Today begins a New Journey for all of Us.
“Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:”
Philippians 1:6
The Jewish Bible says it this way:
“I am sure of this, that the one who begun a good work among you will keep it going until it is completed on the day of redemption.”
Philippians 1:6
Regardless of what you may now see or how you may now feel, the truth is- Your Greatest Days Are Ahead. You’re not a finished product. You’re a miracle in the making. You have not reached your potential. The work God began in you He will finish. What God started in you He will complete!
You may be in the midst of the greatest battle of your Christian life. Hell may have made an all-out attack against you. Maybe you are in the middle of a trial, an affliction, or a setback that you cannot see any way out of. But I have good news for you!
YOUR DESTINY IS GREATER THAN YOUR DISASTER!
God will bring to pass what He has promised you. Hell doesn’t have enough devils and you don’t have enough enemies to keep God’s purpose and plan for your life from being fulfilled! God didn’t bring you this far to forsake you. He has too much invested in you to give up on you now. Hell is not in charge of your life.
You don’t belong to the devil, you belong to God. Satan doesn’t control your destiny and Hell doesn’t have the power to stop you or keep you down. Just as the devil couldn’t keep Jesus in the grave, neither can he keep you in the trial, setback, or the affliction that you may now be in.
“Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain:
Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it.”
Acts 2:23-24
Peter said, “It was impossible for death to hold Him.” Jesus did not have enough enemies. The Roman soldiers did not have enough power; even satan himself could not stop the resurrection. Jesus was destined to go into the grave and He was destined to come out!
“Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.”
Acts 2:27
Jesus knew that He would be crucified but He also knew after the crucifixion there would be a resurrection. He knew that the cross was not the end but only the beginning.
“Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
Hebrews 12:2
A setback doesn’t mean it’s over. A setback is positioning you for a comeback! A door shut means a door is about to open. An ending only means that there is getting ready to be a new beginning. The road to destiny consists of endings and beginnings, setbacks, and comebacks. If you are experiencing a great setback at the present time then get ready to experience a great come back!
“And the Lord turned the captivity of Job,
when he prayed for his friends: also the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before.”
Job 42:10
Job experienced great loss, but in the end the Lord blessed him with twice as much as he had before. His latter end was greater than his beginning.
“ So the Lord blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning: for he had fourteen thousand sheep, and six thousand camels, and a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand she asses.
He had also seven sons and three daughters.”
Job 42:12-13
YOUR DESTINY IS GREATER
THAN YOUR DISASTER!
God will bring you out of the trial, the affliction, or the setback that you are experiencing. God brought Joseph out of the pit! Israel out of Egypt! Daniel out of the lions den! And the three Hebrew children out of the fire!
And He will bring you out of what you are in!
“Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the Lord delivereth them out of them all.”
Psalms 34:19
“…weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.”
Psalms 30:5
No storm is made to last forever, neither should your trial, affliction, or setback. You shouldn’t be fighting the same battle today that you were fighting last year.
“Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.”
Romans 8:37
“Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ…”
2 Corinthians 2:14
How many things do we conquer? All things! How often do we triumph? Always! I know it’s hard to understand. I know in the natural you cannot figure it out, but the truth is- God will take what looks like a curse and turn it into a blessing! He will take what the enemy meant for evil and turn it to your good. Regardless of what you may be going through, regardless of what you are facing, you have the promise that:
“all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”
Romans 8:28
If you could understand His purpose the problem wouldn’t drive you crazy. If you will stay true in the hard times God will use your adversity to make advancements. Your disappointments will become God’s appointments. Your opposition will open doors of opportunity.
There’s not a pit deep enough! There’s not a fire hot enough! There’s not a storm powerful enough! There’s not a chain strong enough! Nothing can hold you back! You were created to be a victor! You were made to win! In Adam you were born a loser, but in God you were born a winner! God is not a loser, so you can’t be a loser. You are not an accident. You are not a mistake. Before time began you were a part of God’s plan. You were chosen with Christ before the foundation of the world.
“According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:”
Ephesians 1:4
When you were born again you were born in His image, created in His likeness and born of His Spirit. You are a child of the Most High God and a joint-heir with Christ.
