The Wireless Move of God
Whew! It’s the month of May already? I am not sure if I’m alone on this one but it looks like everytime I blink, the week is over and we are starting a new one. Christmas will be here before we all know it. It also feels like this pandemic has been here for far too long. I must say that I am so proud of us humans. Our desire and hunger to get back to our normal lives have definitely made an impact on getting these vaccines approved and helping people to get back to normalcy again. I am also happy that businesses will be able to open soon. The light seems to be shining at the end of this tunnel and we are almost there. Kudos to everyone who has weathered out this storm in one way or another.
During the beginning of the pandemic in 2020, my hunger and desire for sound teaching to help me grow in my walk with God took me to the internet. I listened to several ministers in the faith and the Holy Spirit connected me to a couple of them. They were based in Nigeria. Yes, Nigeria. I have to tell you that there is an apostolic revival emanating from that Nation. All the bad things you read about in the news that are happening in that country will not diminish what God is doing in Nigeria with His servants. I have enjoyed sound teaching and doctrine and my prayer life has been catapulted into a whole different realm just by following and watching these men of God. I know the Christian faith has been infused with so many fake people parading around that they carry the presence of God but really don't. I can assure you that these men of God that I have ‘wirelessly’ been enjoying their teachings and manifestations can only do the things they do because the Spirit of the Lord is upon them. The bible said to test all spirits and that is how you will know who truly carries the spirit of God and who doesn’t. I also connected with a prayer team based in Connecticut and another Minnesota that I have been diligently praying with. These people have all impacted my spiritual growth during this pandemic. What is marveling is the kinds of testimonies and the strange acts of signs and wonders that have been occurring through these men of God.
Just when most believers thought that they have become used to the way that God operates; that you have to literally be present at a Christian convention or meeting, or maybe have a man of God lay hands upon you before you can experience a move of God, well, God is moving “wirelessly” like a cell phone tower. Miracles are happening just by watching a YouTube video of a service, or listening to past sermons or ministrations. It’s mind blowing and for someone like me who really aligns with tangibility, God had to give me my own testimony for me to fully understand that He is God and He can move in any way He wants to. My friends and I have been following these ministries for some time now and some of the testimonies are so good to be true. We even wondered when we can also experience these instant miracles and strange moves of God as proof. We wanted something to really assure us that these testimonies are real and God is moving. Well, something miraculous happened to me this weekend and I shared a recorded video of my testimony today, quite out of character for me. Please click here to watch it on my IGTV: https://www.instagram.com/theladyabena/channel/
I honestly could not keep this to myself and I wanted the whole world to know that God is moving and touching people 'wirelessly’. Which means that it doesn’t matter where you are or hiding on this planet, a spoken word from Him can find you and bring you healing in every area of your life. The interesting part of my testimony is, although I have been complaining about this Lactose Intolerance, I have resigned myself to live with it as it seems to be a common issue for most people. I decided to just abstain from dairy products just so I don’t experience the pain and discomfort that comes with me eating them, especially anything to do with milk. I didn’t even know that God actually cared about even the littlest things that concern my life. I also believe He used this miracle to reassure me that He is with me and knows everything that I need and desire, and He will perfect all that concerns me. He also knew I will share this testimony with my friends and loved ones and this will also encourage them that our pursuit of Him is never in vain.
I don’t know what you are trusting God for in your life this season but I encourage you to dial in to Him. There is truly no distance in the realm of the spirit and He can touch you right where you are. Be encouraged as I am today, knowing that the creator of the universe cares about everything concerning your life.
Be blessed when you go out and blessed when you come in.
XO,
Lady Abena.
This Thing Called Justice
This past Monday I got my final dose of the Moderna Vaccine and I am thrilled to be fully “#Vaxxed”. Yup, that’s a new urban slang for being fully vaccinated. It is so cute how we form words so quickly. I just hope I don’t get bored with it anytime soon. Like “Pivoting” being used so much during this pandemic. I honestly thought I’d pass out if I heard that word one more time but I haven’t yet. Almost 24 hours after my vaccine shot, I felt the anger of my body rejecting the antigens deposited in it. My goodness! I thought it was going to be an easy breezy one like the first dose but nah! I felt all the adverse/side effects and I have to tell you it was not a pretty experience. Luckily it only lasted for about 48 hours and I was back to form like nothing happened. I am still grateful and I encourage everyone to get the vaccine so we can all be safe.
During my grueling 48 hours of chills, fever, nausea, headaches and body aches (those were all the side effects I experienced), I had a chance to lay in my couch for a moment and catch up on the news. Honestly, there is something about laying in couches that doesn’t jive with my being so I don’t do it. Maybe I don’t have the right couch for relaxation but I just don’t like to lie down on a couch. I know, I’m kinda odd about certain things but that’s OK. Once you get to understand my personality a bit, you’ll be just fine hanging around me. It just happened that the very moment I turned on the TV was the breaking news everyone was waiting for - the verdict in the trial of Mr. Derek Chauvin for the death of Mr. George Floyd. I joined the world in waiting for it too and in a few minutes, the verdict was read. I didn’t have any butterflies in my stomach as most people did - a part of me knew he would be convicted, another part of me was afraid there would be a mistrial and then chaos would erupt again. I hate chaos and violence.
