Destiny will not be Denied but Destiny can be Missed.
Jesus tells the story of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15:11-31. The destiny of the son was assured as long as he stayed close to his father. The son’s destiny was to inherit the estate. Until that time, with his father and family, his role was to maintain progress and prosper the estate. He could not do any of those things while away from his father.
Believers are called “heirs & co heirs with Christ” so we are guaranteed an inheritance;
Rom. 8:16-17: "The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs -- heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together." The Bible teaches we will inherit the following;
1. All Things (The Universe) Heb. 1:2, Rom. 8:32 Eph. 3:9 Heb. 1:3 Thus, with Christ, the saints inherit the universe.
2. The World Rom. 4:13: Gal. 3:16 Gal. 3:29 Gen. 22:17: 1 Cor. 15:22 John 3:16 1 Cor. 6:2
3. The Kingdom of God 1 Cor. 15:50,53 Rom. 2:5-7
4. Eternal Life 1 Tim. 1:17Rom. 16:26 Eph. 3:11 Titus 3:5-7 Heb. 7:16 Luke 20:36 Phil. 3:21
5. Salvation Rom. 8:2 Heb. 1:14
6. The Promises Gal. 3:29 Heb. 6:12 1 Cor. 1:20 Eph. 1:13 Heb. 9:15
Until the time comes when we will inherit all that our Father has promised in this life and in the eternal life to come, our role with the Father and family of God, as co-workers and partners is to maintain progress and prosper the estate. Our Heavenly Father’s estate is all that he is the Head over. (1Cor 11:3, Eph 5:23, Col 1:8) God, of course is the Head over all things from the environment to the economy, from the natural to the spiritual realms (Eph 1:22 Col 2:10). We clearly cannot maintain progress and prosper everything in the Father’s estate. Therefore, we must seek to maintain progress and prosper those things the Father has given us charge over such as;
1. His Church; It’s all about devotion to the people next to you. (Acts 2:42, Rom 12:10, 1Cor 16:15, 2Cor 7:12)
2. Our family; Loving and serving one another. How we train our children will affect them and their children. (Eph 6:1-6, Col 3:19-21)
3. Our Health; Fit to serve is not just to do with the soul. 1 Cor 6:19-20 1 Cor 3:16-17 Lev 11:1-47 Gen 1:27 1 Cor 10:31
4. Our Community; we are here to pray and preach.(1Tim 1:1-6 Matt 28:19-20, 2Pet 3:9, 1Cor 1:17)
Destiny is All about Progressing and Prospering
The Church’s destiny is to grow. When Jesus said; “I will build my Church” Matt 16:18, He promised that the Church we are a part of would not stay the same, from its beginning the Church has been on the road of progressing and prospering. The reason why many churches are not Progressing and Prospering is because they are living today in their heritage and not form their inheritance; they glory in the past and neglect what the Lord has already given to them in the present to help his church progress and prosper.
Jesus has given us instructions about Love and Unity among believers as a key to church growth. (John 13:34 17:23)
Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to help us build His Church. (Acts 1:8)
Jesus put in place gift ministries to equip His people to build His Church. (Eph 4:10-12)
No Destiny without Maintenance
Unfortunately some churches are in a maintenance program of keeping things the same, in the hope of keeping their church going. If there is no vision a church and Christians will not progress or prosper, they will perish spiritually and materially. (Proverbs 29:18)
Unfortunately many Christians want to progress and prosper without maintenance, like the Prodigal they say; ‘give me my inheritance now.’ However, because they have not maintained their spiritual life they have not progressed in spiritual maturity and eventually end up messed up.
Progressing is about growing in excellence not thinking this is the way we have always done it and this is the way we will always do it. Progressing is being equipped for works of service by doing the training, reading the book, listening to the speaker. (Eph 4:10-12)
Prospering is not all about money. Jesus calls us to “seek first his Kingdom and righteousness” and not to worry about all the other stuff. When people’s lives are consumed and driven to get stuff and more stuff they themselves are stuffed. Because their concern is not His Kingdom and righteousness, its simply more stuff.
