Promise Me – Pastor Jerry Eze

Every time I click on the ‘New Post’ button to draft a blog post, a fixed sentence serves as a constant reminder for me:

“Amaka, remember your life is meant to showcase the glory and beauty of God.”

The statement helps me stay on course. Coming across this article on the Teens WhatsApp post this morning, where I serve as a facilitator, stirred me. Yes, I promise! 

‘Promise Me’ as written by Pastor Jerry Eze

Promise me that you will never abandon your Purpose to make ignorant folks happy.

Please promise me that you will value Divine Validation over what anyone feels or thinks about you.

Promise me that you will not sabotage yourself and miss your Divine Timing.

Promise me that you will always see the Best out of every situation.

Please promise me that against all odds you won’t let your dream die.

Personal Development Tips For Every Year And Everyone

Why do you want to improve yourself? Perhaps you want to learn new things, replace bad habits, become more productive, find emotional balance, or improve your relationships? Whatever it is, be sure to find these tips very helpful. 

30 Personal Development Tips For 2022

#1

Make friends with successful people and occasionally buy them gift and surprise them with lunch because successful people always give and hardly get, so when you give them, they value the gift a lot.

#2

Get a mentor and follow his instructions and respect the relationship. Never beg your mentor for money or disrespect his or her privacy.

#3

Make new positive friends as often as possible and ensure you keep the communication line open. Create a network of friends and not just connections.

How To Make Any Year Your Best Year

Happy New Year, Sweethearts of my blogosphere! I know. . . I know I have been MIA on this space quite frequently but it’s really been so fascinating doing things differently. Guys, I have seen GROWTH. And you know how keen I am on growing, changing and all things related, right?

Refresh The New Year

This year is not just another “new year” but the first of the blank pages of a whole year waiting for what we will write into our lives, and what growth, changes and greatness we’ll pull from within.

In as much as we would like it to be so, no one can wake up one day a completely changed person. Any meaningful change to your life takes constant effort over a sustained period of time. While the idea of long term change can seem scary, it also means a little bit everyday can take you a long way in forging habits you’ve always wanted to.

Some changes happen because you intentionally worked them out, but some happen without you even knowing. I am yet to decide whether I am more content with the changes I discerned or the ones that forcefully pounce on me. Nevertheless, I have grown to embrace change both in the presence of fear and/or faith. Glory to God!

I love sharing my life with you guys, but sometimes it's hard to be vulnerable. Blessedly, my most vulnerable posts on this blog have been met with the warmest reception. Cheers to authenticity! These are my three goals for the new year:

Self Interview: Interrogative Questions To Ask Yourself At 25

This is a reply to those questions I asked myself five years ago. They are questions that you are expected to be answering just before you turn thirty. It's time for me.

I'll be 30 in less than 24 hours. Whaaaaaat!!!

Q and A Before 30

Q1: What are you doing? Why are you doing it?

A: Like right now? I am writing. Lol.

I am writing because. . .Wait. Honestly, I thought a lot about why I'm writing. I was wondering whether I should write for my self only (and not share it) but it didn't feel right to me. So I am writing to FULLY live.

Taking A Break From Taking A Break

Hi sweetheart. Welcome to a brand new week. Hope you are doing great! 

Until His Kingdom Come

Aside from the very first two weeks after my Wedding Day, these past two weeks have been the most exciting, refreshing and eventful one. I literally was locked up at home with my husband for the entire period. And trust me, I enjoyed every minute of it! 

It’s surprising how loud silence can be. Especially when you’re not used to it. This has been my experience each day, sitting there in the arms of the one I love. Alone. It was beautifully silent — but for the oscillating sound of our neighbour's generator set — and my soul decompressed from weeks on end in the rush to achieve my goals. My body and soul has found fresh air there that was hard to come by before the lockdown. I am grateful.

I want you to join me. Not in my husband's arms (that is never going to happen) but in some silent, occasional solitude of your own. You need a break from the chaos, from the noise and the crowds, more than you may think at first. You need the spiritual disciplines of silence and solitude.

Six Pointers To Choosing Your Perfect Match

Some months ago, I found this article on a WhatsApp group that I do not exactly enjoy being a part of. (Lol. If given the choice, I'd delete the group).

Anyway, according to the poster, this article was originally written by Reverend Ebenezer Diyaolu. I believe it would be helpful to my single/married friends, so I copied it for you.

6 Mates You Must Marry 

One of the ways your marriage will not add to the rate of divorce in our world today is for you to marry your mate and if you are married already, make your spouse your perfect match! 

You see that statement of ' Am I your mate?' does not apply in marriage. You must marry your mate. I will like to talk on six dimensions you and the person you want to marry or you have married must be mate.

Go The Extra Mile

Happy New Year, Sweethearts of my blogosphere! Welcome to 2020! Yeah! We made it! We made it into another year. God has indeed been faithful. It is by His mercy that we are not consumed. Hallelujah!

