Hey , welcome to Doing Life with Ken and Tabitha . We are so pumped that you're tuning into this podcast . It has been designed for people just like you . We wanna do life with you , share our wins , our defeats , our ups and our downs , in hopes that you'll grow closer to God and to the people that you love in your life . Sit back and enjoy today's podcast . Hello , what's up everybody ?
Speaker 2Hey everyone .
Speaker 1Welcome to another episode . This is actually season number two , sweetheart .
Speaker 2All right .
Speaker 1And we're excited about it . We have another episode of Doing Life with Ken and Tabitha , and today we wanna talk to you guys about understanding the call of God . There is a call of God on each one of our lives and today we wanna help you understand it , embrace it and also lean into it .
Speaker 2Oh , it's gonna be good , it's gonna be a good one , but for those of you who are new to our podcast , we just wanna say welcome . You know , we pray that the people who find this podcast , they actually need it and want to grow in their relationship with God , their relationship with their spouses , their relationships with everyone around , and so we thank you for being a part of this today . We pray that you're blessed .
Speaker 1Yeah , you know we have this saying that when you get better , the marriage gets better , and so our podcast is , first and foremost , a marriage relationship podcast , but it's not just that , it's also a personal growth podcast , and so there's married people , single people who tune in , people from around the world , and one of the things that we wanna do is just to help marriages get better . We wanna help a bad marriage get good , a good marriage get great and a great marriage become out of this world . But what we found out after 24 years of marriage ups and downs is that great marriages don't just fall off of a tree . It takes intentionality and it also takes investment .
Speaker 1And so we've created a product and we believe it's just for you guys . It's called the Better Marriage Bootcamp and we wanna help whip your marriage into shape . It's a 90 day journey with yours truly , ken and Tabitha where we are your marriage mentors and we are your marriage coaches for 12 sessions . And we give you the very best of everything . We've learned over 24 years and we really believe if you make this investment into your marriage , there is no marriage that can't get better .
Speaker 2Come on , and so we've taken all of this experience real life experience and we condensed it into this bootcamp and we talk about all kinds of things . Some of those things are foundations , so laying a foundation for a healthy marriage . We talk about the art of communication . God knows , we all need to learn to communicate better , no matter if you've been married five years , 10 years , 20 years . What else ? We talk about getting the romance back . That's always good , and so there's so much information in here . I think it's gonna be a blessing .
Speaker 1Yeah , if you want more information about that , you can go to our website , kenandtabithacom . There's a link in the show notes if you're on YouTube , and you can go check it out today . All right ? Well , we're ready to get into today's episode , and I know that this is gonna be a blessing for many of you guys who are listening and watching on today . Today's episode is entitled Understanding the Call of God . Understanding the Call of God , and let's just start right there . Sweetheart , what does the call mean to you ?
Speaker 2Well , the call . I think it's interesting , the call
. I don't necessarily know if there is a call but , you know several calls , but I think of a call as an assignment from God . So , like anything that God assigns you to do , that is the call that is a call .
Speaker 1So you feel like the call of God on your life , or the calls of God on your life , is important to you and if so , why ?
Speaker 2Absolutely so if I were to say , define one main call , that would be my call into salvation , my call into the body of Christ . Okay , that's everyone's call . But within that call there are other calls , there are other assignments , right , and so my assignment would be you know , a wife . You know that's a call . One of my calls is to be a wife . One of my calls is to be a mother . One of my calls is to be a pastor , and so it's very important that I know the call because of this . So maybe , instead of being a pastor , I wanted to be a scientist . The call was to be a pastor , not a scientist . So that's why it's important I need to know what God's called and what God has assigned me to do .
Speaker 1Why would you say that that's important for other people ? Because there's so many people they don't know what their call is or what their callings are . Why would you say that that's important for other people to ?
Speaker 2know . I think it's important because you know number one , not everyone's called into five-fold ministry , okay , and so as believers we do have people who are school teachers and scientists and doctors and lawyers , and some people go feeling maybe unfulfilled because they feel like , well , I'm not called of God because I don't work in the church full time , but that doesn't mean that you're not called . God could have called you to be that doctor , that scientist or whatever , but you are a Christian . God is using you in your field . Whatever you're doing , You're praying for people . He's giving you the word of wisdom , the word of knowledge . You can be a spiritual being in whatever profession God's called you to do .
Speaker 1If I was to answer that , I would say without us knowing what God's called us to do , we probably won't be fulfilled . And I don't wanna just be a millionaire , I wanna be a fulfillionaire . And there are so many people that aren't fulfilled in life because there's a hole in their soul that only Jesus can fill or only the direction of God , the assignments of God and the call of God can fulfill . And so when we're talking about callings today , we're not just talking about , like you said , five-fold ministry gifts , which maybe we'll break that down a little bit later . We're not talking about just the calling to preach or something like that . We believe that as a Christian , we're to live on call . Has there ever been a time in your life where there has been a call that came in to your cell phone and you sent it to voicemail ?
Speaker 1Like you saw it coming in and you sent it . Okay , who was that ? I'm just playing , don't answer that .
Speaker 2A lot . I mean , you know if you're in a meeting you can't take the call , like it's voicemail . The voicemail .
Speaker 1So why do you think , people and my assumption is that we've all done that , we've all had a call that came in that we decided not to take it right now but to send it in the voicemail ? Why have you done that before ?
