The present youth, the stepping stones of the future has a very good capacity to succeed and visualize their dreams and visions. In one of my articles, “A Sleeping Man has no Future” I said,“People in this generation have all it takes to succeed and make it in life.” This is because they are exposed to greater things like technology, information, resources and other things. Your dream to make a plane today is easier than in 1900. Success is easy to be tasted by the youth of today as compared to generations and centuries ago.
The journey to the City of Success is fueled by some determinants which include your clarity in life (becoming clear about exactly what you want from life), your goals, dreams,vision, dedication, focus and determination. The aforementioned determinants are key and critical to the success of every individual in every aspect of their lives.
Everyone has a lot of things in mind that they want to achieve in life; talk of education, marriage, family making, ministry, business, a whole lot. Each of these necessities require these determinants to fuel them. But one side of achievement and success we don’t normally give attention to, is the fact that we cannot achieve all these things before we leave this earth. Some of them will be carried out later by our children and in the same way, they will also leave some unaccomplished, for their children to carry on, and the cycle continues.
If that be the case, how then do we get to the City of Success? Many people who have made it in life, yet, have some dreams unaccomplished, some of them have not started -and will never start, but they have still made it in life. What was their secret?
The determinants mentioned in the second paragraph, although good keys, need something to complement their efforts and that is to set your priorities right! Priorities need to be set since we cannot achieve all our dreams or goals at a go. Priorities, the plural form of priority, means “to regard or to treat something more important than others.” In this case, you scale your goals and dreams, that is arranging them from the most important ones to the least. It is also prudent to ascribe reasons as to why they were arranged in that order. For instance, a young guy has three things he wishes to achieve within a year; pursue his Master’s Degree, marry and rent an apartment for his family. The guy must prioritize among the three, the most important one to the least, as Economics taught us, “Resources are scarce to meet all our needs.”
As earlier said, since we cannot achieve all our dreams and goals at a go, there is the need to prioritize in order to achieve the most productive ones. Prioritization keeps you focused, helps minimize stress, boost productivity and also helps save time. In fact, prioritization is a tool for productivity. Despite the large amount of information available and our exposure to
global ecosystem, the people of today, especially the youth still seem not to be achieving much in life and a lot are even spinning the wheel. Everyone seems to be going up and down working hard, a week…a month…a year goes by, and we see only a few are crushing the nut. Why is it the case? Allow me to answer it for you in the next paragraph.
Many people seem too busy day by day, to the extent that they do not have ample time for a healthy meal, not to even talk about spending quality time with their family. A peep into these people’s lives and shockingly, you will see nothing great from their busyness. To be honest with you, crushing the nut will never be determined by by your ups and downs in life, nor will it be determined by the huge or large list of goals you have on your table. But! It will be determined by your focus on yourdreams. Focus on goals or visions is the key component to greater achievements or success and the problem of this generation is, lack of FOCUS.
Lack of focus has been the biggest problem of the increasing un-achievements in these times and as earlier said, focus is possible when you have been able to prioritize your goals. Prioritization helps you to pay attention to your goals, that is, it keeps you from jumping from one thing to the other. When your goals are prioritized, you are able to stick to them, especially, to the most productive ones.
Because of de-prioritization, many people out of their busyness are majoring the minors and minoring the majors instead of the vice versa in both cases. They are giving much attention to the less productive goals and giving less attention to the most productive ones, they are saying yes to activities they are supposed to say no to and they are saying no to activities they are supposed to yes to. They have also become serious hoppersin life moving from here to here, one thing to the other.
You might have a lot of things on your table but that doesn’t mean you should be jumping from one thing to the other. Instead, you should only move from one thing to the other,seeing that the former has been fully accomplished. Don’t be like a drifted piece of wood in a river, moving in whatever direction the wind blows. Rather, you should have a compass that gears you. Focus on your productive goals first and interestingly, these accomplished goals might even give you new opportunities and dreams. Don’t be frustrated, always bear in mind that you cannot achieve everything in a day. Oh, have you forgotten the saying, “Rome was not built in a day?” Go out there and ask about the success stories of those who made it to the top. One answer that will always cut across is, “Set priorities – and not just any priorities.
It’s a new month and the The School Of Life-Ghana welcomes you with an article that will linger on your mind for this month and many more months to come, not to exaggerate, it could be years. As a community of Youth who are poised for positive change, sitting down idly, will be a breach of our mantra. In our bid to take responsibility and create a better tomorrow, we shareour thoughts on how Africa’s development problems can be ameliorated, with a more focus on Ghana.
Paramount among the development problems identified are: high rates of unemployment, poor sanitation, high rates of illiteracy and poor infrastructure. The causes of these problems are political instability, high tastes for foreign goods, the knowledge based educational system, low level of technology, to mention but a few.Let’s read the brilliant ideas brought together by our Change Makers.
The first issue to be explored is the high rate of unemployment.In tackling this issue, we looked at it from human resourcedevelopment. The human resource comprises the skills,knowledge, skilled and unskilled labor and other efforts neededfor production and development. Sadly, the educational systemin Ghana continues to be knowledge based rather than skilloriented. Will we all end up with white collar jobs? This is onequestion that educational planners fail to look at. What ishappening to our vocational skills? How many of them are in the country? When students fail their B.E.C.E and W.A.S.S.C.E,they think that is the end of the journey for them. These are people who are in many ways endowed with skills, who could have developed their vocational skills. Everyone wants to be seen in the university. How many universities are there in Ghana and can they contain all of us? Can the economy provide white collar jobs for all these graduates? It will be in the best interest of all of us if we focus on developing our human resource with other skills, such that even after school when they fail to land for themselves jobs, at least, they can make good use of their skills for livelihood. In this vein, community skills fair can be held to train people in their localities.
