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    Purpose and Destiny
    Purpose and Destiny
    Purpose and Destiny
    Ebook212 pages3 hours

    Purpose and Destiny

    By Mike Connell

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    Desire, Dreams & Destiny (1 of 7)
    God has put eternity in the heart of man, so no matter where you're born in the world, no matter what culture, what country, whatever and no matter what education you've received, something in the heart and spirit of a man knows that we have come from somewhere, we're going to somewhere, there is a purpose for our life.

    Destiny Hurdles (2 of 7) You have to run the race that God has set before you. This is your life and you only have one of it. This is your destiny. This is your life that you're running right now and as you place value on your life and value on the time that you have, you'll start to consider more carefully I wonder why I'm here and what I'm really called to do with my life? No one wants to die with an empty life or a life that's been unfulfilled in some kind of way, so it's like a marathon race.

    Desires & the Will of God (3 of 7) Every person longs for a sense of purpose. We all want to have meaning for our life and being disconnected from God it's very, very difficult for people to find a purpose for their life that satisfies that deep need in the soul. That's because disconnected from God we can never really discover and enter into the fullness of what we were designed and created for. There's an emptiness which can only be met by relationship with God.

    The Cross and The Kingdom (4 of 7)
    The common misunderstandings people have is that somehow there's some force that forces everything to work according to a certain pattern and you have no control over it. Sometimes people have this idea God is sovereign, God's in charge of everything, so whatever happens God's to blame for it and we can't really do much about that. Now these are very wrong concepts. In fact although God has planned a life and things for us to accomplish, He gives within it a great deal of creativity for us to partner with Him rather than just be robots and slaves.

    Dream Killers & What to do About Them (5 of 7)
    God has a plan for your life. You all know that. Maybe you haven't got it clear what it is, but I can tell you one thing is whatever you're facing now is preparing you to be the person to fulfil that. Stop complaining. Stop moaning and groaning, stop looking and allowing negative emotions and heaviness and depression get on. Learn to rise up and rejoice, your life is in God's hands. Hold His word. Hold His promises, hold onto Him and keep your heart sweet and what you'll find is God will get you where He needs to get you. He can do it. Joseph went from prison the palace in one day. Don't you think God can promote you? Don't you think God can get you there? The problem is are you big enough to be in a palace and no one can choose that but you.

    Dream Thieves - Delays & Disappointments (6 of 7) Hope deferred makes the heart sick. In other words when you have a dream, an expectation, something you're looking forward to and it's continually delayed, put off, doesn't happen, your heart grows sick. That means to be weak or be in grief. When our heart is in grief it affects all of our life. It affects your motivation, so whenever we have a dream and then it's delayed, we begin to wonder about what our life could be like.

    The Holy Spirit & the Will of God (7 of 7)
    what is the will of God? How many people have wondered that? God, what is Your will? Oh God, what is Your will? There's so many decisions we face - God, what do you want? You don't know what He wants because somehow it's very quiet and Paul in Colossians 1:19 says he was praying that we'd be filled with knowledge of the will of God, so clearly it's God's plan you know his will and two, that you actually be filled with understanding and have a sense of knowing what to do at any point in time. Yet that's not what most of us experience, so I want you follow - so how can I find the will of God?

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMike Connell
    Release dateDec 10, 2012
    ISBN9781301452040
    Purpose and Destiny
    Author

    Mike Connell

    Mike and Joy Connell are the Senior Pastors at Bay City Outreach Centre, Hastings, New Zealand.They moved to Hastings from Dannevirke in 1985 to pioneer their first church and have been in ministry now for over 34 years and pioneered 5 other churches.An internationally recognized teacher of the Word, Pastor Mike moves powerfully in prophetic, deliverance and inner healing gifts. His strong love and sensitivity for God and His people have enabled him to minister and bring great healing to the hurt and broken. A man full of the Spirit and faith, Pastor Mike will open and take you to another level of spiritual encounters with God.He is sought after all over the world to bring teaching and great moves of God. He has standing yearly appointments teaching in international Bible Schools and impacting many of the worlds leaders in conventions and business conferences.Mike has a heart for people and is able to bring a wonderful balance of humour, compassion and truth to his teaching messages. Mike's annointed messages are ones that have affected the hearts of people worldwide.Mike & Joy have seven children and are also very proud grandparents. They both believe in strong family values and this is obvious when you meet them.Mike & Joy have a unique commitment to pursuing what God would have for their lives and continue to travel the globe ministering to broken hearted people and showing them God's love. Their love of laughter and positive attitudes to life make them dynamic people.

