This article was written by Kim Clement and was originally shared through the Elijah List. Kim offers us some very important perspective as to why we have a destiny in this life which extends to the next life. If you are ever discouraged or fatalistic about your Godly destiny, then this article is a must read.
Kim pens, "In this day and age, human beings are more determined than ever to receive their dream destiny on earth, handed to them on a silver platter. However, the fact that time is a teacher and often rewards marvelously if one endures the amazing transmutation, I felt it necessary to share my thoughts about this.Do we have a destiny while sojourning on this earth? Is there an allotment or a portion of my eternal inheritance granted to me on this earth, and if so, why? Many of the great prophecy teachers, like Chuck Missler and others, share the wonderful truth that while on earth this is our boot camp and the rewards of overcoming and fulfilling the will of the Father will be enjoyed throughout eternity.
I agree. However, many are simply waiting for that glorious day when they will step through the veil beyond time, and THEN enjoy the rewards. I personally believe that overcoming, obedience, and sacrifice are rewarded on this earth as well. During boot camp, there are rewards for diligence, hard work, and discipline.
I served in the South African Army from January 1976-1977, and subsequent training camps until 1978. During this boot camp period, there were times of refreshing, and those who went the extra mile and proved to be offering their very best were publicly rewarded and often given weekends off while other soldiers were banished to quarters.
Our Inheritance and Descendants
During our time on earth, though we are being prepared for eternity, there is a horizontal-vertical, Heaven-Earth purpose to receive our Earth-Heaven rewards. Abraham, Jacob, Moses, Aaron, David, Peter, Paul, Mary, Simon, and many others had a destiny to fulfill while on earth to hand to their descendants. (Photo via Wikipedia)
God speaking to Abraham made this statement when revealing the great nation that would come from him, "Know for certain that your offspring will be strangers in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years. But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions...." Genesis 15:13-14
Please remember that prior to that, Abraham had "believed" the Lord, who then counted it to Abram as righteousness and Abraham had obeyed the Lord with the offering that God required in order to make an unconditional covenant. In other words, Abraham's faith and obedience was reaped by his descendants. "They shall come out with great possessions..." What you do today will not only affect your eternity, but generations on this earth when you are gone.
Kim pens, "In this day and age, human beings are more determined than ever to receive their dream destiny on earth, handed to them on a silver platter. However, the fact that time is a teacher and often rewards marvelously if one endures the amazing transmutation, I felt it necessary to share my thoughts about this.Do we have a destiny while sojourning on this earth? Is there an allotment or a portion of my eternal inheritance granted to me on this earth, and if so, why? Many of the great prophecy teachers, like Chuck Missler and others, share the wonderful truth that while on earth this is our boot camp and the rewards of overcoming and fulfilling the will of the Father will be enjoyed throughout eternity.
I agree. However, many are simply waiting for that glorious day when they will step through the veil beyond time, and THEN enjoy the rewards. I personally believe that overcoming, obedience, and sacrifice are rewarded on this earth as well. During boot camp, there are rewards for diligence, hard work, and discipline.
I served in the South African Army from January 1976-1977, and subsequent training camps until 1978. During this boot camp period, there were times of refreshing, and those who went the extra mile and proved to be offering their very best were publicly rewarded and often given weekends off while other soldiers were banished to quarters.
Our Inheritance and Descendants
During our time on earth, though we are being prepared for eternity, there is a horizontal-vertical, Heaven-Earth purpose to receive our Earth-Heaven rewards. Abraham, Jacob, Moses, Aaron, David, Peter, Paul, Mary, Simon, and many others had a destiny to fulfill while on earth to hand to their descendants. (Photo via Wikipedia)
God speaking to Abraham made this statement when revealing the great nation that would come from him, "Know for certain that your offspring will be strangers in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years. But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions...." Genesis 15:13-14
Please remember that prior to that, Abraham had "believed" the Lord, who then counted it to Abram as righteousness and Abraham had obeyed the Lord with the offering that God required in order to make an unconditional covenant. In other words, Abraham's faith and obedience was reaped by his descendants. "They shall come out with great possessions..." What you do today will not only affect your eternity, but generations on this earth when you are gone.
Each Believer's portion or purpose is important. You have to know what your calling on earth is (aside from the obvious callings laid out by Scripture) and walk within your "measure of rule" - your metron.
Matthew 7:21-23 "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but the one who DOES THE WILL OF MY FATHER who is in Heaven. On that day many will say to Me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and cast out demons in Your name and do many mighty works in Your name?' And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you workers of lawlessness.'"
What I see here is that this group of people were doing all the right things, but never really knew what the will of God was for their specific walk on earth. There is nothing wrong with prophesying in His name, but is it the will of the Father for your time on earth? You have to know personally what God's will and purpose is for your life. Notice that Jesus calls them "workers of lawlessness."
The Greek word used here is anamos, indicating "transgressing law (God's teachings) by not regarding it" or "a judicial state of being liable for doing wrong or rebellion against God." This is not referring to daily struggles with sin that you may have, but simply rebellion against God's will and purpose for your life on earth. Are you walking in the designated call that God appointed for you?
Those Who Brought Reformation
Joseph was one of twelve brothers who would form the nation of Israel. His father, Jacob, and his mother, Rachel, raised him to believe that there was one God. The culture he was raised in was far different to that of Egypt. Yet little did he know that his destiny lay in Egypt. He never suspected for one minute, when he had that powerful dream of his position as a monarch, that a number of events would place him as second most powerful man in the kingdom of Egypt, under Pharaoh. The course of events that would transpire after he revealed the dream to his father and his brothers was the furthest thing from his young mind.
How would he possibly be a ruler in Egypt without training and experience? As he was being lowered into a pit by his own brothers, his heart was racing and his mouth was dry. He must have wondered what brought this about. Joseph was going to be trained by people that he would rule over one day. "Unto whom much is given, much is required."
When dealing with destiny we cannot ignore the issue of culture. Your destiny dictates your present circumstances. If you can get a grip of that, you will accept and not reject or resist your present challenges as difficult as what they may seem. The only thing you need to resist is the devil and it takes perception to know the difference.
Did Daniel ever dream that he would one day be a ruler in Babylon? When he was a little boy being raised as a Jew you can only imagine that he had dreams – dreams of being a husband, a father, and possibly a rabbi, carpenter, or farmer. He could never have imagined that by the time he turned fifteen, he would've been emasculated, never to have children, and taken from his precious home in Judah as a captive of Babylon.
Yet his destiny lay in Babylon. As a representative of the cream of Judah's crop, he had been handpicked, along with his three friends, to be trained in the school of the Chaldeans. Rather than being forced into common labor or imprisoned like many of the other captives, he was being schooled to serve the Babylonian king. Thus he was required to learn the Babylonian language, embrace Babylonian customs, and negotiate with foreign dignitaries on Nebuchadnezzar's behalf. Daniel was forced to serve the barbarians who had murdered his people. He was trained in the "University of Babylon."
The pressure to be squeezed into the mold designated by the Babylonians must have been intense. But Daniel resolved at the outset not to be defiled by even the same source of physical nourishment as the Babylonians. Daniel was a chosen man on a spiritual assignment in an alien culture.
What happened to Daniel has happened again in our time. The pressures they faced and the program they put on is here again. Babylon, the ancient city, is gone. Babylon, the spiritual power of the world, never left. You have the same choices Daniel and his friends had to face. He will go down in annals of history as the voice that guided the kings of Babylon. He taught them about the Lord God Almighty by his knowledge, wisdom, his gift, and more importantly, his character. The kings of Babylon would ultimately declare that there is only one God, and that He is the God of Daniel.
David, a simple shepherd lad, had a destiny – to be the beloved king of Israel. So why would the next thirteen or so years of his life be spent on the run from a raging maniac of a king – Saul – living in caves, mountains, and yes, even a foreign land before he would actually take the throne of Israel?
Each one of these characters had a few things in common – a refined understanding and appreciation of other social groups and a passionate drive for reformation and reconciliation.
Matthew 7:21-23 "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but the one who DOES THE WILL OF MY FATHER who is in Heaven. On that day many will say to Me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and cast out demons in Your name and do many mighty works in Your name?' And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you workers of lawlessness.'"