Speaker 2Probably all kinds of reasons . Number one you know I'm taking an app . I don't want to answer the call . I'm in a meeting or you know , I just don't want to answer it .
Speaker 1Yeah , yeah , yeah . I came up with three reasons of why people send their calls to voicemail . Check these out . Number one is that they're too busy doing something else to answer the call right now . They're too busy doing something else , whether they're working out , whether they're making food , whether they're taking a shower . They're too busy doing something else . But when a call comes in from God we can't be too busy with our careers , taking care of our children , building what we want to build that we don't answer the call . And so here's the revelation God doesn't want to go to voicemail , and so when he calls us , it's important for us to pick up the call . Number two the second reason people send calls to voicemail is that they don't feel like answering the call right now , so they say I get to it later quotation marks and so this is procrastination . This is like okay , I don't feel like it , right now .
Speaker 2You ever had that person calling you .
Speaker 1You're like I don't want to talk to them right now . I don't feel like getting into it right now . Maybe tomorrow , but not today . But unfortunately that's how some people treat the call of God on their life . Well , I'll answer that call in my fifties . I'll answer that call in my sixties . I'll answer that call later on in life . But the call of God isn't supposed to be delayed , it's supposed to be answered right away because he knows what we need more than we know what we need . And the third reason people send calls to voicemail is that they didn't see the call coming in and they miss it all together .
Speaker 2That might be the worst one .
Speaker 1Yeah , that's when you come to your cell phone and you're like , oh , this is the worst . When you get a voicemail and you're like , well , there's no call that came in at all . Two days later you get a voicemail and it's somebody that you wanted to pick up for , but you completely missed the call right . Or you just missed the call and you were out doing something different . And that's how some people even treat the call of God .
Speaker 2They they don't just miss his call , they don't even know there is a call that one speaks to me so much because I miss eight out of 10 calls .
Speaker 1You miss nine out of 10 .
Speaker 2I need to repent Like yeah , I'm just like , oh Lord , forgive me , what am I missing ?
Speaker 1I had a lady who we would love to be in relationship with . They're another pastoral couple and they have a great ministry , they do a great work and she reached out to me on Instagram and was really just like man , I just love you guys so much , I would love to connect with you , and I said okay , well , well , you know , tabitha , she's not the best at returning calls or anything .
Speaker 1So here's her number , Okay , and if you don't get in through to her , I want you to reach back out to me , so enough . A month later I get a call like man . I've reached out to your wife numerous times . I went to her . She had no clue that this lady had left us a message and was trying to get in touch with her , and so I said hey , don't feel bad about it .
Speaker 2She doesn't even return my call I've got a new friend and don't even know it . I haven't even you know but here's the deal .
Speaker 1It's not her heart .
Speaker 2Right , right .
Speaker 1And I actually have learned to enjoy that about you is that you live with a carefree-ness and you are real serious about what you need to be serious about .
Speaker 2Yeah .
Speaker 1Your assignment in the church , taking care of me as a husband , taking care of my kids and everything else . I think there's a lot of people that they give so much attention to so many things that are minorities and not majority , so many things that are not the main thing but they're minor things . Absolutely , and they are stressed out over all these minor things .
Speaker 2Well , sometimes and it's a thing you know sometimes the thing that you're great at can also be your greatest weakness as well . So I'm really good at like when I'm here in the room , I'm really great at being in the moment . I mean , we will have a fantastic time , we will minister , we will see the power of God move . But I'm really bad at like . I'm so great at being in the moment . I'm bad at taking pictures and capturing the moment . You know for other times , but I've done things like that .
Speaker 2You know , what I've learned is that I used to get so angry with myself and frustrated with myself , like , oh , I can't turn phone calls . Oh , why can't you ? You know , and I would just be so bad , you know , so down on myself . But I I mean , yes , I try to get better . But I just give myself some grace , like , okay , I'm so good at this area you know that's not my strength . And it's like , okay , I'll get to the call when I get to it . I think I don't know . I think we should all give ourselves a little grace .
Speaker 1Every once in a while it's good . And so I don't know . I think that a lot of people miss calls and they send it to voicemail , and I believe that there's just people who are watching this and listening to this today , that you have a call of God on your life but you don't even know it . You might just be going to school , you might be building a business , you might be building a family , and until you say you know what I'm called to do , what I do , then you're going to miss the grace , the anointing or the empowerment of the Holy Spirit to help you do what he has called you to do . Okay , and so tell me what you think about this statement answering the call of God leads to fulfillment . What do you think about that ?
Speaker 2I think , yeah , absolutely . Well , in reference to what you just said about the reasons why we don't answer the call because we're busy or we don't know that we had to call it all I think it's sometimes we can feel like , well , I want to do this and the call of God is an interruption of what we're currently doing or will be a delay in what our goals are , and we see it as a negative thing . But we have to understand that the call is a benefit , that God works with us . He's never working against us , but he's always working for us , and when we receive the call , it's to . Okay , it might delay your plans , but eventually you know what I mean .
The scripture says that God will do exceedingly abundantly , beyond all that we can ask , think or even imagine . And so , okay , you might put your thing on hold , but God's going to do exceedingly abundantly .