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      Book preview

      Purpose and Destiny - Mike Connell

      Purpose & Destiny (2011)

      Mike Connell

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      Copyright 2012 Mike Connell Ministries

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      Purpose & Destiny (2011)

      Desire, Dreams & Destiny (1 of 7)

      God has put eternity in the heart of man, so no matter where you're born in the world, no matter what culture, or education you've received, something in the heart and spirit of a man knows that we have come from somewhere, we're going to somewhere, there is a purpose for our life. There's a desire to make our life significant, or to count, and a desire that somehow, we wouldn't end in the grave.

      Destiny Hurdles (2 of 7)

      You have to run the race that God has set before you. This is your life and you only have one of it. This is your destiny. This is your life that you're running right now and as you place value on your life and value on the time that you have, you'll start to consider more carefully I wonder why I'm here and what I'm really called to do with my life? No one wants to die with an empty life or a life that's been unfulfilled in way, so it's like a marathon race.

      Desires & the Will of God (3 of 7)

      You don't need God to tell you everything. He wants you to use wisdom, common sense. God doesn't want you to be a slave, so you've got to connect with your heart, and you do your homework. You've got to identify your desires, and make plans, seek counsel.

      The Cross and the Kingdom (4 of 7)

      The common misunderstandings people have is that somehow there's some force that forces everything to work according to a certain pattern and you have no control over it. Sometimes people have this idea God is sovereign, God's in charge of everything, so whatever happens God's to blame for it and we can't really do much about that. Now these are very wrong concepts. In fact, although God has planned a life and things for us to accomplish, He gives within it a great deal of creativity for us to partner with Him, rather than just be robots and slaves.

      Dream Killers & What to do About Them (5 of 7)

      Complaining is the sign of a loser. You are losing because you can't see what the purpose of the difficulty is, and how it's not meant to destroy you, it's meant to help you grow. When you start complaining, you're dying and perishing and losing. You see if you complain, you're saying this; God, I don't trust you to use this for my good. God, I don't believe you'll help me. I'm just ticked off. God does not choose that outcome, you do. if you don't develop character, you'll never fulfil that thing God put in your heart.

      Dream Thieves - Delays & Disappointments (6 of 7)

      Hope deferred makes the heart sick. In other words when you have a dream, an expectation, something you're looking forward to and it's continually delayed, put off, doesn't happen, your heart grows sick. That means to be weak or be in grief. When our heart is in grief it affects all of our life. It affects your motivation, so whenever we have a dream and then it's delayed, we begin to wonder about what our life could be like.

      The Holy Spirit & the Will of God (7 of 7)

      what is the will of God? How many people have wondered that? God, what is Your will? Oh God, what is Your will? There are so many decisions we face - God, what do you want? You don't know what He wants, because somehow, it's very quiet. Paul in Colossians 1:19 says he was praying that we'd be filled with knowledge of the will of God, so clearly it's God's plan you know his will and two, that you actually be filled with understanding and have a sense of knowing what to do at any point in time. Yet that's not what most of us experience, so I want you follow - so how can I find the will of God?

      Audio

      Audio: Desire, Dreams & Destiny (1 of 7).mp3

      Audio: Destiny Hurdles (2 of 7).mp3

      Audio: Desires & the Will of God (3 of 7).mp3

      Audio: The Cross and the Kingdom (4 of 7).mp3

      Audio: Dream Killers & What to do About Them (5 of 7).mp3

      Audio: Dream Thieves - Delays & Disappointments (6 of 7).mp3

      Audio: The Holy Spirit & the Will of God (7 of 7).mp3

      Notes

      Notes: Desire, Dreams & Destiny (1 of 7)

      Notes: Destiny Hurdles (2 of 7)

      Notes: Desires & the Will of God (3 of 7)

      Notes: The Cross and the Kingdom (4 of 7)

      Notes: Dream Killers & What to do About Them (5 of 7)

      Notes: Dream Thieves - Delays & Disappointments (6 of 7)

      Notes: The Holy Spirit & the Will of God (7 of 7)

      Desire, Dreams & Destiny (1 of 7)

      Sun 22 May 2011 AM « Back to Top

      Notes» Audio» Website»

      God has put eternity in the heart of man, so no matter where you're born in the world, no matter what culture, or education you've received, something in the heart and spirit of a man knows that we have come from somewhere, we're going to somewhere, there is a purpose for our life. There's a desire to make our life significant, or to count, and a desire that somehow we wouldn't end in the grave,

