When you’re in the process of transitioning from being a doer to ‘be-er’, it can be quite disorientating because the previous ways you learned were mostly about being directed or feeling that you needed to do what God said—the dos and the shoulds. When you come to a more intimate place, there’s a transition into knowing, sensing, and being connected to the Father’s heart.
You start feeling His heart, and He gives you more space just to be, often removing a lot of the ‘doing’. It’s not that doing things is the issue, but they can be driving you if you’re so used to living that way. Until you get some space to find this other way and become more comfortable with it, sometimes God removes some of the doings. You find you’re losing some of your anchor points, which were likely based on the familiarity of the shoulds and dos, and your mindset towards God probably came from a more works-based way of thinking.
Hearing His voice does become more instinctive, more about knowing and being at one with Him. Instead of external directions to go this way or do that, He’s giving you more freedom to be you, to mature, and to grow in sonship. That is a great thing, although I understand it can be disorientating, and I’ve gone through it myself. However, the closer you are to Him, the more your heart’s desires will align with His heart’s desires and with your destiny and the way He made you to be. You’ll find you operate more in a way of rest. You won’t need the absolute confirmation of everything; you will just know and be at peace and at rest. That stems from dwelling in His presence, where your spirit is continually engaged in and living from that realm, even if your soul comes in and out.
Living from that realm might feel scary and different at first, but that’s what it feels like when the old goes and the new is not fully come. It feels like a vacuum. But that vacuum will be filled with what is coming out of heaven and out of your relationship with God. You’ll begin to feel whole and one as you pursue it. When people talk to you, you’ll resonate with it or you won’t, so you won’t need direct confirmation in the way you used to. You won’t need the Father to tell you everything; you will know His heart, feel His heart, and engage His heart in a more intimate and knowing way.
As you grow into this, things will begin to open up because you’ll see more possibilities and realities. You’ll begin to choose and find more creativity released in those choices. You’ll start seeing things from the multiple perspectives of all the possibilities that exist, rather than feeling restricted to one thing God says. He is giving you a lot more opportunity to choose from a wider spectrum of choices, rather than the one path that may keep you safe but may restrict you if you only see the one thing He says rather than the multiple possibilities that do exist and that you can enter into.
Summary
God is offering you more freedom, based on your heart-to-heart intimacy with Him, rather than just one safe path. This might feel risky, but it allows you to see and choose from multiple possibilities as a son, expanding your understanding and experience of living in relationship with Him.
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Our redemptive gift is the particular way we are wired that enables us to engage effectively in restoring creation. God intends us to be involved in that restoration as sons and co-creators with Jesus.
My redemptive gift is prophet/teacher. When I look at the world, I am looking to see how things work. In every situation I want to understand how it has come about and what has occurred. What can I learn? How can I explain that? What is behind that event?
As a child, I was always inquisitive and loved taking things apart to discover how they worked. Of course, at five or six years old, I couldn’t put most of them back together again. My mum was always pulling her hair out:
“You’ve broken it.” “I wanted to see how it worked.”
“Well, now it doesn’t work at all!”
Later, when I discovered movies, I was always drawn to tales of quests and adventures of discovery, because that is how I am made.
Our redemptive gift shapes the way we see and interact with the world,
and therefore helps to determine the course of our lives. I may see things one way: someone else will experience the same situation or event and consider it through the lens of their own redemptive gift.
Jesus is the fullness of all the redemptive gifts, and we would all say we desire to become more Christ-like. In that case, we may sometimes feel limited or defined by our redemptive gift, but that is just our soul’s natural thinking.
As we become conformed to His image, we will demonstrate more of the gifts; but initially each of us has a primary and a secondary gift, shaping how we think, feel, and act by default. We did not have to learn it; it is just how we are. This gift is put into us at conception, into our soul. When Adam became a living being or a living soul, he was created with a redemptive gift.
All of us are creative in some way, whether we recognise it or not, since we are all made in God’s image. Some will express creativity in art, poetry or music, some in science, industry, commerce or other ways. That creativity within us derives from the image of God in us – but ultimately, He wants us to be doing the things that Jesus did (and greater ones).
Key takeaway
Jesus is the fullness of all the redemptive gifts; as we become increasingly conformed to His image, we will demonstrate more of the gifts.
Every one of us, whether we know it or not, has an inheritance that Jesus died to secure for us. It includes our identity, our redemptive gift and our destiny. If we choose to cooperate with what God has prepared for us, then we will find total satisfaction and fulfilment.
Your eyes have seen my unformed substance;
And in Your book (scroll) were all written
The days that were ordained for me,
When as yet there was not one of them.
How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
(Psa 139:16-17).
All God’s thoughts about us are good, because He is always smiling over us. Some people present Him as an angry God waiting to pounce when we get it wrong. That is not the God I know, nor is it the God revealed in the person of Jesus (who is the exact representation of God’s nature). He is always running with open arms to embrace us even when we do get it wrong, because His deepest desire is for relationship with us.
But there is a battle going on for our destiny. There may be problems to solve, messes to clean up, and raw materials to be shaped. Don’t let the obstacles, opposition or past mistakes stop you fulfilling all that God has destined for you, instead see them as stepping stones. He brings good out of every situation.
Perhaps you feel constrained, contained, limited by your life circumstances? God can explode the walls of the box your life seems to be in. Even if religious or political authority, position, power or laws are against you, God is bigger than all that. Willing hearts are all He needs to work with.
What is your destiny?
Most people never know what their destiny is. Of those who do, a small percentage know from childhood, but the majority only find out between the ages of 30-50, when perhaps they have more time to reflect or are more mature and willing to listen. But our age does not need to restrict us: Caleb was 85 years old when he took possession of his inheritance.
Here are three kinds of evidence to help us identify our destiny:
Physical evidence (what we can see or deduce by examining our lives).
Relational evidence (what God says to us).
Heavenly supernatural evidence (what is written on our scroll in heaven).
Physical
Abilities and desires
We can look for the things God has included in our design that have no cultural, generational or nurture basis, qualities unique to us. Abilities and desires which none of our family or peers share, our reactions to events and situations, the positive and negatives which stir us, these are clues we need to find. What lights us up, what do we find fulfilment in already?
But beware, brokenness can also be a strong driver. Say we lost a close relative to a particular disease, we might find purpose in running a campaign or support group for sufferers and their families, but that could be a hindrance to finding our true destiny. So let’s be sure that we are really looking at clues to God’s design, and not the results of our own brokenness.
These are like the Lego or jigsaw pieces of our destiny; we need to put them together to see the bigger picture.
For me, they include:
my inquisitive desire to understand how things work
my concern for issues such as racial inequality and injustice
a fascination both with history and the future
a liking for science fiction, the unexplained, the outside-of-the-box, broadening the perspective of the possible.
mountains always being special for me.
Later on, I was drawn to the Bible, to study it, to meditate in it, and eventually to encounter God in it, and that was something He placed in me. And I was always attracted to revivals, to moves of God’s Spirit. None of this could be explained by nurture, or by brokenness.
Challenges
We should also look at the challenges we face, at opposition seeking to hinder us.
I had a fear of public speaking. I could not even read aloud in class! Yet later on, people kept asking me to speak. Eventually I did, and now it is one of the main things God uses me in.
I had to overcome serious health issues, and pursue living in supernatural health for myself. So now I have a testimony which can help others do the same.
I had no fathering, no mentor, and thus no sense of identity; I experienced being let down and betrayed, which led to loneliness, so I struggled with community and relationship. But all of those are things God is calling me to be involved with.
Are there character issues with which God keeps having us go around the mountain, until we deal with them? Negative personality traits He is asking us to work on? Things He gives us repeated opportunities to get transformed? Those, too, are clues.
Let’s not be limited by our past, nor let cultural constraint, gender, race or social standing stop us. God really is no respecter of persons.
Let’s surround ourselves with the right connections and associations, with people who will encourage, challenge and support us. Let’s be willing to obey even if God asks us to do something unexpected or unusual. Let’s not be passive, but actively pursue our destiny.
Relational
We can develop an intimate relationship with the God who has these vast thoughts about us. If we can learn to listen to and speak with God daily, then surely this is the simplest way to get to know our destiny?
I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places (Ephesians 1:18-20).
God has made resurrection life available to us to enable us to fulfil what He has called us to do.
Supernatural
Deep calls
God is releasing a sound, a vibrational frequency, calling us to come into alignment with our heavenly destiny. It is coming out of the spiritual realm. People are hearing it, all over the world (and not only believers).
Deep calls to deep at the sound of Your waterfalls… (Psalm 42:7).
We can engage Him in this sound in our worship. We need to tune into that sound, to engage our spirit with the creative light realm, that spiritual dimension all around us where we can access every spiritual blessing.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world (Eph 1:3).
And raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus (Eph 2:6).
Our destiny has been particularly fashioned for us, and involves ruling in heaven and walking it out on earth.
For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them (Eph 2:10).
Scroll of destiny
We saw in Psalm 139 that our destiny is recorded on a scroll. We can go into the record room of heaven and see the scroll of our destiny and the scroll of our life. When you compare the two, you can see where they line up (and where they don’t).
But I believe our destiny is also encoded in a double-helix scroll, our DNA. That is why, when we break bread, we speak words of transformational realignment over our DNA.
Search my heart
So let’s engage our destiny, fight for it, be prepared to be transformed for it. This is a good prayer to pray if you want to know your destiny:
Search me, O God, and know my heart;
Try me and know my anxious thoughts;
And see if there be any hurtful way in me,
And lead me in the everlasting way
(Psalm 139:23-24).
Draw near
Then I said, “Behold, I come; In the scroll of the book it is written of me. I delight to do Your will, O my God; Your Law is within my heart” (Psalm 40:7-8).
God has placed it in our heart, so we can engage with it (and with Him) there. We give God access into our heart and He gives us access into heaven:
Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me. He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne… After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven, and the first voice which I had heard, like the sound of a trumpet speaking with me, said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after these things” (Rev 3:20-21, 4:1).
Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near… (Heb 10:19-22).
In the heavenly holy place we will find the arc of the covenant. The blood of Jesus is on the Mercy Seat, which always gives us access to come. Inside the arc are manna (representing the will of God for our lives), the tablets of stone (representing God’s law now written on our hearts) and Aaron’s rod (a symbol of authority).
Let’s go there now.
Use the player above to hear an audio version of the following activation, or use this link: https://goo.gl/8s6uLA (opens in new tab/window).
Close your natural eyes And open the eyes of your heart, your imagination. Think of a door. Picture the door in your spirit. Jesus is knocking. Open the door, let Him in.
Feel His love, acceptance and affirmation.
Hear the sound of many waters, feel the vibration of His presence. He embraces you and draws you close to His heart. He affirms your identity He affirms your calling He affirms your destiny.
Listen to His voice. Feel your heart engage. Feel the desires of your heart released.
Now think of the door standing open into heaven. Step through that door.
Jesus takes you by the hand And leads you through the veils To stand before the Arc.
His Name is manifested as you stand in His presence: יהוה (Yod Hei Vav Hei) The Lion, the Ox, the Eagle and the Man. The Presence of God manifests between the wings of the cherubim.
Open your heart to Him. Let Him unfurl your scroll. Let Him write and reveal the contents of the scroll onto your heart.
Let Him cause those longings, yearnings and desires to be released within you.
You can eat the manna, as it reveals more of God’s will for you. Feel the energy. Pick up the rod and feel the authority, the confidence and boldness to fulfil your destiny.
And now you can step back into this realm…
I would encourage you to practise this daily, to feel and engage with the presence of God in the realms of heaven. Expect your heart to be changed, expect your destiny to be revealed and the longings that God has for you to be released.
Discovering Destiny: mp3 audio teaching series by Mike Parsons.
All three ‘Destiny’ teaching series are also included in our subscription programme, Engaging God.
Our Patreon patrons give a small amount each month and can join us for our monthly group Zooms, get exclusive or early access to Mike’s teaching and enjoy further patron-only benefits. Or you can use the blue button to contact us about making a one-time gift. Thank you! *Note Sadly, because of abuse by scammers we can no longer offer a ‘click to donate’ option. However, if you contact us, we will get back to you with a simple means of giving.
No-one said it would be easy (or if they did, they lied).
God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it” (Gen 1:28).
So apparently there was something in their destiny that Adam and Eve would need to subdue. And it is always that way:
Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking in nothing (James 1:2-4).
Most of us are familiar with that scripture, but how many of us really do consider it joy when we encounter difficult situations? Yet we would probably all say we want to be mature, complete and lacking in nothing. Do we see every obstacle as an obstruction and a barrier, or as an opportunity to overcome and grow in faith? That is what will make the difference in our experience.
Every battle on the pathway of our destiny is intended to create dependence on and intimacy with God. We are not supposed to overcome it alone, independent of Him, but to learn that we need Him. When we come up against something that seems impossible, if we keep looking at the obstacle it gets bigger and bigger until we end up in despair. If we look instead at God (who is God of the impossible), we get hope. Faith can arise and then nothing is impossible.
Jesus said we could speak to obstacles and tell them to move, but only if we have hope and faith in our hearts. He has been there and knows what it is like to face obstacles. If we try to avoid the battles, conflicts, trials and tribulations then we are cheating ourselves of experiential intimacy, growth and transformation. That will actually hinder our development into maturity. Sadly, the kind of gospel preaching many people have responded to has completely failed to prepare them for the battles they will face.
The first step
When God gives us a vision, usually we do not immediately get to see the whole of His purposes in it. Often, we only get the first step or two, like Abraham did: ‘Leave everything behind and I will show you where to go’. This encourages us to pursue Him for further revelation, and we then find that this only comes by first pursuing relationship with Him.
He uses that initial encounter or vision to get us started on the pathway. Sooner or later we will meet opposition which we need to press through to overcome, often from well-meaning believers, friends or family who try to put us off doing what God is asking us to do. Other people’s negative words have hindered many from fulfilling their destiny.
Fight for it
“And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel” (Gen 3:15).
Adam lost his inheritance but God’s ultimate plan did not change. He promised restoration through conflict. There is conflict, enmity, between the path of the tree of life and the path of the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
We have to be willing to fight for our destiny. Jesus himself overcame the circumstances of His illegitimate birth and an early attempt on His life. Later on, He faced temptation and opposition from all kinds of people, from his own family and disciples through to the religious and political leaders. He persevered even to sweating drops of blood in Gethsemane and willingly giving up His life on the cross.
Abraham
Many other people we read about in the Bible experienced the same thing. Abraham did not just get the Promised Land handed to him. God took him (and his descendants) on a journey in which they could learn to trust Him and be obedient, with varying degrees of success. When the people of Israel came out of Egypt they crossed the wilderness to the Promised Land only to find it full of giants needing to be conquered. But God gave them divine strategy to overcome the opposition they faced.
So where are you? Are you in slavery in Egypt, wandering around in the wilderness, or are you in your own Promised Land, fighting to take possession of your inheritance?
Joseph
Joseph had wonderful visions, but his family reacted badly. He had a coat of many colours, favour, a double portion… and it seemed he had lost it all. He was betrayed by his brothers, thrown into a pit, and sold into slavery in Egypt. He suffered false accusation and imprisonment. He was forgotten and let down by other people time and again.
Most people would have given up, thinking ‘those dreams must not have been from God’. Not Joseph. He continued to believe that God’s plan was alive and well. The reality is that he started out somewhat naïve, and his destiny for ruling could never have been learned in his father’s house, so God removed him. His experience of exile and prison taught him about people: through encountering animosity and jealousy he became streetwise.
Instead of being deflected from our purpose by treating everything we face as misfortune, how about we call it ‘refining’, and allow it to transform and change us?
David
David eventually became the great king he was destined to be, but not without first facing family opposition, killing a giant, surviving the previous king’s attempts to assassinate him, living in a cave with a bunch of oddballs (which sounds a lot like ‘church’ to me) and fighting off Philistines trying to rob him of his family and possessions. Only when he had overcome all that could he fulfil the purpose of God in his generation.
Esther
Esther was seemingly on a fast track to nowhere. Orphaned, kidnapped to a harem, separated from her remaining family, not allowed to speak to anyone, she went through a whole year of purification in order to spend the rest of her life in futile servitude at the whim of the king. God had other ideas. As her uncle Mordecai asked her, ‘What if you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?’ God is saying the same thing to each of us today.
She saved a whole nation by taking her life in her hands, stepping out of cultural expectations and going to see the king uninvited. You may not know the significance of your destiny, what its consequences might be in the plans and purposes of God for yourself, your family, your nation, your world. God has a purpose for you. Be an agent for change. Be a world-changer.
Let’s be willing to be transformed, to come into maturity. Let’s embrace the fullness of who we are and fulfil every part of the destiny God has for us. We sing,
I am royalty
I have destiny I have been set free
I’m gonna shape history I’m gonna change the world (Jake Hamilton – The Anthem).
It’s great to sing that we are going to change the world – but it will only happen if we believe that, because of who we are in God, we really can.
Discovering Destiny: mp3 audio teaching series by Mike Parsons.
All three ‘Destiny’ teaching series are also included in our subscription programme, Engaging God.
Our Patreon patrons give a small amount each month and can join us for our monthly group Zooms, get exclusive or early access to Mike’s teaching and enjoy further patron-only benefits. Or you can use the blue button to contact us about making a one-time gift. Thank you! *Note Sadly, because of abuse by scammers we can no longer offer a ‘click to donate’ option. However, if you contact us, we will get back to you with a simple means of giving.
In the pursuit of our destiny we need to be careful not to covet somebody else’s calling. If we do, it is possible we will find ourselves pursuing an alien destiny. I am not talking about little green (or grey) men, I am talking about chasing something God never intended for us, but for someone else. That can lead us into frustration and confusion because something seems to be constantly obstructing our path, hindering us or tripping us up. All right, no-one said it would be easy, but this is more than just obstacles to overcome, this is a dead end.
Arthur Burk calls it an ‘alien birthright’, and likens it to an immaculately constructed train track (complete with ballast, signals and crossings) laid across the middle of a cornfield we are called to cultivate: it leads nowhere, and meanwhile it gets in the way of what we are supposed to be doing.
Lot
Lot’s destiny was not in Canaan. We know that, because God told Abram to leave his family behind.
Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go forth from your country, And from your relatives And from your father’s house, To the land which I will show you; (Genesis 12:1).
Lot’s destiny was in Ur or Haran or some other place. And yet in verse 4 we read that Abram went forth as the Lord had spoken to him; and Lot went with him. Lot wanted a part in Abraham’s destiny. He tagged along with him and for a few years he prospered on the back of Abram’s blessing. His herds and flocks multiplied just as Abram’s did. But eventually there was a falling out between their servants, so Abram and Lot agreed to go their separate ways:
So Abram said to Lot, “Please let there be no strife between you and me, nor between my herdsmen and your herdsmen, for we are brothers. Is not the whole land before you? Please separate from me; if to the left, then I will go to the right; or if to the right, then I will go to the left.” Lot lifted up his eyes and saw all the valley of the Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere—this was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah—like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt as you go to Zoar. So Lot chose for himself all the valley of the Jordan, and Lot journeyed eastward. Thus they separated from each other. Abram settled in the land of Canaan, while Lot settled in the cities of the valley, and moved his tents as far as Sodom. Now the men of Sodom were wicked exceedingly and sinners against the Lord.
Abram offered him the option of taking the best land, and he did! But the best land took him to Sodom. Soon after, Abram had to go and rescue him when he was taken captive by rebel kings, and still eventually he lost everything, including his wife, in the destruction of the city. The only reason he got out with his own life was that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when He overthrew the cities in which Lot lived (Gen 19:29). Finally, his daughters got him drunk and had children by him, Moab and Ammon, who each became nations hostile to God’s purposes.
All because Lot coveted Abraham’s destiny.
Occult
There are plenty of other ways to pick up an alien destiny. Our past generations can have an effect on us, or there may be things we have done as individuals which have allowed it to take place. It can happen through occult involvement, or through masonic oaths and curses, and if we do not deal with it these things can project onto our future generations too.
It can happen through fortune-telling, tarot cards, astrology or reading tea leaves, anything which involves looking to a wrong source for your destiny. Cults are another way. A cult is designed to take away your individual identity and purpose, and draw you into a group identity and purpose. If you embrace that and buy into the vision of the group, you lose yourself.
If we open the door, the enemy will lay all kinds of false trails because he wants to deflect us from fulfilling the true purpose God has for our lives. Any legal right we give him, or that he can find in our generational line, he will take.
Perhaps our parents wanted a child of a different gender, or tried to fulfil their unfulfilled dreams through us. Perhaps we were coerced into conforming to the family tradition or business, maybe becoming a doctor, a lawyer, a pastor or a thief. That kind of pressure can prevent us connecting with our true calling. Or perhaps we glimpsed our own destiny and turned it down as something we could never attain (or the reverse, something we could never be content with).
How would we know?
Buried under layers superimposed on our lives, our true birthright still endeavours to make itself known. If we do not know who we are or why we are here, if we sense deep down a yearning for something completely different, if we often have daydreams, if we come to realise that we would fit in better somewhere else, if our deepest wishes and desires go constantly unfulfilled, it may be because we are pursuing an alien destiny.
If we have reached the pinnacle of achievement but still feel unfulfilled, perhaps we have attained that success in an area God never intended. It feels like a mockery. Solomon knew a little about that. He never really fulfilled all that God called him to do because he got distracted by ‘the girls, the gold and the glory’.
“Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher, “Vanity of vanities! All is vanity.” (Ecc 1:2).
When we are following God’s ordained plan for our lives, our timeline is designed for our success (Ps 139, especially verse 16). He has positioned events, people, structures, assets and resources at certain points along our pathway in such a way as to facilitate our destiny, divinely ordered appointments to help us, to stimulate us and enable us to fulfil God’s purpose. But if we are stumbling over a length of rail track across the middle of our field, we will never encounter them.
Spiritual laziness
We are in danger if we look at someone else’s anointing, mantles, gifts or position and desire it for ourselves. Now there is a place for having heroes of the faith, people we look up to and in whose example we find encouragement and inspiration, but we cannot covet someone else’s birthright because it looks more glamorous, more high-profile, or offers more kudos. We must not despise our own calling by yearning to be someone else.
Again, if we are always looking for shortcuts to success because of spiritual laziness, if we do not want to take the time to develop character and deal with our issues, if the price for that seems too high, we will find plenty of people willing to oblige. They are those who prey on the lazy, looking to legitimise their own ministry by giving away things that do not fit our lives, offering mantles, impartation and false prophetic readings. Many have taken on things which were never designed for them because some prophet with mixed motives said “you should be doing this”. Too often, instead of being willing to pay the cost for unpacking something of true value and worth, we are seduced by the lure of the sparkly and attractive, offered on the cheap.
We live in the culture of the instant, in a society which expects immediate gratification. That is not God’s way. People with great anointing have normally paid the price for what they have, so if someone is offering it to us cut price or free of charge, then beware! If we get zapped by something which is alien to us, it can create that ‘track in a field’ which leads to nothing.
There is a legitimate laying on of hands, to impart gifts, pass on the baton, or receive mantles which release our own destiny. This is to help us be who we really are, not to tell us we are to be something or someone else. God will tell us who we are and we will find it already vibrating within our hearts. I know some people here at Freedom who have had ‘prophetic words’ spoken over them which they were wise enough to reject because they did not resonate with what was in their hearts.
What can we do about it?
If we are constantly tripping over others’ tracks, then we need to ask ourselves the question, have we pursued or lusted after someone else’s destiny? If we feel that we have, or that our generational line has, then we can repent. The true meaning of the word in scripture is nothing to do with being sorry or making amends, it means ‘change your mind’.
We need to change the way we think, turn away from it, renounce it, and get deliverance. We will have to forgive and release the people responsible, whether ourselves, our ancestors or other people who had a part in causing us to go after the alien destiny.
Have we despised and rejected the amazing destiny God actually designed for us? If we have gone chasing after something else then yes, we have! Let’s repent of that too.
All this might take a while. We are talking about transformation of a whole mindset, which rarely happens overnight: let’s give it whatever time is necessary to do it thoroughly. Even as we do we can begin to engage with Him about how to pursue what He really has for us, and get back onto the path of our true destiny.
Discovering Destiny: mp3 audio teaching series by Mike Parsons.
All three ‘Destiny’ teaching series are also included in our subscription programme, Engaging God.
Our Patreon patrons give a small amount each month and can join us for our monthly group Zooms, get exclusive or early access to Mike’s teaching and enjoy further patron-only benefits. Or you can use the blue button to contact us about making a one-time gift. Thank you! *Note Sadly, because of abuse by scammers we can no longer offer a ‘click to donate’ option. However, if you contact us, we will get back to you with a simple means of giving.
And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28).
We can only love God because He first loved us. The Father sent Jesus because He loves us. All He is looking for is for us to respond to that love and come into a relationship with Him. Then we will begin to know that we have been called according to His purpose.
Do we know what that purpose is? Are we seeking for it? Are we just aimlessly wandering around hoping it will materialise for us? Or are we self-absorbed, living only for the present, wrapped up in trivial self-gratification, in material possessions, position or power?
Perhaps it is buried deep within our hearts, beneath layers of disappointment, frustration and regret built up over the years over generations. God wants us to discover it again. He desires us to know the thoughts He has about us (Psalm 139:17 NLT) thoughts of love, acceptance, affirmation, encouragement and blessing. Accomplishing God’s purpose for us brings fulfilment; achieving any other purpose we may substitute for it brings only emptiness.
When we come into this world our spirit perceives itself disconnected from God; our spirit disconnected from our soul; our spirit disconnected from heaven. We start out as slaves to sin, feeling rejected and disconnected from the sonship God designed us to enjoy.
Legacy
Destiny should lead to legacy, something left behind to bless the next generation. Not many have a Christian heritage – if you do, it is something to cherish and be thankful for. But every person who ever lived had a destiny, a purpose for their lives which God intended them to fulfil. We may feel like we have missed out on ours but God is able to restore everything stolen from us, including not only our own destiny but also that of our generational line.
Each individual’s destiny is a vital part of the overall plan and purpose of God. His plan has not changed since He called Adam and Eve to bring heaven to earth, to manifest the rule of God in this realm and populate the earth with people who would live in relationship with Him. God’s intention has always been to bring blessing to every family that would ever live.
Despite Adam’s fall, that destiny was passed on from Adam down through the generations to Noah, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to Joseph; to Moses, Joshua, Gideon, David and Solomon; to Jesus, to the apostles, to the church (ekklesia), that is, to us. But so many have missed out along the way.
We saw last time that a whole string of Bible characters failed to enter fully into their destiny. Every instance of that is a result of some kind of sin, rebellion or iniquity, either in the individuals concerned or in their generations. Your spirit can recognise a generational root: if you feel stirred by any of the examples we look at, and you do not recognise it in your own life, ask God to reveal to you if there is anything in your generational line that is holding back your destiny from you. There is a place you can go to get destinies restored that have been lost to past generations.
Adam and Eve, Esau
Adam and Eve lost their destiny by eating from the wrong tree and hiding from God. Skipping forward several generations, Esau despised his birthright (Gen 25:27-34), despised the spiritual dimension of his life. He was a ‘macho man’, over-impressed with his own soul, power and ability. That attitude cost him.
Jacob
Scripture often speaks of ‘Abraham, Isaac and Jacob’, and Jacob is a really sad case. If you can get three generations to fulfil the purpose of God it establishes something significant, so the enemy’s attack on that third generation is all the more intense. Jacob missed out on God’s best for his life, and spoilt what God had planned for his future generations.
Then God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel and live there…” (Gen 35:1). At Bethel, Jacob had met God in a dream and seen angels ascending and descending. He himself called it ‘the house of God, the gateway of heaven’ (Gen 28:17). Who wouldn’t want to live somewhere like that? But it was not a suitable place for Jacob’s livestock, so he moved on.
Then they journeyed from Bethel; and when there was still some distance to go to Ephrath, Rachel began to give birth and she suffered severe labour… So Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem)… Then Israel journeyed on…It came about while Israel was dwelling in that land, that Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his father’s concubine, and Israel heard of it (Gen 35:16, 19, 21, 22).
Would Rachel have died at Bethel? Would Reuben have got involved with Bilhah? Reading on, Jacob suffered continual family issues he would not have faced had he stayed where God told him to. These included the rape of his daughter, Dinah, and culminated in his eventual migration to Egypt, where his family went into slavery for generations. That is not the kind of legacy you want to leave.
Jacob teaches us that our destiny can be linked to a specific location: we can lose our destiny by moving away from where God tells us to stay, or by staying somewhere (perhaps through misplaced loyalty to people, organisations or churches) when God has told us to leave. Let’s be sure we are where God wants us to be. He told Abraham to go, and told Jacob to stay.
Moses
Moses’ destiny was to free Israel from Egypt, but he tried to do it his own way. He killed an Egyptian and hid in the desert for forty years. God called him back to his destiny, but he still failed to complete it. Moses was angry at the persistent devaluing of his office and authority by a people with a spirit and mentality of slavery. Although he had the blessing and favour of God, and moved in God’s power and authority, he still wanted the favour of the people. So he struck the rock, disobeyed God, and forfeited his right to enter the Promised Land.
This is a dangerous temptation: to use the anointing to do the work of the kingdom, but to do so in order to legitimise ourselves or our ministry, to seek the favour of men. Moses lost his destiny because of his insecurity: Jesus faced the same temptation but refused to use God’s power to legitimise himself in the eyes of men.
Judah
The nation of Judah lost the Promised Land by abusing it, by not giving it its sabbath rest every seven years. They failed to trust in God’s provision, and went into exile in Babylon as a result. If we do not take proper care of our destiny, we can lose it. The condition of our spirit, soul and body is important: sleeping, eating, resting; getting the times and seasons in sync. If we don’t care for ourselves, it is a form of abuse and can cost us our destiny.
Jewish nation
The religious leaders of Jesus’ time rejected their king and forfeited their destiny. They generated enormous income through corruption, and saw that His talk of a house of prayer for the nations and the coming of the kingdom was a threat to both their religious money-making scams and their position of authority with the people. If we make decisions based on financial security or protecting our position rather than on faith in God, we risk being drawn away from our destiny.
Joshua
Don’t trade your destiny away. If we don’t fulfil our destiny, God can pass it on to someone else. Where Moses stepped down, Joshua stepped up. God is raising up a Joshua generation so He can release lost destinies, mantles and legacies upon them.
Restoring lost destiny
What happens to lost destinies?
One Sunday morning, during the worship, I had a vision in heaven. I was engulfed in flames for about twenty minutes. In that place I was given a large staff with a golden headpiece. Now, if I don’t know what something is for, I know where to go:
Does not wisdom call…?
On top of the heights beside the way,
Where the paths meet, she takes her stand;
Beside the gates, at the opening to the city,
At the entrance of the doors, she cries out (Prov 8:1-3).
This is a real place in the heavenly realms we can all go to engage with Wisdom. That is where I went that Sunday. I was taken to a room with four doors: the second one opened and I walked into a place of flames, just as I had experienced earlier. I saw a huge door guarded by a balrog-like creature, and I just knew what the staff I had been given was for: I slammed it into the ground, the door opened and I went into Satan’s trophy room.
This is such a sad place! Lost destinies, anointings and mantles are displayed as trophies there, like a hunter might display on his wall the heads of animals he has killed. Family inheritances, the legacies that belong to you, they are trophies there. I began to get really indignant, and something in my spirit started to stir me to say ‘I want these back!’
And I knew this was why God had given me that staff. He had given me a mandate to recover and restore those family destinies and legacies. You see, my father passed nothing spiritual onto me, and yet his great-grandfather was a great man of God. That is the enemy’s desire, to rob us of what we should have had.
How we can get back things that were lost generations ago? They are stored up there, and God wants to release them and restore them to us. The very memory of our family inheritance may have been lost or stolen but it is still stored and recorded. The iniquity of the fathers may be visited on the children to the third and fourth generation, but we can remove all the enemy’s legal rights and recover our family’s destinies and legacies. We can stop the cycle of robbery, and get back what has been taken from us, so that we can pass on a legacy to the next generation.
Are we willing to do what it takes for that to happen? Let’s make a start today.
Removing Satan’s legal rights
By faith, we are going to step into the Court of Accusation in heaven, and if God shows you something while we do this, then you can deal with it in your own spirit.
Father I thank you that you love me
And that your kingdom is based on righteousness and justice.
By faith I step into the heavenly court of accusation.
I stand on my own behalf and on behalf of my generational line.
I face my accusers and I accept and agree that I and my ancestors
Have wrongly traded away my destiny Inheritance.
I accept that I and they
Have followed the pathway of the knowledge of good and evil.
I accept that I and they
Have been influenced and motivated
By earthly, natural and demonic wisdom.
I stand here representing myself and my forefathers, identifying with them. I repent of and renounce all false trading for myself and my forefathers I receive the judgment of God and His declaration That I am justified and made righteous through my advocate, Jesus.
I release the judgment of God against my adversaries and accusers. I receive a mandate to have my destiny and legacy restored. I receive the authority to access Satan’s trophy room And take back what has been robbed from me.
I step back into this realm with the authority to fulfil my destiny. I choose to be identified as your son with the capacity for the fullness of my legacy to be restored to me.
Mike revisits the place of fire in this this Supernatural Mentoring video, and takes back something of even more value than lost destinies…
(The relevant portion begins at around 23 minutes 45 seconds – click the ‘play’ button on the video window below and it should start in the right place):
Discovering Destiny: mp3 audio teaching series by Mike Parsons.
All three ‘Destiny’ teaching series are also included in our subscription programme, Engaging God.
Our Patreon patrons give a small amount each month and can join us for our monthly group Zooms, get exclusive or early access to Mike’s teaching and enjoy further patron-only benefits. Or you can use the blue button to contact us about making a one-time gift. Thank you! *Note Sadly, because of abuse by scammers we can no longer offer a ‘click to donate’ option. However, if you contact us, we will get back to you with a simple means of giving.
For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope (Jer 29:11).
