A Date With Destiny

Finding Divine Guidance for Life Success

Proverbs 3:6…Seek God’s will in all that you do. And He will give you success.

Seeking and following the will of God empowers you to succeed.

The fear of failure may drift through your thoughts when you take on a project you feel inadequate to manage.

However, as you seek God’s will, and are gently led by His Spirit, you are empowered to succeed. Knowing that you are following the design for your life, set forth by the Creator of the universe, you reject fearful feelings and face each challenge head-on.

Being led by God, you see His supernatural power at work in all your efforts. You realize that He is able and willing to make a success out of anything – even things you thought were failures.

Empowered to succeed, you rise each morning with new energy, anxious to find your divine assignment for the day.

Sometimes your successes do not appear very successful at first. There are times that your initial attempts at success look a lot like failures.

But, you live by faith, not by sight. You do not view failure as the end, but rather, the beginning of a new approach.


A Date With Destiny

The Book of Remembrance: Your Name Matters

Malachi 3:16…Those who honored the Lord spoke with each other. The Lord listened and the names of those who honored and respected the Lord were written in a book. The Lord will remember them.


While you do not see yourself as the main character in the story of life, it excites you to know that God has entered your name into the book He is writing about those who honor him.

Knowing that God is taking the time to listen to your words, and record them in a book, along with your name, leaves you awestruck and a little self-conscious.  However, it is not God’s intention to make you uncomfortable; but rather, it is His way of paying tribute to those who honor Him.

Your willingness to speak well of God and talk about His goodness softens the hearts of those who have misunderstood Him to be cold and uncaring. The positive impact of your speech will change the perceptions of those who have run from Him for far too long.

Not only will your name be written by angels in heaven’s book of remembrance, but your words will be recorded by humans in earthbound books, which will make an impact on future generations.

A Date With Destiny

Harnessing Spiritual Power Through Music

2 Kings 3:15…While the musician was playing, the Lord’s power came upon them.

Your appreciation for music comes from a deeply spiritual center within you. Knowing there is supernatural power released in music which produces an emotional response; you have dedicated your talents to God and remain willing to share His praises through music wherever you go.

 Whether humming a tune, strumming a guitar, singing a chorus, or tapping out a rhythm, musical expression is a language understood by all.

The power of God which flows through a room when musical notes accompany words of praise is a phenomenon you treasure. Participating in the musical experience is one which moves and excites you.

You keep a song in your heart and often find yourself singing a praise song over and over in your mind throughout the day. 

Some might call it an earworm, but in the realm of the supernatural, you know that you are connecting with God on an unconscious level. You are being built up in your spirit and infused with the power of Christ.


Tetelestai Recovery

Idolatry of Emotions: Claiming Righteousness Through Grace

When we discovered the power of Jesus’ declaration, “It is finished,” we claimed tetelestai over our misaligned compass comprised of human emotion.

We stopped worshipping at the feet of our feelings and ditched them at the foot of the cross. We learned that our feelings were an unpredictable deity. We saw that exalting our feelings to a place of devotion, was nothing short of idolatry.

We made a firm decision to discover God’s thoughts of us, rather than our own thoughts of ourselves.

We didn’t feel like believing in our rightness, but the Word stated we were the righteousness (right-ness) of God. We were much more comfortable feeling wrong and running from it. We were unsure how to settle into knowing, rather than feeling.

It didn’t feel right to believe right, but once we got a revelation of grace, and stopped relying on how bad we felt, we discovered a sense of stability we’d never known before.

A Date With Destiny

The Power of Discernment in Building Trust

  John 2:24  
But Jesus did not trust Himself to them, because He knew what was in their hearts.

You do not trust others easily or quickly.  You believe that trust must be earned, and it can only happen over time.  It took you a long time to trust Christ, and you often struggle to believe.

Fortunately, He understands trust issues better than you do. Therefore, He patiently continues, time after time, to alleviate your doubts and prove Himself to be true.

Your gift of discernment and your trust-hesitancy serve you well as a protective force- field in your faith based service.

You are able to reach out and serve those who are untrustworthy, in ministries where a more trusting person might fall victim to their dishonest schemes.

You do not reject those who can’t be trusted, but rather, you accept and love them anyway. 

Jesus ministered to the outcasts and the undesirables, yet He did not trust them all. He was still able to minister to them, because He had the spiritual gift of discernment. You too have this gift. You may have thought it was a flaw in your personality. But, based on your birthday verse, this attribute is actually a Christ-like trait which may be a valuable clue in discovering your destiny.


A Date With Destiny

Hidden in Darkness

Daniel 2:22  
He makes known the secrets that are deep and hidden.
He knows what is hidden in darkness and light lives within him.

Many of the good things you do are done in secret. You are not boastful or arrogant about your charitable contributions or personal sacrifices.

You help others in ways they may never realize. You attend to the needs of your family and community without recognition or fanfare.

