Destiny Moments

My last article was on the subject of transition and I said transition is not always convenient but it is necessary for one’s growth and advancement.

Transition is moving from one place to the next. I have been on a journey for the last 18 months and I realised that since 2008, God was actually preparing me for this journey. In transition, you will experience loss;  loss is necessary in the process of transition because that is how the new things are birth when great loss takes place. Know that it is at the point of loss where you will experience growth and a new beginning. I believe everyone at some point will receive the call to transition but it is for you to answer that call. Transition is a call to greatness. Most times, when transition shows up in the lives of people, they will start to say things like “this is not the right time”, “I cannot move because…..” “I do not have enough finances” “I cannot do this because of that”. I found myself having this same reaction and making the same excuses. The truth is, transition is never convenient but it is always necessary.

The scenario with with the fig tree in Mark 11v13-14 comes to mind when I think of transition. Jesus showed up to the fig tree hungry and ready to collect some figs. This scripture baffled me when I read it last year because at first I thought Jesus was being harsh when he cursed the fig tree. In verse 13, it said that the time of the figs was not yet, which meant as it says, it was not time for it to bear fruit. However, the leaves on the tree indicated that it was the season for the figs to start bearing fruit. Even though the the tree was in its season it was not time. Was Jesus being impatient? Not so, when Jesus showed up, the tree should have bore fruits. When Jesus shows up, the time is always now so no matter what time it is or what season you are in when Jesus shows up the time is now and that is where the fig tree messed up.

According to Jewish  agriculture, the fig tree, when it was about to bear fruit, the leaves on the tree would always come first then these little knobs would spring forth after. These little knobs were what farmers looked out for because these knobs were a sign to farmers that the tree would bear fruits so when Jesus saw the leaves (which represents potential) on the fig tree, he was actually expecting to see the knobs but he found nothing. How many of you are walking around with songs that no one has ever heard, or books that have never been written or that ministry or business that God has been pressing on your heart to start? That is your potential, be ready when God shows up, do not allow yourself to be like this fig tree.

The Lord took me deeper, He revealed to me that this is what happens in transition, when you refuse to walk through the door of transition, just like the fig tree, you will become stagnant. Transition is psychological which is manifested through your actions and the transformation is what reveals the psychological process of transition in a person. Transition takes you through a paradigm shift which is also psychological. Transition is not physical in humans like it is for  the eagle, it is a psychological experience which takes you to the next dimension. Do not be like the fig tree; when the opportunity  for change presents itself, take it, do not make any excuses, just do it. Transition is a call to greatness which not only affects you but it will affect your entire generation. You see your whole generation depends on your decision to accept the call of transition. Your obedience to the transitional process eradicates generational curses and releases favour and blessings which your mind cannot comprehend into your generation. A day before my grandmother was rushed into the hospital, the Holy Spirit said to me that disobedience releases curses into the bloodline of a generation whereas obedience eradicates such curses. If you will answer that call today think about the blessings that are waiting for you and your generation. Do not misunderstand me, the blood of Jesus eradicates every curse and bondage of the enemy but your obedience and disobedience to His instructions is what releases a curse or eradicates the curse. I encourage you today, step up to the call to greatness. Walk through the door of transition. It will not always be easy but God is your strength and it will be worth it in the end.

God bless you and thank you for reading.

Transition is a journey I have come to be all familiar with over the past few years. For the last 15 years of my life, I have experienced so many changes both major and small, but they have all led to tremendous growth.

To be in transition means to travel between destinations. Life is filled with many opportunities to transition. But it is down to you to accept the call. I have come to realise in my journey that transition is a call to greatness. Ignoring that call can be detrimental to your growth and to your future. Whenever I think of transition and my journey, the eagle springs to mind. The bible says in Isaiah 40v31, ‘But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint’.

I always talk about the process of the eagle when I discuss transition with my friends and peers. Eagles go through a process known as metamorphosis. This is where an Eagle goes through a physical change. With the eagle, at a certain stage in its life, everything starts to get old, its energy is not where it once was, so it makes a decision either it stays in the physical state that it is in and die or go through the painful process of metamorphosis. It is at this point, it retreats to a mountaintop and over a five month period, it goes through the painful process of metamorphosis. It knocks off its own beak by banging it against a rock, till it falls off then it plucks out its feathers. However, each stage produces a re-growth of the removed body parts, allowing the eagle to live for another 30-40 years. You see, transition requires you to leave the known and branch out into the unknown.

The journey of transition entails a lot of loss and pain but this is necessary for growth. This takes place to prepare you for the new things that you will accumulate throughout your journey; you cannot put new stuff into old vessels. At the end of the transitional journey, there is so much growth and restoration for all of what you have lost. The transitional journey is lonely but during this lonely season, it is a time of revelation and preparation for the next level that God has for you.

Know that transition is never convenient. When the Lord told me to step out of my known environment and into the journey of the unknown, there were some inconvenient and unexpected events. Then God reminded me that the whole point of this journey is to be used as His vessel. He reminded me that He chose me, John 15v16.

If you sense that you are being called into the unknown, you will feel fear and uncertainty but know that this is your call to greatness and the only route to greatness is through transition, taking you from one destination to the next.

God bless you and thank you for reading.

My favourite phrase I use, when people say, ‘Dahna you look amazing’, I often say, I do not look like what I have been through.

I have come to learn that your change begins when you surrender to a season of discomfort. There is a high chance that after going through your wilderness season or your season of discomfort, we tend to leave with a residue of what we have been through. The first image that comes to mind is a baby that has just been born. As soon as the baby comes out, the umbilical cord is cut and the baby is taken to be cleaned up before he or she is given to its mother. When you take the step to change, you have to expect turbulence and oppositions but it is important that when you get through, that you do not look like what you have been through.

I am not encouraging wearing a mask or hiding your scars because your scars are there as a reminder as to how strong you are, what I am saying however is that you have to allow a paradigm shift in order to go to the next level of your destiny.

Naomi instructed Ruth in Ruth chapter 3v3 to “wash, anoint herself and to put thy raiment upon thee”. Joseph had to shave himself and put on new clothing.

You see Ruth forsook everything that was known to her to go after a God she was not familiar with and worked in a field. Ruth had to pay a huge price. Joseph was stripped and thrown into a pit and after being falsely accused, was thrown into prison for two years. Naomi instructed Naomi to wash, anoint and put on new clothing, Joseph was called by Pharaoh and immediately shaved and had put on new clothing.

What Ruth and Joseph did was a type of preparation. When Esther entered the palace, she had to go through a series of preparation and purification for a whole year before she met the king. When you have gone through a season of hardship, God will take you through a time of purification, to purge away the stench of the past struggles.

Change is a process and three things takes place with every change. In Ruth 3v3, we see the process unfold in the life of Ruth who begins to move from working in the field to becoming the owner by marrying Boaz, the kinsman redeemer.

There are things that Ruth had to do first. She had to was, anoint and change her clothes.

To wash is to put away the past. To get to the future, you have to put the past behind you whether it is good or bad. When you wash, you are ridding yourself of what is holding you back. There is a mindset that needs to be shed before one can be promoted. Once you have been washed, allow the infilling of the Holy Spirit, this has to be done on a continual basis to prevent the old from trying to creep back in. Lastly Ruth changed her garments, sometimes you have to actually put some physical distance between you and what holds you to your past.

The best way to prevent yourself from going back to what is comfortable is to put some distance between you and it to get it out of your life.

The root word used for raiment in the scriptures is ‘simlah’ and it is a general word for clothes which in context could be a mantle. Ruth packaged herself for where she was going, instead of where she had been. Joseph did the same thing.  In Genesis 41v14, Joseph changed his beard and changed his clothes because the Egyptians hated beards. He wanted to create a climate of acceptance in the palace of Pharaoh. Dr Mike Murdock puts it this way, “packaging determines desire”. Joseph did not go before Pharaoh with a hit list of all of the people who had hurt him in the process and Ruth did not start to burden Boaz with her past. She packaged herself in a way that made her unforgettable. Joseph’s wisdom and discretion led him to promotion. So my encouragement to you today is, dress spiritually and physically for where you are going, not for where you have been.

Research taken from ‘The Uncommon Achiever’ and ‘The Uncommon Achiever’ by Dr Mike Murdock

I Just want to take this time to honour the life of my grandmother, Rest In Peace Grandma a.k.a Aunt Mae

God bless you and thank you for reading.

  
So I was just doing some work and as I was typing I heard this in the spirit. The Lord brought me back to when I did pottery in my first year of college and I remembered moulding the clay and my tutor would say start over as air has gotten into the clay and that is detrimental to the clay pot if you put it into the furnace. He went on to explain that these little air holes in the clay will create cracks in the pot.

 As I was typing away, the Lord revealed to me that the pot is significant of one’s character. He said the process of moulding and then being crushed every time is to get rid if the air (bad habits, pride sin) out of you (the clay) because as a pot, there cannot be any cracks, imagine if I had put the clay pot with the holes in the furnace? Guess what would have happened, there would have been cracks and then it would not be good for use. Imagine pouring water into a cracked pot? What would happen, the water would leak out. The Holy Spirit revealed that the pot is like your character, if there are cracks in your character, the substance poured into that pot is your gifting but if your character is flawed, it will not hold your gift well. Your gift makes room for you but your character will have you kicked out of that room. Appreciate the process and let God mould you. Don’t rush the process. Joseph stay in that prison and await Pharaoh’s call. God will accelerate you. Joseph was brought out the prison hastily to go before Pharaoh. When he went before Pharaoh, his discretion and wisdom impressed Pharaoh, it was not just his ability to interpret dreams. When your process is through with you God will accelerate you into your destiny. Glory to God. This word is for me as well as it is for someone who will read this. 
God bless you and thank you for reading

  

Still on the subject of Joseph, this thought came to me. Sometimes your dream will lead you into seasons of isolation. I was thinking of Jospeh; As he went  into the pit and embarked on that journey leading him all the way to the palace. In Genesis 37:24 the pit was empty and there was no water. This seems bad and disadvantageous at first, there was no water which meant there was so sustainenance and water which is usually indicative of the spirit, it would almost look like the presence of God was not with him. It would seem that death was pending, he was left for dead. But there was an advantage in this. Had there been water in the well, Joseph would have drowned. Sometimes after stepping out by faith, you want that blessing straight away but if you attain the manifestation of that dream before the right timing, it could kill you. On the other hand, what may seem to have come to kill us, is actually there to help us. There is advantage in your disadvantage. As a result of his brother’s plot, Joseph was thrown into a journey that he may not have expected. But what started this whole journey for Joseph was his dream. All he saw was the dream where his brothers would bow before him in the future. What he did not see was the process of pain, accusation and isolation. Oftentimes when God calls you on a journey, He will show you the end from the beginning. Most times, your dream will lead you in a season of isolation. Whenever you are called into Isolation, it is so that God can take you into a season of revelation. Think about it, I said this in the previous blog, Joseph entered the pit as a dreamer but by the time he got into the prison, he became an interpreter of dreams, where did he learn to do this? It was the process in between the pit and the prison.

Joseph was never alone, God was always with him (Genesis 39:2). He may not have been around people who he was familiar with but God was with him and that is all you need. Oftentimes your dreams and your assignment  will cause you to let go off of everything that you are familiar with to go into places of unfamiliarity and isolation. Before David became king, he had to experience being out in the field looking after sheep by himself (1Samuel 16:11)  before being responsible for a nation. There is a blessing in your season of isolation. If your assignment has led you into a time of assignment, use this time to focus on what the Lord is trying to say to you. It is actually a season of revelation. 

 Three months ago, the Lord told me to pack my suitcase and move to the city by faith then when I got here He told me not to contact anyone who I was familiar with except for immediate family.  He still has not released me yet but this is the season where I have received a lot of revelation. And I would never trade this season for anything because I know more now than I did when I first started this journey. So take heart don’t worry about the warfare, it’s already done, you have already won. The warfare is about what you are about to occupy and you have already won. 