How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How vast is the sum of them! (Psa 139:17)
Do you know what God thinks about you?
Not what you think, or what the world thinks, but what God thinks?
Not Mission Impossible
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will (Eph 1:3-4).
He has chosen us to be sons, to be part of His family, to be those who will engage with the earthly and the heavenly, the natural and the supernatural, in order to fulfil His commission to restore creation to original purpose and design. This may not be Mission Impossible but still, “Your mission, should you choose to accept it…”
Sorry, Frank
For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us;
And the government will rest on His shoulders;
And His name will be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.
There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace,
On the throne of David and over his kingdom,
To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness From then on and forevermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this (Isa 9:6-7).
God’s intention is that Jesus’ kingdom will have no end. It will bring peace and wholeness, not just here, or in this time, but through everything else that is out there and through all eternity. And God is going to get His way: all He asks of us is whether we will be part of that or not. That is our choice: the pathway to eternal life or the pathway of humanism. The pathway of the tree of life, or the DIY pathway of the knowledge of good and evil.
Many biblical figures lost their birthright or only partially outworked their destinies. Here are just a few from the Old Testament (I am sure you can think of others):
Adam and Eve
Cain
Esau
Jacob
Reuben
Simeon and Levi
Judah
Moses
Solomon
Jeroboam
Let’s check our hearts: have we become cynical, sceptical, critical or judgmental because of past experience, disappointment and disillusionment? That is what can happen when we allow life’s circumstances to affect how we see ourselves and our future, rather than what God says about us. The same is true if we have become earthbound rather than heavenly, settlers rather than pioneers, apathetic, passive, lazy, selfish, fearful, rebellious, comfortable, safe or materialistic; none of those will help us fulfil our destiny.
When Jesus looks at the destiny written on our scroll, is that what He sees in our lives? Does He recognise the person He created us to be? Or, like the bridegroom in the parable of the wise and foolish virgins (Matt 25), does He say ‘I do not know you’? That chapter continues with the story of the talents, representing the destiny God has given us. Let’s be like those who took a risk and gained more as a result, rather than the one who dug a hole in the ground and hid the money.
‘Throw out the worthless servant into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth’ (Matt 25:30). This is not ‘hell’ by the way. The weeping and gnashing of teeth is an expression of anger and frustration when those who have wasted their destiny realise that they have missed out on God’s best for them.
Choose
We can choose to serve God or we can make ourselves god; but we can’t do both.
We can choose to follow what God says or we can choose to follow the philosophies of men; but we can’t do both.
We can choose to worship in spirit in truth or we can choose the worship that pleases us; but we can’t do both.
We can choose the lifestyle of holiness or we can choose the lifestyle of the world; but we can’t do both.
“If it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve… but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” (Joshua 24:15).
Our destiny is designed for us to make an eternal difference. Choose it, and nothing can stop us; we will not allow our past to rob us of our future. We are intended to be overcomers, prevailing over every obstacle that is placed in our way.
So will you choose your eternal destiny?
Today I choose to accept my mission.
Today I choose to accept my calling.
Today I choose to accept my destiny.
Today I choose to accept my commission as a son of God.
Today I choose to surrender my will and my ways to You.
Today I choose to serve the Lord.
Discovering Destiny: mp3 audio teaching series by Mike Parsons.
All three ‘Destiny’ teaching series are also included in our subscription programme, Engaging God.
Our Patreon patrons give a small amount each month and can join us for our monthly group Zooms, get exclusive or early access to Mike’s teaching and enjoy further patron-only benefits. Or you can use the blue button to contact us about making a one-time gift. Thank you! *Note Sadly, because of abuse by scammers we can no longer offer a ‘click to donate’ option. However, if you contact us, we will get back to you with a simple means of giving.
“Nothing can stop us, we’ll be running through the night
And our passion will not die…”
The image of Frank Sinatra, taken from the trailer for Pal Joey (1957), is in the Public Domain.
Our destiny was formed and fashioned in eternity. It continues on into eternity beyond this lifetime, but it is available for us to find here and now.
Your eyes have seen my unformed substance;
And in Your book (scroll) were all written
The days that were ordained for me,
When as yet there was not one of them.
How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God!
How vast is the sum of them! (Ps 139:16-17).
One day we will have to give an account for whether the scroll of our actual life matches up with the scroll of what was God’s plan for us. God has provided all we need for our lives to produce the gold, silver and precious stones which make up our destiny. Wood, hay and stubble will not survive the testing fire.
Here is a definition I found: destiny – the treasure that God has set aside for you, designed you to possess (but it requires a battle and maturity to attain). It will enrich your life and bring you fulfilment based on your unique design and will advance the kingdom of God.
Our design matched with our destiny will bring fulfilment, rather than the futility and frustration we often experience when we are trying to do our own thing.
God chooses you
In biblical culture, the firstborn son had the right to a double inheritance. But God was never bound by that culture. He chose Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Gideon, David and Solomon, none of them firstborn; he chose Deborah and Esther, though the culture dictated that they could not inherit at all! Everyone has a destiny, regardless of gender, position or any other worldly measurement, and none of those considerations can hinder us if we pursue it.
Wisdom does not hinder us, but it is not why we are chosen. Strength does not hinder us, but it is not why we are chosen. Position does not hinder us, but it is not why we are chosen.
Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, so that no man may boast before God.But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption (1 Cor 1:25-30).
It is ‘by His doing’. We will not find and fulfil our destiny by intellectual understanding, physical strength or willpower, nor by anything of our own doing, but only by His doing: He has brought us into intimate relationship with Him. And in that intimacy of relationship we are able to see, hear, sense and feel His vision, His voice, His heart. We will never find our destiny if we miss our eternal relationship with our Creator.
To know God is our highest calling and the central focus of our destiny. The first step in our destiny quest is for intimacy with the Lord: getting to know Him – Who He is, what He does, how He thinks, and what He desires; His character, His nature, and His ways. All that can only come by the spirit of revelation.
Close relationship
Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God, which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words (I Cor 2:12-13).
Even though God is often invisible and inaudible to our physical senses we can still get to know Him by developing our spirit and soul senses. Close relationship with Him is cultivated in exactly the same way human friendships are, through spending time together, communication, vulnerability and sharing our lives.
We have access to the thoughts of God, and the tangible spiritual experience of His emotions, by the spirit of revelation. And when we agree together, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words, there is power in that agreement.
Is that the kind – and the depth – of relationship with Him that we are pursuing? He has opened up the door of access to Himself and is asking us “do you want Me?”
Our invitation
Who 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 granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity (2 Tim 1:9).
Because of His purpose and His grace, all this was ours long before we ever existed.
He has saved us. ‘Saved’ comes from the Greek word ‘sozo’: to save, to deliver or protect (literally or figuratively), to heal, preserve, to do well, to make whole. Bringing us back into our eternal purpose is what our salvation is all about.
He has called us. ‘Kaleo’ means to call, to bid or to invite. He has invited us to participate with Him in our eternal purpose and destiny.
