Untitled Sermon

I’m on an assignment; but my rebellion is hindering me.

Text: Jeremiah 1:5

Life is a race.

Life is a journey.

And we all have one life to live and it would soon be gone.

Many people are living to build an earthly legacy, but the most enduring legacy we can build is that which would last for eternity. The race of our individual destinies is the race set before every one of us and it is the most important race of our lives.

“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.” Hebrews 12: 1-2.

This race is called the High Call of God in Christ Jesus for our lives. See Philippians 3:13-14.

The race set before us is an individual one, peculiar to and customized to fit the divine will and pattern for our earthly existence.

After the salvation experience, the unfolding of our divine assignment is the greatest project of our lives. Interestingly, it is only just about one person out of every 100,000 who lives to fulfil his or her God-given assignments.

Note that your earthly influence and heavenly reward is tied to the unravelling and deployment of your divine assignment.

2 Timothy 4:7-8: “I have fought a good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith, now is laid up for me the crown of righteousness….”

There are certain things you need to note about your divine assignment. They include the fact that your assignment was finished and perfected before you were created. It is now your job to find out and enter into what was finished before you were created. Psalm 139:15-16.

Your divine assignment is the progressive unravelling and attainment of your primary calling in life. It is blessing the world with the worth and quality of your personhood and attracting others to follow your inspiration.

Your divine assignment has to do with progressively achieving personal excellence and then becoming a better version of you. This is because you don’t know how gifted and valuable you are until you allow God to introduce you to yourself.

In a nutshell, I would say that: Your divine assignment is doing what God wants you to do; having what God wants you to have; going where God wants you to go and then becoming who God ultimately wants you to become which is Christ-like. In the journey of destiny, God is calling us to live the Christ-life as in Galatians 2:20: “I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I…’

Note, too, that your assignment is the core reason God placed you on the earth. So, it is your responsibility not to allow money, possessions, security, fame and the lust of other things to keep you away from the purpose of God for your creation.

When you’re walking in your divine purpose, there’s really no need to measure what is required of you by what others are doing. 2 Corinthians 10:12.

This natural life is a battlefield. You have to fight for your assignment: 2 Timothy 4:7.

The destiny of Jesus was threatened in Mathew 2:10-13; and in 1 Chronicles 4:9-10 Jabez had to fight for his destiny, in Genesis 32:24-28 the patriarch Jacob had to wrestle out his divine destiny.

If we’re to make authentic progress in life, we must face up to the necessity of an enemy who is desirous of stopping us from the place of our divine destiny simply because your divine assignment is what makes you valuable to God, dangerous to Satan and influential in your generation in your sphere of calling.

But there is a thing called rebellion that contends with our calling and our divine purpose. Our ability to focus on our assignment can be a major distraction.

1 Samuel 15:23 NLT

Rebellion is as sinful as witchcraft, and stubbornness as bad as worshiping idols. So because you have rejected the command of the Lord, he has rejected you as king.”

We get to a place where we want to do something different. What we don’t realize is that God will allow us to do things and provide what we need to do it. And yet that is not good enough. The word “I” seems to get in the way alot.

Isaiah 14:12–15 NLT

“How you are fallen from heaven, O shining star, son of the morning! You have been thrown down to the earth, you who destroyed the nations of the world. For you said to yourself, ‘I will ascend to heaven and set my throne above God’s stars. I will preside on the mountain of the gods far away in the north. I will climb to the highest heavens and be like the Most High.’ Instead, you will be brought down to the place of the dead, down to its lowest depths.

There is a consequence for not obeying God just as Lucifer found out! He got kicked out of heaven. He thought that he could rebel against God without consequence. Wrong!

Nehemiah 9:26 NLT

“But despite all this, they were disobedient and rebelled against you. They turned their backs on your Law, they killed your prophets who warned them to return to you, and they committed terrible blasphemies.

Nehemiah 9:27 MSG

You turned them over to their enemies, who made life rough for them. But when they called out for help in their troubles you listened from heaven; And in keeping with your bottomless compassion you gave them saviors: Saviors who saved them from the cruel abuse of their enemies.

And this is what God will do! He will allow us to get into trouble because of our disobedience! And when we cry out for help, He will send us help. Because He wants us to fulfill our purpose. Our assignment is important to God and He knows the end of our life from the begining. He is rooting for us to be successful!

Our obedience to God unlocks the spiritual power that we need to complete the race! It causes us to grow stronger and stronger and build up momentum to finish strong.

So what is hindering us from staying on course? where is the blockage that we are facing? Can we examine ourselves and see what is?

Hebrews 3:7–9 NLT

That is why the Holy Spirit says, “Today when you hear his voice, don’t harden your hearts as Israel did when they rebelled, when they tested me in the wilderness. There your ancestors tested and tried my patience, even though they saw my miracles for forty years.

God blesses us even when sometimes our heads are hard and we get into big messes! Cry out to God! Ask Him to help you and put you back on the right path! Call on His name and He will answer you and strengthen you! Don’t fall deeper into the pit! God did not design the pit for you! Your name is Victory! You are a winner!

Hebrews 12:1–2 NLT

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne.