Forgiveness:

 

            Forgave our transgressions:

 

Colossians 2:13-14

13     When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions,

     14     having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.

     

            Again, we don’t have to get good enough for God to forgive us. Jesus’ death, long before we came to Him, was all that was needed. And, we don’t have to earn salvation. It is a gift. God not only forgave us, He made us alive together with Jesus when He was raised from the grave. There was a certificate of debt against us. It told of all the laws of God that we had broken. There was no way that we would have ever been able to repay the debt that we owed. When the nails went into Jesus’ hands and feet, that certificate of debt was nailed to the cross with Him. It no longer applies to us. It applies to the “old man” that we were.

 

If you could hear God speak to you, I believe this is what He would say:

            "I have forgiven you My child. There is nothing that you have done that is so terrible that I would not forgive you. When My Son died on the cross, it was enough to take care of all your sins, not just the ones others would say are little. There is nothing that will be held against you. No one can lay a charge against you, for My salvation is bigger than all things. Trust in Me that I am able to do this and have already accomplished it.”

 

            7. God has forgiven me all my transgressions that I committed before I came to Him. There is nothing that I have done that He has not forgiven me. My debt which I could not pay has been erased for ever.

For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day

Believe in the Son:

 

John 6:40

40     “For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.”

 

            This means that since we have believed in the Son, we can be certain that we have eternal life. Also, we know that we will not spend eternity in the grave. If we should die, Jesus will raise us from the grave when He returns. This is the great hope that we have. Remember that Paul said we hope for that which we do not yet see. If I have a dollar in my hand, I don’t have to hope that soon I’ll have one. I already have it. Hope in the Bible is not a wishful thinking. It is a confident expectation. One day we will see that hope realized.

 

If you could hear God speak to you, I believe this is what He would say:

            "You have beheld My Son. It pleases Me that you looked on Him with a favorable eye. That is the way I look upon Him continually and the way I look upon you. Trust in Me and My words. I will raise you up on the last day. There is no doubt that should arise in your heart. I have promised it, and I will do it.”

 

            6. I have believed in the Son, Jesus. Therefore I have eternal life and will be raised from the dead, if I die before He returns.

The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to come up out of the abyss and go to destruction. And those who dwell on the earth, whose name has not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, will wonder when they see the beast, that he was and is not and will come

 Book of Life:

 

Revelation 17:8

8     “The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to come up out of the abyss and go to destruction. And those who dwell on the earth, whose name has not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, will wonder when they see the beast, that he was and is not and will come. 

            This verse says that our names were written in the book of life from the foundation of the world. We’re not going to debate predestination … that is, God decided who would get saved and who wouldn’t with us not having a free will to choose or refuse. We will just say that God knew who it was that would accept His Son as Savior. So He wrote down the names from the beginning. He wasn’t waiting for us to get good enough. You can’t. That’s why it took the blood of the spotless Lamb of God to save us.

           

If you could hear God speak to you, I believe this is what He would say:

            "I knew that I wanted you from the beginning. I wanted you so much that I wrote your name in My book of life. It was because I knew you would love Me and want to be with Me forever.”           

 

            5. My name was written in the Book of Life from the foundation of the world. Therefore, I am confident that one day I will be with Him.

So that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.

Eternal Life:

 

            He promised:

 

John 3:15-16

15     so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life.

     16     “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.

     

1 John 2:25

25     This is the promise which He Himself made to us: eternal life.

     

            God made a promise to us … eternal life. When we believe in His Son Jesus, we will not perish. Isn’t that great? He didn’t say that we had to get good enough. We don’t have to do a bunch of good works. What we have to do is believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, if we believe in Him, we should be doing good works … but not to obtain eternal life. We should have a holy lifestyle … but not to obtain eternal life. How do we know He will give us eternal life? Since God is not a man that He should lie (in fact He cannot lie), we can trust Him to keep His word.

 

If you could hear God speak to you, I believe this is what He would say:

            “I have promised this to you, My child. There is nothing that I would desire more than to have you with Me forever. In My love for you, I sent My Son that He might die for you so that you might live forever.”

 

            4. I have eternal life, which God promised me long ago.

For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.

Gifts and calling:

 

Romans 11:29

29     for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.     

            God is not going to change His mind and say, “Oops, look what they did. I shouldn’t have called him/her. I guess I better take it back.”  It’s not based on our merits … on what we’ve done for Him. It’s all based on His choice by His grace through the blood of Jesus on the cross. The same goes for the gifts He gives us. We don’t have to hold our breath hoping He won’t reconsider His calling of us or His giving us gifts.

 

If you could hear God speak to you, I believe this is what He would say:

            “When I called you, it wasn’t for just a lifetime. It was forever. I will never change My mind about you. I want you to be with Me and to know Me from now on throughout eternity.”

 

            3. God has called me, and He will never change His mind. He has given me gifts, and He will never take them back.

But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

 

Chapter 1

 

Salvation

 

            The first area we want to look at in conjunction with our destiny is that of salvation. Were we destined to be saved or was it some “luck of the draw”? What was necessary for us to become saved? Can we be certain it won’t be taken away from us? Is it just while we’re here on earth, or is it forever? What was our part, and what part was destined to happen no matter what?

 

We are Called/Chosen:

            Brought near: 

Ephesians 2:13

13     But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

     

            Before we accept Christ as our savior, we are all far off from God. Whether we are “good” as far as others were concerned or “bad”, it doesn’t matter. We all need Jesus. After I asked Jesus to come in and take control of my life, I called a friend in another state to tell her that I had become a Christian. She said, “I thought you already were.” Even though to her I was near to God, in reality, I was as far away as someone that you would consider to be the worst sinner in the world.

