295. Saved On Purpose For Purpose

I want to talk about something that every believer eventually discovers.

Salvation is not the end of one's journey and it is the beginning of a new life with Christ, with purpose and on purpose.

And I'm telling you, when God saves someone, he doesn't simply forgive them and leave them with no direction.

He invites us into his plan.

And I'm telling you, like many new believers sometimes wonder like what God plan is in their lives.

And the truth of the matter is that every believer has a role in God's mission.

So in this episode I'm going to talk about what it means to live on mission and how your life can reflect God's purpose every day.

Hello and welcome world to the Call by God podcast.

I'm your host, Nick.

Before I begin this episode, you know I said something publicly and since I said it publicly, I gotta say it out publicly.

I messed up, y'.

All, I messed up.

I messed up.

I messed up.

I would share my testimony and I got the days all wrong, right?

So God saved me in July of 2009 and God knocked some sense into me in May 2009.

So that's where I messed up.

So I've asked God that he forgive me.

And I hope that you please forgive me.

And that's the whole part of being a Christian when you, when you, you slip up, you mess up, you got to own it.

If you, you say it publicly, hey, gotta say it out publicly.

So I hope as you a new believer, you understand these things.

You're going to have some time to time where you will have slip ups.

So I'm not going to be hard on myself.

I know that God has forgiven me.

But new believer, this been going and this been an ongoing series.

I've been saying series and I've been saying episode.

I've just been messing it all up.

But it shows you that that's man, right, we're fallible, we, we just make mistakes from time to time.

But this series, this ongoing series about now that I'm saved, now what?

Right?

So you just given your life to Christ, so you're probably thinking now what?

But I want you to know, and I believe, and I'm sure about this, that God want me to tell you that salvation always leads to purpose.

So even when you think about purpose, purpose is not only limited to even pastors or even church leaders because sometimes especially new converts, you may have the notion that, oh man, I'm not a pastor, I'm not a preacher, I'm not a minister, I'm not an evangelist.

I'M not a deacon, I'm not an elder.

So you may feel like you probably limited to what you can do in terms of God's will, right?

But I. I'm here to tell you that God uses ordinary people to do powerful things in his kingdom.

And it goes back to when Jesus Christ stepped on the se seen in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, especially the Synoptic Gospels.

You see Jesus Christ calling individuals, follow me, follow me.

And here they are.

They followed him.

These were like tax collectors.

These were like fishermen.

And they were called by God.

So even when Jesus Christ called them, I'm sure they thought at the time that their purpose was to especially like the fishermen.

They probably thought their purpose was to catch fish.

They probably thought that was their purpose.

But God had other plans.

So I got a particular passage that I want to share.

So here it is right here.

Mark 1:17.

Then Jesus said unto them, follow me and I will make you fishers of men.

So this is what I mean, that God calls ordinary people to do his will.

So Jesus told them that first of all, they got to follow him.

So once they followed him, he said that I will make you become fishers of men.

So in other words, Jesus Christ was really telling them that I'm going to use you as a mouthpiece for me and for my kingdom.

So therefore, you could go out there and share the good word, share the good news.

You could share the word with individuals that are lost.

So some or many or if not all, may be saved.

And you may be thinking, nick, I've been watching this series, I've been listening to this series.

I still don't know my purpose.

Or you may say, oh, I don't know the word of God.

There are some other scholars out there that know the word of God.

What about if I encounter somebody and I don't know the word of God?

Well, that's why we got the power of your story.

Every believer has a testimony.

And that's what I did.

When I got in the body of Christ, I got saved.

I didn't know the Bible like that.

I did not know the Bible.

But what I did have, I had a story, I had a testimony.

So when I got saved, I had to tell people, tell the world, like, look at me, look what Jesus Christ did for me.

So I'm here to tell you that your story shows how God has worked in your life.

So when people see how you used to be and I said, used to be, and in how you are today, they be like, well, I know that God is Doing the work in you.

So I'm telling you.

So sharing your journey can encourage others.

Sharing your story can encourage others who are struggling, maybe struggling for the very self.

Same thing that you struggle with before you obey the gospel.

So you probably was alcoholic, you probably wasn't a drugs, you probably was a liar, you probably was a thief, you probably was a womanizer, you probably were permiscuous.

But Jesus Christ saved you.

So when Jesus Christ saved you and he delivered you, now you could take the power of that testimony you could share with somebody because the reality is people that are not saved are dead, spiritually dead, because there's, there's a disconnection with God.

So you got to understand the spiritual dynamics that play in when again, I talked about this in some of my other episodes when our relationship got shattered because of Adam and Eve.

So when Jesus Christ stepped on the scene and, and those who obeyed the gospel, their relationship with God got repaired.

So they're in covenant and great relationship with God.

But those that haven't yet obey the gospel of Jesus Christ, they, they are se.

They are separated from God.

They're literally spiritually dead.

So Jesus Christ came to set the captives free.

So when Jesus Christ stepped on the scene, Jesus Christ quoted this particular passage in Luke 4:18.

It says that the spirit of the Lord is upon me because he anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and to recover of sight to the blind, to set those who are oppressed to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.

So that's Luke 4:18.

So Jesus Christ came to set the captives free.

So when Jesus Christ stepped on the scene, he was healing the blind, healing the lame, he was saving people of their sins.

So the same ministry that Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ was proclaiming, the ministry proclaiming, hey, the kingdom of God is at hand.

The kingdom of God is at hand.

You know, but before Jesus, there was John.

John was calling the people to repentance.

Jesus Christ was saying the kingdom of God, not kingdom of God is at hand.

So now when Jesus Christ went back to glory, now Jesus Christ has given us this gospel, this good news that the death, burial, resurrection of Jesus Christ, this is good.

That's the good news, that Jesus Christ died, He was buried and he was resurrected.

