THE INTENTIONAL LADY AND HER LORD

Hey sis, 

I hope all is well at your end.

If you are new here, this is the place where intentional ladies are groomed, feel at home and enjoy your stay.

And to you my returning reader, thank you so much for always coming back, I appreciate it.

Me: Raise your hand if you heard about the #GLORISH wedding that happened last year. I streamed it live on my whatsapp status. Hahaha. Yes, the #GLORISH wife is in the building with me today. Those of you who don’t know her, you have the chance to meet her today. I will let her introduce herself.

Gloria: Hi, my name is Mrs. Gloria Quarshie. I’m a Lay Counselor, a Worship Leader, a Wife, an Entrepreneur and a Christian.

Me:  Whoosh!

We will be discussing a very interesting topic today. Someone once said that life is spiritual and I agree.

Gloria: Great! I cannot agree less.

Me: This month, we have been talking about how a lady can be intentional about her love relationships, and one of such is her relationship with her maker.

First of all, what does it mean when we say someone has a relationship with God?

Gloria: Well, to me, God is His own kind of boss and yes no one is His class.

But it’s quite interesting that with all His splendor He decides to have a relationship with Man.

What a privilege!

A relationship is a two way affair and  there’s no way only one person can sustain it.

To have a relationship with God means that you have an intentional friendship, interest, care, delight and time for God and  his business. 

Most often, people mistake church going or religious activities for a relationship with God. If you ask me, that is rather an end product.

Me: Okay, tell me more.

Gloria: To have a relationship with God is an intentional act of building intimacy, where you consciously get to know the person you are dealing with. You get to know His ways, His works, His will at every point in your life. Some people know the works of God but don’t know the God who does the works. Others also know God through their pastors, friends or close relations but do not have a personal relationship with Him.

Your relationship with God gives you a stake in His plans.

Me: A stake?

Gloria: Let’s take Abraham for instance, he was called God’s friend. God actually told him about his plans to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. Why would God do that? Relationship! The kind of relationship that gave Abraham the opportunity to bargain with God on whether or not God will destroy the nation if he got a couple of people from that nation to repent.

Me: Oh Okay. Got it! How necessary do you think it is for a lady to be intentional about her relationship with the Lord?

Gloria: It’s very necessary because of so many reasons. There are so many things happening in our world today and it’s mostly through women, whether it’s the advertisement of alcoholic drinks or movies or anything at all. Sometimes, the advertisement has nothing to do with ladies yet a lady is found on the screen. This is because  ladies have a natural power to draw people to them, they really do have a great influence. And this influence can draw people to God or the devil.

If a lady is  intentional about her relationship with God, she becomes a great tool for God to use to do mighty things. We are mostly vulnerable and the best we can do is entrust God with our vulnerability. 

Me: Trusting God with our vulnerability! Mmmmmmm. Following closely.

Gloria: We should know this about ladies or women.

A woman is God’s system of multiplication, that’s how we are able to reproduce babies among others. When a woman takes her relationship with God seriously, she will inquire of God with regards to everything she does, the dress she wears, her next steps and even trivial things. And you can imagine the kind of world we will live in if every woman does this.

When a woman is intentional about her walk with the Lord, there will be so many positive changes to our world and even the impossible things will become possible.

In 1 Peter 3:7, the Bible talks about husbands treating their wives well so that their prayers are not hindered. So you see the kind of power we have. The power to make or unmake things and with this knowledge, we can’t leave things to chance.

Me: We won’t leave things to chance, we shall be very intentional.

So now, let’s talk about you. Since when did you start becoming intentional about your own relationship with the Lord? What has come out of it so far?

Gloria: Let me quickly mention that I had been a church goer since childhood but I actually became born again in 2012 when I was in  high school. And it was not until 2014 that I became intentional about my relationship with God.

What has come out of it? 😃 Alot!

Me: Tell me about it.

Gloria: This question is actually making me reflect on my journey with the Lord so far and girl, it has been a wonderful journey. Since I became intentional about God, everything about me has been God and people who know me know that I am a Jesus Girl.

