God's Best For Your Life

By Getties L. Jackson, Sr

If you ever want to reach your destination then you have to believe this truth. Begin retraining your mind to think, "God has a plan and destiny for my life and God wants me to discover what His plan is for my life."I promise you that God has a plan for your life. Jeremiah 29:11(NIV) says,"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you a future and a hope."That means that when you get to the end, you should not be surprised. When you get to the end, you can say according to Ephesians 3:20 (NKJV), Now to him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all the we ask or think, according to the power that works within us.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Getties L. Jackson, Sr
• Release date: Mar 26, 2015
• ISBN: 9781311144614

Getties L. Jackson, Sr

Bishop Getties L. Jackson, Sr. is devoted to promoting a clear understanding and revenant application of scripture in order to bring about changes in urban communities by teaching Kingdom of God principles in a way that even a child can understand. Bishop Jackson is chosen by the Lord to bring forth a vision through Kingdom Assembly Outreach Center, which began in March 1997. Under his leadership the church continues to grow with a flourishing and healthy membership. Kingdom Assembly Outreach Center is blessed to have a teen center, fitness center, and a kingdom bookstore along with administrative offices. Bishop Jackson was married to De'Anita Frye Jackson on January on 29, 1983. They have one son and two daughters; Getties, Angelica and Crystal. He is the graduate of Emanuel Bible College with a Bachelor degree in Arts in Theology and a Master's of Divinity from Christopher White School of Divinity at Gardner Webb University in Christian Education.

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PART I

BEING USED BY HIM

CHAPTER ONE

IT’S NOT ABOUT ME, IT’S ABOUT THE SAINTS

We as a nation have torn down integrity, truth, purity, honesty, and respect, and we have been tearing one another down in the process. Paul prophesied these things would take place just before the return of the Lord. Eugene Peterson’s Message Bible puts it like this: Don’t be naïve. There are difficult times ahead. As the end approaches, people are going to be self-absorbed, money-hungry, self-promoting, stuck up, profane, contemptuous of parents, crude, course, dog-eat-dog, unbending, slanderers, impulsively wild, salvage, cynical, treacherous, ruthless, bloated windbags, addicted to lust, and allergic to God. They’ll make a show of religion, but behind the scenes, they’re animals. Stay clear of these people (2 Timothy 3:1-5). Destruction and demolition do not stop at the Potomac River. They have a ripple affect reaching across our nation, dividing communities, and undermining so many things we cherish. Something in the foundation is cracked. Psalm 11:3 says, If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do? I want to discuss an alternative to this wholesale demolition. While we cannot stop the erosion and tearing down of biblical values in our culture before the Lord’s return, we can do something about building one another up. In fact, we must!

The final chapter of John’s Gospel records one of the last conversations between the resurrected Lord Jesus and Peter. Just days before, Peter had denied his Lord beside a fire. Just as Peter had denied Christ three times in his earlier experience, he would be given three opportunities to confess his love for Jesus. Jesus uses one word for love, a strong, intense word for committed love and Peter’s confidence is shattered. Peter comes back with a weaker word in reply. This happens three times until finally, Jesus looks Peter in the eyes and uses Peter’s own weaker word as if to say, Peter do you even care for Me as a friend? The question breaks the big fisherman’s heart, but Jesus neither rejects nor casts Peter aside. He recommisions Peter for service in the Kingdom by giving Peter a job to do. That’s the portion of the story so often overlooked. Every time Peter answered the Lord, the Lord gave him a strong specific command: Feed my lambs, Peter. Tend my sheep, Peter. Feed my sheep, Peter (Reference John 21:15-17 NKJV). Years later, Peter would take a pen in his hand and write:

"Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly; nor as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock; and when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away."

1 Peter 5:2-4 NKJV

I wonder sometimes what the Chief Shepherd would say to His church today if we had a satellite connection to heaven. His message would be the same one He gave before He ascended into heaven from that spot outside Jerusalem. In Acts 1:8 (NKJV), Jesus said, …you shall be my witness to Me….to the end of the earth. After that, I think He would repeat the same words He spoke to Peter, Feed My sheep. In other words, Build up My church, take care of My sheep, feed them and love them as I have loved them.

