Growing in my Purpose and Destiny

The process of discipleship is outlined in the Bible.

First, we must be Born Again.

See Page Born for a Purpose

Having been born again, we come into a new realm of being, a spiritual realm beyond the limited fleshly realm we are used too.

In the flesh realm we were separated from our creator and so had to learn to fend for ourselves, according to our own understanding, conditioned from our culture and family customs. We learned to be independent, fending for and defending ourselves.

No we enter the Spiritual Kingdom, and Jesus taught you must come in with the attitude of a child, ready and wanting to learn. 

Matthew 18.3 and (Jesus) said, “Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven."

We have now changed sides in a spiritual war zone. From the domain of the ruler of the air, Satan, to the powerful and superior Kingdom of God. Until this time we have lived in misunderstanding, confusion, selfishness etc. The King of Kings now defines for us what is of the domain of Satan; Kingdom of Self and what is of the Kingdom of God. We need to relearn how to live. We need to declare WAR on living under the influence of Satan's domain and source the power to overcome this domain.

Remember always God promises ; Jeremiah 29.11 ‘For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for welfare (good) and not for calamity (evil) to give you a future and a hope.(Purpose)

Also : Ephesians 6:10 - 18 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.

Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints, 

If in your mind and practice you are battling with human beings, political ideologies, religious practices, religious leaders, you are wasting your time and energy, they are the outcome and not the source. Often you are battling failings and weaknesses in your own character which you are not acknowledging. The battle is taking place in the spiritual realm. 

So Ephesians is directing us to our first line of the battle, the destructive evil within us. You cannot defeat the enemy in the world if the enemy still has control of parts of your life.

So round one is to learn to defeat the enemy in your life. You cannot be a victorious warrior while defeat is constantly living in your life. You overcome by being a person filled with Truth only, clothed in Righteousness, proclaiming a Gospel of Peace with our Creator, living by Faith and not by your own sight, filled with the Spirit, the Word of God.

These are all GIFTS provided by God through the forgiveness and reconciliation freely provided by the shedding of the blood of Jesus Christ and the release of His Spirit into our lives.

But these are planted into us when we are born again, as a seed which needs to be nurtured to maturity.

1 Peter 1.23 for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God. 

1 John 3.9 No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. 

This is the sinless Spirit of Jesus, proven through His life on earth, and released through His death and resurrection from the dead. That Spirit now lives in you and so you are exhorted to be filled with the Spirit.

Ephesians 5.18 "And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit," but now we have to choose. Whereas before we were limited to our own earthly choices and satisfactions, we now have a choice of eternal consequences, be filled with the distractions from the world or be filled with the Spirit of God. 

Ephesians 3.19 "and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God". Wow, to be completely filled to overflowing with the Spirit is to be filled with everything that God is. Nothing lacking, back to our original design and purpose.

This is a GROWTH process. Here is a great mystery about Jesus.

Hebrews 5:5 - 10 So also Christ did not glorify Himself so as to become a high priest, but He who said to Him, “You are My Son, Today I have begotten You”; just as He says also in another passage, “You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.” In the days of His flesh, He offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His piety. Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered. And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation, being designated by God as a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek. 

Jesus, though He was sinless, learned obedience through His trials (Battles) so that as a man He was made, or proven to be perfect, as our source of restoration to God and our destined purpose.

Matthew 16.24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. 

To take up our cross, is to so totally deny ourselves, our plans, our dreams, our vision for our life, that we Die to Self and it's Kingdom, in order to live the life of His Spirit, according to our design and purpose, His Spirit living that perfect life through us, so that we become Ambassadors for the Kingdom of God here on the earth. (But more on that later) Any other life, is apart from our design and so an abuse of the life we have now.

Romans 12:1-2 Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. 

Your Body now belongs to your creator, to be filled with His Spirit and used for His purposes. You must choose to yield to His Will for your life. Only this is acceptable to God. To do otherwise is to abuse the life and body He has given you. Commit to this in prayer now!

 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

Next stage of Discipleship is the renewing of your mind.

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