Me: Whew! Do we have some Jesus Girls in the house?😃

Gloria: This has found me living based on the Lord’s instructions, whether it is comfortable or not, whether my parents agree or not, whether it will make my friends leave or not, so far as it’s the Lord leading me, I’m good.

Me: Hallelujah somebody!

Gloria: Amen. In 2014, I realized I wanted more of God, I wanted to take God seriously and I couldn’t achieve that when the only time I pray or fellowship with God is in the midst of other believers.

My first step of intentionality in this area of my life was to spend time alone with God. I had a plan for that and I wouldn’t exchange it for anything. My roommates and people around me knew when I was busy with God and they wouldn’t distract me. One day, a friend told me something that made me laugh because I hadn’t realized it. She said when she comes to my dormitory and she sees my legs shaking on my bed then it means I’m praying so she’ll go and come back later. Spending time with God helped me develop my spiritual gifts.

Let me share this testimony. Growing up, I never saw my dad because he was abroad and the only memory of him was his picture I saw in Junior High School aside from the once in a while phone calls. All my friends will talk about their dad and I won’t have anything to say, I didn’t like it and I wished he was here with me. I had never really felt a father’s love but it changed when I encountered God. The level of intimacy I had built with God filled that gap, not just that, He answered my prayers. After 17 good years of leaving the country, my father came home to see me. This is just one of the many blessings my intentional walk with God has brought me.

Me: Wow!

Were there challenges you had to overcome in becoming intentional in your walk with the Lord?

Gloria: Oh yeah! First of all, when I was in my freshman year, I used to dance to worldly music and the whole school knew about it. My initial impression before I was born again wasn’t good and there had to be a change. I prayed to God to make me a new person and help erase that bad record I had in the minds of my school mates.

Again, it was difficult to be consistent in my walk with God during school breaks because I didn’t have the company and kind of friends I had at school who helped me grow spiritually at home. I thank God for Reverend Patrick Tagoe, who I met after high school, who later became my father in the Lord. He really groomed me in the Lord and guided me in those difficult times to stand on my feet.

Another thing had to do with the many battles I had to fight because of my faith and they kept coming even till date. But I thank God that through all these, He has been faithful and good to me.

Me: Glory to God.

What do you have to say to sisters out there struggling to develop their relationship with the Lord?

Gloria: There is a saying that, “nothing good comes easily”. Dear sis, know that so far as you call yourself a Jesus Girl, God’s ambassador etc, there will be oppositions from people you know and even those who don’t know you. Your faith will be questioned but you can’t just give up because there’s opposition.

Sometimes you need to go through some things because of the destiny you carry and the people you need to help.

Allow God to lead and teach you and you will definitely have the last laugh. When you are washing your clothes by hand, the intention is not to wash your hands but your clothes but by the time you are done, your hand will also be clean. In the same way, as you focus on living to bring glory to God, He will make sure your life is glorious as well.

That being said, be intentional about your relationship with the Lord, set aside a time to meet God and fellowship with him, make it your desire, your pursuit to seek the Lord. Make sacrifices to keep this relationship intact. 

Finally, remain strong and pray for grace to sustain you so you don’t veer off this path. And trust me, your life will be full of testimonies.

Me: Great insights in there. We cannot give up. All too soon our discussion for today is coming to an end. What are your last words before you hop off?

Gloria: Let me share these personal nuggets with you all.

❤️Genuinely love the Lord

❤️Be willing to sacrifice pleasure for the demands of God

❤️Develop the habit of praying for people (those you know and do not know)

❤️Build capacity for every area of your life

❤️ Seek God before doing anything 

❤️ Establish and maintain good networks

❤️ Learn how to honor men no matter how little or mighty they are

Me: Awesome. On behalf of my cherished readers, we say thank you so much for pouring into us this much wisdom. God bless you and help you to be more intentional with Him. Our regards to Mr. Quarshie❤️. 

Gloria: It’s a pleasure to be here and thank you too for having me. He will surely receive your regards.

My favorite people are those who read up to this point, thank you cherished readers for making February amazing. March promises to be exciting. Watch this space for more.