God's Plan through Prison

We all go through things in life.  We all face difficulties.  Things are not always easy:  There’s persecution, hardships, things happen that are undeserved.  So, where’s God’s purpose in our lives?  Shouldn’t it be easy?  After all, we believe God.  We have faith, so why do bad things happen to us?  We’re good people, right?

God does have a plan for our lives.  So, if God has a plan then why are bad things happening?  In this post, I want to examine that, from this portion of scripture:

Genesis 39:19-20 (NKJV)
^39:19 So it was, when his master heard the words which his wife spoke to him, saying, "Your servant did to me after this manner," that his anger was aroused. ²⁰ Then Joseph's master took him and put him into the prison, a place where the king's prisoners were confined. And he was there in the prison.

God’s Plan for Joseph

We know the story of Joseph.  He spent time as a slave.  He spent time in prison.  After that he became the Prime minister of Egypt.  God had a plan for Joseph.  God spoke to him and showed him his destiny.

Genesis 37:5-7 (NKJV)
^37:5 Now Joseph had a dream, and he told it to his brothers; and they hated him even more. ⁶ So he said to them, "Please hear this dream which I have dreamed: ⁷ There we were, binding sheaves in the field. Then behold, my sheaf arose and also stood upright; and indeed your sheaves stood all around and bowed down to my sheaf."

God is speaking to Joseph, here.  God is revealing something to him.  God is showing him there is a plan and a destiny for his life.  Eventually, it did happen.  He rose to a position of preeminence.  His brothers did bow to him.  It did come out according to God’s plan, but it wasn’t an easy road to destiny. 

Often there are what look like pitfalls on the road to God’s plan.  Sometimes it even looks as if the opposite of God’s plan is happening.  We can’t see how God’s plan could possibly work out.  Have you ever felt that?  You look at your circumstances and you can’t see any possibility.  We need to remember that it’s God’s plan; that God is in charge.

I’ll tell you a story.  In Riverside, we had a neighbor who was a good Christian.  In fact, she was a Christian counselor.  She helped people through their problems, using Biblical tools to bring counsel.  On the day that Barak Obama was elected president of the United States, she told me she couldn’t go to work.  She was too upset; she couldn’t see any possibility for America.  I had to ask her the question, “Is God still on the throne?”

We’re like that lady – We know that God has a plan.  We know that God is in charge of the universe, but in our limited vision, we can’t see how God’s plan could possibly happen.  So what happens?  We get depressed.  We even get angry at God, sometimes we even leave God.

Joseph had a clear vision of God’s plan for his life.  In fact, God showed him more than once.  He had two dreams:  God was going to elevate Joseph above the others in his family.  Joseph was destined to be a leader.

I wonder if God has spoken to you.  Has God begun to reveal his plan for your life?  Are you seeing God’s purposes for your life?  Can you look at your life right now, and see how God’s plan can happen for you, or are you bogged down by your circumstances.

I want you to know that Joseph went through a number of things before he saw God’s promise.  It must have looked impossible for him.  He may have thought that God’s plans might not happen.  In all that, though Joseph had faith – He believed God.

We’re all going to face adversity in life, even though we have God’s promise of destiny.  Look at what Job said to his wife:

Job 2:9-10 (NKJV)
^2:9 Then his wife said to him, "Do you still hold fast to your integrity? Curse God and die!" ¹⁰ But he said to her, "You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?" In all this Job did not sin with his lips.

Job and his wife had just lost all of their children, all of their flocks, all of their wealth and Job’s health.  Job knows that adversity also comes in God’s plan.

The Unfolding of God’s Plan

God has spoken to Joseph and laid out the end result of His plan for Joseph’s life, but He didn’t tell Joseph what to expect.  Joseph shares the plan with his brothers.  His brothers are upset – They’re jealous because God has told Joseph that he would be above them.  So, look at what they did:

Genesis 37:25-28 (NKJV)
^37:25 And they sat down to eat a meal. Then they lifted their eyes and looked, and there was a company of Ishmaelites, coming from Gilead with their camels, bearing spices, balm, and myrrh, on their way to carry them down to Egypt. ²⁶ So Judah said to his brothers, "What profit is there if we kill our brother and conceal his blood? ²⁷ Come and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him, for he is our brother and our flesh." And his brothers listened. ²⁸ Then Midianite traders passed by; so the brothers pulled Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. And they took Joseph to Egypt.