Word For Year 2020

"Happy New Year!" "Happy New Year!" I am literally screaming at the top of my voice. I just got back from the Cross Over service at my local church. Whoop!

It's astonishing how so many people troop into churches every December 31 just to shout 'Happy New Year'. . . even those that did not go to Church throughout the year. You know why? Because it is a Thanksgiving Celebration that we made it through the last year and a show of gratitude for what the Lord shall do in the New Year.

The New Year's Eve is very significant.

I'm grateful to God that I was among those who were able to jump, dance and shout "Happy New Year" at 00:00. It's the start of a new decade. Oh my!

Thank You, Jesus!

Personal Keynotes From Excellence in Leadership Conference 2019

John Cage said, "We only hear what we listen for" and I totally agree. I attended the Excellent Leadership Conference today to listen to what I needed to hear.

This is me sharing what I heard with you. May something shift inside of you as you read. Amen.

Notes From ELC2019

First of all, I heard about the Excellence in Leadership Conference via one of my favourite WhatsApp groups. The group admin invited us (more like motivated us) to attend ELC2019 as part of our capacity building activities. Who wouldn't want to hear from this line-up of speakers? I just had to. So glad I did!

ELC2019 themed 'Great Leadership' is a two-day conference hosted by Daystar Christian Centre which started today and is to end tomorrow. The speakers slotted for today were; Rev. Sam Adeyemi, Pst. Nike Adeyemi, Dr. Joe Abah and Ali Baba.

Now let me share what I reflectively gleaned from each speaker. . .

Can You Choose What To Forget?

For a very long time, remembering whatever we choose has been almost effortlessly done so well. However, forgetting whatever we choose seems almost impossible.

This year, I am making a decision have made a decision to INTENTIONALLY forget what should be forgotten.

Choose To Forget

Every day. In each moment. Life is constantly giving us opportunities to make choices as to what we remember. Each day holds many different moments; some painful, joyful, confusing, happy, peaceful, angry and loving. It is up to us as to which ones we remember.

Our memories can't hold all these moments, so the ones we choose to remember are important, for we will learn and grow from them. It is a little like selecting the best picture from a stack of proofs.

Easy but not very simple.

Or, is it just me? Do you tend to also have clearer memories of the moments you really really want to forget?

Guess Who's Pregnant?

I am very sure that you've already heard about the popular blogger, Linda Ikeji's pregnancy, it's been trending on social media since yesterday! But that is not where we are going with today's post. Thought to first clear the air. Lol. 

I just want to encourage us because when we are expecting something great for our future, we are essentially "pregnant" and waiting to birth what we hope for. 

Pregnant With A Word

We have all seen pregnant women at various times in our life. In the case of married women, we just naturally assume that the woman’s husband is the father of the child (and hopefully we’re right!) But sometimes we encounter unmarried women who are pregnant and one of the first questions that invariable comes up is,

 “who is the father?”

It’s a natural question to ask, particularly when the mother is not married. But it also raises an interesting question in our own lives as Christians.

Mistakes Are Okay

Many times, the guilt we feel over our mistakes is much worse than the mistakes themselves.

Can we receive grace to forgive ourselves?

Make More Mistakes

We all want to do everything right, but that is not going to happen as long as we are in this body of flesh, living. If we could be perfect in our behaviour, we wouldn't need God.

Think about it.

Jesus died for us because we could not be good enough on our own to enjoy a relationship with God that is completely holy. If you truly love God, if you are in love with Jesus, you will not want to sin or displease him. You will do everything you can to stay away from sin. But you will sin, and you cannot let that distract you or hinder you from moving on with God.

Break Free from Unequally Yoked Relationship

I was in an unequally yoked relationship that sucked the life and energy out of me! It drained me emotionally, mentally, spiritually, and physically. I never felt so lonely, empty, depressed, and lost!

Glad I can talk about it here.

Freedom From Unequally Yoked Relationship

 
Right at the beginning, I knew the relationship was headed for destruction.

I never wanted to get into that relationship and so wanted to get out of it the moment I got into it. However, I let my emotions lead me and ultimately control me! It was the deadliest place I’ve ever been in my life!!! I not only lost myself, but I also got chained up. In a cage.

I was not his girlfriend and he was not going to marry me but we had a "connection". Connection, was the preferred word for our relationship.

We served on the same team. Our first one-on-one communication was when he reached out to me on the phone; he asked me a work related question. And that one phone call led to other phone calls. I was totally not interested in him because he wasn't any where close to getting married. At least, he was open about that one. Besides, he didn't have ANY of the core qualities I wanted in a husband, but I did find him attractive sha.

Prior to him coming into my life, I was single and really didn’t have any friends (so it seemed in my mind because the devil threw a lie at me and I bought it). So, I was lonely and needed someone to call mine.