What I see here is that this group of people were doing all the right things, but never really knew what the will of God was for their specific walk on earth. There is nothing wrong with prophesying in His name, but is it the will of the Father for your time on earth? You have to know personally what God's will and purpose is for your life. Notice that Jesus calls them "workers of lawlessness."
The Greek word used here is anamos, indicating "transgressing law (God's teachings) by not regarding it" or "a judicial state of being liable for doing wrong or rebellion against God." This is not referring to daily struggles with sin that you may have, but simply rebellion against God's will and purpose for your life on earth. Are you walking in the designated call that God appointed for you?
Those Who Brought Reformation
Joseph was one of twelve brothers who would form the nation of Israel. His father, Jacob, and his mother, Rachel, raised him to believe that there was one God. The culture he was raised in was far different to that of Egypt. Yet little did he know that his destiny lay in Egypt. He never suspected for one minute, when he had that powerful dream of his position as a monarch, that a number of events would place him as second most powerful man in the kingdom of Egypt, under Pharaoh. The course of events that would transpire after he revealed the dream to his father and his brothers was the furthest thing from his young mind.
How would he possibly be a ruler in Egypt without training and experience? As he was being lowered into a pit by his own brothers, his heart was racing and his mouth was dry. He must have wondered what brought this about. Joseph was going to be trained by people that he would rule over one day. "Unto whom much is given, much is required."
When dealing with destiny we cannot ignore the issue of culture. Your destiny dictates your present circumstances. If you can get a grip of that, you will accept and not reject or resist your present challenges as difficult as what they may seem. The only thing you need to resist is the devil and it takes perception to know the difference.
Did Daniel ever dream that he would one day be a ruler in Babylon? When he was a little boy being raised as a Jew you can only imagine that he had dreams – dreams of being a husband, a father, and possibly a rabbi, carpenter, or farmer. He could never have imagined that by the time he turned fifteen, he would've been emasculated, never to have children, and taken from his precious home in Judah as a captive of Babylon.
Yet his destiny lay in Babylon. As a representative of the cream of Judah's crop, he had been handpicked, along with his three friends, to be trained in the school of the Chaldeans. Rather than being forced into common labor or imprisoned like many of the other captives, he was being schooled to serve the Babylonian king. Thus he was required to learn the Babylonian language, embrace Babylonian customs, and negotiate with foreign dignitaries on Nebuchadnezzar's behalf. Daniel was forced to serve the barbarians who had murdered his people. He was trained in the "University of Babylon."
The pressure to be squeezed into the mold designated by the Babylonians must have been intense. But Daniel resolved at the outset not to be defiled by even the same source of physical nourishment as the Babylonians. Daniel was a chosen man on a spiritual assignment in an alien culture.
What happened to Daniel has happened again in our time. The pressures they faced and the program they put on is here again. Babylon, the ancient city, is gone. Babylon, the spiritual power of the world, never left. You have the same choices Daniel and his friends had to face. He will go down in annals of history as the voice that guided the kings of Babylon. He taught them about the Lord God Almighty by his knowledge, wisdom, his gift, and more importantly, his character. The kings of Babylon would ultimately declare that there is only one God, and that He is the God of Daniel.
David, a simple shepherd lad, had a destiny – to be the beloved king of Israel. So why would the next thirteen or so years of his life be spent on the run from a raging maniac of a king – Saul – living in caves, mountains, and yes, even a foreign land before he would actually take the throne of Israel?
Each one of these characters had a few things in common – a refined understanding and appreciation of other social groups and a passionate drive for reformation and reconciliation.
Fatalism
I understand the importance and value of contrasts. Let the one who is excessive join with the one who is conservative, the impulsive with the restrained, and the intemperate with the rational. Contrasts make the world beautiful and if they bring such harmony in the physical world, they will accomplish greater harmony in the moral and spiritual world.
As a prophet, I have availed myself to such contrasts by my choice of friends and associates because, through the meeting of these extremes, there may emerge a meaningful path of untold possibilities. The one thing that I face being a prophetic voice is the accusation of being a lunatic. Maybe for a period of time I am seemingly crazy because of the word that I give in season, but the true lunatics are the voices of those who cannot budge from their stand on the ever-flowing judgement of God... The fatalists; the determinists.