Materially Prosperous people are not always happy people because all is not well with their soul. They may have gained the whole world but lost their soul. God and his Kingdom and righteous must come first and he will take care of all the other stuff.
( Acts 5:1-11 Luke 12:33 Matt 6:33 Heb 13:5 5 1 Tim 6:8-11 Proverbs 30:8,9 Ps 62:10. Prov 11:28 Prov 23:5 Matt 19:23,24 2 Cor 9:11 Luke 6:24 James 5:1; 14 1 Tim 6:18 Rev 3:17 1 Tim 6:5 Rom 8:37 James 2:5 Heb 13:5 1 Tim 6:9 Matt 6:33)
There is a need for the spiritual maintenance of the church and our Christian life. The consistent Pastoral Care of the saints, ministry to children, ministry to youth, devotion to prayer, commitment to excellence in worship and the word of God, to mention a few, are absolutely essential to the life of a local church. A local church or believer cannot live on the high or wait until the high of the next big profile events or speaker. The consistent commitment to God’s call is vital to a progressive and prosperous spiritual journey. (Acts 2:42, 6:2-4)
Destiny is Missed because of Distractions
Destiny Distracters are not necessarily immoral attractions, they do not necessarily manifest as sinful actions. (Heb 12:1) Destiny Distractions are normally mental attitudes that lead us away from what God has designed us to do. They are “spiritual strongholds” patterns of thinking about yourself that suggest you are not good enough or you’r too good also patterns of thinking about others that suggest they dislike you and they are opposed to you and even patterns of thinking about God suggesting He does not care about or love you. (2Cor 10:1-5)
I want to make you aware of four Destiny Distractions that distract us from our destiny;
1. The ‘Greener Grass’ Distraction. Lot looked over the land and went for the greener grass. Lots wife looked back at life in Sodom because it seemed and felt better. The Children of Israel looked at other nations and said “we want to be like them Give us a king to rule over us.” (Gen 13:9-11, 19:25-27 1Sam 12) The outcome for all was they didn’t progress and prosper. It does not matter how greener, fantastic, wonderful, appealing, excellent it is on the other side of the fence; if it’s not your destiny, the place you are called to be or the thing you are called to do, its all simply a distraction heading for disaster.
2. The ‘Wannabe’ Distraction. The Seven sons of Sceva, (Acts 19:14-16) were bit like the Spice Girls who sang “A Wannabe.” The Seven Sons wanted to be what they could not be. They could not be what they wanted to be because they were not designed to be Paul or Jesus. This story suggests that if you are doing what you are meant to be doing then even the Demons know they can’t stand in the way of your destiny. Don’t waste you life wanting to be Bill Graham or copying another big profile speaker. Don’t wreck you life wanting to be someone else’s husband or wife. There are “has-beens” “wannabes” in all walks of life, the truth is, they’ll always be a wannabe and talk about what has been and never really do what they have been designed to do. We must seek to be what we can be and do what we can do according to God’s design.
3. The ‘My wee World’ Distraction. The Children of Israel who were freed from slavery wanted to go back to Egypt because it was comfortable. The people of God lived in comfortable homes while the House of God fell into wreck and ruin. The Prodigal Son’s brother got angry because he stuck to the routine and never got a feast. (Num 14:1-4, Hag 1, Luke 15) For so many people, life is about “my wee house, my wee wife, my wee job, my wee holiday, my wee church” and it’s all too small for their Big God to fit into. The degree of God’s involvement in our lives is only as big as our capacity to contain Him. If you think and believe small then you’ll have little. Eph 3:20Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.
4. The ‘I am just’ Distraction. The Prodigal Son didn’t feel good enough to go back to the destiny his Father had planned. Gideon didn’t feel good enough for what God was calling him to do. When you are doing what you are designed to do, because you don’t feel good enough you are suggesting God made a mistake! Forget self imposed false humility and be what you are meant to be. (Luke 15, Judges 6:11-16)
Decide to go for your Destiny
If you have been distracted from your destiny, the solution is simple, come to your senses and come back to your heavenly Father, and you may be surprised to find your destiny has not been denied you, its been waiting for you to decide ‘I’m going for it now.’
