New Status

A NEW STATUS

You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins
(Colossians 2:13 NLT)

It is no longer news that the world is now one large community. With the increase in social media platforms, human beings can interact real time with each other across continents. What really makes this platform interesting is the fact that one can share their thoughts and feelings publicly for all to view by simply updating one’s status. Your status at that particular time tells us what's going on in your mind.

Spiritually, you and I have a status. The scripture above states that we were at some point dead because of the sinful nature that was passed on from Adam and only through Christ did we have access to life. Unlike the status update one can have on social platforms, man can only have one of two statuses. Either dead or alive. It is unfortunate that your status slot cannot be kept blank. You either update consciously or it is updated for you in Adam.

As long as man continues to live in denial of what Christ achieved for us on the cross, he continues with a ‘dead status’ and this entails enmity with God. Adam disobeyed and immediately his status was updated and God could no longer have fellowship with him. The very first thing that salvation offers us is an automatic change of status. That is, we pass on from death to life. The old dead man is done away with and you become a new creature that is completely righteous and ready for a fulfilling relationship with God. How beautiful! Every morning you see people in a hurry rushing to different destinations; school, work, etc but in the spirit every person is treading on either path, life or death. Think of that.

Salvation changes your status and makes you worthy to offer acceptable sacrifice to God. This you wouldn't do in your old status. With this new status you can approach God confidently without fear of being slain as it where in the old covenant. The life of Christ has made you alive and it is only the living that can hear and see what God is saying. Thus, the fact that you have had a change of status, I beseech you to live for Him that made you alive and worthy of fellowship with God. Let your daily lives be surrendered to Him.

GOD'S HEIR

“His father said to him, ‘Look, dear son, you have always stayed by me, and everything I have is yours.’

  (Luke 15:31 NLT)

Imagine your biological father was on the top five of the world’s richest men? He had all things to the extent that he would go everywhere at anytime he wanted. He would buy the world’s most expensive jet or house or just whatever you could think of. For once, picture  yourself having such a father. What if from nowhere your wealthy father said the only way you could enjoy his wealth was only if you worked for him in the house or the garden or maybe as a gate man. Would that really make your father-child relationship any better than a servant-master?

Unfortunately many think for them to access God’s blessings they have to work. That there is just no way they could access the blessings minus doing something. Remember that after you accepted Christ you became a member of the household of God. He adopted you as His son or daughter. Thus, you have automatically become a partaker of all that He owns and to the best of my knowledge He owns it all. The above reference makes us understand that now that we are His, all that He has has become ours by inheritance. I have never head anywhere that a son or daughter had to work for the father to release their inheritance. Think of the greatest blessing that God has ever released on man, salvation. None of us knew we needed someone to die for us but out of love God freely gave His Son for our sins. If Christ died for free, what is more expensive than His blameless blood that will require you to work for before God could release it?

The fact that you have accepted His work at the cross makes you a child of the wealthiest Father of all time and scriptures states that a good father leaves an inheritance for his children's children. You are rich because of your relationship with Him and this inheritance is accessible only by asking. Remember, the prodigal son? He understood that with his father he had an inheritance and so all that he had to do was to open his month and ask. Don't bound yourself thinking the only time God will release His inheritance for you is when you work. You might waste.

MEDITATE
Now you are no longer a slave but God’s own child.  And since you are his child, God has made you his heir.

(Galatians 4:7 NLT)

ESTABLISH YOUR FUTURE WHILE YOU ARE STILL A YOUTH

It is common knowledge to state that the future is tomorrow and when we get to tomorrow the future is extended yet again. With this in mind, a lot of young people have been programmed to believe that they can only be useful when the future comes but where is the future if not today? I have come to understand that a man's future is not something that is new. Tomorrow should not be new to any man because it is simply a reflection of his previous day. 

whatever we do today ultimately reflects tomorrow that is why as a young person, your future can never be brighter than your investment today. It is usually told that we are leaders of tomorrow how wrong that is. If a man can not lead himself today, he should not expect to lead others tomorrow. i am so much against the fact that many young people think that the youth age is the time for them to play and have the fun that one can ever get. As a young person, you have no better time than now to establish your future. Instead of talking about tomorrow why not start now? That is why most young people will get to the so called tomorrow and they won't have anything. 

Let me say that your tomorrow can never be any better than what you do today. In the words of the preacher in Ecclesiastes 1:9-11, he talks about the fact that there is absolutely nothing under the sun that is new. That includes your future. There is no man that has a future that should amaze him because the future is simply an offspring his now. So, with the future in mind, start investing your now diligently and passionately. You are still young and you have all the life, passion and desire in you. Why waste it in the bar and sleeping all around. 

How can I invest?

well, the first question should actually be, "What can i invest for my future to be established?" Number, your time. 

