How to Fulfill Your Divine Destiny

Millions wake up each morning and go about their day without a sense of purpose for their life. Today is the day for a new start.

Each day when you get in your vehicle, you do so with a destination in mind. When you begin cooking, you have a mental picture of what you are going to make. While picking up your phone, you know what apps you are going to open. Every day, all of us have a sense of direction for ourselves in the different tasks we do. But the sad part is, when it comes to our overall lives, many have no direction. Millions wake up each morning and go about their day without a sense of purpose for their life.

This is not of God. He did not make us that way. Look at creation. It speaks of something entirely different. Every January 1st there is new year. Each Sunday is the start of a new week and there is a new sunrise each day.

Today is the day for a new start.

Are you living out your Divine Destiny? When Jeremiah was a teenager, while he was still determining a sense of direction for himself like other youth, God spoke to him, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.” (Jeremiah 1:4-5)

Then there was Mary. As she going about her day and still unsure of her life’s direction God spoke through an angel, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.” (Luke 1:30-31)

Jesus said these words to a Roman ruler shortly before He was crucified, “You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth.” (John 18:37)

Jeremiah and Mary, like Jesus, lived with a sense of their Divine Destiny. And there are millions of others that live the same, yet sadly millions more live aimlessly. They wake up and go about the course of their day, without an overall sense of the Divine or any direction. They are not heading anywhere; just living. And there are others, that do have a sense of direction. They wake up with purpose. They set goals. However, they have no sense of the Divine because they are self-guided, self-improved and self-made. Consequently, without realizing it the direction they are headed is off course.

How can you live out your Divine Destiny? For you only get one life, and once you arrive at the funeral home, it is too late.

1-Know Jesus. Turn from operating life on your terms. Place your full trust in Christ and love Him with all your being. 2-Walk with Jesus. This is not just about a decision, but a daily walk with the King of kings, where you follow Him faithfully by obeying His commands through the power of His Spirit. 3-Draw near to Jesus. You will begin seeing the direction of your life clearer the closer you come to Christ through a life of worship, obedience and service. 4-Begin where you are. Divine Direction is not found after you get a degree, work through your current crisis, nor has it passed you by. It exists before you. It is found through what you are already doing. Open your eyes and see. 5-Listen and respond to God’s voice. When you are seeking to find the purpose for which you were born and living according to these ways, you have laid the foundation for God to speak. And when He does, you will hear from Him in His Word, or through others, in life’s circumstances, nature and or through the quiet voice of His Spirit. And in all these ways, God never contradicts His written Word.

Do not waste your life another second. Fulfill your destiny.

A prayer for you – Creator God, you made all of us with a purpose, but due to the curse of sin and our evil ways, we are not living it out. Today, we change that. We seek you with all our heart that we might live out your purpose for our lives. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Is Santa Claus Real?

“There is a gift waiting for you that is greater than any physical thing you could wish for.”

It happened every year. I would wake up Christmas morning and discover many gifts, all beautifully wrapped, spilling out everywhere from under the Christmas tree. What amazed me, is they were not there when I went to bed on Christmas Eve. Somehow, someway they appeared overnight, and many were labelled “From Santa” while others were from dad and mom, and my brother and sisters. (Image by Isabel Perello from Pixabay)

As time passed, I began to wonder like millions of other kids, “Is Santa Claus real?” In my attempt to find this out, I plotted in how to slip out of my bedroom late on Christmas Eve and hid behind a couch, where the Christmas tree was in my line of sight. However, the plan did not go so well. For as time went by, the weight of my eyelids gave way, and I missed out on discovering the answer to the mystery.

What prompted me to wonder about Santa in the first place? The gifts. If there were never any gifts under the tree, I would not have asked my question, so why do we give and receive gifts at Christmas?

For that we go back to the late 200s. That was when Nicholas of Myra was born. He was a Christian minister, and when he was young, he became widely known for his legendary generosity in giving gifts to the poor and needy. Consequently, sometime after his death, he eventually became known as St. Nicholas. Then centuries later he became known as Santa Claus.

Why did Nicholas give to others? No doubt as a Christian minister he was impacted by the life and teachings of Jesus, who lived just a couple hundred years earlier. It is written about Jesus, “[He] went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction.” (Matthew 9:35-36) Jesus healed the sick, spoke good news to all, fed the hungry, loved the children, and did much good wherever He went. As Jesus selflessly gave to others, so did Nicholas, and so should we.

