“For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.” Romans 8:29-30 (King James Version)
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very child of God is a child of destiny; every child of God has an end in mind; every child of God has an expected end, and every child of God has a plan with God (Roman 8:29-30). And the plan was not at arrival but was predestined. God pre-designed you before your arrival (Jeremiah 1: 5). Before any individual is formed, God has a pre-knowledge of that individual. God says “I knew you and knew what I have created you to be” before you were fashioned in your mother’s womb. There is therefore an expectation in the mind of God concerning every believer. God has organised your arrival; He planned your future before you came. This is the mystery of predestination. God knows the thought that He has toward you (Jeremiah 29:11), and those thoughts are of good and not of evil, to bring you to an expected end. And the expectations are higher than what any individual can concur. God says in Isaiah 55: 8-11 that “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.” God is saying, “My plans are higher than your plans; My agenda is higher than your agenda. No matter how high you may have thought, My thoughts are higher by the same distance that heaven is higher than the earth.” There is nothing you can plan that can match God’s plan. There is nothing you can put together that can match that of God’s plan for you or for me. However a plan that is not revealed is of no use.
Therefore God unveils His plan to us. In the plans of God, young men shall see visions and old men shall dream dreams (Joel 2:28). The vision and the plans of God for our lives are only accessible by the Holy Spirit who unpacks them for us. The Spirit of God searches the deep things of God (1 Corinthians 2:10), and unveils to us the mind, the intentions and the purposes of God. Where there is no vision, people perish; destinies are scattered, and potentials are tattered. Without the Holy Spirit, destiny and potential are frustrated. The Holy Spirit therefore becomes the most important tool to enjoy and fulfil destiny on the earth. Nothing is more important than the Holy Spirit after salvation; His ministry makes your salvation have meaning. The Holy Spirit guides you into all truth and show all things that are to come (John 16:12-14). This is for you not to live by assumption or be someone who does not know what tomorrow holds. No matter how much scripture you know or quote, without the Holy Spirit you will be confused. The devil cannot manipulate what the Holy Spirit shows you because the Holy Spirit is in charge of tomorrow. Nothing in life flourishes or becomes colourful without the Holy Spirit. At best, life is left to assumption and the caprices of life’s variables – economic, social, and spiritual - without the Holy Spirit. He is our greatest asset in the race of destiny. For any destiny to become colourful, you must be in charge of the unseen (2 Corinthian 4:18). It is those that can see the ‘unseeable’ that can last on the earth.
In the current economic crises, there are many individuals who went from millionaires to paupers. These people couldn’t see some things, and went from ‘heroes’ to ‘zeros’ and from the top to bottom due to one calamity. Why? It is because the one who is in charge – The Holy Spirit – is not their partner. The Holy Spirit is the one that can give you the association to secure your tomorrow. The Holy Spirit is the one that empowers your obedience to the will of God. When the Holy Spirit comes, every other thing works.
How does the Holy Spirit help to fulfil destiny? 1. The Holy Spirit unveils the plans and the vision of God for us (Joel 2:28). The mind of God is in the custody of the Holy Spirit. He searches the deep things of God. We have the mind of God because the Holy Spirit is with us (1 Corinthians 2:15-16). Life is a bunch of celebration when it is lived by direction but life is a bunch of frustration when it is lived by assumption. You cannot fulfil what you are not aware of.
3. The Holy Spirit enforces restoration. With the Holy Spirit, there are no permanent losses. When the enemy took everything that belonged to David, God caused him to recover all, with interest. David captured his goods back with spoils. Nothing was missing. Those things that look like battle are the avenue of restoration for you. Whatever you may think you have lost, the enemy is only holding it to give it back with interest (1 Samuel 30). Men can restore things but only God can restore years. God has promised to restore the years that the enemy has stolen (Joel 2: 23-25). The last days are the days of restoration of all things. A family had waited for a child for 10 years and the man of the house appeared tired of waiting. The man sent the wife to America to be alone to pray, and also for him to have time to pray on his own. The man needed focus to settle the matter once and for all. By the time the wife arrived in the US, she was confirmed pregnant with quadruplets – four babies – and she later delivered them one by one. God restored to the couple all the children they would have had in 10 years, all at once!
4. The Holy Spirit sanctifies us. Without Him 2. The Holy Spirit shed the love of God abroad in our hearts (Romans 5:5). When the love of God is operational in any life, all things work together for good (Romans 8:28). You become a sign and a wonder on the earth. All things only work together in the lives of those that love Him, not for everybody. All thing work together for good for those who love Him up to unimaginable heights (1 Corinthians 2:910). This dimension of love is not natural; it is only empowered by the Holy Spirit.
there can be no true sanctification (1 Corinthians 6:9-11). The Holy Spirit helps you to live above sin. Without holiness, no man shall see God. The Spirit of God is the spirit of holiness; He writes the law of God on your heart, and is the one that says “No” when you are about to take a wrong step. The Holy Spirit keeps you guided in the so-called grey areas of life. Because of the nature of God in you, the Holy Spirit guides you to make the right choice. God puts His Spirit in you so that you can walk in His statutes and do them (Ezekiel 36:27).
