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[Announcer] (0:00 - 0:14) Think about the Bible like you never have before. You're listening to Christian Questions. Experience more episodes, videos, and Bible study resources at ChristianQuestions.com.

Here's Rick, Jonathan, and Julie.

[Rick] (0:15 - 1:32) Welcome, everyone. I'm Rick. I'm joined by Jonathan, my co-host for over twenty-five years. Julie, a longtime contributor, is also with us.

Today's question: "How Do You know If God is Calling You?" Jonathan, what's our theme scripture for this episode?

JONATHAN:

John 6:44: "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day." RICK:

How does someone become a follower of Christ?

Does it begin by becoming curious about this Jesus-person and all of the world-changing influence that he has? Or perhaps we're living in fear and are in search for some kind of security that's different and higher than anything else we know. Maybe we're overwhelmed with despair, rather, in our lives, and we're searching for powerful hope and encouragement.

Or maybe we've been awakened to the realization that there is more to life than what this world has to offer-- so much more. While any and all of these things can play a role in coming to Christ, the one common factor in all cases of true discipleship is beyond us.

That is, it is God drawing us to Him through Jesus. How does that work? How can we identify the drawing of God and differentiate it from our own emotions?

[Julie] (1:32 - 1:42) This is great! You know me, I love checklists. Those who are asking this question are going to love for us to go through, let's say, the top ten things to look for, and we're all set with the answer.

[Rick] (1:43 - 2:51) Yeah, not really because here's the thing, God calling us is coming from very, very, very different, very unique lives.

To try to lay out God's calling by listing out certain things, as you'll see through the experiences and the examples we go through, it's very different for many, many, many people. Julie, it's not going to be a checklist, but it is going to be an opportunity to check into the principles that God uses to call us. To define those principles, we're going to really focus on four words and expand them.

Those words are: Curiosity, Fear, Despair, and Awakening. We're going to discuss these four basic motivations. Now there's lots more, but these are four basics for us to seek God as they can be tools.

They can be tools. They aren't necessarily, but can be tools to help us see where God may be leading. First, let's establish what we mentioned earlier.

It's God who draws individuals to follow Christ. This needs to be a fundamental basis for our conversation. Jonathan, John 6:44:

[Jonathan] (2:51 - 2:57) "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day."

[Rick] (2:58 - 3:18) It's a very straightforward statement by Jesus. God must draw you, and then you can come to me. God's selective drawing to discipleship in Christ was taught several times by Jesus.

We're just going to look at one example here in Matthew 11:25-26:

[Jonathan] (3:19 - 3:33) "At that time Jesus said, I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants. Yes, Father, for this way was well-pleasing in Your sight."

[Julie] (3:33 - 3:42) From this we get that it's a limited call, but that seems a little unfair that this call to a heavenly reward is by invitation only. What about everybody else?

[Jonathan] (3:42 - 4:09) It's a limited call, but not limited salvation. There are two parts of salvation as shown by many scriptures. It's imperative to remember that salvation always comes to the human race through Jesus.

First, salvation comes by invitation-- that is, the salvation that leads to discipleship and the heavenly call. Second, salvation comes to the rest of humanity through Jesus by a merciful earthly resurrection.

[Julie] (4:09 - 4:17) Jonathan, this week's CQ Rewind Show Notes will include a lot more on this point and some other episodes where we've discussed this in great detail.

[Rick] (4:17 - 4:40) We need to keep this all in the bigger perspective. Yes, everybody isn't called, but everybody has the opportunity for salvation, just at different times. With all of that said, Jesus appeals to the burdened of the world to find strength and hope in him.

This next scripture is very, very inspiring along those lines. Matthew 11:28-30:

[Jonathan] (4:40 - 4:55) "Come to me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

[Julie] (4:55 - 5:00) Don't we all feel weary and heavy-laden at times? It's an UPLIFTING call!

[Jonathan] (5:00 - 5:04) Putting his yoke upon us as we walk next to him brings peace.

[Rick] (5:05 - 5:26) It does. There's an uplifting sense to this. You're thinking, okay, the call of God through Christ brings me to this sense of peace and uplifting. Well, while this is inspiring, and it is, we also need to have in mind the other part of God's call to Christ.

Again, these are Jesus' words in Luke 9:23-24:

[Jonathan] (5:27 - 5:43) "And he was saying to them all, If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake, he is the one who will save it."

[Julie] (5:43 - 5:47) Uplifting, yes, but it's a DIFFICULT call! We still have to do our part.

[Jonathan] (5:47 - 5:54) Discipleship is not something to take lightly. We need endurance to get through its challenges. This is a lifelong commitment.

[Rick] (5:55 - 6:27) It is. This is a difficult part of this whole picture. When you look at taking up your cross in those days, that meant torturous death.

Jesus used those words very, very, very plainly and clearly. You've got this uplifting, inspiring thing. Then he's talking about taking up your cross.

Being drawn to Jesus through God is a big deal. We want to try to figure out, how does it happen? What are the principles behind it?

To know HOW God draws us, we need to know WHAT we're being called to.