Secondly, let’s look at poor sanitation. Isn’t it worrisome that governments in Africa allocate huge sums of money in annual budgets to solve the issue of poor sanitation? What are we doing as so called patriotic citizens? We affirmed that environmental laws and regulations should be strictly implemented and law breakers punished.
Thirdly, our poor infrastructure. Development can be arrived at when there are accompanying infrastructure. Let’s look at transport systems, schools, clinics, oh how poor! Most of them are in dilapidated states. How do we expect the farmer to transport his produce to the market when the bridge in the middle of the road has caved in, denying access? And how do we expect students to do well in school when they do not even have a conducive environment for learning? There are more questions to be asked… We as positive minded people believe that we the citizens can help the government in infrastructure provision. There are individuals and organizations who are endowed with financial resources. We are talking about collective responsibility. We have NGOs, religious organizations and individuals providing amenities in our communitues. It’s just a matter of Public Private Partnerships and the government liaising with these organizations.
Again, we draw our focus on agriculture. Africa has more countries engaged in agriculture. Sadly, the agriculture here does not reap great returns. Most of the agriculturalists engage insubsistence farming. Our produce are attacked by pests and diseases, causing on farm and post harvest losses.Again,rudimentary methods used in agriculture yields low productivity. TSOL is looking at agricultural mechanization and value addition of our agricultural products so that our products can sell on the international market.
Finally, we want to address this critical issue of discontinuity of good projects by new projects. Each government comes with its own policies for the country. However, there are times that the laudable projects of previous governments were abandoned, simply because “it is not their tenure”, “We want to follow our manifesto,” etc. This leaves many projects hanging, which if they had been implemented, would have served the country massively well. With one voice, we chant, “Operation Continue the Good Projects.”These are the brilliant ideas of the TSOL-Gh Community.
This topic is not the first time it is being discussed and neither will it be the last time, as the adage goes, “problems are inevitable.” However, we do hope that this piece will find its way into the hearts of people who are optimistic about Africa’s positive change, people who do not want to sit in the sidelines but take action. Add your voice to ours, and let’s march on. Together. Regardless.
One of the most powerful forms of human communications is praise. Complementing or praising people make them feel good and always gives them a sense of belonging. In fact, from generations to generations, revolutions to revolutions, compliment has done a lot of magic, from homes to schools to businesses to companies and so on. Praises work on the brain such that it makes it more willing to complete a hard or stressful task than it otherwise would. The brain sometimes taps its power and willingness to work from the compliments it receives and itneeds this experience day by day, again and again. Thus, it must be a regular routine.
Praises or compliments is a critical aspect of human life such that even people who have risen to the top still need it, becausethe full capacity of the brain will still not be reached even at thehighest point of achievement. To reinforce the behavior of someone to do excellently or rise up from his faults or mistakes,you must often encourage or praise the person. Effective praisecan sometimes alter someone’s self-image and brighten their world giving them boldness or courage in life.
In the business world, praising or complimenting is also an extremely powerful tool or drive. Praising or complimenting in the business world has done a lot of miracles and wonders andits absence on the other hand has caused a lot of harm. Some companies saw a boom in their activities because they worked on the brains of their employees by praising, appreciating and motivating them while some companies sadly collapsed or failed, couldn’t hit their targets because they failed to praise and compliment the efforts and performances of their employees.Boosting productivity, performance and others are sometimes linked with praises or positive reinforcement. Research shows that if you have 100 employees and they are not well motivated,only 12 of them will work as expected. Praises or motivation should never be undermined in this human setting. Praises has a lot of importance, but I want to talk about just three of them.
The first importance of praise I want to talk about is, it brings improvement in performance. One writer, Raman Rana once said “Praise someone’s effort, work and creativity, even if it’s not so much praiseworthy, praise it and you will see an unbelievable improvement in the next performance”. Praising someone has been proven as one of the ways that brings improvement in performances of individuals or groups.Improvement has always been a fuel for rising up, hitting targets, reaching goals or attaining aims. No one on earth gets his dream or vision achieved in a day but through a gradual process, which means the person must keep on working, and as they keep on working, they keep on improving in performance and ultimately, to the achievement of their dream or vision. In the same way, in businesses or companies, praising or appreciating employees can help them improve their performance towards the achievement of set organizational goals. Consistent and persistent increase or improvement in performances can be fueled or driven when individuals are wellpraised or motivated even for the little things they do.
The next importance of praise I want to talk about is it brings commitment and engagement. Been committed and engaged to a mission or vision is one of the difficult things to do whether it is an organization’s vision or a personal one. Commitment is the dedication towards achieving or completing a particular task effectively and efficiently and engagement is the level of involvement or contribution towards the attainment a specific goal. People want to be recognized for what they are doing even if is a personal vision. Let’s read how Mavis got committed to her work and succeeded out of it “Immediately after my first degree, I decided to make a market basket from sawdust and after my first sample was made, my parents complained that my priorities had been misplaced- I keep focusing on “foolish”things. I then decided not to continue but find a job. When a friend of mine saw the basket, she began to praise the work to the extent that she said it was the finest basket she had ever seen, the praise built my confidence and increased my commitment and engagement to the work. I spent a lot of time on it and after one year, seven months, it began to sell and now, I make thousands of cedis in a week from this basket production and my parents who ridiculed me are now feeding from it.” To increase individual or employees’ commitment and engagement towards a specific work, mission or vision, they must be well praised or motivated.
The last importance I want to spell out is, praise brings self-development and innovation. Praises or motivation can build up or facilitate the development of an individual or employee and also increase their innovative and creative skills and abilities. Individuals, groups or employees develop talents and potentials, better their lives, enhance their quality of life when they are well motivated. It becomes easy to continue to develop ourselves, because a motivated person is confident to develop all the time. Again, individuals tend to be more creative and proactive when they are praised. Gordorn Torrs in his book,“Managing Creative People” said, “The higher the creator’s motivation, the more creativity and original he will become”which means when a person is praised or motivated he tends to reason more in other to be more innovative and creative. In the nut shell when anyone is praised or motivated he begins to develop new self and become more proactive, innovative and creative.
