John Stonestreet tackles a question from one of his listeners from his extremely popular podcast, BreakPoint.

"She asks, “For years, attending church meant singing in the choir, playing bells, women’s Bible study, organizing funeral dinners, cleaning the church, making banners…now I’m in my mid 70s and all those things are not on my list anymore and I’m wondering: have I really been worshiping God all these years or was it just busy work? And how do we know if we are worshiping when we are sitting in church? Sorry to bother you but I’m locked in my house and my resources are limited.”
 
His response:

I’m deeply moved by you heart for the Lord and His people, and by your years of faithful, humble service. Never doubt for a moment that your work serving corporate worship, feeding the congregation, and helping others grieve, celebrate, or just enjoy a beautiful space has been anything but precious in God’s sight. I pray God will give you a glimpse on this side of eternity the difference your love for God and His people made. If not, you will know on the other side.

We live in a culture captivated by the dramatic and heroic, acts that make for attractive headlines and exciting movies. Tragically, the Church is too much like the culture in this way. I’m convinced that those mostly likely to hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant,” will be those who, like this listener, were faithful in those things our world considers mundane “busywork.” A life spent in every-day faithfulness is the epitome of a “living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God.”

There’s more to this question, of course. With so much of church life and community service put on hold because of COVID, what does service to God and God’s people look like? The answer gets to the heart of what serving and worshiping God means.

When we find our identity in Christ, we are really finding our created identity, the one which God intended for us as His image bearers. Remember, Christ restores and renews that which has been lost in the Fall. God’s original command was to “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the Earth and subdue it.” This work He gave His image bearers was, in large part, the means by which they were to worship Him.

God calls every human to this worship, and Christ restores us to it. Some will find the work of their hands to be speeches, or battles, or curing disease, or passing historic legislation. Others will find the task at hand raising children, serving meals, creating a space for truth and worship or other world-changing work that seems ordinary. This worship is also pleasing to God.

Jesus highlighted this truth in pointing out the widow and her mite. While the rich dumped bags of gold into the temple coffer, this woman with barely two copper coins to rub together dropped them both in. Jesus said she out-gave them all.

The point is clear. The God who owns everything and has all power doesn’t need our resources, and He’s not impressed by our resumes. Like the sign that graced Chuck Colson’s desk which read: “Faithfulness, Not Success,” part of the Gospel’s very good news is that we can truly worship and glorify Him wherever we are and no matter our circumstances.

Of course, our circumstances change and it’s tough when our mission field shrinks. Every retiring CEO and every empty-nester wonders, “What now?” The point is that God doesn’t need us to do “great things” for Him. He wants us to do the next right thing no matter where we are.

As this listener has lived out, Christians should be with God’s people and serve wherever we can. At the same time, Scripture is clear that everything done well to God’s glory is also worship.

I love this line from poet Gerard Manley Hopkins:

“It is not only prayer that gives God glory, but work. Smiting on an anvil, sawing a beam, whitewashing a wall, driving horses, sweeping, scouring, everything gives God glory if being in His grace you do it as your duty. To go to communion worthily gives God great glory, but a man with a dungfork in his hand, a woman with a sloppail, give Him glory too. He is so great that all things give Him glory if you mean they should.”

So, keep up the good work to the glory of God, wherever you find yourself, and you’ll truly be worshiping. And find someone like this woman and start taking notes."

Please enjoy this incredible article by John Stonestreet as you seek to discover you Godly destiny:

"In his book Man’s Search for Meaning, Viktor Frankl wrote, “Those who have a ‘why’ to live, can bear with almost any ‘how.’” Both the book and its most famous quote were products of an incredibly difficult experience. During World War II, Frankl and his family were deported from their native Vienna to various concentration camps, including Auschwitz. He was the only member of his family to survive.

Frankl knew just how unbearable the “how” of life could be. And yet, as Frankl explained, humans are meaning-seeking creatures. We want to believe that there’s more to life than meeting our basic survival needs of food, water, shelter, and safety. Even more, we need this to be true. Otherwise, ours becomes a purely animal existence. Despite all the zoo placards and biology textbooks assuring us that humans are just animals, we certainly don’t act like survival and promulgating the species are all that matters.

Without meaning, hope is difficult, if not impossible. At best, without meaning, we resort to a kind of detachment and resignation. At worst, we resort to self-harm, violence, or even suicide.
On the other hand, the benefits of meaning extend well beyond psychological and spiritual health. As a recent article in the Washington Post reports, a sense of purpose and meaning brings physical benefits as well. Believing that one’s “existence has meaning” is linked to lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol and lower levels of heart inflammation. One study found that having a “clear purpose in life” can slow the impact of Alzheimer’s in older patients. Another metanalysis of various studies even suggested that having a purpose in life can lower risk of death equally as well as following the “Mediterranean diet.”