Everyone of us has 24 hours each day but we certainly do not use it the same way. However, two things lie in common when we think critically about it. We either spend the 24 hours or we invest. A man intending to do business with a particular amount of money as his capital can choose to either spend it or invest it as his primary intention, so it is with time. just anyone can choose to spend or invest HIS 24 hours. Wow! Did you see that? His 24 hours. Meaning each day you have a total of 24 hours in your life account. Quiet a benefit right? Like a child in a faraway place receiving a monthly allowance from the parent has a choice to spend or invest all that he has received. Now, if he chooses to spend, very soon he will beg, go hungry and might end up stealing. 

INVESTING OR SPENDING (GIFT VICTOR KAFUNDA)

You have a life account that is loaded with time. The greatest resource you can invest as a young man or woman is your time. At the end of each day have dividends from the 24 hours you had.

the second thing you will have to invest is your money. In as much as life is meant to be enjoyed, you must understand that you will have to save up your resources for future use. Not all that you earn is to be chewed. remember, God gives bread to the eater and seed to the sower. So, your earnings consists of both bread and seed. Bread to eat and seed to invest. The last thing I will mention is that you will have to invest in relationships. Yes, relationships. You live among people and you perfectly know that relationships are what keep the society advancing. You need to invest in people around you. by this I mean be good, give, help and lift others.

For now, I leave you with these thoughts. Best regards 

LIFE IS A SCHOOL

At the end of each academic program, students all across the nations of the world seat for exams. It is a known fact that before one progresses to the next class, they must seat to write an exam. From experience, I have come to notice that this is one of the periods in life were individuals get to gather some seriousness simply because they don't want to fail. They sleep late and wake up early. All in a bid to do well in the exam. I remember during my school days how that we would spend sleepless nights. Read from evening till morning with few or no break intervals at all. All this was done because we don't want to fail. In school if you will not embrace diligence then you cannot enjoy distinction. That has always been the talk.
Think of life as a school. Everyday you see the sun, you are welcomed into a class. The funny thing about this school is that it has everyday tests and to worsen matters, they have no timetable. Not only that, they are quiet a lot of courses you have to seat for in the school of life. This actually means that there will be those that fail and those that make it in life then. Not so? I know that quiet a number of people are aware of this truth but a lot are still failing. It is one thing to be a student and another to be one with excellence. It all comes down to choice. You choose whether you want to succeed or nor. I always say, "You don't succeed by chance. You don't fail by chance." There is always what one must do to get what they desire. I remember I said to some students that any man that will say I slept on Monday and woke up on Tuesday a successful man is a liar. True success is a product of diligence and persistence that comes in the process of time. You and I are in the school of life and we both decide by ourselves the grades we end up with. Diligence is the only way out of the low grades in life. You can't sign up for diligence, then you simply say no to distinction in the school of life.
Funny is the fact that there is no way you will carry to the stage a failed course. You get an F, you have to re-take it. My advise is that be a diligent student. I don't believe there is anything too hard in life but it is simply because we know less to overcome the circumstances of life. A student in the university does not fail because the exam was tough but simply because he knows little to scale through. Just like we spend sleepless nights reading for some academic engagement, lets also take time to study for life. You can never do well in a course you know less. Life is a school that requires diligence and focus.

LIFE IS NOW

Life is in the NOW and never in the past or the future. The pains and memories of yesterday are a blindfold to the goodness and pleasures of NOW. Worry over tomorrow is a robber of your sense of responsibility in the NOW. Your past is only a teacher that gave you experience on how to go about your life in the NOW. However, your NOW has its origin from yesterday. So, learn from yesterday. Tomorrow is the baby of NOW. A NOW well trained by yesterday will give birth to a better tomorrow.
Wisdom therefore says, embrace NOW, learn from past and run after tomorrow.

You have a future that is obviously bright and enviable. A tomorrow that even nations await in great anticipation of. However, you have a great and inescapable responsibility to the NOW. If you will by any chance smell the aroma of your future then you must tirelessly respond to the cry of the NOW for a future not conceived in the NOW can not be delivered tomorrow. Respond to NOW's call as she tireless cries out to you. Beloved, overlook her not. There is future without her as whatever shall be begins in the NOW. On the other end, your past may affect your today but of course it has passed away never to come around again. As you learn from it ensure are not dragged down by its loud noise of distraction and discouragement. NOW is brighter than the dark coloured and failure filled past. Let it pass away. Embrace NOW!

INVESTING OR SPENDING

I have tried to consider a man's lifetime on the earth with relation to a day. Everyone of us has 24 hours each day but we certainly do not use it the same way. However, two things lie in common when we think critically about it. We either spend the 24 hours or we invest. A man intending to do business with a particular amount of money as his capital can choose to either spend it or invest it as his primary intention, so it is with time. just anyone can choose to spend or invest HIS 24 hours. Wow! Did you see that? His 24 hours. Meaning each day you have a total of 24 hours in your life account. Quiet a benefit right? Like a child in a faraway place receiving a monthly allowance from the parent has a choice to spend or invest all that he has received. Now, if he chooses to spend, very soon he will beg, go hungry and might end up stealing. 

