Friday, June 8, 2012

God holds the destiny of your future

God is in the Destiny-Altering and Reputation-Changing business. Do you sometimes feel that through poor choices you have squandered your opportunities to live the life you once dreamed of? Is your life full of guilt and regret? Do you sometimes wish you could turn the clock back and start over?

Unfortunately, you can't relive your past. But your past does not have to determine your future . Turn your future over to God and He can turn it around. He can alter your destiny and change your reputation. Just consider Jacob, the “deceiver,” who cheated his brother Esau out of his birthright. Later, however, he wrestled with God, who changed his name to Israel, “prince of God”,  and who made him the father of the nation that bore his name. Then there's Moses, a murderer and fugitive in the desert whose destiny was altered at a burning bush. His encounter with God changed him into a deliverer who freed a nation from slavery.

Do you feel like you have messed up your life? God can straighten things out and set you on the right road. There is no sin so great that God's grace is not greater still. No hole so deep that God's love cannot reach you and pull you out. Remember that one day of favor can be worth more than a lifetime of labor. At the same time, one day of favor can change a lifetime of mistakes, bad choices and missed opportunities .

Fortunately failure does not disqualify us from enjoying the love and favor of God. Often we fail to realize our full potential because we don't understand the full range of what God has placed within us. The story of the entire Bible is the record of God's plan and efforts to reverse that failure. God could have written us off and started over. But He didn't. He loves us. He created us in His image. That's a lot of potential in Him and through Him, and He is determined to see us through and fulfill it. God's grace and favor bases on relationship and our fellowship with Him not on anything we do or fail to do. We all have failed to fulfill our God-given potential, but God never gives up on us!. What dreams and desires has God planted in your heart? He wants to see you achieve them or He wouldn't have placed them there.

God chose you for the potential He placed in you. He keeps you because of His passionate love for you. He loves us so much that He can't stand to have us out of His sight! This means He will never abandon you. He will never give up on you. He will never rest until He elevates you into the fullness of the person He created you to be. Don't settle for less than the best. Be all that you can be!

Sound scary? Take heart from this promise: “You are My servant, I have chosen you and have not cast you away: Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.”

What dreams and desires has God planted in your heart? He wants to see you achieve them or He wouldn't have placed them there. As He did with Esther, God has a unique and special destiny for you; He has something in mind that only you can do. It doesn't matter how many times you have failed. God's plan and destiny for you never change. No matter where you are in your life, He can help you become what He has always wanted you to be.

Don't let the shame or discouragement of your past rob you of your future. Turn to the One who can alter your destiny and change your reputation. Let God turn you around!
Father, I know I have made a lot of bad choices. I've messed up my life in many ways. But now I'm turning it over to You. Take control of my life and my destiny. Turn me around and set me on the road to the destiny You have always had for me. Let my life be a testimony to Your transforming power.

Father, I am truly amazed at how You can love me so passionately, especially when I've failed you and let you down so many times. Show me who I truly am in You. Stir in my spirit the dream and destiny you have planted there. Help me move forward toward becoming all I can be in You.
Lord, thank You for welcoming me into Your house. Thank You for forgiving my sins and changing my life. Forgive me for judging or ranking others by human standards.
I am eternally grateful to You for all that You have done for me, but I want to move beyond that level. I want to enter the heart of worship
Father, You are awesome and beautiful beyond description. My God, my Father, my Creator, my Sustainer, my Provider, my Healer, my Redeemer and my Friend, I love You. You are worthy of all praise and glory and honor and power and wisdom and riches and strength! Your Name is above all other names. Your mercy is so great and Your love is so deep. I exalt You!

In my Father's Love,
Joel Harahap