IN THE BEGINNING IT WAS NOT SO
In Matthew 19:8, Jesus replied a statement by the Pharisees thus, ".......but from the beginning it was not
so". Any time we talk about the beginning we talk of God’s
original plan and in John 1:1 “In the beginning was the word and the word was
with God and the word was God.” When we want to use any product, we need to
understand what it was meant for in the beginning and use it for what it was
intended. One of the reasons why Jesus came is to restore us back to how it was
in the beginning, the lifestyle and our relationship with God as it was in the
beginning. What is the original purpose that he designed for me in the beginning.
In Rom 5:12, As sin by one man entered so is righteousness come by one man. The
original sin was in the garden of Eden, and from there what was planned in the
beginning was changed. The dominion, estates, gardens of abundance that was
given in the beginning was lost.
There was a design and plan of God in the
beginning for our lives. In Jeremiah 1:5, It is written, "Before I formed
you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; ....." .
What one needs to ask is, is this the original plan that God has for me, is it
the original place we are to be. In Luke 1:5-25, John was named by God before
his birth and it was declared that he would be great in the sight of the Lord
and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink. being great in God’s sight
requires some self-denial like John had to deny himself of wine or strong drink.
The strange thing that happened was that when John was to be named on the eight
day, Their neighbors and relatives named him Zechariah after his father but his
mother answered and said “Not so, and he shall be called John”.
There was none
in his father’s lineage with such a name. John's father was also asked with signals (because he was dumb) and he wrote for them "his name is John" and he immediately regained his speak.
When God has a plan the devil comes
with his own agenda. There have been so many cases when God intervened by changing
the names of people even during childbirth. To tell the circumstance of the
children of Israel, God changed the name of Abram to Abraham and Sarai to
Sarah. In Genesis 32 :8, God changed Jacob’s name to Israel reminding him again
in Genesis 35:10 that he has changed his name because it was tied to his purpose
of life. Ichabod was named because the
Glory of god had departed. Jabez was named after the sorrow of that period.
There are seven people God gave their names before they were
born, Ishmael, Isaac, Josiah, Solomon, Cyrus (named almost 170 years before he
was born), John and Jesus Christ. Why God named them before they are born is
tied to their purpose and promise for what God will do in their time. For
instance, in 1 Chronicles 22:9, Solomon shall be a man of peace and rest, Israel
shall have peace and quiet during his reign. back to the case of John, he was
first named Zechariah, because of unbelieve his father had been made dumb and
could not utter a word during the naming. But his mother stood up to say No to
the name Zechariah. At the time of our birth, how many people have the privilege
of having someone to stand up and say no to the change of their destiny. A lot
of people have had experiences that makes the lie of the devil stay so long
that it now looks like the true picture. The devil is after changing what God
has spoken concerning our life in the beginning. Someone can say, what is so
special about a name, but when one is named wrongly it becomes difficult to
make it right. When the name is wrong the purpose is almost defeated just like
naming a bottle of water “ACID”, people would not drink it and it will not fulfil
its purpose because of the name given to it. 1 Samuel 25:25, Nabal means “foolish”
and he has been named Nabal since he was born, and it was said that as he is
named so he is. The wife went to David to plead on Nabal’s behalf because he
acted foolishly and refused to help David. And Nabal died but that was not the
plan for Nabal.
“Not so” as said by Elizabeth (John’s mother) is the
opposition we must give to the devil that wants to thwart the plans of god for
our life. For us to have our real destiny, we say yes to destiny and plans of
God and say no to evil directions.
In reality, the enemy does not just go
silent when we say ‘Not so”, to be able to get final victory we need to mount
that opposition constantly. It is one thing to mount the opposition and another
thing to secure the destiny and plans of God for our lives. Luke 1:61, In John’s
case, the people had said that the name John had never been in the family.
There are limitations just because of the background and family, maybe no one
had eve had such a name or destiny or so people want to change it. The devil
wanted to use John’s background to change his destiny. Some people say a closed
mouth is a closed destiny but bible says in Ecclesiastes 3:7 “There is a time
to be silent and a time to speak”. Say this short prayer, “O Lord, may our
mouth not be closed when it is needed to speak”. If Elizabeth was silent, John’s
destiny would have been changed. Keeping silent might just be accepting what
the devil has brought. Proverbs 18:21 “Death and life are in the power of the
tongue.” We should speak against any opposition of the devil against the
original destiny and plan of God for our lives.
Let us go to our father who art in heaven, in Isaiah 54:17 he
has said that “Any tongue raised against us we should condemn”. If someone is
struggling to know the design of God for him from the beginning, then you need
to go back to the word of God.
2 Timothy 3:16 “All Scripture is inspired by God
and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in
our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right.”
It should not depart from your mouth, hear it with your ears, receive it with
your heart. Meditate on Gods word
because meditation is powerful and as you keep meditating on God’s word you
begin to receive it. God spoke and then he saw, God said “let there be light
and there was light”. We need to speak God’s word concerning our destiny for us
to receive it. Acts 19:19-20, The word of God must grow in us and then it will
prevail and have power. In Acts 12:22, the word of God grew and multiplied. In
Isaiah 55:11 “The word of God shall not return void and unaccomplished”. The
devil’s strategy is to make you say and believe the lie about your destiny in
various ways that it will not seem like the truth.
How to bring back our
original destiny.
1.
Live a holy life
2.
Do not be disobedient or stubborn to the word of
God. 1 Samuel 15:23 “Stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry”.
3.
Have our spirit man empowered, Elizabeth was
able to say “Not so” because she was filled with the holy ghost. Luke 1:41
4.
We must be determined not to accept the verdict
of the devil. Circumstance may not seem right, but we must not accept the devil’s
verdict.
5.
Enquire from God in the place of prayer.
6.
Check the scripture because it carries what God
has planned for us.
7.
We must be determined Isaiah 62:7 “Give the LORD
no rest until he completes his work, until he makes Jerusalem the pride of the
earth.” Do not rest until you see God’s plan manifest in your life.
Minister: Samuel Oguta
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