Discovering Destiny (Part 55): You Are Called To Make A Difference
Today, we continue our focus on THE YEAR OF DISCOVERY, as we learn to maintain our posture of faith after God has revealed His plans for our future.
Key scriptures for this year:
2 Peter 3:18 GNT
"But continue to grow in the grace and in the knowledge of our Savior, Jesus Christ. To Him be glory now and forever."
Luke 10:20 Mirror
"It's time for you to rediscover who you are from Heaven's perspective."
1 John 3:10 Mirror
"There is a very visible and vast difference between living one's life from your God identity or from a fallen man's mindset."
Proverbs 25:2 NKJV
"It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, but the glory of kings is to search out a matter."
Jeremiah 29:13 NIV
"You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart."
Scripture(s) we will study today:
Genesis 41:53-57 NLT
"At last the seven years of bumper crops throughout the land of Egypt came to an end. Then the seven years of famine began, just as Joseph had predicted. The famine also struck all the surrounding countries, but throughout Egypt there was plenty of food. Eventually, however, the famine spread throughout the land of Egypt as well. And when the people cried out to Pharaoh for food, he told them, 'Go to Joseph, and do whatever he tells you.' So with severe famine everywhere, Joseph opened up the storehouses and distributed grain to the Egyptians, for the famine was severe throughout the land of Egypt. And people from all around came to Egypt to buy grain from Joseph because the famine was severe throughout the world."
Supporting scriptures:
Isaiah 43:7 NLT
"Bring all who claim me as their God, for I have made them for my glory. It was I who created them."
Genesis 41:16 AMPC
"Joseph answered Pharaoh, It is not in me; God [not I] will give Pharaoh a [favorable] answer of peace."
Genesis 41:38 NLT
"So Pharaoh asked his officials, 'Can we find anyone else like this man so obviously filled with the spirit of God?'"
Proverbs 22:29 AMPC
"Do you see a man diligent and skillful in his business? He will stand before kings; he will not stand before obscure men."
Proverbs 6:6-8 NLT
"Take a lesson from the ants, you lazybones. Learn from their ways and become wise! Though they have no prince or governor or ruler to make them work, they labor hard all summer, gathering food for the winter."
Psalm 37:19 AMPC
"They shall not be put to shame in the time of evil; and in the days of famine they shall be satisfied."
Genesis 12:2 TPT
"Follow me, and I will make you into a great nation. I will exceedingly bless and prosper you, and I will make you famous, so that you will be a tremendous source of blessing for others."
Ephesians 2:10 TPT
"We have become his poetry, a re-created people that will fulfill the destiny he has given each of us, for we are joined to Jesus, the Anointed One. Even before we were born, God planned in advance our destiny and the good works we would do to fulfill it!"
Matthew 5:16 AMPC
"Let your light so shine before men that they may see your moral excellence and your praiseworthy, noble, and good deeds and recognize and honor and praise and glorify your Father Who is in heaven."
Acts 10:38 NLT
"And you know that God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. Then Jesus went around doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him."
Setting the Stage:
Yesterday, we saw that God healed Joseph's heart before the people who hurt him ever walked back through the door. Today, the clock runs out. For seven years, Joseph did the same thing every day. He traveled the country, appointed his overseers, collected one-fifth of every harvest, and stored grain city by city until there was so much of it that he stopped counting. Then, right on schedule, the seven good years ended. The rain stopped. The Nile did not rise the way it used to. The fields that had produced more than anyone could measure produced nothing.
Now, picture what that looked like from the outside. In every country around Egypt, people were starving. Nobody had prepared, because nobody had known. But in Egypt, there was food. The Bible says the famine eventually reached Egypt too, and the people cried out to Pharaoh. Pharaoh was the most powerful man in the world, and he had one answer for his entire nation: "Go to Joseph, and do whatever he tells you." Think about that. The king did not open the storehouses himself. He did not call a meeting of his advisors. He pointed everyone to one man.