Speaker 1What I hear is that his plans are always greater than our plans and so we're always going to have plans . But the scripture says it this way . It says that man plans but , it's God that directs our path , and so , yes , you have a plan and we should plan , we should have a great plan , but we should always submit that plan to God's plan .
Speaker 2Meaning that .
Speaker 1I'm going to hold my plan loosely , because I think what we're talking about is faith in God . I think what we're talking about is trusting God more than ourselves , and I think it's hard for some people to do that because they really don't want to let go and let God , because they feel like if they can control it , they can get their life to where they want it . But really , that's how many people break rough . Their life is because they're in control instead of giving up to the control , to the one who's really in control . You understand what I mean .
Speaker 2I think a lot of people don't answer a call from God because they think that it's some big , huge thing , but like , oh my gosh , I have a call from God , my whole life is over . I have to sell everything that I have , I have to move to a new country , I have to go do change my complete change my life , and typically that's not it . I mean , yeah , you have those road to Damascus moments , like you know that when God spoke to Paul , but you know , most of the time , as you know in our lives , that's not it . And so most of the time , I think a call in your average believer is going to be like okay , start going to church on Sunday , every Sunday . Okay , join a serve team , start serving , volunteer at your church . Okay , the next thing is okay , start giving to like tithe to the church . Trust God with your money , like their calls to do little things .
Speaker 2Put your kids in , you know , into church . Those are all like calls steps toward what God's called .
Speaker 1If we got really practical today , how would you define the call of God ? Or how would you define a call ?
Speaker 2I would define a call .
Speaker 1Did I already ask you that you did , you did like as an assignment whatever God is assigned you to do .
Speaker 2Okay that's what you're going to do and it not necessarily changes . But okay , god has assigned me to be a part of the church . Right , I am a member in the body of Christ in a local church . I'm serving . That is a call . Now , okay , I've done that . What else you know ? What are you saying next , god ?
Speaker 1I have three definitions that I would unfold , or a three part definition . It is the process by which the Father draws a person to himself .
Speaker 2That's a call . Okay , that's beautiful the .
Speaker 1Holy Spirit reveals to us our sinful nature . The Holy Spirit reveals to us our need for Jesus . The Holy Spirit reveals to us that he paid all of our sin upon the cross and took all of our penalty upon His body , and then he calls us to Himself , and so that is a call , the call to salvation , the call to the Lordship of Jesus , the call to be a child of God , those are all calls .
Speaker 1Okay , so that is a call . So the first call . And there's eight billion people or so in the world I mean , that number's growing all the time , it seems like but we all have a call to Jesus . It doesn't matter your religion right now , your belief system or your background . There's a lot of different things that the enemy calls you to to distract you from this one call , but we are all called to Jesus , and so . Is there anything on that that you would like to add to that definition ?
Speaker 2No , I think that's great .
Speaker 1So it's the process by which the Father Draws us to himself .
Speaker 1So , we're called to Jesus here's the second definition to be chosen by God to fulfill a specific role or an office in the church . Okay . So Ephesians chapter 4 speaks of the five-fold ministry gifts that you alluded to earlier . And what are they ? They are the five-fold ministry gifts Ephesians 4 is apostle , prophet , pastor , teacher , evangelist . Okay , and so the scripture says that we've been given these five-fold ministry gifts . Jesus descended to the lower parts of the earth and he also ascended and he gave gifts to men , all right . And so these offices , or five-fold mantles , or five-fold anointing , is actually the mantles of Jesus himself . So Jesus was the apostle , he was the prophet , he wasn't evangelist , he was a pastor , he was a teacher . Now , when he gives gifts to man , he calls men or women to fulfill those offices on his behalf .
Speaker 1I always like to say it this way . So if you come to me and you say , hey , ken , how's everything going ? That's cool , okay , my name is Ken . We can go play basketball , we can go bowling together , you will access the natural part of me , we can hang out and be friends . But when you say , pastor , ken , you are now summons in zinc , you are summoning the Mantle or anointing of Christ himself to meet your needs as an under shepherd . So you say , pastor Ken , so I'm calling for the anointing of Jesus on the inside of you to meet my needs . As it's a past to me , to I'm accessing something that's supernatural . Okay , and so the thing about these five-fold ministry gifts Is that we don't call ourselves into these . And this calling is not for everybody . This calling is God is selecting certain people for these offices . It's not because they're better , it's just because he's calling certain .
Speaker 1And so when you have a call to a five-fold ministry office which I believe is the New Testament governing arm of the church it's to help mature the saints and to bring us all into the unity of the faith , and our job as ministry gifts is to equip people . This Calling right , this calling that we receive , is Something that we can't step into . All we can do is say yes , I accept that calling , and then there needs to be a training , there needs to be an ordaining and then there needs to be a Release to fulfill that calling . It's not like you get to wake up tomorrow and say I had this dream that I'm called to be an apostle or a prophet or a pastor or A teacher and you know what ? I'm just gonna go out and do it . Yes , you go out and do the functions , but if you want to be ordained and established in that office , you need someone who is already in that office to train you , ordain you and release you . That is a bona fide call of God . That's good .
Speaker 1Mm-hmm , I love it .
Speaker 2I love it that you you know just the differences between the first definition that you gave .
Speaker 1Everyone's called .
Speaker 2Yeah , everyone's called . Yeah and then there is , you know that , that five-fold ministry . I think a lot of people Misunderstand and they think the five-fold ministry is the call , like I'm not called , because I'm not called to be a pastor .
Speaker 1That's just one aspect of the right .
Speaker 2Yeah , right , and that's very important to know , because we are all called to ministry , we are all called to prophesy , to lay hands on the sick and see people healed . We are all called to pray , right ?
Speaker 1and so my third definition is it's God's leading us to go somewhere or do something . Okay , and I believe , once again , this is a calling does for all of us , yeah , so the first and the third one is a calling for everybody .
Speaker 1God's leading for us to go somewhere or to do something . Okay , this is when you can sense God's asking you to go . So you're in the grocery store and you can just sense the Holy Spirit saying , hey , go talk to that person . That's a call . Okay , when you are just Mining your own business and prayer and the Lord says you need to call somebody and forgive them . Just let them know that it's okay . Okay , that's a call . It is God leading us to go somewhere or do something . Okay , that's when you might be in this career and the Lord says no , I want you to do this career . It's a calling to leave this and start that all right .
Speaker 1It's . All of those are callings , and so I would . This is what I would want people to know is that the commands of God are also Calls of God , the commands of God . So everything that's in the Bible that says we should do this is not just a commandment , it's also a call . Yes , and so that's when you say that to tide is a calling . To go to church is a calling to serve , to turn the other cheek is a calling to humble yourself as a calling to serve .
Speaker 1You know , all of those things are not just commandments , they're also called yeah .
Speaker 2I love that .
Speaker 1All right . Anything else on that ? No , it makes me .
Speaker 2I'm excited .
Speaker 1All right . So it's not just one thing that you're called to do , it's multiple thing that you're called to do . And so when we talk about the cause , it's not just I'm called , it's I have calls of God , yeah , it's not just the call of God like singular , it's calls from God , okay , it's our ability to obey his word , all right . And so I want to go over a few scriptures that kind of jump out to me and see what jumps out to you . I'm concerning the call of God , all right now .
Speaker 1Jeremiah , chapter 1 , verse 5 , and I just hear this for some reason , that why is this podcast so important ? Why is this revelation so important ? Because there are so many people that don't live on call and if we don't live on call , we will not be fulfilled number one or accomplishing what God wants us to accomplish in our generation . So it's important that we seek after the call , that we go after the call and that we live on call . I could almost also say it's almost like living by the Spirit , because if you're sensitive to the Holy Spirit's leading , that's also you living on call , right ? So Jeremiah 1 5 tell me what you get out of this . It says before I formed you in the womb . I knew you before you were born . I set you apart . I appointed you a prophet to the nations . What is it ? What popular scripture there ? What jumps out to you ?
Speaker 2before I formed you . I think it just is telling us that God has a plan for our lives . Before he formed us , before we , he created us . He had a plan for us , you know . So it's almost like you know , I , I and I'm an artist . Okay , I went to art school , things like that and , like just recently , I did a painting and I had this idea of what I wanted to paint Before I actually painted it . I had the paint , I had all of the tools , I had all the supplies , I had everything I needed . And then , you , I went ahead and painted what I had this image of and what I planned for , and it came out the way I wanted it .
Speaker 2And I think God is being our artist , the one who created us . He has this idea , this perfect image of exactly how he wants us to be . But he goes further than that . He has the details of our lives planned out . He has safety grills in our lives planned out , he has angels assigned to us , and so it just is . When we talk about a call on our lives , as we are searching for what God wants us to do , it makes me feel safe and it makes me want to trust in God , even though , oh , I don't know God cause I wanted to do this . No , I know that I can trust in God because he has a master plan for me .
Speaker 1Yeah Well , people will say . Well , that is a scripture about Jeremiah , but the principle is not just about Jeremiah , the principle applies to all of us today . So the principle is that before you were formed , in your mother's womb he knew you and he had a plan for you . Before your mom and dad had a plan for you , God had a plan for you .
Speaker 1Before you had a plan for you , before you had your goals written out your five and 10 year goals God already had a plan for you , and so the principle is that when you were a fetus , or before you were even being formed in your womb , you were in the mind and the heart of God , and so he's already laid out a track and a purpose and a plan for us . That's exciting news for me . That means that none of us are here by an accident or by a cosmic explosion or by some kind of just luck that happened or happenstance . We've been created by an intelligent creator .
Speaker 2Yeah , you know it speaks to you know , in these days , you know , so many people deal with depression , so many people deal with thoughts of suicide and anxiety and it's really the enemy's attack against who we are , against our purpose , against our call . And if we can understand , as these negative thoughts , these self-condemning thoughts come in , that no , we have been created by God , intentionally created by God . He knew us before we were formed in our mother's womb , it will erase away those thoughts of condemnation . It'll give us thoughts of hope and just security and peace about our future , like , no , I'm intentional , like I'm supposed God has a plan for me . Let me move on with this plan that God has .
Speaker 1Yeah , yeah , yeah , and we wanna help people find that Absolutely yeah .
Proverbs 124 , tell me what you get out of this one . It says because I've called and you've refused . I've stretched out my hand and no one regarded . Because you disdained all of my counsel and would have none of my rebuke . I will also laugh at your calamity . I will mock when terror comes . Anything stick out to you from that one .
Speaker 2I mean yikes , Don't wanna be the people that he's talking to . Don't wanna be that person .