[Julie] (6:27 - 7:17) Is it earthly happiness? Israel was promised this when they were given God's law. Let me refer you to Deuteronomy 28:1-3:

"Now it shall be, if you diligently obey the LORD your God, being careful to do all His commandments which I command you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. All these blessings will come upon you and overtake you if you obey the LORD your God: Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the country."

We remember this was God's covenant with Israel as a nation-- they would have physical, earthly prosperity as a reward for their being faithful to God. Conversely, they would have physical adversity as a punishment for disobedience and when they neglected their religious obligations.

Rick, is the Christian promised these same physical blessings?

[Rick] (7:17 - 8:38) When you looked at the scriptures that we just read before this, it seems almost opposite. Here, Israel is promised hey, follow after Me, after God, and you will have this earthly happiness. In the previous scriptures, Jesus said, take up your cross and follow me.

You see there's a dramatic contradiction and it's there on purpose because that it's not about being called to ease. It's about being called to a discipleship that requires self-sacrifice. We'll expand this as we go further.

We're going to use four specific scriptural examples of being called from God to Christ. In these examples, we're going to highlight different ways that individuals actually came to Christ. We're talking about seeking happiness.

We seek happiness, especially when we have some form of despair or difficulty, some kind of situation where we just don't have hope. Cornelius, the Roman centurion, had a measure of despair. He was a Roman centurion who, by definition, was locked out of God's favor and yet he is called.

Let's look at how that turned around as we look at this despair and figure out what it means in terms of God calling us. Jonathan, let's go to Acts 10:2-3, 5:

[Jonathan] (8:39 - 8:49) "Cornelius was a devout man and one who feared (revered) God with all his household, and gave many alms to the Jewish people and prayed to God continually."

[Julie] (8:49 - 9:14) What a nice description. I'll just stop you for a second. Here he's devout,

he respected Judaism and the law. He and his household revered the true God, not the pagan gods of Rome. He gave alms.

He was generous to the people of Israel, and he prayed to the God of Israel. Not having outward proof of God's presence and blessing in his life didn't stop him from worship and praise. He was definitely different from those around him.

[Jonathan] (9:15 - 9:29) Continuing with verse 3 <Acts 10:3>: "About the ninth hour of the day he clearly saw in a vision an angel of God who had just come in and said to him, Cornelius!... Your prayers and alms have ascended as a memorial before God. Now...send for a man named...Peter."

[Julie] (9:30 - 9:34) Cornelius was told to send his men to Joppa to find Peter and invite him to his home.

[Jonathan] (9:35 - 9:46) Cornelius had been living a life that honored the God of Israel, even though as a Roman, he had no right to Israel's favor. God would dramatically bless him, but only at the appropriate time.

[Julie] (9:47 - 10:02) Rick, you labeled him with "despair" for being out of God's favor. In another sense, he obviously couldn't find what he was looking for in either paganism or in his military career. Many people draw closer to God when what the world has to offer just doesn't satisfy.

[Rick] (10:02 - 10:44) Yeah, there's a desperateness and that brings a loneliness, if you will. That's where Cornelius was, but he had this wonderful, great faith. What happens, by the grace of God, God gave the Apostle Peter a vision to go and see Cornelius because he would become the first Gentile convert.

This would rock the Christian world at that point in time. It was a dramatic change in Cornelius. Someone who was so far away from God's favor would be in line to receive it, and that desperation of being so far away would be answered by God's grace.

Let's look at the next scriptures and how this unfolds, because Peter now arrives at his home in Acts 10:27-29:

[Jonathan] (10:44 - 11:05) "As he (Peter) talked with him, he entered and found many people assembled. And he said to them, You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a man who is a Jew to associate with a foreigner or to visit him; and yet God has shown me that I should not call any man unholy or unclean. That is why I came without even raising any objection when I was sent for."

[Rick] (11:06 - 11:53) You have Peter walking into his house and basically saying, Yeah, I'm kind of breaking the Jewish Law right here. I just want you to make sure you understand that. But I'm here because God sent me.

I'm here because it's something bigger, something higher. You have this incredible introduction, and then Cornelius speaks of his vision and the instructions that he was given to have his servants go and find this guy named Peter. God's call to Cornelius and his household would now be proven by God's spirit falling upon them and what happens next.

We see that that desperate loneliness, that separation, is now about to be bridged because he is following through and God is drawing him. Acts 10:45-48:

[Jonathan] (11:53 - 12:17) "All the circumcised believers who came with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the holy spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also. For they were hearing them speaking with tongues and exalting God. Then Peter answered, Surely no one can refuse the water for these to be baptized who have received the holy spirit just as we did, can he? And he ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ... "

[Julie] (12:17 - 12:39) Peter and Cornelius were both chosen for this monumental mission of God's favor going to the Gentiles for the first time because they had the humility to accept God. Cornelius and his household, as we said, they were living outside of God's favor and yet they were reverencing Him. God called those willing hearts to discipleship.

[Jonathan] (12:39 - 13:16) I see an interesting parallel between Cornelius and myself in my own personal experience. Despair was the theme for me forty years ago. I literally hit bottom in my life, feeling lonely and isolated.

There was nowhere else to look but up. I begged God to give me direction in my life, not just in the moment but over a period of time. He overruled that an individual came into my life to point the way.

It did take some time for me to understand God's plan of salvation for all before I answered God's call, but since I answered it, I have been truly blessed.

[Rick] (13:16 - 14:06) That's a very common experience. God calls us often through despair, often through that loneliness, because we're searching for earthly happiness in that despair and loneliness and we're not finding it. Rather than having despair, God gave Cornelius and you, Jonathan, a destination-driven life.

Not desperate, but destination-driven life. Where was it driven to? A spiritually happy, spiritually contented, spiritually fulfilled life.

We can see that that is a tool that God can use when you're searching and often just away from everything. God can see if He is going to draw you and He can use that to bring you up higher. What we're looking at is trying to understand how to answer God's call to come up higher.

[Jonathan] (14:06 - 14:26) God's call is not a call to earthly happiness, but it is a call OUT of despair. For Cornelius, the invitation to come up higher only came after his reverence for God had been consistent without any answer. God took the despair of Cornelius' unfavored state and replaced it with spiritual happiness.

[Julie] (14:27 - 14:41) Let's look at ourselves. Am I steady and patient as I honor and search for God, even if my life experiences are not now revealing His presence? We should be searching for spiritual happiness, not physical happiness.

[Rick] (14:41 - 15:04) This is a fundamental basis for looking at, is God calling me? Where am I? What's happening?

How is God directing those things? This can be a little bit daunting as well as very encouraging. God's call will come in His time and in His way, and it's always for our best benefit.

[Jonathan] (15:04 - 15:12) God's call took Cornelius from being on the outside looking in to being a disciple. How does it work with someone who was already favored?

[Rick] (15:13 - 15:56) Just because Israel had been God's chosen people, didn't mean that everything would come easily to them. On the contrary, that favor provided unique challenges. Our next example of God's calling focuses on one who had been dramatically favored and yet still needed to be dramatically awakened.

We're going to be focusing in on being awakened in this segment as we look at, this is another way that God can draw us, and we'll put it in perspective within a specific example in just a moment. But again, let's go back to the basis. To know HOW God draws us, we need to know WHAT we are being called to.

[Julie] (15:56 - 16:50) Are we being called to earthly abundance? Now Israel was promised this when they were given God's Law. Let's go back to Deuteronomy 28:4-6:

"Blessed shall be the offspring of your body and the produce of your ground and the offspring of your beasts, the increase of your herd and the young of your flock. Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out."

You might recognize that phrase we read; "basket and your kneading bowl." From the King James it says "blessed in basket and store." The Hebrew word here has the sense of swelling; kneading dough in which the dough rises.

It gets bigger. An obedient nation of Israel would be blessed in every way. Is this what Christians should expect?

The so-called Prosperity Gospel uses Old Testament texts like these in Deuteronomy to answer "yes."

[Rick] (16:50 - 17:31) As we mentioned earlier, Jesus didn't focus us on those kinds of things so much, actually really not at all. What he focused us on was a different kind of abundance, and it had nothing to do with things and circumstances in our earthly lives. For those of us who look for earthly rewards from God as disciples of Jesus, we need to realize that this was never the focus of God's call when we're talking about Christianity.

We understand it with Israel, but not with Christianity. Let's look at some examples. One example; Jesus speaking to that rich young ruler.

Let's look at Mark 10:20:22:

[Jonathan] (17:31 - 17:52) "And he said to him, Teacher, I have kept all these things for my youth up. Looking at him, Jesus felt a love for him and said to him, One thing you lack: go and sell all you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me. But at these words he was saddened, and he went away grieving, for he was one who owned much property."

[Julie] (17:52 - 18:00) In other words, it's not about what you have, but who you become. Are you willing to be selfless and follow me, is what Jesus was saying.

[Rick] (18:00 - 18:04) Julie, you just answered your own question from the...

[Julie] (18:04 - 18:06) I see what you did here.

[Rick] (18:06 - 18:28) You just walked into that answer. This is what Jesus taught. He continually showed us that earthly abundance was never on his mind or in his teaching, and if we start to try to put it there, we're misrepresenting the words of our Master and Lord.

Let's look at one other quick example in Matthew 8:19-20:

[Jonathan] (18:29 - 18:43) "Then a scribe came and said to him, Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go. Jesus said to him, The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head." It's a SELF-SACRIFICING call!

[Rick] (18:44 - 19:55) It is. What Jesus calls us to is not earthly abundance, but sometimes earthly lack. He's saying--or the scribe, rather, he says, hey, I will follow you. Wherever you go,

I'm going. He (Jesus) says, Son (and I'm paraphrasing), you don't understand. I don't know where I'm sleeping tomorrow.

I don't know. You want to follow me in that, where you come from position of power and authority and respect and honor and comfort? That's not what I, Jesus, am about.

Now let's look at our second example, looking at this earthly abundance situation, and the example is the Apostle Paul. He's a wonderful example of a great awakening, of needing to be jolted out of his life that was sincerely but improperly focused on abundance and power. See, Paul was an abundantly powerful individual in society, and he was driven to eradicate Christianity, and that fulfilled what he was to make him even bigger and stronger.

