Character is King: 20 Keys on Faith, Family and Finance to Reach Your Destiny

By John H. Binkley

Character is King provides 20 keys to help you reach your destiny. These principles will make you a champion for your family, your future, your finances, and your community.
Learn the courage, tenacity and strategy that sets apart the ordinary from the extraordinary. These twenty proven, time-tested strategies will lead you to the success you've been looking for.
"Go where you've never gone before, see what you've never seen before, think what you've never thought before, do what you've never done before, so you can become what you've never been before."

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Apr 19, 2020
• ISBN: 9781938629426

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INTRODUCTION

In the book of James, Elijah is described as a man with a nature like ours. Indeed, all who have come before us are men and women with a nature like ours. This book clearly outlines the process to rise above our human nature and assume the posture of divine purpose and destiny.

The dominion commission as presented in scripture and outlined in this book is the destiny of the ecclesia, the victory of mankind and the triumph of God. From Genesis to Revelation, this destiny and commission is restated as God’s will and purpose for those called by His name.

Dr. John Harold Binkley Jr. has a clear vision of the purpose, power and potential of this great commission. Like the Hebrew prophet Elisha, who succeeded the prophet Elijah when his time on earth was finished, Dr. Binkley continues the legacy of his teacher and mentor, the late Dr. Edwin Louis Cole.

In that respect Dr. Binkley is a true 21st Century Elisha. In addition to having become an excellent author, he is lecturing, teaching and mentoring men worldwide.

This book is being used as curriculum to teach the dominion commission by Primus University of Theology. It brings the commission and destiny of the faithful to a level of practical application and implementation.

Dr. Richard Drake

Founder

Primus University of Theology

KEY ONE

YOUR DESTINY

God has a unique destiny for you. In His planned destiny, He intends to bless, promote, and reward you. In blessing you He desires to empower you to increase.

You are handpicked. You have been named God’s very own. He says this about you:

But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of Him who hath called you out of darkness into marvelous light.¹

You have been ordained since the beginning of time and predestined for a specific purpose. God’s destiny for you is designed for a specific place in His kingdom. He has a specific purpose for your life. Best of all, He has given you the ability to fulfill it.

Just think of what God says about you:

• He is thinking about you right now. ²

• He wants to make you perfect. ³

• He wants to give you a future and a hope. ⁴

• You are His workmanship, created for good works. ⁵

• He has blessed you with every spiritual blessing. ⁶

Your purpose—your destiny—is surrounded by the gifting God has given you. The essence of the kingdom of God in your life is to discover your gifts, develop them, learn to use them, and operate them for God’s glory. With this kind of heritage and future and with our unique gifts and talents, how can any of us fail at what we attempt?

There are plenty of ways to fail (as you may have already discovered). But there are also plenty of ways to succeed when you step off your current path and onto the path that was uniquely designed by heaven for you that leads to your God-given destiny.

In 1983, I was in a career crisis. I had lost my job and didn’t know who I wanted to be or what I wanted to do. My wife Sharon and I already had two sons. My family depended on me and I was worried.

Around that time, I heard Edwin Louis Cole of the Christian Men’s Network for the first time. What he said illumined my mind in a way that launched me down a new path. This verse of Scripture came alive to me:

I know the thoughts that I have for you, says the Lord. They are plans for good and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. In those days when you pray, I will listen. You will find me when you seek me, if you look for me in earnest.⁷

I had grown up in a legalistic church and had a warped value system regarding money, work and, especially, God. Suddenly, I realized that God cared deeply for me, that He had a purpose and plan.

Since then, I have come to understand that everything God does in our lives is based on the principles of His kingdom and according to a pattern. When we base our lives on the principles of His kingdom, we gain the keys that reveal God’s plan for our lives. The more we base our lives on kingdom principles and building character, rather than our personality, the straighter will be our course. God’s patterns and principles can be found in the parables of the New Testament and in the stories of the Old Testament.

Another principle I’ve discovered is that God does not deal with solitary topics. Everything He does affects everything else. In other words, the Bible doesn’t just address spiritual issues but also government, economics, science, sociology, health, and much more. I also learned that the Bible has a lot to say about work and money.

GO BEYOND THE MAP

Several hundred years ago, European pioneers settled the Americas. Many areas were unknown to them. Brave adventurers and explorers were willing to go beyond the map into the unknown. As they returned to the settlements, local mapmakers interviewed them probing for new information and asking, What’s out there?

That sense of adventure lives on today in those who are willing to go beyond the map in our personal lives or in business. When we follow God into the unknown, we go places we have never been before, see things we have never seen before, think thoughts we have never thought before, do what we have never done before, so that we become what we have never been before.

When I learned to adventure beyond the maps of my immaturity, my upbringing, my warped view of God, and my failures, and embraced new patterns and principles to base my life on, I built a business I did not know I could build. In the process, I became the kind of man I had dreamed of becoming, but never imagined I would become.

This adventure, this path to my destiny, came from carefully studying many of the patterns taught in the Bible which I’ll lay out for you in the next several keys. God has given us (1) principles to live by; (2) promises to believe in; (3) examples to follow; and, (4) commandments to obey. It’s up to us to learn and live them.

FOLLOW THE PATTERNS AND PRINCIPLES

When I was young, I loved athletic competitions. I had six siblings and a dad I admired. He is still one of the most talented people I’ve ever known. In my perception, my dad never failed. He could sing like Pavarotti, excel at any type of sport, and was a brilliant thinker. Because he always won at everything he ever did (in my mind anyway), that perfection became my standard.