Speaker 1Because to me it makes it feel like , okay , there are bad things happening to some people . Let me read the Bible to figure out how to stay out of that group .
Speaker 2Yes , yes , I think there are consequences to our actions and we have three kids and just like with our children and just even like today , like if you speed you could get a ticket and , you know , face a fine , you could have your license taken from you . Like there are consequences and I think God has spoken laws into the earth , Like if you jump off of a cliff you're gonna go down . If it's too high you're gonna get hurt . That is the law of gravity . That law is there . So God is telling us hey , there's some things that if you do this , these are the consequences that you're gonna get .
Speaker 1And then they got nothing to do with him not being out of love or grace or mercy . There's another law that's at work .
Speaker 2I said God said , I said before you life and death , blessings and cursings . Choose life , and so I think that's what it's talking about here , but it's making me want to say , hey , let me be aware , to obey the commandments of God . And obeying the commandments of God is obeying the call of God and the voice of God , even every day when God says hey , I need you to spend five extra minutes in prayer with me today because there's something that I need you to handle in the earth . For me , that's being obedient to the voice of God , the command of God , the call of God .
Speaker 1I don't know about you , I just love the word . I just feel like you can get so much value , empowerment and perspective from the word of God . I mean just a simple passage Proverbs 124 , because I've called and you've refused , and I believe there's a lot of people that that's just where you are . You know you have a call of God on your life and you have been delaying the call of God , you've been disobeying the call of God and you've been running from the call of God when you should be answering the call of God and also embracing the call of God , because everything you need is locked up in what .
Speaker 1God has assigned for you which is better than what you have assigned for yourself . And it says because I've called and you refused . Then it tells you what kind of harvest . Now it does not take a rocket scientist to figure out that . I don't want him laughing at my calamity and mocking when terror comes . But there are people whose marriage is in calamity , their careers are in calamity , terror is coming and there's nothing they can do about it because they refuse the call of God . And so it's so important for us to say you know what , if that's in the Bible , let me line my life up with what he said . And so we wanna help you answer the call . I guess what I'm saying is that God doesn't wanna go to voicemail .
Speaker 2He wants us to answer the call , and I hear this too . If you are currently frustrated in life , maybe there's some like things . It's just like kinda you feel like I can't do anything right right now . Like you know , this is happening wrong and that's happening wrong and I thought that this was gonna work out , but that didn't work out . Maybe stop ask yourself in the presence of God , am I doing what God's called me to do ? Am I answering God's call or am I continually letting him go to voicemail ?
Speaker 1And I would say also don't even look at this as some big call . I cannot reiterate this enough .
Speaker 1Because many times people are stressed out , like I just don't know , especially like younger people , millennials and Z's . I don't know what I'm called to do . It's like this big thing . I don't know if I'm called to live on missions or start this mega church and this mega organization . No , it's just like it's not some big call , it's these every little day , every play calls that you get to live . I mean , did you pray today ? Were you kind today ? Did you forgive someone today ? Did you serve someone today ? Did you take care of the poor ? Did you lead a group ? Did you make a disciple today ? Did you grow in your relationship with God ? Did you worship today ? Did you have time in his presence today ? So for me right now , like I have this call that I'm doing , like we're podcasters and authors and pastors and things like that , but honestly , it's really not about the big call . Like I'm also called to be a great husband . I'm called to be a better husband . Like this is a year that I want to love my wife more .
Speaker 2In fact , if you can't be faithful to that call to be a husband , all the rest of that stuff , yeah , a lot of people want the big calls , but they're not faithful over the steward steward every day , little bitty calls Like I'm called to be a husband .
Speaker 1I want to love you better this year . I'm called to be a better father , to be more patient with my kids , to speak life over my children . I'm called to so many different things .
Speaker 2But I think we're all looking for purpose and we're looking to be fulfilled , like you said . I think God has placed on the inside of us the need and the desire to be a part of something that's bigger than ourselves and , like you said , millennials or and I've been there too I wanted to be a part of something that's going to change the world and it's going to be crazy and amazing , it's going to do great things , but often , and for most of us , we are going that's like , and that's something that we're a part of . We're not going to lead it . We're not going to be the one the Billy Graham , the Joyce Meyer , we're not going to be that one , but we are going to be a part of it .
Speaker 1We're a part of something that is bigger than ourselves and I think we need to put an honor on that small part , because the Billy Graham and the Joyce Myers you don't even know the price that you would have to pay for that . A lot of people want that glory but they have no idea of the story . You know , I heard Joyce Meyer say one time that she was raped by her father over a hundred times and like years later , yes , she has an anointing for a significant breakthrough and Bible revelation understanding . And I'm not saying that you have to go through that to get that , but what I'm saying is that that is actually what made her what she is today . And I think many people they see these big names and they're like , oh , I want to do this and I'm called to do that . They have no clue of the price that has been paid for that calling and so , instead of an aspiring and that's what God's called you to do we're your biggest cheerleaders .
Speaker 1But , what I'm saying is that I think we need to put more honor on the everyday little thing . Are you a person of your word ? Are you called to be a trustworthy person ? Are you a timely person ? Can you be called to be trusted with just being an usher ? But be trusted with the things that are unseen , cause if you're faithful of the unseen , then God do some things for you in the same .
