Billy Joe Daugherty - You Have a Destiny

Contents

I have not lost sight of my plan for you, the Lord says, and it is your welfare I have in mind, not your undoing : for you, too, I have a destiny and a hope.

Jeremiah 29:11 Knox

Chapter 1

God's Got Your Number!

David the psalmist wrote Psalm 139 in which he speaks of God's intimate care, concern and love for you and me. He speaks not only of our creation, but of God's blueprint for each of our lives.

O Lord, You have searched me and known me.

You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thought afar off.

You comprehend my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways.

For there is not a word on my tongue, but behold, O Lord, You know it altogether...

For You formed my inward parts;

You covered me in my mothers womb.

I will praise You , for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well.

My frame was not hidden from You , when I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.

Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them.

How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them!

If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand; when I awake, I am still with You .

Verses 1-4 ,13 -18

You are not an accident. God has a divine plan for your life. We call it destiny a call you will fulfill and a path you will walk in, ordered and guided by the Lord Himself.

God spoke to Jeremiah, "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations" (Jeremiah 1:5).

God placed a call upon your life before you were ever born.

He speaks of His plans for you in Jeremiah 29:11-14 NIV:

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

"Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.

"You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.

"I will be found by you," declares the Lord....

You are more valuable than you have realized, for you were purchased , not with silver, gold and metals, but with the precious blood of Jesus Christ.

When you are born again, you become a member of the Body of Christ. Your body becomes the temple of the Holy Spirit. Christ imparts His strength and wisdom into you.

God doesn't make any junk! Everything that He makes is valuable. In fact, after six days of creation, Scripture says, "Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good" (Genesis 1:31).

Chapter 2

You are God's "Masterpiece

For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

Ephesians 2:10

God looks upon His creationyou and me as His "Masterpiece"!

Your spiritthe inner man , the heart, the hidden man on the inside, the eternal youhas been made in the image and likeness of God. The Spirit of Jesus goes into the heart of every person who is born into the Kingdom of Godregardless of race, nationality, or age. That's what it means to be created in Christ Jesus. His life, nature, ability, love, faith, joy and peaceall of His attributes are deposited within us at the new birth.

Although the devil has done everything he can to degrade and bring the human race to a level of "nothingness," this is the day to rise up and declare, "I am created in Christ Jesus." To be in Him means your spirit has been made like His. He put His Spirit and His nature inside of you.

We have been given the resurrection power of Jesus Christ. We have been given a measure of faith. God's love has been shed abroad in our hearts. We are His specially designed craftsmanship !

We have become partakers of God's divine nature through His "exceedingly great and precious promises" (2 Peter 1 : 4).

God's thoughts of you and me are numerous:

How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them!

If I should count them, they would

be more in number than the sand....

Psalm 139:17 ,18

God created you just the way He wanted you to be for the purpose of walking in the good works He has already prepared for you. He knew what would be needed in the earth in this hour so He could use you. He designed you with all of the talents and abilities you would need.

When you understand your destiny, you are freed from competition and comparison with others. You realize, "I have a special assignment from God. He has equipped me with everything I need to do it."

What an exciting thing to walk out a plan that God has already prepared ahead of time and to realize, "I am right where God wants me to be."

And who knows but that you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this and for this very occasion?

Esther 4:14b AMP

Chapter 3

Reshaped for "Good Works"

You are a useful tool in God's hands. Some people are made like hammersblunt and straightforward. They don't hold back any punches! They have the ability to smash things in the Spirit.

Others have a different approach. They are like pliers, and they want to get a handle on things. They want to yank things out of people and put them in their place!

Then, others are like a yardstick. They want to measure and evaluate the lives of others.

The good news is , God has a place for all of His tools. Ecclesiastes 3:11 says, "He [God] has made everything beautiful in its time."

You may feel like you're on the potter's wheel right now. God is shaping you, remaking you and preparing you to step into the destiny He has planned for you.

God spoke to Jeremiah:

"Arise and go down to the potters house, and there I will cause you to hear My words."

Then I went down to the potters house, and there he was, making something at the wheel.

And the vessel that he made of clay was marred In the hand of the potter; so he made it again into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to make.

Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying:

"O house of Israel [put your name in this verse], can I not do with you as this potter?" says the Lord. "Look, as the clay is in the potters hand, so are you in My hand.... "

Jeremiah 18:2-6

God is reshaping you for the "good works" He has ordained for you to do. The things happening in your life are preparing you for the future. God sees the end from the beginning. He knows all about you.

When I was sixteen years old, I worked during the summer for a family, the Geans , clearing about eighty acres behind their home for a housing development. Beautiful, tall pine trees, some thirty-, forty- and fifty-feet tall, bushes and shrubs, filled the area, and at the bottom of the area was a lake surrounded by a swamp.

As a fifth grader, I had camped in the area near the lake with their son John and some other friends. All I remembered about the area was that it was mosquito infested.

The easiest thing to do to clear this area would have been to bring in a bulldozer, go around the big trees and get all the underbrush. But because of the beautiful dogwood trees which the owners wanted to save, we had to clear it by hand with machetes, axes and sharp hoes.

I can still remember the first day when I cut down several dogwood trees! Mrs. Gean was not real happy with me! She quickly described the dogwood tree to me so I wouldn't touch another one! To this day, with my eyes closed, I can tell you what a dogwood leaf looks like!

One day while clearing this area and cutting several of the bushes, I put my leg over the bush to hold it back behind me so I could cut it off level to the ground with a hoe. As I put my leg over the bush and looked behind me, there was a snake coiled up inside that bush! I got out of there and fast!