What are divine opportunities and how do they come?

Messages for August 2017: Our Month of Divine Opportunities

Message for Sunday 6^th of August, 2017

Theme: Positioning for Divine Opportunities

Topic: What are divine opportunities and how do they come?

Introduction: One day thousands of years ago, our covenant father Abraham sought to settle his son Isaac after the demise of the latter’s mother, he called his servant and committed the task of going back to his native country to get a wife for his son. I believe from staying with Abraham, the said steward already learnt to walk in faith which came in very handy at this time because he just got an opportunity to prove his loyalty to his master Abraham.

When he got to his destination at the outskirt of town, he did the most likely thing Abraham would have done if he had gone by himself; he prayed and as soon as he did, his answer came in form of the desire of Abraham for his son and the end result was the marriage of Isaac to Rebecca. This is one good example of divine opportunities as the Lord has shown me this month. See Gen.24 for this account.

What then is Divine opportunity?

Divine opportunities are possibilities due to a favourable combination of circumstances put together by God or ordained by God even if he did not put them together by Himself. These circumstances are used together by God for the good of His lovers. A look at the book of Romans in chapter 8:28 would show that all things work together for the good of certain people.

Who are these people? These people are those who love God and are called according to His purpose. This truth opens up the following questions to any person who wants to know if they are qualified for divine opportunities; these questions are as follows:

1.     Do I really love God? The standard by which we can correctly answer this question has been set for us by the Lord Jesus Christ in God’s word in Jn.14:21-24; Jn.15:12-16 and 1Jn.4:20-21. Therefore, to tell whether you really love God, you will be committed to doing His word and loving people for whom He gave His all.

2.     Am I called according to His purpose?  Let us again turn to the word of God to enable us answer this question correctly. The book of Jeremiah 1:4-5; Eph.2:10 and Isa.43:7 shows us that each of us is created by God to fulfill His purpose. It really does not matter how you were born into this world, you are created to fulfill a purpose for God. The day you discover that purpose and begin to run in it, this truth of all things working together for your good become activated. As you follow on this path consistently, by the time you are ending your journey on earth, you will be able to say like the Lord Jesus Christ when his time came that you have glorified God because you have finished the work He gave you to do. This was also the testimony of Paul in 2Tim.4:6-8 and Peter in 2Pet.1:13-21.

3.     Do I know my purpose: You must know your purpose because you did not create yourself. However; for you to know your purpose, you have to first discover it from God through vision because He is the one who knows why He made you and the means by which He discloses His reason for making you to you is called vision. Vision can be known if God chooses to show it to you on His own like He did with Saul in Acts 9. It can be known through the burning passion He puts in you that you cannot let go of like He did with Nehemiah in Neh.1. Finally you can receive a vision of your purpose through answer to your prayer request to God to disclose to you why you were born. A good example of how this is done is revealed by Habakkuk in Hab.1:1-3.

4.     You must embrace divine guidance: The revelation of your purpose to you, alone however; does not guarantee that all things will work for your good even when you love God; you must be given to divine guidance. It is only through the leadership of the Holy Spirit that we can enjoy divine opportunities all the time. To be led by the Spirit, you have to be a friend of God and friends of God are meek men and women who can be described as people of faith. See Num.12:1-12; Ps.25:9, 14; Gen.12:1-4; Isa.51:1-2; 1Cor.2:13-14; Gal.5:16-17; Jn.15:15 and Rm.8:5-8, 14, 16.

If the above describes you, then you qualify for divine opportunities. As a truth that cannot be brushed aside, your life and legacies can only be described as blessed. Abraham’s life is a good example of what we are saying. See Gen.24:1.

How Divine Opportunities come:

The first step to divine opportunities has been taken by God and that first step is the provision of Salvation for all through the free gift of the Lord Jesus Christ. He made the promise in Genesis 3:15 when He said that the seed of the woman would bruise the head of the serpent and this came to pass on the Cross of Calvary when he said in Jn.19:30 that it is finished and on the resurrection morning when He arose from the dead. See Lk.24:1-8; Jn.3:16-19; Eph.2:1-10 and Acts 4:10, 13:26-39.

The second step to divine opportunities is the decision to receive the free gift of God to be saved and the actual faith in it. See Rm.10:6-10 and Mk.16:16.

The third step is to truly embrace eternal life by cultivating an intimate relationship with the Holy Spirit. See Jn.17:3; 10:27-29; 14:15-21. When we cultivate a relationship with the Holy Spirit, we grow spiritually and become students of the Holy Spirit who helps us to begin to walk with the mindset of Christ. The more we grow up spiritually, the more we know God and are known of Him. Anyone in Christ can become spiritual by cultivating the following habits with the intention of knowing and pleasing God:

1.     Seek God in prayer daily just like Jesus did. This will help us to get to know God’s heartbeat on a daily basis and align with it. That is a manifestation of divine opportunities. See Mk.1:35; Lk.18:1; Eph.6:18 and 1Thess.5:17.

2.     Read the word of God daily with the intention of getting to know and understand the ways of God and growing to be able to walk in it. See 1Tim.4:13-16; Deu.6:4-9.

3.     Meditate on the word of God daily until it hatches understanding which in turn builds your faith and enables you to prevail in the affairs of life. See Jos.1:8; Ps.1:1-3; Pr.4:20-22 and Jas.1:21-25.

4.     Do the word. The blessings of time and chance [Eccl.9:11] or divine opportunities are reserved for the doers of the word. See Jn.14:21-23; Heb.5:11-14 and Jas.1:22-25.

If you make a habit of living this way on a daily basis, you will definitely be spiritual and would not fulfill the lust of the flesh. You will also find yourself loving the Lord and not the world. The blessings that would be yours would be so much that your legacies would speak for all eternity.

We shall draw the curtains here on our series for today for want of time and space. Next week by God’s grace we shall continue by looking at more on this series. Meanwhile, there is someone reading this material right now who is yet to embrace the free gift of God for his or her salvation. Please if you wish to take advantage of this opportunity to be saved, please say the following prayer out loud in faith and you will be born again:

Heavenly Father,

Have mercy on me a sinner. Today, I believe that Jesus died for me and you raised Him from the dead for my Justification. I therefore declare that Jesus Christ is my Saviour and Lord and from today, I renounce the fatherhood of Satan and embrace Jesus Christ as my Saviour and Lord. Thank you for this father in Jesus’ name! Amen.