Empowerment for the Fulfilment of Destiny It is one thing to locate the plan of God; it is another thing to fulfil it. The Holy Spirit not only helps you to locate the vision but also helps you to actualise it (Habakkuk 2:1-3). The Holy Spirit keeps you at the centre of God’s plan at all points and ensures you don’t miss God’s plan for your life. Jesus warned His disciples not to go to preach yet until they were empowered by the Holy Spirit (Luke 24-49). Otherwise their mission would have ended up in frustration.
The Advantages of Being in at the Centre of God’ Plan 1. God goes before you. The good Shepherd goes ahead of His sheep (John 10:45). The Holy Spirit makes the crooked places straight (Isaiah 45:1-3). The steps He asks you to take today, He has already been there yesterday to prepare the place before your get there. What God tells you today, He finished yesterday. And when God goes before you, you become irresistible. When God is going anywhere, gates and doors open (Psalm 24:7). By the time you arrive the door has been opened for you; because God got there before you. When the door is opened by God, no devil can shut it. When you go your own way, you clear the obstacles yourself but when it is God that sent you, He does the clearing Himself and nothing can stand in His way.
where He has sent you. When God gives. you an instruction, it would be lack of wisdom to think you have a better idea. In Deuteronomy 31:8, Moses spoke to Joshua not to be fearful as God has chosen him. God said He would put the dread of the children of Israel in the heart of the enemy. And an enemy who is already dreadful is defeated already. In the same way, when God said there would be abundance of food, He had already gone ahead of the helpless lepers to make their footsteps amplified and worrisome to the Syrian Army which later fled with nothing. 2. God goes with you. When you are carrying out God’s tasks, He is with you always. When the apostles were sent on assignment, God was with them. Moses craved the presence of God (Exodus33:11) and God gave him rest. God was also with Paul and he was not afraid. Real confidence is in divine presence. When God is with you, anxiety dies. A man backed by the Word cannot be opposed by the world. 3. God works with you. God worked with the disciples because He sent them (Mark 16:20). Nothing is more frustrating
than working and not seeing the rewards. It is God that gives increase.
There is no fruitful endeavour in the life of a believer that can be seen without the involvement of God. It is not by might or power but by the facilitation of the Spirit of God (Zechariah 4:6). Power will fail; might will suffer; When God said “go,” He has left where skill will not be enough but the Spirit you are and is waiting for you to get to of God is what guarantees victory. There
is a point where man stops and God starts. When you are in the centre of God’s plan ,you enjoy fruitfulness.
4. God works through you. (Phillipians 2:13) God also help individuals by walking through them. You are no more operating by natural ability but by God’s ability (1 Corinthians 15:10). No divine agenda can be fulfilled through physical ability. God has given everyone grace according to the gift of Christ (Ephesians 4:7). You may look at yourself as weak but there is grace to match every assignment that God has given you.
5. God works for you. Faithful is he that called you who also will do it (1 Thessalonians 5:5; 24). When God assigns you to a task, He doesn’t leave you to struggle on your own. He calls you and works for you. When God does it for you, it is marvellous, and cannot be naturally explained. It might sound difficult but with God it happens with ease. We have a perfect example in the building of the 50,000 seat Faith Tabernacle in Ota, Nigeria – without a pre-budget, debt or foreign aid. The same is true for when the facility here at Dartford was bought.
How the Holy Spirit empowers us to fulfil God’s plan 1. The Holy Spirit reveals what is written of us. The Bible carries the picture of God concerning us. We are changing to match what God has written. if you don’t know
who you are, you can be slaughtered any day. The Holy Spirit is what leads you to what God has written about you (Mark 4:11). Without the Holy Spirit, Bible reading will be confusing. Even Jesus needed the Holy Spirit. Some packages of heaven will not be realised until they are found by the power of the Holy Spirit. 2. The Holy Spirit reveals the Word needed to handle the issues of life. God’s Word is God’s method of operation through which He performs deliverances, liberty and promotions. He also gives us the right Word (Job 6: 25) and the Word in season (Isaiah 50:4). The Holy Spirit shows you the way out by giving you the right Word to have the right responses to situations. You need to have the right Word for every situation. Barriers can only stop you when there is no relevant light. 3. The Holy Spirit reveals the relevant secrets for the fulfilment of destiny. Destinies are made by secrets. Secrets were the keys to Daniel’s promotion and also to Joseph’s elevation in Egypt. The deep things of God are only made available by the Holy Spirit.
