Good morning everyone… Since my husband and I both had good points on this piece, I wanted him to share his thoughts, as well.

~ By Timothy Owens

Adam’s first job in the Garden of Eden was to name all of the animals.  God determined that what Adam would call each animal is what it would be called.  This power to define one’s environment, one’s relationships, and even one’s future is one of the most powerful, yet least understood gifts God has given us as human beings who are charged with managing His creation.

The Power to Define your Environment:

Romans 12:2 says…And be not conformed to this world but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.   God’s will is that we have a trans-formative impact on our world by doing and demonstrating His “good, acceptable and perfect will.” (Romans 12:2 You should therefore be defining your environment rather than allowing your environment to define you. As you walk in the power of the Holy Spirit, and God’s will for your life, you automatically change your environment.  The places you live, work, study, rest, and recreate – all become significantly different because you and the Holy Spirit have shown up on the scene.

The Bible calls you the salt of the earth.  Salt is a very powerful element that has the ability to preserve, cleanse, protect, but even more so salt has the ability to completely change the flavor of whatever it is added to.  In the same way, when you arrive on the scene walking in the very essence of God, you change the entire flavor of what is happening there just by your presence, because with your presence, you usher in the divine presence of God.

We are not human beings having a temporary spiritual experience.  In fact we are actually spiritual beings having a temporary human experience.  The word of God says that what you bind in heaven shall be bound on earth and what you loose in heaven shall be loosed on earth.  God has given you the ability to impact your environment in the supernatural realm in ways that will show up significantly in the natural realm.   So the bottom line is through your faithful obedience to God’s will for you one moment at a time, God will use you to supernaturally define or re-define the environment around you.

The Power to Define your Future:

The power to define your future, is one of the most powerful aspects to the power of definition.  In the Old Testament of the Bible, there was a tradition in Jewish culture that the father had the right to name the child.  The name that was given helped shape and define that child’s function and destiny in the world. A similar tradition in ancient Jewish culture was that when the father was old and close to death he would give a blessing to his sons.  This blessing was designed as a way to pass down the blessings of God that were on the life of the father to the son who would take his place in leadership of the entire family after the father’s death.  Both of those traditions were symbolic of the fact that God has given us the power to define our future.  We no longer need the blessing of the human patriarch of the family to have a blessed future, because God our Heavenly Father has himself directly blessed us.  In ancient times, the blessing of the father meant everything to the future of the child (this is the reason that Jacob worked hard to trick Isaac the father into giving him the blessing that was actually due to his older brother Esau).  The same is true today.  Boys and girls without the influence of godly fathers and/or father figures rebel out of anger and pain that they often don’t realize they have.  They find themselves wondering aimlessly through life without understanding their purpose and consequently latch on to whatever and whoever is popular or seems important in the world, in a misguided attempt to get real substance in their lives.  This tends to lead to all kinds of behavior that is pleasurable in the moment, but ultimately self-destructive.  The cure for that is the blessing of the father.  Fathers have been given by God the ability to help young people define their future.

The power of our earthly father to define our future pales in comparison to the power of our heavenly father to define our future.  The Word of God says …“for I know the plans I have for you.  Plans to prosper you and not to harm you…to give you a hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11

To receive His best for you, simply choose to agree with Him about your future.  Agree with Him that He has created you for a reason and to fulfill a unique purpose on the earth.  Agree with Him that as you pursue intimate relationship with Him, your purpose will become more and more clear to you and others around you.  Agree with Him that fulfilling your purpose and assignment on earth will result in a bright future and a prosperous life both on earth and eternally in heaven.  Agree with Him that He loves you unconditionally and so consequently even though you may have made mistakes in the past, God as your father will take even those mistakes and cause them to turn out for your good and His glory.  As you just agree with God and His definition of your future, you will define your future in the best and most advantageous way to you and everyone else in your life.