“The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.”
Romans 8:16-17
You are a son of the Most High God.
“But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:”
John 1:12
You are part of the family of God. Everything that belongs to Jesus belongs to you. When satan sees you he sees a child of God. He sees what you are about to become and what you are about to do. When satan sees you he sees destiny. That’s why he has made such an attack against you. He knows you have been chosen for such a time as this! And he wants to keep you from becoming what God has predestined for you to become. He wants to keep you from your future.
Hell is not fighting you because of who you now are, where you now are, or what you now have. Hell is fighting you because of who you are about to become, where you are about to go, and what you are about to have. Hell is afraid of your future.
You are not going through-“what you are going through” because of sin. You are going through what you are going through because of something called “Destiny.” People that are not going though anything are the people that are not going anywhere.
If David hadn’t been destined to be king, he wouldn’t have had to run from Saul for thirteen years. If Joseph hadn’t had the promise of the palace he would have never had to go into the pit and then into prison. If Israel had not been on her way to a wealthy place, she would not have had to go through the fire and through the flood.
“Thou hast caused men to ride over our heads; we went through fire and through water: but thou broughtest us out into a wealthy place.” Psalms 66:12
Before Israel entered into the wealthy place (a place of abundance and overflow) she first went through the fire and the flood. But just as the fire and the water could not stop Israel; the trial, the affliction, or the setback that you are experiencing cannot stop you. God brought Israel out of Egypt, Joseph out of the pit, Daniel out of the lion’s den, the three Hebrew children out of the fire, and He will bring you out of whatever you are in!
YOUR DESTINY IS GREATER
THAN YOUR DISASTER!
Everything God has promised you shall come to pass!
“God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?”
Numbers 23:19
He is more than able to fulfill His promises. God’s Word will not return void. God will perform His word!
“So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.”
Isaiah 55:11
“…for I will hasten my word to perform it.”
Jeremiah 1:12
Your future is better than your past. Satan knows if he can keep you in your past that you will never move into your future. That’s why satan is spending so much time talking about yesterday. Did you ever notice satan doesn’t talk about your tomorrow? God is the One who discusses your tomorrow not the devil.
Don’t build your future around your past. Focus on your tomorrow and not your yesterday. Talk about your future and not your past. Don’t dwell on where you were yesterday; dwell on where you are today, and where you are about to go. It’s your future, your destiny, that satan
wants to keep you from entering into.
Everything you are going through - the battles, the afflictions, the tests, the setbacks, the strange trials, and abnormal hindrances that you are experiencing-everything you are going through is the enemy trying to keep you from your destiny.
Satan wants you to lose focus. He wants you to become discouraged and give up on ever reaching your potential. Don’t get your eyes off of the prize! Quit looking at what you are going through and begin to look at what you are going to! Don’t think on what you are experiencing but think about what you are expecting!
YOUR DESTINY IS GREATER
THAN YOUR DISASTER!
Satan’s greatest fear is your tomorrow. Satan does not want you to become who God said you would become. He doesn’t want you to go where God said you would go or have what God said you would have. The attack is on your future!
Why did Pharaoh try to kill Moses as a little baby? He wasn’t working any miracles. He wasn’t delivering the people of God. He was just a little Hebrew boy that looked no different than any other of the Hebrew children. Pharaoh didn’t try to kill Moses as a little baby because of who he was at the time. He wasn’t afraid of who he was, he was afraid of who he would become- Israel’s deliverer.
Joseph’s brothers didn’t try to kill him because of who he was at the time. He was only a seventeen-year-old young man that had a dream. Joseph’s brothers weren’t afraid of who he was, they were afraid of who he would become. They were afraid that his dreams might really come to pass.
Saul wasn’t afraid of David as a young boy playing the harp. In fact, Saul loved it when David played the harp because the evil spirit on Saul would leave. Saul wasn’t afraid of who David was at the time. He was afraid of who David would become, Israel’s next king.