Of course there is some truth to this, but what about destiny and our choices to make history? I'm going to use a word that I kept thinking about during my time in Israel as God was dealing with me about the future. That word is determinism. I looked up the definition. Determinism is the doctrine that all facts and events exemplify natural laws; that human actions and choices are fully determined by preceding events and so freedom of choice is illusory or misleading. In theology, it means "lack of free will."
Determine simply means, "to come to an end; to settle" and from the Latin word determinare. ('De' means off and 'terminare' mean limits or limited.) We are all acquainted with the word terminate. One of the greatest enemies to the prophetic is predetermination. What is this? It is the doctrine that all events, including human action, are ultimately determined by causes external to the will. Some philosophers have taken determinism to imply that individual human beings have no free will and cannot be held morally responsible for their actions.
Predetermination is the belief that something was decided in advance. In the case of the many prophetic words being spewed out against our nation, it is the belief that God ordained sorrow, death, and sickness for an individual/nation in advance and nothing we say or do can change that. Even though in some cases this is true, it is not always the case.
Determinism Leads to Fatalism
Fatalism is the acceptance of all things and events as inevitable. Example: "Her fatalism helped her to face death with stoic calm." In other words, all events are predetermined so that man is powerless to alter his destiny, which ultimately causes a lack of effort or action in the face of difficulty. With this type of false mentality, spiritual warfare is therefore redundant, as this will not change anything.
The determinists come to bind, not to loose. These people do not believe in appealing to the will, but they believe in "changing the environment." They will say to the sinner, "Go and sin no more," and decide that because the sinner cannot help but sin, they will put the sinner in boiling oil because boiling oil is an "environment." So many of today's prophets believe that God is creating an environment so that the sinner will sin no more. This environment comes in the form of hurricanes, earthquakes, famines, droughts, pestilence, etc.
So let me state emphatically that this particular method of "environment" is NOT, in fact, causing the sinner to sin no more. America has been troubled with hurricanes and earthquakes; yet I see no sign, not even a glimpse of acknowledgment of sin from the sinners and rulers. Only the Church is screaming at the world demanding them to change their ways, and threatening even more judgment.
Who are the lunatics? Those whose perfect circle cannot be broken just like the full moon. In John 8, the scribes and Pharisees brought a woman, who had been caught in adultery, to Jesus. Jesus wonderfully deals with the hypocrites by challenging them with these words, "He who is without sin among you, let him throw the first stone at her." Once they had all left, He asked her if she had any accusers left to condemn her. He goes further to say, "Go and sin no more." So, she DID have the power to make a change.
Another time in John 5, Jesus heals a man who had been crippled for 38 years, waiting for his miracle at a pool. Jesus heals him on the Sabbath, and the Jews condemned him for carrying his bed on the Sabbath; forget the fact that a miracle took place on the Sabbath. When Jesus finds him later in the temple, He said to him, "See, you have been made well. Sin no more lest a worse thing come upon you." So the man DID have the power to make a change in his future by his present actions. His choice of will would determine whether a better or worse thing would come upon him.
Surely Jesus knew that there was a power of choice to do right that could be attained from within?
Gilbert K. Chesterton wrote, "It's amusing to notice that many modern day mystics have taken as their sign an eastern symbol, which is the very symbol of a miserable mean infinity. It is a serpent with his tail in his mouth, eating away. The eternity of these material fatalists is indeed very well presented by a serpent eating his tail – a degraded animal that destroys even himself. The image of a very unsatisfactory meal."
You have a God-determined purpose on this earth – pray, search God, and He will lead you to it. Make changes if necessary to change your present cycle of redundancy and God will honor your desire to know His will on earth and perform it.
Abraham sowed into the future with an offering. Jacob sowed into his future with an offering. Today, sow an offering into the prophetic ministry that guides you to the truth about your purpose on this earth and see how it unfolds before your eyes.
I understand the importance and value of contrasts. Let the one who is excessive join with the one who is conservative, the impulsive with the restrained, and the intemperate with the rational. Contrasts make the world beautiful and if they bring such harmony in the physical world, they will accomplish greater harmony in the moral and spiritual world.
