0:00

when they hear, oh, he has a call of God

0:02

on his life, or she's got a call of God,

0:04

they think worship leader, they think missionary, they

0:07

think youth pastor, pastor. And

0:09

the sad part is that might be 3 %

0:11

of the people. There were so many

0:13

times where we thought it would be

0:15

so much easier if we could do this

0:17

or if we could do that. And

0:19

God was like, that's not what I'm calling

0:22

you to do. and you can copy

0:24

somebody else and maybe even have a measure

0:26

of success, but you will never have

0:28

the kiss of heaven on it. Too many

0:30

people are trying to build something that

0:32

they're not grace to do because they weren't

0:34

called to do it. So I want

0:36

to go on record after 42 years

0:39

of ministry. This is a pretty bold

0:41

statement I'm about to make. Most people

0:43

backslide because they disengage from what they're

0:45

called to do. Now, I want to

0:47

say this. Welcome

0:52

to Conversations with John and Lisa

0:54

Bavir. And I'm super excited

0:56

about this. John, we get so

0:58

many questions on this topic.

1:01

We do. And I'm super excited

1:03

that we have a resource.

1:05

It is called You Are Called.

1:07

A lot of people are

1:09

like, wait, no, that's just ministers

1:11

that are called. But the

1:13

truth is, you are called. You

1:16

are called. Discover your God -given

1:18

gifts. to fulfill your purpose.

1:20

See all of us have a

1:22

purpose and John you know when

1:24

I travel and speak I tell

1:26

them and it's kind of a

1:28

funny thing it's kind of like

1:30

people like well that's because you

1:32

got saved in the early 80s

1:34

but I told them that as

1:36

soon as I got saved I

1:38

was told that God had a plan

1:41

for my Who told you

1:43

that? You told me that. You

1:45

told me that. I led you to

1:47

Jesus. And you said that God has a

1:49

plan. And here's the thing, people are

1:51

trying to figure out the plan. I think

1:53

it's been never been so confusing. People

1:55

are like, I want to be part of

1:58

that plan. I want to fulfill

2:00

God's plan for my life, but I don't

2:02

know what I'm called to do. I don't

2:04

know why I'm called. And so we're so

2:06

excited. You can order this book called. And

2:08

I know this has been up. You are

2:10

called. You are called. Yeah. And I know

2:12

this has been a passion on your life

2:14

because such a passion without a calling, people

2:16

drift. Well, you know, Jesus

2:18

made this statement, Lisa and John

2:20

4 34. He said, my meat is

2:22

to do the will of him

2:24

who sent me. Yes. And to finish

2:26

his work. Now, meat is what

2:29

strengthens us. Other translations use the word

2:31

food. Yeah. Food is what strengthens

2:33

us. So can you imagine is going

2:35

like 10 days, not caffeine is

2:37

what is strengthens you. All right. So.

2:39

10 days, no caffeine for you,

2:41

OK? my gosh. One day. No food.

2:43

caffeine. No. The world's in trouble.

2:45

No. No food, no caffeine. And then

2:47

you have to do, let's say,

2:50

gardening for a whole day. You're

2:52

going to be, you're not going to have the

2:54

strength. No, I'm going to be weak. Yeah.

2:57

Yeah. And so I want to go on

2:59

record after 42 years of ministry. This

3:01

is a pretty bold statement I'm about to

3:03

make. Most

3:05

people backslide. because they disengage

3:07

from what they're called to do. Now,

3:10

I want to say this, the

3:12

backsliding may manifest in other ways. They

3:14

may have had an affair, they

3:16

may have got a substance, but

3:19

when we grow

3:21

weak, we're vulnerable. We're

3:23

vulnerable to the attacks of the enemy.

