It’s New Years Eve. Another year is almost over. As the clock strikes midnight this evening we will be in 2018.
Our preaching theme for 2017, has been Discover your destiny, discovering our destiny. This morning will be the last sermon in the series and I want to ask you a few questions:
Have you discovered your destiny?
If you are still struggling to discover your destiny have you been looking in the right place?
When thinking about your destiny what kind of questions have you asked?
Do you ask “What do I want to be?” or “What does God want me to be?”
Do you ask “What should I do with my life?” or “What does God want me to do with my life?
Do you ask “What are my hopes, my goals, my ambitions, my dreams for my future?” or “What is God’s will, God’s purpose, God’s plans, God’s destiny for my future?”
Your destiny, my destiny, starts with God’s will and purpose for our lives. It’s not about what I want my destiny to be. It’s not about what you want your destiny to be. It’s all about seeking the destiny God has planned for us.
God’s will is the starting point, the middle, the end and everything in-between.
Remember Jeremiah 29:11-13, For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. In those days when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me.”
Your destiny, my destiny, is not based on what we might plan or desire, it is based on God’s plan for us. The only way we can fully discover God’s plan for us, God’s destiny for us, is for us to willingly submit our lives to Him, to His control.
We live in a self-centred world, popular opinion would say each of us can control our own destiny, and yes God has given each of us free will, and yes we can make choices, make mistakes... We can choose to follow a path of personal fulfilment, personal happiness, but God’s purpose for your life and mine is far bigger than our self-fulfilment or happiness.
If you want to know why you are here you need to begin with God, you were created for His plan, His purpose, His destiny for you. God’s purpose, is bigger than our wants or desires, it’s bigger than family, friends, ambitions, careers, or dreams.
Without God, we have no purpose, without God life is meaningless, with God there is purpose, there is meaning, there is an eternal destiny. Job 12:10, “For the life of every living thing is in His hand, and the breath of every human being.”
You and I are in God’s hand, we are in His care, we discover our destiny by being in relationship with Him. It is not fate, or chance, or luck, or coincidence, or evolution that gives you breath. You are alive because God created you.
Psalm 139:13-16, You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it. You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.
Every detail, every tiny part of your DNA was encoded by God - the colour of your skin, the colour of your eyes, the natural colour of your hair, every feature designed by God. God determined your natural talents, even the uniqueness of your personality.
Before you were born, God ordained a destiny for you. God made you for a reason, He decided when you would be born and how long you will live. God designed you to be in relationship with Him. God says He has a plan for you, you are special, you are precious, you are loved.
With God your life has purpose and significance. With God your life has value and worth. With God your destiny is secure and certain. Listen to the words of Isaiah 44:6-8, This is what the Lord says—Israel’s King and Redeemer, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies: “I am the First and the Last; there is no other God. Who is like me? Let him step forward and prove to you his power. Let him do as I have done since ancient times when I established a people and explained its future. Do not tremble; do not be afraid.Did I not proclaim my purposes for you long ago? You are my witnesses—is there any other God? No! There is no other Rock—not one!”
Do not tremble; do not be afraid.
Maybe in your life right now there is something that is causing you to be afraid, maybe it’s a problem, a situation or a circumstance in your family or a friends life that is causing you to be fearful. Do not tremble; do not be afraid.
Fear of something can damage us more than the actual thing itself. Fear can reduce our expectations, fear can keep us from pursuing opportunities, fear can stop us discovering the destiny God has for us. Instead of stepping out in faith, fear can cause us to play it safe, to avoid risks, to keep us focussed on what is, instead of what can be.
Fear can become a prison that stops us from becoming the people God has called us to be.
On the back of this weeks church newsletter is a note from one of our church members, a word given by God to our Intercessors prayer group, let me read it to you: "The following word was given while the Intercessors Prayer Group were praying on 24/11/17, the subject being our nation and young people. We thought it important enough to pass on to you. Wear your Armour of God, for I call you my children to take part in the mighty battle. It will be won by the overcomers. I cannot be defeated. The enemy is trying every ploy he can, he knows he is defeated, I am the overcomer, I am the great I am. I created the Earth, I created Heaven and Earth and all that is in it. I created the sun, moon and stars. I have flung stars into space, made the sky beautiful, and my earth is filled with all the beauty of my creation. The evil one is trying to destroy every good and beautiful thing, but he will not succeed. I call my praying children now, to bend the knee, to pray and battle every situation. Whether praying singularly or in groups, each are important. Pray for the church, that it will no longer sleep-walk, but will repent and lift up holy hands, and so I call you my beloved not to be afraid, but be strong in me, your Heavenly Father, who will instruct you, guide and empower you. Do not be afraid for I am sufficient."
Do not tremble; do not be afraid, do not allow the evil one to stop you from discovering your destiny.
Put on the armour of God and pray. Stand firm with the weapons of faith and God’s love.
Do not tremble; do not be afraid. Listen to these words of encouragement from 1 John chapter 4,
You belong to God, my dear children, you have already won a victory...
because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world...
we belong to God...
God showed how much He loved us by sending His one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through Him. This is real love—not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins...
God has given us His Spirit as proof that we live in Him and He in us...
All who declare that Jesus is the Son of God have God living in them, and they live in God.
We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love...
God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them.
And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face him with confidence because we live like Jesus here in this world...
Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love.
Do not tremble; do not be afraid, God is with you, God loves you, God has a plan for you, God has a destiny for you.
Don’t ignore God’s purpose for your life.
There is a preacher who at then end of one of his sermons, asked people to come forward if they were willing to enter into full time service for God. A number of people stood up from their chairs and walked to the front of the room. Among them was a man in his 70’s. As the man walked to the front he began to weep, tears rolled down his face as he stood before the preacher. The preacher asked the man why was he was crying so much. The old man said “I wish I had responded to God’s call when I was younger, I’m worried I have left serving Him too late”.
Friends, may we never make the same mistake, don’t put off your destiny, don’t let fear, or situation, or circumstance, put you off serving your Lord.
Today is the last day of 2017, we can live as if today is the last day of the year, or we can live as people who are ready to embrace the new year that God has given us.
Isaiah 43:18-19 says “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.”
Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. Instead of living in the past, we need to live with an eager expectation of what God will do in each of our lives in this coming year.
The old has gone, 2018 will be a new year, a new opportunity for each and every one of us to experience a fresh move of God in our lives.
As we come to our time of prayer for healing and wholeness, maybe you feel that your life has no real significance,
maybe you lack purpose, maybe you are struggling with something from your past, maybe you are hindered by fear or doubt, maybe you are ready to discover your destiny in Christ...
This morning God can, with just a single word, bring change into your life. Will you ask Him to help you understand your purpose, to cast out fear, to move on from your past and embrace the plans and purpose He has for you?
God wants you to move forward.
God wants you to grow closer to Him.
God wants you to grow in your faith and spiritual maturity.
God wants you to stop dwelling on the things that have past.
God wants each and every one of us to embrace all He has planned for us.
My final encouragement is this, in 2018 allow God to work in you and through you. May you and I experience God’s mercy, grace and love and may each of us fully discover our destiny.
