God, Where Are You Taking Me?
By Rev. James May
As Jesus walked the shores of the Sea of Galilee, at the beginning of his earthly ministry, his first objective was to find men who would become his disciples. And while it is clear that Jesus already knew exactly which men he would choose; it is also quite evident that not one of those men had any idea of the journey that lay before them. Each man was caught up in his own day-by-day life, just doing what he had learned to do to get by. Some had been educated in the best schools in the land, while others had learned all they knew from the school of hard knocks. They had risen every day, only to walk the same path that they had walked many days before, believing that somehow their lives would be successful. They loved their families and provided for them the best they could
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Twelve men got up in the morning to step out on their chosen journey, going where they thought that was a path to success, but every one of them, in a moment of time, discovered a new path to walk that would lead to a very different life than they could have ever imagined; but it was a path in life that would bring them to experience life at its fullest and best; and take them to that portal of eternal life that they would never have found any other way.
All of us have heard that same call that these disciples heard. One day you were walking your own chosen path through life, believing and hoping for the best, living according to your own choices, somehow thinking that life would be good and that all things would work out for you to be a success in your own chosen field.
Some of you may have been like Peter, James, John and Andrew. The Bible tells us of how Jesus called them to be his disciples.
Matthew 4:18 And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers.
Matthew 4:19 And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.
Matthew 4:20 And they straightway left their nets, and followed him.
Matthew 4:21 And going on from thence, he saw other two brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and he called them.
Matthew 4:22 And they immediately left the ship and their father, and followed him.
We are given no clue that Jesus had ever met these men before this day, except that we know God is Omniscient. They were there, in the mind of Christ, and though it may appear that these were random choices as Jesus just strolled along the beach, let me remind you that nothing God does is by accident or coincidental; but its always by design and by choice.
Jesus did not have to take applications; nor did he have to take these men through a screening process, because he already knew their nature and he understood their hearts. In these old rough, weather beaten, sun baked fishermen, Jesus saw men who knew the meaning of hard work, long hours and who also knew disappointment and disillusionment.
I wonder how many days these fishermen had gone out to work all day long, and caught nothing? How many days had they rose up before daybreak, prepared their boats and headed out on the waters, casting their nets, spending their limited resources and then returning home after dark with little to show for what they had done?
The human condition has not changed since the days of Adam. All of us have seen days when we felt we would have been better off just staying in bed. The whole day seemed a waste of time and energy and instead of increasing the value of things in life; all we did was spend more than we earned and waste what we could little afford to give away. But, since we knew nothing else to do but try and try again, when the time came to go again the next day, back down that same rut we would travel.
Among the first 12 men that Jesus chose it must be noted that none were of the educated elite, though we know that many who fall into this category would later be called. It is often harder to reach most people who have been indoctrinated in the schools of man. Luke and Paul would be two examples of God’s ability to reach into heart of those who through their educational background had learned to try to think through everything logically and only accept that which could be explained through natural means. They had to learn that following Jesus meant releasing faith; not logical reasoning.
In every instance, the call of Jesus upon the lives of his disciples meant an instant and lifelong change in what they were to do with their lives. The Bible teaches that the call of God upon a man or woman must always cause us to make a change in what we are doing with our lives. That’s what repentance is all about. It doesn’t always mean that we have to change our profession, leave a job and just trust God for our daily sustenance. Yes, we must always trust God for what we need every day, but we must also be about doing what we can in our own power to provide for ourselves.
Not all of us are called to be in full time ministry; and even some of us who are called to be in full time ministry, cannot expect to make it through life by only taking from the church and never doing anything to give back. The vast majority of full time pastors and evangelists must also have secondary sources of income in order to pay their bills and be a blessing and not a burden to the work of the Lord. God never promised us that being ministers meant living a life of semi-retirement. In fact, God called us to do a work for him, not to sit or play for him.
Sometimes the hardest thing for us to do, as disciples of Christ, is to just learn to trust God to take us where he wants us to go. We are too accustomed to doing our own thing that it’s hard to just say, “Okay, God, where next? What is my next step? Where do I go from here?” But that’s exactly the place that we must come to in life if we are going to truly be a disciple of Christ.
Every decision must be based upon God’s Word and the leading of the Holy Ghost and not upon our own understanding. It is when we make decision based upon our own feelings, or our own understanding, that we often miss the will of God and find ourselves far from where God intends for us to be.