Before Jesus was even two years old, satan moved on the heart of Herod to have all the male children two years and under killed. Why was satan trying to kill Jesus as a baby? He had never opened the eyes of the blind, healed a leper, or cast out a devil. He hadn’t turned any water into wine, or multiplied any loaves and fishes; neither had He shed any blood as the prophets said He would shed. He looked like all the other babies of His day. He cried and acted like a normal child.
Satan wasn’t afraid of who Jesus was as a baby, he was afraid of who Jesus would become when He became a man. Satan wasn’t afraid of what He was doing at the time, he was afraid of what He would do in His future.
Satan knew if he could stop Jesus as a baby that he would never become a man. If He never became a man, then there would never be a crucifixion and if there wasn’t a crucifixion there would not be a resurrection.
In the lives of all I’ve mentioned-Moses, Joseph, David and Jesus, (plus many more throughout the Word of God) the devil’s plan did not prevail. The same is true in your life; the enemy’s plan will not prevail. God’s plan will prevail and God’s purpose concerning your life will stand.
“The Lord of hosts hath sworn, saying, surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed, so shall it stand:”
Isaiah 14:24
YOUR DESTINY IS GREATER
THAN YOUR DISASTER!
It doesn’t matter who or what is against you because God is for you:
“What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?”
Romans 8:31
The devil can’t kill you or he already would have. I preached a message once entitled - It was a good hit, but it didn’t take me out!
In spite of everything you’ve been through, in spite of the hurts, the betrayals, the setbacks, and the battles that you’ve walked through - You’re still standing! You’re still alive! And greatest of all you’re still saved and still have an unshakeable faith in God!
If the devil couldn’t kill you yesterday, why does he think he can succeed today? The devil is a liar and the father of all lies. Shout in the devil’s face!
“I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the Lord.”
Psalms 118:17
Look at what you’ve already been through. Look at the hell you’ve already walked through. Look at what you had to go through to get to the place you are now at. You are a survivor! Others would have lost their mind. Others would have given up and never made it, but not you, God is on your side. God is for you and with you. You are not alive today because of good luck. You didn’t make it through everything you’ve been through because of a cross you may be wearing around your neck. You didn’t survive all the attacks against you because you carried a rabbit’s foot in your pocket. (As I have said many times the rabbit had four feet and it didn’t help him, he ended up in the skillet!) You are alive! You are a survivor because God has been and still He remains on your side!
“If it had not been the Lord who was on our side, now may Israel say;
If it had not been the Lord who was on our side, when men rose up against us:
Then they had swallowed us up quick, when their wrath was kindled against us:
Then the waters had overwhelmed us, the stream had gone over our soul:”
Psalms 124:1-4
If the devil would have had his way you wouldn’t be here. If your enemies would have had their way you would be dead. You’ve been lied on, betrayed, slandered, and falsely accused; but nothing planned against you has worked. No weapon formed against you was able to bring you down.
“No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord.”
Isaiah 54:17
Even when you were in sin, God was with you. Even when you were out of God’s will, His hand was upon you and He had a plan for you. Maybe you’ve not seen the total fulfillment of His plan, but daily it is unfolding in your life. Even though you have not reached your destiny as of yet, at least you are on your way. You are making progress! It is not easy to be in between your beginning and your end, in between prophesy and the fulfillment of prophesy, in between the conception of a dream and the birthing of the dream. One of the hardest places to be is in the place called “in-between!”
In the place called “in-between” is where your faith is severely tried. It’s a place where the devil will try to get you to give up on your dreams and visions, to give up on your purpose and destiny. When you are between Egypt and the Promised Land, in between the pit and the palace, in between the crucifixion and the resurrection, the enemy will try to make you doubt the promises of God and even the call of God upon your life.
When you’re in the place called “in-between” you are between A and Z, and you feel like a caterpillar who is about to become a butterfly or a bird trying to break out of the shell that is holding him in. You are in something called “Process,” but remember at least you are making Progress! Maybe you are not at Z but at least you are not at A. You’re not what you want to be, but you’re not what you were. You don’t have everything you want to have but you have more than you used to have. You’re making progress! You’re a miracle in the making! When people look at you they may not see a finished product, but the good news is when God looks at you He sees a finished work.