God, however, had different plans for him, as Jesus would appear to him in a vision. Let's look at Acts 9:1-6:

[Jonathan] (19:56 - 20:32) "Now Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, (was on his way to Damascus) ...so that if he found any belonging to the Way (Christians), both men and women..."

JULIE: He was destroying families!

JONATHAN: "...he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. As he was traveling...suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him; and he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? And he said, Who are you, Lord?

And he said, I am Jesus whom you are persecuting, but get up and enter the city, and it will be told you what you must do."

[Julie] (20:32 - 20:43) Saul loved God, but for him, the end justified the means. As a man of power and clout, he had no problem breaking the Jewish Law in horrific ways.

[Rick] (20:43 - 21:11) Yeah, he should have had a major problem with it, because he knew better. He was smart, he understood the principles behind godliness, but he let his earthly thinking and earthly desire and focus get in the way. He needed a dramatic awakening, and it happened kind of in an instant. It literally happened, and then he literally turns around.

Sometimes our awakening may be dramatic, like Saul's. Sometimes though, our awakening may be a process.

[Julie] (21:12 - 21:59) We're going to look at these four descriptions, and I think I identify mostly with this awakening. I grew up in a religious household. My grandfather and great-grandfathers were ministers, and it was simply expected that we would be in church every Sunday.

I'm grateful I grew up in an environment where we were allowed to ask questions and make the scriptures our own. But while I believed, I wasn't ready to make a lifelong commitment to God until, as I've spoken about on this podcast in more detail, 9/11 happened here in America. I wanted to be able to ultimately help people on a grand scale in the kingdom, and realized very dramatically how fragile our existence is here; so

however I could serve God now and in the future, would be up to Him.

[Rick] (21:59 - 22:12) In your experience, then, He drew you out of being around that which was good and healthy and wholesome and spiritual and all of that, to being engaged in all of those.

[Julie] (22:12 - 22:13) Yes, yes.

[Rick] (22:13 - 22:37) He drew you to a different level. Jonathan, with your experience, having that despair and that loneliness, He drew you out of that into something so much bigger, so much higher, so much stronger. It really is important for us to recognize that God works differently in drawing different individuals depending on their circumstances.

Let's continue. Let's get back to our account of the Apostle Paul as Saul of Tarsus.

[Jonathan] (22:37 - 22:49) Can you imagine Ananias in this circumstance? Jesus' disciple instructed him to seek out Saul, but he had doubts. Saul was well known for his attempts to crush Christianity.

[Julie] (22:49 - 23:01) Saul could have put Ananias in prison or even taken his life, and Ananias had every right to be bitter towards Saul because he was an enemy. His friend Stephen was stoned to death at Saul's word.

[Rick] (23:01 - 23:11) What happens here is Ananias needs encouragement, and Jesus will answer him emphatically. Let's go back to Acts 9:15-19:

[Jonathan] (23:11 - 23:23) "But the Lord said to him, Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine, to bear my name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel; for I will show him how much he must suffer for my name's sake."

[Rick] (23:23 - 23:44) Jonathan, pause there for a second, because while Jesus in this vision is speaking to Ananias (and it is a vision), Saul of Tarsus is praying and praying and praying and praying. He can't see, he's blind, but he's praying because he knows his life must change. Ananias is being given this encouragement here.

What happens?

[Jonathan] (23:44 - 24:08) "So Ananias departed and entered the house, and after laying his hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road by which you were coming, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the holy spirit. And immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he regained his sight, and he got up and was baptized; and he took food and was strengthened..."

[Julie] (24:08 - 24:30) Paul gave up his former life of prestige and didn't receive any physical abundance as a Christian. It says he was beaten up, he was imprisoned, shipwrecked, people tried to kill him--nothing like his former life. It strikes me--who in the New Testament, after becoming Christian, became filthy rich or super powerful?

I can't think of anybody.

[Rick] (24:30 - 24:56) Well there isn't anybody, and that's why you can't think of them, because the call to Christianity from God through Christ is entirely different. This awakening, in a sense, essentially rebuilt Saul's entire approach to serving God. He would now be--instead of going out to destroy Jesus and his followers--he would now be a chosen vessel of Jesus.

Let's continue with Acts 9:19-22:

[Jonathan] (24:56 - 25:28) "...Now for several days he was with the disciples who were at Damascus, and immediately he began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, saying, He is the Son of God. All those hearing him continued to be amazed, and were saying, Is this not he who in Jerusalem destroyed those who called on this name, and who had come here for the purpose of bringing them bound before the chief priests? But Saul kept increasing in strength and confounding the Jews who lived at Damascus by proving that this Jesus is the Christ."

[Julie] (25:28 - 26:01) These certain people received these visions in order to know what to do. It's important to remember that the New Testament scriptures don't teach us as Christians that we should expect to see visions or hear actual voices or experience dramatic miracles that will draw us to Jesus. These accounts were very rare.

They were for a specific time and purpose. Today, the pull to God is the response of an honest heart to God's wonderful, righteous love. We send you to Luke 8:15 as an example.

[Rick] (26:01 - 26:52) What we want to understand with that is it comes through the word of God. You don't hear the voice, but we have the word of God. They are the words of God.

They are the words of Jesus giving us guidance as to how we can respond. The Apostle Paul needed an awakening. He was in an earthly abundance, and he was looking to make that bigger and more powerful.

Instead of needing an awakening, he was awakened and he was made alive. You go from awakening to now be made alive to what? To spiritual growth, to spiritual abundance, and it had nothing to do with what he now owned or the prestige that he once had.

It was all about the abundance of servitude under Christ. That's what God calls us to. Let's examine this a little further, answering God's call to come up higher.

[Jonathan] (26:53 - 27:11) God's call is not a call to earthly abundance, but to a spiritual awakening. For Saul of Tarsus, the abundance of his life as a Pharisee of Pharisees would be intentionally forsaken once his zeal for God's will had awakened through Jesus. His abundance would now come through service and sacrifice.

[Julie] (27:12 - 27:23) We ask ourselves, as we may be looking to God, are we willing to awaken to changing our direction and receive His call, no matter what it might mean? What are we willing to walk away from?

[Rick] (27:23 - 27:48) What are we willing to walk towards when we walk away? Are we looking to be awakened so we can become alive on a spiritual level? That's what the call of God through Christ is really, truly all about.

Waking up and hearing God's call likely means that we need to change direction. Let's face it. This means God is ready for us, but are we ready for Him?

[Jonathan] (27:49 - 27:56) So far, we have seen despair become spiritual happiness and an awakening become spiritual abundance. What's next?

[Rick] (27:56 - 28:54) Identifying our personal, mental and heart conditions in which God may be calling us is an important exercise; identifying the conditions of what's going on. But just as important is weighing in on how we respond to these things. You've got to label it, but how am I responding to them?

It's one thing to feel a certain way and want to pursue knowing God. It's another thing entirely to act on that desire when God opens the door. We're going to be going to another example.

We've gone through the awakening with the Apostle Paul and previously we went through the despair with Cornelius. We're going to build again, but again, put it in perspective first to know how God draws us. Folks, this is important because if you're looking for gaining things, it's not the call of God through Christ.

To know HOW God draws us, we need to know WHAT we're being called to.

[Julie] (28:54 - 29:22) Are we being called to earthly protection? I'm going to go back to Deuteronomy 28 because Israel was promised earthly protection when they were given God's Law. Verse 7 says: "The LORD shall cause your enemies who rise up against you to be defeated before you;

they will come out against you one way and will flee before you seven ways." From that, we see that Israel would be blessed in their warfare. Is this what we can expect, that all of our enemies that come at us will run away in terror?

[Rick] (29:23 - 29:58) No, that's not what we can expect, because as the scriptures have already laid out for us, there is a call to giving up. There's a call to being on edge. There's a call to things not working so that you have that position of power and authority.

This is not about earthly protection at all. Let's get some scriptural examples here. Jesus emphatically taught us that discipleship is a difficult and a dangerous journey.

Let's look at John 15:18, 20:

[Jonathan] (29:58 - 30:13) "If the world hates you, you know that it has hated me before it hated you. Remember the word that I said to you, A slave is not greater than his master. If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you;

if they kept my word, they will keep yours also."

[Julie] (30:13 - 30:15) This doesn't sound like earthly protection.

[Rick] (30:16 - 30:16) No.

[Jonathan] (30:17 - 30:18) It's a CHALLENGING call!

[Rick] (30:19 - 30:59) It is, and that's the key.

If we are being called by God...are you wondering if you're being called by God? Well, one of the things we have to be looking for is for us to have that sense of being called to something higher that requires us to change, requires us to be able to bear up under difficulties. Jesus here said it very plainly.

"If they persecuted me, they WILL...persecute you." He also taught us that there needs to be strong consistency as we follow him as his disciples. Let's look at Matthew 5:13:

[Jonathan] (31:00 - 31:05) "You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again?..."

[Rick] (31:06 - 32:24) "The salt of the earth;" you think of that, you hear that phrase, "salt of the earth" kind of person. What does that mean? Well, salt is a very, very, very important commodity.

First, it enhances flavor, and it's therefore a desired commodity. You ever eat something, it's like, oh, it's okay. You put salt on it, it's like, oh, now that's good.

Okay, so it's a desired commodity. Salt also, especially in ancient times, was a preservation tool and therefore it was a required commodity as well as a desired one. In the Old Testament, it was also a necessary sacrificial commodity for some of the sacrifices.

Just very briefly, let's look at Leviticus 2:13: "Every grain offering of yours, moreover, you shall season with salt..." You have that sense that salt is woven in and out of scriptural reasoning, scriptural understanding. We look at all of this, and to sum it up very briefly--salt directly refers to the strength and focus of our character in Christ.

That's why Jesus says "you are the salt of the earth," because if you are in Christ, you are in him, your strength of character depends on him, learning to be in line with the pattern of Christ so that the holy spirit can accomplish its work in us.

[Julie] (32:24 - 32:28) What you're saying is it's a CHARACTER-BUILDING call!

[Rick] (32:28 - 32:28) Absolutely.

