I brought out my book of Bible verses that I feel God shows up in every morning to let me know that He is with me. I said, “Joshie, watch! I will just randomly open to something!” I ended up opening to a verse that I knew was God speaking directly to me, saying that He has anointed me to preach good tidings to the poor; in other words, ‘Get working on your next book, Nik!’ He is really on my case now! I continued reading that chapter, and on the very next page, I freaked out when this verse showed up:

“You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.” 1 John 4:4

I freaked out because right next to where we were standing was the hoodie I had just selected 20 minutes before this when I debated on what to wear on my day out with Joshie, with this exact verse printed on it. I’m even wearing it in the picture to show you guys proof, baby! See for yourself! In this book of 335 pages of Bible verses, this was no coincidence that God had that particular one to show up in Joshie’s presence. It was another one of my God winks where everything lines up enormously too perfectly, all perfectly orchestrated by God as another little love note to my son and me letting us know that His Presence is ALWAYS with us.

And that’s the good news He has anointed me to preach! That there is never a moment that God’s Presence isn’t standing strong with us. It’s just for us to develop a relationship with Him, where we can suck up to His wisdom, love, approval, favor, support, kindness, strength, personality, protection, and JOY.

“Can I hug you?” was the question a customer asked me last night when he left all teary-eyed in a car he had just purchased from me. Honestly, I wasn’t going to sell him that car, and I was praying to God for guidance. The wiser Nik is learning to PAUSE and ask for God’s input before doing any deal now! After getting high quotes from so many insurance companies, I was about to give up. I know you guys will think I am crazy, but God Himself took my attention to my mouse pad from a top-rated insurance company. I felt like He grabbed my head and had me look directly down. The customer even noticed me looking at it, and because I felt so strongly that this was God, we called. They gave us a good quote, and I felt God in my spirit saying to move ahead with the deal.

I say all that to say, GOD IS INTIMATELY INVOLVED IN OUR LIVES. From the exact verse on my hoodie to randomly open in that big book of Bible verses to God showing up in my office to assist that customer to purchase a vehicle by nudging me to call that insurance company. I promise you, God Himself took my attention to that mouse pad.

This customer has lost both his mom and dad, and life got a bit rough for him and he had a hard time coping and lost a really great job. He has a new one now, and I encouraged him to take His relationship with God seriously because this life is too hard to do on our own. Instead of running to alcohol or drugs or getting depressed and sad, we can run to Him to help us cope with anything that comes our way.

Notice how I paused to seek God’s input before selling that vehicle. He is available to us in every moment to tap into His wisdom and guidance for every aspect of our lives. He knows the past, the future, and He knows the best decisions for us to make in every circumstance. And the more you practice listening to Him, the better you get at it!

The best advice I can give you is to start developing a relationship with God. Learn His voice, like how I knew it was Him directing my attention to that mouse pad. HE IS OUR GREATEST FRIEND EVER, AND WE DON’T HAVE TO DO LIFE ALONE. As we show up doing our best in the physical realm, God is in the spiritual realm fighting battles on our behalf. We can confidently relax (not living anxious and stressed!) “because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.” Wink! Wink! We can be joyful in every moment because we’re trusting in God! Amen!

HOW DID YOU KNOW THIS STUFF, MAN?!?

That was me to my brother, Kevin, today. He sent me this voice note over two years ago concerning my runs every day to my God tree:

“I don’t know if it gives you strength. I think it gives you wisdom. It gives you time to think, to plan, to focus. You are in a war; you realize that right? Any problem that you have is a war. So, you need to strategize, and I think your runs give you clarity in everything. Keep running. Trust me when I tell you this, I think that is the key.”

Oh my goodness, these runs blow me away with how God Himself shows up to speak to me about every aspect of my life. A few Saturdays ago, under the tree, God brought to my attention how my son, Emmie was only a few points short of achieving all A’s last school year. That day he and his brother came to the office, and they sat in a car pretending to clean it, while on their phone I thought about their current grades compared to the ones they were getting last year, and momma bear went crazy! I took away their PS4 that very weekend saying they broke our agreement that they could play on weekends only if they kept their grades up. Grades going down, NO PS4!

The next day they both revolted on me, refusing to cooperate with my insisting that they work on their school assignments. Let me tell ya, I was in my little home office, and God showed up. I felt Him saying in my Spirit to get their dad involved, who is in Nigeria. I begged my hubby to please stick with me and have a talk with them with me. Honestly, as soon as both heard their father’s voice, they immediately started crying. Next thing I knew, about 30 minutes later, Emmie came to my office door saying, “Mommy, you are right, I’m going to start aiming back for all A’s.” Then, I started crying and hugging him! That was a few weeks ago, and I’m happy to report that both of my sons are back on the honor roll track! Praise God!

