Destined for Greatness 2: The power of destiny
INTRODUCTION
Destiny is an extremely powerful force because it comes from that “God”, who “once he speaks”, it is done! We thank God for the series of testimonies in the just concluded June Holy Ghost Service. We had a testimony of a woman who God raised her new born baby from the dead three consecutive times. When that lady was giving her testimony of the child that died three times, and God brought her back to life, “again and again and again”, that child is destined for greatness. But, the devil tried to see if the baby can be killed. But there was a word already on the life of that child. God said “there was a woman here, NO MORE MISCARRIAGE, NO MORE MISCARRIAGE.“ But the devil said, alright, if there’s no miscarriage, I can kill the child as soon as the child is born. There is a God who is “far-far beyond death” – He is more powerful than death. Let’s look at some biblical examples of people who are destined for greatness.
BIBLICAL EXAMPLES
1. Jesus, Peter, Joseph, and Daniel:
You would notice that when Jesus Christ raised people from the dead, He never mentioned the word death. “Lazarus come Forth”, he said – He didn’t say “death release Lazarus”. He basically ignored death. In Matthew 16:13-19, God told Peter, you are destined to lead the Church. In Acts 12:1-11, the bible says, Herod killed James, but the night before He was to bring forth Peter to kill him, an Angel stepped in.
You can’t kill somebody that God said He is going to be the leader of my church.
In the case of Joseph, his brothers said, “Here comes the dreamer, let us kill him and see what would become of his dream” – Genesis 37:18 -24. They decided on throwing him into a pity, but the pit had no water in it. Bible scholars said what happened is that “Before Joseph got to the bottom of the pit, the water there dried up”. If you consider the case of Daniel in Daniel 6:1-end, God has made up his mind that Daniel would be the number one man in the state, but the enemy said, “okay, we would throw him into the den of lions and seal it up”. But destiny was there to make sure that this man won’t die. Since those who threw him into the den of lions would become food for the lions.
My story
When I was very young, and my village was still a village, it is now a city. In those days, white men were in-charge in Nigeria. They were mining for gold, because the village was sitting on gold, probably the best Gold in Africa. The white man would come in his jeep, the road was narrow, but he would come. When there was an accident of a child from his car, parents of the child quickly pick there child to avoid being charge for carelessness. In those days, they were called “Alapa-dupe” – that is, when he kills your child, you would better thank him and run, rather than complain or cry. Coincidentally one day, one of my sisters and I, ran into him and we decided to run. Accidentally, we fell into one of the abandoned miners pit in a bit to escape, not knowing there was a snake in the pit. My heart was still pounding after the white man left, but the heart that was ponding before stop beating. Somehow, the snake discovered we were not really after him, so it crawled out of the pit. I escaped “Alapa-dupe” and the poisonous snake. But the trauma led me into a series of nightmares. It was either nightmares about the snake or about the man. I went so many nights without sleep. I developed high fever from it. As a custom, when a child has a fever, the parents backs him and rap him with thick clothes. I was rapped in thick clothes, my temperature over short, and I became unconscious. But I survived, because it is in my destiny that I will seat before you this day and tell you that whether the devil likes it or not, you will live. You will not die, you will fulfil the purpose of God.
2. Sarah:
In the story of Sarah, Gen. 17:1-17, the almighty God told Sarah that she is going to be the mother of nations. when God finally showed up, she became what God promised to her. Romans 4:17:22 says that “the womb of Sarah was dead”. Dead wombs don’t bring forth children, but because there was a destiny that this woman would become the mother of nations, destiny reversed the irreversible. We serve a God with whom nothing shall be impossible. Proverbs 19:21, says “there are many devices in a man’s heart, nevertheless the counsel of the Lord, that shall stand”. Despite Sarah maneuvered her husband, which made him go into her servant, got her pregnant and later backfired, the destiny over Sarah was still there. When God was ready, he even brought the dead back to life. It doesn’t matter the various plans the enemy has put in place concerning you, it doesn’t matter how hopeless your situation may be, the counsel of God concerning your life shall come to pass. leave that to God.