[Julie] (32:28 - 32:37) How does this differ from having God's providence protecting us? If we don't have this earthly protection; but yet, what about God's providence?

[Rick] (32:37 - 33:20) Well, and God's providence does protect us. It's like, wait, wait, did we just contradict ourselves? No, because God's providence protects us, not necessarily from earthly foes.

He protects us for the sake of spiritual growth and maturity, of accomplishing His will in His way. Sometimes--you can remember Stephen, you can remember the Apostle Paul--they were marched off to death. They were protected as Paul is beheaded.

He is protected because this was God's will, God's providence unfolding. The protection is not to keep everything in order and all of your enemies running away seven different directions. It is the protection so that you are free to do the will of God in His way.

[Julie] (33:20 - 33:26) It's whatever is our highest spiritual welfare, that's how God will protect us.

[Rick] (33:26 - 33:27) That's what's protected. Absolutely.

[Jonathan] (33:28 - 33:36) Let's move on.

Our next example is of going to Jericho and meeting the wealthy chief tax collector named Zacchaeus.

[Julie] (33:36 - 33:51) Tax collectors were also known as "publicans." They were Jewish public officials authorized by Rome to collect Roman taxes from the Jews. Not only were they despised by the people as traitors, but they had the bad reputation of overcharging and extortion.

[Jonathan] (33:52 - 34:25) The account starts in Luke 19:1-4: "He (Jesus) entered Jericho and was passing through. And there was a man called by the name of Zacchaeus;

he was a chief tax collector and he was rich. Zacchaeus was trying to see who Jesus was, and was unable because of the crowd, for he was small in stature. So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree in order to see him, for he was about to pass through that way."

Zacchaeus could hear Jesus, but he couldn't see him. His curiosity had now become a driving force.

[Rick] (34:25 - 35:03) He hears the preaching. He's heard about Jesus. He hears him, but he wants to see him.

What Zacchaeus does is he climbs up a tree for the sole purpose of, I need to see this guy. I need to see who this man is, who these words are coming from. What is this?

This is bigger and stronger than anything I've ever seen. His only objective is to be able to see Jesus. Let's understand that because his only objective and his curiosity would become the greatest blessing of his entire life.

Let's look at Luke 19. Let's continue with verses 5-7:

[Jonathan] (35:03 - 35:11) "When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for today I must stay at your house."

[Julie] (35:11 - 35:23) Can you imagine in all the throngs of people, Jesus not only noticed Zacchaeus, but he calls him by name and announces that he, Jesus, is going to be an honored guest at his home.

[Jonathan] (35:24 - 35:34) Continuing <Luke 19:5-7>: "And he hurried and came down and received him gladly. When they saw it, they all began to grumble, saying, He has gone to be the guest of a man who was a sinner."

[Julie] (35:34 - 35:49) Yeah, they did not like him as that tax collector and Jesus responded in this unexpected way. Why? Jesus made it abundantly clear that anyone's status within their culture was of no consequence when it came to responding to the message.

[Jonathan] (35:49 - 36:07) He was looking for the right heart attitude and was standing before a man with a full heart. Luke 19:8: "Zacchaeus stopped and said to the Lord, Behold, Lord, half of my possessions I will give to the poor, and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will give back four times as much."

[Julie] (36:07 - 36:37) Now, why is that such a big deal? Zacchaeus the tax collector knew that under Jewish Law, restitution was required if you took advantage of somebody. We read in Numbers 5:6-7 that the guilty man had to repay what he defrauded plus give an extra one-fifth or twenty percent.

Zacchaeus goes well beyond this requirement. He's going to give half of his wealth to the poor plus four times what he cheated people out of. This was a dramatic repentance!

[Rick] (36:37 - 37:16) It's dramatic. That is overwhelming because if you said, okay, I'll give instead of twenty percent--I'll give thirty percent-- I'll give forty percent.

You're like, well, now that's generous, but no, four times as much. I'll give four hundred percent because his heart was so moved and Jesus saw that in him. That's why you had this interchange.

That curiosity put him in a position so he could be blessed. He wasn't planning on being blessed like that, but God through Jesus blessed him. Jesus saw the heart of this curious outcast and proclaimed salvation for him.

He proclaimed divine protection for him! Here's what Jesus says in Luke 19:9-10:

[Jonathan] (37:16 - 37:30) And Jesus said to him, Today salvation has come to this house, because he, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost."

[Rick] (37:30 - 38:36) There you have the divine protection. His curiosity wasn't about finding earthly protection. Goodness knows that a man who was wealthy like that and despised by everybody might be looking over his shoulder a lot because he's like, I don't fit in with society so much.

But instead of being just a curious individual looking for and being comfortable with early protection, instead of curiosity, Jesus gave him clarity. Clarity for what? Clarity to being spiritually protected and spiritually lifted up and spiritually changed in his life so that he could abide in God through Christ.

That's the beautiful thing about the call of God. It comes when we sometimes don't expect it, but we're in a position and we're looking and we're wondering and then suddenly something opens up and you go, wait a minute, there's something bigger here. There's something strong.

I never saw this before! It's a very, very powerful thing. This is all about answering God's call to come up higher.