And who was that man? 20 years earlier, he had become a Hebrew slave. A few years after that, he was a prisoner the butler forgot about. Now, after seven years of running the nation and getting them prepared, the whole nation was being sent to his office. The Bible says, "People from all around came to Egypt to buy grain from Joseph." Joseph became the answer. Not because he was the smartest man alive, but because when God gave him the plan, he worked it, every day, for seven years, before anyone needed it.
Here is what I want you to see today. We are not on this planet to just be consumers or to party. We are on this planet for God's purpose and for God's glory. You are called to make a difference. And one of the ways God gets the glory is when there is an obvious need in this world, and God makes us the answer to it. The same God who planned your destiny before you were born also planned for the crisis that would reveal what He put in you.
So, what does this mean for you today? A few things.
1. You Were Not Put On This Planet Just To Consume.
Before we go any further in Joseph's story, I want you to settle something. You are destined, and you are called. You are not on this planet to just be a consumer. You are not here to eat, shop, scroll, and party until the next weekend comes around. You are here for a purpose. You are here for God's purpose, to advance God's Kingdom, and to bring glory to His name. The Lord said through Isaiah, "Bring all who claim me as their God, for I have made them for my glory. It was I who created them" (Isaiah 43:7 NLT). Joseph could have spent his years in the palace enjoying the chariot, the gold chain, and the royal ring. Instead, he spent them building storehouses for people he had never met.
How this applies to you:
-- You were created for God's glory, and that is the most important thing you will ever know about your life.
-- The world will tell you to live for the weekend (especially if you are Dominican; smile). God tells you to live for His Kingdom.
-- We are not saved BY works, but we are saved FOR works. There is an assignment you were deployed to this planet to complete.
-- A consumer asks, "What can I get out of this?" A person of destiny asks, "What did God put me here to do?"
-- Joseph had every reason to enjoy the palace and forget the people. He built storehouses instead.
-- God planned your destiny before you were born, and He planned it for His glory, not for your applause.
-- I am at a stage of my life where I could be chilling in the Dominican Republic and living off of my retirement pay. Isabella and I are actively involved in several things designed to add value to the world and impact people's lives because we believe that's what we're called to do. Why do you think I get up every morning to do today's word? I have been doing this for 29 years because I understand the assignment.
-- Joseph understood his assignment. Do you understand yours?
-- Say it with me: I am called, I am destined, and I am here on purpose! And I will not ignore my assignment.
2. God Will See To It That People Come to You For What You Are Called To Do.
When the people cried out for food, the king had one answer: "Go to Joseph, and do whatever he tells you." Think about how far Joseph had come. In Potiphar's house, he was the slave who ran things. In the prison, he was the inmate who ran things. Now in the palace, when a national crisis hit, the king himself pointed to Joseph. Why? Solomon said, "Do you see a man diligent and skillful in his business? He will stand before kings" (Proverbs 22:29 AMPC).
How this applies to you:
-- God wants to make you the answer where He has placed you.
-- When people go to your boss with a problem, your boss should send them to you.
-- When you walk in divine wisdom, you become indispensable. People did not just come to Joseph for grain. They came to him for answers, and that was part of the destiny God planned for him.
-- When God is on you, it becomes obvious to everybody else. Pharaoh saw it in a former prisoner, and people will see it in you.
-- People came to Joseph for grain, but first they came to him for answers. People are going to come to you for wisdom, and you will be able to operate in that capacity because it is part of your destiny.
-- People come to me all the time asking for wisdom or for me to share knowledge. But honestly, a lot of that is done over the phone or on virtual calls. I am actually more impressed by the anointing on Isabella's life for women. Women have driven to our house, sometimes for hours, just to sit with Isabella because there is something about her that affects them in a very powerful way.
-- Joseph did not campaign for the position. He was faithful in Potiphar's house and faithful in the prison, and faithfulness in private made him the answer in public.
-- Say it out loud, I am THE ANSWER because God gives me the answers!
3. Joseph Opened The Storehouses.
Look at what Joseph did when the famine got severe. The Bible says the famine began "just as Joseph had predicted," and he "opened up the storehouses and distributed grain to the Egyptians." He did not open them on day one. He waited until the famine was severe, and then he released what he had stored. And notice that he did not just give it away. He sold it, which is how Egypt survived the famine and got rich at the same time. For seven years, Joseph was like the ant Solomon wrote about, "gathering food for the winter" (Proverbs 6:6-8 NLT). Now winter had come. This is what God's wisdom does. It makes you the supplier in hard times.
