Transcription
Don't overthink it. Finding your calling is simple. And I want to show you how to do it using practical teachings from the scripture. You know, we complicate this so much. Sometimes we get inside of our own heads. We think about our past and imagine that we're disqualified. We think about our shortcomings and imagine that God couldn't possibly use us. But whether you feel it or not, whether you realize it or not, whether you believe it or not, God has a calling on your life. And walking in that calling is simpler than you think. Again, it's not necessarily easy, but it is easy in the sense that finding it can be very simple. We complicate things so much and I want to simplify this for you. I want you to write in the comments section right now. It's a prayer. It's a public proclamation. Just write these two simple words. This is to the Lord. Send me. This is a public declaration of yielding your life before the heavenly father. Send me.
So again, we're talking about finding your calling. I want you to go to Matthew chapter 25. We're going to read a few verses beginning at verse number 14. And here in this portion of scripture, we find a very important biblical key. It's the principle of stewardship. Many Christians are stagnant. Many Christians are frustrated. Many Christians are confused because they don't know this biblical principle. The biblical principle of stewardship, the law of stewardship. Now, that may not sound exciting. Of course, we understand that to be called by the Lord, you need an encounter in his presence. To be called by the Lord, you need the power of the Holy Spirit. To be called by the Lord, you need to walk in purity. You need to know the word. And of course, when I say to be called by the Lord, I'm not necessarily talking about your salvation. Of course, we know salvation is not by works. It's by faith. And we, we of course place our faith in Christ and receive his righteousness. No, what I'm talking about here is your calling to ministry, your calling to be used of God, your calling to be used in impacting others around you. And in order to do that, we know there are things that have to be in place like what I just mentioned. But what is often forgotten is this very simple, very practical principle of stewardship. And if you can learn stewardship, you will see an acceleration in your understanding of your own calling.
So, Matthew 25, I'm going to begin reading at verse number 14. Again, it will be like a man going on a journey who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. Verse 16. The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more. So also the one with two bags of gold gained two more. But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground, and hid his master's money. Verse 19. After a long time, the master of those servants returned and settled the accounts with them. The man who had received five bags of gold brought the other five. So he increased what the master had given to him. Master, he said, you entrusted me with five bags of gold. See, I have gained five more. Verse 21. His master replied, well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful with the few things. I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness. The man with two bags of gold also came. Master, he said, you entrusted me with two bags of gold. See, I've gained two more. His master replied, well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful with the few things. I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness. Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. Master, he said, I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you. So he didn't do anything with it. He just buried it. Didn't invest it. Didn't produce. He didn't use it to increase. He just buried it because he was afraid. Now he brings it back to him. His master replied, this is verse 26. His master didn't say, "I understand you were nervous and didn't want to squander what I gave you, so I can appreciate that you didn't take a risk." No. What does he say? His master replied, verse 26, "You wicked and lazy servant." So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed. Well, then you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers so that when I returned, I would have received it back with interest. So like, at least you could have done something. Verse 28. So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has 10 bags. For whoever has will be given more. Isn't this just the opposite of what culture teaches us today. For whoever has will be given more and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have even what they have will be taken away from them. Verse 30. And throw that worthless servant outside into the darkness where there will be weeping and nashing of teeth.
Now, of course, this principle of stewardship has what we call universal application. By that, I simply mean that the principle that is behind this parable, though the parable is talking prophetically about something very specific, the principle here is of stewardship. The principle here is of using what God has given to us. Now, we often get stuck when trying to find our calling between two things. Paralysis and presumption. Those who are presumptuous just take steps ahead of where God is going. They assume that God is going to back everything that they do. They don't check their motives. They don't check their own purity. They don't check with God. They just move forward, do what they see fit, and spend their life doing exactly what they want while never listening for the voice of the Holy Spirit to instruct them. And then on the opposite end of this, we have those who get stuck in paralysis. They're so afraid of making a mistake. They're so afraid of stepping quote outside of God's will end quote that instead they settle for doing nothing. They're so afraid of doing the wrong thing that they don't do anything. I'm going to say that again. They're so afraid of doing the wrong thing that they don't do anything. This, this um legalistic mindset where they think that there's this demand of a specific occupation. We imagine that we're going to get to heaven and God's going to say, "Well, you know, I called you to be a lawyer, yet you were a pastor." Or, you know, I called you to be a chef, yet you were a doctor. Or I called you to be a teacher, yet you became a construction worker. Right? And we have this idea in our minds that that's what it means to do the will of the father, to find that specific occupation or that specific function here in the earth. That's not it at all. Fulfilling the will of the father is to live in the righteousness of Christ. And Christ, of course, perfectly fulfilled the will of the father. So, we have to be free of this legalistic bondage where we're so afraid of taking the wrong step or we're so afraid of applying the wrong action that we just freeze up and say, "I'm not going to do anything." And really, what it is, I'm going to call you on it now. If this is you, and if this is you, you got to admit it and ask the Holy Spirit to help you here. Really, what it is, is it's a false humility. Well, you know, I don't want to move unless God tells me to move or I don't want to do things out of impure motives. Are both really good ideas. No, you should not move outside of God's will and no, you should not do things with the wrong motives. I agree with that. But sometimes we're so afraid of those things that we don't trust God to be able to guide us. We're so afraid of those things that we don't trust God to be able to keep us. There are many of you who should be ministering online already, but because you're so afraid of being perceived as someone who has impure motives, you've not made a move. There are some of us who should have written a book already, who should be preaching already, who should have witnessed to their co-workers already, but we're so afraid of missing the timing of God that we miss the heart of God. Now again, I'm not saying that you just move on ahead, do things out of your own imagination and do what's before you. What I'm saying is that there has to be a balance between paralysis and presumption. To not walk so fast that God cannot instruct or correct you and to not be so still that we settle in this place of fear where we never do anything that has any impact.
Referencing back to Matthew chapter 25, we read verses 14-30. We see that when the master went away, he didn't give the servants instructions. Instead, he gave them resources in proportion to their ability. He gave them something to do something with. He put gold in their hands fully expecting that they would take that gold, invest it or use it to maybe start a business or in some way increase those resources to do something with it so that when the master returned, that they were able to give that back to him as an offering and say, "Here's what you gave me, and here's what I did with what you gave to me." So no instructions, no specifics. Just do something with what I gave you. You understand that I want there to be increase. You understand the kind of master that I am. As of course, they understood who he was. So do something. And that wicked and lazy servant was scolded, rebuked, punished. And the master says to him, "You, you should have at least put that gold that I gave you as a deposit with the bank, and we could have gained interest on it." In other words, you could have done something. You could have done anything at all. It was, it was counted to him not as humility. Someone needs to hear this. It was counted to him not as humility, but as laziness. It was not humility. It was laziness. And some of us are either afraid or spiritually lazy and we try to slap the label of humility on these things in order to be excused in our conscience from what we know God is calling us to do. So again, am I saying that therefore you should just run ahead, do whatever's on your heart, go ahead, accomplish your goals as you see fit, do whatever is in your imagination, don't ever consult with God? No, I'm saying to live at a purposeful pace, to take that which God has given to you and apply it to his general will. What do I mean by that? I'll tell you this right now. Here's what you're called to do. You want to know your specific calling biblically speaking? Here's what you're called to do as a Christian. You're called to live holy. You're called to worship the Lord. You're called to glorify Jesus. You're called to know the word. You're called to pray. You're called to evangelize. You're called to serve in a local body of believers. These are the general commands of God. And so often we're waiting for a specific instruction from God when he's given us general commands in the word. Now, why is God going to give to you a specific command for your specific situation if you haven't done anything with his general commands? So what is the will of God for your life? To accomplish all those things. To do all those things. Of course, by the grace of God, through the power of the Holy Spirit. It's God's ability in you. It's not you doing it. We understand that. But to cooperate with the process that he has you under, to do the basics of Christianity, to carry out the basics of Christian responsibility, to be effective for the kingdom of God by following his word. You accomplish God's will by obeying God's word. You accomplish God's will by obeying God's word. So many of us are waiting for the heavens to open and God to give us a vision of the specific task that we ought to do. We want to see, is it an orphanage? What city? What nation? And it's good to know those things. I'm not saying we mustn't be instructed in the specifics. I'm simply saying while you're waiting on the specific instructions, obey the general commands. Use your specific gifts to fulfill God's general commands. That's what you're called to do. All of us as believers, in whatever capacity, are called to expand the kingdom of God through the use of our resources, talents, abilities, gifts, energy, connections, whatever God gave to you. Think about the fact that in the parable that we just read, the master gave to each one in proportion to their ability, but he gave each one of them something. So whether you feel like God can use you or not, whether you feel qualified or not, whether you feel like you have something to give or not, the fact of the matter is that God put something in your hand. Even by the way, if it's something as basic as willingness, you know, God can do quite a lot with willingness. God can do quite a lot with surrender. God can do quite a lot with radical faith and obedience. So God gives to you something. Now, let God be true and every man a liar. Think about 1 Corinthians 12:7, how it describes the purpose of the spiritual gifts and the fact that each one of us have a spiritual gift. Each one of us has been given something from God. He gave you breath. He gave you life. He gave you some level of influence. He gave you some connection. He gave you some ability. He gave you energy. He gave you a will. He gave you emotions. He gave you a mind. He gave you a voice. He gave you a physical body by which you can accomplish those things that he's called you to do here in the earth. He gave you something. And instead of waiting around and saying, "Well, God hasn't given me something so specific that I think it's tailor-made just for me. Therefore, I won't move." Instead of waiting around and doing that, say, "Okay, how do I give these specific gifts that God has granted unto me unto the purposes of the kingdom of God?" How do I use my specific gifts to accomplish God's general commands? So, whatever he gave you can be used to win the lost. You may say, "I'm not a preacher. I'm not an evangelist. I can't stand in a pulpit and preach." Great. But he gave you something. Maybe he gave you a gift of encouragement. Maybe he gave you an ability to speak and put people at ease. Maybe he gave you a friendly disposition or friendly demeanor so that people feel more free to open up with you. Maybe he gave you a big family. Maybe he puts you at a job where you're connected with a lot of people. He gave you something. Maybe he gave you compassion or kindness and you have this tendency toward those things. You use that to fulfill God's general commands. I'm not saying God won't specifically instruct you. He absolutely will. Like the Lord led me obviously into media. He led me, uh, to evangelistic ministry, to the healing ministry, to teach on the Holy Spirit. What I'm saying to you is that what God put in you, Lord, I pray you help us receive this. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you receive this. What I'm saying to you is that what God put into you is an indication of what he's called you to. What God put into you is an indication of what he's called you to. So then you look at what God gave you. And no more of this false humility, no more of this self-hatred, no more of this being critical of self and saying, "Well, I don't have anything. I have nothing." Some of us just need to stop feeling sorry for ourselves. And take an honest evaluation and look at our lives and be thankful. Show gratitude for what God placed in you. And then say, "Okay, how do I use?" Even if you think you're the one with the one bag of gold, you say, "I'm not the five bag of gold person. I'm not the two bag of gold person. I'm just the one bag of gold person." Okay, even if you're just the one bag of gold person, which sometimes I feel like that's where I am. Say, "Lord, I don't have much to offer you, but my willingness and do what you can with it, you know?" So, so, so maybe you're that one bag. Maybe you're like me and you think of yourself in terms of being that one bag person. Okay, he gave you one bag of gold. Do something with it. Stop talking down on what God put in you. You when you say things like, "I don't have anything," or "God didn't give me anything," or "I don't have anything to offer." Or when you say things like that, again, it sounds like humility, but really what you're doing is you're criticizing what God deposited in you. Now, this is not a message of condemnation. This is one of correction. I'm not saying this to tear you down. I'm saying this to wake you up so that you can say, "Okay, wait a minute. Maybe I have been a little negative. Maybe I have just kind of been feeling sorry for myself and saying, 'Well, you know, I have nothing.'" Why? Because we look at, you know, what some would call the power gifts. I don't have the gift of prophecy. I don't have the gift of healing. So I don't have anything? No, he gave you something. And it's a lie from the enemy if you believe otherwise. Don't let the enemy lie to you. And so then you take these gifts and you say, "What did he give me? What did he put in you?" Take an honest evaluation. And if you don't know, if you can't take that honest evaluation, ask the people around you. And when they tell you, don't say, "No, no, no, I don't have that." Or, "No, no, no, I'm not gifted in that area." Or, "No, no, no, I disagree. I'm not that good." If you're going to ask others their opinion about how God gifted, you just receive what they're saying, because thank God for Christian friends who sometimes can see in us the things that God put in us that we ourselves cannot see. But you take that evaluation and you say, "Here is what the Lord has put in me." And it doesn't necessarily always have to be supernatural, though every single one of us will have the working of the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit in us. Sometimes it could be something as simple as, "I'm a very kind person," or "God gave me a lot of patience," or even something you might not even think of like, "I have a big family," or "I like to write," or "I like to paint," or "I like to, whatever it may be." And then you take all that God gave you and use all that God gave you to do everything you can to expand his kingdom. And as you begin now, here's what happens. As you begin now to use what God has given to you to fulfill his general commands to expand the kingdom in general, then what begins to happen is God begins to reveal to you specifics. In other words, he guides as you go. He walks with you as you obey. Of course, he never abandons us even when we struggle. But I'm saying that there has to be this pace of grace. We're not running ahead of Jesus. You're not lagging behind Jesus. You are instead walking with Jesus. And in order to get to this place, you have to surrender. And you have to be willing to take an honest evaluation of self and say, "Okay, what has God given me? I'm going to steward that and I'm going to use that and I'm going to do all that I can with that." Excellence is not having the best of everything. It's doing the best with everything that you have. So, that's one thing. You want to find your calling. It is easy to find your calling. Now, it's not easy per se in that there won't be any trials or you won't have self-doubt. I mean, even to this day, sometimes the enemy tries to attack me with self-doubt and so forth. But, you know, as long as we trust in the Lord, that's the key. So, that first principle here to walking in your calling, and I'm only giving you two this evening because I want you to really meditate on these truths. That first one is stewardship. Understand stewardship. Do what's before you, and God will direct the next step. Do what's right in front of you and God will direct the next step. Uh, let me know in the comments section if this is helping you. How are you being challenged? What areas maybe are you overlooking in your own life? Let me know in the comment section.