Of course, finding this kind of life-changing and life-extending purpose isn’t as straightforward as changing a diet or starting a new exercise routine. An essential place to begin is the opening sentence of Rick Warren’s The Purpose Drive Life: “It’s not about you.” Purpose is not found by looking inward; it’s found by looking outward and is manifested in what we do for others. Among the examples cited by the Post article were volunteering, donating to charity, and “joining a group of people who share your values.” What all of these ideas have in common is that they remove us, for however long, from the center of our personal universe.

Of course, nothing turns our perspective outward (and upward) like faith in Jesus Christ. I don’t mean the consumerist, therapeutic kind of inward-looking religion that too often passes for Christianity these days. I mean something along the lines of what Paul told the Corinthians: “And [Christ] died for all, so that those who live might live no longer for themselves, but for him who died and was raised for them” (2 Cor 5:15).

Living for the One who died and rose again not only removes us from the center of our own universe, but aligns our hearts and minds with what is actually true about the universe: that it belongs to God and that our purpose is given by Him not determined by us. True faith locates our lives in this cultural moment within the larger story of God, and how He is fulfilling His purposes throughout each chapter of creation, fall, redemption, and restoration. When we no longer see our lives and actions as isolated, we realize they are part of the story and even the means by which God is restoring all things. 

Knowing this doesn’t make the “how” any easier, as my colleague Shane Morris recently testified on BreakPoint. Paul told the Corinthians that toil, hardship, sleepless nights, hunger, thirst, and anxiety were his lot as an Apostle of Jesus Christ. But he also knew that his suffering wasn’t meaningless. Neither, for that matter, was his success.

Despite and even through them, God’s purposes were being fulfilled. This is the ultimate “why.” This message is not only true; it’s worth sharing, especially in a world where, for so many, meaning has been lost and the best efforts to manufacture meaning fall short."

"But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light." (1 Peter 2:9)   When you know who you are, you will begin to fulfill your destiny. Every Believer in Christ has a destiny. When God chooses us to be a "people for His own possession," His intention for us is to activate us into a lifetime of walking in His glory to fulfill His purposes on Earth.

The unfolding of my own destiny began over 40 years ago when God showed me that I would impact the nations, specifically China and India, with the Gospel. I have been called, as an apostle, to see the Church built up in places that have been previously unreached. But it has been a process and journey of discovery along the way.
Of course, every person has a unique calling—some may be called to influence society with Kingdom-minded business, while others may be called to spread the Gospel through missions. We are each uniquely and creatively made with specific skills, passions, and talents. However, there are principles of destiny and purpose that apply to all Believers in Christ. Here are three:

1. You Are Called Priests and Kings
"But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—and raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus." (Ephesians 2:4-6) (Photo via Piqsels)
Originally, humanity was created in God's image to glorify Him by having a derived glory that comes from obedience to God, communion with God and being filled with God's Spirit. Unfortunately, humanity chose a different path and we lost our original purpose and destiny.
But God never deviated from His original intent. He created humanity for glory, and He will not allow us to permanently settle for less.

In Jesus, we have a new identity; we are reborn into new life, forgiven of all of our sins and given the opportunity to live in glory and power given to us by God to give glory to Him. Through Christ we can walk out in authority, knowing we can do all things through Him (Philippians 4:13). We are called royalty, but unfortunately, many of us live out of a lesser identity, riddled with insecurity and inadequacy.
​
Your identity determines your destiny. We are called God's children, joint heirs with Jesus, ambassadors of Christ, kings and priests and wholly righteous. It's essential that you know what Jesus has paid for you to be, so that you can fulfill the purpose that God has for you—to impact and influence nations and societies with the light of Christ.

2. Your Destiny Aligns with the Great Commission
"...All authority in Heaven and on Earth has been given to Me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age." (Matthew 28:18-20)
Before Jesus ascended back into Heaven, He gave His disciples the Great Commission, empowering them to change the world through the preaching of the Gospel. The Great Commission is a command that lasts for all Believers throughout every age, until Jesus comes back.

We are all ultimately called to impact nations, change lives and preach the Gospel of Jesus, regardless of where we are born, how we are gifted and what our passions are.
God may not take you to a foreign nation, but He may be leading you to the mountain of education, for example, as a teacher who leads his or her students with the compassion and the light of Christ. Or maybe you are created to transform Hollywood with films or television shows that glorify Christ through the principles of the Kingdom. Both of these examples align with the Great Commission by discipling culture and society intentionally through work that glorifies God.