Wait a minute! What is spending and investing?

Investment is time, energy, or matter spent in the hope of future benefits actualized within a specified date or time frame.

Source: Wikipedia

Spending can be seen as paying money without realizing any benefit.

I think that makes it all clear now. 

Ok, now that each day you have 24 hours, what next? the poor man's day starts at the same time as that of the richest man you believe that? 12:00 am the day starts and it equally ends at 11:59 pm for both of them. But why is it that one is poor and the other has it all. An African will tell you that the poor man is under a spell.

Imagine yourself trying to withdraw hundreds of thousands of dollars from your account when all you have is less than a thousand. Insanity! But a lot are on this road, trying to get out of life what they did not put in. Out of the 24 hours they are trusted with, 16 hours spent on pleasure and leisure, the rest 8 is for sleep. So, tell me, what do you expect for such a person?

The man that is poor was not born poor but he 'became poor' and the one who is rich 'became rich'. 

Dear reader, there is nothing like born with a particular status but we purposefully walk into the status we find ourselves though the choice might be consciously or unconsciously. Fredrick K.C Price said "If you fail it's your fault, if you succeed it is your fault". I believe that with all my life. With that I have come to understand that there is no excuse for failure. Nothing in life should make you to say because of that I could not make it when you have not first considered you input.

Beloved, know for sure that you will certainly find yourself somewhere and I want you to know that at least 75% is as a result of how you use your daily 24 hour allocation. Understand that what you do each day accumulates into what will make your lifetime on the earth. There is no other parameter of measuring your lifetime than how you spend your days. Choose to sleep all day and allow your tomorrow to slip through your hands.

The Bible says they that sleep sleep in the night and one other day in my sleep I had an encounter were it was revealed to me that they that fight fight during the day. How interesting. At the time of your sleeping, will it be said of you, "He fought a good fight". Don't spend your fighting days rather invest them. It is you that will make your life count tomorrow by what you are doing. 

In this first part of this topic I will end here \. I know that you have got or two things that will to your life and future.

Be blessed forever! Much love.

THE AFRICAN YOUTH

                                                  

I recently came across an article in one of the online magazine talking about slavery and Africa. Quiet alarming is the content of the article. To summarize the whole message, the writer said black people are still under slavery because of our IGNORANCE, SELFISHNESS and GREED? Do you agree? Would you support such claims that a continent like Africa can be under slavery at this time of global civilization?

I don't want to assume you have an opinion but I certainly have something to say concerning where the African continent is and what should be done. But are we ignorant?

There is a set of people that have a great responsibility as regards to the development of this continent. An entire continent lies in their hands and their efforts. For quiet a while, I have tried to think where Africa is going with the current leadership in our various nations. Scary, to say the least. But why is it so?

There is a very interesting statement in proverbs of Solomon that says "Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it". I have usually asked this question whenever this proverb is brought up, " Most African leaders are well advanced in age and they have lived most parts of their lives in corrupt environments. So, what makes you think that because they are put in office they will change overnight?"  I think this is were we are missing it. These men and women we call our leaders have lived corrupt lives from I don't know when. Departing from it will therefore be another heavy task for them. Honestly, I appreciate the fact that people consider so much political theories to help solve most of the noise in most African states but I firmly stand to say it has left that realm. The realm of so and so propounded that 'this and that'. I see us not going anywhere that way. Ok, do I have anything to say?
Yes! The African youth is what I call it. That's what I have to say. The African youth has so much opportunity today more than ever before to assume leadership roles. With the current spread of the gospel, the youth have a greater opportunity to assess life applicable training for sustainable leadership. Books for personal development are everywhere but the question is "Are they developing?"
Like the article I talked about in the opening paragraph, I will honestly tell you a big NO! An African youth has come to terms with the American style of living and sees no importance in personal development. They would rather spend their time than invest it in anything of value. The music, clothing and the rides of the American stars have taken the attention of an average African youth. The latest design on the market is the average youth's concern and anything linking them to life training is a waste of time and resources. It's so disturbing when I see how much potential is wasting away just in the name of following the current trend. Oh, the African youth has lost his identity.
The least I can say is that our continent might continue in this state if this group will not rise up to take responsibility and assume it's position. We have waited for decades to see change. Have we seen it? Continuous degradation in the African society. Poverty deepening to the best of a child's knowledge. So painful to say. If only the African youth will open her eyes to behold a little light. The truth? I am pained. 
I have colleagues that would rather buy clothes, shoes rather than buy a $1 book. One of them plainly put it to my face that she is not interested in reading all these books. No time for such makes us useless where we are suppose to take the stage. 
All in all, it's Africa's times and whoever chooses to take the stage must brace up and take responsibility.
Hope you have had a happy reading. I want to hear from you too.