John chapter 15, I'm going to read verses 1-8 now. So number one, know the law of stewardship. And number two, and this is probably the most important key, but I want to finish with it so it's the last thing in your mind here and it stays there, or it's the last thing that I say so that it's the one that you remember most. John 15:1-8. "I am the true vine and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit. Well, every branch that does bear fruit, he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I've spoken to you. Remain in me as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself. It must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. Verse five, I am the vine. You are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit. Apart from me, you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers. Such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father's glory that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be disciples." And again, that's John 15:1-8.
I'm going to say something and I want you to hear it without being dismissive of it. Because sometimes I hear things so often, I kind of just wave my hand at it and go, "Yeah, yeah, yeah. I've heard that before." But really, I want you to get this in your spirit. This is important to me that you understand this. It's important to me that you receive this, I should say, more accurately, in your spirit. You want to find your calling? Abide in the vine. Abide in the vine. You say, "Well, how can that be? It can't be that simple." Yes, it is. It really is that simple. Cling to Jesus as he holds you. Walk with Jesus. Love Jesus. Focus on Jesus. Glorify Jesus. Learn about Jesus. Worship Jesus. Adore Jesus. Let Jesus become the center. And if you're with him, you're in the will of God. Because when you walk with him in this way, now you've gone from making it into a formula or a system and you cultivate that relationship by your obedience to him, your trust of him. And now there's this connection in you that begins to form. Now, we already know we're connected to the Lord. We're in him and he and us. But, but, but you know, you, you receive of that connection. That connection begins to gain influence in your life when you walk in obedience. And some of us complicate this so much. People often ask me, David, what would you say to someone who's just beginning in ministry? Well, first of all, I'd like to think that I'm still just beginning in ministry. This is the beginning of something I believe God is doing in his ministry. And I get to be the steward of this particular expression of God's ministry. So I still like to consider myself beginning in ministry. People still ask me, David, what should I do? What should I know? What's the key? I'm telling you right now, and any minister who walks with the Lord in this way will tell you the same thing. Just love Jesus. Like, really, that's it. You're not going to get a special formula. There's no special ritual. There's no special prayer. There's no secrets, you know, in the anointing and secrets in the mantle and secrets in the power of God that nobody can ever learn. I mean, it's all in scripture anyway. But you can learn all of that and still miss it. You can learn all of those keys. You can, you can get a double portion of this and a mantle from that and a, you're not connected to Jesus. You're not going to bear any fruit. Not any fruit that lasts anyway. You want lasting fruit. You want to truly enter into your calling. Cling to Jesus. You know why? Because when you spend time with Jesus, your character changes. And that character becomes a character that can handle the calling. If you don't cling to Jesus, you don't develop the character. And if you do happen to be able to force your way into a promotion in ministry, the weight of that responsibility will crush you because you never strengthen the character within you. And then as you spend time with Jesus, you begin to develop this sensitivity to the voice of the Holy Spirit. Well, isn't that a great advantage? I think about the apostles trying to go into Asia, I believe in Acts chapter 16. But the Holy Spirit keeps preventing them until it's time. Well, that goes to show you that they have the same mindset that I do, which is just go and do something for the Lord that is commanded in scripture generally and let God guide and correct you. The sin of presumption isn't that we don't take initiative. I mean, you, isn't that we take initiative? You should take initiative. You should try to look for areas where you can serve and help and expand the kingdom. But while you're taking initiative, listen for the voice of the Holy Spirit. And so long as you're listening for his voice daily, if you do happen to miss it, he can correct you. That's what happened in Acts 16. Read it. They didn't pray about going to Asia. They didn't get a specific instruction from the Lord, "Go to Asia now." No, they just said, "We're going to go because it looks like there's a need