Your character will determine your destiny. In today’s church in the west there is much seeking after the nine gifts of the Spirit but there are also nine fruits of the same Spirit of God.
In Genesis 49 we have the account of Jacob/Israel’s final words over his sons. His eldest, Reuben, was demoted, “Turbulent(stormy or unstable)as the waters, you will no longer excel “. As well as the dishonouring of his father’s bed it seems his character was flawed and he lost his blessing as the first born.
The next eldest brothers were Simeon and Levi, so Reuben’s blessing could have passed down the line to them, but in Genesis 49:5-7 we read;
Simeon and Levi are brothers —
their swords are weapons of violence.
Let me not enter their council,
let me not join their assembly,
for they have killed men in their anger
and hamstrung oxen as they pleased.
Cursed(Israel didn’t bless them) be their anger, so fierce,
and their fury so cruel!
I(sounds like God speaking directly through Jacob)will scatter them in Jacob
and disperse them in Israel.
Genesis 34:26, Simeon and Levi killed the Shechemite men after their sister Dinah was raped and plundered their city. They obviously felt justified in avenging their sister, Genesis 34:31, but because of the intensity of their anger and fury they too were passed over and received no blessing. Levi was however mightily blessed by Moses in Deuteronomy 33.
In our western society today, acts of immortality and violence are endemic. Everything from road rage to terrorism, such explosive acts of violence on our news daily, which no doubt feeds the frenzy.
God, however, did not overlook these failures of character and instead of their father’s blessings they were passed over. Judah the fourth son received the, ‘ruler’s staff’.
When God chose David to be Israel’s king He told Samuel, 1Samuel 16:7, that God doesn’t look at the outward appearance but the heart! Surely He’s still looking at hearts today for people He can trust.
I’m not at all sure where I heard about the recently departed Reinhard Bonke, but I have something in my head that this wonderful brother was the Lord’s third choice for the evangelism in Africa. That means others did not accept or were passed over.
We need to be careful how we walk before the Lord, even small actions can make the difference between being Heaven’s choices or being passed over.
May you be blessed today and may your character be like that of Christ, a servant heart for the King and His soon coming Kingdom.