rising to your full destiny

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Rising to your

full Destiny



And you were dead inyour trespasses and sins,

2

in which you formerlywalked according to the

course of this world,Ephesians 2:1-2a



according to the prince of the power of the air, of the

spirit that is now workingin the sons of

disobedience.Ephesians 2:2b



But God, being rich inmercy, because of His

great love with whichHe loved us,

Ephesians 2:4



For by grace you havebeen saved through faith;

and that not of yourselves,it is the gift of God; 9 not

as a result of works, so

that no one may boast.Ephesians 2:8-9



For we are Hisworkmanship, created in

Christ Jesus for goodworks, which God

prepared beforehand so

that we would walk in

them. Ephesians 2:10



Before the world began,Before sin entered into the

heart of humanity,B

eforeanything but God existed,

He had a plan that

included you.



Lets look at somescriptures that point to this

truth:



Before King Josiah wasborn God told a specific

act he would do becauseof his love for God.



Now behold, there came aman of God from Judah to

Bethel by the word of theLORD, while Jeroboam

was standing by the altar

to burn incense.

1 Kings 13:1



He cried against the altar by the word of the LORD,

and said, ³O

altar, altar,thus says the LORD,1 Kings 13:2a



µBehold, a son shall be born

to the house of David, Josiah

by name; and on you he shall

sacrifice the priests of thehigh places who burn incense

on you, and human bonesshall be burned on you.¶´

1 Kings 13:2b



God knew Josiah before he

was born. God had a plan for

him and knew that He would

follow that plan.



Listen to what God toldJeremiah about the plan

He had for him.



³B

efore I formed you inthe womb I knew you,

A

nd before you were bornI consecrated you;

I have appointed you a

prophet to the nations.´

Jeremiah 1:5



Isaiah was told aboutGod¶s plan for Mary, the

mother of Jesus,hundreds of years before

she was born.



Therefore the

Lord himself shall give you a sign;

B

ehold, av

irgin shallconceive, and bear a son,

and shall call his name

Immanuel.

Isaiah 7:14



God planned from thefoundation of the world

that Mary¶s son Jesuswould give His life for the

world.



And all that dwell upon theearth shall worship him,

whose names are not

written in the book of life

of the Lamb slain from the

foundation of the world.Revelation 13:8



In exactly the same wayGod knew you and

prepared a destiny for

you.



And we know that Godcauses all things to work

together for good to those

who love God, to those

who are called according

to H is purpose. Romans 8:28



For those whom Heforeknew, He also

predestined to become

conformed to the image of

His Son,Romans 8:29a



So God has a plan for your life. It is as specific

as it was for Josiah,

Jeremiah, Mary and

Jesus.



He has given youeverything you need to

fulfill the dreams He has

for you.



If God is for us, who can be

against us? 32 He who did not

spare his own Son, but gave

him up for us all²how will henot also, along with him,

graciously give us all things?Romans 8:30b



Everything about you, except

that which has been come from

sin, is given so that you will fulfill

the plan He has for you.



EVERYTHING



No circumstance of your life can

keep you from the plan He has

for you«.. In every one of your

circumstances He is working for the good things you and others

need to come to your full

destiny.



And we know that Godcauses all things to work

together for good to those

who love God, to those

who are called according

to H is purpose. Romans 8:28



W

ho will separate us fromthe love of Christ? Will

tribulation, or distress, or

persecution, or famine, or

nakedness, or peril, or

sword?Romans 8:35



Just as it is written,

³FOR YOUR S AKE WE

ARE BEING PUT TO DE ATH

ALL D AY LONG;WE WERE CONSIDERED

AS SHEEP TO BE SLAUGHTERED.´

Romans 8:36



But in all these things we

overwhelmingly conquer

through Him who loved us.

Romans 8:37



For I am convinced that

neither death, nor life, nor

angels, nor principalities, nor

things present, nor things tocome, nor powers,

Romans 8:38



nor height, nor depth, nor any

other created thing, will be

able to separate us from the

love of God, which is in ChristJesus our Lord.

