Not letting our history define our destiny

It can be a real stumbling block in our Christian walk if we believe that our history, where we’ve come from, our family, our education, our work, even our successes and especially our failures are the defining factors in fulfilling God’s plans for our lives. 

The reality is that when we became believers and offered our lives into God’s service, the Bible assures us we became a new creation. The old has gone, the new has come (2 Corinthians 5: 17). In fact Peter tells believers that they are now a chosen people, a royal priesthood … 1 Peter 2: 9

A royal priesthood is quite a promotion for us ordinary folks. Here in Britain we have a pretty good grasp of what royalty means. We have a Royal Family who, since the abdication of Edward VIII in 1936, have modelled to the nation what royalty means. It is a life of privilege and wealth which some people get a bit hung up on, but it is also a life of service, duty and responsibility to the nation. Her Majesty the Queen has modelled this for 67 years now and she has passed on this life to the next generations. 

So what does that mean for us – this royal priesthood?  It means we have been born into royalty with all the privileges and responsibilities that brings.  Jesus is our King of Kings and our role is to promote his Kingdom and bring His will, plans and purposes into those areas that we are responsible for. Our background is not the defining issue in our lives.

Our areas of responsibility start with our own lives, then our families, our church, workplace or neighbourhood. We do this through a life of worship offering sacrifices of praise, worship and prayer – the role of the priest - then performing acts of service into those areas of responsibility. 

King David is a great example of this.  He was not born into a life of royalty, indeed he was the youngest brother of a large family of brothers. When Samuel the prophet came to anoint one of the brothers king, David was not called to the line up. He was out with the sheep and more than one commentator has said this may be because he was actually a half brother, born to Jesse but not Jesse’s wife. He was the despised youngest brother. 

This can be seen in Eliab’s response when David went down to the Philistine battlefield where Goliath was holding sway.  Eliab was plain nasty to him.

David was not deterred by his brother’s hostility, all those years of looking after the sheep, worshipping and fellowshipping with God, had prepared him to overthrown this uncircumcised Philistine who is defying the armies of the living God (1 Samuel 17: 26). David wasn’t frightened – he knew who God is – and holy zeal for his honour rose up and the enemy of the Lord was defeated.

The Bible is full of stories of the least becoming God’s man or woman of the hour, throwing off their background and circumstances and stepping into their God given destiny.

Judah, the fourth son born to Leah, the despised wife of Jacob, and yet he rose to be leader of the whole family. His history is very chequered and yet from his lineage came both King David and the Messiah – Jesus Christ – the Lion of the tribe of Judah.

Joseph, the second youngest son, sold into slavery, imprisoned on a false charge and yet rising into his destiny at God’s appointed moment to save not just the nation of Egypt but also his own family. 

Gideon, the least of the least, yet when God called, he too was able to deliver the Israelites from the Midianites.

Even the great prophet Moses, the younger son, so fearful after years looking after the sheep that he was terrified of facing Pharaoh, became in God’s hands one of the mightiest men of all time.

The Godly annals of history will not be filled with kings, queens, presidents, prime ministers, emirs or any other national leaders. They will be filled with the names of the royal priesthood, faithful men and women of God who have served loyally, no matter what their background, their education, or situations and entered into their destiny. 

They have trusted God despite their weaknesses, real or imagined and believed that God is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. Ephesians 3: 20 – 21.

The reality of eternity

I have just watched again the film, The Bucket List which is about two men, played by Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman, who are told they have just six months to live. They decide to spend those six months doing the things and visiting the places they would love to do and see before they die.

Inevitably some of their conversations concern what they think will happen when they die. Jack Nicholson’s character is of the opinion that when you die that is it, whilst Morgan Freeman’s character has some faith in God and belief that he will be going to heaven.

What is frightening though is that underlying these conversations which often reflect what most people believe, is that you can select whatever hereafter you fancy and that determines your eternal destiny. If you believe your good works will give you access to heaven or you think re-incarnation is a possibility or that eternal oblivion is the reality after death, that is what will occur. 