In conclusion, showering praises and complements is important in influencing the actions and behaviors of individuals, groups and employees. When you want to see people improving, been committed and engaged to work at home, schools andworkplace, try to praise and motivate. Praise when properly utilized has a positive impact on lives and behaviors and therefore should never be ignored or undermined.
Dear Parent/Guardian, your ward is still at the bottom of the class, because all you do is complain about how bad their grades are. Don’t you think a little motivation and kind words would have just done the trick? Hello Mr./Mrs. CEO, don’t you think it’s about time you motivated the grumpy looking employees? You will thank me later after reading this article. (Wink)
The world we live in is full of mysteries and these mysteries are not understood by mere approaches. Mysteries are only understood by revelation since they may look weird in sight, thought and in the understanding of men. Mysteries therefore are things (knowledge) beyond understanding.
Luke 18:34
[34]But they understood nothing of these things; His words were a mystery and hidden from them, and they did not comprehend what He was telling them..
These mysteries are information we obtain or gather from things that are around us, the very environments we live in. These are the things we see, hear, feel, smell and taste. In short, mysteries are recognized by our five physical senses and these senses do not even have the proclivity to interpret understanding into these mysteries they obtain or gather.
These information that our five senses gather are built up into what we call “KNOWLEDGE”. Knowledge has so many definitions but from the above point made, I would like to define knowledge to the understanding of the lay man which is to “gather information about a particular thing.” Knowledge is from the word “to know” which can also be termed as “to be informed”. So, that simply tells us that most of the knowledge that we obtain or gather are mysterious which needs grounds for its truth to be exposed.
Ephesians 3:3
[3][And] that the mystery (secret) was made known to me and I was allowed to comprehend it by direct revelation, as I already briefly wrote you.
It is always said and well accepted that “knowledge is power” but the question is;
How is the power of this knowledge obtained?
Do all men with knowledge have this power?
To the best of my understanding, all men in this world have a kind of knowledge they possess in one way or the other, but do all these men have the power the quote above said? It is a big No to me since I can clearly see that most people in this world are powerless and are even in suffering. So where is the power of the knowledge they possess? What is the problem here, indeed if the concept of “knowledge is power’ is true in this raw state or does it mean all these men I see without power are without knowledge? These are some questions I always find myself asking but glory be to God that mysteries are brought to light by our Lord God Almighty.
Colossians 1:26
[26]The mystery of which was hidden for ages and generations [from angels and men], but is now revealed to His holy people (the saints)…
Ephesians 3:5
[5][This mystery] was never disclosed to human beings in past generations as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles (consecrated messengers) and prophets by the [Holy] Spirit.
Ephesians 1:9
[9]Making known to us the mystery (secret) of His will (of His plan, of His purpose). [And it is this:] In accordance with His good pleasure (His merciful intention) which He had previously purposed and set forth in Him,
Now, let us come to the main agenda as we look at how these knowledge we receive as believers becomes a power to us. As a Christian, I have found myself with so many other believers who claim to have learned a lot (knowledgeable) and can prove to us how they have been able to know and memorize all scriptures, read many books. But the truth is I wonder and pity them as I see these same people lost to even the slightest of a situation, its seems to me that all their knowledge vanished in the face of the situation. I had thought the knowledge would help them overcome the situation. These people are those who had the knowledge of the great book ever which is the Bible (the Word of God). So I ask myself again, where is the power since they have the knowledge? These kind of situations and experiences tends to weaken the faith of other people who find themselves closer to them and I in particular have been a victim. This made me realize that there is something missing in the picture of knowledge which the world and even some Christians have not yet known and that also remain a mystery to them. But light has come to make these mysteries clear in order to reveal the concealed understanding. I pray that by the help of the Holy Spirit I will be able to bring to bare the secrets of this concealment.
From bishop Noel Jones he said,” The devil cannot destroy the gift in you or the giver of the gift, so he afflicts the recipient of the gift so that the gift is not put to use.” The devil knows that when the gift is put to use, he is in trouble so he stops it as quickly as possible. But we are not ignorant of the devils devices.
Let us take a look at this scripture Matthew 16:13-19
[13]Now when Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, Who do people say that the Son of Man is?
[14]And they answered, Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.
[15]He said to them, But who do you [yourselves] say that I am?
[16]Simon Peter replied, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.
[17]Then Jesus answered him, Blessed (happy, fortunate, and to be envied) are you, Simon Bar-Jonah. For flesh and blood [men] have not revealed this to you, but My Father Who is in heaven.
[18]And I tell you, you are Peter [Greek, Petros–a large piece of rock], and on this rock [Greek, petra–a huge rock like Gibraltar] I will build My church, and the gates of Hades (the powers of the infernal region) shall not overpower it [or be strong to its detriment or hold out against it].
[19]I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind (declare to be improper and unlawful) on earth must be what is already bound in heaven; and whatever you loose (declare lawful) on earth must be what is already loosed in heaven. [Isa. 22:22.]
The verse 14 of this scripture gives us a clear picture of a question which Jesus asked his disciples that “who do men say that he is?” This was an unaware question thrown to the disciples, so there was not enough time for the disciples to think through and this reminds me of a text in 1 Peter 3:15 [15]But in your hearts set Christ apart as holy [and acknowledge Him] as Lord. Always be ready to give a logical defense to anyone who asks you to account for the hope that is in you, but do it courteously and respectfully. [Isa. 8:12, 13.]. So ignorance on the side of the believer is not an excuse. For all these while you’ve been with him and have not known him yet? I believe this question shocked the disciples but they managed to answer in a way. They said;
Verse Matthew 16:14
[14]And they answered, Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.
The answers that the disciples gave unto Jesus tells us that all the people following Jesus were with different views (knowledge) of what really is the personality of Jesus based on what they have experienced with their five senses. Most of these people following Jesus found themselves comparing Jesus to the prophets of old because to them what they heard and saw Jesus do was the same thing they heard or saw these prophets did. Note that they were neither wrong, nor was it a sin for them to have such thought but they missed an important fact which would have been relevant in their thought, [this factor is what we will be looking at soon]. They followed Jesus with different information, so you can clearly understand from scriptures that, not all who followed Jesus received from him or had their problems solved and that was because they followed blindly. If you follow a man for what he is not actually, you will not be able to receive from what he is actually. Note that in the historical book about Christ, all those who received major miracles from Jesus were those who did not see Jesus as one of the prophets but they saw and believed in him as a different man with a different purpose and qualities. Examples; the woman with the issue of blood (Matthew 9:20…), the Centurion (Matthew 8:5…) Etc.
Note, here in the verse 14, we can understand that, allChristians have different knowledge about God (Christ) but these knowledge we possess about him are not really different in meaning and in purpose but because we are men, we sometimes see differently due to the fact that we fail to trace the knowledge we have directly to him by REVELATION.
Jesus realizing that the people had not yet known who he was, turned the big question to his disciples,
Matthew 16:15 [15]He said to them, But who do you [yourselves] say that I am? . It will shock you to know that even the disciples didn’t know who Jesus actually was, after all the time he had been with them in teachings, experience and of all that he had said about himself to them. John 14:9 [9]Jesus replied, Have I been with all of you for so long a time, and do you not recognize and know Me yet, … The disciples were all quiet until Peter was able to connect the knowledge he had with a focus to think of Jesus being a different man with a different purpose. Peter realized the uniqueness of Jesus and he looked forward to seeing in him something different unlike the rest of the people who only looked back to compare Jesus with the other prophets of old. In life when you always compare what has already happened to current issues without looking forward for new things, you will never be improved.
So with REVELATION, Peter understood who Jesus was. This brings me to the light, the secret, the element that is responsible for the release of power of the knowledge. This is where the spirit of the Lord told me that, most of us (Christians) have gathered enough knowledge but we have missed the revelation of them all. Revelation is what the world and most Christians are missing to obtain the power of the knowledge they are possessing. Know that knowledge in itself does not release power.
From the scripture above in Matthew 16:16 [16]Simon Peter replied, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.Peter also had a different knowledge concerning Jesus which was also equivalent to that of the rest of the people, but to him,the revelation he had brought out what was the actual personality of the man he had been with all this while, who was Jesus. What I want us to understand is that, we can have all the knowledge we want but when we lack the revelation of the Holy Spirit, it is just an information we are possessing. So let us look at something here, the understanding of the knowledge we possess is brought about through revelation and this revelation will establish us in the power of the knowledge we possess. Jesus is lord! Now, if it is said that knowledge is power, it is not and never the one void of understanding through revelation.
Ephesians 1:17,19
[17][For I always pray to] the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, that He may grant you a spirit of wisdom and revelation [of insight into mysteries and secrets] in the [deep and intimate] knowledge of Him,
[19]And [so that you can know and understand] what is the immeasurable and unlimited and surpassing greatness of His power in and for us who believe, as demonstrated in the working of His mighty strength,
The funny thing here is that, there is no revelation without knowledge. My economics lecturer will tell you, “They are complementary goods”.
It is revelation that makes knowledge more relevant and we need this revelation because it is necessary in our Christian journey (life). This brings to light the need for us to study and absorb more knowledge. We need more revelation to survive this journey. In view of that we also need to acquire more knowledge. More knowledge brings about more revelation and more revelation establishes an absolute potential power.
If I tell you that you are a king, it’s just an information I have given to you which has no evidence of power or may have ahidden power due to the fact that the information may be true or not. When you begin to ask yourself questions and do a search about this information, like why, how and what makes you a king, you begin to think (meditate) and this thought bring about your true identity. This revelation will then give you an understanding of your true personality which will establish you in your power as a king. But if you do not find out, the knowledge will continue to be just an information with a hidden power that will not be brought to light.
Understand that, Peter’s answer in the verse 15 was not influenced by the information (knowledge) of the others. When knowledge is connecting to revelation to establish truth and power, it is always silent to outside influence because God is the only revealer of mysteries in light.
Daniel 2:22
[22]He reveals the deep and secret things; He knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with Him! [Job 15:8; Ps. 25:14; Matt. 6:6.].
You don’t always have to walk with the influence of men, you also have access to the Lord. Hebrews 4:16 [16]Let us then fearlessly and confidently and boldly draw near to the throne of grace (the throne of God’s unmerited favor to us sinners), that we may receive mercy [for our failures] and find grace to help in good time for every need [appropriate help and well-timed help, coming just when we need it]. IfPeter had listened to the others, he would have followed their path and would have lost his revelation. Do not be limited inknowledge by what other people say, rather look beyond, see more than what you even expect and you will discover more mysteries with revelations. God can be your only source of understanding and revelation even without the help of men.
Galatians 1:12
[12]For indeed I did not receive it from man, nor was I taught it, but [it came to me] through a [direct] revelation [given] by Jesus Christ (the Messiah).
Now that we are aware that knowledge is vital in revelation, it should be the earnest desire of every believer to make it a point to increase in the knowledge of the Word of God.
“Who do you say that I (Jesus) am?”
