Everywhere you turn, you see people striving so hard to sound like others, to dress like them, to build like them.

‎‎You look at the work of the artist down the street and yet not a single stroke carries his unique touch.

‎‎You listen to the songs of musicians but all you hear is the same rhythm, same melody, same beat.

‎‎We are caught up in a world trying so hard to shed it's skin and embrace the skin of another.

‎‎Oh spoken word artist, you don't have to sound like IB Quake, dear gospel artist, you don't have to sound like Min. Theophilus, dear writer, you don't have to copy another.

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Be you, the real authentic you.

‎let your being flow into all that you do, let your distinct sound be heard, you don't have to be another.

‎Be you, uniquely you.

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‎So let's get right into it.....

‎I want you to view passion like a car and purpose like the journey.

‎You can be passionate about something or different things infact, but if you lack direction then you may not be happy with the life you live.

‎Purpose steers you, it guides you, it takes the passion, the energy and concentrates it.

‎You can be passionate about maths, caring for people, teaching and learning but if you do not have a vision or a destination that you are aiming at then you will move aimlessly and end up despising the things you love.

‎You know, the thing about us humans is that we try to fit our lives in a little box and anything that seems contrary to that box is labeled as "wrong".

We are multidimensional in nature. We aren't a fixed set that isn't subject to change and that's why what you loved when you were 5 isn't what you love at 19.

Now, if our passions are ever changing, how then can we do anything meaningful?

‎First, you need to understand that your purpose doesn't change but the mediums through which you express it can change.

‎For instance, you are sent to usher young people into their God-given destinies( your purpose).

Now you like to write, to speak and to teach, you are passionate about these things(mediums).

What you do is that you channel those passions, you use them as mediums to help these young people.

At various points in your life, you might use these mediums(speaking writing, teaching) to carry out the assignment God has given you.

You can hold speaking engagements, you can write publications and books to help this young people.

This way, you live by purpose and not passion.

The energy is necessary but channel it.

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Photo credit - Pinterest

A while back, I was seating at my table, I was praying, speaking to God, and I was telling Him something, I can’t remember exactly what I was saying but then He spoke to me and He said

‎“You are my Beloved Daughter, in whom I am well pleased”

‎I said ah, me? Beloved? Well pleased?

‎I didn’t accept it.

‎I couldn’t handle the thought of God saying the exact words He said to Jesus to me.

To me who was messing up, to me who sinned continually, I couldn’t fathom it so I refused it.

‎To myself, I thought, I didn’t do anything to deserve it, it’s most likely a mistake but then I was reading Destined to Reign today and I read the section where it says we are God’s beloved and there were the same words God said to me.

‎I’m crying as I write this cause I thought that I had to do something before God could say He is well pleased with me but no, no…. because Jesus died on the cross, He took my shame and He gave me good, He made me to sit with Him in Heavenly places.

‎So when The Father looks at me, He doesn’t see my sin, all He sees is The Blood of Jesus, the Blood of the Lamb slain.

‎The blood of the Lamb that washed my sins away, and so I am righteous.

‎He says in His word that I am no longer a slave but now a son, I have been adopted.

‎I didn’t cleanse myself, neither can I ever pay the price, nothing I do by my strength can make me holy.
So to all living under the weight of religion, of the Law, I want you to know that there is rest in Jesus.

He will take it all away, the pain, the endless cycle of self righteousness that doesn’t yield much, He will take it and give you grace.

And I pray that the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Love of God and the Sweet Fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you Beloved.

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Photo credit - Pinterest
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‎Do not bend your principles, do not kill your dreams, or change your behavior because of the tradition of this world.

‎Yes, your idea might be controversial but God gave you that dream, He gave you that vision and He will see you through.
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‎Many a times I’ve stifled my voice, shut down my ideas because someone or a group of people weren’t on board with it.
‎I’ve plunged my ideas, shoved them down the drain because society didn’t accept them but no more!
‎No more will I do that! And I want you to stand up for you.
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‎Do you remember Joseph in the Bible?
‎He had dreams, dreams of being great but those dreams weren’t accepted by those around him.

Or what about David? The boy who told his brothers that he was going to bring down a giant and they all laughed at him.

‎‎If Jesus, King of Kings o, will be rejected by people, how much more you?
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‎The people will speak and so what?
‎Sponsors may not align with your vision and so what?
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‎Those who go on to become great don’t do so by doing the same thing the world does and that is why they stand out.
‎In a world full of darkness, they stand and they shine bright.
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‎‎The custom may be to dim your light, to dip your bulb in ink and make it go black but let your light shine.
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‎You were born to shine, Jesus says so in Matt 5:14 - 16
‎” Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.
‎Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.
‎Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”
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‎They may cover theirs up but let your light shine, let it glow for all to see.
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‎Run with that vision again
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‎Dream again and don’t stop till it’s fulfilled.
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The sweet fellowship of the Holy Spirit.

Diving, turning, twirling.

Words cannot express.

The wind cannot convey.

Actions cannot describe.

It can't be quantified.

It surpasses any I have ever seen before.

I have searched the earth and haven't found any like my Beloved.

He is perfect.

He calls me His.

He sings my name and calls out to me.

I am consumed by Him, overflowing with Him.

What is this? no human word can describe

No tongue can speak

The beauty of fellowship with the Holy Spirit

He that is swifter than any wind

Hotter than any flame

My Beloved, I can't describe Him

Oh, what do I say?

My words have failed me

I can only invite you to experience this.

