There is something so powerful about becoming a determined person.
Determination is an internal decision that one makes in order to achieve a goal. It has the ability to propel the decision maker towards seeing that desire or goal become a reality because the determined person will overcome any inconveniences and obstacles. The most successful people possess this quality and when you hear their inspiring life stories, you soon discover that all of them display the attributes of determination.
Engaging your will
Determination starts with a decision you make with your will— something that we all possess. This simply means that we can ALL make the decision to be determined and therefore succeed. Our will enables us to make choices, which then help shape the direction of our lives. It is our will that helps us get to our destiny.
Even Jesus had to make choices. Even He had to have the determination to reach His destiny of saving all mankind. The Bible gives us great insight into what Jesus went through in pursuit of the Father’s will for His life:
The Sovereign Lord has given me His words of wisdom, so that I know how to comfort the weary. Morning by morning He wakens me and opens my understanding to His will. The Sovereign Lord has spoken to me, and I have listened. I have not rebelled or turned away. I offered my back to those who beat me and my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard. I did not hide my face from mockery and spitting. Because the Sovereign Lord helps me, I will not be disgraced. Therefore, I have set my face like a stone, determined to do His will. And I know that I will not be put to shame.
What an amazing encouragement to us! Even Jesus had to be determined in order to fulfil God’s will for His life.
Know where you are going
This is another important point about determination: when you know where you are going— especially when you know God’s will for your life— it helps you to be confident about being determined.
The scripture above encourages us to:
Listen to what God is saying to our heart each morning.
Why is this important? Because, we have to know in our hearts what we are meant to do before we start navigating the day and are bombarded with potential opposition. When we have already made up our minds to be determined, no matter what emotional ‘ups and downs’, opposition to the dream or negative responses that we may face, we can keep moving forward!
Expect opposition to the dream.
The enemy does not want us to reach our destiny. Others might not want us to reach our destiny either. They could be jealous or just opposing the ‘Christ’ in us— that is, the ‘anointing’ that we carry. They may try to discourage us by using tactics such as ‘mockery’ but when we are determined, we have the ability to brush off the sarcastic comments and overcome the opposition. No matter who it comes from, we are able to stand strong in our convictions and keep finding ways to accomplish our dream.
I once read a great story about a man named Monty Roberts. As a child, he lived a very transient life because his father was a horse trainer. Due to the nature of his father’s work, the family frequently moved from place to place. As a result, the boy was no stranger to change—homes, schools and friends.
One day, in his high school class, the boy was asked to write an essay about his ambitions for the future. Excitedly, he wrote page after page detailing his dreams of owning properties and walking in his father’s footsteps in the horse-training business. Unfortunately, the teacher graded his essay with an “F” (fail) and made comments such as, “These dreams are too big and unrealistic for a boy with no money and who came from an itinerant family”. He was given the option to re-write it and try for a better grade.
Torn, the boy lamented to his father about the teacher’s response to his dreams. His father challenged him to decide in his heart whether or not he was prepared to give up those dreams —on the teacher’s recommendation—or hold true to his dreams and face the consequences. A few days later after giving it a lot of thought, the boy confidently walked up to his teacher and announced, “I will keep this grade AND I will keep my dream”.
Years later, Monty Roberts purchased a 4,000-square-foot house in the middle of a 200-acre horse ranch and kept that school paper, which he had framed and hung over the fireplace!
If this is the power of just one young boy’s determined, how much more should we expect to achieve when we have God helping us? Our determined to keep going with what He has called us to do will cause miraculous things to take place in our lives!
This is exactly the kind of attitude that Planetshakers is built upon. God has spoken clearly to us, so with great determined, we keep pressing on towards the prize!
When faced with opposition— get determined!... we are able to stand strong in our convictions and keep finding ways to accomplish the dream.
Look to the Lord for help
There are all sorts of so-called experts that want to tell us that we don’t have the talents, abilities or resources we need to see our dreams fulfilled. The truth is, when God says we are going to do something great for Him, then we are going to do just that! It’s time to get determined.
Jesus faced obstacles to the dream too:
Then, accompanied by the disciples, Jesus left the upstairs room and went as usual to the Mount of Olives. There he told them, “Pray that you will not give in to temptation.” He walked away, about a stone’s throw, and knelt down and prayed, “Father, if You are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from Me. Yet I want Your will to be done, not Mine.” Then an angel from heaven appeared and strengthened Him. He prayed more fervently, and He was in such agony of spirit that His sweat fell to the ground like great drops of blood. At last He stood up again and returned to the disciples, only to find them asleep, exhausted from grief. “Why are you sleeping?” He asked them. “Get up and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation.”
Life can be exhausting! There are moments in my own life where tears drench my pillow and my heart hurts because of the opposition that stands in front of the dream. Jesus knows the sorrows that we face because He faced them head-on Himself. He knows how to comfort the weary because He has experienced weariness first-hand, yet still overcame!
Has life left you exhausted? Turn to Jesus. Jesus knows the sorrows that we face because He faced them head-on Himself. He knows how to comfort the weary because He has experienced weariness first-hand, yet still overcame!
