11For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. Jer29:11
God has a good plan, a Promised Land, a destination, a dream, an assignment for everyone of us but given the fact that He has a plan you does not mean that you are ready for it. A process precedes the fulfilment of the promise. That process may be long, short and/or arduous, tortuous; the road may be rough, depending on the responsibilities/calling required or privileges bestowed by the promise. For Joseph the promise came when he was only 13 years of age and it wasn’t until he was 30 did he begin to enter the Promised Land. God had to take him through various scenarios and put him through various tests before he was ready to wear the mantle of the Glory land- the Land flowing with milk and honey.
Speak To Me Speak Through Me
I planned and created you for My pleasure. Your birth gave Me pleasure. I was there. The moment gave Me such a thrill. I was overjoyed, glad that at last that which was on My mind has been made manifest. There was a broad smile on My face.
Your parents may not have planned for you, but I planned for you. In fact they did all they could to abort you, but it was to no avail. I had My way because of the purpose I had in mind for you. You were on my mind even before creation began. I had great expectation for the day you would manifest.
I knew you would be born in sin, but I took care of that by sending My Son ahead of you to take your sin away at Calvary. And He who did not sin became your substitute, your sin-bearer, your ‘gap-bridger’ and your Redeemer. In the fullness of time the scales fell off your eyes and you realised you were a sinner lost without Christ. You then took a step of faith and invited My Son into your life. And the Sun rose in your life, the stone was rolled away and the dead came back to life. You had a New Beginning . There was joy in heaven and a great, great party. Celebration was in motion because of your salvation.
As a babe in Christ, you needed milk and constant attention, provision and protection. I fed you and shielded you from harm and gave you time to find your feet in Me. You drank of My water of life and grew taller, stronger and wiser. You also drank of My Holy Wine which birth the revelation of Me and the purpose of your life. I bragged of you as you gave me pleasure. But the adversary of your soul was jealous. He said, ‘Remove the hedge and see how he will disgrace you to Your face.’ I had confidence in you, so I removed the hedge and all hell broke loose. Trials tribulations and tempest, became pests, they flew in to your life like arrows from all corners. It looked as though I was far away or abandoned you, but I was as close as ever.
As you waged war with the word you waxed stronger and stronger. Thus together we used the weapon of your enemy against him like a boomerang.
Through your suffering you learned obedience, endurance and patience. The outward man wasted away but the inward man was being renewed day by day. After the breaking, the proving, and pruning, I stopped the hands of the trespasser and birth blessings and breakthroughs from your battles.
And so some of the promises which you had been praying for were granted- not in your own tine but in My time. Nevertheless, some other promises remain unfulfilled. I have shown you a glimpse of the Promised Land- My plans and purposes for your life.
You know you are unique, with a unique purpose, destiny and assignment. There is only one of you. No one can do your work as you. I desire passionately that you enter your Promised Land- the land flowing with mild and honey. When you spied the land you also saw the giant grapes and giants in the land.
Why would I be leading you into a land where there were giant?
Was Jesus not led into the desert by the Holy Spirit to be tempted by the devil?
Was Joseph not sold as a slave into Potiphar’s house to be tempted of Potiphar’s wife and then sent to jail?
Was Paul not allowed to persecute the early Church and thus drive himself closer to Me with each atrocity committed against the Church?
Was Paul himself not visited by pressure on all fronts, hardships, imprisonments and yet the writer of 13 best sellers of all time?
All things work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His original intension. So in my wisdom I have left the giants. Let their presence fuel faith and not fear. The just shall live by faith. Put on the whole armour of God and stand in the evil day. The weapons of your warfare are not man made. They have divine potency to destroy all the power and strategies of your adversary. The battle is not your s but the Lord’s. Go in the name of the Lord. He has gone before you to make every crooked straight. His angels are round about you. They have been given charge over you. And no weapon formed, forged, fashioned against you will prosper or prevail. No, in all these things, you are more than a conqueror.
With the helmet of salvation cover your mind against every evil insinuations of your enemy. Think only on those things that are pure, lovely true , admirable, just, of good report, praise worthy, peaceful. Mind your mind. Put on the belt of truth to expose and expunge every lie of the father of lies. Continue in the word, know the truth and let it set you free. Be not ensnared by the trickery of the enemy of your life.
Put on the shoes of the Gospel of peace, demonstrating your readiness to testify of the goodness of the Lord and the power of the Gospel. Take the shield of faith with which to quench every flaming arrow of your adversary. Take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, to slash every diabolical tree or offspring that is not of God in your life. Take the breastplate of righteousness, affirming your right standing with God – not on the basis of what you have done but on the basis of the finished work on Calvary’s Cross.
And having done all, stand and pray without ceasing with all kinds of prayers. Stand to see your salvation.
Sanbalath and Tobias may oppose, but stand!
Those around you may conspire, dump you into a pit, prison or fiery burning furnace or even the lion’s den but you shall come out with a testimony. You will come out better and not bitter.
Like Jehosephat, the conspiracy against you shall result in your enemies fighting themselves and leaving a blessing for you to collect for a long, long time. The harder they come, the stronger you will become. And the harder they’ll fall. Their obstacles will be a stepping stone and launching pad for your lift up and promotion. Your setback will be a platform for a great comeback. Your face will not be covered with shame as you put your trust in Me and refuse to cast way your confidence. Through your ridicules, miracles will come. and through your opposition, promotion will come. In the name of Jesus your purpose shall be fulfilled.
God is delighted to have you as His child. He had you in mind before you came into being. He is committed to you through thick and thin regardless of what you face in your Race of Grace.
In this series we shall be looking at various tests that God confronts us with in order to get us ready to enter and enjoy the Promised Land.
Joseph, a young man of seventeen, was tending the flocks with his brothers, the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father's wives, and he brought their father a bad report about them.
3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than any of his other sons, because he had been born to him in his old age; and he made a richly ornamented robe for him. 4 When his brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them, they hated him and could not speak a kind word to him.
5 Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him all the more. 6 He said to them, "Listen to this dream I had: 7 We were binding sheaves of grain out in the field when suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright, while your sheaves gathered around mine and bowed down to it."
8 His brothers said to him, "Do you intend to reign over us? Will you actually rule us?" And they hated him all the more because of his dream and what he had said.
9 Then he had another dream, and he told it to his brothers. "Listen," he said, "I had another dream, and this time the sun and moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me."
10 When he told his father as well as his brothers, his father rebuked him and said, "What is this dream you had? Will your mother and I and your brothers actually come and bow down to the ground before you?" 11 His brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the matter in mind. Gen37:
