"Awakening to Destiny"

"Awakening to Destiny"
by Paul Keith & Wanda Davis, WhiteDove Ministries
Web: http://www.whitedoveministries.org/
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January 30, 2005

"Awakening to Destiny"
by Paul Keith & Wanda Davis
WhiteDove Ministries
http://www.whitedoveministries.org/

Greetings friends,

This will be our first newsletter for 2005, and I believe one that will set the course for much of the coming season. We believe that this year will be not only transitional but also abundantly fruitful.

Many people are being positioned into the place of their authority. The past few years, and especially 2004, focused on refining our character and preparing for spiritual endowments. Naturally, this process will continue as we endeavor to become perpetually more Christ-like. However, a measure of increase will be experienced by those who have embraced this grooming and humbly positioned themselves before God.

The Lord spoke to Bob Jones at the end of 2004 saying, " . . . what we resolved in 2004, we will not have to deal with in 2005." That is an encouragement! Issues that we confronted and resolved during the past season will no longer be obstacles in our walk with the Lord. This is true so long as we do not resurrect them nor allow the spirit of accusation to prevail against us.

Great power is released as we walk in simple obedience to the Holy Spirit. The Lord provided that example to us; it is one that we must strive to emulate. Further, the lessons of 2004 teach us there is a place of yielded-ness even beyond obedience -- it is submission. We should and must be obedient; but even greater than obedience is a heart of submission.

This will be a season of divine destiny and spiritual purpose. We as a ministry would like to encourage every believer to press in to the Lord for the realization of personal and corporate promises. Our utmost prayer should be for hearts that faithfully steward the grace being released. We must guard, through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, the treasure which has been entrusted to us.

On a personal note, Wanda and I are still not able to return to our home following the damage done to the Orange Beach area by Hurricane Ivan. Although our personal belongings were protected, the building in which we lived sustained substantial damage. As a result, we plan to move to Moravian Falls, North Carolina, for a season and seek the Lord for further direction.


With kindest blessings,

Paul Keith & Wanda Davis and the WhiteDove Team
 

"Awakening to Destiny"
by Paul Keith Davis
WhiteDove Ministries
http://www.whitedoveministries.org/
 

The Lord is presently speaking very pointedly about the church's need to move into spiritual maturity. Many people living in this generation have a unique and holy attribute woven into their spiritual DNA. A predetermined virtue provokes us to move beyond the outer court and into a place of Kingdom expression. It is called divine destiny.

Our adversary has worked diligently to release the spirit of stupor over the western church. This diabolical scenario blinds our eyes and shields our ears to spiritual truth. It promotes a sense of satisfaction to simply live in a justified state without being incited to greater depths in God. The Lord has saved us, and He has also given us a holy calling or a divine destiny. The Scriptures declares that He,

"has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began." - 2 Timothy 1:9


We, as God's covenant people, have a function and responsibility while living in this world. If we are content to simply remain in the elementary principles of the faith, we may never achieve the notable destiny and holy calling prescribed for us.

With spiritual maturity we can be entrusted with tremendous virtue and authority necessary to impact our generation with the message of the Kingdom. We are called for this objective.

These blueprints for our lives are already recorded in the archives of Heaven. (Read Psalms 139:16.) It remains up to each of us individually to cooperate with the Lord in their fulfillment.


HE CHOSE US

Many Christians perceive themselves as explorers who are seeking God. More appropriately, it is God who is seeking us. We did not choose Him, but He has chosen us. Moreover, He is desperate for us to transcend simply being His servants and cultivate a forum for friendship with Him expressed in the adoration of Mary.

"But the Lord answered and said to her, 'Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.'" - Luke 10:41-42


Perhaps each of us has a little of the Mary and Martha attributes resident within us.

The "Martha" mentality is motivated more by the soul (mind, will, and emotions), while "Mary" is moved by the spirit. Martha is a servant, but Mary discovered friendship with the Lord.

These two mind-sets are both essential but must be maintained in their proper order. Our service to Him is motivated from a place of friendship and the revelation of His desire that we achieve by waiting admiringly upon Him.

We have often stated that the Lord is more concerned about what we are "becoming" than what we are "doing." Both are important. However, things are to be accomplished in the Spirit after we become fashioned in His image and bear His nature.

To each is given a measure of faith. Even the faith by which we acquire spiritual blessings is a gift in itself. It is our prayer for a great awakening of our incredible destiny that mobilizes and launches us into friendship with the Lord and fruitfulness in His Kingdom.


CONFORMED TO HIS IMAGE

Our ultimate personal destiny is to be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. We are not certain what we will be like in the conclusion of time; but we do know that we will be like Him because we will have seen Him as He is. What an incredible assurance!

1 John 3:2 outlines this promise saying, "Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure."


The Lord is granting to His people eyes to see and ears to hear the revelation of divine destiny. This realization breaks the spirit of despair and hopelessness. It launches us into an inheritance set aside for us before the foundation of the world. This grace was purchased at a great cost -- the blood of Jesus Christ. We are the joy that was set before the Lord for which He willingly endured the cross although He despised its shame.

Many things are now being spoken about the provision for our destiny. This trend will escalate in the days ahead. One of the foremost aspects of identifying our destiny is to also understand the stewardship of spiritual provision essential for its fulfillment.

However, we can only achieve the fullness of our inheritance when we first discover the awareness and personal pursuit of our individual destiny. Each of us has the destiny to be like Jesus and convey His nature.


UNDERSTANDING OUR CALLING

The Scriptures teach that gaining spiritual understanding provides a valuable tool to preserve and sustain us in our earthly journey. The quest for divine understanding is an expedition for treasures of greater value than gold and silver. With spiritual insight we are able to extract every nugget of wisdom and possibility for advancement allowed by the Holy Spirit.

One of the greatest achievements one can attain is to comprehend our calling and access the allotted provision for it. We have a holy calling and function in God's grand design. Furthermore, we have a spiritual inheritance essential for its realization. The Bible declares that,

"In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will." - Ephesians 1:10-11


The spirit of revelation takes us into the heart of God where the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are safeguarded. There we discover the designed destiny pre-ordained for our lives before the world was fashioned. These were established after the counsel of His will to accomplish His purposes in the earth. The ones who acquire this wisdom discover a great prize.

We have been saved by grace, but in addition to our salvation, we are assigned a function in God's Kingdom. The Bible symbolically describes us as living stones fitted into place in the construction of a holy temple. Each stone is vital to the overall integrity and effectiveness of the structure. Very often the stones are tested and tried before being placed into their rightful position. In the end, God is glorified and we share in His reward.

 
TESTING OF RIGHTEOUSNESS

Perhaps there could be many purposes expressed for the testing of Job's righteousness. Clearly, one of the Lord's designs in this endeavor was to bring Job to a place of heightened relationship and authority as His representative on the earth.

"Now gird up your loins like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer Me." - Job 38:3


The Lord admonishes Job to be a man and gird up his loins in the strength of maturity, without fear or trepidation. Job was about to engage the God of the universe. This expression is one used to denote boldness, courage, and valor.

In this divine encounter, Job was permitted to see the Lord and clearly discover his own deficiency. This allowed him to be girded more completely with the Lord's strength.

"I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees You. Therefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes." -- Job 42:5-6


Job's testing ultimately carried him to a higher plain and sphere of authority before God. He could now be trusted with a greater level of intimate relationship as the Lord's intermediary on the earth. That was his high calling and divine destiny.

The Lord will always have a witness on the earth to declare His righteousness and testify against an evil and perverse generation. God's messengers are to beckon lost and misguided people to repentance. It is this marriage between heaven and earth that will release both the kindness and severity of God.

The Holy Spirit, resting in the hearts of His people, will testify of His righteousness and bring conviction to the world concerning sin.


THE FRIENDS OF GOD

The Lord has identified those who occupy this unique position as His friends. What an incredible honor to be called the friend of God; yet also a great responsibility that goes with the commission of leadership and intercession. Jesus told His disciples,

"No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you." - John 15:15


The Lord's friends are able to stand in this post with power and authority because of the refinement that has taken place in their lives. Intimate fellowship results from the testing of righteousness. It allows us to peer into the very heart of God to obtain understanding of His nature and character.

Scripture describes Daniel as one greatly beloved. This was true, at least in part, because of his heart for the nation and his willingness to stand in the gap for his people. He humbled himself in an attitude of repentance and foresight for the future. He presented supplications on behalf of those of his age, prior generations, and the generation of destiny that would see the restoration of God's temple.

The example of Daniel is a prophetic foreshadowing of our role today. In this manner, divine purposes are birthed in the earth through words anointed with Spirit and Life and expressed from a position of righteousness.

The Father has chosen the church as Heaven's instrument to unfold His great redemptive plan. To fulfill our highest purpose, we too must discover that cherished and honorable position as the Lord's friends.
 

JUSTICE AND MERCY

Resident in the Father's heart are both mercy and justice. Justice calls for God's judgments to be established in the earth. Yet, His heart also yearns to release mercy when His representatives stand before Him as mediators between heaven and earth. Like Moses, we remind Him of His loving-kindness and longsuffering nature.

Those with the unique distinction as friends are the ones who have come to possess His divine nature and holy character. It is the role of the Lord's friends to remind Him of His great promises to each generation. The unveiling of mercy will stay His hand of judgment giving a space for repentance.

It is always the enemy's desire to boast that the Lord was able to bring His people out of slavery, but not carry them in to the promise. The Lord's friends continually petition the throne of grace with the promises of God and the expression of His divine attributes of loving-kindness and mercy.

The friends of God will occupy this place of intercession on behalf of their generation, not because of any merits of their own, but because of His great compassion. From this position of favor we are allowed to intercede for others by calling upon the grace of God to grant hearts of repentance for the lost. This will lead them to the knowledge of the truth that they may escape the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will. According to the Scriptures,

"If there is a messenger for him, a mediator, one among a thousand, to show man His uprightness, then He is gracious to him, and says, 'Deliver him from going down to the Pit; I have found a ransom.'" - Job 33:23-24


We have a great opportunity in this hour to enter into God's promises made to this generation and to those who have gone before us. A call to maturity is being heralded and God's grace is being extended to help us move into divine destiny.

by Paul Keith Davis
WhiteDove Ministries
http://www.whitedoveministries.org/

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