CENTRE PIECE

Hii there,

There are people who have lived life on earth and died leaving a mark for the world to see. There are others who just existed through some miserable years and left no mark for people to remember them. The great difference between the two kinds of people is simple. The first kind discovered who they are, why they were born and where they are going. The other kind never did. The first kind took steps towards their destiny, the second kind never knew their destiny. Perhaps, you are in the first group, this column will help you maintain a steady step towards fulfilling your purpose on earth. And if you are the second kind, don’t be dismayed – you are on the right path. Keep reading and soon, you will discover yourself and you are set for a fulfilled life. If you’re set, lets go.

YOU HAVE A PURPOSE
Our God is a God of purpose. He never does anything by mistake. That is why you are not a mistake, accident, a product of chance but a deliberate creature of God, created in His image and likeness for a particular purpose. Gen 1:26, Eph 2:10 ,Jer 1:5 Before I formed you in the belly, I knew you and before you were born, I sanctified and ordained you as a prophet unto the nations. This means that you existed in God even before your father met your mother and you were born for a particular purpose or assignment. Have you discovered that purpose? It is your purpose that will define your assignment on earth. A man who has not discovered his purpose for living is like a car on a journey without direction. It is your purpose that will give you direction in life.

The core purpose of YIFA is to help every African Youth discover his/her purpose and use it to impact on his generation in any area God has either endowed or called him/her. The purpose of a product is determined by the maker. It is our maker, God that determines our purpose/assignment on earth before He makes us and has given us our operational manual (The Bible). For us to discover our purpose and fulfill it, we have to go back to that manual. The manual (Bible) is God Himself John 1:1 and John 5:17. God can show us our assignment through many ways, either directly or indirectly. He could call us by showing us from His word, by speaking directly to us like He spoke to Jeremiah in Jer 1:5, by our self discovery of what He has put in us. In whichever way He shows us, what determines our success is the passion we have for the assignment and the passion with which we pursue it.

In YIFA, it is our desire that you first discover your purpose/calling/assignment, and then begin to apply it to help others fulfill theirs. The more you use what God has put in you, the more God multiplies that thing and multiplies you. Look at the parable of the talents in Mat 25: 14-28. The people who traded with their talent not only made profit but they were also rewarded with many things but the servant who refused to use his own and hid it was called wicked and punished. That thing that God has given or put inside of you or called you to do is your own talent and ought to be traded for profit. It is your meal ticket as well as your visa to impact the world. What are you doing with your calling/assignment/gifts/talent? YIFA has been created to help you trade your gifts/talents and callings by using them to impact your generation and as you do, you are blessed with many things.

You can discover your talent today, but before you do, you need to know the giver of the talent, so he can show you who you are, where you are coming from, why you are here on earth and where you are going (your destiny). Eph 2:10 tells us that God had to recreate us in Jesus for us to have the capacity to carry our good works (our purpose), which we cannot do in our original sinful state. Recreation means to create again John 3: 3-5. Also 2 Cor 5:17 tells us that if any man is in Christ Jesus, he is a new creature, old things are passed away and all things become new. To be created in Christ Jesus thus becomes the only avenue through which we can discover our real destination in life (real reason for living). When you are recreated in Christ, you become like Him and you now have the nature of God instead of your sinful nature under which you were born. You become a member of God’s family, a father-child relationship with God is established and God will begin to show you things by His Spirit. 1 Cor 2: 9-11.

But how do I become recreated in Christ Jesus? Romans 10: 8-11 tells us that when you believe in your heart by faith that Jesus died to save/deliver or redeem you and you confess it with your mouth, you will be saved. This is called the new birth. You will become a new creature and receive the nature of God. If you are ready to do this, pray the prayer underneath with all your heart and then, contact us through our e-mail for further advise on what next to do.

FATHER, I COME TO YOU THE WAY I AM, A SINNER. I CONFESS ALL MY SINS TO YOU GOD AND I AM SORRY ABOUT THEM. I REPENT OF THESE SINS AND I ACCEPT JESUS INTO MY HEART TO SAVE ME FROM THESE SINS. JESUS, I BELIEVE THAT YOU DIED FOR ME AND ON THE THIRD DAY, YOU ROSE AGAIN SO THAT I CAN HAVE LIFE IN GOD. COME AND BE MY LORD AND MY SAVIOUR. COME AND HELP ME DISCOVER MY PURPOSE ON EARTH. AMEN.

THE LIGHT WE NEED

In Gen 1: 1-4, the bible says “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good;”

The above scripture almost captures the situation of our dear continent- Africa at the moment; “without form (unorganized, lack of focus, confusion, crises), and void (hopelessness, unemployment, hunger and poverty, sickness and diseases); and darkness (satanic operation, wickedness in high and low places, sin and immorality, shading of innocent blood, curses etc) was on the face of the deep”

When God saw this situation, He didn’t fold His arms to watch but took a vital step by sending the WORD into the situation and the Holy Ghost who was already hovering over the darkness and confusion and hopelessness, created light. When the light shone, God saw that it was good. It does not matter the intensity of the darkness, it takes light to deal with it.

If we must liberate Africa and move it forward, we must also use the strategy God used in the beginning and is still using to bring about a change. When light comes, even things that were ugly become beautiful, darkness, hopelessness, and formlessness disappear. Plm 119:105 says “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path”

Light is defined in the dictionary as the brightness that lets us see things so that we may not stumble or fall. If the word of God is equated with light, then the word is the brightness that lets us see so that we do not stumble or fall. It helps us see our surroundings, where we are going and the direction to go.

If the light is what is needed to make things beautiful, to show the way and direct us through life, then light is the tool needed to bring Africa out of darkness, make it beautiful and set it on a direction of development. In Is 60: 1-3, the bible says that what we need to arise is light. When light comes, we will arise, (move forward, make progress or advance) and begin to shine (come out of obscurity or darkness, begin to make impact). It said that darkness shall cover the earth, gross darkness but as our light shines in that darkness, the gentiles shall come to the brightness of our rising.

The bible tells us in 1 Jh 1:5 that God is light and there is no darkness in Him. This means that darkness is the opposite of light. If God is light, then the devil is darkness. Other words for light are knowledge, information, wisdom, enlightenment etc while darkness is represented by ignorance, foolishness. Hosea 4: 6 says my people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.  This scripture shows that many people in blessed Africa are perishing largely because of ignorance. So, to address the problems of Africa, we have to address ignorance by shining the light into the darkness. This is what YIFA is set to accomplish by the grace of God. If you will like to join in this vanguard, you can reach us at our e-mail: yifa13@gmail.com.