2020 was a bit of an unexpected year for everyone. I chuckle when I think of all the goals I had set for the year and how that, by late March, it was quite apparent that a lot of those plans had to be moved: a pivot was needed.
This year though, I walked by faith in a way that I had never. I'm truly grateful for the spiritual growth and awareness that happened this year. God had laid a fresh hunger for spiritual growth in me from late last year and so I got into this year knowing my teacher and waiting for her to open up her teaching platform/bible school so I could be fed. And fed, I was.
This year, too, opened my eyes up to teems of women, go-getter women, who were crushing aspects of their lives like their careers, goals, their purpose and more than all of these, who were God-chasers- chasing after God, longing for Him, putting in hours weekly to fast, to pray, in very unabashed ways. My goodness. My eyes had never been opened to that type of fervor and within the said class of women. Sometimes I wonder how come my eyes weren't opened to these things? As in, I believe I've been "walking with God", but between late last year and this year, my eyes have become so opened that I often wonder how come I actually never saw these people on Instagram- even though we had all been on Instagram together.
I was looking elsewhere. I was feeding differently. And overtime, the consequences of what I was feeding myself became apparent: in my marriage, in my Spiritual life and in my habits. I'd been slacking on all of these areas and had unconsciously imbibed the wrong ideologies in these areas. Thank God for His loving kindness, He is such a good Father who desperately loves us even when we have erred and gone astray and sends us help any way.
So this year I was intentional about what I fed myself. I followed closely after people who set me on fire. I decided to make a list of some of the women who have impacted my spiritual life between the end of last year and this year and whose input and direction have helped me grow:
1. Eziaha Bolaji-Olojo: Connected with Eziaha for her weight loss platform and God literally used her to help my marriage at a time when it had literally broken down. I believe it was God's undercover mission to cut me away from people and acquaintances whose wrong ideologies about marriage had subtly influenced how I looked at my marriage and rather than adopt spiritual principles, I adopted other carnal worldly principles until God, in His mercies, connected our paths. She coaches women and stay at home moms on how to be more even whilst at home and how to manage one's time effectively. You can connect with her here to see if there is any way you may need her service.
2. Amaka Okoli: Just thankful for my girlfriend from Uni days, Amaka. Amaka's friendship has been a blessing to me and I remember, back then at school, she was the one friend who was always there for me- who would invite me to church, who saw that I was depressed at some point and would try to help me. I remember giving my life to Christ at one such time when I had attended church with her (Carpenters church). So about 2 years ago, Amaka began sending me daily devotional messages from a woman called Oyiks Alfred. I'd listened to the first couple of messages but, tbh, at the time, I couldn't understand what the woman was teaching. It seemed too hard. Too hard because, " This is why I speak to them in parables: "Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand- Matt 13:13".
Anyway, fast forward to 2019, about late 2019 when I had began to have such breakthrough encounters with God and had started having a ferocious hunger for all things God and was consuming from people like Apostle Joshua Selman and DDK, then one day, whilst on my way back from work, I played one of Oyiks Alfred's devotionals. It felt like the scales fell off my eyes and that the ear wax had been removed from my ears. The messages I had thought were "hard to understand" were like food to my Spirit- just what my Spirit needed. My heart was on fire. I went home that day and listened to all of the teachings I'd been sent from 2018. I gobbled it all up and began following her everywhere she went. Thankful for friends who connect and open us up to teachings that change us.
3. Pastor Mildred Okonkwo: I would get on Pastor M's "Praying with Pastor M at 3 pm" daily meetings on some days and be so blessed. So so blessed. You can check out her IG Tv to listen to her transformative teachings.
4. Pastor Oyiks Alfred. My God. Thank you God for your servant. Following Pastor Oyiks has been huge blessing to me. The charge to take care of our hearts and keep it pure and to know God for ourselves, to engage the word and to be alert Christians has kept us on our toes. Your heart will literally be on fire. Gosh. Gosh. Words fail me. You can connect with pastor Oyiks here- she has a bible school called Truthhill that will take you from a spiritual life of level 0 - level 10. I have been through her school of Depth and hope to do more work with her by God's grace in the new year.
5. DDK. Debola Deji- Kurunmi. I honestly should probably just say "the DDK". And that's all. My God. Words fail me.
I just feel like I haven't ever met a young woman who lights me up from inside. Who I look at and think "this is it. This is what I want. Who I want to be like. This is the passion and fire I want to carry- This is it, this one is the one", does that even make sense? Sometimes when I am interacting with the wisdom in her coaching platform, i find my thoughts wandering as I think, "Lord, how? How does she know all these things and how does she express them in ways that your soul particularly longs to hear?". I am always blown away, both by her brilliance and her deep love/passion for God and the brilliance and wisdom entering into me as a result. DDK has a bible school called Firebrand Bible school and I'd encourage anyone who wants to get into a deeper walk with God in 2021 to join this school and if you just want to be exposed to transformative wisdom, then join her coaching platform called Immerse Coaching Company.
I have listened to sermons of powerful men of God this year which have helped me grow spiritually- Apostle Joshua Selman, Pastor Osayi Arome, Pastor Micheal Orokpo, Pastor Segun Obadje. Listening and being connected to all of these preachers have helped me grow spiritually and I decided to write and share this here because I want more than anything for anyone who comes here hungry for God to go look for these people and to interact with their messages, platforms, products, anything they may be offering that appeals to you and start from where you are. I also pray and continue to not only pray for my teachers to continue to be aligned to God but that God keeps opening my eyes to my teachers because the bible does say that we have many teachers/instructors-
1 Corithians 4:15 - For though you might have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet you do not have many fathers; for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel.
What a year 2020 was. It was a year that stretched us and made us draw from deep reserves of creativity and that helped us (at least me) know that we needed to build our own and to seek God's face and strategies on how to build better. I pray for God's grace and His direction to light up our paths. I pray that God takes us even deeper in our knowledge and understanding of Him, His ways, His Will, His heart and that we obey all instructions He gives us. God is good. Settle your heart on this. God is GOOD. And He will show us His goodness and loving kindness in 2021 in Jesus mighty name I pray. Amen.
Happy New year Fam!!!
Have a beautiful beautiful year in Jesus name! Amen! We made it!
Love and Light,
Judgejudyjudy.
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