My Story – A Creative Miracle of God:
The situation around you might clearly show that, the enemy has won, but I decree to you once again, you shall laugh last. I say again, you shall laugh last. Something happened around 1982 in our church in Ilorin, as I was about to leave, the mid-wife came to me, saying there is a woman confessing that she would die. Then we told her, since you have made up your mind to die the day you will deliver, then why are you here, you want to hold us responsible? She is in the church now, thank God she is. Then I said to her, sister, is it true you said you would die the day of your delivery, she said, Yes. Then I asked her, why are you here, she said, “I am not so sure I want to die anymore”. Smiles. So, I prayed and I left. Three days later, some brethren came from Ilorin, saying, the woman you prayed for, as soon as you left, she gave birth. I said good, praise God. They said, no that’s not the story, after she gave birth we discovered that there is another baby in her womb, and for three days we have been praying, and the other baby hasn’t come. We then told her “let us go to the hospital”, she said “No”, that she’s not going. They reminded her about her decision not to die anymore, but she said, “that’s the reason why I am not going”. So that’s why they have came. I looked at them trembling – “Taiwo, the first child has come, they have waited three days for the Kehinde, the second twin” – but I put up a bold face. Is that why you have come?, I asked. After all, the God in Lagos is still the same God in Ilorin! Go back, before you get home, Kehinde would have come. I said this only by faith. I gave them some soft drinks and they left.
Your destiny clings to you like your shadow. It stays permanently with you.
As soon as they left, I ran upstairs to my prayer room, fell on my face, I said God, you promised me to call on you in the day of trouble, today is the day of trouble. God spoke to me, “you mean you didn’t believe what you said, you told them to go home, that before they get home, the other child would have come. Then I told God, “Father I believe, that is why I am here praying”. It was a Saturday, in those days, I usually fasted before the Sunday service. God said to me, “Son, if you believe, go and eat”. I reminded God about Sunday. Then He told me, “If you believe, go and eat!”. I ate as God instructed me. When the brethren got home, not only did the second child came out, a third child also came. Imagine if you were in your mother’s womb, and she died. You have no control. But the almighty God has a purpose for the triplets. The last time I saw them, they were already adults. Wonderful people doing very well. I decree that every irreversible thing in your life, because you are destined to be great, shall be reversed.
Fact about destiny:
There is something about destiny, It clings to you like your shadow. It stays permanently with you. Take Joseph for instance, in Genesis 37, Joseph was his father’s favorite. Why? There is no particular reason, oh they say, he is the child of his father old age, but there was somebody else who came after him. When Joseph landed in Potiphar’s house, Genesis 39:1-6, the bible says he practically took over. The great man who bought him as a slave handed over everything to him. Why? He was destined for greatness. By the time they lied against Joseph and they threw him to prison – Gen. 39:20-23, as soon as he landed in prison, destiny would not allow him to be an ordinary prisoner. How? The jailer handed over everything to him. Like somebody said, “Jail cannot be that bad, if you are the one in control”. Joseph was the one deciding who would eat, what they would eat, and when they will eat. He was a prisoner, but he was a great prisoner, because “Destiny Clings to You”. If you are destined to be great, from now on, you will enjoy extra ordinary favor.
When we talk about destiny, it is all a matter of time.“For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry – Habakkuk 2:3.”
From the day you were born, just like a lion, the day a lion is born, he is already a king. If a goat sees a “baby lion” – a cub, the goat would run, even though it’s a baby (cub). God who decides what you are going to become, he is also the one who controls times and seasons.
2. Joshua, Caleb, David, and Peter:
If we consider the case of Joshua and Caleb, in Numbers 14:6-38, when they were the two who said, hey “don’t be afraid of the people, let’s go to possess the land”, and God made some pronouncements. It is a matter of time to fulfil God’s purpose for your life. When we got to Joshua 14:6-15, Caleb came to Joshua saying, “you were there some 45 years ago, when it was prophesied that you and I, would take over this mountain. Give me this mountain, I am still as strong as I am so many years ago.”
Destiny will not only prevent you from dying, it practically prevents you from getting old.
