by Mark Ibigbami GreatMark | Feb 16, 2017 | Uncategorized |
There are many people who go around sneaking a disheartening feeling of despair into their daily life for reasons well known to them. The hardship in the land, stiff economy, and fear of the unknown, to mention a few, can be responsible for these frustrations. Some try to hide it but you would see it in their angry faces, unfriendly responses, and unreasonable agitations. Are they really justified?
You can spread hope while others spread fear. You can brighten up the lives of those faced with depression and uncertainties. What a blessing it would be to pass on messages that will enliven and elevate hopes, like the ones you get from reading “Yes we are winning” (YWAW) articles.
You can read our post, tell us your own stories, leave comments, and share to your friends on social media, so that we all being instruments of consolation and peace, can win together. Encouragement (not jokes) is like drop of rain upon a parched desert. So, spread hope and not jokes!
Furthermore, to promote the “Yes we are Winning” vision, join us by registering on our FORUM, and get a copy of the YWAW T-shirts. For further enquiries, call EBEE on +234 703 347 9446. Yes, we are winning!
GreatMark
by Mark Ibigbami GreatMark | Feb 14, 2017 | Uncategorized |
At exactly 11:00 p.m on February 14th, Jake, a handsome and promising man, had his vitals pierced and inflamed, and his destiny shattered by a dart of misplaced passion! It was a night of fun…He did not know it would cost him his life! In the same party was Judith, who was meeting her boyfriend for the first time two weeks after connecting with him on Facebook. Delectable, but naive, she had made up her mind to have a fun-filled valentine’s day, and recount to her friends the experience of her first date. She did had fun, but by the mor
ning of February 15th, she woke up in the midst of five guys…she was never the same again, as her highly priced and inestimable virtue was forcefully taken from her. Oh, how sad! The story of Jake, is like the sad story of a young man, who like one in fetters to be given to a fool, was ensnared by his misdirected lusts (Proverb 7:21-23).
This made me want to examine again the reason behind the celebration of Valentine’s day. During the third century, an oppressive Roman Emperor called Emperor Claudius II had made it a capital punishment (death) to worship and serve Christ. He had decreed the Romans to serve and worship his gods, and deprived the young Roman soldiers of getting married. But an elderly Christian had stood his ground for his faith and had insisted on serving Jesus Christ and preaching the love of God to the young soldiers. This was considered treason against the government. He was arrested, sentenced to death and jailed. In the last weeks of his life in the prison, the jailer (prison commander) who observed that he was very learned and possessed very good Christian character, brought his blind daughter to him for counselling.
He taught her about God and told her many Roman histories and stories from the Bible. He taught her the love of God so much so that the blind girl got so used to him. On his last night, the elderly prisoner left a note for Julia, the blind girl, encouraging her to love God and serve Him. And in ending the note, he wrote: “From your Valentine”. His death sentence was carried out the next day, February 14, 270 A.D. *The name of this martyr was Valentinus*, a man who died for standing for the Preaching of the Christ and teaching people about the love of God. So, for his love for God, he was regarded as ‘Saint’.
Archaeologists have unearthed a Roman catacomb; an ancient church dedicated to Saint Valentine. During 496 AD, the Pope marked February 14 as celebration in honor of his martyrdom. February 14, is known as Valentine Day. But the essence of Valentine Day historically was a celebration in honor of the martyrdom of a devoted preacher, Valentinus, who stood on his faith in Christ against the devilish idolatry decrees of a Godless Emperor. He preached Christ to the Roman soldiers and spread the love for God and humanity when it was a crime to do so.
Sadly, the devil has rewritten history today. All over the world, the history has successfully been erased and the story rewritten the way the devil wanted it. The reason for the DAY has been blotted out from people’s memory and a minor aspect of the whole story had been blown beyond proportion. The little card note Valentinus had left behind for Julia, his young beloved convert, whom he taught, preached to and prayed for, as been mis-construed and replaced with ungodly passion. Today, forces of evil will be out in their large numbers to possess people with the spirit of rape and drug abuse. The amount of pregnancy preventive drugs and materials that shall be sold today is imaginable.
I say unequivocally that the destinies of several young men and girls will be aborted today, because they have believed the lies of the devil, who has rubbed off living and dying for Christ and replaced it with living and dying on the bed of immorality. Today, many young girls and ladies will give their virginity away for a gift of phones, ipads, bags, clothes, and even valueless gifts as little as chocolate, sweet, fried chickens and plates of pepper-soup and salad. By the evening of this year February 14, demons of fornication and adultery will invade our streets and storm our night clubs and hotels to take register of those who are dying soon of STDs, including new candidates who are going to contact HIV and AIDS.
Spread LOVE not LUST! If you share this, you might be able to preserve the destiny of one person! You are winning! Yes, we are winning!
GreatMark
Contributions from Pastor Jubril Yahaya.
by Mark Ibigbami GreatMark | Feb 14, 2017 | Uncategorized |
Friendship is one of the best aspects of life. Thomas Aquinas wrote, “There is nothing on this earth more to be prized than true friendship.” Having said that, certain friends are certainly much better than others. A real friend and fake friend can be hard to distinguish, but they are very different! “True friends are like diamonds — bright, beautiful, valuable, and always in style.” Whereas, fake friends are like shadows: always near you at your brightest moments, but nowhere to be seen at your darkest hour.
Most often, we expect much from those around us, to the point that we make them responsible for our own happiness, health and well-being. And when we fail to get what we expect from them, a wave of anguish floods our soul, and we feel disappointed, disillusioned, or filled with hate. Friends come into our lives for different reasons, and as such, it would do us good to know who our friends are and what position they occuppy in our lives. For a proper distinction, I’ll classify friends into three main categories: Constituents, Comrades, and Confidants
My friends, my constituents:
These are friends who are there for what you are about. They have been attracted to you because you share similar goals. They are only there for the course! They are not there for you but for where you are going. Even though they get into the car with you they are not for you, they are there for the destination. And if they find a faster car, they will leave you because their attraction was your destination, your philosophy, or your course, not you! And you would wonder, ‘So, he or she can leave me?’ Yes, “Some friends do not last…” (Prov.18:24). So, don’t get hurt; some friends are just constituents, not true friends.
My Friends, my Comrades:
Comrades are not for you and they are not for what you are for. They are with you because they are against what you are against. Common enemies make strange bed fellows. If it become necessary to hook up with you, they will because they need your help to kill a common problem and as soon as this is achieved they leave you. Your comrade and constituents will always outnumber your confidants. Don’t get them confused: distinguish your friends.
My Friends, my confidants:
The confidants are the few people in your life that are for and with you. They are intimately intertwined in your life. They are there to make sure you fulfill your destiny. They will confront you. They will get in your face. They will get in your business. They will tell you when you aren’t the one wrong. If you have 2 or 3 of them in a lifetime, you a blessed person. Even though some friends don’t last, yet, you will never be who God called you to be without a confidant. Don’t get it twisted; distinguish your friends and stay above hurt and hate.
“Some friends do not last, but some friends are more loyal than brothers.” Prov. 18:24. Even your confidant can fail you! Many are those who still nurse the hurts created by those whom they thought were truly more ‘loyal than a brother’. ‘No one has shown greater love than to lay down his own life for his friends. That’s the height of friendship! Jesus Christ demonstrated this and calls us his friends.
The theme of Valentine is love. Whilst it reminds some to appreciate and celebrate their love, it provides the atmosphere for some to find new love, and to some others the occasion exposes them to the vices of feigned affections emanating from selfish deportment. This Valentine’s Day will come to pass and some would have wished it never came because they shall be left with hurt and painful resolve owing to vain affections and deceit. However, others would bask in the euphoria of a renewed love and commitment. Gladly, one thing that will continue to remain constant is God’s love! It is everlasting and enduring. It is neither occasional nor conditional. As you celebrate Valentine’s Day, don’t be deceived by fake friends who would only take advantage of the occasion to gratify their selfish desires. Rather, Distinguish your friends and stay above hurt. You are winning! Yes we are winning!
GreatMark
Ref: TD Jakes – Comrades, Confidants and Constituents
by Mark Ibigbami GreatMark | Feb 12, 2017 | Uncategorized |
To all dear readers of ‘Yes we are winning’ (YWAW), it gives me great pleasure to introduce to you all the best recently added FORUM on the site.
The forum is a means of interacting with each and every highly esteemed reader of posts from YWAW.
If you click on Forums from the menu, it takes you to the Forums page.
There are 5 Forum Headings: General, Life Tips, Post Feedback, Questions and Share Your Testimony.
Under each headings, there are topics connected to them and everyone can view this topics, comment on them and even create topics themselves. But in other to do this though, you must be registered.
So how do I register?
It’s simple and free. Below are the steps to register.