Truth be told that fighting, rioting and protesting is exhausting. Most people like myself look forward to a day when we can all co-exist peacefully and happily just as God designed for us to be. What struck me following the verdict was one young woman who cried bitterly. She was being interviewed and she said that “it doesn’t even feel like justice. It’s painful”. I think I understood what she meant because I felt the same way too. Justice cuts at both ends - the family of the victim will forever live with their loss and almost a $35 million dollar settlement, and the convicted man’s family will also have to live with their loss. Justice creates 2 losses, whether we like to accept it or not. The reality of this situation is that, one case has been solved and even before the trial ended, another one has erupted. This seems to be a never-ending cycle of pain after pain. It’s scary to think we might spend the rest of our days on earth, protesting and fighting for justice. It’s like an evil yoke that the adversary is hanging on our necks. That cloud of darkness covering the black community which causes other races to treat us illy has to be dealt with. What will truly feel like justice is the world never witnessing such atrocities against blacks anywhere in the world.
While JUSTICE sounds like a word of relief and fairness, it’s only used when something bad has happened to someone and the culprit has been punished. Now, that ‘bad thing’ is what we don’t want happening to anyone and we need to pray against it from ever happening again. This is just a step to right some wrongs and I pray that it will be a step to stopping wrongs from happening entirely.
I encourage you to add this to your daily prayer and intercede for minority communities around the world. That the Lord will put a mark of exemption from all forms of evil upon our lives. May the Lord bless you and keep you in all your endeavors this week.
XO,
Lady Abena.
Nponda’s Prayer Journey
Hello, my name is Nponda Nadjombe, and I would like to take this opportunity to thank every person reading this blog. I also thank the Lord Jesus Christ for the privilege to share with you all on how I started my prayer journey. A little background about me. I am originally from Togo, located in West Africa. I was born into a Christian family, and I am fortunate enough that my parents were Christians before they gave birth to me. So, I can say that I have been grounded in the Lord my entire life. My father played a huge role in that. Just FYI, ‘Nponda’ in my native language means El-Shaddai, so every time you say my name, you are calling the power of God all over me :). I currently live in Minneapolis, MN and I am pursuing a Doctorate in Occupational Therapy at the University of Minnesota.
I love to pray. At one point in my life, I considered prayer as being one of my favorite hobbies. My father highly influenced my interest in Prayer. Growing up, my Dad always woke up at midnight to pray. As a young girl in her prime who would rather enjoy her sleep and snooze, I couldn’t understand why he will put himself through that. I was quite fascinated to the point that I started joining him in prayer sometimes. When I was around 18 years old, something significant happened in my life. I had a group of friends, all girls, and we started to deliberate on the awesomeness of this God that we serve. During one of our discussions, we read and talked about Moses and his intimate relationship with God and we eagerly desired that kind of relationship. We started praying and fasting regularly, asking God to give us more of Him. Through our church, we got a chance to go to a youth convention and it was during one of our prayers before bedtime at the convention that we encountered the Holy spirit. He literally showed up and we were all slayed under His power. I guess we had prayed together so much so that it created an altar that opened the portal for the Holy Spirit to start flowing whenever we were together in prayer. It was crazy scary. Just picture a group of teenagers manifesting under the power of the Holy Spirit for the first time?
Unfortunately for us, the Pastor of our church at that time on hearing reports of what had happened to us, could not discern and he told us it was the devil manifesting instead. He then proceeded to break up our prayer group. My Dad being a God-fearing man and an Evangelist himself, encouraged us and even further took me and another girl in the group, Cecile, to a prayer camp to stay secluded for a week and truly inquire from the Lord on what His purposes were for us. During our time there, Cecile, who was the main one who seemed to have powerfully connected with the Holy Spirit than me, received a message from the Lord. She reported that God was not happy about the fact that His presence was compared or given to the devil. So, we both fasted some more and repented. Cecile also inquired about my purpose from the Lord and the Lord told her that I was just in training in getting to know Him. Three (3) days later, we left the prayer camp, returned home and we continued to pray and fast on our journey to carry the presence of God.
My prayer was mainly focused on moving from a “trainee” to really understanding the fullness of God. Consistent prayer started opening my spirit up to powerful and vivid dreams and visions that seem to play out in the physical realm. One of those dreams was when I had to come to the United States for school. God revealed the names of my host family and even their faces, long before the school connected with them. These are usually random searches on the part of the school for a family for an international student like myself, but the result their search yielded was the exact family God had shown me in my vision.
There have been so many other encounters since and one of them included my baptism of the Holy spirit, which was actually with me alone in my closet. I sometimes tried to follow the masses on different prayer strategies and platforms but God will distinctively speak to me to get back to a place of one-on-one prayer with Him. I’d like to conclude that the Holy Spirit is the one who guides your prayer life as you consistently spend time to seek the face of God. Once you have the desire and hunger to pursue Him, He will manifest Himself through you. I received the baptism of the Holy Spirit alone in my closet but that can be different for someone else. The key is for you to consistently stay in prayer. You will be transformed through prayer and the presence of God will come. No need to copycat others or duplicate what someone else is doing. Stay on effective prayer and God will direct you on how He wants to communicate with you.
I hope this encourages you to not be frustrated with your prayer life but instead, make it an enjoyable time of intimacy with God.
Be blessed and stay safe this week and let prayer guide you into all things.
XO,
Nponda Nadjombe.