So if you believe in the gospel of Jesus, you too will be saved.

And the power of testimony of one's testimony is that people oftentimes connect.

So when you have a personal story, it connects with individuals more than arguments.

Because sometimes you.

You could talk to some, you could walk to somebody and start opening up the Bible and talking about the word of God.

And then people could have their own ideologies and they start.

They want to nod, they want to argue.

So I just want you to know.

Yeah.

As long as you understand the gospel, that if faith come by hearing and hearing by the word of God, and if you believe that Jesus Christ, that he is the son of God, also, if you confess your sins and you repent of your sins and you are baptized, then you are added into God's family.

So if you understand the gospel and your testimony, both of those can point others to Christ.

So now that you're a Christian, you're living on a mission.

Your mission starts with your daily devotion to God.

So living on a mission does not always mean you're traveling, you're preaching, or you're preaching publicly.

So mission begins in every relationship.

So you know how, like how the Bible says, love God with all your heart, all your mind, and all your soul, and likewise your neighbor.

So it's about repairing even relationships.

So when you're, when you're a Christian, you have to love your neighbor first.

You got to love God, and you got to love your neighbor.

So even the way you treat people reflects your faith.

I'm talking about people like at your workplace, your family, and even friendships can all become places where God can use you.

So you can't even treat your family any kind of way.

You can't taught your family any kind of way.

You can't taught your friends any kind of way.

You can't taught your co workers any kind of way.

Because now you're a representation of God.

So even those little small acts of faithfulness can have a big impact in your newly spiritual walk.

And one of the things that you have to understand, because I know as a new convert, you got saved.

You're saved.

You're like, okay, I understand that, Nick.

I got my testimony.

I understand the gospel.

Now.

Another thing that might play in your heart, you probably may not even notice God has given you a gift.

So every believer has the ability and gifts that come from God.

And when God gave you a gift, when God give you a gift, he expects you to use it.

So you may be seeing a preacher that knows how to preach the word of God.

You may have a teacher that know how to teach the word of God, a singer, a song leader, someone that know how to sing like God gave everybody at least one gift.

So these gifts or the gifts that you see may look different for each person because you may be thinking the gifts that I just mentioned earlier may be like, great, but to God, every gift is equal because there are some people that encourage others even through teaching.

That's a gift.

Some serve quietly in the background.

That's a gift.

You know, so when we talk about that, how the local congregation operates, there are some people that's quietly working in the background even from their local church or even they're quietly, they're, they're probably on social media sending people private messages like, hey, can I pray for you?

They're quietly working behind the scenes.

And some people even support others through generosity or acts of kindness.

So there are some people that got some money, they got a whole lot of money and then they just, you know, they just feel like putting some in somebody hand because they have that gift of giving gener, I mean all children of God got to give.

But there are some people like, they have that gift, like that's all they do.

They just give, give, give, give, give.

And I know a couple of people like this.

You're probably watching this YouTube and you probably smiling right now because you probably in your mind you say, I'm thinking, I'm talking about you.

Yeah, there are some people that just, they just, they'll give you the world, okay?

But God uses a wide variety of gifts to build his kingdom.

So you got to understand the gospel, your testimony and gifts.

And even sometimes God invites believers like you and I to even step outside of our comfort zone.

So once you got all those things, God may call you to step outside your comfort zone again.

I think I mentioned this in past episodes when God calls me to walk my neighborhood to start talking to folks about the gospel.

It was very, very uncomfortable.

This is something that I wasn't used to.

I wasn't used to holding my bible and walking in front of a huge store.

I would walk up to people and I will tell them about the goodness of God and try to get them to repent.

So yeah, you, you will be challenged to step outside your comfort zone.

So, and by doing those things, it's, it's, it's going to help you to grow spiritually.

So faith may involve speaking about your beliefs when opportunities arise.

So you have to get used to speaking about your faith.

So it also may involve helping someone in need and it also may involve trusting God in situations where the outcome is very uncertain.

So these are obstacles that you may face as you continue your mission with God.

So living on a mission often means being open to how God wants to use you.

And this is an everyday thing.

So I just want you to know that as you continue to walk this Christian race, and when I say race, it is a marathon, it's not a sprint, it is a marathon.

You're going to have some highs and you'll have some lows.

But just remember this, that your faith, your faith and your life in Christ can point others to Jesus Christ.

So this is what I mean, that the way we carry ourselves can point others to Jesus Christ.

So with integrity, kindness, humility.

So those characteristics are the characteristics of Christ.

And I'm telling you people, hey, I don't know why I get a habit of saying hey, hey.

But people often notice when someone lives with genuine faith, they could tell the phonies.

They could tell the reals from the phonies, the phonies, the fakes and the real, the real folks and the phony folks.

They could tell who's really in this Christian faith.

For real, for real.

So living faithfully can even open doors for meaningful conversations with other people.

So when you have your, when you exemplify the fruits of the spirit and you let your light shine, then God will send people your way.

And that's going to be your opportunity.

So God can even use your examples, the way you present yourself around others to draw others closer to him.

So that's why we're like ambassadors for Jesus Christ.

We're a representation for Jesus Christ.

We're soldiers for the army of God.

So God wants to use us.

So I want you to know that you are on a mission for God.

So I'm going to wrap this episode up.

If you have any questions, comments, anything that I may have said you want to bring to my attention.

But yeah, this episode been great.

I've been enjoying it.

You're saving out what, not what God wants you to do.

Just remember that Jesus Christ, he is with you.

Because when he went up, up to glory, he told his disciples that he's going to always be with them.

So that message even translates even to all believers that Jesus Christ is with us.

So that's a wrap.

Remember that Jesus Christ, he loves you.

He's the King of kings and he's the Lord of lords Be blessed.