The brothers wanted to kill him.  They plotted against him.  They made a decision to sell him into slavery, but wait a minute, where is God’s plan in this?  This isn’t a blessing, is it?  He’s going to be a slave – This isn’t what God had told him his destiny was.  Is the plan of God derailed in his life? 

God has a plan for us, too, but sometimes it doesn’t seem as if it’s working out.  In fact, it seems as if the exact opposite is happening.  “God has a good plan for me, doesn’t he?  So where’s the blessing?  How come I’m being sold into slavery?  Is this really God’s plan for me?” 

God told Joseph everyone would bow down to him, but right now it doesn’t look as if the brothers are going to be doing that.  It seems like they have the upper hand.

The devil does that to us, too.  Sometimes it seems like the devil is winning.  Sometimes it seems as if the devil has the upper hand – and sometimes it seems like it gets even worse. 

Joseph is serving in Potiphar’s house.  Potiphar’s wife decides that she wants him.  Joseph is serving God, though.  He refuses her and the woman lies.  Potiphar has him put in jail thinking that he raped his wife – and Joseph languishes in prison.  Can you imagine what Joseph is thinking?  How distant the destiny of the dreams must seem to him.  He’s separated from family.  He’s in another country in prison.

Think about this.  How often are prisoners elevated in society?  They’re usually considered to be cast-offs from society.  They hardly ever have people bowing down to them.  They’re hardly ever thought of as leaders of society.

In all of this God’s plan is still working, though.  While he’s a slave the Bible says:

Genesis 39:2 (NKJV)
^39:2 The Lord was with Joseph, and he was a successful man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian.
 Genesis 39:23 (NKJV)
^39:23 The keeper of the prison did not look into anything that was under Joseph's authority, because the Lord was with him; and whatever he did, the Lord made it prosper.

I wonder if the Joseph felt like the Lord was with him, or did he feel more like Job’s wife.

There were some things that happened in prison that seem unrelated.  He meets a butler and a baker that are also in prison.  They’ve somehow made Pharaoh angry, so he’s sent them to prison.  While in prison, each of them had a dream.  Look at what Joseph says to them:

Genesis 40:7-8 (NKJV)
^40:7 So he asked Pharaoh's officers who were with him in the custody of his lord's house, saying, "Why do you look so sad today?" ⁸ And they said to him, "We each have had a dream, and there is no interpreter of it." So Joseph said to them, "Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell them to me, please."

We get a little insight into Joseph’s thinking here, “Do not interpretations belong to God?  Tell them to me.”  Joseph is still having faith.  Even in the middle of all of these things, he still believes God.  He’s still praying.  He’s still got a relationship with God.

A lot of times when things go wrong our relationship with God suffers for it.  We feel distant from God.  We back off in our prayer life.  We allow distance to come between us and God; am I right?  It’s almost like we allow ourselves to think that God betrayed us.

This often the way it is with people who profess not to believe in God.  Often, they’re just angry at God for something that’s happened in their lives.  It’s not so much a disbelief in god as it is a feeling of betrayal, followed by a hatred of God; bitterness.

I don’t get that from Joseph, though.  He correctly interprets their dreams and asks the butler to remember him to Pharaoh.  The butler for his part promptly forgets about Joseph and he spends two more years in prison…until Pharaoh has a dream.

Pharaoh is disturbed by the dream and finally, the butler remembers how Joseph correctly interpreted his dream.  He tells Pharaoh and Pharaoh has Joseph brought to him.  Joseph then correctly interprets Pharaoh’s dream.

Destiny is Realized

This is where Joseph begins to see the plan unfolding.  Pharaoh’s dream had to do with prosperity and drought.  There would be seven years of prosperity and then seven years of drought.  Joseph gave a plan to Pharaoh to use the seven prosperous years to provide for the seven drought years, so Pharaoh lifts Joseph up from prison and makes him Prime Minister over all of Egypt.  They destiny of God is playing out in his life.  Now look at this:

Genesis 50:18 (NKJV)
^50:18 Then his brothers also went and fell down before his face, and they said, "Behold, we are your servants."

His brothers have bowed down before him.  God’s entire plan has played out in his life.  What you should see here, though is that all of the things that took place in Joseph’s life had to take place, for God’s plan to work.