God bless you and thank you for reading.

The very thing that put Joseph in the pit is the very thing that delivered Joseph out of the pit.

It was his Dream

He started off as a dreamer but by the time the process was finished with him, he became an interpreter of dreams. The process has a way of changing one’s position in life. The same gifting that landed him in the pit is the same gifting that gave him access to the presence of Pharaoh. What is that reoccurring gift that has followed you throughout your life? What is that thing that every time you think of it, there is a fire that stirs up on the inside of you.

What is that thing that every time you close your eyes you can see yourself operating in that particular area. For me I discovered I came alive every time I spoke into the lives of others. What makes life worth living for me is seeing others coming into their own after the Lord speaks to them through me, and seeing them walk in their purpose. What brings me to life is when I put pen to paper and I begin to write what thus saith the Lord. It is seeing those words bounce off the realms of the spirit into my heart which is then transferred to paper and into my blogs. It is through great adversity, that I discovered my purpose and the years  I spent  serving in the church as a choir member, usher, secretary and third vice president and altar worker then at the age of 21 I became a minister. It was at this point I started to come into my own, I started discovering my purpose. I realised I had a passion to speak into the lives of people and it is from here that ‘Release Me’ was birth through me and other future projects . Two and a half years after becoming a minister, the Lord told me to leave. Some were saying how could God tell you to give up such a position? But it is at this point that I recognised that you have to leave the great in order to experience the greater. It is at this point that I realised that my experiences from living in Jamaica and moving  to London; and from London to Nottingham and moving right back to London again served a great purpose to shape my character for the purpose that is on my life. Joseph’s experiences from the pit to the prison was to prepare him for ruler ship over Egypt (Genesis 41:41-43). He lost his coat of many colours when he was thrown in the pit by his brothers (Genesis 37v23) but when he got to Pharaoh’s palace, he was restored in Genesis 41v42 in “vestures of fine linen”. Whatever you lose in the process, God will restore it back to you and put you in a place of influence.

I say all of this to say  that Joseph recognised that his gifting led him into the pit and then from the pit to the palace. He recognised that it was about his generations and that God was leading him to deliver his family (Genesis 50:20). A lot of the adversities that you are facing right now is not about you, it is about the generations that have gone on before you and it is about the generations that will come after you. What you are fighting right now, your generations are depending on you. You are not alone. Your adversity will release your creativity. It will release your purpose. You will discover your true identity. How do you discover yourself in the midst of something that is trying to strip you of who you are?

It is about your decisions. You either decide to be bitter or to grow and get better. Joseph made this choice, when Potiphar’s wife propositioned him, he could have said in Potiphar’s house, I should be allowed to do this because of all I have been through but he held on to his integrity and he ran. Will you make excuses or will you fight for the destiny of your generations to come.
Joseph was the forerunner of what God was about to do. Joseph moving to Egypt set up the scene for Moses to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. God knew what He was doing when He allowed Joseph to be sold into slavery. So start to look at your adversity with a different perspective. Your adversity is there not to kill you but to position you for greatness. It is in your adversity where creativity is discovered and released in you.

God bless you and thank you for reading

Have you ever felt like God has forgotten about the dream that He has laid on your heart? Are you on a journey right now in pursuit of your dream but you feel like every time you think you have a breakthrough, you find that there is a delay and you have to wait?

I remembered I was listening to a sermon in April 2011 entitled ‘A Dream Delayed but Not Denied’. This man of God who was preaching had married his high school sweetheart, and they had their children, he had a successful business then suddenly his wife was diagnosed with cancer and within a short period of time she had died. He wrestled with God because they had drawn a picture of their vision as husband and wife walking towards the cross which meant they both strived to serve the Lord in their marriage, but she had died, so does that mean that the dream is now ended? Does that mean it will not come to pass?

