Possessing Our Destiny – Part 4 Lawson Perdue

You are born of the word of God, the seed of the word is planted in your spirit, and you become a brand new creation, one that was never in existence before in Christ. And you enter into what God planned for you before the foundation of this world. Amen. Friends, today we’re going into a series where we’ve been sharing about possessing our destiny through our identity with Jesus Christ. It’s hard for us to possess our destiny without understanding who we are in Christ. So open your heart and receive the good word of God today. Blessings. Start in Genesis 1:26. It says this, and God said, “Let us make man in our image.” So our destiny is first of all, in our creator, we were made in the image of God. After our likeness, let them have dominion. We were created to have authority. He says, over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, over the cattle, over all the earth, over everything that creeps on the earth. So we were created in the image of God, we are created to have authority. And it says in verse 27, so God created man in His own image, in the image of God created he, him, male and female created he, them. So we created male and female. That’s how God made us. So our destiny is in our creator. We can’t fulfill our God-given, God appointed purpose without recognizing who God created us to be. You cannot fulfill verse 28 without recognizing who God made you to be in verse 27. Barbara and I just went to a conservative Christian/political event and we heard Riley Gaines speak. Fantastic speaker. Riley Gaines won, I think two years ago, but she won the Women’s National Championship. She had been training for it from the time that she had been four years old. When she was a junior, all of a sudden, somebody new showed up on the scene, I think it was. A 6’4″ man claiming to be a woman beating all the women in every event that he was in. He was kind of a mediocre man swimmer. So she goes in the locker room and here he is fully intact, 6’4″, stripped naked. They’re making all the women, all the girls put up with this nonsense. Their girls are all in the locker room trying to get dressed for the swim meet. They’re giving them classes about how they have to handle it and call them by the proper pronouns. It’s the most disgusting thing that you’ve ever seen, and it’s really a tragedy. By a miracle in the 200 meter, she tied him to the hundredth of a second, but they gave him the trophy. She said, well, why did you give him the trophy? They said, because we’re going in chronological order. She said, well, my name Gaines comes before his last name. They said, well, actually, we were instructed if this happened. She said, why did you give the trophy to him? She’s instructed by her school not to call a man a man when he’s identifying as a woman. This is crazy. It just came out of her. Well, God has raised her up and given her a voice. They’ve taken Title IX, which was written with 37 words to protect women’s sports, to protect women’s rights, and they’ve made it into a over 1,000 page document. That’s what we’re paying these educated bureaucrats to do. This is the craziest thing. That’s how they’re spending our tax money. But I’m telling you, I believe, that there’s a movement Grassroots in America. They’ve went too far. If you don’t realize it, Europe used to be ahead of us, Western Europe, but America now has went beyond what Western Europe allows in this kind of nonsense. Why should we speak out? Why should we say something as a church? We heard another man, the head of crisis aid. He helps needy people all around the world, helps deliver a lot of young ladies from sexual trafficking all around the world, has a fantastic ministry. He said, people are asking around the world, why doesn’t America say something? Why is America going this direction? Why isn’t the church saying something? Because as America goes, so goes the world. So it’s our responsibility, I believe, to share the truth of the gospel and the truth of the word of God. And this is the truth of the Word of God. Amen. So we can’t fulfill our God-given purpose without realizing and understanding our God-given identity. So God made us in His image, God gave us authority. God created them, male and female. Then verse 28 says, and God blessed them. We’re blessed by the most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth. And God said unto them, be fruitful and multiply, Replenish the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish, over the birds, over every living thing that moves on the earth. So God bless them and God gave them a purpose. Be fruitful, be increasing, multiplying, right? Replenish the earth, subdue it, take dominion. Not only did God say that, but then God said, behold, I’ve given you every herb-bearing seed and every animal that has life. In other words, God empowered them to prosper things with seed reproduce. Hallelujah. When I talk about giving in this church, I want everybody to give as a seed that you sow. Because if you give as a seed that you sow, then it has a future, right? And He gave him every animal with life, right? And those things reproduce. And God looked at it in verse 31 and He saw everything that He made, and behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning, were the sixth day. So our identity, our purpose, amen. Our destiny begins in our creator, but our destiny continues in Christ. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, therefore, if any man or if any person be in Christ, the same has become a new creation. Old things are passed away, all things have become new and all things are of God. When you got saved, you entered in to the destiny that God had for you. Your destiny is not only in your creator, your destiny is in Christ. And when you became a new creation spiritually, the moment that you believed on Jesus, amen. The moment that you received Him. You see the Bible says in Proverbs 9:10, the fear of the Lord to respect your relationship with the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and the knowledge of the holy or the knowledge of the holy one, right? Is understanding. You find your destiny, number one in your creator, but you move into it when you receive Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior. And really the goal of the gospel is that every one of us knows God. And you can’t really know God without first knowing Christ. Praise God. That’s the goal of the gospel. So when we begin to understand this, God had a plan for us, right? Before the foundation of the world, and we today enter into that plan through knowing Jesus Christ. Ephesians 2:8 says this through 10, it says, for by grace are you safe through faith and that not of yourselves, it is a gift of God, not by works, lest any man should boast. But then first 10 says, for we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works which God has before ordained that we should walk in them. When you are born again, when you come into Christ, you are the workmanship of God created in Christ Jesus under good works, which God, before the foundation of the world was established, ordained that you should walk in there. So you find your destiny in your creator, number one, but you find it secondly, in Christ, you enter into it when you receive Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior. Now, there is not only a purpose for our physical being, but there is also a purpose for our spiritual being. I want you to turn with me to 1 Corinthians 15, I wanna read verses 45 through verse 49. Actually we’ll start at verse 44. Paul in 1 Corinthians 15 is defending the doctrine of the resurrection. And he says, beginning in verse 44, about our physical body, it’s sown a natural body, it’s raised a spiritual body. There’s a natural body and there is a spiritual body. And so it is written, the first man Adam was made a living soul, speaking of the first Adam, right? In Genesis 1, the last Adam was made a quickening, a life giving spirit that’s talking about Jesus. So I actually believe that the reason the first Adam fell is because he was living out of his soul, his mind, will and emotions rather than living out of his spirit. Now as we go on, it says this in verse 46, how be it that which was not first, which is spiritual, but that which is natural, afterward, that which is spiritual. The first man is of the earth earthly Adam. The second man is the Lord from heaven, as is the earthly, so they that are earthly, as is the heavenly, such are they who are heavenly. As we have born, the image of the earthly, the first Adam, a physical man, physical body. We will bear the image of the heavenly, a spiritual creation of God. Friends, I’m so glad that you’ve been watching today. We’ve been sharing on possessing our destiny. We have a lot more of this teaching available. It’s on our website, it’s free of charge, downloadable audio, downloadable video. So go there to our website at charischristiancenter.com and take advantage of this and many other teachings. Blessings.