At Potiphar’s house Joseph learned how to manage the house.  He had to be a slave there or he wouldn’t have gone to prison.  In prison he interpreted the dreams – the thing that was needed by Pharaoh.  That had to happen for him to be recommended to Pharaoh to interpret Pharaoh’s dream.  God put all of those things into place.  Joseph tells us something that we need to know:

Genesis 50:20 (NKJV)
^50:20 But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.

All along it was the plan of God.  It was meant by the brothers for evil, but God had a plan for good. I know that some people are going through things.  I know that some people can’t understand why things are happening the way they are.  I know that some f you can’t see the promise of God in your circumstances, but there is a plan and what you’re going through now might be necessary to make God’s plan play out in your life.  Don’t lose hope – Don’t break faith.

You don’t always know what God is doing.  You can’t always see His strategy, but God knows what He’s doing.  He has a destiny and a plan for you.

What Happens When We Lose Vision?

Recently, I was inspired to preach on vision.  I just finished reading a book on the beginnings of our fellowship.  [An Open Door, Ron Simpkins © 1985, Potter’s Press]  This book is filled with Pastor Mitchell’s vision for the fellowship and the Gospel.  What makes it most interesting is that pastor Mitchell never sat down and came up with a “Mission Statement.”  He never sat down and said, “This is my vision!”  Over time God revealed His plan and Pastor Mitchell did what God called him to do.

As we look back over the forty-seven years since our fellowship began, it’s difficult to deny that we have been in the midst of great revival.  We have planted churches all over the world.

It’s important to understand that as individual Christians, we must have a revelation of God’s will for our own lives that we can respond to if we want to reach our destiny.  Today I want to look at what happens when we lose that revelation:

Proverbs 29:18 (NKJV)
^29:18 Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint; But happy is he who keeps the law.
 1 Samuel 3:2-3 (NKJV)
^3:2 And it came to pass at that time, while Eli was lying down in his place, and when his eyes had begun to grow so dim that he could not see, ³ and before the lamp of God went out in the tabernacle of the Lord where the ark of God was, and while Samuel was lying down,

Without Revelation People Cast Off Restraint

The Bible tells us that where there is no revelation that people cast off restraints.  We begin to operate outside moral limits.  We are governed by lusts and desires rather than what God has revealed to us about His will for our lives.  When we're acting on satisfying our own lusts, then anything goes.  We will do whatever we need to do to satisfy our basest desires, and sin takes over.

Revelation is vision.  It is something that’s revealed by God:  Something that at one time was hidden can now be seen.  God reveals His plan and purpose for our lives, but there’s a part that we play in God’s revealing.  We must pray and seek revelation from God.  “God show me what plan and will you have for my life.”  Once that’s revealed then it is up to us to act in a way that brings that revelation to life.   We call that living out God’s will for our lives.  We are moved by God’s will and not self will.  In other words, we need to be looking for God’s will. We need to have vision.

In our text we see Eli.  Eli is the leader of Israel.  He’s judge over Israel.  It’s his responsibility to lead Israel into the will of God for that nation.  He’s the one who has revelation, but look at this phrase: “when his eyes had begun to grow so dim that he could not see.”  He’s losing his vision; he’s going blind.  This speaks of his physical sight, but what happens in the natural can be a reflection of what’s happening in the spiritual realm.  He has lost his vision in a spiritual way as well.

1 Samuel 2:27 (NKJV)
^2:27 Then a man of God came to Eli and said to him, "Thus says the Lord: 'Did I not clearly reveal Myself to the house of your father when they were in Egypt in Pharaoh's house?

Eli is Aaron’s grandson.  Aaron was chosen by God to be the one who ministers in the tabernacle. Only a descendant of Aaron can do that.  God clearly revealed Himself to Aaron, and his ability to see God’s revelation was passed down to Eli.  Eli, at one time had vision.  He’s going blind in a physical and spiritual sense, and that loss of vision played itself out in his son’s lives.

Eli has two sons, Hophni and Phineas.  Look at these men:

1 Samuel 2:22 (NKJV)
^2:22 Now Eli was very old; and he heard everything his sons did to all Israel, and how they lay with the women who assembled at the door of the tabernacle of meeting.