Now we understand that it takes revelation to know him but the revelation is based on knowledge. The word of God now is the embodiment of who Jesus is. John 1:1 [1]IN THE beginning [before all time] was the Word (Christ), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God Himself. [Isa. 9:6.] For this reason, it will be very prudent that we study to know everything therein, then we grasp the understanding ofJesus through the revelation. Any Christian who does not know the scriptures has no access to revelation. For you to know who Jesus is, the only source for you is the Bible, it doesn’t matter the number of other books you read in this life. Make it your daily responsibility to read and study the word.
2 Timothy 2:15
[15]Study and be eager and do your utmost to present yourself to God approved (tested by trial), a workman who has no cause to be ashamed, correctly analyzing and accurately dividing [rightly handling and skillfully teaching] the Word of Truth.
Now after knowing the scriptures, you then ask yourself questions, like peter, who do you say that he (Jesus) is, what is he to you? Know that your understanding about him is equivalent to the understanding about your own personality. What you know and build about him is exactly what you know and build about yourself. The mistake most of us usually do is that, we think the knowledge and understanding that we build about God is to teach and preach to others but we fail to apply it to our own selves. 2 Timothy 2:15.
Now, another big question is that, what do you say that you are or what do people say that you are? With the knowledge that you have about Christ, you have to identify it with yourself because that is your real nature as well. This builds your understanding of who you are and the authority that you possess in God through Jesus Christ. Having understood now who youare, your living on this earth will be positively affected and you would realize that you’re being a Christian is much more than what you thought of because you will be living in the reality of who you are in God through Christ.
Galatians 2:20
[20]I have been crucified with Christ [in Him I have shared His crucifixion]; it is no longer I who live, but Christ (the Messiah) lives in me; and the life I now live in the body I live by faith in (by adherence to and reliance on and complete trust in) the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself up for me.
Ephesians 2:6
[6]And He raised us up together with Him and made us sit down together [giving us joint seating with Him] in the heavenly sphere [by virtue of our being] in Christ Jesus (the Messiah, the Anointed One).
Now begin to think of all the wonderful and powerful personality about Jesus and everything concerning him in the word of God and relate all these to yourself, hallelujah. This is one of the mysteries most people have not realized yet and are still walking in fear, pain, confusion, ignorance and in unbelief. Rise, you who is sleeping and walk in the reality of your belief(faith) in Jesus. Isaiah 60:1
[1]ARISE [from the depression and prostration in which circumstances have kept you–rise to a new life]! Shine (be radiant with the glory of the Lord), for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you! [Zech. 8:23.]
Basically, the idea of this write-up is for all believers to know and understand who they are in Christ Jesus; but knowing this depends on certain key factors which will first lead you to the understanding of Jesus. From this point, you begin to identify yourself with him as the scripture gives us the right to do so. Galatians 2:20. Knowing Jesus is actually knowing who you are. So in answering the big question, “who do you say that I (Jesus) am?” You must be careful to know exactly the truth ofthe revelation that is brought to light in the knowledge of the word of God.
The remaining verses of Matthew 16, that is the verses 18 and 19, shows and explains the power that was made available for peter when after receiving the revelation of the knowledge that he possesses about Jesus.
Unlike peter who knew Jesus face to face, in our dispensation, we don’t have him with us in body to gain knowledge about him through physical experience, but we have him in his word. So we get to know him more and more through the studying of the word. A Christian who does not study the word of God is void of revelation. No matter how much you pray, you will still lack revelation though your prayers may be answered. As a matter of fact, what do you pray when you are without the knowledge of the word of God? It is said that “a prayerless Christian is a powerless Christian” but at least that Christian has life but without power, there is still hope for survival. But I say a wordless Christian is a deadly and a dead Christian, you may pray for power but where is the life to exhibit that power? John 1:4 [4]In Him was Life, and the Life was the Light of men. Effective combination of the two is very vital for you and your journey on earth. Acts 6:4 [4]But we will continue to devote ourselves steadfastly to prayer and the ministry of the Word.
JESUS IS LORD!!!
Douglas Amoako is a First degree (Bsc. Accounting Education) and the Former President of NUPS-G UEW-K(2017/2018). Currently, he is the YPG President (PCG, Redemption Cong. Jamestown-Accra).
You can also contact Douglas on: Email: douglasamoako.da@gmail.com Call: 0540558814/ 0572760955 Facebook: Douglas Amoako
The scorching sun is gradually going down, evening is arriving,the moon is appearing, spreading its glittering dim glow all over. Night, the time to embrace the bed, wow such a great time we always look forward to. One of the best things we can enjoy as humans is a good night’s sleep and one of the worst things we can ever go through is the inability to sleep. Sleep is an integral part of our lives; it gives power, strength and energy to sailthrough the day and it has always been the golden chain that tiesgood health and our bodies together.
In August 2019, under an empowerment program organized by Victorious Christian Fellowship Ghana, the guest speaker at the event, Prophet Prosper Jerry (Agabus) while ministering, made this statement, “A Sleeping Man has no future”. This statement grasped my attention and I quickly wrote it down in my diary for further research. Upon my studies, I came across interesting facts that inspired me a lot which I would like to share to inspire you also.
“A Sleeping Man has no future” literally does not mean there will be no future for the person who loves sleep or oversleeps,but metaphorically, he meant that there is no better future andgreat achievement for someone who loves to sleep. In other words, anyone who loves to sleep too much will have nothing to show in the future. It is not a sin or a taboo to sleep because the human body needs sleep (rest). In the course of sleep, scientists say the body heals itself and restores its chemical balance.Without enough sleep, the brain and the body system will not function properly. Catherine Offord, a scientist said, “One function of sleep is to repair DNA damage that has built up in the brain during the walking hours”.