      In Ecclesiastes 3, Verse 11, it says He has made everything beautiful in it's time - and here it is - He has put eternity in their hearts. So God has put eternity in the heart of man, so no matter where you're born in the world, no matter what culture, what country, whatever and no matter what education you've received, something in the heart and spirit of a man knows that we have come from somewhere, we're going to somewhere, there is a purpose for our life. There is somehow an invisible God that one day we will meet, and in the heart of every person there's a desire to make our life significant, or to count. No one wants to get to the end of their life and die full of regrets about what they could have done, or should have done, but there's a huge journey in getting from that place to fulfilling the destiny that God has for us.

      I want to talk a bit about that today, so this desire that your life would count, this desire that somehow we wouldn't end in the grave is written into you by God. It's a God-written thing. It's written into your whole DNA, that life does not end at the grave, that somehow there is an eternity, and within every one of us there is a longing that somehow my life would count, that I wouldn't just accomplish nothing with my life. So you have a destiny and people have - when I use the word destiny there's all kinds of concepts people have, so I want to look at concepts that people think. When you think the word destiny you think destination, some place I'm going, so I looked it up and essentially the majority of people have an idea of destiny's something like this, that destiny - they look at it in two ways. They look at it, destiny is a future that was predetermined for you. In other words someone, somewhere, had this plan, they called it destiny, and it's sort of a plan for your life. It's all worked out, and you don't have much to sort of - it's just going to happen, no matter what.

      Sometimes people use the word destiny, they think it's some kind of force, an impersonal force, and it's controlling your life, and somehow this is your destiny. You know in the movie Star Wars, Darth Vader talks to the guy Luke, and he says this is your destiny, you know, as though somehow he's got no choice about it. So in the presentations, often you hear from the world perspective, destiny has something to do with an impersonal force that runs your life, so they use words like fate, or they use words like karma. There's all kinds of words to describe it, but the thinking behind it is that somehow, something, somewhere, has got something worked out for you, and basically you'll be kind of, almost like a puppet walking your way down, and no matter what you do, it's going to happen out anyway. The consequence of that thinking, first of all it's completely wrong. There is a personal God, but the second consequence of it is of course, is that people tend to become a bit passive, and they get oh well, que sera sera, whatever will be will be, you just kind of journey and do your best, and then it's all over.

      Now that kind of passivity, that kind of thinking, is totally ungodly. It's without God in it anywhere. It comes very much out of a Greek thinking. Now the problem is when people become a Christian, they bring into their Christian walk a mixture of belief systems from the world, and then bring it in upon their Christian walk, without really understanding what God says. When we do that, we have something like this, and unfortunately many of the thinking that Christians hold is rooted in Greek thinking. The Greek thinking was that there is this impersonal force called destiny, and no matter what you do, you're going to end up working this thing out, or walking this out. There was a movie that came around a little while ago, in fact I think there were two or three of them, about these guys and somehow they cheated an accident, but destiny eventually caught up with them all. It's a way of thinking that there's this impersonal force runs your life, and makes decisions, and you can't do much about it.

      So when people become a believer, we then begin to get immersed in some like spiritual language, and we don't ever stop to think through whether what we believe really is what the Bible says, or whether it's just thinking patterns that we've always got used to. Sometimes the teaching that people receive is not balanced, and it actually reinforces this view, so when a person becomes a Christian, we would understand all Christians would believe that God has a plan for your life, so we'll call that plan destiny. God has worked out - I'm going to show you this in a little more detail shortly, but God has worked out a destiny for your life. For some Christians it's limited. They would think well I'm going to heaven, that's my destiny. No, no, no, no, no. No, that's where you finish this apprenticeship, and you go on into your destiny, see? So right now, you're on the apprenticeship for your destiny, and what you do is very, very important, so people come up with this idea that God is sovereign. How many know God is sovereign? God rules over all! God is in control! How about that? You know all of that? All agree with all of that. Now just follow the thinking down a little bit, because you'll see where this ends up.

