Stepping into You Destiny
Dick Leggatt, President of Derek Prince Ministries – USA and this comprises his June 9, 2016 Newsletter. Click here to receive the Derek Prince Ministries emailed E-devotional.
Do you believe you have a God-given destiny? That the LORD has great plans and purposes for your life?
At times, have you lost hope of reaching those goals? Hampered by the harassment of the adversary from moving forward into all that God has for you?
I trust the biblical story highlighted in this letter will spark a ray of hope in you. It might inspire you to move ahead with greater determination to reach the purpose for which the LORD has called you. This could be your time to step boldly into your destiny in God.
A Warfare Prayer
While traveling recently in Ohio, I had dinner with dear friends whose children we have known since they were infants. In the course of our conversation, they talked about some of the trials their teenage daughter was encountering. She was facing intense peer pressure, struggling to find and maintain her identity, battling discouragement and depression — even to the point of contemplating suicide.
Clearly, there was a battle going on for the life and destiny of this precious young girl. As they were recounting all her struggles, I knew it was time to pray.
We clasped hands around the dinner table and began to intercede for her. At one point in our prayer time, I felt prompted to quote the following words from Zechariah 3:2 to confront the enemy who was attacking this girl: “The LORD rebuke you, Satan! The LORD who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is this not a brand plucked from the fire?”
Instinctively, I knew that the adversary was doing everything within his power to nullify the wonderful destiny God has for this young girl — and that had to stop!
The Destiny Process
The words of that verse from Zechariah remind us that the process of coming into our destiny in God does not happen without a struggle. Sometimes you and I have to fight our way into the victories God promises for our lives and the lives of our loved ones.
Those words quoted from Zechariah 3:2 were first applied to the situation facing Joshua, the high priest. Not the Joshua who walked with Moses, but the Joshua who labored with Zerubbabel and Haggai in the rebuilding of the temple that took place from 520 B.C. to 515 B.C. It is worth looking at this entire passage, Zechariah 3:1–5, for some helpful inspiration regarding the battle we face to reach our potential in God.
- Point One: God has plucked you and me from the fire. Why? Because He has a purpose for each of us — a destiny we are to fulfill.
- Point Two: God has His eye on us. Verse 5 says: “And the Angel of the LORD [usually agreed upon by scholars as an Old Testament reference to Jesus Christ] stood by.” Jesus has His eye on us, watching over the destiny process for our lives.
- Point Three: We sometimes fail and falter. Verse 3 says Joshua was standing before the LORD in filthy clothes, symbolizing the sin which trips us up as we walk through life. James 3:2 provides a terse summary of this reality: “For we all stumble in many things.”
- Point Four: Satan also has his eye on us. Whenever we fail or fall, the enemy is right there to accuse us, as we see clearly in verse 1: “…and Satan standing at his [Joshua’s] right hand to oppose him.” The Amplified says: “to be his adversary and to accuse him.”
- Point Five: Jesus renews us in our calling. T he clean robes and turban placed upon Joshua in verses 4 and 5 mirror the truth of 1 John 1:9: “He [Jesus Christ] is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Jesus puts new robes and a clean turban on us — restoring us to our full stature in Him.
Help for Your Struggle
Back to our questions at the beginning of this letter. Are you struggling to move forward into the destiny God has for your life? Has failure or opposition caused you to give up the pursuit of His calling for you? Does the story of Joshua in Zechariah 3 inspire you to renew your quest to fulfill God’s purpose?
In a magnificent teaching series about “finding our place,” Derek Prince focused on the importance of our calling. In a message titled Your Calling Is Holy, Derek shared about God’s unique plan for each of us.
All calling depends on God’s grace, not our ability. I want to give you this assurance — that God knows you better than you know yourself. He calls you to do what He knows He can enable you to do — provided you depend on His grace. Not on your own ability.
Every time we begin to depend on our own ability, we get into trouble. Do you know that?
A glorious fact about our calling is that the purpose and grace of God was given us in Christ before time began. Can your mind conceive that? Before there was a world — before God created anything — He knew you. And in Christ, He had a plan for you before the world started.