There is the need for sleep but there is a big difference enjoying a night’s sleep and loving to sleep. A good night’s sleep is what we all enjoy every night as our resting period but to love sleep simply means always wanting to sleep whenever one gets a chance. In other terms , to love sleep means to be lazy, inactive or indolent. Most of the people who love to sleep too much are not workable, which is to say, they don’t love working and are not practical.
Again, in my research, I discovered that there is a direct link between poverty and oversleeping. Let’s check this scripture which points out a link between loving sleep and poverty. Proverbs 20:13 says, “Do not love sleep or you will grow poor; stay awake and you will have plenty to spare” (NIV). One of the exciting things about the Bible is that, it tracks things to its roots in order to destroy the roots. The Bible after tracing the roots of poverty says the predominant root of poverty is loving sleep. Man needs not to love sleep, otherwise poverty will strike on him and attack him like a thief to the extent that food to eat will be hard to come by.
Every great future begins in the heart and mind. The things our heart and mind perceive are our dreams and aspirations. Everyone has dreams and plans for the future but it becomes irrelevant if it is stationed in the mind and heart. Many people ended up with dead future, having nothing to show though they were great imaginers and thinkers. What went wrong? They were impractical! They could not put their imaginations(dreams) to work.
Once your dreams and aspirations are made clear, you cannot expect things to appear magically. The manifestation of your dreams into reality lies in your actions. Successful people are not only great in imagination but also hardest workers, that is,people who put to work their imaginations. While some people are sleeping and others sitting comfortably in their sofas changing channels and watching telenovelas, the people who want to make it in life are working on their dreams and goals.
People in this generation have all it takes to succeed and make it in life. I must say, “This generation has no excuse or reason to fail.” This generation is exposed to greater things like technology, information, resources and other things that willhelp achieve visions and dreams. The real problem? We are not ready to wake up from our sleep to put to work these visions and dreams! Manufacturing a car in 1909 will definitely not be the same as today, as a lot of resources, ideas, information and technology have emerged in these recent times which makes it easier to do than in those days. In the same way, achieving your dreams and aspirations in these days is less difficult than it was in those days.
1909 Car
2020 Car
Achieving your dreams and becoming who you want to be is more possible than we think but they only happen in the confines of our actions. It must be made clear that, dreams and visions are not achieved in bed, neither are they achieved in the mind or heart, but it will only be possible if we wake up from sleep, switch off our televisions and leave our sofas to work.
No matter how big or great your vision is, no matter how great the prophetic word of the Lord concerning your life is, if you do not work on it, it will always remain a dream and will never be realised. Your visions or dreams might not look big or brighter,but I can assure you that if they are put to work, you will be the next hero the world will celebrate.
I want to use this article to admonish everyone especially the youth, that all things are possible for those who are ready to work for it. There is a lot of fraud, scamming, blood money, to mention but a few, these days, all because we are refusing to work but still want to achieve something. Many people want to achieve magically without working, which is not possible! One song writer said, “There is no shortcut to heaven unless you strive and work hard for it”. Let us all rise from our sleep and put to work our visions and dreams and I believe our efforts will materialize sooner than we imagined.
DON’T FORGET THAT:
THIS GENERATION HAS NO EXCUSE OR REASON TO FAIL.
THE PREDOMINANT ROOT OF POVERTY IS TO LOVE SLEEP (INACTIVE OR LAZY).
SUCCESSFUL PEOPLE ARE NOT ONLY GREAT IN IMAGINATIONS BUT ALSO HARDEST WORKERS.
Written by: Nehemiah Afful Chief Empowerment Officer, TSoL-GH
Dear 18,
I am writing this letter because I love you and I want you to know that you are supported and you have a lot of potential!
I know you’re feeling lost, overwhelmed by all the painful emotions that are coming up and the upsetting memories that you thought were not real. A lot has taken place already and I know it feels prejudiced.
But I want to tell you that you are such a strong being. Once you learn how to heal yourself, you will be able to guide so many people who have related experiences as you.
You will drop some people in your life, but you will also advance so many meaningful connections. Just stay genuine! Some will like you, some will want to push you down but trust me, the more you stay genuine, the more you will attract soul tribe. There are so many great people waiting to clinch you and have deep meaningful conversations with you- and a charming man to play with!
So I’m going to be blunt with you, this journey you are taking is not going to be colorful but mare and once you’re in it, you will feel such a great shift and grow so much! I don’t want you to feel like you have to keep everything to yourself and do everything by yourself. I know it’s because you don’t want to upset other people’s feelings and be seen as weak. But when you truly open yourself up, you will see what a fighter you truly are.
My recommendation is to find yourself a coach who’s there to support you so that you don’t have to feel drained and isolated. I’m talking of someone who works with you in a holistic manner, taking into account your physical and psycological make-up. I’m talking about someone who can truly give you diverse practical tools to use when you’ve exhausted all your samples. That someone who cheers you on but also challenges you to give off your best.
You’ll thank me later after listening to me. I’m so excited for this journey you’re about to take! I love you.
This is a rhyme we all learnt during our days in nursery; it was one of the favorite poems we couldn’t stop singing even after school. The center of this poem was the star; beautiful it is up there, indeed a glittering diamond it is in the sky, a great light it streams to the earth.
Stars are huge celestial bodies made mostly of hydrogen and helium that produce light and heat from the churning nuclear forges inside their cores. According to the estimation of astronomers, there are about 300 billion stars in the sky and as little as they appear in the sky, astronomers say, “One star is bigger than the earth.” The twinkling stars we see disappear during daylight and reappear during the night. But is that really the case? No, stars are always in the sky all day and their light keep streaming to the earth at all times. We benefit and see greater importance from the light that streams from the stars only when there is darkness. Why then do we not see the twinkling stars at day?