Personally I would say that is wishful thinking at best and frightening deception at worst. There is of course no evidence one way or the other for this thinking which I believe we need to challenge. I prefer to base my eternal hopes on something more solid than my vain imaginings. My eternal destiny is too important a reality to trust to anything other than a reliable source material.

The one thing of which I am assured is that life is 100% fatal. We will all die.  For my eternity, I’d rather trust in the Bible and what Jesus says through its words than hope it will all turn out alright on the night. Many people are very sceptical about the Bible and its authenticity.  However there are no other works that were written several thousands years ago, that are still in print, let alone freely available in Western society.  On the other hand Bibles are feared by dictators and repressive regimes of other religions ban it and imprison those who either have one or try to give the book to others.

That in itself must be some evidence for its veracity. Why would people be prepared to die to get their hands on a copy if it was the just the writings of a few good men that are irrelevant today? I used to be sceptical about the authority of the Bible but after 35 years of being a Christian, I am utterly convinced it is the Word of God.

Having said that, I take very seriously the words of Jesus found within its pages. Jesus was in no doubt that when we die there will only be two destinations – heaven or hell.  I find no mention of eternal oblivion or re-incarnation and the Bible is very clear that no one can enter heaven by their good works. 

I think as Christians we have been very slow to counter balance the pick-and-mix eternity that is so prevalent in Western society. At too many funerals we are assured everyone is in heaven with absolutely no basis for these supposedly comforting words. All this does is perpetuate the lie that we can do what we like in this life and everything will be alright. Jesus’s death on the cross to open the way to heaven for all who call on the name of the Lord, has been reduced to an optional extra. 

Jesus said ‘Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.’ Matthew 7: 13 – 14. That’s frightening. 

Jesus had so much to say about hell that even as Christians we conveniently ignore. 

And if your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, where ‘“the worms that eat them do not die, and the fire is not quenched.” Mark 9: 47 – 48 

Jesus referred to the fire of hell on various occasions and told the parable of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16: 19  - 31 which is just about the clearest story about the two destinations that await everyone after they die.

This is too important a topic to put on the shelf to await a day when we are older and death is more imminent. No one knows when they are going to die, unless like the two men in The Bucket List, they are given a set time to live but that is not an exact science. 

As Christians we need to sort out our own thinking, first of all about the wonders of heaven and an eternity with Jesus that is really worth talking about and the alternative – the fires of hell. As I get older, more people are dying around me. I am trying to be bolder to speak about eternity and what the Bible says. Wishful thinking will not get anyone into heaven. The narrow way is only through Jesus. He paid the price and there is no other name by which we can be saved. 

God's training plan

There is no doubt that it was one thing for God to take the Israelites out of the slavery from Egypt but quite another to get the slavery of Egypt out of the Israelites. That first generation of Israelites, with two notable exceptions, never overcame the slavery of their souls. They had been released to walk free, they had seen the mighty miracles of God but inside every one of them was still a slave.

The problem is that slaves have no passion, no purpose, no vision and no personal direction.  They have no rights and there is little pleasure in life because all they are doing is fulfilling other people’s purposes.  They have little or no sense of personal destiny.  They have no freedom of any sort and no ability to choose because their owner provides for them. What they lack most of all is any leadership capability because they rarely if ever lead.

It would have been almost impossible to find someone to take these million slaves out of the slavery of Egypt from amongst the Israelites but God had a wonderful plan. He needed to raise up a Hebrew, one of their own but one not raised in slavery. God hand picked Moses and then trained him up for 80 years.  Moses needed to be comfortable and confident in two different places; a palace and the desert. For 40 years this Hebrew was raised as a prince in the palace and for another 40 years he learned how to shepherd in the desert.

God was working out his plan for both Moses and his people.  When Moses tried to pre-empt the plan by intervening in the lives of the Hebrews and killing an Egyptian who was beating them, God used the event to take Moses from the first part of his training plan (the palace) to the second part (the desert). God uses our mistakes, presumptions and assumptions to work out his plans.