How this applies to you:
-- What you store in the good season becomes what you release in the hard season.
-- Joseph opened the storehouses when the famine got severe. Timing is part of God’s wisdom. Knowing what you have is not enough; you have to know when to release it.
-- Joseph sold the grain, and Egypt got rich in the middle of a famine. God's wisdom does not just help you survive a crisis. It positions you to prosper in one.
-- David said, "in the days of famine they shall be satisfied" (Psalm 37:19 AMPC). Famine is not the end of your story. It is the season when all that preparation God put you through will make sense.
-- Everyone faces the same conditions, but not everyone is impacted the same way.
-- God planned your storehouse before you knew a famine was coming. The wisdom He gave you in this season is for a season you cannot see yet, and that is part of your destiny.
-- Revelation prepares you in a way that education never can.
4. The Plenty Was Never Just For Him.
Here is something else I do not want you to miss. The Bible says, "people from all around came to Egypt to buy grain from Joseph because the famine was severe throughout the world." The storehouses Joseph built did not just feed Joseph. They did not just feed Egypt. They fed the known world. And in a few chapters, they will feed ten hungry brothers and an old father named Jacob. God told Abraham, "I will exceedingly bless and prosper you... so that you will be a tremendous source of blessing for others" (Genesis 12:2 TPT).
How this applies to you:
-- What God is storing in you is for other people.
-- Joseph's storehouse fed Egypt, then the world, then his own family. Your obedience has a reach you cannot see from where you are standing.
-- God told Abraham He would bless him "so that you will be a tremendous source of blessing for others" (Genesis 12:2 TPT). You are blessed TO BE a blessing. Say it: I am blessed to be a blessing!
-- If your blessing stops with you, it stopped short.
-- Paul said God "planned in advance our destiny and the good works we would do to fulfill it" (Ephesians 2:10 TPT). Your destiny is not just about where you end up. It is about who gets fed because you got there.
-- Stop asking God to bless you so you can be comfortable, and start asking Him to bless you so you can be an answer.
-- The famine revealed what God had put in Joseph. The next crisis will reveal what God has put in you. When that time comes, get ready to open the storehouse.
5. God Gets The Glory When He Makes You The Answer.
Now let me bring it all together. You were created for God's glory, and one of the ways God gets that glory is when there is an obvious need in this world, and God makes you the answer to it. When there is an obvious challenge in this world, and God anoints you to address it.
How this applies to you:
-- An obvious need is an open door for God's glory.
-- God did not call you to sit on the sidelines. He called you and anointed you to make a difference.
-- Peter said God "anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power" (Acts 10:38 NLT), and Jesus used that anointing to go around doing good. The anointing on your life is for doing good too.
-- When people come to you for answers, point them to the One who gave you the answers.
-- When God makes you the answer, people see the answer, and they glorify the God who gave it.
-- Joseph did the work, and God got the glory.
-- God gets the glory, we get to enjoy the benefits, and that arrangement is just fine with me.
-- The need in front of you is not an accident. God planned your destiny before you were born, and He planned it so that the world would see Him through you.
That's enough for today.
Declaration of Faith:
Father, You planned my destiny before I was born, and You created me for Your glory!
I am not on this planet to just be a consumer, I am here for Your purpose!
I am called to make a difference, and I am anointed to do it!
When people go looking for answers, You send them to me!
I am THE ANSWER because You give me the answers!
I open my storehouse at the right time, and I release what You stored in me!
In the days of famine, I am satisfied!
What You put in me is for other people, and I am blessed to be a blessing!
When You make me the answer, You get the glory!
You get the glory, I get to enjoy the benefits, and that arrangement is just fine with me!
In THE YEAR OF DISCOVERY, GREATER IS COMING FOR ME!
I declare this by faith. In Jesus' name. Amen!
This is Today's Word. Apply it and prosper!
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