What I think what I was always longing for raised in a Pentecostal church, when you are coming here and you’re seen, there is no drama. Jesus showed us here how a healthy church is really working. God wants to show us like how church really worked. So that was wonderful to see here.

Now, I believe, like I said, there is not only a destiny for us spiritually, also physically, right? You cannot fulfill your destiny without first of all knowing your creator. He created us in His own image physically. But secondly, you find your destiny in knowing Christ. Let me give you an example. My grandfather born in 1908 was a world class sprinter. My grandfather ran the 100 yard dash, won the state of Colorado in 100, what we call the 100 meter today, but the 100 yard dash and the 220 yard dash and the discus, he was the athlete of the year when he graduated from high school. After that, my granddad went to University of Southern California where my granddad ran with the two world record holders in the 100 yard dash. The world record then was 9.4 seconds in the 100 yard dash. My granddad ran the 100 yard dash in 9.5 seconds. My granddad thought that he could beat these other two guys who they both had tied the world record at 9.4 seconds. He thought he could beat them until they got racing against each other and broke it to 9.3 seconds. At that point in time, he gave up that aspiration. However, he continued to run with them and they set a West Coast record in the 440 yard relay, what we know as the 400 meter relay today. So they set a new West Coast record. Now, when my dad came, my dad got that gene and my dad was a state champion sprinter, okay? When I came along from my dad, I did not get that gene. And did you know I was a pretty good athlete. In fact, I won an award in high school as the most dedicated track athlete, and I ran like the dickens. I mean, and I could do pretty good at almost anything, but I couldn’t do really good at anything. I went to stay in the two mile, I got a bronze medal at the Lamar Relays. If I’m correct in the 110 meter high hurdles, I was limber. I could do the splits completely. It was a miracle for me to get a medal at that type of a meet, right in the 110 meter hurdles, I could run fast enough that I could be on a subpar, sprint relay team, but I couldn’t get a medal in any sprint, right? So I did pretty good at everything, not really good at anything. Now I have three sons. Aaron is just like me. You know what? He can run. In fact, he races with his brother sometimes and they’ll run two and a half, three miles. He said, I know if I’m gonna beat them, I gotta start my kick a half mile from the end of the race because if I don’t, they’re gonna beat me. And both of my youngest sons, Andrew and Peter, were state champion sprinters because they got the genes. But if you don’t got the jeans, baby, you’re not gonna do it. I’ll give you another example. There’s some people who have a gift. They have the genes from God to sing and they can sing beautifully. Others think they have a gift but they don’t. Years ago we had one girl come to Bible school. Her and her husband had made some money in business. So she recorded a CD of her singing. She thought she was a great singer, I had a guest speaker. She gave one to him, he said, “Is she joking?” I’m like, “Oh, no, she’s dead serious.” She didn’t have the gift. She thought she had the gift. Okay? Now, the Bible does say make a joyful noise to the Lord, but not everything is supposed to be recorded and put on a CD There are physical gifts, right? But there are also spiritual gifts, right? And we need to understand the difference. We need to understand what God created us for naturally, but we also need to understand what God created us for spiritually. Our destiny is in our creator and our destiny is in Christ. Okay, now turn with me to Colossians. Let’s look at this one verse, two verses actually in Colossians 3:10. It says this, and we have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of Him who created him. I love this verse in the modern English version. It says this, in the modern English version, it says, embrace your new nature in Christ. You need to embrace who God says you are in Christ. Your destiny is in your creator. Notice verse 11, it says this in verse 11. In Christ, there is neither Greek nor Jew. Praise God. It’s not about race. It’s not about religion, there’s neither circumcision nor uncircumcision. It’s not how good you keep the law. There’s neither barbarian or Scythian. It’s not about how much knowledge you have or how cultured you are. He goes on to say this, there’s not bond or free. It’s not about how much money you have or how much money you don’t have. It’s not about what class you are. He says this in the end of verse 11. He says, but Christ is all in all. Spiritually speaking, if you have Jesus, you have everything. But if you don’t have Jesus, you don’t have anything at all. So spiritually speaking, you are either wealthy or you’re bankrupt. Amen. So to enter into your destiny spiritually, you enter into that by believing on Jesus Christ. And when you believe on Jesus Christ, the Bible says this in 1 Peter 1:23, being born again, not of correctable seed, but of incorruptible seed of the word of God that is living and abiding forever. You are born of the word of God, the