promises of God

Lessons from Sarah on how to manifest God's promises

Lessons from Sarah on how to manifest God's promises

If your upbringing was anything like mine, lovely, you probably grew up singing the old and well-known hymn “Standing on the Promises of God” (and still do!)

It’s a phrase that we hear a lot even outside of the song, right?

“I’m standing on God’s promises”

“Having done all to stand, continue to stand”

But how do we go from the standing (trusting and believing that it will come to pass) phase to the manifesting (living the dream) phase? In other words, how do we do like Sarah eventually did and give birth to our God-given promise(s)/vision?

Well, the answer lies in the following 3 words and phrases:

  1. Delay is not the same as denial (so you must know what to do during your waiting period)

  2. Your mistakes do not negate your promise

  3. Faith

all of which I shared on my Facebook page this week via the (live) video below.

Lessons from Sarah on how God reveals Himself to us

Lessons from Sarah on how God reveals Himself to us

Within Christian circles, we hear a lot about “letting God lead us,” “waiting for His direction” and “being led by the Holy Spirit” but, in the words of Brother Kanye-

“How, Sway?”

If you, like Kanye West, have ever wondered the same thing- as in:

  • How does God reveal Himself to us?

  • What should I be looking out for?

our girl (and spiritual mother), Sarah, has us covered once again- all of which I shared on my Facebook page this week via the (live) video below.

Lessons from Abigail on how to choose faith over fear

Lessons from Abigail on how to choose faith over fear

So last week we started talking about Abigail- namely what her actions (as recounted in 1st Samuel 25:2-44) teach us about how to let God fight our battles.

On delving deeper into this same passage, I noticed that there are also great lessons to be learned here about what it takes to choose faith over fear because- let's be honest- walking in purpose to birth the vision, business or whatever it is that God told you to do is scary!

Manifesting vision requires us to do new things, meet new people and draws us into new arenas. It costs us old habits, mindsets and maybe even relationships. In short, it will take you waaaay outside of your comfort zone!

Here's the thing, though:

"[Your] breakthrough lies on the other side of fear" (Will Smith)

There's just no avoiding it, lovely! But don't worry, like I said earlier, Abigail's got us covered. As such, I did a follow-up message to last week's one explaining the exact steps that we must take to make this happen, i.e.:

  1. Make a decision

  2. Confront your fear

  3. Have a strategy

  4. Take action- all of which I shared on my Facebook page this week via the (live) video below.

Lessons from Abigail on how to let God fight your battles

Lessons from Abigail on how to let God fight your battles

So, last week we began talking about the lessons that Sarah teaches us about how to let God fight our battles. During that conversation, I talked a lot about:

  • God's role as our avenger

  • His willingness and ability to fight for us.

  • How He uses our battles for our ultimate good and so on

What I didn't do a lot of talking about, however, is our role in all of this.

Yes, lovely!

Although it's God's job to avenge us and fight our battles, this does not mean that we get to rest on our laurels and chill.

Oh no, as Hebrews 12:15 warns us, when someone hurts us "roots of bitterness" can "spring up," "cause trouble" and "defile" us. It is therefore our responsibility to do everything we can to ensure that, whilst God is fighting our battles, we are making a conscious decision to become better rather than bitter. As such, I did a follow-up message to last week's one explaining the exact steps that we must take to make this happen according to Abigail (in 1st Samuel 25).

I also talked about:

  • The why, how and when of praying for our enemies (even though it's hard and we don't want to!)

  • The common myth/misconception of "forgive and forget" and what to do instead

  • And more- all of which I shared on my Facebook page this week via the (live) video below.

Lessons from Sarah on how to let God fight your battles

Lessons from Sarah on how to let God fight your battles

One of my favourite Nelson Mandela quotes is:

"You must believe in the dark what God showed you in the light"

This is because a lot of the time, although a call to purpose can feel quite motivating, inspirational and even euphoric in the moment- to use another quote:

 "The night is dark and full of terrors".

No, this is not just an excuse to quote Game of Thrones (one of my favourite TV shows) I'm going somewhere with this!

I say that to say, the path to purpose is an uphill journey (which can feel like a dark night) and- as with any ascension- we should expect oppositional forces (or terrors) along the way.

The Mandela quote is important, then, because it can be very tempting to get distracted, side-tracked or even want to give up when the initial light (motivation, inspiration and faith) surrounding God's call to purpose is being overshadowed by such darkness. This is especially true when that opposition is taking the shape of criticism, slander or a lack of support from loved ones because our distraction etc can come in the form of wanting to defend ourselves. However, as the events of Sarah's life shows us in Genesis 12, we don't need to do that because God is willing and able to fight for us.

As such, I discussed what we can glean from Sarah regarding:

  • How to let God fight for you so that you can continue to thrive in purpose (no matter the opposition)

  • How God uses these dark periods for our ultimate good

  • And more- all of which I shared on my Facebook page this week via the (live) video below.

See? I told you I was going somewhere! Lol

Lessons from Noah's dove on how to start over

Lessons from Noah's dove on how to start over

Have you ever had one of those moments where the Holy Spirit asks you to do something and it has you all confused?

Well, that was me when I was prompted to go back to the story of Noah this week.

You see, as far as I was concerned, I'd already spoken in depth about his female relatives (and what the events of their lives can teach us, as modern women). So, I really did not understand why God seemed to want me to revisit the story.

However, I'm glad I did because there does happen to be another female in Noah's life who is and was extremely instrumental to his story. A dove! One that teaches us the importance of:

  • Reliance on the Holy Spirit

  • Not being afraid to try again

  • Seeing failure as feedback so that we, like Noah, can manifest our God-given vision(s).

She also provides us with feminine symbolism for God as well as the Holy Spirit, demonstrating that we, as women, are not the cursed afterthoughts that we are often painted as. Rather we are also made in God's image and therefore powerful- all of which I shared on my Facebook page this week via the (live) video below.

Lessons from Eve on how to defy the curse & have a godly relationship

Lessons from Eve on how to defy the curse & have a godly relationship

So...if you've been rocking with me for a while then you will know that I have a real heart for women and all things female empowerment.

If you've been paying really close attention, you'll also know that a lot of the reason for this is because of things like:

  • Having a grandmother who was denied an education (whilst growing up in Nigeria) simply because she was female- restricting her options and quality of life

  • Witnessing multiple (other female) role models either forfeit their dreams, stay in abusive relationships or operate from a place of low self-worth

due to projected social norms, tradition and religion.

This is why I do what I do in terms of writing, mentoring, podcasting and speaking via the FarAboveRubiesCollection.com. (By changing the narrative for Christian women- one Bible story at a time- my mission is to help Christian women to know their worth, power and purpose so that they can speak up, step out and shine as women of God (rather than end up in the kinds of situations I grew up seeing)).

Well, recently I had the opportunity to take my message offline when I was invited to speak at the "Real Life" youth event at Edmonton Methodist Church, as shown via the video below.

5 life lessons from the parable of the 10 virgins about purpose

5 life lessons from the parable of the 10 virgins about purpose

So, in the last few weeks we have been doing a lot of talking about Relationships in the context of The Parable of the 10 Virgins.

I don't want to flog a dead horse but there are just a few more life lessons that we can glean from these 10 amazing ladies that I'd really like to share with you, lovely. 5 to be exact! Including:

  • The importance of preparation (being ready rather than getting ready)

  • How to wait on God (hint! This is not a passive process!)

  • How to spot and avoid red herrings (opportunities that look good but really aren't)

  • And much more- all of which I shared on my Facebook page this week via the (live) video below!