With a holy calling. Holy is ‘hagios’ – sacred, divine, pure, morally blameless, or consecrated. It is something uniquely designed for us by God. And calling is ‘klesis’, which shares the same root as ‘kaleo’ and means destiny, vocation, invitation.
God saves us, restores us to wholeness and invites us to participate in the pure and holy destiny that was established for us in eternity.
Discovering Destiny: mp3 audio teaching series by Mike Parsons.
All three ‘Destiny’ teaching series are also included in our subscription programme, Engaging God.
Our Patreon patrons give a small amount each month and can join us for our monthly group Zooms, get exclusive or early access to Mike’s teaching and enjoy further patron-only benefits. Or you can use the blue button to contact us about making a one-time gift. Thank you! *Note Sadly, because of abuse by scammers we can no longer offer a ‘click to donate’ option. However, if you contact us, we will get back to you with a simple means of giving.
And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose (Rom 8:28).
Do you know His purpose for your life? That is what we mean when we speak about destiny. Destiny is not ‘fate’, not ‘que sera sera‘, predetermined without any choice or pursuit on our part. It is God’s pre-agreed plan for our lives – and we can choose to pursue it or not. That choice has consequences for us, not only in this life but beyond.
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, And before you were born I consecrated you; I have appointed you a prophet to the nations” (Jer 1:5).
We are not all called to be a prophet to the nations like Jeremiah. But each of us is called according to God’s particular purpose for us.
Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; And in Your book (scroll) were all written The days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was not one of them. How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How vast is the sum of them! (Psa 139:16-17).
Supernatural record of God’s intention
At conception there is a flash of light. Our natural DNA carries the natural record of our genetic ancestry, but when our spirit enters at that point, it carries our destiny, the supernatural record of God’s intention for our life. It is deposited within us for us to discover. It is like a letter of decree, a commission for us. We can access our scroll of destiny in the heavenly record room, or have it revealed around the arc in the heavenly tabernacle, but God also wants us to seek out and pursue the promptings within us which draw us towards His purposes for us.
And along with the destiny comes all the provision necessary to fulfil it. If we stay on the path we will find the provision, but there is no provision for pursuing our own agenda if we get off the pathway.
God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule” (Gen 1:28).
Adam forfeited his destiny through rebellion and disobedience, choosing the pathway of the Tree of the knowledge of good and evil, but Jesus came to restore and unlock our destiny for us so that we can follow the pathway of the Tree of Life. Creation itself is longing for the day we step up and fulfil our destiny to rule both in the earth and in the heavens (see Rom 8:19-20).
Maturity
Now I say, as long as the heir is a child, he does not differ at all from a slave although he is owner of everything, but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by the father (Gal 4:1-2).
We want to grow into mature sons, not to remain as immature children. Our heavenly Father assigns angels, the seven spirits of God and the cloud of witnesses as those managers and guardians who will help us come into maturity so that we don’t miss out on our destiny.
Thus says the Lord of hosts, “If you will walk in My ways and if you will perform My service, then you will also govern My house and also have charge of My courts, and I will grant you free access among these who are standing here” (Zech 3:7).
There is a process revealed here which leads to maturity, following the pathways of relationship and responsibility; a progression from the earthly (servant, bondservant, steward, friend) to engaging in the heavenly (lords, kings and sons). Both heavenly and earthly pathways are necessary for us to fulfil our destiny. When we hear the heart of God, it will lead us to fulfil the call of God: everything we do will come from relationship with God, not for a relationship with God (which only leads to religion and bondage). And God really wants us to hear His heart.
Walking in the garden
Then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being. The Lord God planted a garden toward the east, in Eden… Then the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden east of Eden to cultivate it and keep it (Gen 2:7-8,15).
They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day (Gen 3:8).
Our destiny is both heavenly and earthly, so we can access both the heavenly and earthly gardens (which originally overlapped). We too can hear ‘the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden’ – and that sound is a frequency, a harmony, a song, a fragrance. The Tree of Life is available to us once more, and the River of Life is flowing out of heaven to water the earth. It is our destiny to engage in this overflowing river: we are its channel as it flows through the garden of our own hearts and out into the world around us. It is a well in us springing up to eternal life (John 4:10) and becoming rivers of living water from which those who are thirsty can come and drink (John 7:37).
Our natural DNA vibrates with the chaos it was created in, but our destiny scroll vibrates with God’s eternal purposes. That frequency, vibration, sound, is being released from heaven right now. Are we hearing it, feeling it or sensing it? Let’s choose to resonate with it; it is calling us back into alignment with our heavenly destiny. If we are not yet tuned in to it, let’s be willing to train our senses through practice to recognise it (Heb 5:14). It is wooing us into relationship, into knowing God by experience and encounter, restoring our identity and authority as sons.
The eyes of your heart
I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened (opened), so that you will know what is the hope of His calling (destiny), what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints (Eph 1:18).
We can engage the river and engage our destiny through the eyes of our heart, our imagination. Our reason is limited, but not so our imagination. As Einstein said, “Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited; imagination encircles the world.”
Open the door
“Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me” (Rev 3:20).
In the centre of our spirit is the door of first love. Behind it is a river of life waiting to burst through.
Open the door and let the source of life flow from heaven into your spirit.
Picture a river flowing by a green pasture Lie down in the pasture With Jesus, the Shepherd of your soul, beside you.
Enjoy His presence Feel His love, His joy, His peace. He restores your soul Touching the deep areas of your life to bring wholeness, healing and blessing.
Stay there for a while… Step into the river Feel its energy Touching every atom, every fibre of your being Flowing through you.
You can breathe in that water You can drink that water, Receive life in abundance.
The river flows on Through the garden of your heart Watering that garden with life And out into the world.
Turn, and follow it back upstream Through the door, back into heaven. Breathe in the atmosphere of heaven. Sense its energy, its life, its purity.
Look at the riverbed. See the scrolls and the gems that are there for you To provide for you, to bless you, to be your source.
Stand under the waterfall cascading down from the garden of God Feel it pulsating down, energising you Let deep call to deep Revealing the deposit of your destiny within you.
Go up the waterfall (you can do that in heaven) At the top, walk towards the garden of God. Jesus is waiting on the bridge ahead of you Look into His eyes Feel His love
He is inviting you to hand over every burden Every weight of responsibility you are carrying You don’t want to be carrying all that when you go in and meet the Father.
Hand it all over.
Walk through the archway into the garden of God Experience what it is to be in the presence of your Father who loves you The One who destines you to rule in the heavens and on the earth.
Discovering Destiny: mp3 audio teaching series by Mike Parsons. All three ‘Destiny’ teaching series are also included in our subscription programme, Engaging God.
Our Patreon patrons give a small amount each month and can join us for our monthly group Zooms, get exclusive or early access to Mike’s teaching and enjoy further patron-only benefits. Or you can use the blue button to contact us about making a one-time gift. Thank you! *Note Sadly, because of abuse by scammers we can no longer offer a ‘click to donate’ option. However, if you contact us, we will get back to you with a simple means of giving.