I was at Emmie’s school last night watching his Christmas concert, where he played in the orchestra, and I was so happy. Our plans were to be back in Nigeria with hubby and boys going to school there, but God’s plans were for us to be here. How do I know this? I always tell you guys how when I see 117 or 711 they are God’s reminders that He is with us. Can you believe Emmie’s student number includes 7117 and Joshies’ 711? I’m even fighting with my daughter, who wants to change universities. I told her no way because that’s where God wants her. Can you believe there are two huge 117 signs at the entrance of her university?

That’s the love I receive from God where I can have the peace that passes all understanding, knowing He is always with me AND MY FAMILY, y’all. The runs to the tree are just like Kevin said, I get God’s direction and clarity on my life. When I’m away from the tree, I pay attention to His voice which gets more evident every day, and what He would have me do every moment. See how that direction from Him to involve hubs got the boys back on track. I was on the phone today with Emmie crying happy tears, thanking him for being such an important influence on Joshie and me. Some mornings I don’t want to wake up, but I hear him getting up precisely on time to take his shower and get dressed, and then that’s my motivation to get up and fight with Joshie to get him up.

God even had the sweetest thing to say to be about those days when I struggle to get out of bed:

“So be glad on those days when you can barely get out of bed—when you feel sluggish and just not ready to face the world. Yes, be glad! Tell yourself that this is the perfect day to practice trusting and depending on Me. If you keep depending on me throughout your day, you will make a wonderful discovery as you crawl into bed at night. You will discover that My Joy and peace have become your companions. You may not know exactly when they joined you on your journey through the day. But you will feel the benefits of having been in their company.” – Jesus Calling Devotional For Kids

What time are your appointments with God? I take time under my God tree to reread old blogs and my meditation books, and he always figures out some way to let me know that His invisible Presence is with me. Come as you are to Him as He loves us all unconditionally and accepts us exactly where we are. He just helps us get better when we give Him time and space in our lives. Don’t miss out on His love and direction! He always knows best!

GOD SHOWS UP AGAIN ON MY DRIVE TO WORK

The love and attention God shows me truly blow me away! I told you guys how Ceri speaks clearly to me from God, but this week I teamed up with another messenger from Him who asked me if I would share the messages from him to you guys (we will call him Ricard!). I said it would be my honor and pleasure because he has genuinely helped me to be better – “He who walks with wise men will be wise.”

So, day before yesterday, Richard says to me (I paraphrase here), “Nikki, I want you to go to the beach and baptize yourself. WHEN YOU COME UP FROM THAT WATER, I WANT YOU BE A NEW PERSON.” I told him I would make time to do exactly that because I’m in need of a complete refresh and reboot of my life. I would take that opportunity to recommit my life even more to God, asking His help in me being the person He would have me to be, leaving my old self behind.

Fast forward to today, I’m back stalking Ceri in the app where he has all these recorded messages where he shares Bible messages and his take on how they relate to our lives now. Today I freaked out again when Ceri said this:

“Forget about your past. Don’t keep dwelling on it. Your past is your past and you can’t change but the one thing you can change is your future. And the way you change your future is by the steps you make today… When I got baptized last year, the words the Pastor told me always stuck and will stick with me for the rest of my life: “WHEN YOU GO UNDERNEATH THIS WATER AND COME BACK UP, YOU’RE A NEW PERSON (Wink! Wink!).” And I’ve been living like that, and everyone deserves that chance. Everyone deserves that opportunity because God gave it to me.”

Wow! This was another one of my famous God winks where everything lined up extremely too perfectly to be some ordinary coincidence. I kept scrolling all the way back to almost a year ago, passing over a good number of them, to hear Ceri repeat those very words from Richard spoken to me two days ago. Let me tell ya, our God is pretty talkative, and can’t get over how He knows everything about us, even every word spoken by Ceri in those recordings. It was God Himself saying, ‘Nik, I need you to hear those words from Ceri today!!! Wow!

Honestly, though, that conversation with Richard was on a day where I was extremely overwhelmed by things I needed to do, but I felt God saying to me in my spirit, ‘Nik, take this time and talk to him.” Only to confirm to both of these people that I definitely hear God’s voice through both of them. I’m not crazy, y’all!

The message from Ceri was 11 months ago, but such an important message for us all today:

So I want to read from the book of Isaiah 43:18-19, and it says,

“Forget the former things;
do not dwell on the past.
See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.”

