instead I just said a silent prayer that God would make time for them.

“We can’t afford to take breaks from God.” Sometimes we feel like we don’t have time & sometimes we feel like life is so good that we don’t need him as much; I’ve been guilty of both.

The less time we spend with God, is more time spent in the world, more time spent in the world widens the gap between us & God.

I don’t know about y’all, but I don’t want God to take a break from me, I love the life & the abilities He has given me. Even more so I don’t desire for Him to get His point across through suffering either.

However, even in our suffering & in our mistakes He causes all things to work for our good & His arms are wide open for us to return to Him.


So stay in God’s face!!!
Isaiah 10:4-27

Preaching to myself,

Imani Nailah

As I sit here wrestling my thoughts, feelings of depression, anxiety, feeling drained, unmotivated, discontent, and disconnected, I question whether this “God thing” is really for me, am I even doing it right? Viewing Christianity as a prescription pill that is supposed to relieve my symptoms and make me feel good. Taking on the persona of King David in Psalm 13,

I had to admit to myself that I wanted purpose without process, a fast track pass to destiny without any trials or tribulations as if the Bible did not promise me that in fact I will suffer and there will be trouble (John 16:33). In my head, I thought to be a child of God somehow made me exempt from trials both physical and emotional, that Paul was not talking to me in Ephesians 6.

I love Jesus how can depression, anxiety, a “loss” of purpose, & a lack of desire to go to church ever become my reality?

However, accepting Jesus is just the beginning, just like the moment of conception for an expectant mother. She cannot see her baby, hold her baby, she has no idea what they will look like, what they will become, or even what kind of mother she will actually be. But what she does know is that she will do everything in her power to deliver her baby into the world and raise them up in the vision that she has for them. During pregnancy, there are prenatal vitamins, regular doctor visits, books & blogs to read, groups to join, shopping, space being designated for this new life, things being built, classes to take, and lots of preparation. Some of these things a mother begins before she even starts to show, before she feels movement, before she hears the heartbeat, before others can see that there is a new life being created, that transformation is occurring.

As the baby inside her grows her body has to stretch in order to accommodate this new life that is being developed and these changes can oftentimes be uncomfortable, but she is so excited about what’s to come she gladly accepts the discomfort. For 9 months she is constantly changing as the life inside her develops and grows. All of these things occur until the date of delivery, and on that day she experiences pain as her body contracts in order to push the baby into the world. From the moment she lays her eyes on this new life she is even more in love now that she can see what was once hidden inside of her.

Even though she spent the last 9 months developing this new life, the journey is just beginning. This new life must be nurtured, cared for, fed, bathed, held, touched, clothed, taken to the doctor for regular visits, RAISED. She is legally obligated to take care of her child for the next 18 years before they are viewed as an “adult”.

If it takes us 18 years to be viewed as a “mature adult” in the laws eyes, why do we believe that one church service, one prayer, one week of fasting, tithing sporadically, singing a song, lifting our hands, crying our tears should be enough to make us into a “mature Christian?” With God all things are possible & He can instantly deliver (Matthew 19:26), but what can we learn, how can we mature, how do we become stronger, & wiser without the process, the experience, the exercise, the discipline, the consistency, the growing pains?

As a parent your child looks and depends on you to take care of them, to feed them, to clothe them, transport them, comfort them, play with them, to raise them. As God’s children, we can look to Him to do the same thing for us, He is our Father and He wants us to understand the extent of His love for us and how we should see Him as our go to in every season of life (Ephesians 3:18/Matthew 18:3).

Just as a parent is extremely cautious with their newborn, God takes that same caution with us, but unlike a newborn baby we have to set up our own appointments, we have to go to Him, seek His presence, read His Word, surround ourselves with others who seek Him. But the Good News is when we come close to God, He will come close to us, (James 4:8) and as we allow Him to raise us we become more like Him (John 15).

We would not give a newborn baby adult responsibility and expect them to be successful at completing it; in the same sense why would we put the expectation on ourselves to have it all together in an instance, for 24 years of thinking and behaving to be erased without a trace. In Ephesians 4, Paul lays out the blueprint for how our lives with Christ should look, but in verse 23 he says, “Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes.” Renewal requires a process, requires time, requires patience, requires consistency, requires diligence.

So take on the persona of a child, of a newborn baby totally dependent on their parent. We have the ultimate parent, our Heavenly Father who loves us wide, long, deep, has plans to prosper us & we can be “certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns (Philippians 1:6)”

Stay in His face & accept His grace!

Preaching to myself,
Imani Nailah

14 What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone? 15 Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, 16 and you say, “Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well”—but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do?17 So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless.
James 2:14-17

One of my favorite songs by William McDowell is “My Desire”, in this song he quotes Jesus in John 10:37, "Don’t believe me unless I carry out my Father’s work." It’s so easy to say- trust God for a miracle, God will provide, I’m praying for you, but what if their miracle, their provision, their word of encouragement is in your possession?

From day one, Jesus knew He was supposed to be about His Father’s business (Luke 2:49), that He was on assignment, that His life was filled with purpose, & that His gifts & His life was tied to the destiny of others. When we decide to accept Christ, we too become a child of God who is on assignment, filled with purpose & gifts that are tied to the destiny of others.

As a Christian we should desire to be like Jesus, people should see Jesus in us. Often times people see our religion, but they don’t see Christ. They see our church hats, our Sunday’s best, us lifting our hands, speaking in tongues, our titles, but not our love for humanity. We sometimes get so wrapped up in saving souls, that we forget to love on souls. We try to beat them down with scriptures, instead of overwhelming them with love.

“Sometimes Christ can’t be explained through your words, but through your actions.” -Pastor Nate Green 

In Matthew 22, the Pharisees (religious folks) asked Jesus what is the greatest commandment, His response was to whole-heartedly love God while simultaneously loving your neighbor as you love yourself. In other words, keep God first & treat people the way you want to be treated. God commands us to love & love is a verb, it is an action. We can love people with our time, our money, our support, our encouragement, our words, our gifts, our skills, our talents, our service. So what is the Holy Spirit moving you to give?

Sharing the Good News should go beyond the message from the pulpit on Sunday; our lives are the message! Do people see Jesus when they look at me, does my life reflect the spirit leading me, am I using what God has placed in my possession to glorify Him?

He blesses us for Him because we are made in His image, He blesses us for others because He commands us to love, & He blesses us for ourselves because we are His children. 
Our lives should be a snapshot, an image of the glory of God for believers & non-believers. “Don’t just go to church, be the church.” Be the answer to someone’s prayer, to someone’s struggle. Don’t keep the gifts (money, talent, time, resources, connections, skills, service, etc.) God gave you to yourself, definitely don’t downplay them either, everything in His kingdom is useful & meant to be used, including you.

Let God PROVIDE THROUGH YOU!

Preaching to myself,
Imani Nailah