Get Up and Pray
This is where determination is so powerful. After reaching out to Jesus for comfort, we then need to get up and pray!
We will always be faced with the temptation to give up on the dream because of the emotional turmoil we experience through opposition. It’s because we invest so much of ourselves in accomplishing our dreams—our will, our thoughts, our emotions, our time, our resource— all things that are very valuable to us and must be expended in order to reach our destiny. Fulfilling our dream is COSTLY.
A determination that comes from God.
That’s why determination needs to be sourced from God and not man-made. Jesus appealed to His Father, and as He reached out, He continued to submit to God’s will. When we submit to His will for our lives, we receive the supernatural strength to be determined. This kind of determination, which is empowered by God, helps you push through pain and continue making the right choices to see your destiny fulfilled.
Our determination needs to be sourced from God and not man-made.This kind of determination, which is empowered by God, helps you push through pain and continue making the right choices to see your destiny fulfilled.
Overcoming enemies of your destiny
Determination is a crucial factor in overcoming obstacles and enemies that stand in the way of your destiny. At times, there can be a temptation to partner with fear and doubt, allowing these things to side-track us from our destiny. Jesus experienced this too.
Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted there by the devil. For forty days and forty nights He fasted and became very hungry. During that time the devil came and said to Him, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become loaves of bread.”
But Jesus told him, “No! The Scriptures say, ‘People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
Then the devil took Him to the holy city, Jerusalem, to the highest point of the Temple, and said, “If You are the Son of God, jump off! For the Scriptures say,
‘He will order his angels to protect You. And they will hold You up with their hands so You won’t even hurt Your foot on a stone.’”
Jesus responded, “The Scriptures also say, ‘You must not test the Lord your God.’”
Next the devil took Him to the peak of a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. “I will give it all to You,” he said, “if You will kneel down and worship me.”
“Get out of here, Satan,” Jesus told him. “For the Scriptures say,‘You must worship the Lord your God and serve only Him.’”
Then the devil went away, and angels came and took care of Jesus.
Satan came to Jesus when He was hungry and physically vulnerable after a long fast. He was quick to tempt Jesus with an option to ‘fast track’ His destiny: no struggle, no fight, no arguments, no pain, no tears, no fatigue and no lack. He offered Jesus ‘destiny on a plate’— right there and then and He is still offering us this today! It’s like the promise of a perfect body without having to eat right or exercise. The health industry is fuelled by such promises. No one wants to do the ‘hard yards’. In the same way, everyone wants easy money which is why casinos are so appealing to people— fast money without having to work for it.
The cost of your dream
The truth is, success takes effort and it will take determination to keep you on the road to success. No matter what obstacle presents itself, the attitude of a determined person must be:
I will get through this.
I will overcome.
I will come out on the other side stronger, wiser and better.
The enemy is quick to tempt us with shortcuts and fast tracks to our destiny, but there is always a price to be paid for lasting success. Determination will keep you on the road to success!
How do I know that? Because I know the character of our God and what His Word has promised us.
Here is a list of 28 bible verses on who God is.
God Is on your side
“The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.”
But those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.
For I am the LORD your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you.
Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
God Gives You Strength
He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.
God Is With You
So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.
The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.
Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.”
Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
God's Love Is Everlasting
Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed,” says the LORD, who has compassion on you.
God is for you
No weapon forged against you will prevail, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and this is their vindication from me,” declares the LORD.
The LORD is my light and my salvation— whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life— of whom shall I be afraid?
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.
God Has Great Plans For You
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
God Loves You
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.
I pray that out of His glorious riches He may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
God Frees You
So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.
God Blesses You
“Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house. Test Me in this,” says the LORD Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.”
And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of His glory in Christ Jesus.
God Hears You
Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.
The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears them; He delivers them from all their troubles.
God Saves You
I called to the LORD, who is worthy of praise, and I have been saved from my enemies.
If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.
Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and He saved them from their distress. He brought them out of darkness, the utter darkness, and broke away their chains. Let them give thanks to the LORD for His unfailing love and His wonderful deeds for mankind, for He breaks down gates of bronze and cuts through bars of iron.
God Is Good
You, Lord, are forgiving and good, abounding in love to all who call to you.
God Never Forsakes You
The LORD is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. Those who know Your name trust in You, for You, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek You.
God Restores You
Praise the LORD, my soul, and forget not all His benefits— who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
Run to God
Maybe there have been some doubts that have left you discouraged, and you’ve lost your determination. Let’s repent of those doubts and ask God to fill our hearts with courage once again.
Maybe you are struggling with fear and insecurity in your heart, and you feel wounded at this time. Reach out to God and ask Him for His healing touch so that your determination can be restored.
Maybe you have felt the oppression of the enemy. Pray and take authority over that oppression and ‘bind and loose’ the enemy from your life.
Let’s be determined to live the life God has called us to live and to attain the desires that He has placed in our hearts. He wants us to succeed, so let’s determine in our hearts to keep pressing on towards our God-given destiny!