there. God's general command is to preach the gospel. He specifically gifted us with a preaching gift. Let's go into Asia and preach." And then the Holy Spirit said, "No, stop. I, I, I don't want you to go there yet." So they didn't. So that goes to show you that they were just looking to fulfill God's general command with their specific gift, and the Holy Spirit guided them. And if you cling to Jesus, you're going to be sensitive to the voice of the Holy Spirit. And you'll be able to know those moments when you're off track. You cling to Jesus and you're going to have a strength within you, an emotional and mental stability that can only come when you cling to Jesus. You, you want to be in ministry. Oh my goodness. Let's talk even specifically about public ministry. Now, this message can apply to all believers in every aspect of every, every kind of calling, I should say. Uh, but, but, you know, let me just take a minute or two to talk to those who are called to pulpit ministry, preaching ministry, teaching ministry. You want that kind of ministry. The pressure that comes with that, people would not believe it. It looks so glamorous, like you just get to talk to the camera. You get to stand on the stage. My friend, I'm telling you, the pressures of ministry, the attacks that come, the people who turn on you, the way the enemy tries to, I, I'm telling you, if it weren't for Jesus, it just wouldn't work. Sometimes I think, you, you know not what you ask for. But Jesus will sustain you. Knowing Jesus brings that mental and emotional stability, helps to keep you consistent even in trying times. And that really is the key. You cling to Jesus. You know Jesus, you love Jesus. And the love of God flows through you. So your heart doesn't become hard. You don't lose strength and vitality. Yeah, there are moments where you maybe get physically drained or mentally drained or emotionally drained, but spiritually there's this divine energy that helps you keep moving forward. I'm talking about strength, vitality, movement. Stay close to Jesus. You want to find your calling, your calling is found in Jesus. Far too many are seeking their calling and not seeking Jesus. Your calling is found in Jesus. You want to find your calling, seek Jesus. You want to find the power of the Holy Spirit, the power of the Holy Spirit is hidden in the presence of the Holy Spirit. It's that simple. You say, "How can that be?" And I'm telling you, because spending time with Jesus causes everything in you to be aligned with God. And when everything in you is aligned with God, you're, you're, you're going to become like a magnet for your calling, and it will just attract itself to you. God will guide you. Become who you're called to be in Christ, and then what you're supposed to do comes naturally. I'll end with that thought again. Become who you're supposed to be. Become who you're called to be in Christ. And then what you're supposed to do for Christ will be drawn to you naturally.
Father, I pray you help them do it. Help us to steward well what you've already given to us. Help us to obey what you've already written unto us in your word. And help us to keep Jesus at the center. Lord, we repent of being presumptuous. We, we repent of being fearful. And we, in faith, Lord, declare that we will step into the calling that you have placed upon our lives. Help us to stay close to you. Touch that one receiving this now. Lord, I pray for those who are believing for healing and deliverance. Let your power begin to flow. Touch their lives in a fresh way. Holy Spirit, let them sense your presence and power even now. In the mighty name of Jesus, we pray. I want you to write it in the comments. If you agree, write amen. If you enjoyed this message and you think others need to hear it, make sure to leave a like on the video. And also, I really want to stay connected with you. If you enjoyed this teaching, you want more like it, you also want to see footage of the power of the Holy Spirit working all around the world, make sure you subscribe to my channel and do click that notification bell when you subscribe so you can get notified whenever I put out content. I truly believe that this is going to bless you. So, let's stay connected. Now, I want to challenge you. If you've received of this ministry, you've been blessed by this ministry, I want you to remember that all of this content is donor and partner-up supported. Freely we receive, so freely we give. So I invite you to become a monthly ministry supporter. Consider becoming a partner for just $30 a month. If you can, go to davidhernandezministries.com/partner. You can partner for whatever the Holy Spirit puts on your heart. You can give a single gift by going to davidhernandezministries.com/donate. Whatever you do, large or small, one time or monthly, everything counts. I just ask that you, I, I just ask that you act now as the Holy Spirit speaks to you. Thank you for your support and until next time, remember nothing is impossible with God.