As a prophet, I have availed myself to such contrasts by my choice of friends and associates because, through the meeting of these extremes, there may emerge a meaningful path of untold possibilities. The one thing that I face being a prophetic voice is the accusation of being a lunatic. Maybe for a period of time I am seemingly crazy because of the word that I give in season, but the true lunatics are the voices of those who cannot budge from their stand on the ever-flowing judgement of God... The fatalists; the determinists.
Of course there is some truth to this, but what about destiny and our choices to make history? I'm going to use a word that I kept thinking about during my time in Israel as God was dealing with me about the future. That word is determinism. I looked up the definition. Determinism is the doctrine that all facts and events exemplify natural laws; that human actions and choices are fully determined by preceding events and so freedom of choice is illusory or misleading. In theology, it means "lack of free will."
Determine simply means, "to come to an end; to settle" and from the Latin word determinare. ('De' means off and 'terminare' mean limits or limited.) We are all acquainted with the word terminate. One of the greatest enemies to the prophetic is predetermination. What is this? It is the doctrine that all events, including human action, are ultimately determined by causes external to the will. Some philosophers have taken determinism to imply that individual human beings have no free will and cannot be held morally responsible for their actions.
Predetermination is the belief that something was decided in advance. In the case of the many prophetic words being spewed out against our nation, it is the belief that God ordained sorrow, death, and sickness for an individual/nation in advance and nothing we say or do can change that. Even though in some cases this is true, it is not always the case.
Determinism Leads to Fatalism
Fatalism is the acceptance of all things and events as inevitable. Example: "Her fatalism helped her to face death with stoic calm." In other words, all events are predetermined so that man is powerless to alter his destiny, which ultimately causes a lack of effort or action in the face of difficulty. With this type of false mentality, spiritual warfare is therefore redundant, as this will not change anything.
The determinists come to bind, not to loose. These people do not believe in appealing to the will, but they believe in "changing the environment." They will say to the sinner, "Go and sin no more," and decide that because the sinner cannot help but sin, they will put the sinner in boiling oil because boiling oil is an "environment." So many of today's prophets believe that God is creating an environment so that the sinner will sin no more. This environment comes in the form of hurricanes, earthquakes, famines, droughts, pestilence, etc.
So let me state emphatically that this particular method of "environment" is NOT, in fact, causing the sinner to sin no more. America has been troubled with hurricanes and earthquakes; yet I see no sign, not even a glimpse of acknowledgment of sin from the sinners and rulers. Only the Church is screaming at the world demanding them to change their ways, and threatening even more judgment.
Who are the lunatics? Those whose perfect circle cannot be broken just like the full moon. In John 8, the scribes and Pharisees brought a woman, who had been caught in adultery, to Jesus. Jesus wonderfully deals with the hypocrites by challenging them with these words, "He who is without sin among you, let him throw the first stone at her." Once they had all left, He asked her if she had any accusers left to condemn her. He goes further to say, "Go and sin no more." So, she DID have the power to make a change.
Another time in John 5, Jesus heals a man who had been crippled for 38 years, waiting for his miracle at a pool. Jesus heals him on the Sabbath, and the Jews condemned him for carrying his bed on the Sabbath; forget the fact that a miracle took place on the Sabbath. When Jesus finds him later in the temple, He said to him, "See, you have been made well. Sin no more lest a worse thing come upon you." So the man DID have the power to make a change in his future by his present actions. His choice of will would determine whether a better or worse thing would come upon him.
Surely Jesus knew that there was a power of choice to do right that could be attained from within?
Gilbert K. Chesterton wrote, "It's amusing to notice that many modern day mystics have taken as their sign an eastern symbol, which is the very symbol of a miserable mean infinity. It is a serpent with his tail in his mouth, eating away. The eternity of these material fatalists is indeed very well presented by a serpent eating his tail – a degraded animal that destroys even himself. The image of a very unsatisfactory meal."
You have a God-determined purpose on this earth – pray, search God, and He will lead you to it. Make changes if necessary to change your present cycle of redundancy and God will honor your desire to know His will on earth and perform it.
Abraham sowed into the future with an offering. Jacob sowed into his future with an offering. Today, sow an offering into the prophetic ministry that guides you to the truth about your purpose on this earth and see how it unfolds before your eyes.