3:25

So what I'm hearing from you is

3:28

that it's hard to persevere when you

3:30

don't have purpose. When you don't have

3:32

purpose because God created every one of

3:34

us, every single one of us. to

3:36

be like Jesus. Jesus actually made the

3:38

statement, John 2021, as

3:40

the Father sent me, so I

3:42

send you. First John, he said,

3:44

he who says he abides in

3:46

him, ought himself to walk as

3:48

Jesus walked. So when we're talking

3:50

about you are called, I

3:53

think immediately of the scripture that many

3:55

are called. Yeah. And if you are,

3:57

if you are chosen, what can you,

3:59

can you talk about that? Because I

4:01

think that's a confusing passage to a

4:03

lot of people. It's, it's very sobering,

4:05

Lisa. because I believe what Jesus

4:07

is saying, when he says many are called,

4:09

he's saying every single person has a calling,

4:11

every single human being. So

4:14

if you're born again, you

4:16

have a call of God on your life. If

4:18

you're not even saved yet, you still have a

4:20

call of God on your life because it's something

4:22

that God gave every single one of us when

4:24

we were born. I mean, I look at Ephesians

4:26

2, 8, 9 and 10, it says, we're saved

4:28

by grace through faith, not of works, less than

4:30

men should boast. The very

4:32

next statement says four. which

4:34

means he's not done with the

4:37

thought because you are his

4:39

workmanship created in Christ Jesus. Now

4:41

listen to this, to do. So

4:44

you were created to do something, to do good

4:46

works, which God prepared in advance that we should

4:48

walk in them. Now, when I look at that,

4:50

Lisa, and I look at Psalm 139, what David

4:53

wrote, Psalm 139, I think

4:55

it's verse 16 and 17. I'm not

4:57

quite sure of the exact location,

4:59

but David said, you saw me before

5:01

I was born. Yeah, you saw

5:03

my unformed. when you were being woven

5:05

in your mother's womb. Yeah, saw

5:07

me before I was born. Then

5:09

he makes a statement. This is crazy. Every

5:12

day of my life was recorded in

5:14

your book. So there's a book written

5:16

about every single human being. Every day

5:18

of my life was recorded in your

5:20

book. Every moment was laid out before

5:22

a single day began. So

5:24

not only did God write this

5:26

book about our life, but

5:28

he wrote a book about every

5:30

moment. Now, How

5:32

in the world do we fulfill

5:34

that and and here's the thing

5:37

because you said it earlier People

5:39

when they hear oh, he has

5:41

a call of God on his

5:43

life or she's got a call

5:45

of God They think worship leader.

5:47

They think missionary. They think you

5:49

pastor pastor and The sad part

5:51

is that might be 3 %

5:53

of the people Because right but

5:55

most of us our callings are

5:57

in the educational realm. It's in

5:59

the health care. It's in government

6:01

it's in athletics, it's stay -at -home

6:03

mom, it's on and on and

6:05

on. We could go on. And

6:07

with that calling, he

6:10

gives us very, very supernatural

6:12

specific gifts to accomplish

6:14

that calling. And we have

6:16

a passionate messenger. We want to see

6:18

people get into their calling so they

6:20

can be strengthened by doing which they

6:22

are created to do, like said. Which

6:25

is why we disciple. Because

6:27

if you disciple people, they

6:29

do. If you don't disciple people,

6:31

they listen, they watch, they

6:33

don't do. Yeah. I love

6:35

that. Okay. So I'm, I'm a

6:38

mom. I'm just putting myself into

6:40

somebody listening. I'm a mom. And

6:42

you just said, stay home mom,

6:44

stay home mom is a calling.

6:46

I remember, I don't know if

6:48

you remember this. I remember we're

6:50

working. I was working full time.

6:53

You were working part time. You're

6:55

about to become a youth pastor.

6:57

And I felt good about. what

6:59

I was doing, it was with

7:01

a ministry, but I felt called

7:04

to be a mother. And

7:06

I remember just sitting and praying

7:08

and reading my scripture and just

7:10

saying, God, I feel called to

7:12

stay home and be a mother.

7:14

And I thought, but I don't

7:17

think I can do that because

7:19

in this world, it felt like

7:21

everybody had to have two jobs.

7:23

Everybody had to have a working

7:25

wife, a working husband and working

7:27

mother. But I felt Called and

7:29

I remember we edited our life

7:31

so that I could stay home.

7:33

Do you remember that I do

7:36

I said, okay, I'm if I

7:38

feel called to stay home with

7:40

our kids then we're gonna have

7:42

to edit certain portions of our

7:44

life and I will say staying

7:46

home with my children was possibly

7:48

the hardest thing and the most

7:50

rewarding thing I ever did I

7:52

remember when I After first couple

7:55

months, I'd come home and say,

7:57

how's it going? And you said,

8:00

I don't have any adult conversation. You

8:02

were so used to adult conversation. And

8:04

affirmation, measurable work task, you know,

8:06

is very hard. But you knew

8:08

you were supposed to do it.

8:11

Yes. So having a call that

8:13

you receive does not mean it's

8:15

going to be easy. It

8:17

could be challenging. That's so

8:20

good. Hey, everybody, we'll get back

8:22

to this episode in just

8:24

a moment. But first, we want

8:26

to thank all the patrons

8:28

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this podcast in the show's

8:55

description. Now let's get back to

8:57

the program. You graduated from

8:59

Purdue University with a mechanical engineering

9:01

degree. Yeah. Yeah. But you

9:03

felt called to go into ministry.

9:05

didn't want anything to do

9:07

with it, at least. So

9:10

my experience with ministers

9:12

wasn't real healthy. That

9:16

I was you hadn't seen you

9:18

hadn't seen what? Well, that's what

9:20

I'm about to say. I hadn't

9:22

seen really effective healthy godly ministry

9:24

I grew up in a little

9:26

town of 2 ,800 people and

9:28

we we weren't a suburb of

9:30

a big city We were 2 ,800

9:32

people Wow and other than my

9:34

Catholic church The only minister that

9:36

I knew was this really tiny

9:38

church and he had two kids

9:40

about my age And they were

9:42

a little strange. And I remember

9:44

one time, and I remember the

9:46

exact street. I remember the exact

9:48

moment. I can close my eyes

9:51

and remember this, Lisa. It's crazy.

9:53

I walk into their house and

9:55

it was so smelly and so

9:57

disorganized. And I remember actually trying

9:59

to hold my breath thinking, I got to come

10:01

up with a reason to get out of here.

10:03

I mean, I'm not saved. I'm going to lie

10:05

to get myself out of this house. So.

10:08

John, John, let's just all be

10:10

honest with this. You're OCD and

10:13

proud. I'm a little bit, a

10:15

little bit OCD. A little OCD.

10:17

But I remember, so now fast

10:19

forward, I get saved in my

10:21

college fraternity and within months, all

10:23

of a sudden I feel this,

10:25

this tugging in my heart. You

10:28

can't explain it because it's not like

10:30

I want to do this. I feel

10:32

this tug like I'm supposed to be

10:34

preaching. And I remember it took a

10:36

year and a half. Like I didn't

10:38

want to do it because I thought

10:40

you either end up as a Catholic

10:42

priest with no wife and I just

10:44

not getting married was not an option

10:47

for me. Or you end up like

10:49

the house of that minister, the only

10:51

one I knew. So I'm resisting, I'm

10:53

resisting, I'm resisting. And I think God

10:55

was very patient. He had two globally

10:57

known ministers come into Purdue University and

10:59

one of them looked at me and

11:01

said, what are you doing here? I

11:03

said, what are you talking about? He

11:05

said, you're called to preach the gospel.

11:07

Yeah, I remember that. And then I

11:09

remember being in an auditorium in Indianapolis,

11:12

60 minutes from Purdue. And

11:14

this minister, there was 5 ,000

11:16

people. I was in the very

11:18

last rows of the bottom floor.

11:20

It was where the Indiana Pacers

11:22

played. And the minister goes,

11:24

there's a young man. You're sitting like

11:26

the last couple rows on the bottom floor.

11:28

And you knew it was you. And

11:30

the Spirit of God came on me. And

11:32

he said, One day you think you're

11:34

called. The next day you don't think you're

11:36

called. God says, hey, you're called. So

11:38

I I believe God was patient with me.

11:40

But now. Calling

11:43

is not like a one time

11:45

thing. It's something you walk in every

11:47

single day. Yeah. So and you

11:49

start small and believe big. Yeah.

11:51

And you start obedient and and

11:53

you start with just. I remember

11:55

I think it was Stormia Martin that

11:57

wrote the book. Just enough light. for the

11:59

step I'm on. Like we want to

12:01

see all the way to the top of

12:03

the staircase. And God's like, I'm going

12:05

to give you enough light for the step

12:07

you're on. You're on this stair. Just

12:10

step up onto that stair. And as

12:12

we begin to go up, he enlightens us

12:14

on that path. Well, he may give

12:16

you a little glimpse of the top stair.

12:18

Like he says, David, when you're a

12:20

kid, 16 -year -olds, you're going to be king,

12:22

right? Yeah. But yet he doesn't tell

12:25

David, You're going to be running for your

12:27

life, living in deserts, caves and wildernesses.

12:29

Dodging, javelins. He didn't say any of that.

12:31

Now, can you imagine what's going through

12:33

David's head when all this is going on?

12:36

Can you imagine what's going through Joseph when

12:38

he gets a dream that his brothers

12:40

are going to be under his leadership, but

12:42

yet he goes from pit to slavery

12:44

to dungeon? Right. Right. And, you know, I

12:46

I was actually getting my haircut today.

12:48

And, you know, I said, for

12:51

some reason, this came up. And I said,

12:53

I think we were talking about the new

12:55

book because she was very interested in the

12:57

book. And I said, you know,

12:59

it wasn't last Thanksgiving. It was the Thanksgiving before

13:01

I sat in front of my family and

13:03

I said, guys, the more I look back, your

13:05

mom and I have been in ministry and

13:07

at that time was 40 years exactly. I

13:09

said, it's consistency. And

13:12

that's the word patience. OK,

13:14

the word patience means constancy.

13:16

So so patience isn't just waiting

13:18

until you get something. It's

13:20

being constant. It's being consistently. obedient

13:23

no matter how difficult the situation is.

13:25

And I said to her today, I said,

13:27

this is the example I gave my

13:29

family. I said, there is

13:31

nobody who touches my heart more,

13:33

Lisa, in the Old Testament than

13:35

Joseph. I just, I'm

13:38

in awe of it because he gets

13:40

this dream that his brothers are going to

13:42

serve him. He tells the dream

13:44

to his brothers and he gets thrown into a

13:46

pit. Then he gets sold as a slave. He's

13:48

a slave for 10 years. And

13:50

then, you know, This

13:53

is what gets me. No

13:55

fellowship groups. No pastor

13:57

preaching to him. He

14:00

doesn't have trauma. No, let's talk about

14:02

trauma. I mean, brothers threatened to kill you,

14:04

throw you in a pit, rejection,

14:07

jealousy, isolation from your family,

14:09

from everything you know,

14:11

falsely accused in a foreign

14:13

country. Well, not only

14:15

that, you know, Jacob was

14:17

a really wealthy man. So

14:19

he goes from being an error.

14:21

of a very wealthy man

14:23

to a guy a slave once

14:25

once he marries a slave

14:27

in a foreign nation if you

14:29

marry you your wife's a

14:31

slave your children are slaves you

14:33

work the rest of your

14:35

life building somebody else's inheritance so

14:37

he has all that stripped

14:40

away by his own brothers on

14:42

top of this right okay

14:44

and now he's faithful as a

14:46

as a servant in Potiphar's

14:48

house who's an officer of the

14:50

king and his wife now

14:52

seducing him every single day, every

14:54

single day. She's trying to seduce

14:56

him. Yeah. And he keeps going, no, no, no.

14:58

And she grabs his road, runs out of the house,

15:00

flees sexual immorality. He obeys the word of God

15:02

and gets thrown in the dungeon. Now you're

15:04

a foreign slave. You're

15:06

accused of raping, trying

15:08

to rape, excuse me, an

15:11

officer of the king's wife. They

15:13

have put you in that dungeon a lot.

15:16

Now he's in that dungeon for two years. OK,

15:19

I want everybody to just think two years

15:21

ago. How long ago that was? That was a

15:23

long time. And

15:25

God brings the greatest test. And

15:27

the greatest test is He brings two

15:29

guys that had dreams about Lerner Baker. What's

15:32

the test? They said they

15:34

had a dream. If Joseph would have

15:36

been like some of us, he would have said, I

15:39

had a dream once, leave me alone. I

15:41

mean, can he proclaim the

15:43

faithfulness of God to these two men in

15:45

that dungeon when he hasn't seen any evidence

15:47

of it in his own life in 12

15:49

years in regard to his dream? To

15:52

me, that's consistency. He kept obeying God.

15:54

And it seemed like the more you

15:56

obey God, the worse it got. And

15:59

so I've watched you for years. I've

16:02

watched you with such admiration. Because

16:04

I look at these people and they go,

16:06

you shouldn't be preaching. You shouldn't be doing

16:09

this. What has kept you going in the

16:11

midst of all this persecution? I

16:13

felt called. I

16:15

mean, and at the end of the

16:17

day, if you feel called, and I

16:19

think that I think

16:21

that's I think that's what we're

16:23

talking about we want people to

16:25

know they're called and Then we

16:28

want them to know that

16:30

the calling has a grace attached

16:32

to it to move them forward

16:34

into that Regardless of how people

16:36

respond regardless to what that looks

16:38

like how other people expect it

16:40

to play out. I mean you

16:43

and I We

16:45

did not have a frame of reference

16:47

for what we felt like God was

16:49

calling us to do. We made it

16:51

up as we went along. There were

16:53

so many times where we thought it

16:55

would be so much easier if we

16:57

could do this, or if we could

16:59

do that, or if we could build

17:01

a church, or if we could... And

17:03

God was like, that's not what I'm

17:05

calling you to do. And so when

17:07

God calls you... He equips you. God

17:09

graces you to do what He calls

17:11

you to do. And I think too

17:14

many people are trying to build something

17:16

that they're not grace to do because

17:18

they weren't called to do it. And

17:20

you can copy somebody else and maybe

17:22

even have a measure of success, but

17:24

you will never have the kiss of

17:26

heaven on it. You will have the

17:28

success of people. but you

17:30

won't have the ability to withstand

17:32

the persecution when it comes. You

17:34

know, it's so crazy. I told you

17:37

this yesterday. I was very grumpy yesterday. I

17:39

was very, very grumpy because I got

17:41

woke up. Well, I didn't get

17:43

woke up. I was awake for a

17:45

couple of hours. I don't turn my

17:47

phone on for a couple of hours.

17:49

But when I turned it on, it

17:51

was bad news, John. It was somebody

17:53

sent me a copy of somebody coming

17:55

after me for something that I had

17:57

said. it from

17:59

2000 I'd written it in 2001

18:01

it was from a book I

18:03

wrote in 2002 and all I

18:05

was was quoting something that people

18:08

assumed was right back then and

18:10

and it shakes you and and

18:12

you could back off of everything

18:14

and again we're all going to

18:16

we're all going to have bad

18:18

science or different things but if

18:20

you know that you're called it

18:22

won't shake you to your core

18:24

you'll be able to make adjustments

18:27

but it won't it won't knock

18:29

you off course. And I think

18:31

the calling is our true north.

18:33

It's that compass. It's that, hey,

18:35

I need to pioneer from this

18:37

calling. I still find

18:39

it very fascinating that sailors look

18:41

at the stars to navigate the

18:43

troubled seas. And to me, when

18:45

we look at the stars, that

18:47

is God's, that's what we lift

18:49

our eyes. And we lift our

18:51

eyes, that's when we remember what

18:53

we're called to do. And it

18:55

causes us to be elevated. above

18:57

our circumstances. You know, I've

19:00

been really thinking a lot about 1

19:02

John 228 where John the Apostle

19:04

writes, and now little children abide in

19:06

him. Now listen

19:08

to the word abide in him.

19:10

It means remain. It means endure. It

19:13

means hold on to even the

19:15

midst of hardship. Abide in

19:17

him that when he appears,

19:19

we may not be ashamed.

19:22

Wow. Okay, now. I'm

19:24

I'm actually been meditating so

19:26

much on this Lisa He says

19:28

little children Abide in him

19:30

that when he appears we may

19:32

not be ashamed. I'm thinking

19:34

he's not writing down believers He's

19:36

writing to believers and he

19:38

uses the word ashamed and I

19:41

went to the original Mm -hmm,

19:43

and that word actually means

19:45

shame from doing something wrong. Yeah,

19:47

and I started thinking about When

19:50

I was at Purdue University when I

19:52

met you I had the privilege of meeting

19:54

you but I got saved my sophomore

19:56

year before I met you because Yeah, I

19:58

was I was he didn't come along

20:00

until I was did not I did not

20:02

and You know my mom and dad

20:04

paid my full tuition at Purdue I was

20:06

very fortunate my dad had saved and

20:08

saved and he didn't make a large salary

20:10

But he saved and saved and saved

20:12

he was so because he wanted to pay

20:14

for all this college education And I

20:16

remember, you know, joining a fraternity, now I'm

20:18

not saved yet. And I'm looking at

20:20

my fraternity brothers and, you

20:22

know, I watch them just

20:24

be grabbed by the fun of the

20:26

moment. You know, they were chasing girls, they

20:28

were going to parties, they

20:31

were out running around, playing

20:33

constantly football or Frisbee

20:35

and, and oh my gosh,

20:37

you know, you're so tempted because you

20:39

don't have anybody overseeing you anymore, your parents.