Moses I suspect knew there was a great call on his life. Why else would this Hebrew boy have been brought up in the palace when everyone else was making bricks? However the flame of destiny must have been burning very low by the time God suddenly appeared at the burning bush after 80 years.

Moses’ confidence in his abilities by this time was shot to pieces but that was fine.  God wanted to teach him to be confident in God not in himself. There was no way anyone would be able to bring about the 10 plagues and part the Red Sea if they were looking to their own abilities.  God taught Moses plague by plague, confrontation by confrontation with Pharaoh to trust him. By the time of the tenth plague it says in Exodus 11: 8 Then Moses, hot with anger, left Pharaoh.

This was the Moses who was so scared of re-visiting the palace and confronting Pharaoh at the beginning that he begged God several times not to send him but to get someone else to do it.  By the time of the 10^th plague he knew who his God was and how Pharaoh was defying the plans and purposes of the Living God. It was the same spirit of holy boldness that David had when he slew Goliath. 

Moses was God’s man for the task and God trained him till he was ready to fulfil his divine calling. God has a destiny and calling for you and, though it may not look like it, he is working it out often in small painful steps. Despite our shortcomings, complaining and grumbling God will bring about his plan and purpose in our lives. He doesn’t give up even when we do.  Keep faithful, keep trusting, God is at work.

David and Jonathan 2

“Do not be afraid,” he (Jonathan) said, “my father Saul will not lay a hand on you. You shall be king over Israel and I will be second to you. Even my father Saul knows this.” The two of them made a covenant before the Lord. Then Jonathan went home but David remained at Horesh. I Samuel 23: 17 – 18
Jonathan would have made a much better king than Saul. He knew that a king of Israel ruled under the kingship of the Lord. He knew that battles were won because the Lord fought them and gave you victory. The only reason he did not become king was because of his father’s disobedience and foolish mistakes (13: 13 – 14). He knew his father’s kingship was doomed after Saul did not follow the Lord’s instructions when fighting the Amalekites (15: 28).

Jonathan fought bravely for the Lord and the Israelites and had great victories and was popular with the men (14:45). He supported David and spoke well of him to Saul even when Saul was trying to kill David.  He made a covenant with David before the Lord on several occasions.  He was committed to David but his loyalties must have been divided and I think this lead to one great mistake.

In the verses above Jonathan told David that he would be king – even Saul knew that – and he would be second to him. Jonathan was quite right; I am sure that was God’s plan but look what happened – Jonathan went home- he didn’t stay with David to work out the call of God on his life. The tragedy is that they never saw one another again and Jonathan died by his father’s side. He was meant to be second to David but having been loyal to David all through the difficult times, at this moment instead of staying with David, he went home.  He knew God’s plan, he committed himself to both God and David by making a covenant with David before the Lord but a false sense of loyalty took him in the wrong direction and he went home back to Saul and later died with him. He never fulfilled God’s plan for his life.
A false sense of loyalty can keep us in the wrong place too. It is important to know when to move on, when God is doing a new thing and how to go with it. Someone told me once they knew they were in the wrong church but it was too difficult to leave – so they stayed and were not fulfilling what God had planned for their lives.

Some people move church or ministry far too often and some do not move when they should. We need to be aware of when God is moving on and calling us to move too and not get stuck in situations that will neither fulfil our destinies nor bring God’s life to us. False loyalty can be a burdensome thing but if we remember that our first loyalty is to the Lord, he will guide us to the right places, churches and ministries in his timing.

 

David and Jonathan

And Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as himself.  I Samuel 18: 3

I love the story of David and Jonathan because it is all about two young men who loved God more than anything else and wanted to serve him as best they could.

When Saul was king, before David was on the scene, Jonathan understood something that Saul never understood which was that the Lord was the one who fought for his people and it was the Lord who won the battles (14:6). When Jonathan went out to fight, he went out in that knowledge and had success because of it.

When David defeated Goliath and Saul took him into his army, Jonathan made this covenant almost certainly knowing that David’s success would mean he would not inherit the kingdom from his father. Jonathan stood up for David in the face of Saul’s insane attacks on David’s life. He risked his own life to support David (20:33) and consistently helped David to be aware of Saul’s murderous plans and to help him escape from them.

It takes a great man of God to stand by and help someone who will take the role that should have been theirs.  Jonathan should have succeeded Saul as king and yet instead of siding with his father and trying to overthrow and kill the one who was going to take his place, he actively supported David. One of my favourite verses is ‘Jonathan went to David at Horesh and helped him find strength in the Lord (I Samuel 23: 16). How we all need people who will not just give us sympathy but will help us find strength from God in our times of need.

I wonder if David would have been able to keep going and trust God to help him do what was right in the face of severe provocation from Saul if Jonathan had not been there for him. How difficult it must have been to know that God had anointed him king and yet he had to wait for God’s timing even whilst the present king was trying to kill him. Jonathan’s strength, commitment and loyalty to David must have been of inestimable comfort and encouragement to him.

Too often our main concern is our life, our ministry, our church and yet God may be calling us to support, strengthen and encourage someone whose success may appear to be to our detriment. Yet in the Kingdom, we need never fear that. If we are fulfilling God’s plans for our life, we will always be successful even if we are not prominent. Too often people confuse success with prominence. Success in the Kingdom is measured by obedience; are we doing what God wants us to do and that may mean supporting someone else and making them successful.

We are called to serve – God and other people both Christians and those in the world. We need never fear other people’s success; rather we should rejoice in it knowing that God holds our destiny in his hands and we can trust him to bring his success to our lives.

Who am I?

 When Moses saw the burning bush and went over to see why it was not burning up, God spoke to him from the bush.  God told Moses to take off his shoes because the ground he was standing on was holy. It was important that Moses knew he was having a divine encounter and not just seeing an interesting phenomenon. God then introduced himself as the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and Moses hid his face for he thought if he looked at God he would die.  God then outlined the plan he had for releasing his people from Egyptian slavery and told Moses, by name, that he had been carefully selected by God to go and speak to Pharaoh! 

Moses reaction is immediate and desperate, ‘Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?’  Exodus 3:11. God’s response is not to answer Moses’ question directly but to tell Moses that he will be with him.  The point being that who you are is not nearly as important as who is with you especially if that person is God for then you will be fine. Moses of course was not convinced and asked God what his name was in case the Israelites asked him. God’s response was, ‘I AM WHO I AM. Tell the Israelites I AM has sent me to you.’  Names in the Bible are not just labels but an indication of the character of the person. God is saying that He is everything that Moses or anyone else will need. 

Moses’ increasingly desperate attempts to get out of this God-given assignment touch something inside each one of us who is looking to our own resources and character to fulfil God’s tasks.  Moses’ final plea was, ‘Please send someone else (Ex 4:13). But Moses was God’s man for the job because God knew that as he worked in and through Moses, God’s plan for the release from slavery of the Israelites would be successful.

We too can have a ‘Who am I?’ mentality and like Moses either argue with God or worse still we just don’t do what God is asking of us.  I have heard so many people say, ‘O I couldn’t possibly’.  The problem is we are looking to ourselves and not to God.  The minute we disqualify ourselves from God’s plans for our lives, we miss out on a great opportunity to bless others and be a blessing.

God knows our strengths and weaknesses and he will not ask us to do anything for which he has not equipped us.  God loves us and will always be there guiding and helping.  He truly is everything we need and we can trust him that as we step out in faith, he will be there.  He will not let us down.  Moses found this to be true and so can we.

Be prepared

The plan seemed good to Pharaoh and to all his officials. So Pharaoh asked them, ‘Can we find anyone like this man, one in whom is the spirit of God?’ Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, ‘Since God has made all this known to you, there is no one so discerning and wise as you. You shall be in charge of my palace and all my people are to submit to your orders.  Only with respect to the throne will I be greater than you.’                           Genesis 41: 37 – 40

When Joseph woke up in prison on that life changing day, he did not know that by the end of it he would need a 14 year plan to save Egypt from famine.  He may have been confident that if asked to interpret dreams, God would give him the interpretation.  Certainly when he was brought from the prison to the palace he had no problem acknowledging that ‘God will give Pharaoh the answer (to his dreams) he desires.’  And God did. 