They’ve violated their relationships with the people to whom God has sent them to minister.  They’ve used their authority in an unholy way.  They also took the meat of the offering before it was offered.  That isn’t how God had set it up.  Eli because, of his own loss of revelation and vision, didn’t hold them accountable.  These men have cast off restraint.  It’s up to us to seek a personal revelation from God.  Hophni and Phineas never had revelation.  They never had vision, and so there were no moral limits on their lives.  They did whatever appealed to their carnal flesh.  Because Eli had lost his own vision and revelation, it was never imparted into his sons.

This is one danger of backsliding.  It’s also the danger of putting worldly things, rather than spiritual things, first.  When we do that, we are imparting into our children that the calling of God is less important than the things of the world.

Hebrews 11:24-27 (NKJV)
^11:24 By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, ²⁵ choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, ²⁶ esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward. ²⁷ By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured as seeing Him who is invisible.

I’d say that Moses had vision that was revealed to him by God.  “Esteeming the reproach of Christ,” this is centuries before Jesus on earth.  “He endured as seeing Him who is invisible”.  There was a revelation of God’s call on his life and that revelation caused him to put aside the sin.

Has God revealed His calling and will for your life?  Do you understand God’s vision for your life?  Have you sought a revelation of God’s will, so that you can live it out?

Losing the Vision

1 Samuel 2:29-30 (NKJV)
^2:29 Why do you kick at My sacrifice and My offering which I have commanded in My dwelling place, and honor your sons more than Me, to make yourselves fat with the best of all the offerings of Israel My people?' ³⁰ Therefore the Lord God of Israel says: 'I said indeed that your house and the house of your father would walk before Me forever.' But now the Lord says: 'Far be it from Me; for those who honor Me I will honor, and those who despise Me shall be lightly esteemed.

The man of God has come to rebuke Eli, and warns Eli that he has drifted away from God’s call.  His sons have cast off all restraint; nothing any longer restrains them from their sin.  They even fornicate in the House of God.  So, God judges them and judges Eli for his unwillingness to restrain them.  Eli calls them out, but he doesn’t hold them accountable.  God tells Eli, “You honor your sons more than me.”  There’s judgment on God’s part and the promise is removed. 

All of God’s promises are conditional – IF you do this THEN I will do that.  You violate the if and God takes away the promise.  God has removed Eli’s family’s destiny. 

God has a destiny for your life that coincides with your calling.  If you live out your calling, then God will deliver on your destiny, but if you violate that calling your destiny is changed.  God will take that promise and give it to another man.  In this case, God chooses Samuel to replace Eli’s sons, as the one who will inherit the promise.  Instead of Hophni and Phineas becoming the next judges over Israel, Samuel becomes the next judge.

We also see this in Saul’s life, the first king of Israel.  God has told Saul that his family will rule over Israel forever, but after his disobedience and presumption God tears the kingdom from him and gives it to David; a man after God’s own heart.

1 Samuel 15:26-28 (NKJV)
^15:26 But Samuel said to Saul, "I will not return with you, for you have rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord has rejected you from being king over Israel." ²⁷ And as Samuel turned around to go away, Saul seized the edge of his robe, and it tore. ²⁸ So Samuel said to him, "The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today, and has given it to a neighbor of yours, who is better than you.

There’s a calling on our lives.  God has called us to something and He’s looking for obedience.  He’s looking for us to respond to, and execute His will, not trying to make our will God’s will.  That’s where Saul failed.  He lost God’s vision and replaced it with his own vision.  Because of that, he lost the kingdom and the promise for his son Jonathan.

Eli lost the vision and allowed his sons’ visions to rule him.  Because of that, his destiny was taken and theirs as well.  In both cases, God gave that same destiny to someone else; someone who would carry out God’s vision.

We need to be careful that we do what’s necessary to carry out God’s calling and vision in our lives if we want to see our destiny.  Vision lost is destiny lost.  We need to strengthen, and look to build on, God’s calling and destiny on our lives.

Maintaining Vision

In our physical lives a loss of vision is natural.  I don’t see as well as I did when I was young.  I went from 20/20 vision to bifocals.  In our spiritual lives, we are also in danger of losing vision. 