We do not need a satellite connection to heaven because God has given us His inerrant Word, which is a light to our feet and a lamp to our path (Reference Psalm 119:105). God has given us His Holy Spirit to dwell within us, illuminating the pages of scripture. The Bible will always be relevant. Relevance is about saying what is current, but it transcends time.

Everything God wants to do, He wants to do through families. I must reproduce through my children what God is producing through me. Acts 1:8 (NKJV) says, But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. The Greek word for power is Dunamis and the word Dunamis comes from the word dynasty. Our God is a generational God. Remember the lineage: Abraham, Issac, and Jacob. In the scriptures, little is said about Issac whose name means laughter. Issac was a bridge to get to Jacob. The crazy kids are a bridge to get to Jacob. We have to think bigger than the church because the Kingdom of God is so much broader than the church.

"So that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God."

Ephesians 3:17-19

In Ephesians 3:17-19, length implies long reach. How far are you reaching beyond the church building? Your capacity is much bigger than the seat you sit in each week at your local church. The word depth implies content. Be consistent, and just like your home, have core values. The word height implies worship. Some churches have great worship but they have no depth because they don’t know what they stand for. Emotional churches fit this model.

We’re going to unpack the word edification. The Greek term is made up of two words, one means house and the other means to build. In other words, to edify means, to build the house. Jesus said in Matthew 7:24 (NKJV), Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock. Again, in Luke 6:48, Jesus speaks about a man building a house, who dug deep and laid a foundation on the rock. We get excited about building buildings, but the New Testament is much more concerned about building people. According to Ephesians 4:12, we should build up the body of Christ and the fellow believers.

Sadly, I have met scores of people who tell me, Please don’t ask me to do anything. Just let me come and heal for a while. I was torn down in my last church and I need time to get built back up. When a church doesn’t function according to the pattern of the Word of God, then it can be one of the most destructive places anywhere.

With all of my heart, I want this year to be a building year. I am not speaking of physical buildings, though some may be built, but I am referring to the building of God’s people. This is the passion of my heart and the reason why I get up every morning. I want to build up or edify the body of Christ until He comes or calls me home. In Matthew 16:18 (NKJV), Jesus said, I will build My church, and the gates of Hades [hell] shall not prevail against it. Jesus was talking about the worldwide body of believers. The church is built up externally through evangelism. We add people to the body and they become apart of the church. The church is built up internally through edification. Through edification, we strengthen, encourage, and minister to one another.

When you walk into the world, you walk into an environment that tears you down. When we gather with our brothers and sisters, we should get built up so that when we go back to our homes and jobs we are ready to face the challenges again. First Peter 2:5 refers to believers as living stones in a building being constructed by the Lord. Peter writes, You also, as living stones [that’s you and me] are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ (1 Peter 2:5 NKJV).

The church you attend isn’t in the building once all the people leave because if the whole congregation was moved to the parking lot then the church is not in the building anymore. Paul said, For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, you are God’s building (1 Corinthians 3:9 NKJV). We are the building of God! We build the church up externally through evangelism, but we build it up internally by strengthening, encouraging, and ministering to the members of the body.

EDIFICATION ACCORDING TO SCRIPTURE

It is not about you, but it’s about the saints. You and I are called to build up and strengthen one another. Paul says, Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen (Ephesians 4:29 NIV). Critical remarks have a tendency to replay in your head during times of discouragement. There are too many tearing down, demolition experts. These experts know how to swing the hammer, apply the crowbar, and lay a stick of dynamite. Paul says, All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful; all things are lawful for me, but all things do not edify. Let no one seek his own, but each one the other’s well-being (1 Corinthians 10:23-24 NKJV). Paul is saying, There are many things I might do and many things I might say, but my first concern ought not to be me. My first concern ought to be, will this build up or tear down my brother or sister in the body. To further explain, 1 Thessalonians 5:11 (NKJV) says, Therefore comfort each other and edify one another, just as you also are doing.

IT’S NOT WHAT YOU PROFESS, IT’S WHAT YOU PURSUE

When it comes to people, are you a builder or a demolition expert? Most people would say, Oh, I’m a builder! I’m absolutely a positive person, and I don’t want to tear people down. Unfortunately, it’s easy to tear people down even while playing around. If we don’t feel secure in where we are, then we climb on someone else’s failure. The Bible says, Therefore let us pursue the things which make for peace and the things by which one may edify another. Do not destroy the work of God (Romans 14:19-20