You might have a prophesy about your future, probably some 30 years ago, and you are already thinking you are old, and it doesn’t look like this prophesy will be fulfilled. Before the end of this year, you will testify. The story of David in 1 Samuel 16:11-13, where he was practically declared a king, but time went on, instead of he becoming a king, the present king was determined to kill him. Imagine how many times, the king threw javelins at him, and the Javelin kept missing him. In 1 Samuel 22:1-2, he became the leaders of people you can call “Vagabonds”, but later in 2 Samuel 2:4, he became the King of Judah.
In 2 Samuel 5:1-5, he became the king of Israel. He was destined to be king of Israel. Because it is a matter of time, I have a feeling that God brought up this theme “Destined for Greatness” after a 100 days fast, that has it is written that “thou would arise and have mercy on Zion, because the time to favor her, yea, the set time has come”. There is one thing about destiny that you need to know straight away. It creates in you the hunger to serve God. Joseph said in Genesis 39:7-9, when Potiphar’s wife told him to commit adultery with her and nobody would know. He said “God would know, I can’t do what you asking me to do and sin against God”. He wasn’t talking about sinning against Potiphar, his master, he was talking about sinning against God. In Joshua 24:15, he said as for me and my house, we would serve the Lord. On the other hand, David said in Psalm 34:1, “I will bless the LORD at all times, his praise will continually be on my lips”. If you know all the names that David called God, you would know that this boy is not ordinary. In Psalms 18:1-2, he said, “Lord, you are my strength, my rock, my fortress, my buckler, my horn of my salvation, my high tower, etc.”
Destiny creates in you the hunger to serve God.
In Matthew 14:22-23, everyone was seated in the boat during the storm, Jesus was there. But it was only Peter that said, “if it be you, bid me to come”. There is something about destiny, it links you with God. You just want to be where God is, you want to please him, you want to serve him whatever the cost.
My Story
My last story for today, there was a man, a relation of mine, we grew up together, we were almost inseparable as friends, we were very little. But somehow, he loved God, he demonstrated it. On the other hand, I was a little bit of a rascal. I will not tell the story about that for now. Somehow when we go hunting for birds, fish, etc., he can bring down any bird with the Catapult. When we go fishing he always catch the biggest fish. He was roman catholic while I was an Anglican. He thought me some funny things, because he was a bit more Christian than I was. One those things he thought me then was, if you hit your leg on a rock, stop and do the regular roman catholic rendition, “in the name of the father, God the son, God the holy spirit”. This was in the 1950’s, a very long time ago. Because everybody saw that this boy was inclined to the almighty God, he went to the convent and became a reverend father, the day of his commissioning, my wife and I, were probably the only one that was there. He rose in the hierarchy so fast that a time came, that they to select a bishop, himself and another fellow, apparently contested for it, and the other person was chosen. This my relative, my friend became so disappointed that he decided to leave the ministry. He told me he wasn’t disappointed because he lost, but because of the way he lost. I would leave that out of the story. So, he left priesthood, got married and began to have children. Somewhere along the line, I had become born again and now a pastor. So, one day, this my friend heard that somebody was coming to hold a crusade in a church in Ile-Ife (Nigeria). He asked, who?, and they mentioned Adeboye. Because we have not seen for sometime, he said to himself, could it be the same Adeboye? So he came to find out if that boy he knew can ever become a Pastor. He had me preached, I didn’t know what I said, but that day, he gave his life to Jesus. He became a worker, deacon, assistant pastor, pastor, and ended up an elder. He was destined to serve God, he was going one-way, the enemy taught he would truncate his destiny but God moved him and brought him through another way, and he ended up serving God. He is well known in the church today.
A Call to Salvation:
Are you a Christian or still trying to play Christianity or pretending to be a Christian? Don’t truncate your own destiny! Ensure to watch out for our next post coming up next month by the grace of God, where we would be talking about DESTINY HELPERS. You are going to learn that one of the greatest destiny helpers you can ever have is YOURSELF. So, if you have not really surrendered your life to Jesus, you can do so now. God wants to do something remarkable in your life this year. He might be pulling you towards your maker, so don’t resist the pull. If you want to surrender your life to Christ, please do that now.
Repeat these words:
Lord save my soul, become my Lord and my Savior, I will do your bidding now. Pray the prayers as you surrender everything to God. Thank you, Father.