Freedom is Him

life is Him

Aren't you tired? walk into His embrace, there, you will find rest.

Selah.

Photo credit: Zieben VH, Unsplash.

Focus, a word you have heard over and over again, from mentors, from peers, teachers, etc.

They all repeat the same statement, "You need to focus!"

but yet, you don't understand what that means.....

let's break it down, shall we?

Focus is concentrated attention sustained over a given period of time towards a certain task, activity or object of interest.

You can't define focus without these 2 things, Concentrated attention and an Object of interest.

Concentrated Attention is like the gun directed towards a target which is your Object of interest.

For instance, you have a blazing torch, this torch illuminates a place, right?

but then if you bring this torch into a dark cave you may not see the distinct features of objects in that cave, all you may see are blurry shapes.

A flashlight on the other hand, can be directed, it can be "focused" on a particular object with which you can see the full image and features of that object clearly.

The difference between the blazing torch and flash light is the level of concentration of the light rays.

They are both a mass of light rays, but one group of rays are concentrated, the other is diverged.

It is the same thing with focus, concentrated attention directed towards a particular object of interest and not a stream of undirected attention which touches multiple objects at the same time.

I know you're probably wondering when I’ll tell you what the super power of focus is and how you can wield it

Well, look out for part 2🌚🌚, I'll divulge the juicy secret there.

In the mean time, check out my other Excellence letters, I love you!!!!

I was looking through the list of courses and the grades, and then I saw it, at first, i didn't feel anything, no pain, nothing, my reaction to the result was kinda in between, not sad and not so happy.

I thought back to the day that I wrote the exam, I remember vividly how I was at war with time, I remember my reaction after the exam, how tired I felt, I was gradually losing hope that day, I'd struggled to keep it together, to prevent myself from crying, I'd had a long week, a very tiring one, I had postponed addressing the tumultuous load of feelings that had piled up over the weeks, it was alot.

The reality of the grade didn't even set in that day, or the next, but months after, I was about to write another exam again and I was scared, scared of the possibility of failure, I was too scared to read, I was discouraged every time I picked my book, it haunted me, each time I wanted to read, i'd remember that I had an E in physics, and my morale would just disappear, slowly, I lost confidence in myself, I began to shirk from anything academic related, that *E* traumatized me.

As God would have it, I went on a walk with my friend, John T, and I told him about how I'd failed physics, how a project that I was working on wasn't going well, and other things that just didn't align.

I told him that I was tired of trying, tired of striving to be the 1% and how I just wanted to be average, just seat in the shadows and let the world be, but then he said something to me, he said

"Be the tide, and not the effect"

He said be the one who creates, be the one who shakes things up and not the one who suffers the after effect of the the tide.

Those words stuck, it was a wake up call, one that I desperately needed.

By God, I came out of that haze, that lie that I couldn't do anything worthwhile.

One of the scriptures that helped me come out was "By God, I shall run through a troop, by my God, I can leap over a wall"(Psalms 18v29)

It doesn't matter what wall is in front of you, it doesn't matter if you tried to scale it and you fell, but I tell you this, By my God in Heaven, you shall leap over that wall.

God came to my aid once again, and I am so grateful to have a friend like John T, one who can speak a word to me in season.

Remember, at the scent of water, a dead tree shall spring back to life, that failure doesn't define you, it's a stepping stone.

Image credit : Edward Howell , Unsplash

You have relieved me in my distress(Psalm 4v1)

It is 12am in the morning, on a Saturday, I let out a sigh, oh how time flies, it's been years already, how the days went on, I don't know. I get up from my work desk, groaning as I get up, it's been a long day of analyzing computational problems, and all i wanted was a break. I walk towards the window, each step reminding me of the long hours I spent without moving my legs. I reach the window, and I stand, looking at the garden in my backyard, slowly, the thoughts come, subtle yet with great effect, and I remember what it used to be, I remember the time spent, I remember it all. I remember his face, crystal clear in my mind's eye, i think I somehow memorized each pixel, if that's a thing. As though it was all an illusion, it fades away, I try to hold on to it, I try to hold it so close, this memory that I have of him, but it soon fades away, like the beach sand when the waves come.

Weeping, I seat on the floor, with my knees hugged to my chest, and I cry, oh, how much I miss him, the pain, so tangible I can feel it in the air, pain in my heart, so wrenching that I think I would die, I cry and I wonder, if only I had followed his way, if only I gave up my faith for him, maybe we would have been together.

I knew others who fell in love with unbelievers and got away with it, with the story of Hosea and Gomer in the Bible to back it up, maybe, if I had talked about God less, maybe if we never touched the subject of faith, maybe he'll still love me.

In my pain I cried, but I heard His voice, gentle and calm, and He said to me, "Hija, he wasn't the one for you, you wouldn't have been happy in that marriage, it's best that things ended the way they did". I didn't want to hear what He was saying, I closed up my heart in anger and pain, but He held my face in His palms, and I looked up to Him, He cleaned my tear stained face and He said "I love you Bambina, although you may not see reason now, but I want you to know that all things work together for the good of those who love the Lord, my love is enough for you and one day, you'll meet someone who carries the promise that I have for you".

Still seated on the floor, with my head bent, crying, I still felt the pain, I still missed him, my heart still felt like it was divided into two, but the words The Father had said, they stuck, I clung unto them, unto the promise, and in the midst of my tears, I found hope, on the floor of my little apartment.

~Fireheart.

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