Ours is the Kingdom of God:

Luke 6:20-21

20 And turning His gaze toward His disciples, He began to say, “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.

21 “Blessed are you who hunger now, for you shall be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh.

            Many Christians throughout the world are economically poor. The percentage in America is much less than elsewhere. However, this is talking about being humble in your own eyes. Your destiny is the Kingdom of God, which has no lack. If you are hungering for His righteousness, you shall be satisfied. If you weep now (not just over things that have gone wrong in your life, but also those things that have gone wrong spiritually in the world), you shall laugh. It is our destiny.

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

            "You are not poor in Me. In this world, you may be poor; but in My Kingdom you are wealthy. You will have good success as long as you walk in My Word. You shall be known as an overcoming generation as long as you obey My commandments. I have chosen this time for the end of all battles. There shall no longer be crying, dying, or pain. You are the chosen generation to bring in My Kingdom into this world. Show forth My power and My holiness. No one can overcome you as long as you obey My Word. There is power in no one else that can compare to Mine. You are powerful, as long as you walk in Me and My Word abides in You. It is your destiny.”

            101. My destiny is the Kingdom of God; satisfaction from hunger after His righteousness; and laughter in the Spirit.

            This concludes the third volume about our destiny in Christ. These are things of which we are assured are ours. Even if this is the only volume you’ve read, you can see that we have a tremendous destiny. You can also agree that most Christians are not walking in their destiny. Perhaps you are not, either. There is no shame in it; but there is no reason to remain walking in less than the full measure to which you are destined.

            Don’t keep your destiny to yourself. You are to show forth all that is yours in order to bring others into the Kingdom of God. Then they too can discover and experience their destiny in Christ.

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

            "There is no destiny for you, but what you make of what I have determined for you. There is no hope outside of all that I have done for you. You are the determining factor in your destiny. You can have all that I have given you or you can have nothing. It is up to you. Your destiny is before you.”

Next week we go back to volume 1 - Your Destiny

Greater than John the Baptist:

Matthew 11:11

11 “Truly I say to you, among those born of women there has not arisen anyone greater than John the Baptist! Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.

Luke 7:28

28 “I say to you, among those born of women there is no one greater than John; yet he who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.”

            Are you in the Kingdom? Then you are greater than John the Baptist! That’s a pretty amazing statement. It is your destiny. Jesus wasn’t putting down John. However, John wasn’t in the Kingdom. He was still operating under the Old Covenant. We are operating under the New, which has even better promises. We are born again and have the Holy Spirit permanently within. John wasn’t and didn’t. He was filled with the Spirit while still in His mother’s womb, but it’s not the same has having the Spirit indwelling us. Even Jesus said we’d do even greater works than He, so why wouldn’t we be greater than John the Baptist? Besides, who says you’re the least?

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

            "Do not think of yourselves as little, My children. In My Kingdom, you are great; for I have chosen you for greatness. There is none greater than those in My Kingdom. I have chosen gladly for you to receive My Kingdom. It is a Kingdom of joy. It is a Kingdom of peace. And it is a Kingdom of love. There is no greater joy than to walk in My Kingdom in My Spirit. There is no greater freedom than to do so. You are a chosen generation; one that is chosen to bring in My Kingdom into this realm. The devil has chosen this generation to be his greatest ally in the fight against Me; but it cannot succeed. He will fail; for I am infallible. You are My chosen instruments to bring about the end of His Kingdom in this realm. You can overcome all in his Kingdom when you rely on My Spirit empowered by My Word.”

            100. I am in the Kingdom of God. Therefore, I am greater than even John the Baptist!

Crown of righteousness:

2 Timothy 4:8

8 in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing.

            Have you loved His appearing? Then you are destined to receive a crown of righteousness. So, don’t say that you just want to slip in the back door of Heaven and that you’re not going to receive anything. This says you are. We all are going to receive it one day. Of course we’ll cast them at His feet; but we are destined to receive it.

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

            "You are My reward, and I am yours. You are overcomers and as such deserve the best reward. My reward to you is to be with Me for all eternity. Outside are those who rejected Me. They did not reject you. They rejected Me; for I am the only Way to Heaven. I am the only Way to eternal Life. Without Me, there is no future. Your future is sealed in Me; for I am the future. There is no other future outside of Me. You have loved Me, and I have loved you. There is no greater reward than to be with those you love.”

            99. There is laid up for me a crown of righteousness because I have loved His appearing.

Glorified:

Romans 8:29-30

29 For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren;

30 and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.

            We all know that He will be glorified, but what about us? This says that we will be glorified. Actually, it says in the past tense … we were glorified. Through Jesus we were glorified when He was.

            Now these verses are used to support the doctrine of predestination; that is, what happens was predetermined by God in the ancient past so that we have no choice but to believe. That goes against the doctrine of free choice. Those of the free choice persuasion say that because God knew we would believe, He predestined what would happen … calling, justification, conforming to His image, and glorification.

            We’re not here to promote either doctrine. Both seem to be true in different Scriptures. What matters is that these things are our destiny. They are all in the past. In God’s eyes they have already happened in Christ. Whether we feel like it or act like it, it’s our destiny. Since that’s true, we should be living like it and not like some slime worms that are going to crawl into the back doors of Heaven. When people look at us, they should see Jesus in action. He by Himself could never have physically traveled throughout the world throughout all time to bring people into the Kingdom. Through us, though, He can.

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

            "You are light in Me, My children. You are My special people. You are My chosen ones. I chose you before the world was. You were ever on My mind before the first atom existed. You are My creation perfect. You are My special creation. There has never been any greater creation than you. You were special to Me before time existed. There has never been a moment when you were not important to Me. You were created for Me, and you are to show forth My glory. There will never be a time when you are not special to Me; when you are not on My mind. There is no second choice. You are it. There is only you, and no other for Me.”

            98. I am glorified through Christ Jesus. Therefore, I will walk throughout my life showing forth His glory.

Others:

            Under grace, not law:

Romans 6:11-14

11 Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.

12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts,

13 and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.

14 For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace.

            Consider yourselves to be dead to sin. What does that mean? It means to act like it; to act like sin has no power or persuasion over you. It can’t tempt you to misbehave. But this verse says even more. Not only are we to act like we’re dead to sin and don’t want to succumb to it; but also we are to act like we’re alive to God in Christ Jesus. We are to walk ever aware of His guidance in our lives. We’re to be ready to do His bidding at a moment’s notice.

            We are not supposed to let sin reign in our lives. It isn’t lord over us … God is. We shouldn’t let its desires control our lives. As the verse says … we should not present the members of our body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness. Sin is playing a song. It wants our selves as its instruments. It hopes that the world will be drawn to its melody. We should however be instruments of God’s righteousness; playing a symphony to the world to draw it after Him and His righteousness. We are no longer dead in our sins. We are alive from the dead, and our members are His instruments to be played to the world. Sin is not our master. We are willing servants of the Most High God serving in His grace.

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

            "You are alive, My children, in Me. I am your Way. I am your Truth. I am your Life. There is salvation in no one else; for I have been designated by God to be the only way to reach Him. It is not through what you do or accomplish for Me. It is through My blood and My sacrifice. There is no other way to Him but through Me. You are My gift to Him. I have given Him the perfect gift. It came through My blood and My sacrifice. He is My all, and He is your all. There is no other way to come into the Kingdom, but through Me. That is the way of grace. You can’t earn it. You can’t buy it. It is a free gift from the Father through Me. There is Life in no one else but Me. Advance in My grace and you will advance in My Father’s Kingdom.”

            97. I am not under law but under grace. I am dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. I will no longer serve sin, but rather serve God in His righteousness.