How to Know if We are Obeying God’s Call on our Lives

I sat in a crowded movie theater.  As I glanced around me, I slunk further into my seat.  There was a haze of people surrounding me from every corner and they were raising their hands with questions.  One by one they asked Dr. Charles Mully along with the producers and directors of their hit movie, “Mully” questions about why Mully did what he did.  I didn’t get to ask a question but I was mulling over God’s call on our lives and what it means for us right now.

The reporters stood up and asked him how things worked out the way they did.  Questions pertaining to his faith, and his knowing there would be water.  And one by one Dr. Mully answered by faith. He answered with truth and grace.

 

He was given an opportunity I’m almost positive he never knew or thought he would get. Yet God placed him exactly where He wanted him.  In a position to witness to hundreds and at times thousands upon thousands of westerners while sitting on a stage in Hollywood.  You see, Charles Mully grew up an orphan in the streets of Kenya and yet through a series of events God led him to that stage in Hollywood in early October 2017.  The one thing I gathered from my time speaking with Dr. Mully and observing the things that happened at the premiere is this: He obeyed God’s Call and he never backs away from what he knows to be right.

 

Obeying God’s Call on our Lives

I’m reminded of something.  God is bigger than all of us.  He is bigger than the most powerful rulers of this world.  And yet he cares for the least of these.  He cares for the orphan, the widow, the people who have been rejected from our society. God’s Call on our Lives is simple He wants us to “love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” Luke 10:27

All Christians would agree that God commands us with the Great Commission: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:19-20 

But did you know that we are also commanded to love our neighbor as our self?  What does this mean?

Learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause. Isaiah  1:17

To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice. Proverbs 21:3

It’s pretty evident if you look at scripture that God’s heart is for us to show His love to people who need help, who can’t protect themselves or defend themselves easily.

For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me,  I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ 

Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink?  And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’  And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’ Matthew 25:35-40

James is able to sum it up so simply:

Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world. James 1:27

These words go back to the prophets in the Old Testament:

He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well.

Is not this to know me? declares the Lord. Jeremiah 22:16

This is what the LORD says: Be fair-minded and just. Do what is right! Help those who have been robbed; rescue them from their oppressors. Quit your evil deeds! Do not mistreat foreigners, orphans, and widows. Stop murdering the innocent! Jeremiah 22:3

It’s repeated throughout the New Testament:

This is the message you have heard from the beginning: We should love one another. 1 John 3:11

Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” Matthew 22:37-40

A new commandment I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so also you must love one another. John 13:34

Beloved, I am not writing you a new commandment, but an old one, which you have had from the beginning. This commandment is the message you have heard. 1 John 2:7

God is Love

He loves.  God is doing a great work among His people.  He is turning hearts to Him.  The Lord is calling us to remember his instructions.  Have we forgotten God’s call on our lives?

Will you pray with me?  Today, will you pray with me for our country?   America is crumbling and lives are being lost.  And we can pick up our weapons and fight or we can put on the armor of God and realize whose we are.

For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.  1 Peter 1:18-19

And WE, we are His hands and feet.

It’s time we get out of our pre-planned, empty, lives and realize that God is on the move and He is drawing us in.  He has placed us on a mission field and He has given us our assignment.

He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. Micah 6:8

He wants you to know His love.  God wants you to know His hope.  And He wants to use you today for His Glory.  It’s time we call out to Him.  The time has come to repent.  We need to turn to Him.  It’s time to let Him transform our hearts and minds.  Ask Him to search your heart.  Ask Him what you can do.  Draw near, because He loves you.  But also, draw near, because He loves the world.

Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. James 4:8

Be Bold

My prayer is that God will move us into a people of action who are not afraid to take risks to further His kingdom.  I pray that God will speak into our hearts, to give us a boldness to love.  I pray that the church will awaken and know that we must leave our comfort zone and show love.  Over the next month, I will be sharing ways that you can help the least of these. Come back and join us.

 

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To read all the posts in this series click here.