Saturday, July 31, 2004

The Will of God

Let’s look at a theological and biblical perspective on this subject of destiny. Have you ever prayed to know the will of God?

When you prayed this prayer to know the will of God, what actually was the arena in which you wanted to know God’s will? Probably, it was the arena of a major decision in your life, such as, “God, is it your will for me to change careers?” Or, “God, is it your will for me to do this or that?” Most likely, your prayer was about “do” and not “who”. Right? "God, what should I do?"

What if I said that you don’t have to pray to know will of God? After all, the model prayer – that is, the Lords Prayer – says, “Thy will be done.” It does not say, “Show me your will.”

Consider Matthew 12: 46 – 50 NIV While Jesus was still talking to the crowd, his mother and brothers stood outside, wanting to speak to him. Someone told him, “Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to you.” He replied to him, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” Pointing to his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”

Surely, it is not our career choice that makes us Jesus’ brother or sister! It doesn't fit, does it? “Whoever chooses the right career is my brother and sister.”

It doesn’t even sound right to say, “Whoever enters the full-time ministry is my brother and sister.” How about this: “Whoever is my disciple and learns of me is my brother and sister.” Does that not sound much more likely?

What if I said that I can tell God’s will for your life right now?

Ephesian 5:17-18 NIV Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. Do not get drunk… instead, be filled with the Spirit!

1 Thessalonians 4:3 NIV It is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality…

1 Thessalonians 5:16 – 18 NIV Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

1 Peter 2: 13 - 15 NIV Submit yourself… to every authority instituted among men… for it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men

So the will of God is much more about “who” than “do”. Who are you to be? You are to be sober, spiritual, self-controlled especially in the realm of your sexuality, joyful, prayerful, thankful, and a law-abiding citizen. That is the will of God for your life.

So then, what about career decisions? How do we pray about those? Those decisions are a matter of wisom. And if anyone lack wisdom, let him ask of God who gives to all men liberally and upbraids not --which is the King James way of saying "God doesn't mind if you ask". The interesting thing about wisdom is that it implies that we ultimately must participate in the decision and make the decision.

It is really easy for God to move us into the right career and the right geographical location if we are genuinely committed to his will. The “do” flows from the “who”. Focus on become the kind of person you were designed to be; career and financial prosperity will flow out of a series of events in your life which will in the end prove to have been providential.

The Destiny Within

This whole erroneous idea of finding the meaning of life in what we do is as old as mankind. Jesus said thousands of years ago, “The kingdom is within you.” (Luke 17:21)

Philippians 2:13 NIV says for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.

The seeds of your destiny were planted in you at your birth. You were born at a certain time and place in history. You were born with certain genetic predispositions and a temperament. You were born with certain inevitable challenges and opportunities facing you. You were born blessed by God according to the scriptures with certain innate aptitudes. But as the saying goes, your abilities are God’s gift to you; what you do with them is your gift to God. I say that what you do with them determines your destiny.

Americans are pragmatic and action-oriented people. But your destiny lies within you. It is locked up inside. You must discover the keys that will unleash your potential, increase your personal power and leverage your passion in order to Discover Your Destiny.

Wednesday, July 28, 2004

How Do You Define Yourself?

Why is there such a longing for a more fulfilled and meaningful life? Maybe it is nothing more complicated than simply being too busy. Consider, for example, two books presented in book reviews by the Wall Street Journal (March 7, 2000, page A-24).  One was entitled The Working Life and the other There's No Place Like Work.
 
The reviewer gives this summary: "...we are working longer and harder than ever before. Indeed, statistics prove this is so. But to what end? Yes, standards of living are higher, and incomes too. But some of us are beginning to wonder whether it's worth it..." The reviewer goes on to say that the books in question make the following arguments:

  • that Americans have been brainwashed into believing that work is a source of self-fulfillment
  • that feminism has degraded the woman's role as mother and homemaker, leading to "a systematic devaluation of home life, leading to a social pathology in children raised without full time parents."

Interesting ideas! If nothing else, they illustrate the pervasive extent to which we Americans, men and women alike, define ourselves by what we do, not who we are.

Want to know why we have so much difficulty discovering our destiny? It's because the answer to the question "What am I supposed to do with my life?" is determined by our answer to another question: "Who am I supposed to become?"

What kind of person are you supposed to become?

If you are serious about discovering your destiny, the journey begins when you replace "do" with "who" and you start to discover the you that God created you to be.


Monday, July 26, 2004

Digging for Gold

Americans today feel a need to find a deeper meaning to life. This is true of religious and non-religious people alike. I see at least 4 signs of this.

First, success and self-help literature is immensely popular. Apparently, people don't feel successful.

Secondly, Christian and religious success and self-help books are, if anything, more popular than even the secular market. The Associated Press published and article on May 20th, 2001 titled, "Writers Promote Bible as Self-help Manual". In fact, I recently visited a very large Christian book store and one of the largest sections in the store was called "Self-Help". by the way, one of the Christian books mentioned in the article was, If Men are Like Buses Then How Do I Catch One? Some of the more serious titles:

Half Time: Changing Your Game Plan from Success to Significance

The Gift of Peace
(which sold 350,000 copies within 9 weeks).

So the literature is out there in vast quantities, indicating that people are interested in success and significance.

Thirdly, there is a rapidly developing new profession called "life coaching". At the August, 2001 World Conference of Christian Counselors, which I attended, more than 300 therapists, psychiatrists, and counselors gathered in a work-shop that hailed life coaching as an emerging trend. The definition of life coaching: a client-coach relationship that empowers the client to take action toward greater fulfillment in life. The fees are not inexpensive but people are signing up by the hundreds.

Fourthly, I know from personal experience the feeling that "there is something more to me than the world has yet seen." Do you ever have a feeling like that? Something great in you struggling to get out?

There is a deeply felt need among many Americans, no less in the church than out of it, to find a more significant and fulfilling way of life.

This need can be described as the quest to discover one's destiny. The Christian author and speaker Joyce Meyer, in her book How to Succeed at Being Yourself, says, "I hope you have a dream of vision in your heart for something greater than you have now. Ephesians 3:20 KJV tells us that God is able to do exceedingly abundantly above and beyond all that we can hope or ask or think. If we are not thinking, hoping, or asking for anything, we are cheating ourselves. We need to think big thoughts, hope for big things and ask for big things. I always say, I would rather ask God for a lot and get half of it, than to ask Him for a little and get all of it."

Finally, Joyce says, "There is a gold mine hidden in every life, but we have to dig to get to it."

Are you digging for the gold in your life? Have you even scratched the surface yet? Why wait any longer? Begin today thinking, hoping and praying for big things.


Saturday, July 24, 2004

In the Beginning

In the beginning, God intended for you to pursue passionately His divinely ordained purpose for your existance. He designed that purpose for you and you for that purpose.

Your talents and fundamental characteristics, when fully developed and applied correctly, are the perfect tools for your specific assignment.

You experience a richness and fulness of life that cannot be improved on when you are pursuing this destiny, regardless of obstacles, pain or opposition.

People find themselves attracted to you because you radiate peace and contentment. You have meaningful relationships that are deep and strong. You accept the failings of others because you are happy with yourself, including your own weaknesses and shortcomings. You have been forgiven, you embrace your own forgiveness, and you forgive others.

In the beginning, God created you for a fulfilling destiny. Are you moving toward it?