WEEK 19
TOPIC: Destiny.
TEXT: Jer. 1:4-5, Rom. 8:29-30.
The Subject of destiny is a very common but important subject in the minds of people. Both believers and non-believers believe in it. Everyone seems to have his or her own perspective of it that there are so many beliefs on this subject as there are many people. But as Christians, every subject of life is viewed from the standpoint of scriptural light because that is the truth in the matter.
Looking at the bible, you will discover that there are two major kinds of destinies that exist today on earth and every human being will end up in either of the two. Do a check on every living person in earth today, you will discover that they know it. These two destinies are: Natural destiny and Divine destiny. In this lesson, we shall endeavor to look at them to some considerable extent so we understand where we are and how to connect destiny properly during our walk on earth.
Natural Destiny (Job 14:1)
When we say natural destiny, we are not talking about things in their natural state. Natural destiny has to do with what you will become in life outside God’s intervention and program. Natural destiny is largely under the ambit of Satan’s control and design. This is what every man who is not born again will walk in whether he likes it or not. Natural destiny is open to demonic manipulations and programs because they are at the roof of it. Until a man is born again, he will go in the course of natural destiny. The truth is natural destiny is what your life is determined to become outside of God. In John 3:3, 7 Jesus told Nicodemus that you must be born again. You will remain subjugated to the forces of natural destiny which is designed to go according to Satan’s agenda. Every man that is not born again is presently under the course of natural destiny. Even as a Christian, if you don’t take your walk with God serious, you can still walk the course of natural destiny and end up in disaster. We will look at this in detail later.
Factors that control natural destiny
Natural destiny is under the control and influence of some factors and we shall look at them.
- Biological background: This has to do with the bloodline you came from. There are certain things that will happen to you because of your family background. For example, you can inherit certain sickness because it is in the blood of your family. You can be very intelligent or of a low I.Q depending on what flows in the bloodline you came from. Everyman’s seed carries his traces of character and personality due to the transference of genes from parents to offspring. This can become big issue if your biological background is a bad one. It can also have some positive effect, for example longevity can be in a bloodline because of the background. People like that hardly battle short life because there is already longevity in their blood. Do you know that doctors do check for medical history of the family of certain patients as part of the diagnosis they do for effective medical attention? That’s because even science recognizes the effect of biological background on some things in people’s lives.
- Ancestral background: This is also biological, only that there is more of spiritual operations here. Your ancestral background has to do with the forces flowing in your family lineage, community etc. There are spirits, curses, blessings etc that can be in a family lineage from generation to generation. These forces will program that course of life for that family and they can’t help but go in the direction of the program. For example, in the positive, Paul observed that the kind of faith and dedication in the things of God that young Pastor Timothy exhibited was also in his grandmother Lois and his mother Eunice (2 Tim. 1:5). That means there was a spirit in that family ancestral background that caused people in that family to be dedicated to things of God. There is a way a man’s life will go because of the forces, spirits or curses, in his ancestry. Listen! Your ancestral background is a prophecy of your future, except there is a divine intervention somewhere along the line. There are people that will end up poor no matter their hard and right work because there is a curse in their ancestry that promotes poverty. Know that the spirit forces are stronger and have dominion over natural forces. The bible is replete with this truth. You remember in Matt. 23:29-35, Jesus clearly told the Pharisees that they are the children of those who killed prophets. That means their ancestry is a history of evil. He told them they would go the same direction as their fathers because that is the spirit in the ancestry. Guess what! They ended up killing Jesus just as their fathers killed the prophets. You see how ancestral background has played role in their destiny. Natural destiny can be influenced by ancestral background, hence you must be born again.
- Social Factor: This has to do with the kind of school you find yourself per time, your circle of relationships, your training pattern, belief systems etc. Even where you live and so on can influence and control natural destiny. A man can be successful or fail in life because of where he lives per time, the school he attends, his circle of relationships etc. These are all factors that can affect your natural destiny.
Points to Note
- Destiny is real and every man faces it daily.
- There is a natural destiny and a divine destiny.
- Your biological and ancestral background can affect your natural destiny.
- Your circle of friendship can affect what you become.
Prayer/Declaration
In Jesus Name, I declare that my life is programmed to go in the direction of God’s will for me. By the virtue of my new birth, my destiny is removed from the influence of negative forces in Jesus name.
Questions for Meditation
- What are the two major destinies that are set before men?
- How does a man’s ancestral background control his natural destiny?
- Research into the bible and give instances where men’s background affected their future positively or negatively?