Today we continue our series entitled “Destiny’s Child – You Are Not a Mistake!” For the past few days, we have been looking at Philippians 2:13. I have been driving home the fact that God gives us both the desire and the power to do what He has called us to do. I like to teach by both precept and example. So today we will look at some examples of this from scripture.
(Phil 2:13 NLT)
For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.
(Phil 2:13 ERV)
Yes, it is God who is working in you. He helps you want to do what pleases him, and he gives you the power to do it.
So what does this mean for you today? A few things.
1. God gave Abraham the desire and the power.
Abram was an idol worshipper who lived in Ur of the Chaldeans. He did nothing to earn to deserve the divine call of God on his life. God chose to call him, to make his name great, and to bless all the families of the earth through him. For this to happen, God had to help Abram develop a desire for the things He desires for his life. God did. Over time, God’s call became the driving force behind all Abram did.
24 years after accepting the call, Abram (then Abraham) did not have any of the promised children with his wife Sarah. Abraham and Sarah had the desire, but they were past childbearing age and Sarah had never been able to conceive. This is where God gave them the power. When Abraham was about 100 years old and his wife was 90 years old, they had Isaac, the promised child, and the legacy was manifested through him. God gave them the desire and they lived with the desire, but if God had not given them the power, they would have died unfilled. Thank God for both!
2. God gave Gideon the desire and the power.
Gideon was a scared farmer during a time when Israel was under siege. He had low self-esteem. He saw himself as the weakest man from the weakest clan in all of Israel. But God was calling him to lead a revolution against the occupying force. God told Gideon that he was a “mighty man of valor.” Gideon could not see it at first. Gideon did not see himself as a warrior and he had no desire to fight. God had to work with Gideon to first build up the DESIRE to fight and He then gave Gideon the power to do it.
Once Gideon had the desire from God, he would certainly need the power from God, because God was going to lead Gideon into one of the most lopsided victories in all of combat history. Gideon led 300 men gainst about 135,000 men, and since God was with Gideon, it was not even a fair fight. Thank God for giving us both the desire and the power!
3. God gave Peter and Paul the desire and the power.
God called Paul, the most educated Apostle in the Law of Moses, to preach the Gospel to Gentiles who knew nothing about the Law. God called Peter, an uneducated man who was a fisherman by trade, to preach the Gospel to the most learned men of his time. Let’s talk about it.
Peter was raised as Simon. By the time he met Jesus, he was known as Simon the Fisherman. He was an Israelite who ran a fishing business. He was not part of the Jewish religious elite. He was not educated in The Law. He was not part of the Jewish religious crowd. But was a blue-collar, hard-working, entrepreneur. God called this man to lead the New Testament church. First, God had to build a desire in Peter’s heart to fish for men instead of fish. Once he did, God had to grace Peter to get it done. Peter was a hot-head. He often spoke ‘out of turn,’ and when he opened his mouth, he often said the wrong things.
Paul was raised as Saul of Tarsus. He was being groomed to be part of the Jewish religious elite from a young age. He studied under Israel’s greatest teacher of the Law at the time, Gamaliel. Pharisees of the Pharisees mentored him. Once he was old enough, he fought against the cause of Christ. He had Christians imprisoned, stoned, burned at the stake, and eaten alive by wild animals in coliseums. He was part of the who’s who within the Jewish community. This is the man God chose to preach the Gospel to non-Jews and to write half the New Testament. Obviously, God had to build a desire in his heart to do so.
Peter did not know anything about the educated crowd, and God called him to minister to them. Paul had spent his entire life preparing to be part of that Jewish educated crowd, and God called him to minister to people who could care less about The Law of Moses. In both cases, God had to give them the desire (first), and the power to do what He was calling them to do.
4. God gives you the desire and the power by His grace.
— God made plans for you before the world began. He made those plans by His unearned grace. You did nothing to earn them and you can do nothing to disqualify yourself from them. Once you open your heart to God’s best, He will give you both the desire and the power to do what He birthed you to do.
— The best idea you can ever have is to live your life based on God’s idea for you. If you ever get to the point where you believe what God believes about you, you will tap into God’s grace and He will do, through you, things you never imagined, and it will be all for His glory!
*** The day you choose to die to self will be the day you truly start living.
*** When you die to self, you die to your limits, and God is free to do what He wants to do in, with, and through your life!
That’s enough for today.
Declaration of Faith:
Father, this is a season of LEVELING UP for me. I LEVEL UP by believing what You believe about me. All I want is what You want for me. All I desire is what You desire for me; what You planned before the world began. Thank You, Father, for giving me both the desire and the power to do what You have called me to do. I die to sin. I die to self. I die to selfishness. I die to my limits. My life is all about You! You are free to do, through me, what You desire. GREATER IS COMING FOR ME! I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name, Amen!
This is Today’s Word! Apply it and Prosper.