Speaker 2Absolutely .
Speaker 1And so I think all of those things are called . You know one scripture that I get , and I know I don't know if I even have time to read the whole thing . Maybe I will , maybe I will . It's about Samuel .
Speaker 2Okay .
Speaker 1Remember Samuel was called First Samuel . Chapter three listen to this . It says the boy Samuel ministered before the Lord under Eli , and in those days the word of the Lord was rare and we don't want that to be in our generation . We don't want the word of the Lord at the prophetic insight to be rare . Thankfully , god is still speaking and moving .
Speaker 1It says that one night Eli , whose eyes were becoming so weak that he could barely see , was lying down in his usual place . The lamp of God had not yet gone out and Samuel was lying down in the house of the Lord with the Ark of God was . And the Lord called Samuel and Samuel answered and he says here I am . And he ran to Eli and he says here I am , you called me , but Eli said I didn't call you . Go back and lie down . So he went and he lied down and again the Lord called Samuel and Samuel got up and he went to Eli and said here I am . Did you call me , my son ? Eli said I didn't call you . Go back and lie down . Now . Samuel did not yet know the Lord . Okay , and I believe there are some of you all who are watching this and you don't yet Know the Lord . You don't yet know the Lord . You are about to know the Lord , and just like God was calling Samuel , god is also calling you into a relationship with him .
Speaker 1It says the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him . Samuel goes on to become one of the greatest prophets in the Bible . But this is the beginning of his call . And the third time the Lord called Samuel . And Samuel got up and he went to Eli and said here I am . Did you call me ? This is three times right . And then Eli realized that the Lord was calling the boy .
Speaker 1So Eli told Samuel Go , lie down and if he calls you , speak and say Lord , your servant is listening . So , samuel , he went and he lied down in his place and the Lord came and stood there calling us at other times Samuel , samuel . Then Samuel says Speak for your servant is listening .
Speaker 1Can we just highlight that for a moment ? So the posture of the person who hears from God and answers the call of God . It's not like you have to say I know all of the Bible , speak , or I'm a perfect person , speak , or I've been in Bible study this many years , speak . No , he was a boy . He didn't even know God . He just had a posture to say Speak , for your servant is listening .
Speaker 1I believe that's a word for somebody who's watching this right now that God's not looking for perfection . He's just looking for somebody with the right posture . Not perfection , but the right posture to say God speak , your servants listen .
Speaker 2And I think also what we are . What's highlighted here is that you know some of you that are listening right now God has been calling you , but you didn't know it was the voice of God . But today we're telling you that's the voice of God . Just go back and say God , what is it , what do you have for you , for me ?
Speaker 1And it's going to require faith for you to hear the still small voice of God , to know the whisper of the Lord or the nudging of God .
Speaker 1You know , I've always learned that the Holy Spirit is a perfect gentleman . Many times he's not putting out a big sign and say , hey , this is what you have to do . There's just a nudge , there's just a little peace , there's just a little divine connection . What is he doing ? He's bringing you over into your God assignment , and that's where fulfillment actually is . But when I read this story , there's so much that jumps out to me .
Speaker 1Is there anything else that jumps out to you ? It's kind of like , for me it's how God would choose people before we even choose him . Yeah , god would have a plan for us before we even know him , and then God would pick , he would hand , tap someone
. Now , if you go deep with the story , samuel , of course , was the son of Hannah , and the Bible says in the beginning of Samuel that there was a woman named Hannah . That was , she was barren , she couldn't have child , and so there was times where she would come to the temple and she would just be praying and praying and praying . After years of being barren , one day the priest of a house named Eli saw her lips was moving . He thought she was drunk , but it wasn't that she was drunk , she had been praying to God for a child for so long that her lips was moving , but no words were coming out .
Speaker 1When Eli finally realized that the woman wasn't drunk , he said ask what you want . And so she asked and was like listen , I don't have a child . And I and he was like listen , god's going to give you your request and I love it that God will give us our request , it doesn't matter how long it takes .
Speaker 1It doesn't matter what the doctor might say . We know a doctor that has never lost the patient and by that time next year she had given birth to Samuel . But the covenant that she made with God she said God , if you give me a son , I will dedicate him to the house of the Lord . She brought Samuel back to Eli , the high priest , after she had weaned him at two years old and she left Eli at church . Now we don't want people doing that . Keep your babies . We like kids church . You go home after a couple of hours .
Speaker 1She left a two year old or so in the house of God and he was raised in the things of God by the priest named Eli . And so , as time goes on and he's being raised in the house of the Lord I mean , all this will preach . The boy is being raised in the house of the Lord . See , people of God , you got to raise your kids in the house of the Lord , around the things of God , around other men and women of God . This call came and he was in a position to say here I am , lord , speak for your servant is listening .
Speaker 1Anything else jumps out to you .
Speaker 2No , I think that's beautiful . And you know , just as I remember our son Kenny , when he was young , maybe three or four years old , he came out and he was just like yes , mommy , yes , and it was a similar thing . And I said , you know , I'm not , I don't want you , you know it's okay . And then he went back and it was maybe a third time and I remembered this story of Samuel and I was just like , did you hear somebody say your name ? And he said yes , and I said , okay , well , I didn't say your name , that was the Lord speaking to you . Go back in the bed and ask God what he wants . And I don't remember like exactly what came out of it , but I keep reminding him even now . He's 12 years old now , but I keep reminding him . You remember the time the Lord called your name and he remembers he says , yes , he remembers , and I'm just believing that there's a you know God is going to speak something .