Not so, this preacher went on to explain later that the Lord had led him to marry again and now they are working together in ministry both serving the Lord and preaching the Gospel. He explained that sometimes God will show a vision and dream with certain people and in reality you look for those people but his message was that was important was that the dream had come to pass, the details will be different, sometimes the people in the dream will not be the same as the people in reality but the fact is that the dream has come to pass.

So what is a dream?

A dream is a series of thoughts, images, and sensations occurring in a person’s mind during sleep. A dream is also a cherished aspiration or ideal. So everyone reading this is a dreamer, there is something that you have always wanted to accomplish or every time you close your eyes, you see this recurring thought or image in your mind.

I have come to learn that before a dream comes to pass, there is a process that one has to go through before the dream is manifested. A dream delayed does not mean that God has denied you, it just means that it is not time. As a fellow dreamer myself, it has taken me a long time to understand this.

In Ecclesiastes 3v1, it says ‘to everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven’. This means that every dream that you have has an exact date and time that it must come to pass. If you think of a tree for example, if you pick a fruit and consume it before its time and season, you will get sick because the fruit has to be ripe before it can be eaten; there are even some fruits that will poison you especially the Ackee, if you force the pods to open before its time, it releases a poison that will cause death. It may be the season for your dream, but you have to wait for the right time.  It is the same with dreams and visions, you may have had a dream that you have wanted to accomplish for a long time but it may not be the season or time for your dream to come to pass. Delay is essential for every dream because it may mean that more growth is required on your path before your dream comes true or the people who will play a part in helping you to fulfill your dream is not in their rightful place and the people who will benefit from your dream has to be ready to receive from you. So God has to delay you from getting to your dream prematurely So being delayed has its own purpose.

Joseph is a great example when it comes to the life of a dreamer and the many disappointments and delay that he too had experienced on his journey. Joseph teaches us that for every dream to manifest, a journey is required to step into the dreams that God has given you. You do not just have a dream and the next day it happens (it can happen) but for dreams that will make a difference in the lives of others, there is a price to pay. There is a process. The process takes and cuts away the ugly things from our character. The process molds you into who God desires and plans for you to be. The process is a painful and lonely place but great things come from the place of processing.

Joseph had a dream in Genesis 37v5. The scripture tells us that Joseph was loved by his father more than his other brothers. He even gave him a coat of many colours. As a result of this his brothers hated him, and they did not speak to him peacefully. The lesson you can learn from this is;

• Know that if you have a dream, you will automatically have haters, it is inevitable.

In verse 5, Joseph had a dream and he told it to his brothers and they hated him even the more.

Lesson number 2;

• Be careful who you share your dreams with

It has cost me many relationships because I was gullible in believing that everyone would be happy for me as I was always happy for everyone but that was far from the truth. Discernment is very key here. For every dreamer, there is a dream killer and a dream sharer.  A dream killer is one that aims through their negativity to abort the dreams that you are carrying and a dream sharer is one who helps you birth your dream. Sometimes you have what is known as counterfeits that will present themselves as if they are with you to help you but all they are doing is attempting to halt you but time always reveals this.

Joseph sharing his dream shows a level of insecurity on his part, I believe he was just trying to be accepted in the group of his brothers, so by doing this, he thought they would accept him. This was a flaw that the Holy Spirit revealed to me about myself, every time I was with a group of people who made me feel less than who I am, I started talking about  the dreams that the Lord had shown me and how most of them had come to pass already. In my eyes I was just trying to make conversation but the Lord revealed my true motive to me.  Sometimes revealing your dreams before the appointed time creates unnecessary enemies. But for Joseph I believe it was a set up.  In verse 7, we see that Joseph dreams and the interpretation of that dream is that his brothers were bowing to him, so Joseph was destined to be in a place of authority.  In Genesis 37 v18-22, we see the brothers contemplating to kill Joseph all because of his dreams.

This shows that the attack, you are going through right now is not about you but it is about the dream that you are carrying on the inside of you. Joseph’s brothers threw him in the pit and then sold him to the Ishmaelites, this was the beginning of a thirteen year process for Joseph before He got to his dream (his place of destiny).