We can’t always walk by the dictates of our own conscience because the Bible tells us that our conscience can’t always be depended upon to be working correctly. In these last days, there are many who fit the description found in 1 Timothy 4:2 Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron. This isn’t just talking about people in the world, living in sin; it’s also referring to many in the church who are also living in sin, but claiming to be full of the Holy Ghost at the same time. I’ve seen a lot of people in the church do things that they thought was right, knowing that where they were headed and what they were doing was a clear path to sorrow, heartache and destruction, and God was not in it at all. Yet off they would go, some never to return to the right path, and others, in time would eventually realize how far they had gone and turn back to find the path that God had laid before them.
Many times, people are led away from God’s chosen path in their lives by listening to what their heart is telling them. Let me tell you that listening to your heart can get you into pretty deep trouble very quickly. Often we tend to believe that we have great conviction in our hearts and our conscience seems clear over the path that we see ahead, it seems logical to follow that direction.
Jeremiah 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?
How many have made shipwreck of their lives by simply following their hearts? It is not the heart, nor the conscience that we must follow, but it is the Word of God and the voice of the Great Shepherd and nothing else.
The questions we must ask are these for anyone who is ready to step out on to a different path in life:
1) Did God speak to you to do what you are doing; or is it your own heart that’s leading you to fulfill your own desires
2) Are you walking where God is leading, or are you walking a path that you have chosen because where you were was not what you thought it would be, or not pleasing to your flesh
3) Is the path you are walking drawing you closer to God, or is it allowing you more freedom to fulfill the desires of the flesh without feeling the convicting power of God for sin in your heart
4) Have you spent time in prayer, seeking God’s will, searching his Word and truly wanting to know God’s will; or have you made your decision based on circumstances that made you “feel either comfortable in where you are going or uncomfortable in where you have been”
Do we not know the voice of the Lord? Do we even listen for his voice? Or do we make every decision based upon what we want, then try to make it appear as though God is speaking to us?
One thing I have learned is that God’s path often is the path that seems the hardest. To follow God means that we must allow the desires of our own heart to go unfulfilled because we are thinking more carnal than spiritual. What we want overpowers the perfect will of God. There have been times when I felt that God was leading me in a certain direction because it was the path of least resistance. All of the doors were opening, everything that lay ahead seemed to be an answer to my dreams, and yet the end of that path was not where God wanted me to be. That’s when I learned the hard way that Satan knows how to open doors and make things appear to be what they are not, and that even a true Christian can be led astray if they are very careful to know the Mind of Christ.
What often happens is that we do not pray for the Mind of Christ and then wait for an answer. We start walking where we want to go and then pray that God goes with us. And it may seem to be so perfect in the beginning. But if God’s not in it; the work will not prosper. There will be no fulfillment in our work. Those doors that seemed to be so wide open suddenly slam shut and there’s no where else to turn except to go back where we last knew that we were in God’s will and start over again.
One thing that I battle with all of the time is how to draw people into the House of God and still maintain the vision that God has set before us as a church. On one side I would love to see our church filled with people, and by using only a few of the ways of some of the other churches around that have huge crowds, we could fill this church in no time at all. But how to use those means and keep the vision that God has set before us is the problem because the two are not compatible.
When I think about it logically and with my desire to see the church filled in mind, I often feel like I’m missing the mark. I begin to think to myself, “Now if we would just be more contemporary; if I would just lean back, take a breath and stop preaching so hard against sin; if I would just force yourself to be more carefree and jolly; if I could just have a lot more tolerance for people to do what they feel like doing; if I could just stop teaching the ways of holiness so much, and teach the nothing but the love of God and encouraging people to be all that they want to be and enjoy life to the fullest – then the people would enjoy coming here more and the crowds would grow and we could be building a huge new sanctuary with more property in a short time.
But how can I do that when my mandate from the Lord is to preach the truth at all costs; to hold up the standards of holiness and righteousness; to preach the gospel without fear or compromise; to prepare a people for the Coming of the Lord; to be serious minded about the condition of the hearts and souls of the people in the church; to have a proper balance between love and judgment for sin; and to teach that God’s way, and not our way, is the only way to truly live life.
My mandate is not to build huge sanctuaries, or have acres and acres of property for a parking lot full of cars belonging to people that are lukewarm, living in sin and just coming to church for the loaves and fishes, or to be entertained and made to feel good about themselves in spite of sin.
My mandate from God, my calling from God, my duty to the church and God’s people is to preach the truth, lead souls to Jesus and get those souls ready to meet God. The rest is up to God, and I am convinced that only a remnant of the church is going in the Rapture.
