Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Insights from ROTH 2012 by Audrey Joe-Ezigbo

 Hello People.The ROTH Abuja conference was awesome! It has been a glorious three weeks and words are not enough to capture the essence of it all. My Sister and friend Audrey did a wonderful post on her experience from ROTH and I'd love to share it with you.

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It has been a joy and a privilege over the past three weeks to have my soul sisters, mentors and friends Coach Anna McCoy and Linda Wallace present with us here in Nigeria. Deeper bonds of love, deeper spiritual bonding and experiences with not just ourselves, but our entire families.... simply awesome! I love that these women both give of themselves so freely in furtherance of the gospel. These are women who clearly love the Lord and are deeply committed to bringing as many women (and men) with them on this journey. They continue to exemplify the love of God and to teach us the real meaning of worship; of being in the presence of the Lord; of being fully yielded to Him ...living life as a Zero – decreasing so that the greater One within, the ‘I am’, can increase in us. I simply love and appreciate you both Coach Anna and Ms. Linda. Indeed, Nigeria has been blessed simply by you being true to the assignment the Lord has placed upon your lives.

Over the course of the past ten days, the Return of The Helper (ROTH) conference [convened by my sister Bidemi Mark-Mordi  in response to a clear mandate from God] held its 5th edition in two different States of the country. This is one part of the reason Coach Anna and Mama Linda have been over here. ‘Mind blowing’ is what comes readily to spirit as I reflect on these events. Fresh Word, fresh oil and fresh waters flowed freely as the Holy Spirit unfolded more and more of Himself through the Bidemi, Anna and Linda as they spoke to us in the course of those two days.


A couple of things ministered very deeply to me and these are the things I am moved to share with you today. Clearly because of time and space, I cannot develop each of these to the fullest but I trust the Spirit and He will surely minister to you as you choose to meditate on a part or all of what is to follow.

In order to be a more excellent you, you must commit to certain levels of accountability in your life. Simply put, you can only become the best you that God designed you to be by holding yourself accountable to be excellent in every area of your life. No one can force personal accountability on you. It is a very personal decision and commitment and it is only in this space that you develop the fullness of character that has you living a life that truly always pleases God.

Going deeper in your relationship with God will need you to ask Him what you need to adjust in your life to have more of Him.  As I see it though, the bigger question would be if God turned to you and I and asked “What would you be willing to adjust for me, my daughter?” I am seriously pondering what my answer(s) will be at this time sis, and I ask that you do too for surely He will ask that question of you and I time and again as we grow from one level to the next in our relationship with Him.

We need to host the presence of the Holy Spirit”. Amazing how Mama Linda brought clarity to the fact that while our bodies are the temples of the Holy Spirit, we need to ‘host’ Him. In the physical, what does a host do to make their home welcoming to their guests? In the physical, how much effort do we make to keep our homes clean, tidy, warm and inviting so that it is always welcoming and comforting to those who live within it? How much time and effort are we giving towards being a good host to the Holy Spirit so that He never wants to leave, but rather His presence goes with us wherever we go? Hmmm!

“God is interested in our faithfulness. He wants to know if we will stay the course.” Beyond our salvation, God is interested in our faithfulness. Wow! Questions to self and to you sis, ‘In your day-to-day living, are you staying the course and standing in faithfulness, trusting God always and completely – regardless of what comes your way or how circumstances appear? Are you walking in the constant assurance and confidence that He is with you and He is in control? Is this evident in your decisions and choices; your fears and anxieties? Hmmm!

Your greatest enemy is comparing yourself with something that does not align with God’s image and identity of you.” You will never walk in the fullness of who you are designed to be if you are too preoccupied with how other people perceive you. Don’t worry about how you look in the eyes of others; your entire focus should be on how you measure up in God’s eyes, and the starting point is to have a strong mental picture of how He sees you – fearfully and wonderfully made; above only and not beneath; full of potential; created in His image and likeness; endued with power to do exploits; an overcomer; an achiever; a blessing unto generations; a king and a priest; etc. See yourself in nothing less than this frame and yours will be a life of peace and fullness of joy.

You are intentionally crafted by God Himself for a purpose.” Visualize God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit having had a long and involved planning session where they designed you to fill a specific purpose on the earth, and then equipped you fully with every potential and resource you would need to fulfil that purpose. You are not a mistake – irrespective of your birth circumstances. You are God’s original design and intent. Everything you need to live a successful life is within you. You were (and are)  intentionally designed for success.  Imagine that! Awesome!

Don’t worry if you are yet to find your purpose. Just go deeper in Christ; just listen out more intently for the Holy Spirit; just Zero-out and allow Him to lead you always. Since He created you for His purpose, He will order your steps and will surely not lead you on any path apart from the path of your purpose.

Lionesses arise! There is a clarion call from God for His daughters to come out from among the daughters of the land. The only thing the land has to offer you is the compromise of destinies. We need to go back to God. He will add every other thing to us. We must go back to chasing God and not the things of the world! As women, we are contending for generations and whether things will remain stagnant or they will move forward is in our hands.

"Trust yourself to deliver on God’s mandate for your life. You can do it! Enough of the complacency!" You, yes you can make a big difference just as you are and with the ‘little’ you think you have. It is God Who will make the way and the provision. You don’t need to know the process. All you need to know is that God has committed destinies into your hands and He has equipped you with all you need to deliver on this mandate if you accept the call.

Destinies of others are hinged on your commitment to be a success; your commitment to die empty of every gift and talent the Lord has chosen to bless the world with through you. Move immediately God speaks to you. Stop calling committees to discuss the mandate God has given to you. Otherwise while your committee is discussing, your assignment might pass you by.

Don’t just seek success when God has ‘good success’ in store for you. Why choose to be average when God has designed you intentionally to be great? The greatest success you can have – good success, is in the presence of God and in your obedience to do what He asks you to do while you are in His presence.


The pursuit of God must be a habit and a pleasure in my life and in yours sis. The pursuit of God must be a discipline in our lives. Put a high value and a high priority on the presence of God. Your cry should be ‘Lord, I don’t want to do anything out of Your presence and Your glory’.

We are standard-bearers for holiness. We must adjust whatever needs to be adjusted. We must shift whatever needs to be shifted in order to meet the call from God to ‘Be holy as I am Holy’. As women, holiness is not an option because we are the covering for mankind. We carry the womb. "We have to close the gap so that the enemy does not have access to the next generation."

Serious food for thought right? I so wish I could have shared the entire sets of messages with you sis, but if you think quietly through what I have been able to share, I know God will speak to you. Indeed what ministers to me is that something in here will be a confirmation of something that He has been speaking to you for a while now. My prayer is that the Lord Himself will bring clarity to you sis. May He give open the eyes of your Spirit to see; open your understanding to help you discern; and give you a heart to be fully obedient to His will.

Be blessed sis..... for surely you are!


 Audrey Joe -Ezigbo.
Please visit her blog at http://uniquely-woman.blogspot.com


Hugs

Sistar B

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