People may look at you and see a mess, but when God looks at you He sees a miracle. God doesn’t see you at the place you now are, He sees you at the place He has predestined for you to be. He doesn’t see you as who you now are, He sees you as who you are about to become.
God called Jeremiah a prophet while he was still a child and could hardly talk. In fact, when God told Jeremiah he was a prophet, Jeremiah responded by telling God that he had missed it! That he wasn’t a prophet!
“Then the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,
Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.
Then said I, Ah, Lord God! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child.”
Jeremiah 1:4-6
How come God said one thing but Jeremiah said another? God was looking at Jeremiah’s future while Jeremiah was looking at his present. God saw where Jeremiah was going while Jeremiah could only see where he was. God saw what Jeremiah was going to become while Jeremiah could only see what he was at the time.
God called Gideon a mighty man of valor before he ever became a mighty man of valor.
“And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him,
and said unto him, The Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valour.”
Judges 6:12
When the angel called Gideon a mighty man of valor Gideon was hiding in the rocks and mountains, a slave to the Midianites. Gideon wasn’t acting like a mighty man; neither did he feel like one. But God wasn’t looking at who Gideon was at the present-He was looking at who he was going to become.
God looked ahead to the next chapter of Gideon’s life. In Judges 7, Gideon became a mighty man of valor as he led his army of three hundred against the Midianites. With not even a weapon Gideon defeated the Midianite army and Israel obtained a great victory.
God changed Abram’s name to Abraham (which means father of many nations) before Isaac; the promised son was ever born.
“Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee.”
Genesis 17:5
Abraham wasn’t a father of many nations, but did you notice what God said: “a father of many nations have I made thee.” God was calling those things that be not as though they were! God spoke as if Abraham was already the father of many nations. Even though in the natural he wasn’t, God knew Abraham’s future. Because God knew his future, He spoke what was going to be as if it already was.
God doesn’t see you as who you now are, He sees you as who you’re about to become. He doesn’t see you at the place you are now at, He sees you at the place He has purposed for you to go. You’re like a seed. A seed doesn’t look like the fruit it’s going to produce. A seed doesn’t look like the fruit it is going to become.
You’re about to become what God said you would become. You’re about to go where God said you would go. You’re about to have what God said you would have. You’re closer to your destiny today than you were yesterday.
Because you’re so close to your destiny, because you’re about to step into the “greatest days of your life,” hell has made an all out attack against you. If you are experiencing an increase of demonic activity, it is because satan has discovered your purpose. If satan is highly interested in you, it is because God is highly interested in you. If you have the attention of the devil it means you also have the attention of God. If you have the attention of hell, it means, you also have the attention of Heaven.
Jesus went through His greatest battle with the
devil right before He began His earthly ministry.
“Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.
And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred.
And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.
But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.”
Matthew 4:1-4
“And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee: and there went out a fame of him through all the region round about.”
Luke 4:14
If you are experiencing a great attack, you are about to experience a great victory. If you are experiencing persecution, you are about to experience a great promotion. The stronger the warfare is, the greater your blessing will be. You’re under attack because you are about to step into your future. You’re about to fulfill your purpose. You’re on the verge of a breakthrough, a new anointing, household salvation, a financial miracle, you are about to break into your tomorrow! You are about to walk into your destiny!
YOUR DESTINY IS GREATER
THAN YOUR DISASTER!
You may be down, but get up! If you have failed God, that doesn’t mean God is through with you!
“For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again:”
Proverbs 24:16
Failure doesn’t mean, “It’s over.” Just because you’ve sinned doesn’t mean God has removed his hand from off of you.
“My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:”
1 John 2:1
His mercies are new every morning! His mercy endures forever!
MISTAKES ARE CORRECTABLE!
SIN IS FORGIVEBLE!
FAVOR IS ACCESSABLE!