Sometimes you feel as if your efforts are unappreciated or even unwanted.  There are times you believe you may be wasting your time and energy because you can’t see the fruits of your labor.

Thankfully, you have the Word of God and His wonderful creation to remind you that a seed hidden in the darkness is a harvest waiting to happen.

Seeds planted in soil remain unseen during the germination phase. In the dark, a seed breaks open and new life is formed. There is a waiting time before the shoot appears. There is another waiting time before the harvest comes.

In the same way, your good works and loving efforts may be often hidden in the dark for a time, but this doesn’t mean they remain unfruitful.

When the time is right, God brings your results into the light, much like the tiny plant which emerges from the dark soil. Your random acts of kindness and quiet loving gestures are no longer hidden in the darkness. The results become visible and each tiny sprout holds the promise of a bountiful harvest.

You may not always receive human recognition or praise for the contributions you make. Sometimes your good intentions may even be misunderstood. But God knows what is in your heart and He promises that someday you will enjoy a harvest which far exceeds your expectations.


Tetelestai Recovery

Recognizing God’s Voice in Everyday Life

Knowing that God speaks to His children in all sorts of unique ways, we suddenly recognized His voice speaking to us from the creativity of writers and actors on a movie screen. We identified with the heroes. We saw ourselves playing the role assigned to us by the God of the Galaxies. We became aware in a way unlike ever before that we were on a mission that would influence millions, change the course of history, and generate spiritual wavelengths to echo into caverns of the future.

We looked back over our life and realized that our destiny had been there all along and every step of the journey was preparation for the main event.

But still we questioned whether we could actually fulfill our mission. We knew our impulsive nature had caused us to make some terribly bad choices in the past, so we wondered if it was God’s call or just a delusion of grandeur. The thought of God calling us to something of eternal magnitude seemed a little ridiculous and really, really crazy.

We had to question whether our passionate reaction to the prospect of hearing this divine call was our love for Him or our own search for significance?

Maybe it was both. And maybe that was okay.

Tetelestai Recovery

Finding True Purpose Beyond Sobriety

It was not enough for us to simply stop using mind or mood-altering substances. We needed something more significant. We began to suspect that our primary purpose in life was not simply to stay clean and sober. While sobriety was an honorable ambition, and one we had desired deeply for many years, we found that mere sobriety fell woefully short of the abundant life promised by Jesus. We began to believe that our true purpose was to discover the reason for our existence.

We came to realize that sobriety was not the end goal. As it turned out, sobriety was simply a way of life we had grown to prefer, since clarity of mind was beneficial in our quest for true purpose...

Tetelestai Recovery

Sometimes Anger is Appropriate

We felt certain that we could justify anger when it came to certain evils in the world. When we checked the Sacred Text, we found proof that anger can sometimes be appropriate; perhaps even righteous.

Jesus went into the Temple. He threw out all the people who were buying and selling there. He turned over the tables that belonged to the men who were exchanging different kinds of money. And he upset the benches of those who were selling doves.
Jesus said to all the people there, “It is written in the Scriptures, ‘My Temple will be a house where people will pray.’ But you are changing God’s house into a ‘den of thieves.’  
Matthew 21:12-17

So, after reviewing some of Jesus’ moments of fury, we concluded that there may, in fact, be times when anger would be an entirely appropriate reaction.

His reaction was more than simply a display of righteous indignation. It was a display of self-restraint. The Son of God, with an army of angels at His disposal, simply flipped over a few tables and ran people out of the temple. He could have whistled for an asteroid to hit the coordinates where they stood. He could have summoned a flesh-eating bacterium to consume them or an earthquake that would bury them beneath tons of rubble. He could have destroyed them in a million different ways, but he chose rather to use words, with a controlled show of force for emphasis.

We came to understand that when Jesus was angry, His methods were measured and restrained.

A Date With Destiny

The Spiritual Bond Between Humans and Animals

Happy Birthday 1/28

  Genesis 1:28  
God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. I am putting you in charge of the fish, the birds, and all the wild animals.”

You care deeply about animals, and you understand their fundamental value to the ecosystem of this planet.

You sometimes prefer the company of animals to humans because you appreciate their non-judgmental acceptance.

You realize that the human connection to animals is a deeply spiritual bond.

Medical breakthroughs and scientific discoveries are dependent upon the animal kingdom to guide the way.

Animals play a vital role in the development of life-saving medical procedures.

Throughout the centuries, animals, both domestic and wild, have been the inspiration for  countless human inventions and technological advancements. By studying and mimicking the unique traits of other species, humanity was able to survive.

You are intrigued by the interconnectedness of the ecosystem. You hold a deep sense of honor and respect for conservationists. You admire people who preserve the natural habitats of untamed creatures who reside on this planet.

You live in harmony with creation and the Creator, because you hold deep reverence for the wild world.