Let's Be Real Here Part 1

06/20/2014

This is the first installment of my summer 2014 series "Let's Be Real Here," that shines the light of Holy Spirit revelation on relationships and on the dysfunction we love and that our society promotes and profits from. I'm addressing these issues here because I've learned quite a bit - and am still learning, of course - about relationships that please The Father. There are several behaviors that we exhibit that we assume are godly, but are not. If we want to experience the fullness of abundant life in Christ we must behave as salt and light; we have to stand out and show the world there's peace and success within committed, loving relationships that allow men to be spiritual leaders of the home and women to come alongside them for the glory of God. 

God created everything for a reason. Everything. In Genesis we learn that everything The Godhead created was good. If you want to play the game and bring satan up, this isn't the time or place. Everything the Godhead does has divine purpose built into it. They created Adam to enjoy the creations of the world and to fellowship with Them. They created Eve because Adam needed a skin-and-bone companion to enhance his divine purpose. 

Before Eve, Adam worked, ate and communed with the Spirit of God. That wasn't enough purpose for this man created in God's imagination and formed with His hand. After Eve, Adam's purpose included procreation, multiplication and exercising dominion in addition to communing with the Spirit of God. Adam and Eve knew what their divine purposes were because they experienced regular communion with The Father.

Do you know what your purpose is? If not you haven't spent enough time in the presence of Father, Jesus and Holy Spirit to discover it. I know from personal experience, we can have some inklings of our purposes even "without" Them because They instill skill sets and desires within us. For example, I taught my first spiritual growth class to two cousins at age 7 in the pink room upstairs at my grandma's house after getting saved at a tent meeting held on my family's property. I've always wanted to be a teacher, but as I got older I thought there was no money in teaching so I'd be an attorney and then retire and be a teacher and then retire from teaching and be a writer. 

Being an attorney wasn't God's plan for me. Yes, I still desire justice for the underdog, but working 80-hour weeks doesn't hold value or appeal for my life as a mother. It's a God-given desire of mine to to be an active parent. It's a part of my purpose to raise an intelligent and emotionally stable child and every piece of wise advice out there from the Bible to this piece you're reading now emphasizes presence and participation from parents with good heads on their shoulders. Parents who are aware of and practice what it really means to shepherd and prepare a generation. No two sets of parents are exactly alike, but the divine purpose of leading children to discover their divine purposes in Christ is foundational. That being said, if you've outlined your child's life from start to finish, eliminating discovery through communion with Holy Spirit and tell them they're going to do this or be that, you're out of Kingdom order. Whereas if you're telling them to ask God, praying and asking for His will for your children, declaring His Word over them and pointing them to deeper intimacy with Holy Spirit through personal demonstration, you're on a godly path of parenting. 

One of Father's purposes for the family unit is to keep each other focused on the Godhead. My son, Zayne, is 12 and is already living his divine purpose. Not in fullness, yet, but he always points me to the Godhead. I've dedicated three of my books to him for that very reason - because he causes me to seek after all God makes available to keep him safe, growing, healthy, to guide his education and reveal his future. I've often prayed for wisdom about various things of life, and the Lord would put the words I needed in his mouth. In the past I haven't listened and suffered consequences; I've learned to receive the wisdom Holy Spirit speaks through him. A major testimony of how Z points me to Christ is his birth. I was on my own path, doing what I wanted to do, what I thought was best for me and was headed to law school in the fall of 2001. I got pregnant in March 2001 and switched to graduate school for education and was accepted into Arizona's Governor's Master Teacher Program at the University of Arizona instead. The announcement of his birth put me on the path for God's divine purpose.
 
Some may believe I lost out by not becoming an attorney - I know because when I share I left the idea of law school to be a teacher I often hear, "Ohhh." That's no where near the truth. I cannot lose anything by walking on the path God ordained for me from before time began. Matter of fact, I'm on God's Plan A finally. 

A stands for abundance. The success God planned for me when Holy Spirit knit me together is available to me now, and it wouldn't be if I had continued on to law school. I know this through revelation, but it's evidenced by all the people in the world who achieve extreme success in their careers, but are empty inside and fighting nonstop on reality tv and in elevators. God's success is real and lasting and it includes every area of life, not only career. He's all about wholeness of life - relationships, family, career, spiritual growth, creativity and education. It's not anyone's divine purpose to have a million-dollar career and be on tv or the internet yelling, screaming, cursing, half naked, grinding or any of the other various scenarios that happen daily. 

Except for those who've been given the gift of singleness, we want to marry and have families. That desire is innate for most people, but we must know the divine purpose of marrying and having families. We're here to fulfill God's prescribed destiny as husbands, wives, parents and children. Many will say they're marrying because they love the person. Love isn't enough. Loving with revelation of divine purpose is enough. When God puts two people together it's because He has written a story surrounding those two characters and they both must play their parts in order to achieve the glorious ending He's imagined. When you're considering marrying someone you need to get God's perspective and discern if that person is the one standing with you at the end of the road. Divine purpose is why Jesus endured everything He did without wavering from His path. He understood no one else could do what He came to do. He knew that His destiny couldn't be fulfilled without communion with Father, the disciples and even interaction with Pilate. 

I've heard a few people claim it doesn't matter who you marry, but that's not true. God doesn't imagine your divine destiny with options and back-up plans with the exception of restoration scenarios for our choices that are contrary to His Perfect Will. He designs each of us with one amazing destiny and places the desire in our spirits and encourages through dreams, the written word, etc. to seek Him for wisdom and understanding. Father is gracious and He adjusts when we go our own way, but it's not His original intent. Just imagine if this truth - which can be discerned through Biblical study for those with ears and eyes to hear and see what the Spirit speaks - was taught from birth. How much better would our world and lives be with children growing up knowing and understanding who they are and how excellent living full throttle for God is?

Copyright © Zari Banks, M.Ed 2014