Speaker 2You know drop something in his spirit about that still . But I just love stories like this because even in our son we've taught this to our kids and they know I'm listening for the call of God .
Speaker 1Yeah , so good . So I want to give them five keys to embracing your call For those of you all who are taking notes or you just kind of want to grab hold of some keys like some next steps . Here's some five things to embracing your call and I hope with today's podcast , is that you will stop running from the call , disobeying the call , delaying the call , procrastinating the call I think I know too many people who are doing that . You know , like you're running from the call , like where are you going to run ?
Speaker 2to when are you going to ?
Speaker 1go ? Where are you going to run to ? You can't run from God , okay . So stop running from the call . It's time for you to embrace the call . So here's five keys . Number one you gotta ask God to show you your calling . So , for those of you all who say God , what have you called me to do ? Why don't you just take a moment and seek Him ?
Speaker 1Years ago , before I was a pastor , I was serving in a church and I felt a call in my life , but I didn't know exactly what it was . I knew I was called a pastor , but I didn't know when and where . And it was a woman that I was doing some real estate business with . And she says hey , kim , what are you gonna do in the church ? What's God calling you to do ?
Speaker 1And I wasn't comfortable like answering the question because I knew in my heart God was calling me to do something , but I had not taken time yet to seek Him about it . And when she said that I took 40 days and I decided to pray in fast for 40 days to seek God concerning my calling , and right around the 20 , and I wasn't doing like all water or anything , I was doing fruits and vegetables , six to six fast , daniel fast over those 40 days . But right in the middle of the fast the Lord says I've called you to be a pastor . And I said where he says in Gainesville , florida . And I said where he said Gainesville . I had to Google it to figure out where it was . And all of that came because there was a lady who asked me a question about my call . But then I went and sought God for my calling .
Speaker 2And so that's step number one . That's really good . I think I received my calling . Well , I had a couple of times that God spoke to me . First he spoke to me and said that he told I was going to take a job , to be a teacher . This is before we even got into ministry . We were new believers . I don't even know if I knew that much of the word . I didn't know anything . We were still struggling in our marriage and I was about to go take a job as a high school art teacher and it was part of my dream .
Speaker 2I wanted to teach kids , cause I'm from the hood and I wanted to teach kids that they can have a better life . And it was like I was passionate about it . And the day before I was about to go take this teaching position , god spoke to me while I was walking and said don't take the position , stay home , help Ken and this is going to help him build the family business , which was real estate . And I started crying because I was like but that's my dream , this is what I want to do . And in the midst of that , god said don't worry , one day you'll teach my kids . I was clueless . I had no idea that that was God calling me to be a teacher . That he had just spoke to my heart . He just spoke to my heart that moment that I would teach his kids . So part of my gift is to be a teacher is to teach five-fold ministry . But then later on , after we joined a church , we were going through ministry school . I had a dream .
Speaker 1I don't even know if we were really in church back then . Back in and out of church At the call to teacher .
Speaker 2Yeah , well , we were going to church , we were struggling , we were you know that's how powerful the call is . Yeah , we were going to church . That's how powerful the call is . Oh , yeah , I see so much in this .
Speaker 1Yeah , it was so good , right , it's also with calling , you gotta make sure that you're called to the church that you're part of . Yeah , because if you know that you're called to a church , well then you're not easily swayed or offended or leaving the church either . And I think a lot of people jump from church to church because they don't know where they're called to . And there is a bunch of great churches , but there's a difference between great churches and your church . You need to find out where your church is , where your oil is , the brook that you're supposed to drink , from the family that you're supposed to be a part of Absolutely .
Speaker 1And don't be so easily moved from what God called you to , because he places the members and the body as it pleases him . I say it this way he calls you to the places that he wants you to plant in for specific reasons . But anyway , what a great story about your calling . I mean , that's one call .
Speaker 2And then you had other dreams and things , and we won't get into those right now .
Speaker 1But you gotta ask God to show you your calling Number two . You gotta invite God into every situation and season . Okay , god can speak into your spiritual life , but maybe not your business life . Or God can speak into your business life , but maybe not your . You wanna ask God to speak into my business calling , speak into my educational calling , speak into my familiar calling , speak into my men speak into every area .
Speaker 2It can be easy to think that , oh well , god's only concerned with those spiritual , like with church and maybe my family or whatever . But no , god wants to be involved in your business . He wants to be involved in when you go play basketball on the weekends . He wants to be involved in your when you take kids to soccer practice .
Speaker 1They have to be invited in .
Speaker 2Yes .
Speaker 1Number three will we live life with a sensitivity to the leading of the Holy Spirit . This one kind of goes in combo with the number two of inviting him in . But sometimes , in order to be sensitive to God , we really have to starve our flesh and feed our spirit , and that's why I love the 21 days of prayer and fasting that we do in January , but that shouldn't just be a January thing , for every time I've had a major decision to make , I've done my best to fast and pray because I'm trying to crucify my fleshy , carnal perspectives , so I can be sensitive to the spirit of God , and so I want to build my spirit . I want to starve my flesh .