Pastor Mitchell has built his vision for our fellowship, based on God’s revelation for over forty-seven years.  It has grown over time.    In the beginning, the vision was for the church in Prescott.  It grew to include hippies and wanderers in town.  It grew to include discipleship; preparing men for the harvest fields.  It grew to releasing men to pioneer churches in Arizona, then into other states, and finally internationally. 

That vision has enlarged and strengthened over the years.  It went from that one church in Prescott, Arizona, to more than two thousand, two hundred churches in more than half the countries of the world.

The way he has maintained and even enlarged that vision is by contending for what God wants to do.  He prays!  He watches for open doors!  He listens to the men he has released into ministry.  He presses for more of God’s plan, and responds with a willingness to obedience.  That’s how he maintains and enlarges the vision. 

What about you?  Are you looking for God’s calling on your life?  Are you open to whatever God calls you to, even if it doesn’t fit in with your own plans? 

I never had plans to come to Taiwan.  I had never even thought about Taiwan, until God opened my eyes to his calling.  It was a revelation of His plan for my life.  I wanted God to lead me.  Even now I want to reach God’s destiny for me.  I’m still open to God’s calling.  There’s only one way to His destiny and that lies in our response to His calling.

When we allow ourselves to give in to our flesh; when we allow ourselves to put our own will first, we’re really casting off God’s will for our lives, and we are in danger of casting off restraint and bringing ourselves to a place of judgment.  In Eli’s case God judged his sons for their father’s loss of vision and their subsequent loss of restraint.

I’ve seen this in my my own as well.  Parents who had no vision of God’s calling on them, their children struggle with a loss of restraint:  Pregnant and unmarried, involved in drugs and homosexuality, and fornication.  All of these things are symptoms of a casting off of restraint and a loss of vision.  There will be judgment and a loss of destiny, unless those children begin to seek God’s revelation for themselves.  You can come back from this, if you repent and begin to look for a revelation of God’s will for your life and respond to that calling in obedience.

Lessons from a Fig Tree

One of the things I preach about often is faith. Mostly I speak of it in terms of our need for faith in order to see God move in our lives. If you think about it, faith is probably the most important aspect of our Christian lives. We need faith for so many things,


We need faith to:
Pray for the sick
To have real Christian joy
To know that God cares about us
To worship God

It even takes faith to receive the gift of salvation. But one thing we often don’t think about is that it takes faith to live out your purpose in God.

I live in Taiwan and recently after Bible study class we had a discussion on the differences in Eastern/Western thought on fate and destiny. Fate and destiny, from the eastern point of view, are interchangeable. They have the same meaning. But our discussion centered on the question of whether they are, in fact, interchangeable.

According to Mirriam-Webster Dictionaries fate is defined as: The cause or will that is held to determine events

Destine is defined as: to direct or set apart for a specific purpose or place, then destiny can be defined as that specific purpose.

So fate can be considered to be the force that carries you to your destiny. It is something that can’t be changed. But destiny is the end point of fate and that can be changed by decisions that you make along the way.

My thought of it is like this: Fate is like a river that runs into a lake. In the lake there are two cities one is to the right of the river delta, we’ll call that one Beautiville. The other is to the left of the river outlet. We’ll call that one Uglyland. As you drift on the river the current carries you ever onward. You can’t change the course of the river or the direction in which the river flows.

The river Fate carries you toward the two cities, but you make a decision where you will turn at the end of the river and the destination at which you arrive, is governed by the decision you make. The River is fate and is unchangeable. The destiny is the city at which you arrive and that is governed by the choice you make along the way.

Let me ask a question, "Was your destiny changed at the moment you received salvation?" As you continued to live in sin you were carried inexorably to a destiny of eternal torment and separation from God. But as you repented and turned from sin, you were accepted by God and your final eternal destination was no longer hell but heaven: The Joy of your Lord. Destiny, for you, at the moment of repentance was changed.

But even more than that, I believe that we, as individuals, have more than one destiny. For example, I believe that because of the Muscular Dystrophy it is my destiny to be disabled. But because of the call of God on my life , it is also my destiny to preach in Taiwan. Finally, as a result of the gift of salvation it is my destiny to abide in heaven. One person three separate destinies…so far.