I am speaking prophetically to tell you that most of the church world is going to show up on Sunday morning after the Rapture is over and still be sitting there trying to sooth their conscience and have their spirits lifted by enticing words of mans wisdom.
I’m not living under any illusion that Victory Temple will be an empty church on the Sunday after the Rapture either, but I do believe that if we will hear what the Lord is saying, and we will live by the Word that God gives me to preach, that there won’t be many left here when its over. Those that are left, if there are any, can feel free to go anywhere you want to go because there won’t be enough people left here to have service; and you will certainly need a new preacher. Maybe some of the preachers you like to listen to now will still be here. Go find them and keep following them and I wish you the best, but I doubt that you will see any change.
If it were my choice, I’d be like all the rest who appear to be so successful in the church world. I’d kick back, study only those things of the Word of God that I know will be completely uplifting and without conviction for sin, and give messages that would inspire you to reach for success in your marriage, in your job and in your relationships. I’d want to see you leave out the doors of the church with a smile on your face, a coffee cup in your hand and the freedom to live your life any way you want.
But it’s not my choice; it’s God’s choice. You’re not my church; you’re God’s church. This is not my calling; it’s God’s calling upon me. And if do anything else than what God has called me to do, then not only am I living in sin and disobedience; but I’ll be blindly leading every one of you into a life of compromise and sin; and you will never find the path of righteousness; and we will all wind up in the pits of hell.
Your question this morning may be, “God, where are you taking me? Where am I going with my life? What work do you have for me to do? What gifts have you given to me that I can share, and how can I share them?” Those are all good questions and God desires to give you the answer. So let me tell you how to get the right answer.
First, spend time alone with Jesus and His Word. Spend enough time with God, alone, so that you can learn to recognize the voice of the Lord when he speaks. This requires a consistent and daily prayer life and consistent study of His Word. There are no shortcuts to a close relationship with Jesus.
John 10:27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
In speaking about the church as His sheep Jesus teaches us how a natural sheep reacts to their shepherd:
John 10:4 And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice.
John 10:5 And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers.
Assuming that you are truly Born Again, and you are a sheep in God’s pasture, if you spend enough time with Jesus you will come to know his voice. God speaks in the stillness, with a voice that is not going to overpower the voices of the world around you, but with a clear and distinct sound that is easy to hear if you listen. His voice will always lead to life and be in conformity with His Word.
Secondly, turn off the things of this world that are a constant distraction. It’s a rare occasion that God will call you on the cell phone, post to your Facebook, Twitter you from Heaven, put a Word for you on your MySpace Account, or send you an E-mail. I won’t say that God won’t or can’t speak to you through the TV set or the IPod or K-Love but those are not His normal means of communication. God’s preferred method of communication is to your heart through times spent alone with Him in prayer and study of His Word. That’s why so many of God’s people live in confusion and don’t know God’s will, because prayer and study of the Word are the last thing on their minds.
Finally, let me tell you where God is going to lead you.
He’s going to lead you into a life of holiness and righteousness through obedience to his Word.
He’s going to lead you in paths that will take you to places, and cause you to do things that you never dreamed were possible.
God will lead you into times of trouble, and into times of victory and joy.
God is going to lead you pass the still waters of Psalms 23 and into the storms of life as he did for Paul in Acts 27 and for the disciples in Matthew 14.
God is going to lead you into times of blessings and times of need just like he did Job.
He’s going to lead you into times of correction like he did Jonah and into times of great victory like he did for King David.
But the greatest place where God will lead you is into a life of obedience and service that will take you all the way to the Gates of Heaven and into the streets of the New Jerusalem.
I hope that all of you will say with me, “Where He leads me; I will follow. I’ll go with Him all the way. I will say “Yes Lord”, take me, mold me, use me and fill me. I want to be clay in the Potter’s Hand. I will hear the voice of the Lord; and his voice I will obey.”
Let God lead you. Don’t listen to anything else or anyone else; except Jesus’. His is the only voice that will lead you to God’s will for your life and give you a life that is full and abundant in his grace, and eternal in the Heavens.
And once you are fully persuaded that God is speaking, then step out by faith, taking one step at a time as God reveals the path before you. He knows the end from the beginning, but you will only see the next step. The walk with Jesus is always a walk by faith, so if you have a clear vision of where you are going, I would question whether it’s a true vision from the Lord! We must walk by faith and not by sight if we are going to be in the perfect will of God.