3. Destiny vs. Divine Assignment
Destiny is your ultimate calling, but a divine assignment is a specific task or role God has for you to fulfill during a season of life. These assignments may change, depending on your circumstances and where God leads you, but your overall purpose will stand.

My destiny is to impact the nations, but I have had several divine assignments along the way that may not seem directly relevant to that calling. When I was a student at the University of Maryland, I started the first charismatic Bible study there, the roots of which last to this day. In 2003, I also took a leadership role in TheCall with Lou Engle for a period of years, overseeing massive prayer rallies in the U.S. These divine assignments have ultimately contributed much to where I am now, by equipping me with skill sets, character and experience.

If you are feeling discouraged because you feel that you may not be currently fulfilling your destiny in the way you imagined it, I want to encourage you that God has a divine assignment for you, to be the salt and light no matter where you are. When you are faithful in the little, you will be faithful in much (Luke 16:10). Then you can be entrusted with greater responsibility and purpose. God will guide you into your destiny when you are obedient to what He has placed in front of you.

You Were Destined for Glory
We are all called to rule and reign with God on Earth, to take dominion over darkness. Our heavenly Father has done everything in His power to restore His original intention and His glory to us. As we receive identity from Him, align ourselves with the Great Commission and are faithful and obedient to what He placed in front of us, we will discover our destiny in Him: the purpose God has for us to see Christ glorified on Earth.

According to Bill Burns, "God's order, established in our lives, will bring us into prophetic alignment. The Spirit of the Lord will position us to move us through the spiritual door that reveals the pathway which leads to the fulfillment of destiny.

Destiny points to our destination, which ultimately is eternal life.
John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."

Steps Along the Path of Destiny:
1. To know Jesus and have personal relationship with Him
Philippians 3:8-10, "Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death..."

2. To be led by the Holy Spirit
Romans 8:13-14, "For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God."

3. To be an overcomer
Revelation 3:12, "He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more. And I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of Heaven from My God. And I will write on him My new name."
Overcome what? Overcome temptations from satan and the works of the flesh.
James 4:7, "Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you."
Galatians 5:24, "And those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires." 

4. To live in victory
1 Timothy 6:12, "Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses."
2 Corinthians 2:14, "Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place."

5. To grow in knowledge of God
2 Peter 3:18, "But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever! Amen."
1 Peter 2:2, "...as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby."

6. To grow in faith
1 Peter 1:6-7, "In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ."

7. To develop fruit
Galatians 5:22-23, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law."

Tools of Grace by Which Destiny Is Secured!
1. Authority
Luke 10:19, "Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you."

2. Armor of God
Ephesians 6:13-17, "Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the Gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God."

3. Prayer
Ephesians 6:18, "...praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints"—and spiritual warfare.
Matthew 18:18, "Assuredly, I say to you, whatever you bind on Earth will be bound in Heaven, and whatever you loose on Earth will be loosed in Heaven."

4. Faith
Mark 11:22-24, "So Jesus answered and said to them, 'Have faith in God. For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, "Be removed and be cast into the sea," and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.'"

5. Gifts of the Spirit (as needed)
1 Corinthians 12:7-11, "But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills.""

This article by Rick Joyner will bless you as you seek to discover your destiny.

"The most successful investment strategy is buy low, sell high. Would you like to buy a stock that could not go down, and is guaranteed to keep increasing in value forever? The kingdom of God is guaranteed to do this. Even the greatest empires of men have been short-lived when considered in the span of history. The kingdom of God will not only last forever, it will keep expanding forever as we are told in Isaiah 9:7: “There will be no end to the increase of His kingdom, or of peace.”

So why are so many Christians more devoted to temporal pursuits? It is an obvious lack of vision, wisdom, and understanding. Some have let their devotion to their jobs or professions eclipse their devotion to the Lord and His commandment to seek His kingdom first. Many would protest that they must work to provide for themselves and their families, but that is not in conflict with seeking the kingdom first. Neither is trying to do our jobs with excellence. The answer is not to spend less time at work, but to turn work into worship, doing all that we do as unto The Lord. 

We should see our jobs and all other responsibilities as gardens that The Lord has put us in to cultivate. As most jobs have many trials, we should see them all as opportunities to grow in the fruit of the Spirit—in peace, patience, love, etc.—resolving not to waste any trial but to use it as discipline to help us grow in The Lord. We should see the people we work with as those The Lord has put in our life to be a witness to and serve. 

Man was created for four basic purposes as we see in Genesis. The first, and most important, was to walk with God and have fellowship with Him. This should likewise be our main pursuit every day. He does not just want to be someone we spend a little time praying to or studying about each day, but He created us for His pleasure and fellowship. We are called to abide in Him as He abides in us and walks with us to be a part of all that we do. 