[Jonathan] (38:36 - 38:56) God's call is not a call to earthly protection, but it is a call to spiritually answer our curiosity. Zacchaeus was drawn to Jesus because others saw something special in him. His curiosity quickly became action and that action quickly became a change and God-protected spiritual life.

[Julie] (38:57 - 39:24) We ask ourselves in our experiences of being drawn by God, does our curiosity drive us towards God's call? Are we willing to step out of our own comfort and into His hands? We've observed that some of our Christian Questions listeners have metaphorically "climbed up the tree" to hear more--beyond what they were maybe hearing in their churches or the traditions that they grew up in.

If you're listening, you're welcome to ask those tough questions and dig deeper into the Bible with us each week.

[Rick] (39:24 - 39:56) The point is, be looking. In this case, have that curiosity and see if it's drawn in the right direction and God sees you as someone that He can use as part of the body of Christ. The question really is, am I going to be willing, ready, and able to answer and grow into whatever He's calling us towards?

This is yet another example of how God's call brings us out of our perceptions and into His way of seeing and then living our lives!

[Jonathan] (39:56 - 40:05) We have seen examples of God using despair, awakening, and curiosity to bring us to Him. How might God use fear?

[Rick] (40:05 - 40:54) Ah, fear. Here's a big one. Fear can be a dramatic motivator as well as be a dramatic tool that shuts us down.

It can bring us forward and it can really, really hold us back. God certainly can use our fears if we remain open to the change that His presence in our lives demands. See, His presence in our lives demands that we grow up, we change, we develop.

As we will see, our example in this segment will be the Apostle Peter. He's a really good example of how God, through Jesus, can turn fear into positive action. To set the groundwork for this, put things in that same perspective as we have in the past three segments. To know HOW God draws us, we need to know WHAT we are being called to.

[Julie] (40:54 - 41:37) Are we being called to earthly peace? If you remember, Israel was promised this when they were given God's Law. Let's go back for the last time to Deuteronomy 28:9-10:

"The LORD will establish you as a holy people to Himself, as He swore to you, if you keep the commandments of the LORD your God and walk in His ways. So all the peoples of the earth will see that you are called by the name of the LORD, and they will be afraid of you." The best blessing Israel received was having this special relationship with God.

Keep His commandments and Israel will be a holy people. But again, how far do we spiritualize this? Can we appropriate that everyone will be afraid of us Christians and they won't attack or provoke us?

[Rick] (41:37 - 42:15) No, we can't. It's just that simple. Again, if you're looking for your life to fall into place the way you've always envisioned it by being called by God, think again, because our life will not fall into place the way we've envisioned it.

It will be called into the place the way His providence directs it. It's an entirely different approach. We're going to be looking at the Apostle Peter, but first let's quote him.

The Apostle Peter clearly warns us that it's tumult and not peace that discipleship can bring us. 1 Peter 4:12, 14:

[Jonathan] (42:15 - 42:33) "Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you... If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the spirit of glory and of God rests on you." It's an ENDURANCE-BASED call!

[Julie] (42:33 - 42:40) Yeah. Descriptions of a "fiery ordeal" and being "reviled for the name of Christ" doesn't seem like this Christian is promised earthly peace!

[Rick] (42:41 - 43:19) They're not. They're not. We're glad we're not, because it's not about this life and this world.

It's about what God calls us to. That is the drawing card of wanting to follow in Jesus's footsteps. Here's what happens when we make this realization;

God's call provokes us to feel an internal struggle, and it's the internal struggle of our humanity versus our desire to serve God. There are these two at-odds forces inside of us. The Apostle Paul really did a good job describing that in Romans 7:21-25:

[Jonathan] (43:20 - 43:47) "I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?

Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!..."

[Julie] (43:47 - 44:03) God's call is to an INTENTIONAL FOCUS! Rather than this promise of a completely peaceful existence, we have work to do. We are to overcome the world, the temptations of Satan, our own ego, our brokenness, our past, our present.

There's a lot of work.

[Jonathan] (44:04 - 44:11) It's wonderful to love Jesus, but that's just the beginning. Transformation is required and change is difficult.

[Rick] (44:12 - 45:12) That change requires us to go through that Romans 7 challenge of, I'm fighting against myself. Yes, I'm at war with myself. That's the truth.

That's what being called to follow Christ from God means, that we need to be at war with that physical person and say, I need to rise to a spiritually-minded individual, because that's what Jesus was, and that's where we are called to. Obviously it's not about earthly peace. It's not about everything just falling into place.

It's something much bigger. Now let's look at the example of the Apostle Peter. Before he was called Peter, he was called Simon.

That was his name. The call of Simon to follow Jesus came in stages. Simon was impetuous and bold, and yet the call to follow Jesus was very scary for him.

Here's how Jesus approached that fear. They had three encounters in Simon's being drawn to Jesus. Here's a look at the first encounter.

It's John 1:41-42:

[Jonathan] (45:13 - 45:30) "He (Andrew) found first his own brother Simon and said to him, We have found the Messiah (which translated means Christ). He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, You are Simon, the son of John;

you shall be called Cephas (which is translated Peter)."

