They were destined...

-

 We must not fight destiny. The strong will of Man will never defeat the powerful influence of God's providencial love in our lives. We must not force into existence something that God has not preordained. Do not get me wrong! I do not mean that life situations cannot be improved by human efforts, gifted skills and a determination to better yourself but, at the end of the day, whatever happens, it happens because God allows it to be.

The nation of Israel was meant to reach the " land that flows milk and honey" (Deuteronomy 26:9) and the one that they described as "a good one which the Lord our God is about to give us" (Deuteronomy 1:25). Eventually they did get there, but not without difficulties. They grumbled, questioned the authority of Moses and, to their point of view, they thought they were better off going back to Egypt, the place they were delivered from (Deuteronomy 1:26-28). Israel was destined for a blessing but, on their way to that blessing, God had to judge the disobedient and allow death among those who went against His will (Numbers 16:23-33).  He had to put a stop to the nonsense that was going on. 

Even Moses, the meekest man on earth, had to be disciplined by God for not speaking to the rock as he was told but instead, he hit it hard with his rod out of anger for the complaining Israelites (Numbers 20:8-13). Israel was destined for greatness but due to her disobedience and hardened heart, her blessings and utmost duty had to be delayed. It's so much easier when we obey God and follow His lead. We will save a lot of headaches and pain in our lives when we do things His way. "If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land". (2 Chronicles 7:14 ESV). That's a promise we can count on. God always backs up His promises. The challenge is to have an attitude of obedience towards Him, an attitude of humility, a willingness to pray to Him and a willingness to seek His face. Many times Israel lacked these attitudes and willingness. Therefore, they had to suffer and wander, and sometimes, even die. The road to the promised land wasn't an easy road, but it would have been much easier if they just would have listened. They really had to learn the hard way. But, they were destined to be a great nation...God couldn't completely destroy Israel because of the promise He made to Abraham "And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” (Genesis 12:2‭-‬3 ESV).

What are you destined for? Are you destined for destruction or are you destined for a miriad of blessings? The first and most important step you must take is to submit to Christ as your Lord and Savior. The second, it's to find out through His Word and well rounded-matured believing Christians, what plan He has for you! I do believe God has a specific plan for each one us, "a plan for welfare and not for evil, a plan to give you a future and a hope." (Jeremiah 29:11 ESV). We are destined for something and that something depends on the sovereignty of God over our lives. God never quit on Israel. He just put it aside temporarily because of her disobedience. Why would we want the need to be put aside by God when we can just be obedient to His Word, His will and His plan? Is it really worth it to go against God unsurmountable knowledge and wisdom? I don't want to find that out, neither should you! We must pursue a life with God. Only, and only then, our destinies will be in good hands and our future home in heaven will be guaranteed. There's no other way! May God bless you today.




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

I cannot quit!

-
 How many times in life have you ever wanted to quit something? How many times have you ever wanted to quit life itself? To just not care anymore and let life live you instead of you living the life that God intended for you to have. The Christian life is obviously not a garden of roses where everything is perfect and free of trouble. That was a life that was intended for a different type of garden. That was the Garden of Eden but even then, Adam and Eve messed it all up because of their sin. Sin entered the world and we've been living in a broken world ever since. That's why imperfections exist in our lives whether we like it or not. Each one of us has their own specific imperfections that either drive us to be more like Jesus or cause us to fall into the deepest pit that we could ever imagine. We have to make a decision. We either quit or we survive by the mercy of God. But, sometimes God allows us to hit rock bottom so that you may know what you're made of. He already kn...
Read more

The best life summary ever told Part-1

-
I remember when I was in high school  I was required to read several books during the school year. You were encouraged to read the whole book thoroughly, not only because you were going to be tested on it, but also because you were required to write a summary of it. So, if you decided to skim through the pages and not read the whole book, your summary wasn't going to be a very accurate one. The apostle Paul, in 1 Timothy 3:16, gives us an excellent summary of the life of Jesus and in my humble opinion, it's the best life summary ever told, a very accurate one. This is what Paul says in this majestic verse: "Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness: He was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory". First of all, we can see that Paul calls this summary of Jesus life "the mistery of godliness" and he says it's "great ". How can he not s...
Read more

God is not done!

-
The other day I was listening to a pastor being interviewed on the radio and, at some point during the conversation, this pastor started repeating the phrase "God is not done!" as he told the story of Joseph, one of the twelve sons of Jacob. He pretty much interweaved this phrase with the critical parts of Joseph's life. Let me retell that story in my own personal words. Joseph was Jacob's favorite son and he was a dreamer and not about regular dreams like you and I have. They were messages from God that he, at his very young age, probably didn't understand very clearly. One of his dreams was about the fact that his parents and his brothers will one day bow to him. That didn't sit very well with his brothers so when they had the opportunity, they conspired to kill him. But, Reuben, his older brother told his brothers to not kill him but to just throw him into the empty pit and leave him there. Then Judah had this great idea of selling Joseph into slavery after...
Read more