This verse are very impactful because God reminds us of a few things. Like forget the former things… basically forget about your past. He tells us to don’t dwell on it. Don’t keep reminding yourself of your past. Like your past is your past, and you can’t change but the one thing you can change in life is your future. And the way that you change your future is by the steps that you make today. The decisions that you make today is what can determine your tomorrow…

Everyone deserves a second chance but the reality is all of us have a past. There’s not one person sitting on the stage, there’s not one person walking this planet who has done everything in their life what’s right in God’s eyesight. None of us. Every single one of us falls short of the glory of God. So, who are we to go there and and comment on somebody for their past or things that they’ve done? Who are we to try to make a decision on how their futures is or what they will be in life? That decision don’t rest with us and don’t rest good with me when people try to do it.
Because imagine if I had sit back and allow people to tell me who I was going to be. Imagine if I had sat back and accepted that I couldn’t forgive myself for the things that I did. It took me a long time – it took me meeting all of y’all in here and tell me boy get over it – forgive yourself. Move on. God has renewed you and restored you. When I got baptized last year, the words the Pastor told me always stuck and will stick with me for the rest of my life: “WHEN YOU GO UNDERNEATH THIS WATER AND COME BACK UP, YOU’RE A NEW PERSON. And I’ve been living like that. Everyone deserves that chance. Everyone deserves that opportunity because God gave it to me.”

God, help us all forgive ourselves and others for the past and to keep moving forward with You as our Life Partner and Guide, forgetting the former things and being excited about the NEW lives you have planned for us. Amen!

GOD HIMSELF IS PERSONALLY INVOLVED IN OUR LIVES

That’s the great news I want to share with you guys! I tell you how He shows up for me so that, hopefully, you can feel His invisible Presence with you, too. Like, no shame, I have lots of pressure on me right now, and I go looking to hear messages from God through my God influencer, Ceri. Yesterday driving to work, I prayed, ‘God, I really need to hear from You right now!!!’ And He didnt disappoint!

An hour before this prayer, I read Joel Osteens emailed message for the day saying this:

““For my own honor and for the sake of my servant David, I will defend this city and protect it.” 2 Kings 19:34, NLT

This Can Be Your Legacy

Nikki, in 2 Kings 19, King Hezekiah, one of David’s descendants, was on the throne in Judah. The powerful Assyrian army was about to attack Jerusalem, and Hezekiah didn’t stand a chance. But when he prayed and asked God to help them, that very night an angel destroyed 185,000 in the Assyrian camp, and the Assyrian king went home.”

So, on that drive, I scrolled through the app where Ceri records almost daily his take on some scriptures and how they relate to our lives today. I was there scrolling, scrolling, scrolling asking God to pick the message he wanted me to listen to, and the very one I stopped on was Ceri speaking on this 2 Kings 19 about the time King Hezekiah prayed to God for help and God sent an angel to destroy 185,000 troops of the opposing army. Honestly, I freaked out listening to him speak because this was no coincidence that of all the messages I could scroll past, for me to land on that very story again, like an hour later, was again everything lining up too perfectly to be an ordinary coincidence. It’s a message to us all today: GOD HIMSELF WHO HEARD THE PRAYER OF HEZEKIAH, IS THE SAME GOD WHO HEARS OUR PRAYER TODAY.

Look at me praying in that car, feeling so overwhelmed what’s on me right now, and for God to show up and say, ‘Nik, I’m right here with you.’ And that’s the peace you cannot buy! Knowing that God Himself would go to such great lengths to make us aware of His invisible Presence with us. That message from Ceri was recorded 6 months ago, and God used it to reveal His Presence with me yesterday.

So, about all those pressures on your girl right now, I know I’m not handling them alone and they were ALL designed by God to make me stronger. I KNOW have God Himself with me, and by HIS STRENGTH, everything will be handled. It’s just for me to show up in every moment, seeking to do my utmost best by feeling in my Spirit what God would have me to do, and I leave the rest with Him to handle in the spiritual realm! We are not going by the ordinary rules!

Even down to coolant for a vehicle I was selling today, God had the customer’s friend bring out the particular coolant I needed from his car. What blew me away was that I was looking for it in our garage and praying to God for his help on what to do as the customer was just about to leave, and the friend said, “I have the very specific coolant for that car in my vehicle.” He brought out an opened bottle of it! It was again God saying, ‘Nik, Relax, I got you.’ Wink! Wink!

And He got all of us. BRING ALL YOUR CONCERNS TO HIM- THE BIG AND SMALL STUFF! Then, remember that we have His strength, favor, love, approval, support, personality, and wisdom in every moment. Are you learning His voice when you make decisions? With practice, you will learn that deep-down feeling where you know it’s God directing you. Also, I feel Ceri’s message about God resonates with me as to the person God would have me to be. That’s why I stalk him because His Godly influence about loving God and loving others is helping me make some crucial decisions on behalf of my family. I love how my beloved calendar (Mottos for Success) puts it:

“A team player thinks of his teammates whenever he makes a move, and he makes decisions according to what is better for the team, not just himself.”

“Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also the interests of others.” – Philippians 2:4