It requires no faith at all to be swept along by the current of fate: To allow outside events to shape our lives and determine our destinies. We can simply drift along and allow these events to govern our destiny. But it takes faith to recognize the call of God and work to make the effort to change the outcome of fate in our lives. With faith we can shape our destiny. Today I want to look at faith and destiny in light of the following scriptures:

Mark 11:13-14 (NKJV)
11:13 And seeing from afar a fig tree having leaves, He went to see if perhaps He would find something on it. When He came to it, He found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. 14 In response Jesus said to it, "Let no one eat fruit from you ever again." And His disciples heard it.

Mark 11:20-23 (NKJV)
11:20 Now in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots. 21 And Peter, remembering, said to Him, "Rabbi, look! The fig tree which You cursed has withered away." 22 So Jesus answered and said to them, "Have faith in God. 23 For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be removed and be cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says.

The Fig Tree

In our text, Jesus comes to a fig tree. He’s looking at the fig tree and sees that it’s empty. So he curses the fig tree and by the next day the fig tree has withered away and died. Why did Jesus curse the fig tree? Do you think He was angry at the fig tree? In order to answer that, we need to examine the purpose of the fig tree. The purpose of the fig tree is to produce figs. If a fig tree is not producing figs, what good is it?

Luke 3:7-9 (NKJV)
3:7 Then he said to the multitudes that came out to be baptized by him, "Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones. 9 And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire."

Do you realize that God didn’t save you for your purposes? That’s what we think sometimes, isn’t it? God saved me so I could go to heaven. He saved me so that I could recover from my hurts and disappointments. He saved me to make me happy. I have to tell you that God didn’t save you for any of those things. Not that you won’t see those

God didn’t save you for any of those reasons. He saved you for His purposes. This isn’t about fig trees it’s about disciples. We are called to bear fruit. That is the purpose of disciples and Jesus will look at us and expect us to bear fruit; good fruit. Our text tells us what will happen if we choose fail to live up to His purpose for us. If we fail, or as I say in the introduction, if we choose to turn away from our destiny, then we are in danger of judgment.

Jesus is making a judgment here. He judges the fig tree and finds it without fruit and curses it, causing it to wither and die. It wasn’t fulfilling its purpose. This isn’t something that veers away from Jesus’ teaching. It’s not some different angry approach…really it’s Jesus being consistent. He said the same thing in Matthew 7. Jesus will always uphold his standards. He will judge us in the same way if we do not live up to our calling or what He would call our purpose. Look at this scripture in Matthew 7:

Matthew 7:21-23 (NKJV)
7:21 "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' 23 And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'

What things did Jesus say these people told Him they had done:

Prophesied
Cast out demons
Done many wonders…In Your Name and what are these things…

Mark 16:17-18 (NKJV)
16:17 And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; 18 they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover."

The things they said they were doing were the things that Jesus said were the signs that would follow those who believe. These people were the believers. They were the Christians, but Jesus judges them and tells them to depart from Him, why? Because they didn’t do the will of “My Father in heaven.” We can believe from this that we will be judged, as well, if we forsake the will of the Father. In other words, we will be judged if we do not fulfill our purpose: That purpose that God has for us.

It’s imperative that each of us examines our own life:

Is your life given over to the will of God for you?
Are you laboring to do what God has called you to do?
Are you producing fruit?

Those are questions you have to be asking yourself. Because I’m going to be blunt for a moment: Some of you that are reading this know that God has called you to a specific purpose. You already know to what He’s called you. But you hesitate to fulfill it, because God’s will for you interferes with your own will for your life. I want to warn you that there is a danger there. Jesus will judge you if you don’t produce fruit like He judged the fig tree.

We Will Wither and Die

Mark 11:20-21 (NKJV)
11:20 Now in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots. 21 And Peter, remembering, said to Him, "Rabbi, look! The fig tree which You cursed has withered away."

I want to look at this for a moment from the fig tree’s perspective. What exactly did Jesus say to the fig tree? Look at verse 14:

Mark 11:14 (NKJV)
11:14 In response Jesus said to it, "Let no one eat fruit from you ever again." And His disciples heard it.

That’s Jesus’ judgment of the tree. Look at what he didn’t say. He didn’t say, “Die you foul, fruitless tree.” He didn’t say, “I curse you to wither away, fruitless wretch.” All He said was, “then let no one eat fruit from you ever again.” His curse that caused the fig tree to wither was telling it that if its purpose wasn’t fulfilled now, then it never will be able to fulfill that purpose in the future. I think it’s interesting that there is a timeline for our response to God’s call.