[Rick] (45:30 - 46:08) Jesus didn't formally invite Simon to follow him at this point, but he did entice him with a view of the future. Jesus' message to Simon here was, I know who you are, and I know who you can become. We don't see anybody else where Jesus instantly changes their name.

There's this overwhelming sense of, Sir, Who are you, and what are you doing? The impetuous and powerful Simon would have been like, Wait a minute. What's happening?

What's going on? There's a question. There's a question in Simon's mind.

Their second encounter-- let's move forward a little bit. Let's look at Matthew 4:18-20:

[Jonathan] (46:08 - 46:30) "Now as Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon who was called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. And he said to them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. Immediately they left their nets and followed him."

In other words, drop your work; there's something bigger for you to do.

[Julie] (46:30 - 46:35) Remember this point because we're going to come back to it: they left their nets and followed him.

[Rick] (46:35 - 47:42) Jesus' message to Simon here was, follow me. It was built upon the promise of that new name that he had told him previously. Jesus is basically saying to Simon, I will show you a new vocation.

While Simon and company left fishing to follow Jesus, they didn't leave their vocation permanently. They followed him for a period of time. They saw many wonderful things.

They got to understand who he was and what he did and how he did it, but then they went back to fishing. Let's fast forward.

Months later, after Peter--we're going to call him Peter at this point--after Peter and his brother had been fishing all night and didn't catch a thing, that next morning, Jesus uses Peter's boat as a place to preach from. He goes out from the shore so he can see all the people and speak to all the people.

Jesus, when he's done with all that, instructs Peter, Go out and cast your nets again. Go fishing again. Peter's like, Wait, Lord, we spent all night.

Why would we do that again? But he listens. Here's where Peter's fears are manifested,

and here's where Jesus' love, compassion and understanding conquers it. Luke 5:6-11:

[Jonathan] (47:43 - 48:07) "When they had done this, they enclosed a great quantity of fish, and their nets began to break; so they signaled to their partners in the other boat...And they came and filled both of the boats, so that they began to sink. But when Simon Peter saw that he fell down at Jesus' feet saying, Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man! For amazement had seized him and all his companions..."

[Julie] (48:08 - 48:20) Essentially, he's saying to Jesus, this is too big. What are you doing with ME? He could see the power of God working through Jesus to Peter, and it was just overwhelming.

[Jonathan] (48:20 - 48:28) Here's what Jesus said to Simon, verses 10-11 <Luke 5:10-11>: "...Do not fear, from now on you will be catching men."

[Julie] (48:28 - 48:31) In other words, don't worry. I've got something in store for you.

[Jonathan] (48:32 - 48:47) <Luke 5:11> "When they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him." Did you notice that subtle point in their second encounter? Matthew said they left their nets and followed him.

Now, months later, Luke records they left everything and followed him.

[Rick] (48:47 - 50:05) You see the growth and you see that Peter, Simon Peter, had to be drawn because there was, this is too big for me. I don't know if you've ever had that experience. I have that experience regularly.

To look at what God puts before you in wonderment and privilege and incredible things, and you say, I don't, this is, I don't, I can't do this. It's bigger than me. The answer always is, you're right, it is.

Stop relying on yourself and rely on Me. That's the way to grow into these things. That's what Simon Peter needed to learn to do.

Peter had fear and was looking for earthly peace. You're a fisherman, you go out there and it's quiet and you can just live your life and you make your living and everything's okay. Instead of fear, Jesus, through the call of God, through Christ, gave him a focused life.

It was focused on not just earthly peace and making a living, but it was focused on the peace of God through Jesus, through what would be very difficult trials. From fear to focused, that's the journey of the Apostle Peter. That's how God calls.

He calls us out of where we are to something different, something higher. Answering God's call to come up higher:

[Jonathan] (50:05 - 50:22) God's call is not a call to earthly peace, but it is a call away from fear. Peter was pressed to follow Jesus, as he could not deny who was before him. What he saw was bigger than his fear, and his life, therefore, became a story of finding the peace of God that comes through Jesus.

[Julie] (50:22 - 50:34) When we sense the call of God through Christ in our lives, how readily do we put our fears behind us so that we can make room for the peace before us? We might be afraid, but we don't have to be.

[Rick] (50:35 - 51:46) That's the point. Put the fears behind us, put those things behind us so there's room to accept what God is bringing us.

We've had the despair of Cornelius that was turned into being a destination-driven individual. We had the awakening of the Apostle Paul that turned into being alive to spiritual growth and spiritual abundance. We had the curiosity of Zacchaeus that was turned into a clarity of thinking.

He's just wanting to see. Then he not only was able to see, but he was able to partake of and be a part of. Then we had the fear of the Apostle Peter, which turned into a focus on following and living the peace of God.

God calls in all kinds of different ways. It's our responsibility if we believe we're being called to listen and to be willing to change, to rise up and to be different and follow in the footsteps of Jesus. Think about it.

Folks, we love hearing from our listeners. We welcome your feedback and questions on this episode and other episodes at ChristianQuestions.com. Coming up in our next Episode: "Is the Gospel a Success or a Failure?"

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