However having interpreted the dreams, Joseph then goes straight into the plan to conserve food during the 7 good years and store it up in barns to help the nation through the 7 years of famine (Genesis 41: 33 – 36).  That is not the sort of plan that Joseph would have had in his head in case such an opportunity arose.  That plan was developed on a much smaller scale during the years of servitude in Potiphar’s house and during the years in prison.  This is where he learned to be ‘discerning and wise’.

Joseph had learned his lessons well and knew the voice of God so that when a nation saving plan was needed, he could come up with it.  We have seen before that if Joseph had harboured a resentful, bitter heart to his circumstances he would never have learned the necessary lessons to save not only Egypt but his family in Canaan.  He had served faithfully and well and when the call came for him to take his place of destiny, he was ready. 

We may never be required to come up the kind of plan that Joseph did but we too need to be ready for whatever God may ask of us.  We never know what each day will hold but if we are ready it will be full of God opportunities to serve and to share the love of Jesus in many situations. 

We prepare by focusing our lives every day on God and by serving faithfully in whatever situation we may find ourselves.  Joseph had to learn to trust God is some very unpromising situations with just some dreams from many years before to sustain him.  We too can trust God with our lives.  He has our best interests at heart and as we focus on him and trust the Holy Spirit to guide and lead us on a daily basis, we too, like Joseph, will be ready.

Moses' thankless task

I often think that Moses had one of the most thankless tasks in the Bible.  He was called to lead an ungrateful and constantly complaining Israelites out of the slavery which they hated into a Promised Land that they did not believe in.  

The amazing thing is that as they grumbled and complained their way round the wilderness, Moses had one amazing encounter with God after another.  Moses spent 40 days on the top of a mountain with God.  Moses saw God face to face and Moses also saw God’s presence pass by him.  Moses interceded with God for the nation and changed God’s mind.  Moses seems to have really known God and yet he started out so fearful that he argued with God five times not to have to go and talk to Pharaoh.  He had been brought up in Pharaoh’s palace and lived there for 40 years, yet he was so lacking in self confidence, he was terrified to go there again. 

So what happened?   What turned this fear filled man into one who trusted God to deliver a nation? Moses learned obedience and God took him one small step at a time from fearful shepherd to leader of the Israelites and humble intercessor.   God was working out his plan to save his people, the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob from slavery in Egypt and bring them into the land he had promised Abraham centuries before.

The salvation plan began when the enslaved remembered who they were and started crying out to God.  The first thing needed was a leader and God chose Moses despite all his misgivings about his suitability, God knew he was the man.  

When Moses raised all his objections to God, he did not give the job to someone else.  God answered every one of Moses’ objections till Moses had to agree.  God could have given the job to Aaron with his more eloquent tongue but God had another plan for him and this job was for Moses.  God knew what lay ahead and God knew that Moses would fulfil all that he asked him to do.  He had a plan and slowly and carefully he drew Moses along the planned path till Moses could trust God for what lay ahead.  If God had asked Moses to part the Red Sea on day one, he would probably have run away.  Several months later, Moses so knew and trusted God that he had no problem parting the Red Sea and leading a nation into freedom.  

If you doubt God’s plan for your life, remember God knows the path ahead and he is preparing you for what is to come.  You may feel totally unsuited to what God has called you to do.  You may be wondering when you will ever start.  Trust God and learn to be obedient to his promptings one small step at a time.  God is unfolding his plans and his purposes for your life and he really does know what is best.  He knows the gifts and talents he has placed in you.  He knows what you are like and what he has planned is perfect for you.  Trust him.