See how important you are? Nothing grieves me more than to hear Christians talk about themselves as unimportant or insignificant. There is no such thing as an insignificant Christian. Every one of us is vitally important.
God has a special plan and a purpose for every one of us. And it started in eternity. If you go to Romans chapter 8, you will find out three things that took place in eternity in relation to you:
First of all, God foreknew you.
Secondly, He chose you.
Third, He predestined you. (That means He worked out the course that your life was to take.)
What I want to tell you is that you are not an accident looking for somewhere to happen. Have you grasped that? I think it would be good if we all said that: “I am not an accident looking for somewhere to happen.”
Proclaiming Our Purpose
I hope you shouted out that last statement: “I am not an accident looking for somewhere to happen!” Sometimes, as pointed out earlier, we have to fight our way into the destiny the LORD has for each of us. Without a doubt, proclamation is one of the mightiest weapons to use in that battle.
From what we have shared so far, are you prepared to take a bold step to affirm God’s calling for you? If you are ready, let’s do it together right now with the following proclamation and prayer.
LORD, I know You have plucked me out of the fire of the culture around me. You have a redemptive purpose for my life. I also know that the adversary is working overtime to prevent me from coming into the fullness of Your plan for me.
I confess that at various times, through my own disobedience and sin, I have failed and messed up the process of fulfilling Your purpose for my life. I come to You now in total honesty and transparency, feeling like I’m wearing the same filthy garments as Joshua. Forgive me, LORD, for allowing my own sin and the accusation of the enemy to deter me from my destiny in You.
I know You are watching over me. Even now, Your eyes are upon me — not in condemnation, but with every intention to cleanse me and renew Your calling in me. By faith, I receive new robes — the righteousness provided me through Your shed blood on the cross. I bow my head before You to receive a clean turban — the renewal of my calling as Your follower.
By faith, I renounce the accusations of the enemy which have held me back. I am not an accident — I am a brand plucked from the fire. I take a bold step into Your plans and purposes for me as a child of the King.
I will mark this day as the beginning of a new season in my life — step one in a fresh start to fulfill Your destiny for me. Amen.
Remember This Day
The prayer you and I have just proclaimed together represents a very significant moment in our lives. Let’s allow it to soak in for a few minutes. Like Joshua in the passage we cited, we have received from the LORD Himself a new set of robes and a clean turban — renewing our calling in Him. Truly, we ought to mark this day on the calendar — the beginning of a new season of life-changing direction for the rest of our lives.
For all of us at DPM–USA, it is such a privilege to know that we are linking arms with you in your walk of faith. We want to hear from you, and we want to help in every possible way. One of our greatest joys is providing reliable materials to help you grow in each season of your relationship with Jesus Christ.
Please take us up on the offer we are presenting here: a free mp3 of Your Calling Is Holy, the message from which Derek’s excerpt was taken. It is a comprehensive look at God’s calling — solid instruction that answers a lot of life’s questions. Please feel free also to share it with others who may not be familiar with Derek’s life-shaping teaching.
A Renewed Quest
As I close this letter, I want to thank you for your partnership with us in this work. Through your intercession for DPM, as well as your generous financial provision, we are able to continue this ministry with strength and effectiveness. Your love and generosity are touching the lives of many, many people — helping them build a solid foundation based upon the Word of God.
Laying a solid foundation has always been the goal of Derek Prince’s teaching, and you are making that a reality in the lives of Christians all around the world. We — and they — simply can’t thank you enough for your help.
Now it’s time to affirm the important step we have taken today. You and I have begun a new season. We have embarked upon a renewed quest to affirm and fulfill our calling as followers of Jesus Christ.
This letter represents a wonderful fresh start for us — based upon specific, intentional actions on our part. And what are those actions? Pushing aside the accusation of the enemy and stepping into our destiny in God.
All the best,
Dick Leggatt
President, DPM–USA
P.S. We thank the LORD for your partnership in all that is happening worldwide through DPM. You are a tremendous blessing to us! Please don’t forget to download Derek’s message, Your Calling Is Holy.
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Materials used by kind permission of Derek Prince Ministries.