Speaker 1Number four would be stay humble at all costs . If you want to embrace the call , you got to stay humble , and so sometimes we feel like we got this , and whenever we feel like we got this , we really don't Okay , because I think pride prevents us from living on call , because we want to be in control , and so one of the things about obeying the call of God is that you have to be willing to surrender control . You have to say God , I don't control my life any longer , you do .
Speaker 2Absolutely .
Speaker 1And number five . If you want to embrace the call you got to give God an undeniable yes in advance . An undeniable yes in advance .
Speaker 1I think so many people they haven't really thought about what if God does call you to another city ? What if God does call you out of marketplace into ministry ? What if God does call you to give that $100,000 that's in the bank ? You haven't made up your mind in advance that you would give God an undeniable yes , and so because you haven't preset yourself to whatever he calls you to do to say yes to , then you're on the fence concerning your obedience to what he's calling you to do .
Speaker 1And I think that there is a preset that you got to say God , whatever you call me to do , I'll say yes to , no matter how hard it might seem , no matter what I have to give up or what I have to sacrifice . God , I give you an undeniable yes .
Speaker 2I think that's the reason why some people don't ask God what do you want me to do ? Because they don't want to do . They don't want to hear , they're afraid to hear what God says , and I love that predetermined yes , I think it's perfectly
okay . There are some things that I ask God and I'll probably frequently . Lord , whatever you say , I'm gonna do , just like Jesus in the garden . If there's any other way , let me not do this , but nevertheless , let your will be done , like that's my predetermined answer to God . Yes , whatever you're , you know , whatever , nevertheless , let your will be done .
Speaker 1Yes .
Speaker 2Because we understand in advance I've counted my cost , god . No cost is greater than the cost that Jesus Christ already paid for me . Your word declares to me so many things that any obstacle that comes in my way , that I can overcome it , that I can do all things through Christ . That strengthens me . So I understand that , no matter how hard it is , in the end I win . So therefore , my answer is yes .
Speaker 1He makes all things work together for our good , so it doesn't matter what it looks like to us , we know that the end of it's gonna be good . You know , I would say this because we look at ourself as apostolic leaders and I look at myself as a pastor of pastors and a leader for leaders , and we just love activating and equipping five-fold ministry gifts .
Speaker 1And we do have a thing here called the Alive Leadership Institute . If you sense a call of God on your life into ministry leadership or you sense a call of God on your life into the five-fold ministry or something like that , I would love for you to check out the Alive Leadership Institute . We'll put some link in our show notes to that , but it's just a two-year program that we have at Alive Church to really help develop the leadership call on your life and it's not just for ministry leadership , it can also be from business leadership . But we really help develop your hands and your heart .
Speaker 1We want you to have hands or the skill that can lead well but we also want you to have the right heart , and David , the scripture , says in Proverbs that he led with the integrity of heart and the skillfulness of his hands , and that's really what our leadership institute is all about , and so we would love to help you have some training for the reigning . Well , we're out of time for today and we're so glad that you joined us for today's podcast . If you're watching on YouTube , please make sure that you hit the subscribe button . We would love for you to be the first to grab hold of the content as soon as it's released . We release a new episode every Thursday at 3 pm Eastern Standard Time . Of course , you can also catch it live , okay , but if you hit the subscribe button , you can be the first to be in the know .
Speaker 1If you enjoy our podcast , please let us know . Your reviews are blessing us , your comments are blessing us . It's blessing our team . Our desire is to continue , week by week , to give you life changing and enhancing content that will help you grow closer to God and also closer to the people that God has placed in your life , and we have two things that you really might want to be a part of , and you'll see some of this in the show notes . Number one is we have the Better Marriage Bootcamp . Yes , and so all marriages takes investment . You know a lot of people they'll get married and they won't think about improving their marriage after five years or 10 years and it's on a gradual decline .
Speaker 1But you're gonna have to make some intentional pulling to the filling station get some service on it .
Speaker 2You need a refresh .
Speaker 1You need a refresh and that's gonna take an investment . If you want a Better Marriage . We have a 90 day bootcamp where we want to be your online coaches . If you want more information about that , go to KenandTabathacom or you can check the link in your show notes as well . That's number one . Number two Tabatha and I are celebrating 25 years of marriage this year on July the 3rd and we are doing a 25th anniversary fundraising gala . Okay , so we're celebrating 25 years of marriage .
Speaker 1We're gonna be renewing our vows . We're gonna be releasing a new marriage book on this night . We're gonna have dinner and dancing . It's gonna be a black tie fair . If you are married , this is gonna be a great date night for you .
I don't even know if tickets are still available . You gotta get them while supplies last .
Speaker 1I will go get them right now , but all of the proceeds from this gala is gonna go towards helping an organization , help , minister , to the people who are going through cancer and minister to the people's families who have cancer , and so at the same time I'm celebrating 25 years of marriage , tabatha's also gonna be celebrating three years of bringing cancer-free , overcoming breast cancers , so we wanted to put it all together , throw a big party and also invite you guys to come and party with us , and so for more information about that , you can check out our website as well . All right , so we heard anything in closing .
Speaker 2Oh , I'm excited . I hope that you were blessed by this . I think God is doing something special in you .
Speaker 1Yeah , we honor you , we cherish you and we love you . And until the next time , remember , when you get better , the marriage gets better . Peace .