Destined for Greatness

Rev Jasmine

I'm going to get my PhD soon. Penang Hokkien Dialect. Here are the photos of my family. Here you see Josh, Chase, Chloe and Audrey. And this is Ken and Joy with Isaac. They say the reward for not killing your children are your grandchildren.

During the time of recession in Australia, God blessed my children with good jobs in Australia. Praise God.

Today's message is "You are Destined for Greatness" because you are a vessel God can use. Have you ever wondered who am I? What's my destiny? Why are you here for? How can I prepare to achieve my destiny? I used to ask this question. Especially sometimes when going through difficult times.

Am I really destined for greatness? The answer is a resounding yes. He wants you to be a part of his great plans. He handpicked you and all your experiences are to prepare you for his purpose which is to destined you for greatness. He destined us to have a great relationship with him. A fitting place in his great purposes in the world.

Ephesians 1:5

having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will,

Ephesians 1:11-12

11 In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, 12 that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory.

Ephesians 1:17

that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him,

In love He predestined us to be adopted as His sons through Jesus in accordance with His pleasure and will …in order that we might be for the praise of His glory…He has given you the Spirit…so that you may know Him better.

That’s GREAT!

Romans 8:28-29

28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. 29 For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.

Verse 29 is where his agenda is to conform us into the image of his Son. We become who we worship. If we worship money we become hard and cold. But if we worship Jesus we become more like him.

What are you destined for? The fullness of what God wants you to be and do. God has a destiny for each one of us to fulfill. Greatness is not about position but about influence. He wants you to rise up to be able to influence others for him.

Acts 13:36

“For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell asleep, was buried with his fathers, and saw corruption;

See 1 Samuel 17

Like David, we are destined for greatness. David was great because he served God in his generation. How did David moved from being a humble shepherd to a king? There was definitely a process of building up his character.

David had the courage to face Goliath because he has had experiences with God. The process of being a king is by being a servant. He behaved wisely and was so well liked by everyone. True greatness is the more we come under people to lift them up, the more significant we become.

As coaches, we help people find their greatest destiny in God. That's what we want to do to help the leaders find their gifting.

Psalms 78:71-72

71 From following the ewes that had young He brought him,

To shepherd Jacob His people,

And Israel His inheritance.

72 So he shepherded them according to the integrity of his heart,

And guided them by the skillfulness of his hands.

God brought David to shepherd his people according to the integrity of his heart and with skilful hands. It is a destination. We need to get there so there is a preparation. David was prepared to achieve his destiny. The challenges will lead you to a place of greatness and influence. There will be defining moments and you will launch out in this faith journey.

 What do we do to achieve our place of destiny? You move from your experiences. Challenges are your defining moments that will lead you to a place of greatness and influence.

To prepare you to achieve your destiny, you need:

• Character
• Competence
• Courage

Character. It is moral qualities such as integrity.

Competence. We have to study to show ourselves approved of God.

Courage. Stepping outside your comfort zone to accept the challenge to serve as a leader. David couldn't wear Saul's armour and he was courageous enough to say no.

Every part of your life especially your soul needs to be connected with God. Like my children, I wanted them to be connected to God and I'll know they're safe. And they assured us God is with them. When your children grow up like that, with or without you I know they'll be fine.

What do you desire to become? Like to loose 10 kg? To grow spiritually? What is required? It requires passion. I saw at Queensbay "Turn your passion into fashion". What is that? Would it be better to turn your passion into vision? When you have a vision obstacles become opportunities and problems become potentials.

In our prayer meeting, we are going to be like David and chop off Goliath's head. We are going to make our enemies flee. There is a plan to succeed in God. There will of course be resistance. Like David his brother's scolded him and the people looked down on him. But he overcame the resistance. He had a plan. He went to pick up smooth stones. He went to get his weapons.

But I want to say we can also miss our destiny. Like the king who was jealous of David. He was insecure. His ego got the better of him.

What is true greatness? The first quality God saw in David was his spirituality. David had a servant's heart.  He was a shepherd but shepherds cannot enter the temple because they step on dung and dead animals. It was not a glamorous job.

1 Samuel 13:14

But now your kingdom shall not continue. The Lord has sought for Himself a man after His own heart, and the Lord has commanded him to be commander over His people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you.”

He served his father by tending sheep and he served King Saul.

1 Samuel 16:21

David came to Saul and stood before him. And he loved him greatly, and he became his armorbearer.

Jesus said the greatest among you shall be a servant.

Matthew 23:11

But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant.

Mark 10:43-45

43 Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant. 44 And whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all. 45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

The word "Ministry" comes from the root word diakonos meaning "a servant, waiter".

Like a waiter we are ready to serve. That's what it means to be a minister. God is so great yet he has a servant's heart. There's a paradigm shift called servant leadership that is becoming very popular. Servanthood is the secret to spiritual greatness.

The meaning and significance comes from expending our life. Not conserving it. God designed us to serve.

Matthew 16:25

For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.

The more we come "under" people so that we can lift them up, the more significance we end up having.  We are destined for greatness but we must prepare ourself to achieve our destiny.  We demonstrate true greatness by serving God and his people.

Pastor Ronald rounding up.

Donald Trump said let's make America great.

Deuteronomy 6:5

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.

The spirit of the law is a relationship with God. When you rule with relationship it will last a lot longer. Jesus repeated this commandment in Matthew 22:37.