During the day we cannot see the twinkling stars, despite the brightness and shininess of it, till darkness appears for them to illuminate. The sun (although a star, but not the twinkling star we know) is seen not to be in “good terms” with darkness because it does not acknowledge any correlation between it and darkness, whilst the twinkling stars see darkness as their hero,because it provides an opportunity for them to shine. There is a lesson I want us to learn about the stars and darkness.
The stars symbolize our lives whereas the night symbolizes hardship, struggles or sufferings in life. Life has got its own methods or procedures of working and getting things done. Everything in life goes through a process before it is done. For instance, in schooling, we move from one stage or level to another. In the same way, our life is procedural, that is to say,our lives move from one stage or process to the other. Anything life has got to offer you does not all come in a day but will pass through a process before it is attainable. Doctors, teachers, presidents and other great people we see today were not made in a day, but through a process and time.
Everything on this earth has its own process or procedure because the process of becoming a doctor will never be the same as that of becoming a teacher or president. Sometimes, the process will be very long with a lot of curves and mountains (suffering or hardship) whereas others will have few procedures or processes with little or no suffering.
Some people succeed without going through much struggles or sufferings, but to most people, success does not come easy. In the life line of a lot of people, it was struggles after struggles, hard times after hard times, and hardships after hardships before they saw success. Some of them even thought they were useless and good for nothing, but with time, victory came because they never gave up. Let’s take a few moments to glance through the life pages of some great and prominent people who thought their lives had almost come to an end but still decided to push and at the end, they saw light at the end of the tunnel.
The famous Jesus Christ, the savior and the redeemer of the world, went through tribulations, persecutions, insults and other unpleasant things and after was honored the name above all names. Philippians 2:9 says, “Therefore, God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name” (NIV). The great Nelson Mandela, former president of the republic of South Africa was given a life sentence in prison in1962 because of his fight against apartheid in South Africa, of which he served 27 years in prison before he was released and then after, became the president of South Africa in 1994.
Martin Luther King Jnr, before being able to push the US Civil Rights Movement in the 1950’s was arrested more thanfive times. His famous speech “Letter from the Birmingham jail” was written while in prison in 1963. It was a struggle after struggle, but he never gave up. His voice was finally heard one day. Lastly, Oprah Winfrey passed through a lot in life but still decided to push hard and she made it. As little as 9 years, she was abused sexually in several occasions by a cousin, an uncle and a family friend. At the age of 14, she became pregnant, however, she couldn’t have the baby after birth. She had the chance to go to school after going to stay with her father in Tennessee. After graduation, she decided to work with atelevision station. She was fired by one producer after the other because they all thought “she was unfit for television.” Shestarted her own show which unfortunately did not work for her. She then relocated to a different place, began a new show and now she hosts the number one show in the States, “The Oprah Winfrey show”.
Life was never easy for a lot of great and prominent men. To some, it was tears after tears. To others, it was hunger after hunger. To some, it was rejection after rejection and to others, it was disappointment after disappointment. However, their key to success was not, “I am not giving up.” Your decision for not stopping in your darkest times will determine who you will become in future, as one writer said “The darkest night produces the brightest stars.”
No matter how bright (stars) you know your destiny, dreams and vision are, you will still go through some darkness (struggles or sufferings) in order to shine. Don’t try to dodge the darkness (struggles or sufferings) for it might be your opportunity to shine. One preacher I love so much Mr. Samuel Addai Gyimah(The preacher) once said, “Any Christian who does not have a cross (suffering) does not have a crown.”
I want to use this article as an opportunity to advise everyone especially the youth that hard times might come but when they come, that does not mean your world has come to an end, but you should embrace that as an opportunity for you to shine. Trust me, everything in this world is temporary including the hardships and problems. Trust the process and push harder and I believe you will see the noise of victory at the end of the tunnel.
I want to end with these two quotes but I want you to personalize it and move with it every day; “When life is not good, remember that it will not last forever and better days are on the way” and “Life never gives me what I want but what I persistently contend for.”
KEEP SHOUTING, “I CAN MAKE IT”
AZA AZA FIGHTING ………….. AZA AZA FIGHTING.
Written by:
PAUL AMOAKO, Founder and the President of Shakar Kabash Crew. He is also the Co-Founder of Word Intellect Challenge
You know growth is a continuous process, don’t you? You cease to grow the moment you die; and while we aren’t dead yet, every moment presents an opportunity for us to better ourselves and grow. Whoever the reader of this article is, this write-up concerns you.
Early this morning after my daily morning prayer and devotion, this string of words, “The Young Shall Grow” came to mind as I sat down recollect some some moments from the past. As I began to ponder on the words, these questions came to mind, “How will the young grow and why the need for the young to grow?” Funnily enough, I got the answers myself, I didn’t even have to ponder over them. Stay with me as I share with you the answers I got,using my life as an experience.
From my first day on earth to the thirteenth year, I was brought up by both parents until my father died when I was 13 years. Both parents were unschooled, my father being a local land surveyor and my mum a trader. I am the last born of five children.
Let’s tackle the first question “how did I grow?”. Though my parents weren’t schooled, they still managed to send me to school early probably because they did not want me to suffer the same fate as theirs. As early as two years, I was sent to a private school and that was where I schooled until primary four when my parents struggled to meet my educational needs that I was then sent to the government school. Two years after been sent to the public school, I lost my dad. I schooled there until I completed Junior High School. My mum became my sole benefactor who sheltered, trained and guided me to this level.
After Junior High School, I gained admission to Senior High School. My mum was jobless at the time of admission but she still managed to further my education. It still baffles me that throughout my four-year secondary education, I was never sent out of school for inability to pay any academic fees, though my mum was not working. When my WASSCE results was released, I passed but my mum was still jobless to take me through my tertiary education. She sat me down one night around 9pm and she said “Wofa (uncle), as she normally calls me, I know you have passed but I do not have the means to further your education now, so let’s wait for a year or two andhopefully by that time, I would have raised enough to further your education.”