David failed God, but he received forgiveness and became the king of Israel. Samson failed God, but cried to God in his trouble and he did more in his death than in his life. Peter failed God, he even denied knowing Jesus, but he received forgiveness and was the one used to preach the first message after Pentecost, which led multitudes to be added to the church. Abraham got impatient and went into Hagar, and Ishmael which means “son of the flesh,” was born.
Even though Abraham disobeyed God when he became impatient for a son and tried to make a miracle happen, this didn’t stop God from fulfilling the promise that He had made to him. Isaac was still born.
Moses tried in the flesh to deliver the people of God and failed. But forty years later after seeing a bush on fire and having God speak to him from the bush, he tried again and succeeded.
YOUR DESTINY IS GREATER
THAN YOUR DISASTER!
The devil may hinder you but he can’t stop you! He may have stripped you but he cannot stop you! If the devil could stop you it would make God a liar-and God is not a liar!
“In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;”
Titus 1:2
Because you refused to give up, because you stayed faithful in the midst of your trial, afflictions and setbacks, because you got up every time you got knocked down, God is now about to turn your captivity.
“When the Lord turned again the captivity of Zion, we were like them that dream.
Then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing: then said they among the heathen, The Lord hath done great things for them.
The Lord hath done great things for us; whereof we are glad.
Turn again our captivity, O Lord, as the streams in the south.
They that sow in tears shall reap in joy.”
Psalms 126:1-5
You’re going to dream again! You’re going to love again! You’re going to sing again! You have sowed in tears, now you are going to reap in joy. God is going to:
“…give you beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that you might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified.”
Isaiah 61:3
Even your enemies are going to say, “The Lord hath
done great things for you!” Not only are your enemies going to say, “The Lord has done great things for you! You’re going to say the Lord hath done great things for me!”
The devil tried to make you give up. Your friends told you that your dreams would never come to pass. Even church people thought you were crazy and your enemies laughed at you for staying faithful. You could have given up but you refused. At times you felt like giving up but you didn’t. Against all odds you stood and believed for a miracle. Because you stayed faithful, God is now going to bless you greater than you’ve ever been blessed. Because you refused to give up and stayed true to God during your trials, affliction and setbacks, God is going to now reward you!
“And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.”
Galatians 6:9
Others quit but you held on. Others ran away, but you stood your ground. While others walked away you remained. While others lost faith, your faith remained strong. Now God says it’s your “due season!”
The word due means: it is owed to you. Because of your faithfulness God says, “I owe you something! I owe you a blessing! I owe you a promotion! I owe you a reward!” The reward you are getting ready to receive will be greater than any trial, affliction, or setback that you have experienced. God is going to give you double for your trouble and your future is going to be greater than your past!
“The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith the Lord of hosts: and in this place will I give peace, saith the Lord of hosts.”
Haggai 2:9
YOUR DESTINY IS GREATER
THAN YOUR DISASTER!
When God delivered Israel out of bondage, He blessed them with things that they didn’t even have when they went in to Egypt. Israel didn’t just come out; they came out with great substance!
“And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years;
And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance.”
Genesis 15:13-14
When Israel walked out of Egypt they had more blessings than they had ever known. After Daniel came out of the lion’s den he was promoted. Once the three Hebrew children were delivered from the fire, they also
were promoted. After Joseph went into the pit and the prison, he was promoted and moved to the palace!
When Jesus walked out of the grave, He didn’t just walk out. When He came out-He came out with something He didn’t have when He went in. When Jesus went into the grave satan had the keys of death and hell, but when Jesus walked out of the grave - HE HAD THE KEYS!
“I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.”
Revelation 1:18
You’re not just coming out of what you’ve been in, you’re coming out blessed greater than you’ve ever been blessed. You’re getting ready to have things you didn’t even have when you went in.
You stayed faithful and now the page is turning. Your situation is changing. Your miracle has begun. A new chapter is beginning. Regardless of what you may see or how you may feel YOUR GREATEST DAYS ARE AHEAD! It doesn’t matter what has happened in your life or what is happening at the present time-
YOUR DESTINY IS GREATER
THAN YOUR DISASTER!
“Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:”
Philippians 1:6
YOUR DESTINY
IS GREATER THAN
YOUR DISASTER!