Because this is the most important reason we were created, the number one factor that determines if we are successful in this life is how close to Him we have lived. The Lord said that the most important commandment was to love God, so to grow in our love for Him should be our highest priority in life. 

The next thing man was created for was to cultivate the garden. Growing things is a basic part of our nature, which is why so many are devoted to growing plants, and get so much satisfaction from seeing them grow. However, cultivating the spiritual is even more fulfilling and more important.  

We should see every place we are compelled to spend time as fields we have been given to cultivate and bring forth life. As we are told in James 5:7, “The farmer waits for the precious produce of the soil, being patient about it, until it gets the early and late rains.” As a farmer must be patient to sow the seed at the proper time, we too must be patient to wait for the right time to sow seeds of truth, not forcing them where they do not fit.  

Cultivation requires more than just sowing the seed. First the ground must be prepared for it. There are things we can say and do that will gradually capture people’s interest and open their hearts if we, like the farmer, are patient with how we do it. Patience is a fruit of the Spirit, so things done in impatience cannot be expected to bear His fruit. With patience we must wait for the right time to sow the seed, and then the right time to water them, etc.

As The Lord taught in the Parable of the Sower, we must also watch for how the birds, which He said represented the devil, will try to steal the seed. We must pray over our gardens for protection, and at times be ready to counter the attacks of the devil on what we are cultivating, as always with patience. 

Then we need to keep the weeds out, the “cares and worries” of this world that would choke the seed. We are told in Philippians 4:6 to: “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” Anxiety is the opposite of faith. Faith is the nutrition of the fruit of the Spirit, and therefore anxiety can starve what we are cultivating to prevent its growth. So, when we see fear, anxiety, or discord attack our garden we must be ready to counter this with the peace of God, faith in Him, and words that promote these. If we do this with anxiety, it will likely cause us to overreact and also cause damage to what we have been cultivating. 

As we read in Philippians 4:6, we counter anxiety with prayer and thanksgiving to God. When we are being thankful to God it is hard to be fearful or anxious. We are told in Psalm 100 that we enter The Lord’s gates with thanksgiving, so to be a continually thankful person is how we abide in His presence. As we are told in Psalm 16:11 in His presence is fullness of joy. It is not possible to abide in the presence of The Lord and not be full of joy. As we are told in Nehemiah 8:10, “the joy of the Lord is your strength.” With all of the fear and anxiety growing in the world as it is, nothing counters this more than the joy and peace of the Lord."

We invite you to dedicate or rededicate your life to Jesus Christ!

Our Heavenly Father has a wonderful destiny planned for each one of us.  In this video, Sid Roth and Robert Henderson discuss the courts of Heaven.  As you watch, you will learn about overcoming negative spiritual influences through prayer.

​You’ll learn how to pray in accordance with God’s will for your life through faith in Jesus.  Our prayer for you is that as you watch this teaching, you will pray along with Robert and Sid for spiritual breakthrough in your life, In Jesus’ Name!  Be blessed as you embrace another step in securing Your Godly Destiny!

In this video, Jossy Chacko shares his story of personal transformation and how he used his business knowledge to make a difference for others.  His company, Half-Time Australia, is named from his revelation that the first half of his life was training for the second half of his life - which was to be filled with meaning and purpose.

About this video, Half-Time Australia opines, "Jossy Chacko shares his amazing story. Jossy started life in India, was successful and driven in business in Australia, but then discovered life purpose and significance which caused him to pursue a completely different and dynamic lifestyle and direction. Be inspired as you watch this one!"

Have you reached your halftime moment?  Is it time for you, and your family, to transition from figuring it out to living it out.  Is it time to realize your Godly destiny?  Just some food for thought.

"No matter where you are in your journey to becoming who God made you to be, get up and go use your current circumstances to glorify Him and be a light to those around you, NOW! How can you use where you are in your life, right here and right now, to bring glory to His Kingdom?" - Will Edison

We pray that you step out, try some things, and ultimately discover, unlock and live your Godly destiny. 

In this video, Guy Kawasaki outlines the idea that to be successful people must focus on making meaning rather than making money.  He shares that there are three primary ways to make meaning which include:

• Increasing the Quality of Life
• Righting a Wrong
• Preventing the End of Something Good

By having one or more of these main ideas as an internal motivator, you will unlock the personal and group engagement necessary to accomplish great things.  This is obviously near and dear to our hearts as we pivot our entire ministry from a place of helping others discover, unlock and live their Godly destiny.  Or, said another way - "Make Meaning."