Why do we give gifts at Christmas? Because of Jesus. For He became the greatest gift to all mankind through His miraculous birth on the first Christmas Day. He was the supreme gift for every man and woman, and boy and girl. John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son…”

Every Christmas tree ought to have under it a manger and a cross. For it was a gift when Jesus came from heaven to earth, born as a baby in a manger. When Almighty God took the form of an infant to save us, what an incredible gift!

And when the Son of God gave Himself to humbly die on a cross for the sins of the world, what a priceless gift! This is the true meaning of Christmas. There would be no Christmas without Jesus. There would be no Nicholas of Myra without Jesus. There would be no Santa Claus without Jesus. For Christ is the beginning, middle and end of it all.

There is a gift waiting for you that is greater than any physical thing you could wish for. It is something that cannot be bought, wrapped, or put under a tree. It is the gift of freedom. Freedom from the shackles of sin, along with its guilt and shame. And this gift comes with the promise of a new life and the hope of an eternal home. However, there is a high price to pay for this merciful and gracious gift. It will cost you your very life. To receive it you must yield all that you are fully to Christ and come under His Lordship. That is a high price, but it is worth it! And what if you refuse heaven’s offer? That will cost you too. For one day you will have to stand before Christ the King to answer for your decision.

A prayer for you – Lord God, when you sent your only Son from heaven to earth, to die and rise again on a cross, you gave the world the greatest gift. Thank you, O Lord! Bring many today to receive this gift by faith and be changed by your holy power. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Why was The Virgin Birth of Christmas Necessary?

“The virgin birth was no myth, legend or

 allegory. It is a historical fact.”

“Silent night! Holy night! All is calm, all is bright; ’round yon virgin mother and child! Holy infant, so tender and mild, sleep in heavenly peace, sleep in heavenly peace.” The popular Christmas carol that is sung by millions in schools, community events, television specials and in churches speaks clearly to the true focus of Christmas – the miraculous virgin birth of Jesus.

The birth became the method through which Jesus came from heaven to earth. It was how God became a man and humbly lived among us. Often Jesus referred to Himself as being sent by His Father in heaven. The virgin birth is how that happened.

Jesus eternally existed in heaven until one marvelous day. It was then He left His Father and the angels in His celestial home, to become a seed planted inside of a young virgin’s womb. I cannot imagine what heaven must have been like, seeing Him go. And Mary became God’s chosen instrument to bring His Son into the world. She was a woman in her teenage years when she and her fiancé, Joseph, were preparing to wed. It was during this time Mary had an encounter that would change her life and the world, forever. An angel appeared to her and communicated a message from the Lord God, "…you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus." (Luke 1:31). Thinking logically, Mary could not understand. She replied to the angel, "How will this be, since I am a virgin?" (Luke 1:34). The angel explained, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy—the Son of God…For nothing will be impossible with God." (Luke 1:35, 38).

First, the virgin birth was necessary because of who Jesus was, a holy, perfect, and sinless Man. And God the Father took Mary from among many other women, and blessed her with the gift of bringing Jesus into the world. Mary was faithful to the Lord and a virgin. One who was pure and had never lain with a man. Though Mary was not sinless herself, God made her holy, which prepared her to receive the Son of God.

Second, the virgin birth was also necessary because of the cross. When Jesus grew up from an infant to a man, only He could have died on the cross in order to provide forgiveness for the sins of the world. In all the universe there was no one so good, so right as was He. There would be no resurrection, no cross if there was no virgin birth.

The virgin birth was no myth, legend or allegory. It is a historical fact, albeit, a miraculous one. No scientist can explain or fully understand it. It is a complete miracle in how a virgin can give birth to a child. Do you believe in the virgin birth of the Lord Jesus Christ? Jesus came from heaven to earth for you and your household. For it is only through His birth and resurrection, both miracles, that you can have the hope of forgiveness and be spared from the judgment of God.

A prayer for you - Lord God, I pray you will help us to believe in the virgin birth of your Son. It is a miracle. It defies human reasoning and logic. How could this be? Help us to believe and to yield our lives fully to you. For you are the God of the impossible. Do the impossible within us. Change our hearts. Change our lives today. In Jesus’ name. Amen.