God opens prison doors

 Joseph faithfully served in prison a long time.  He was 17 at the start of his story and 30 when he came out of prison (Genesis 41:46).  For nearly 13 years he was either a slave or in prison and neither were his fault.  He had been sold as a slave by his jealous brothers and was in prison because of a lying, scorned woman.  Joseph would have been justified in thinking God had forgotten him and that everyone was blocking his God given destiny. 

No one can block God’s destiny for your life if you trust God.

God was taking his time in working out his plans for Joseph’s life.  It was ‘some time later’ that Pharaoh’s cupbearer and baker joined Joseph in prison and ‘some time later’ they had their dreams.  Nevertheless, Joseph interpreted their dreams making sure they both knew that the interpretations came from God.  Naturally he asked the cupbearer that when he was restored to his former position he showed kindness to Joseph by mentioning him to Pharaoh and getting him out of prison.  The cupbearer forgot all about him.

Imagine Joseph’s anticipation that he maybe he would soon be out of prison.  The cupbearer was restored to his old position just he had predicted - yet nothing happened.  No royal pardon.  Imagine his disappointment as day followed day. He must have wondered if God had forgotten him as well as the cupbearer. Two years passed and Joseph must have thought he was never going to get out of prison and if his dreams were just that, dreams.  

Then one day, a day no doubt that started like any other, Joseph got the call.  He started the day in prison and ended in the palace as second in command only to Pharaoh.  No man made the promotion.  It was God and God alone. 

For the rest of his life Joseph would know that his days, his times, his destiny were in God’s hands and his hands alone.  Nothing and no one could shake or shape that destiny.  Therefore when he was reunited with his brothers many years later he could say with confidence, ‘It was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you…. But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance. So then it was not you who sent me here, but God.’(Genesis 45 5 – 8). 

God alone releases our destiny.  No one can withhold it if we trust him and we cannot speed it up or slow it down.  We may have to wait years like Joseph who spent 13 years as a slave and in prison learning how to run a nation in times of plenty and in famine.  Abraham was an old man when he became the father of nations.  Moses was 80 when he started his ministry and spent 40 years learning to shepherd a people by shepherding sheep.  David spent years, even after he had been anointed king, having spears thrown at him and living as a fugitive to learn how not to be a king but to serve God faithfully.

If you are living your destiny, serve faithfully.  If you are waiting for your destiny to be fully released, serve faithfully.  God is working his character and gifting into you for what is ahead.  Honour those over you and God will honour you. 

I am being prepared for greater things in the days ahead.

 I am sure we are all familiar with Jeremiah 29:11, ‘For I know the plans I have for you says the Lord; plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’ God spoke these encouraging words when the Israelites had been sent into exile and were probably wondering if they would ever go back home or if there was any hope for the future. Even in that situation God had good plans for his people.

In the same way, God really does have good things lined up for each of us.  Any parent wants the best for their children.  They invest all they can in education, training, character formation, helping them develop every skill they will need for the future.  They help their children develop their gifts and talents and teach them the skills of life and how to handle situations that may come their way.  Earthly parents often do not have much idea of what the future holds but they do their best to guide their children to be the best equipped they can be for what might lie ahead. 

If we then who are imperfect, who have limited resources and knowledge, will do that for our children, how much more will our loving heavenly Father who has all the resources and is omniscient (knowing everything) lead and guide his children into the future.  We can trust God to know what is best for us and he does know how to get us to our goal.  We can trust God with our destiny confident that he knows each of us intimately, knows our gifts and abilities and how best to use them.

It is important to have confidence in the future while enjoying and making the most of today.  It is even more important to be confident about the future if today is not going well.  If we sink into thinking that tomorrow may be worse than today and that all our tomorrows are destined for a steady decline into mediocrity and failure, depression will quickly grip us. God uses everything, the good and the bad, our successes and our failures to draw us deeper into his love and his plans. Everything that is happening today may be being used in preparation for what is coming in the future. 

If God really does have wonderful plans for our lives to give us a hope and a future, then whether today is a good or not so good day, we can be optimistic knowing that our loving heavenly Father holds our hands and our future.  Greater things await us.