The Process To Destiny – Part 5

The Final Stretch

In the previous 4 weeks we have been looking at a snapshot of Jesus as told in Matthew Chapter 4.

You can find the different parts to this series here: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4.

Jesus has just come out of seeming obscurity, was baptised with Holy Spirit, taken out into the wilderness by Holy Spirit to be tempted by the devil himself, and after all this, He chooses His very first disciples/students to walk alongside Him.

The Really Exciting Part!

Jesus begins preaching the Good News (the Gospel) and healing ALL the sick, diseased and demon oppressed people that came to Him, just like He tells US to do in Matthew 10:8. How can we do that? Every believer is equipped to do it. We have the same power (dunamis) living in us that Jesus had when He walked the earth (Romans 8:11). How exciting!

You may not be qualified in the natural to do something, but God can empower you (give you the ability, knowledge and strength) to do what He has created you to do. On His own, Jesus was all man so He was not able to do miracles in His own strength either. He too needed dunamis power. God’s grace is not just given to you to fulfil your calling. It’s there to give you power to live a life worthy of Jesus – to be holy. Not perfect, but holy.

Prayer Is Our Responsibility

When we pray for the sick to be healed, the dead to be raised, provision to come remember, it is not us who is responsible for bringing the answers. It is the Lord’s. When we pray for the sick to be healed, it is the Lord’s responsibility to show up and heal. When we pray for provision, it is the Lord’s responsibility to bring what we need in whatever way He chooses.

It is ALWAYS our responsibility to pray and it’s ALWAYS God’s responsibility to answer. He may not do it in the way that we expect but if we ask God to do something, we have to accept the answer that He will bring – if any at all. Know that God sees the end from the beginning so He knows what is the right thing to do at any given moment. Even though it may look totally wrong to you, God knows what He is doing. You can trust Him implicitly.

Just remember that when you are praying, you are speaking to Yahweh, Almighty God, Creator of the entire universe. You must come with a humble heart and with the reverence that He alone deserves. Always remember that God knows what you are feeling and thinking long before you ever enter into your ‘prayer closet’. Don’t lie to Him and act and speak one way when your heart feels another. You might be able to impress others this way but it NEVER impresses God.

Always Be Real With God – Don’t Pretend

When I was a young Christian, I was in a church that welcomed people up the front to tell of any encouraging words that the congregation felt was from the Lord. I was only just realising that Jesus spoke to us individually. My heart was beating really fast, I was beginning to get butterflies in the pit of my stomach and I felt a real urgency to share what was on my heart.

I stood at the pulpit, with a microphone, feeling like I was going to faint at any moment (or throw up, whichever came first). I said something along the lines of, “God wants you to know that you can tell Him the truth. If you are angry at Him, tell Him so. If you are hurting, tell Him so. If you are happy, tell Him so. He knows it all anyway so you might as well be honest.”

Many people came up to me afterwards to share their thoughts. There were only a couple of people who reprimanded me for saying such a irreverent thing (well David must have been irreverent too. Psalm 51 is just one example). But the rest were just plain relieved. It was almost like I had given them permission to be real. They didn’t have to say the ‘fake’ prayers with all the long words to be heard by their Heavenly Father.

Let me clarify though, you don’t enter into prayer in arrogance thinking that you know more than God. Reverence and humility are still key. David still showed these 2 characteristics even amongst his greatest pain. You must be willing to accept, with graciousness, whatever answer the Lord wants (or doesn’t want) to give you.

What has this got to do with Matthew 4 and Jesus? Everything! Jesus set the example of how we, as His disciples, are supposed to be living on a day to day basis. He is not walking on the earth anymore to lay hands on the sick and the tormented. He is not here to pray and multiply food …… but we are. He uses our hands to lay on the sick. He uses our hands to feed the poor. He uses our words to comfort the hurting.

God wants us to be real. The world wants truth even though it is looking in all the wrong places.

Matthew 4:24 says that the news spread about Jesus throughout all of Syria and the people brought ALL their sick and suffering to Him. Imagine pre-believers coming to you because they had heard of the power of God being worked in you and through you to heal the sick and drive out demons. Imagine if every Believer walked the way Jesus did, wouldn’t the world look like a very different place.

I do understand there is a growth process to go through to each level of authority in Christ. I am nowhere near where I long to be but I pray for God to use me each day. I have been blessed so far to have seen people healed, the dead raised once, a man surrender his life to Jesus while in a coma, money appear in my wallet and a tin of Carnation Milk miraculously appearing in our cupboard. I am truly grateful for these things but there is so much more! I am tired of the enemy appearing like he has the upper hand. He doesn’t and I want to take more ground for Jesus.

How about you? This will likely look very differently to you than it does to me but we are all called to bring relief to the suffering. We are all called to set the captives free from the enemy and his lies. Ask the Lord to show you what He has created you for. Step into that in God’s power and change your world for Him.

Jesus went through a process. We need to expect the same. He went from being empowered by Holy Spirit, to being tempted and tested by Satan, to choosing His students to teach and become friends with, to demonstrating to His disciples (and to us today) how to live a power-filled life. Jesus stepped into His destiny – that which He was created for.

Is it time for you to step into yours?

I hope that you have enjoyed our journey through Matthew 4. Each time I read it I sit in awe of our awesome and fantastic Saviour and Lord. Keep moving forward in your relationship with Jesus. Make Him your first priority today, tomorrow, and everyday. Ask Him to empower you to bring freedom to your world.- no matter how big or small. You won’t regret it.

I would love to hear about what you have learnt along the way. Please share in the comments below what the Lord has shown you in the past weeks. He really is so amazing.

Many blessings to you,

(Photo Credit: www.pexels.com)