seed of the word is planted in your spirit, and you become a brand new creation, one that was never in existence before in Christ. And you enter into what God planned for you before the foundation of this world. Amen. So there is a purpose, there’s a destiny for us, both physically and spiritually. Secondly, as far as our destiny, there is a past aspect, there’s a present aspect, and there’s a future aspect. I want you to turn with me to 2 Timothy 1, some of the most amazing verses that we read in the entirety of the scriptures. These literally amaze me. Now, I’m gonna actually begin reading in verse seven. Paul is actually writing to Timothy, his spiritual son in the faith. Amen. Writing letters that are still encouraging us today. He says, for God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and love and of a sound mind. He was encouraging Timothy. Timothy was actually intimidated because Paul, his mentor, was thrown in jail for preaching the gospel. So he said, God hasn’t given us a spirit of fear, a spirit of intimidation. You don’t wanna be terrorized by the devil and you don’t wanna be intimidated by the devil or by people in this world. But He’s given us a spirit of power and love and a sound mind, a well instructed, corrected mind. A mind that is renewed in knowledge after the image of Him who created him. A mind mind that is renewed in the word of God. A clean mind. A mind that is self controlled, a disciplined mind. God didn’t give us a spirit of fear, but a power of love and soundness of mind. Paul says, be not therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord nor of me his prisoner, but be a partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God. The Bible says in Psalm, I believe it’s 34:19, many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all. Amen. Keep believing God. Now, verse nine, look at this really closely. He has saved us and called us with the holy calling, not according to our works. The call of God is not about your works, The call of God is about the grace of Jesus. Amen. But according to His own purpose, God’s purpose and grace that was given to us in Christ Jesus before the world began, there was a purpose for your life, There was a grace for your life before the world began. How many of you ever heard of Robert Trent Jones? I got a few hands. Okay. Robert Trent Jones was a great golfer. I recently watched a thing about him, but before he won either three or four world championships in one year, he said, I just can’t get away from this thing about predestination. He actually believed that he was predestined by God to be the greatest golfer in the world and to do something that had never been done. Amen. God has a plan for our life, it’s a good one. He’s got a plan for us physically, He’s got a plan for us spiritually. Friends, I’m so glad that you’ve been with us today. We’ve been sharing about many times people have a vision or a picture on the inside of something that they believe that God wants them to possess. And the fact is, when you study the scripture, God had a plan for us from the foundation of the world. And I believe that plan is not only spiritually, it’s also emotionally, and it’s physically. So we get to understand that plan through coming into a relationship with God in Christ. And then when we identify with Jesus, it helps us move into that plan and walk that plan out. Many people today are not possessing the plan of God, they are not walking in their destiny because they don’t know who they are in Christ and they don’t know what God has given them in Christ. So when you get in the word of God and you find out who you are in Christ and know what God’s given you in Christ, that helps you move into the plan and possess the plan of God for you in Christ. If you need prayer today and you want to move into this plan, I encourage you to call our trained prayer ministers. They’re here, they’re waiting to receive your calls now. Thanks so much for being a part of the broadcast, and thanks to our partners who make this broadcast available. Blessings.

To understand your destiny, you must first know your creator. In order to step into the good plans that God has for you, it is essential to have a relationship with Jesus. You’re not here by accident. We’d like to bless you with a digital copy of Possessing our Destiny, a $20 value free of charge. You can download your copy today by going to charischristiancenter.com.

Friends, I want to thank you for being with us today. It’s our pleasure to share with you the word of God. We believe it changes lives, and because of that, we’re broadcasting all around the world. It costs me right now around $2 million a year just for my staff and paying for our broadcast costs. But if you wanna become a partner and help us share the message all around the world, we would love to hear from you today. Friend, I want to invite you to pray with me right now. Heavenly Father, I believe that Jesus Christ is your son. I believe that He died for my sins. I believe that you raised Him from the dead on the third day and made Him Lord. And right now I surrender my life to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. In the name of Jesus I pray. Amen. Thanks so much, friends for being with us today. Blessings.

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