1. From the main menu, there is a Register option. Click on it.
2. A page opens containing a form which prompts you to fill in a Username and Email. The username is the name you want to use on the Forum. The email is where a link to set up your password will be sent. Kindly make sure your email is correct.
3. After filling it out, click on “Register”.
4. An email will be sent immediately to the email you chose to use.
5. Open the received mail from YWAW.
6. The received mail contains a list that’d direct you to a page to create a password.
7. Click on the link
8. Now a box appears telling you to write your desired password.
9. Write it on both boxes.
10. Click on create password.
11. And that’s it! You can use the username and password to login to the website. Just visit the main menu and click on Log In.
I hope the directions are clear enough. Feel free to ask me any questions regarding this if you comes across some difficulty along the way.
And yes… We are winning.
by Mark Ibigbami GreatMark | Feb 10, 2017 | Uncategorized |
Few years back, I was going to attend my usual classes as a home tutor. The shuttle buses in the estate plies only two routes, and I had always used one of the routes, the shorter one to my destination. This particular day I got to the bus station pretty late and I was very anxious to meet up my schedule. But sadly, the bus to my route was about departing when I got there. If I had arrived few seconds earlier, I would have been the last passenger on that bus, but I narrowly missed it! It grieved me because it meant I would have to wait for about an hour before another bus gets filled up. Invariably, some persons in the departed bus may have waited for about an hour before it got filled up, while one passenger got in right on time, and it could have been me, I had thought.
In my displeasure, I decided to go through the longer route for the first time. After about 30 mins of waiting, we departed, but to my greatest amazement, by the time I alighted at a bus stop which I suspected was close to my destination, I looked up ahead and discovered the bus I missed just arrived too on the other side. As I walked to the house, God told me these words: ‘You’ve been worried lately that many of your counterparts have been gainfully employed, some already married and well off, and you’re are still struggling to meet up. But just as you arrived to your destination same time as the bus which had gone ahead of you, howbeit you went through a longer and unusual route, you would meet up with and overtake many who have gone ahead of you. So, do not be anxious, you will get there, and I will fulfill your heart desires.”
life is beautiful quotes
These words were to me like a cup of cold water in a desert. That was the end of my worries about why I was struggling to secure a job 3 years after graduation from the university, plus other concerns that had kept me in a frustrated state. After that day, my confidence in God increased, and I learnt to lean on His precious promises. And today, I testify that His words are true and his promises ever Sure!
Interestingly, Nigeria is one hour ahead of Ghana but this difference in time does not make Ghana backward in relation to Nigeria. Neither does this make Ghana less privileged than Nigeria or vice-versa. Both countries are located in their geographical places in time. This is a case of many nations as well, and this is simply due to their position on the earth. Since different parts of Earth enter and exit daylight at different times, we need different time zones, and so we are on different time zones.
This phenomenon of Time zones has a great lesson for us. For instance, someone may still be single at 35 years. Whereas another person may get married at 25 years of age, and yet wait for 10 years before having a child. Also, there may be another who gets married at the age of 35 and have a baby within the first year of marriage. In the same vein, someone may graduate at the age of 22, yet would wait 5 years before securing a good job; and another may graduate at the age of 27 and secured a gainful employment immediately!
We do know of someone who became a CEO at age 25 and died at age 50 , and another person became a CEO at 50 and lived up to 90 years. Yes, everyone has his appointed time and so works based on their Time Zone. The scriptures has it that, ‘There is time for everything under the Sun…Time to live and time to die! (Eccl 3:1-2). People can only have things worked out in their season. So, work in your “time zone.” Obama retires as the President of the United States at age 55 while Donald Trump became the 45th American President at 70. Time and chance happens to all!
Your Colleagues, friends, younger ones may seem to have gone ahead of you in some respect. And of course, some may appear to be behind you. The truth is, you need to run the race of life at your own pace. According to Lailah Gifty Akita, “Do not compete with anyone in the race of life. Compete with yourself.” “Life is like a race between cat and rat. But rat mostly wins because cat runs for food and rat for life. Always remember purpose is more important than need.”-Red Sky. In the same way, God has a different plan for everybody. Time is the difference, and time and chance happens to all.
There is beauty in every age of life. “Anyone who keeps the ability to see beauty in every age of life really never grows old.” -Frank Kafya. Don’t envy or mock anyone! Stay in your lane. Hold on to God’s promises. Be strong, and stay true to yourself. All things do work together for the good of those who love God. You’re not late… you’re very much on time! You Are In Your Time Zone… enjoy the beauty of your age! You’re winning! Yes, we are winning!
GreatMark