Romans 8:39



This last scripture tells us one

primary aspect of our true

destiny.



God has

destined us tobe loved by

Him.



We read earlier of the second

primary aspect of our destiny.



For those whom He

foreknew, He also

predestined to become

conformed to the image of

His Son,Romans 8:29



We are to become like

Jesus.



The details of our lives are

the stage upon which

these two great destinies

are worked out.



God planned for everyone

who has lived or will ever

live to be loved by Him

and to be made into

someone who reflects the

nature of His Son Jesus.



When we understand this

we also know that nothing

of our true destiny can

happen without a vital

relationship with God.



The beginning of the

fulfillment of God¶s plan

for our lives is when we

accept Jesus as our

Saviour and Lord.



Until He is saviour we do

not have the power of God

in our lives to walk in His

ways.



Until He is Lord of our

lives we will be following

our own path even if we

have His power.



"Therefore let all the

house of Israel know for

certain that God has made

Him both Lord and Christ

(Saviour)--this Jesus

whom you crucified.³

Acts 2:36



Many questions arise

once we have established

that God has a specific

plan for our lives.



Perhaps the most

important one to address

is about God¶s actions in

our lives.



One extreme of theology

says that everything that

happens to us is due to

God¶s direct action.



God never does evil.



Everything He does is out

of His love for his

creatures.



His ultimate purpose is to

redeem as many of those

who were created to bear

His Son¶s image.



And when we love and

follow Him that becomes

our destiny as well.



While He does not do or

cause everything that

happens in our lives,

because of what Jesus

has done, He can redeem

everything no matter how

horrible it is.



But in all these things we


through Him who loved us.

Romans 8:37



God¶s redemption of

fatherlessness.



See again that we


THROUGH JESUS.



We rise to our full destiny

through our chosen

relationship with God the

Father, Son and Holy Spirit.



God will not force us into His

desired destiny. It will only

come by us choosing to love

and follow Him.



It is so important that we

realize that there are at least

three other plans than God¶s.



These three are the Devil¶s

Plan, The World¶s Plan and

Our Own Plan (the flesh)



Because of sin the influence

of the world and your own

desires will be in bondage to

the devil.



All the evil in the world, all the

suffering, pain and sorrow, all

the destroyed lives and all the

lost potential arise from thework of the devil through

humans who follow his planfor them.



In speaking about the devil

Jesus said, "The thief comes

only to steal and kill and

destroy; I came that they mayhave life, and have {it}

abundantly.John 10:10



One of the primary missions

of Jesus was to destroy the

power the devil had over

humanity.



Therefore, since the children

share in flesh and blood, He

Himself likewise also partook

of the same, that throughdeath He might render

powerless him who had thepower of death, that is, the

devil, Hebrews 2:14



Because of what Jesus

did we can live free of the

devil¶s power.



A Forgotten

Secret of risingto our full

destiny.



So many Christians

wonder why their lives do

not seem to reach the

potential they have in

God.



I have taught for years that in

order for God to do what He

desires in our lives we have a

part to play.

OUR P ART ±

GOD¶S P ART



Behind every successful

Christian is a life attitude

that ensures they will find

God¶s perfect destiny for

them.



That act is given a word in

English which today is

seen in a very negative

light. But when we have

this in our lives we will

always find God¶s purpose

and succeed in it.



That word issubmission.



Drawing from a message

preached by D.L. Moody the

hymn writer John Sammis

penned the words:



Trust and Obey

For there¶s no other way

To be happy in Jesus

Than to trust and obey.



This simple truth is the

foundation for our lives asChristians. It is the only path

of God¶s destiny.



Submitting to God is the

only way we will rise to the

fullness of our destiny.



So what does theword submit mean in

relation to God?



The English word reflects

perfectly the Greek meaning.The root words give the

picture of true submission.