Anointing broke the yoke of allergy - Mrs Lolu A. I want to thank God for preserving the lives of two family friends that were involved in a crash. Also I had an allergic reaction for almost 12 years and I reacted to almost anything that I ate, and it got to a point that I got used to it and did not bother to pray about it anymore. I heard Bishop David Oyedepo say that I cannot be afflicted because I have been translated, and that my life shall not disgrace the Blood of Jesus. During last month Anointing service, I believed God and since then, I stopped scratching my body and I have not been reacting to food. Praise the Lord. Unfavourable decision turnaround Last year my daughter passed the 11+ selection examination for secondary schools. We believed God that she would join her siblings in a grammar school. In December, we made the decision that my daughter will stay with my husband in Nigeria to complete her primary school and will return to the UK in July 2013 to prepare to start secondary school. On my return to the UK, I informed the school that she would not return until July. We did not receive a letter offering her admission as expected but instead we were informed that her application had been withdrawn since she was no longer in the country. We pleaded and even offered to bring her back but the Council refused. I was told that even if she was brought back to the UK she would need to fill a new application, and it would be down to the schools whether to offer her admission. I contacted her first choice, and was told there was no place for her there as the school was over-subscribed. We then decided that my daughter would apply later in Year 8 but we were being given discouraging information about spaces. However we trusted God to create a space for her and I tied this request to the Jerusalem Invasion Project (Church outreach program). My daughter then started to prepare for the examinations for Year 8. She also took a common entrance examination to secondary schools in Nigeria and she passed. As my daughter was preparing to join us for the summer vacation in July, I prayed and felt the urge to try one more time. I was advised to go back to the school as I still had the right to appeal, which I wasn’t told before. I contacted two grammar
schools and at the same time I spoke to Pastor Nicholas Udoh who prayed with me and congratulated me on the outcome of the applications. Both schools turned down our application but one of them gave us an appeal date in August when we were not in the country. However our God represented us at the appeal and to the glory of God, we won. My daughter now attends one of the best grammar schools in Kent. Praise the Lord. Serving God is a big business - Adetokunbo A. At the beginning of 2013, Bishop David Oyedepo declared that this year is our year of Double Portion - which would be fully realised by soul-winning. I therefore took soul-winning as my personal business and my own business as secondary. God did the following for me: 33 years ago my family relocated back to Nigeria during the oil boom. Recently I wanted to come back to the UK and when I went to the British consulate, some people had already given me bad reports and I was told I had stayed too long in Nigeria. They asked for documents going back to many years and I was able to produce it. The first miracle I received was that the fee for the application was reduced. Within two months, my British passport was delivered. I also thank God for the Prayer Banquet Card (Card for monthly prayer requests); everything I had put in it since the month of July has been delivered. I thank God. My double portion has become a reality - Elsie E I return the glory to God for confirming His Word in my life. God gave us a word that He would establish us in this land. I made an application to the Home Office in a category that I wasn’t qualified for and I was refused – because according to them I had applied when my previous ‘Leave to Remain’ had expired. I started rejoicing and thanking God because He diverted their attention from the original reason why I wasn’t qualified, and they gave me a reason I could easily challenge. I had applied within 28 days of the previous expiry, which is acceptable within their law. After a Jerusalem Invasion Project (Church outreach Program), I met Pastor David on his way out and I handed him the refusal letter and asked him to reverse the decision. He declared: “Favour answers to this application in Jesus Name.” I stated rejoicing because I knew that God will confirm the words of His servant. I made another application and I also sowed a seed. By His favour, I did not have to pay again for the fresh application. My application has now been approved and returned to me. Also, my friend in the US contacted me and asked that I become the distributor for her products in the UK, which I have started doing and my income has increased. My double portion has become a reality. To God be all the glory.
God’s angels arrested burglars and nothing was lost. - Tunde D My family and I have been staying with a family friend in London during the week as we are moving from Luton to Kent. Our children have moved to schools in Kent and we have been going back to Luton of Fridays during this transition period. I returned to Luton a fortnight ago with my son and we discovered that our house had been burgled while we were away. I informed my wife immediately and she said: “We are tithers; this year there shall be no loss.” We keyed into the prophetic declaration by the Presiding Bishop, Dr David Oyedepo at the beginning of the year that there shall be no loss for us this year. The Police had come around and carried out their investigations. While at the evangelism rally in Dartford, I received a call from the estate agent who manages our house and the next house which has been vacant for some time. The gentleman informed me that new owner of the house that is next us which has just been bought couldn’t get in and they had called the police who broke down the door. Lo and behold, the police found in the house next to us, two men who had broken into our house a week before, sitting there, with all our properties. I am here to thank God that nothing is lost; the angels of the Lord arrested these two burglars and kept them there until police came to find them. Praise God! Convert delivered from mental illness and smoking after meeting Jesus - Brenda K. I met a sister in Dartford during the Jerusalem Invasion Project (Church outreach program) and she gave her life to Christ. I followed her up and found out that she was a patient in a mental hospital. I asked her to get permission to come to church and she did two weeks ago. This sister had been a chain smoker for many years and she asked us to pray for her to leave the mental unit as she believed that she had been healed. Initially she was told she couldn’t leave the hospital but she called me later that she had been given a discharge date and was reuniting with her family. I visited this sister again and prayed with her to receive help to quit smoking. After the prayer she said she had quit smoking. She has now been discharged from hospital and she would be coming back to church. Glory be to God. Job kept waiting for me– Michael Toure I had been jobless for a while and kept thanking God and praising Him for a breakthrough. I was later called for an interview during the time I was travelling abroad. I informed the interviewer that I was travelling and he said, “If the job is for you, the job will be waiting for you.” I travelled as planned and when I came back, I was told I should come and start work. I give glory to God.