When we have received a call from the Lord, our lives will bear the wonderful fruit of it—the fruit of assurance, ownership, pure motivation and seeking only the Lord’s approval. Assurance When you know God has called you, you walk in that assurance. No person or difficulty can deter you or make you turn back. You are certain that He who called you will be faithful. Consider Joseph as one example. He stayed assured of the promise of God even... Read more

Whenever I remember David’s prayer in Psalm 19, my heart is sobered: “Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me” (Psalm 19:13 KJV). We must not take the goodness of the Lord for granted or indulge the slightest sense of pride or self-congratulation. And we must never entertain thoughts like, based on my past actions, I have it made, or We can do it ourselves—all we need is some ingenious planning. Where we... Read more

When we know we have been called by God, we can have the assurance that, no matter what we may experience or the weaknesses we see in ourselves, He will equip us with everything we need to fulfill that call. The youthful Timothy was one called by the Lord, even though Scripture reveals that by the world’s standards he did not seem like an adequate candidate to take on the responsibility of the ministry. Timothy was a young man, weak... Read more

Timothy, who eventually took the place of the great Apostle Paul, was not only young, but prone to illness. He lived continually with the problem of physical infirmity. We know this because Paul said to him in 1 Timothy 5:23, “Stop drinking only water, and use a little wine because of your stomach and your frequent illnesses.” You, too, may be living with physical deficiencies. Are you called to do something huge and significant but feel like saying, “My God,... Read more

There is no doubt in my mind that Simon Peter and his brother Andrew became the talk of all the fishermen around the lake of Galilee when they suddenly left their nets to respond to Jesus’ call: “Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men” (Mark 1:17). We are greatly challenged by the willingness of these men to forsake all at a moment’s notice to join a new teacher whose ministry and future were unknown. But then... Read more

Three principles I offer to help us become … men and women like those from the book of Acts who have heard the call of God: We must live according to what we know from Scripture, committed to a heavenly kingdom, so that our lives affect not only our home and community, and perhaps our state and country—but also the entire earth. . . . The Bible is full of illustrations of two groups of people—those who know the truth... Read more

The Holy Spirit touches the hearts of people who commit their lives to Him wholly; who follow Jesus simply because He said, “Follow Me”; and who do whatever He asks them to do. It is as simple as that. We see the same response from the disciples Jesus called . . . . These men dropped everything they were doing and followed Jesus. I imagine that Zebedee, James and John’s father, watched in consternation as his sons got up from... Read more