            We all need God in our lives regardless of our past. Even though Paul was a Pharisee of Pharisees, he still considered himself the chief of all sinners. All his life, he did his best to obey the Law. It wasn’t good enough. He still needed the personal relationship with Christ.

 

If you could hear God speak to you, I believe this is what He would say:

            “My children, I have chosen you from before the beginning of time. I knew you before the world began. I saw what would be in your heart; how that you would have a desire to know Me. I drew you unto Me and brought you into My family.”

 

            2. I am no longer far off from God, because I have been brought near to Him through the blood of Jesus.

What Is Your Destiny?

 

What Is Your Destiny?

 

            When a life-changing event happens to a person, what does someone mean by the statement, “It was destiny (or fate).”? It means that the person involved had no control whatsoever over the situation. If it was something good, there was nothing that the person consciously did that caused the good to happen. If it was bad, there was nothing that the person could have done to prevent it.

            Around Christmas one year, I watched a movie named “Three Days”. It was one of those “second chance opportunity” movies. It wasn’t scriptural, but it does illustrate what is meant by one’s destiny. I’m intentionally leaving out a lot of the details.

            In the movie, on Christmas Eve the man’s wife went searching for a neighbor’s dog which had run off. She found the dog, but when she stepped into the street, she was struck by a car and died. In the hospital, the man was remorseful that he hadn’t had a chance to show her that he loved her. That night he met an angel that told him he would be granted the opportunity to relive the last three days with his wife. He would be aware of what had happened, but she wouldn’t, and he couldn’t tell her. In any event, three days later on Christmas Eve at the same time and place she would be there with the car bearing down on her … because that was her destiny. There was nothing he could do to prevent it.

            What would you do in this situation? Probably the same thing he did. He took her out of town so she would be in a different place on Christmas Eve. Just when it seemed like he would succeed, she insisted on going home for Christmas. In the end, there she was – same time; same dog; same car. It was her destiny.

            Nothing he tried to do could change what was destined. This was an example of what is meant by something being one’s destiny.

            Oh, by the way – when the car came this time, he pushed her out of the way, and was killed. Not to worry, the angel brought him back to life and they lived happily ever after. So, the situation was her destiny, but it wasn’t her destiny to die.

            How does this relate to Christians? There are certain things that the Bible tells us is the Christian’s destiny. There is nothing that you have to do to make it happen, nor is there anything bad that you might do that would prevent it from happening. It is your destiny.

            Of course we do need to set some guidelines as to the type of person we’re talking about. 

For example: Is it a Christian’s destiny to go to heaven when they die? If you say yes, then you must believe in “Once saved, always saved.” Otherwise, it is not a Christian’s destiny; because there would be something the person might do that would prevent this from happening. There are other beliefs that can also get in the way.

            Some believe you must be water baptized to go to Heaven. Some believe you must receive the Baptism in the Holy Spirit in order to have His indwelling.

            Rather than argue pro or con, let’s assume that whatever is the “minimum” necessary to go to Heaven has been accomplished in the person’s life; that they have been water baptized; that the Holy Spirit is indwelling them; and that whatever else  may be necessary to happen in a Christian’s life for the destiny discussed in this book to be realized has or will occur.

            Also, there may be some verses that it is questionable as to whether or not it is a Christian’s destiny. For example – “I can do all things through Christ Jesus”. It doesn’t say that you will … just that you can. Should that be considered our destiny? It is in the sense that you have the ability through Christ to do all things. So, we will be flexible in that regard.

            Why do we want to know what is our destiny? Because – “All the promises of God in Him they are yea and amen”; II Cor 1:20 KJV. What does that mean? If God promised it as the Christian’s destiny … then it’s YOURS. 

If you could hear God speak to you, I believe this is what He would say:

            “My children, I want you to know what is yours. I want you to walk in My promises so that My desire for My children will become known in the earth. Then the people of the world will want what you have. They will come to you to find out how they can know Me. Trust in Me that I will bring about My promises. I will not long delay in making them real in your life.”

             Throughout this book, I will be giving you some phrases about your destiny to say out loud. You should say them every day. The more you repeat them, the more the reality of your destiny will sink in and become a part of your daily thoughts about yourself. The one for the previous verse is:

             1. All of God’s promises about my destiny in Christ, they are yea and amen. Therefore I can trust that God will bring them to pass in my life.

            Now repeat phrase number 1. Again. One more time.

             Too many Christian’s are ignorant of all the blessings of God that are available to them. Either they have never realized a promise was in the Bible, or felt certain it couldn’t be for them. It was only for the really spiritual ones. Or maybe they felt like they had done something so wrong that God didn’t want them to have it.

            Well, I’ve got good news for you, and it’s not how to save money on your car insurance. God does want you to have these promises. His desire is for all His children to live the Christian life to the utmost. Then the world will want to become Christians too, when they see how much God loves His children. All that unbelievers have heard is how bad they are, and what a terrible punishment awaits them when they die. They’ve seen Christians fail and fall. They don’t want any part of it.

            The Scriptures that follow are quoted from the New American Standard Bible, unless otherwise noted; so the thought may sound familiar, yet a little different from what you may have memorized. Sometimes two or more Scriptures are combined to form a thought. If more than one is used, it too will be quoted or at least referenced.