What I learn from Joseph, is that God often shows the end of a dream, but He rarely shows you the process; I am sure that if Joseph had seen the experiences he was about to encounter, he would have said to God, no thank you!!! But when you see the end of a thing, that is what  gives you the strength to face the adversity and  builds up an intestinal fortitude deep down on the inside of you that says that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. (Phil 4v13).

Joseph went from going into the pit, to being a slave in Potiphar’s house where he was falsely accused of raping Potiphar’s wife then from Potiphar’s house he went to  prison and all of these events led him to standing before Pharaoh  and interpreting his dreams and all these events led to Joseph being promoted to Ruler over Egypt (Equivalent to a Prime Minister). Joseph became a ruler at the age of 30 years old (Genesis 41v46), Joseph was 17 years old (Genesis 37v2). So he was processed for thirteen years before his dream was fulfilled.

Joseph’s character had to be molded in order to maintain his gift. It is good to have a dream, but when your dream comes into manifestation, it is your character and your spirit of excellence (the ability to improve one’s self and skill continuously). These 13 years of processing may have seemed harsh but it worked out for Joseph’s good.  These 13 years of processing created a wealth in the soul of Joseph. It refined his character. In Genesis 39v2, it states that the Lord was with Joseph and he was a prosperous man. How could this be? Because he was a slave, he was bought; he was stripped of everything in the pit. Sometimes on our journey to the dream, when things go really bad, we think God has left us but God never leaves you and He will never forsake you.

• Lesson-You are not what you are going through just because of the price you are paying right now, does not mean that the dream is not going to come true.

• You are not defined by what you are facing right now; this is the journey you have to take to get to your destination. Your circumstances you are facing right now is your vehicle to your destiny.

At the end of his process, Joseph’s attitude changed; before the pit, he was telling everyone about his dreams prematurely to make others feel insecure and to make him noticed. But during the process, he changed positions, he went from dreamer to interpreter of dreams, firstly to the butler and the baker (Genesis 40v1) then to Pharaoh in Genesis 41.

The Lord revealed to me that one’s experiences are a direct sign for the type of people that you are assigned to. Joseph’s dreams were not just about him ruling and reigning over his brothers, it was bigger than that, it was about his assignment. You have to know what it is like to dream before you  can interpret a dream. Have you ever had to try and explain to someone what you are going through but they did not understand you because they had not experienced it themselves? It is frustrating and it is like you are talking to a brick wall.

That is why you have to experience your process before you get to your dream because it is the process that qualifies you to access your dream.  Your dream could be to work in a certain industry but you have to gain the necessary qualifications and work experiences to get into that particular industry.  To be a minister, pastor, preacher, you have to have experienced the pain of the people before you can reach out to them. And i believed it was the same for Joseph, he started to see the hand of God in His process, had his brothers not put him in the pit and sold him, then he would not have been bought by Potiphar; had Potiphar’s wife not accused him, he would not have been placed in prison where he met the butler and the baker and interpreted their dreams; and as a result the butler remembered him two years later and that ushered him into the presence of Pharaoh where he interpreted Pharaoh’s dreams and he was promoted to rule over Egypt.

You see in Genesis 45v5-8, Joseph sees the purpose in process. And it is here he recognises that the dream he initially had was bigger than his brothers bowing to him, it was about the deliverance of Egypt and his family and saving a generation.

Your dream is not about you, it is about the deliverance of a people; it is about legacy. It is about the many lives that you will touch, whether it is with a product or a service or a ministry; whatever it is, it will touch the lives of many.

In your time of delay, use this time to improve your skill and use this time for preparation. I now see delay as an opportunity to prepare myself and gain more knowledge for what it is I am waiting to step into.

My prayer for you is that the passion of your dreams be rekindled in the name of Jesus. And that you will not become weary in well doing, that you will have a shift in perspective and that you will begin to see that the delay is not denial, it is just God’s way of equipping you and maturing you for the manifestation of your dream. God bless you and thank you for reading.