Two years later she teamed up with the third born, the only schooled person in the family apart from me, who was then working to take me to the tertiary. Though it was a struggle after struggle within the four years, but by the grace of God, I managed to go through the four years and here I am now.
I strongly believe that her assistance, guidance and training were the tools that brought me up to this level.She did all she could, both spiritual and physical to see us grow into a full fledge tree. Despite the motherly love and her support in education and all things, she never spared me when I did wrong. If she didn’t beat me, she would find an equal punishment to set me back on track.Sometimes I was punished at 2am for a wrong I did in the afternoon. I became angry at times. Little did I know she was guiding me into greatness.
Let’s move to the last question “Is there a need for my growing?”. There is a saying that “The young hold the future”. This implies that the brightness of the future is in the hands of the young or the youth. The young have a lot of responsibilities to undertake when they grow. They can only undertake these responsibilities if they are trained and nurtured well from their childhood. Proverbs 22:6 said it well, “Train a child the way he should go, and when he is old he will not from it” (NIV).
My days on earth have not been long though, in my late 20’s, but there are significant responsibilities I have been able to undertake. Not to blow my horns, but I can recall myself and other young people going to the orphanage home several times with relief items to ensure that the special people there live comfortably. Also, I have been able to send two children to school (not my biological children) and many more which I don’t want to mention.
In all, I believe that I have been able to grow to a full fledge tree for people to benefit all because of the training, guidance and the assistance I was given from childhood.
In the light of the questions above, I want to send a strong caution to parents and guardians that the young shall definitely grow; but the billion-dollar question is, “How are they going to grow and what are they growing for?” If we want to see the young grow to be responsible, it will all depend on the training and guidance we give them and if we want it otherwise, … (I don’t even want to talk about it).
Parents and Guardians, I know you are doing all you can. But why do I strongly feel that there are still a lot more to be done? I plead with you to push harder because we (The Youth) have a lot of responsibilities awaiting us; and all these responsibilities we can take over, only when we are nurtured well.
I earlier said this write-up concerned you, didn’t it?
I write this letter as a concerned coach who is greatly concernd about the rate at which new graduates tend to give up easily when they step out into the career world, I’m talking of life after school. Spare me a few minutes of your time to read this letter.
Please be gentle with life. Life is not as stress-free as you perceive it, more especially when you are still being catered for by a relative. As you have completed high school or tertiary, some of you will think you are on top of the world, some, a time for them to gleam. I’ll advise that you stay unruffled with your wigs, nails, cosmetics, hot slacks, auto fiestas, haircuts, color blocking etc. and start being in control of your own life.
Mademoiselle, life is not all about men, relationships and fashion and to the gent, life is not all about social media, girls and relationships.Some of your close relatives may perhaps not be able to support you as when you were in school . The reason being that your education was vital and they gave up all they had for you. They will at this moment leave you to fend for yourself and with this, I have some helpful tips for you.
Stop moving from one place to another without a purpose! Be your own best cheerleader. Take precedence over the inner detractor with a positive and successful inner information flow. Get involved in something positive-you never know who can help you. Prioritize your time so that you strike a balance between having fun and work. If you can also setup a petty trade to serve as an upkeep, do so,for sooner or later, you will earn back and smile.
Include yourself in family businesses,if any. Let domestic errands be your friend. Cling to you packed activities with eloquent effects. Again, start networking through personal introductions, emails and social media such as Instagram and Facebook. Stay open to new associations; you never know where a new contact will lead to. It is important to note that while making new friends, you need to hold onto the old.
Introduce yourself and make yourself useful to your fellows. A good mentor can help you in numerous ways, not only advice but also that important knowledge that may recommend you for a higher degree.
My dear,no risk, no reward! Sometimes, you have to dive in without a net and take a chance on social connections, but be cautious of what you put on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and other social media channels. It can be viewed later on by other managers.
Dare to be different, dare to be yourself. The world is full of ordinary people and only the extraordinary can lead! False humility is immaturity. No one gravitates to weakness, but rather to strength and confidence. Don’t undervalue your capacity, you habitually project on to others, that which you have inside yourself. Be focused and be disciplined. Be alert, stay alert and stay on task. Real change comes from small modifications. If you identify on-spot problems early, you can change and correct to get back on track quickly. Once more,have a plan; a storyline going forward that keeps you on mission.
Keep a diary, make sure that you’re on time for appointments and pay courtesy to that structured word budget. Remember to stay balanced and to incorporate healthy lifestyles such as getting the right foods to eat and getting an adequate amount of workout and siesta. Focusing on life skills prepares you to take your place in a fully developed world. Three essential words are obligation, commitment and responsibility; they form the most important frame work for that adulthood.
In the closing analysis, what you are to be, you are becoming. This is your moment to figure that out. Have fun, stay balanced and enjoy the process. This is your tie to test yourself against your environment. Do it with passion and you will find your aptitude.
If you think I’m making noise, ask those who completed just last year and are still home and they will tell you their experiences. I do hope you find these tips helpful. Until I’m back, make use of these. Adios!
“Yesterday, I went out to hawk in the market and I sold three bags of sachet water. I was happy I sold a lot of sachet water, and I just wanted to go home and eat. I was hungry because I had eaten only in the morning.
When I came back home it was dark already and the father of the family I stay with started asking where I had been- he was shouting. Then he brought out the plates outside for me to wash. I wondered how I would be washing outside. But I think its okay.
My teacher said that, as long as you are living with a family that is not your own, any suffering you go through is not really suffering, but it’s a training. It’s a training on how you should run your own home when the time comes. So all I have to do now is be patient and endure.
But, I wonder why they don’t want to give their own children this same training .”
The School of Life 