The Struggle With Obedience

Wondering why I had not been on the blog for over a week? I was struggling to obey God on a particular instruction like the 30-Day-Man-Fast. I was struggling so hard that at a point, I even started to think I was under the manipulation of the enemy because I found myself where I'd not ordinarily be. It's been crazy.

My Struggle With Obedience

Writing this article is convicting for me. I try my best to obey what God has called me to do but I'm not always as obedient as I'm called to be. Maybe you're like me in that aspect and you're not as obedient as you'd like to be. Take heart!

Oh, I wanted to mention a couple of examples and evidences of how this struggle, in my life especially, is one that I have been dealing with for a long time. But then again, I am led to not share the details (just yet).

Obedience is not fun. Sometimes it can be lonely, and other times it can be painful.

I just couldn’t seem to find a way to consistently choose Him over myself. I couldn’t seem to be able to live for his affections over those of the world. As hard as I would try in various seasons, I just couldn’t be completely obedient.

The other day, He responded with this verse:

"Stop right there! If you love me, you will keep my commandments." 

Like a hammer, it hit me hard. It was active, energetic and powerful.

How To Know A Fool (10 Things They Do)

Hi sweets. How was your weekend? Sure you had more awesome moments than awkward. Huh?

One time I sat down and asked myself "Come, Amaka, are you not just being foolish here?" It was a your-mumu-don-do moment for me. I had to re-adjust and re-align my heart to the most important thing.

Looking back, I think it was God practically taking me through a study on the foolishness of men. Let’s explore the Bible to help us define who a fool really is . . .

Who A Fool Is

We've heard it over and over and over again that the Bible is the greatest book in the world. It is the textbook of all textbooks, the dictionary of all dictionaries and the concordance of all concordances. It is great like that.

The Word of God is the basis and ultimate authority for our definitions and conclusions.

The Bible defines A Fool in several verses, this is but one of the reasons why the study of “who a fool is” is important.

Let God Set Your Agenda - Joyce Meyer

I have been intentionally following Joyce Meyer for a while now. She is one of my spiritual mamas - I listen to her sermons, read her books, stalk her tweets and visit her website whenever and everytime I have the chance to.

Permit me to use her inspiring words to speak to us today. (This is my word in season).

Let God Be God In Your Life

Remember, you made your schedule, and you can change it. Pray about your day, your week, and your life goals to find out what God wants you to do, and what He doesn't want you to do.

5 Life Lessons I Learnt From Travelling On My Birthday

I had gone through the events lined up for the weekend and realized that I was going to be travelling back to Lagos, Nigeria on my birthday. "I'm going to be on the road on my birthday. Can you imagine?" I told my friends. Then they gave me the "eeyah" soundtrack (an expression that shows sympathy).

I was totally apprehensive about June 26, 2017. But when the day came, I explored it with a free spirit. I discovered life.

Life Lessons From Travelling

Travelling on June 26 has opened my eyes to some things about life - things that are common or maybe undervalued, but have great significance: Life Is Like Travelling.

I love to explore.

I explore moments in my life - everything I see, feel, think, wear and know is turned inside-out.

One moment can teach you more than a classroom, job, or relationship ever will.

What Maturity Means

Yay! My birthday is in 4 days. I've been asked how old I am in the past couple of days, and when I revealed, some expressed how they thought I was older while others exclaimed they thought I was younger.

I asked each party WHY they thought so. Most of them considered when I graduated from the university and others considered ALL the crazy things I do.

Well, we may think that maturity is about age and physical development, but that's wrong. Age is only a number! Found this article on a Christian WhatsApp group and thought to share.

20 Definitions Of Maturity

1. Maturity is when you accept other people the way they are and their level of maturity.

2. Maturity is when you understand that your ideas are not always the best.

Dear Diary, I'm The Biggest Hypocrite Ever

Few mornings ago as I sat down and reflected on my struggles with sin, I wrote this on my private diary.

Say What You Do

I'm probably the biggest hypocrite who blogs. I act very religious and talk about loving God with all my heart, but I end up doing things that I'd be embarrassed to even admit.

I know I shouldn't do it, but I did.

I am now a mystery to myself. I don't even understand how I think. I am baffled by my own experience. I am driven by motives and urges I don't even understand, let alone control.

DIARY: The Fabric, The Model And The Mannequin (Part 2)

I am generally not fascinated by mannequins. Some can be so creepy that they give you nightmares. They will haunt you if you buy the clothes they display. I'm not kidding!

. . . Continued from previous diary entry.

Mannequin Competing With A Model?

I think it's about time stores caught the drift: Customers want to see beautiful mannequins modelling the clothes they're deciding to buy.

5 Pathetic Things People Who Have Jobs Won't Tell You

When I got this job, I told you, my sweethearts that we are going to be on the ride together. Yeah? I made a promise to tell you everything I discover along the way. That's one of the reasons we have Career-Wednesday! 

Got some secrets to share with you today. :)

What's Like To Have A Job In Real Life

No opening paragraph, please. Let's go straight to the real deal.