As we begin this new year, let us make every effort to offer God our intentional "first" best. Whether it is our time, talent, or any other resource we have to offer, make it the best portion of our offering, just as Able gave his best portion of the firstborn lamb from his flock unto the Lord.

There is an old cliche, "Fake it till you make it" that needs to be removed from our Christian theology. God never intends for us to fake happiness; rather, He desires that we learn to rejoice in our hope. Jesus is our perfect example of expressing our emotions while leaning on God to see us through the end.

Proverbs 17 tells us that a happy heart is good medicine. A good heart can also be contagious, bringing needed healing to those around us. We must be careful not to allow the opposite to happen to us as well; being in the company of a low spirit can drain one's strength.

As believers and followers of Jesus Christ, we have a responsibility to be "brand ambassadors" for Jesus and His Church. We must ensure that we are not engaging in false marketing, pretending to be like Christ but behaving more like our society.

There is nothing more satisfying to our spirit man than God's word. However, the enemy will try to distract us with things to keep us from consuming the only thing that can refresh and nourish our inner man.

As believers we can be confident that God is never really silent because He is always speaking through His written Word. When God's word is stored in our heart, we will hear Him speaking even in those moments when it feels like He is silent.

When life become overwhelming and far more than our mind or heart can take, we must lean into God's Word to be our source of hope and strength. For in God's Word we find His promises and the healing we need for our soul.

As we have entered into a new year that has already seen its share of tragedy, we are encouraged to place our confidence in God, trusting that He is with us through both the bad and good. In our faith, we can be a testimony to the world of the great hope we have through Jesus.

It is easy for us to get caught up in the celebration of Thanksgiving -the food and watching football games with the fam- and forget to give God thanks for His continual blessings. Before we prepare the Thanksgiving Day meal, turn on our favorite college football game, or do our annual Turkey Day 5K let us take time to reflect on God's love and goodness towards us.