HARVEST HOUSE PUBLISHERS EUGENE, OREGON Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from the New American Standard Bible®, © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org) Verses marked KJV are from the King James Version of the Bible. All emphasis in Scripture quotations is added by the author. Cover photo © Trey Hill Cover by Koechel Peterson & Associates, Inc., Minneapolis, Minnesota DESTINY Copyright © 2013 by Tony Evans Published by Harvest House Publishers Eugene, Oregon 97402 www.harvesthousepublishers.com Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Evans, Tony Destiny / Tony Evans. p. cm. ISBN 978-0-7369-4997-2 (pbk.) ISBN 978-0-7369-4998-9 (eBook) 1. Christian life. I. Title. BV4501.3.E9155 2013 248.4—dc23 2012029033 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, digital, photocopy, recording, or any other—except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher. This book is dedicated to God, who revealed to me my destiny and allowed me to help others discover theirs. CONTENTS Introduction Part 1: The Importance of Your Destiny 1. Concept 2. Kingdom 3. Rationale 4. Completeness 5. Intention Part 2: The Ingredients of Your Destiny 6. Passion 7. Vision 8. Giftedness 9. Experience 10. Intersections Part 3: The Imperatives of Your Destiny 11. Commitment 12. Development 13. Worship 14. Glory 15. Future Conclusion Questions for Discussion and Personal Reflection Notes About The Urban Alternative Your destiny is the customized life calling God has ordained and equipped you to accomplish in order to bring Him the greatest glory and achieve the maximum expansion of His kingdom. INTRODUCTION Victor was a Swiss scientist. Having experienced personal tragedy, he sought to address his pain by engrossing himself in an experiment—turning a lifeless object into a living being. Scouring graveyards and funeral homes, Victor gathered all of the parts and pieces he needed to put together a massive creature that he chose to name after himself: Frankenstein. But the living being he created quickly turned into a monster. Most of us have seen the movie, but do you know the real tragedy of the story? The monster—after he had been transformed from a lifeless collection of parts into a living being—turned on the very person who created him. In his independence, he turned against his creator, transforming him into a victim. Christians are not ten feet tall and don’t walk around with bolts or dismembered body parts sewn together, but the truth of the film resonates in many lives. Even though we were dead in our trespasses and God gave us life, creating something in us where there was previously nothing, many of God’s children have turned on their Creator. Rather than live for Him, they choose to live for themselves—their own wants, desires, emotions, and will. As a result, lives disintegrate, and what had been created for something good quickly devolves into a debacle. This shows up in the divorce rate as independent people become couples and try to live together. It shows up in the suicide rate as failures lead to depression, hopelessness, and eventually a decision to throw in the towel altogether. It shows up in addictions as people try to numb their pain through chemicals, prescription drugs, overspending, or obsessions. It shows up in corporations or even in ministry as leaders neglect personal or family time and fill their schedules with meetings in order to somehow satisfy an emptiness caused by not living out a divinely ordained destiny. When you live out your destiny, you don’t measure what you have done according to what someone else has done. Nor is your destiny to be confused with a busy life. When your life is filled with purpose, you measure what you have done according to what you were created to do. Many people spend much of their lives trying to be somebody else. Yet this simply reveals that they don’t know who they are supposed to be. Companies often seek to exploit this through a marketing myth that says you can be someone else by buying and wearing a jersey with someone else’s number on it, shoes that a celebrity says he or she wears, makeup that actresses say they use, or clothes that models are seen in. Somehow people think that if they can look like, act like, or talk like a star—or perhaps even get close to one —then they will somehow be a star. The problem is that they have not yet discovered that they are already stars in their own right. You are a star. You already have your own jersey number. You have your own style. You are special. Even worse, this seems to be just as prevalent among Christians as it is among non-Christians. Some people say they have a relationship with Jesus Christ and are on their way to heaven, yet they have a hole in them so big you could drive a Mac truck right through it. One of the main reasons people fail to live out their destinies is that they fail to understand why they were created and who created them. They fail to understand this because they fail to understand God’s kingdom. The Bible is not an anthology of random stories. The thread that ties the entire Bible together is the theme of the kingdom. God’s goal is to see His rule and authority cover the earth through the expansion of His kingdom. That is God’s purpose in history. Scripture was penned in order to facilitate that one agenda. The unifying central theme of the Bible is the glory of God through the advancement of His kingdom. Every event, story, and personality from Genesis to Revelation is there to stitch that theme together. Without that theme, the Bible becomes a collection of disconnected stories that seem to be unrelated to one another. Similarly, when you don’t recognize and incorporate the theme of the kingdom in your own life, your experiences will likewise seem disconnected, unrelated, and random. They will lack the cohesion that your destiny provides. Understanding and embracing God’s kingdom is the secret to living with meaning simply because your life is tied to His kingdom. God’s kingdom agenda for you and for all others is based on His comprehensive rule over every area of life. We celebrate our country and our citizenship by reciting the pledge of allegiance and singing the national anthem. But if you have been born again through Jesus Christ, you are part of an even greater kingdom. You are a citizen of the kingdom of God. Understanding what the kingdom is and how it impacts you is vitally important because it explains your life and purpose. It shows you how things blend together to create an integrated whole. It gives your life meaning. Apart from the kingdom, the events and aspects of your life remain unattached to each other and cannot produce their intended results. Butter by itself doesn’t taste very good. Nutmeg by itself doesn’t taste very good. Flour by itself doesn’t taste very good. Salt by itself doesn’t taste very good. None of these ingredients by themselves would be enough to tempt anyone to taste them. But when a baker measures them and mixes them together for an intended purpose, putting them in the heat of the oven…the smell of the freshly baked cake is enough to lure anyone into the kitchen. When we believers do not make our lives all about God’s kingdom, we segment our lives into various components rather than allowing God to blend them all together toward a greater good. We often quote Romans 8:28: “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.” However, the part of the passage that is most often quoted is simply, “All things work together for good.” The problem is that all things do not work together for good. To only quote half the verse is to miss the whole meaning. The things that work together for good are those that happen to people who love God and are called according to His purpose. God’s purpose is His glory and the advancement of His kingdom as we are conformed to the image of His Son. When you are living your life according to God’s purpose, He will cause all the things in your life to blend together for His good purpose in your life. Otherwise, “all things” that happen to you won’t be intentionally connected and used to work toward His good for you. Today, if you feel as if your life is like butter or flour or nutmeg, begin turning it into something savory by loving God and seeking His destiny for you. When you are committed to Him above all else, He will measure everything in your life—the good, bad, and the bitter—and blend them into something divine. I hope this book will be a practical guide that helps you discover and enjoy the destiny God has planned specifically for you. PART 1 The Importance of Your Destiny