Dad had high expectations for me. I didn’t want to disappoint him. I wanted to measure up, to excel, to exceed expectations. As the oldest child, he would admonish me to set the example. He would literally sit me down, put his finger in my face and say, You’re the oldest. I expect you to set the example. If anything happens to these kids, I’m holding you responsible. The last thing I wanted was for my six-foot-three, 250-pound dad to take me to the woodshed.

I interpreted what he said as a responsibility to win at everything so I could show my siblings how it’s done. So, I started with winning against my rough and tumble brothers. I wasn’t the best athlete, but I learned to compete against friends and classmates, then the whole school. I learned to love competition.

As I grew up, this drive to compete stayed with me. I would do almost anything to win. Early in my career, your worst nightmare would be to share a sales office with me because I was going to win no matter what. My philosophy was, We can be friends, but don’t get in my way.

With that winning desire also came a fear of failure. In our childhood, my big, unruly brothers would jump off a building if I let them so I learned never to take risks. I became risk averse because I didn’t want to fail.

One of the things Dr. Cole said the first time I heard him speak was, Champions are not those who never fail but those who never quit. For me, hearing that statement was a life-changing moment. From that day, I realized I could be successful without having to win at everything all the time. As a result, I became far less risk averse.

When it comes to competition, I learned early that I would not win unless I competed lawfully, fairly, according to the rules laid down.⁸ As an adult, when I discovered God’s principles and patterns, I saw that God’s kingdom operates the same way. It’s up to us to find out how to do things God’s way, the kingdom way, in order to find what He has for us.⁹

THE BIBLICAL PATTERN

When we follow the biblical pattern, we can reach God’s destiny for our lives. This affects the lives of our children, the health of our families, the lives of people with whom we work. It leads us to fulfill our destiny.

All the principles in the Bible are kingdom principles. All kingdom principles are eternal and absolute. Methods are temporary and may change, but principles remain through every age and under every circumstance. These patterns and principles are important to reaching our destiny. To know them, we need wisdom.

We walk in the wisdom of God and we walk in the way of God when we walk in the Word of God.

This formula is integral to success: the Word, will, way, and wisdom of God. We have to know the Word of God and understand it to acquire wisdom. Unless we apply it and live by it, we still will not fulfill God’s ultimate plan and purpose. To walk in the wisdom of God is to apply His Word to our lives by becoming doers of the Word and not hearers only.¹⁰

YOU’LL BE TESTED ALONG YOUR JOURNEY

Sharon and I started to embrace and apply the principles we learned. Only later did we realize that we were in the process of building a strong marriage, a strong business, and two strong sons. We didn’t learn everything all at once. Growth takes time. Day by day, year by year, we discovered in a genuine way that if we based our lives on principles, everything improved.

Building a successful business was my destiny. As I reached for my destiny, I simply learned to do things God’s way. What worked for me will work for you as well. Whatever your destiny is, when you follow God’s principles, doing God’s will, there is no reason—none at all—why you can’t achieve it.

KEY ONE:

YOUR DESTINY

POINTS TO REMEMBER

• God intends to bless, promote, and reward you. In blessing you, He desires to empower you to increase.

• God’s destiny for you is designed for a specific place in His kingdom. He has a specific purpose for your life. Best of all, He has given you the ability to fulfill it.

• Your purpose—your destiny—is surrounded by the gifting God has given you.

• Everything that God does in our lives is based on the principles of His kingdom and according to a pattern. The more we base our lives on kingdom principles and on building our character, rather than our personality, the straighter will be our course.

• Those who are willing to go beyond the map in our personal lives or in business will go places we have never been before, see things we have never seen before, think thoughts we have never thought before, do what we have never done before, so that we become what we have never been before.

• God has given us principles to live by, promises to believe in, examples to follow, and commandments to obey. It’s up to us to learn them.

• Champions are not those who never fail but those who never quit.

• It’s up to us to find out how to do things God’s way, the kingdom way, in order to find what He has for us.

• We walk in the wisdom of God and we walk in the way of God when we walk in the Word of God.

• To walk in the wisdom of God is to apply His Word to our lives by becoming doers of the Word and not hearers only.

KEY TWO

FINDING YOUR PROMISED LAND

Your path starts with the understanding that God wants to take you beyond the everyday map to a place called destiny.

Look at God’s destiny for Israel. It was called the Promised Land. Although God brought the Israelites to its border and intended to give them the land, the Israelite nation stubbornly refused to enter. They feared the giants that inhabited the land. They preferred their comfort zone. As a result, they chose to wander around in the wilderness for forty years.

I’ve heard the plight of the Israelites taught this way: The Israelites came out of slavery in Egypt where they lived in the land of Not Enough. They found themselves in the wilderness, the land of Just Enough, but God wanted to take them to the Promised Land, to the land of More Than Enough.

The Promised Land is where God wants to take each of us. It is part of our destiny. He has a plan for getting us there, but God’s plan is not revealed all at once. It is revealed incrementally as we walk in obedience to His will. This plan has been designed meticulously. It involves both vision and faith. Belief becomes faith when it is acted upon. The old adage is true, Faith is belief in action. When we act in faith, we please God.

To reach our destiny, we need a vision. Scripture teaches that with-out a vision we perish.¹¹ A vision is a dream that God has something significantly better for us than where we presently are. With a dream, we can know our goal. We will not be easily