God is calling and He has a timeline for us to respond to His call. If we hesitate, or put off responding there will come a time when we will no longer be allowed to answer that call.

I have a friend who, ten years ago was asked to go out and pioneer a church. In fact, the year I was sent out this man was asked before I was. But he declined. He said I’m not ready financially, or whatever his reason was. But in the ten years since that time, he has never been asked to go again. In fact, his pastor asked me, “How can I invest in someone like that?”

That pastor wasn’t being mean he was making a judgment based on this scripture:

Matthew 16:24-25 (NKJV)
16:24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. 25 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.

Jesus said this to Peter in the context of his statement to Peter that he was mindful of the things of men, rather than the things of God.

Matthew 16:23 (NKJV)
16:23 But He turned and said to Peter, "Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men."

Do you know why He said that to Peter? He told Him that because Peter was telling Jesus He didn’t have to live out the will of God, which for Jesus was to die on the cross.

Secondly, look at the reaction of the tree to Jesus telling it, it will never fulfill its purpose. The tree withered and died. We will do the same thing. When Peter thought he had destroyed his destiny in denying Jesus three times at His trial before the Sanhedrin, what did he do? He gave up. He was a broken man.

After the crucifixion we see Peter and he’s saying, “I’m going fishing.” He’s given up. Later we see him behind locked doors, hiding for fear of the Jews. This is the same man who raised his sword and took off the ear of one of the soldiers that was there to arrest Jesus. Where was that courage and resolve? He had withered under the idea that he had failed and thereby disqualified himself from fulfilling his purpose and calling. He has given up; a withered and broken man.

But Jesus never cursed Peter. Peter, thinking he had destroyed his destiny, withered away on his own…just like the fig tree.

This is Really a Lesson on Faith

Mark 11:20-23 (NKJV)
11:20 Now in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots. 21 And Peter, remembering, said to Him, "Rabbi, look! The fig tree which You cursed has withered away." 22 So Jesus answered and said to them, "Have faith in God. 23 For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be removed and be cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says.

I think it’s really interesting that Jesus turned this into a lesson on faith. When the apostles see what has happened to the tree they’re amazed, aren’t they? “The tree you have cursed is withered away.” It’s almost as if they’re saying, “How could this have happened?” Jesus says to them, “Have faith in God.” So he links it to faith. He’s telling them they can do anything if they have faith. He’s saying that in the context of them being able to do what He has done, if they have faith in God.

“See what I did, you can do that too, if you have faith.”

But I want you to look at this a little differently, too. And I want to go back for a moment to the brother who declined to go out and pioneer. Because what was the thing that kept him from the call of God, a lack of faith.

“I’m not ready yet, I don’t have the finances.”
  "I’m not ready yet, I don’t know enough.”

It takes faith to answer the call of God. I don’t know anybody who felt ready to respond to God’s call in the moment He called. Look at some of the men God called to be leaders. Look at their reactions in the moment God called them.

Abraham in Egypt: Tell them you’re my sister so they don’t kill me. I know what God promised but these people are going to kill me for you.

Abraham at 100 years old: A baby? I’m 100 years old and I’m going to father a child? You know what I’m going to name him? Laughter.

Moses at the burning bush: I can’t do it God; I’m slow of speech. Send someone else, send anyone else…I know send my brother Aaron.

Jeremiah at fifteen: Me, I’m fifteen, I’m just a baby…what can I possibly have to say?

I want you to know, God is calling you, now. Some of you are reading this and you know that God is calling you to a purpose, right now. The question is, what are you going to answer? What you respond is between you and God. But the way you answer that call is a statement of your faith. Just like these men’s answers were statements of their faith.

With faith you can live out your destiny. With faith you can move what ever mountain is an obstacle between you and your destiny.

Mount Finance
Mount I don’t know enough
Mount Ability
Mount Personality

Whatever mountain it is can be moved if you have faith. It takes faith to live out your destiny and God’s will. Peter lost faith after the crucifixion, that’s why he withered. But Jesus challenged him on the Sea of Galilee, “Peter, feed my Sheep.” I’m writing this to challenge you. Peter rose to the challenge, what will you do?