Each of the redemptive gifts resonates with a colour and has a particular affinity with one of the seven spirits of God. He is opening up the realms of heaven for us to engage with those seven spirits who are there to tutor us and train us into sonship. [Please click the image to view it as a full-size PDF.]
Prophet – Red – Spirit of the Lord Servant – Orange – Spirit of Wisdom Teacher – Yellow – Spirit of Understanding Exhorter – Green – Spirit of Counsel Giver – Blue – Spirit of Might Ruler – Indigo – Spirit of Knowledge Mercy – Violet – Spirit of the Fear of the Lord
Harmony of the senses
As our spirits become aware of the colours, frequencies and fragrances of heaven we can begin to apply them to affect things here on earth. There is an amazing harmony of all the senses in heaven that brings everything together into a oneness, enabling our whole being to engage with the realm of heaven as we begin to resonate with it. The song of our human DNA can be transformed so that it comes into agreement with the song of God’s original purpose for us, our spiritual identity. In the very core of our being there is something contending for us to come into our eternal alignment with who we are as spiritual beings of light, as sons of God on the earth.
The revelation is being released to the body of Christ today that colour, sound and fragrance are related and that certain frequencies can bring healing, that essential oils can bring healing. The New Age has received this revelation, whereas the church has generally rejected it; some in that community are using sound and light and frequency with some positive effects. But because they are generally operating in the power of the soul rather than in connection with the Source of life through the spirit, it can leave a tainted stain on the soul of those involved. When mature sons of God apply those same techniques, He uses them to touch us, bringing righteousness, justice, holiness, peace and joy into our lives, because it is bringing us back into alignment with who we really are. We need to embrace this, not reject it just because a particular group of people accept it and are using it in the only way they know how, apart from God.
Frequencies
Quantum physics 1.01: we would not exist unless something observed us (and there are various suggestions about who does the observing, but I think we can agree Who that is). This earthly realm is connected to the spiritual realm and the sound of God’s voice which brought it all into being is still vibrating throughout the whole of creation.
Our eyes and ears can only recognise a very tiny portion of the frequencies that exist all around us, but we know from experience that frequencies outside that range can affect us. If you are exposed to ultra-violet light, you will get sunburn. If you were exposed to gamma radiation, you might not exactly go green and turn into the Incredible Hulk, but it could change you at a genetic level. That is absolute scientific fact. What about all the other frequencies which will also affect us, change us and transform us if we are exposed to them? Our spirits can respond to frequencies that our physical eyes and ears cannot: we call it the voice of God.
When our musicians start playing, they are not just making sound. There is a connection with light and frequency and fragrance that God wants us to experience and come into. Our musicians here at Freedom have retuned to A=432Hz (elsewhere others have chosen A=444Hz) and the difference from the standard tuning of A=440Hz, though unnoticeable to the natural ear for most of us, can be picked up in our spirit. We immediately saw a whole shift in our level of spiritual engagement, in fact the band noticed the difference even on the first practice night with the new tuning.
We need to resonate with God. When He comes and starts to manifest His presence, we are supposed to come into agreement with Him. The Bible calls it unity, the power of agreement. We come together with Him, and it goes deeper than just the mind or the emotions, it goes right down to a genetic level, so that we are conformed to the image of Jesus.
Heavenly places
This may frazzle our natural understanding, but it all begins to make sense when we realise that God wants to reveal Himself to us, and that He wants our spirit to engage with Him spirit to spirit. In fact He is releasing revelation to enable us to engage with Him in every way, spirit, soul and body, so that we can be transformed and come into agreement with our destiny, with our true identity, with who He created us to be.
As we begin to do so, we will find we can be seated in the heavenly places, not just in theory but in reality. We can go to the heavenly courts and see righteousness and justice administered on earth as it is in heaven. It was always God’s intention that we would have access, in our spirit, to the realms of heaven, and manifest heaven on the earth. Those manifestations can come in various ways: justice bringing a change to circumstances, healing, deliverance, wholeness. There are sounds and frequencies that can bring healing and deliverance, setting people free from the bondages that hold them captive, and bringing them back into alignment with God’s purpose for their lives.
The brain
Arthur Burk, whose work on redemptive gifts has informed much of this series, has found that the 7 redemptive gifts relate to 7 particular areas of the brain:
Note: the colours on this image do NOT correspond to the colours associated with the redemptive gifts.
He also carried out scientific studies using EEG and EAV machines on how the brain responds when spiritual events occur, including angelic and demonic activity. He literally watched (and recorded) as spiritual healing took place. He says:
“Try this experiment. Have someone call each portion of your spirit to the front and ask that portion if it is willing to go to the area of the brain that matches its design.
Ask it to visit both the right and the left hemisphere if that is appropriate (the first five areas)…
In the work we have done in the lab, we can identify with electronic equipment where there is an unclean presence in the brain (demon, AHS or stronghold) and the human spirit confirms the presence of defilement by being unwilling to go there” (Arthur Burk).
There are more relationships of sevens to the redemptive gifts, including warfare strategies (insight, platform, planning, initiating, mobilizing, completing, fulfilment), and basic instincts (contemplative, kingdom, student, experiential, aesthetic, activist, relational). You can pursue this whole topic on Arthur Burk’s YouTube channel and on his Sapphire Leadership Group website.
Jesus demonstrated all the gifts
All the redemptive gifts were present in Jesus’ life and ministry.
He showed us the heart of the prophet, He did not mince His words. He was the servant who washed His disciples’ feet. He was the one who taught from His life and unpacked His teachings with His disciples. He was the one who gave words of encouragement… “I will send a comforter in My place”. He showed us the greatest act of giving in laying down His life. He led by His example. He had mercy to heal the sick and deliver captives.
And we are being conformed to His image, transformed by the renewing of our minds. As we allow Him to change us, as maturity in the faith comes, we become conversant with all the redemptive gifts and appreciative of the way different people express them, because that is how Jesus was. Diversity is essential in the body of Christ, and particularly so now that we are beginning to glimpse the relational, organic nature of what church (ekklesia) is intended to be.
Conclusion
So let’s identify, honour, value and appreciate our own primary and secondary gifts. We can use the surveys (understanding that they are indicators, with flaws and limitations). We can look at the lists of characteristics and see which best describe us (and ask those who know us well what they see in us, too). We can look at what motivates our heart, what gifting matches our natural tendencies, and what the enemy has sought to deny us. Where do we come alive? Conversely (as an indication of what our gift is not), what kinds of things leave us feeling drained? Most important, what does our heavenly Father have to say about us? We can ask Him!
And equally, let’s identify, honour, value and appreciate the gifting of others so that we can operate together more effectively as God intends:
He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love (Eph 4:16 NLT).
None of these surveys are 100% accurate. It is perfectly normal to obtain different results from them! Arthur Burk prefers not to use them at all. If you choose to do so, see which results you resonate with – and most importantly, always check everything out with the Father.
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Sons of Issachar 