      I believe the Bible teaches very clearly, that the kingdom of God rules over all of men, that God's kingdom is an everlasting kingdom. No matter what rises and falls, God rules over it all, but you've got to think through what that means, and how you apply it to your life. So when people say God is in control, or they use the words God is sovereign, they think something like this: He's the one who causes everything to happen, so whatever happens, God caused it to happen. Now this is really bad thinking, and it's totally incorrect - or they think: He's the sole originator of all thoughts, and decisions, and actions. So if something goes wrong, you notice even the world will say, they call it an act of God, in other words, God is to blame when things go wrong. We don't give Him credit when it goes right, but we will blame Him when things go wrong, so again, many Christians bring into their Christian walk this concept that God is in control of everything, and therefore I can just trust Him. I don't have to worry about what I do.

      Actually that's only a part of the truth. A part of the truth can be just as wrong as if you got the whole thing wrong, because what it leaves out is the part you and I must play, by relating to God, and exercising faith. So if we're going to walk into our destiny, we have to understand what God has done, and then we have to understand our part in it. If you don't know what God has done for you, you'll live your life without any sense of how precious it is, how important you are, and how precious every minute of every day is. If you don't understand what part you have to play you'll pray, I leave it up to God, put it in God's hands. It sounds wonderful, but it absolves you of responsibility to co-labour and walk with God as a friend.

      In our early years of Christianity, we came in and had quite some teaching, and it was all correct, but it was unbalanced, and so it left you at the end of the day, you just lay down everything, and you just served this plan that God's got worked out for you, rather than understanding what we have got is a loving Father with a destiny planned out for His children, which we have a vital part in fulfilling, and not every detail of it is worked out for us. We have to actually participate in the working out of it. When you start to clear these thoughts, you'll begin to start to be able to understand, that there's a connection between what God has planned for us, and what He has hardwired into us, and I want to over the couple of weeks show you the connection between the will of God, and what is already hardwired into you, otherwise you'll find you'll reject what God wants to do in your life, because you're driven by what you want to do, or you'll forget what's the desires of your heart, in order to lay everything down to do something someone is telling you to do. All of this does not lead to happy people at all, so we want to help in that.

      So in Jeremiah 29:11, God says something like this. He says now I know the thoughts I have for you, plans for good, not evil, to give you a future hope, something to look forward to. So this is when people are in bondage, and God says even though I know you've sinned, even though you've done all these wrong things, I know that the reason you're in this mess is because of what you're done; nevertheless, my thinking to you is all good. I don't think evil towards you at any time. I think good. The thoughts I have for you are good, not evil. The plans I have for you are good, not evil. Why? So that if you understand God is continually planning good for your life, not evil, you'll stop blaming any evil that comes as being caused by God. It's a tendency for us to blame God when stuff goes wrong, so if you're a Christian who strongly stands on the sovereignty of God, you'll do something like this: well I can't understand why that's happened, well it must be the will of God, and it must be something to do with my character, and I must need to grow through it, or some kind of thing.

      Now all of those things are partly true, but what we need to understand is, God expects us to vitally participate in the outworking of His plan in the earth, and so that kind of religious concept, it breeds passivity, and a kind of well, I'll pray and God will work it out, and somehow God is in control. Yeah, God is in control, but God has delegated responsibility, and if we don't realise that we are called to be kings in the earth, we're called to be stewards of the gifts of God, and He requires initiative and participation, then we'll just miss - we'll be passive and shut down, and not discover the joy of all the possibilities that could come about as a result of your life. You're not here to sit and fill in time you know, you're here to make a great difference in life. So God does have a plan, and a purpose, and a destiny. I want to show it to you very clearly, so you would absolutely be clear in your mind, that God has a destiny, and here's the thing that's interesting to find out, that the destiny or the plan or the purpose God had for you, He formed that before He formed you.

      Let's go and have a look at a few scriptures on it quickly. Have a look in Judges, Chapter 13. So you may have all kinds of ideas and issues about how you came into this world, about your family and about your background. God says that's your perspective on it, which is a limited perspective. From God's point of view, He had the plan, He knew how you were going to arrive. He said I knew all about it. It's not a problem to me where you come from, because I had a plan figured before you even came, and it was no surprise when you came, or how you came, what family you're born into, what country you're born into, what situation happened. None of that was any surprise to God. In fact actually He says it's within this kind of framework of things being negative, I can raise you up and demonstrate My glory. See, so have a look. We won't go into these in detail, I just want you to read each one so you see it. In Judges, Chapter 13, Verse 3; The Angel of the Lord appeared to the woman and said her, you are barren. You're barren. You've got no children. You will conceive and bear a son. Notice this is future, she hasn't conceived yet.

      Verse 5 - and behold you shall conceive and bear a son. No razor will come on his head, the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb. He shall begin to deliver Israel out of

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