SUB = UNDER

MITT = H AND

Submission is to placeourselves under God¶s Hand.



There is perfect provision,

protection and presencewhen we are under God¶s

Mighty Hand.



To go there defeats the major

sin of life ± the pride of life.For to get under His hand we

have to humble ourselves.



Therefore humble

yourselves under the

mighty hand of God,that He may exalt you

at the proper time,1 Peter 5:6



We defeat the enemyand all his plans for

us throughsubmission to God.



Submit therefore toGod. Resist the devil

and he will flee fromyou.

James 4:7



I want you to get the true

picture of submission as it ispainted in the Bible. It is not a

slavish, mindless obedienceto a megalomanic who

demands his every selfishwhim to be done.



Submission is to place

ourselves completely

under the care andguidance of our loving

heavenly Father¶shand.



Under His hand is theonly place of

protection fromourselves, the world

and the devil.



The principal of obedience is

simple. We stay under God¶shand by following what He

teaches us to do. When wedisobey his instruction we go

out from under His hand.There we can be harmed by

the enemy.



As long as we remain under

God¶s hand we are in safetyno matter what happens

externally.



Some things become very

obvious when we understandthis. If we are going to follow

God¶s plan for our lives weneed to know what it is.



We find the clear instruction

of God on every page of Hisbook, the Bible.



This is why historically you

cannot find a successfulChristian who did not have a

commitment to knowing theBible and following its

teaching.



The second major aspect of

knowing God¶s will is prayer.Even if we know what God

wants, we have to spend timewith Him to be empowered to

do His will.



In the beauty of prayer we

find the specifics of our personal destiny being

unveiled.



We see in Elijah¶s life that as

he let the troubles of his lifedrive him to a place of

brokenness and alonenesswith God, his destiny was

revealed.



Then he came there to a

cave and lodged there; andbehold, the word of the LORD

{came} to him, and He said tohim, "What are you doing

here,E

lijah?³ 1 Kings 19:9



He said, "I have been very

zealous for the LORD, the Godof hosts; for the sons of Israel

have forsaken Your covenant,torn down Your altars and killed

Your prophets with the sword.

And I alone am left; and theyseek my life, to take it away."

1 Kings 19:10



The LORD said to him, "Go,

return on your way to thewilderness of Damascus, and

when you have arrived, youshall anoint Hazael king over

Aram;

1 Kings 19:15



and Jehu the son of Nimshi you

shall anoint king over Israel; andElisha the son of Shaphat of

Abel-meholah you shall anointas prophet in your place.

1 Kings 19:15



Elijah found in the place of

prayer what he could not getfrom the scriptures. For us to

find the full destiny for our liveswe must be in the habit of going

to God to listen for His specific

direction for each day.



These three acts in our lives will

lead us to our full destiny.1. Submit ourselves to God¶s will

completely2. Spending daily time with Him

through reading His Word

3. Spending daily time with Himin Prayer



Beyond these foundational

thoughts regarding our destinythere are a few things that have

helped me along the way.



1. Prepare for

your destiny



For us to come to the fullness of

our destiny we must prepare for it. No one will be used by God in

any activity if they do notprepare for it.



Excellence in preparation is our

part of the equation. Whatever we do for God our attitude

should be to present Him our very best, with passion, with full

perseverance and with thankful

hearts.



Whatever you do in word or

deed, {do} all in the name of theLord Jesus, giving thanks

through Him to God theF

ather.Colosians 3:17



2. FOCUS ON WH AT

YOU C AN DO WITH

GO

D¶S POWE

RNOT

ON WH AT YOU

C ANNOT DO.



I found it to be so important for me

to focus on what I could do withGod and not what I could not do.

With God nothing is impossible. It is

not about our ability. But often timesI have gotten captured in a thinking

pattern of ³I can¶t.´



Whatever God wants us to do He

will give us the ability to do. Weface impossibility only to drive us to

Elijah¶s Cave to find what He wants

for us. We must press into God for his power and not focus on our

ability. If God says we can, then

with God we will. If He does not tell

us we can, we have no business

trying.



3. LOVE YOUR

DE

ST

IN

Y



Very early in my life in Jesus I

learned that I needed to love mydestiny. I found that I often

compared myself to others. Almost all of these comparisons

ended up with me feeling my

destiny was not nearly asexciting or important as

someone else¶s.



Then one day God showed me that

for someone my life was asimportant as the apostle Paul¶s

was. I understood that God had

specifically designed me to shareHis life with the world I lived in. I

knew that if I would be faithfully

submitting my life to His will He

would touch my world through me.



He wants us to loveour destiny and not

compare ourselveswith others.



Our destiny is the unique

expression of Jesus lived throughus. It is not the full expression. This

is why we are to be part of a church

body. When we live fully submittedto His will as a church, we are the

full picture.



Your life is uniquelycreated to express

Jesus to your world.



NO ONE

C AN

T AKE YOUR

PLACE.



4. YOURDRE AMS C AN

LE AD YOU TO

GOD¶S DESTINY

N ¶ lif f ll



No one¶s life more fully expresses

this than Joseph. His childhooddreams eventually became his

destiny.

T thi i hi lif h l d



To see this in his life helped me

greatly to understand that God wasnot opposed to me having dreams.

In fact I learned that when I

delighted in Him I could trust thatthe dreams of my heart ± as long

as they were not sinful ± were

being placed there by Him.

D li ht lf i th LORD A d



Delight yourself in the LORD; And

He will give you the desires of your heart.

Psalm 37:4

G d ¶ St



Grandpa¶s Story



5. HELP OTHERS

FULFILL THEIR

DE

ST

IN

Y

S ft thi k h G d



So often we think when God says

no to some desire we have it is theend of the discussion. King David¶s

helped me understand that

sometimes God says no to us togive others a chance to find their

own destiny.

D id h d i t b ild G d



David had a passion to build God a

Temple. God was pleased that heloved him enough to want that but

said no. Instead of giving up his

dream, he spent the rest of his lifepreparing the materials so Solomon

his son could fulfill his destiny to

build it.

6 PLEASING GOD IS



6. PLE ASING GOD IS

TO BE THE HIGHEST

MOT

IV AT

ION

TO

OU

RDESTINY.

The thought provided the greatest



The thought provided the greatest

motivation for me to fulfill my personaldestiny was that I could please God.

We can actually please God. To know

that God was pleased with me hasbrought the greatest delight I have ever

known.

"His master said to him 'Well done



"His master said to him, 'Well done,

good and faithful slave. You werefaithful with a few things, I will put

you in charge of many things; enter

into the joy of your master.µMatthew 25:21

I will never forget the moment I



I will never forget the moment I

came to this. I was watching themovie Chariots of Fire. The Olympic

runner, Eric Liddell, was explaining

to his sister that his running was notin opposition to God. He told her

how he still loved China and the call

God had given him to that nation.

But he told her "I believe God made



But he told her "I believe God made

me for a purpose, but he also mademe fast, and when I run I feel God's

pleasure."

O hi h t



Our highest

motivation is to be

pleasing our heavenly Father. It

was Jesus¶s

"And He who sent Me is with Me;



And He who sent Me is with Me;

He has not left Me alone, for Ialways do the things that are

pleasing to Him.³

John 8:29

Potential Prayer Thoughts:



1. Do you want to pray to accept Jesus as your

Saviour?2. Perhaps you have received Jesus as your

Saviour but your have never allowed him to be

the Lord of your life. Do you want to pray for that

today?

3. Do you want to pray for a deeper relationship

with God?

4. Do you want to pray for a clearer revelation of

God¶s plan for your life?

5. Have you been stirred in your heart today about

something you believe God wants for you and

rising to your full destiny

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