20:42

And I remember what kept me

20:44

opening those books is I knew

20:46

there was a final coming. And

20:49

that, you know, I watched those

20:51

guys take stimulants, caffeine, pull all

20:53

nighters to try to cram in

20:55

so they could do okay on

20:57

the final. I mean, they panicked

20:59

when that. So think about Jesus

21:01

coming, the second coming of Jesus,

21:03

right? And I remember from

21:05

the very first week, I'm trembling because

21:07

I'm like, I got to work. And

21:10

I because my dad paid this and my dad's going to

21:12

see my report card at the end of this marking period.

21:15

And I think that kept

21:17

me working hard. And I

21:19

remember, Lisa, there was one

21:21

semester I slacked. And

21:23

I remember I was trembling. I

21:25

was trembling because, you know, it was like

21:27

a week between the time you got home for

21:30

Christmas break or the end of May. and

21:32

the time when the report card came in the

21:34

mail. It's not electronic like it used to

21:36

be. It was a mail. I was

21:38

trembling. I was like, my dad's going to see

21:40

my report card. And I remember when he

21:42

opened it up, and I remember the look of

21:44

disappointment. And it

21:46

broke me. I realized my dad just

21:48

paid a lot of money for me

21:51

to go to a really good university

21:53

out of state. I

21:56

wished I could have gone back and did

21:58

it again. And I think about abiding him

22:00

that when he appears, we're not ashamed. So

22:03

there's two responses I see, well

22:06

done, good and faithful servant.

22:08

And that's talking about the

22:10

way we respond to our

22:12

calling. Because Jesus, that's

22:14

the parable of talents where he

22:16

entrusts with us gifts to

22:18

occupy, do business until he returns.

22:21

So well done, good and faithful servant

22:23

or ashamed. Now, I experienced both

22:25

of those. I remember the delight in

22:27

my dad when I made the dean's

22:29

list at Purdue University. Right.

22:31

My dad was so pleased and I was

22:33

just like, oh my gosh, I'm so happy.

22:35

I mean, because I love my dad so

22:37

much. But I remember the

22:39

disappointed and I remember he just looked at me. All he

22:41

had to say is, well, he said one thing. He

22:43

said, you could have done better. That's

22:45

all he needed to say. It broke

22:47

me. And you know

22:49

what? That one incident, all

22:52

the rest of the semesters, Let me tell

22:54

you, when I didn't want to break open that

22:56

thermodynamics book, I broke it open. Now listen

22:58

to this, work out your

23:00

salvation with fear and trembling. Okay,

23:03

as you've always obeyed, not only in

23:05

my presence, but now much more in my

23:07

absence, Philippians 2 .12, work out your own

23:09

salvation with fear and trembling. Could

23:12

it be that when we keep before

23:14

us that he is returning and we're either

23:16

going to get well done or we're

23:18

going to be ashamed? Or you could have

23:20

done better. Yeah. And it's not that

23:22

he's rejecting us as a child. My dad

23:24

didn't reject me. But experiencing his pleasure

23:26

versus, wow, I had so

23:28

much more you. had so much more. I

23:30

had so much more. I had to give it

23:33

to somebody else. Yeah. Can I just to

23:35

highlight that, I thought my dad was paying for

23:37

everything. And so I was majoring in suntanning. And

23:39

then I get out of

23:42

school and I get a phone

23:44

call that I was paying

23:46

for everything. And I had

23:48

to pay all, well, we, you married,

23:50

you married, you had to pay for

23:52

my son tanning. But, but

23:54

I, I remember looking back

23:56

and said, would I have,

23:58

would I have valued my

24:00

education differently? Number one, if

24:03

I had understood the cost,

24:05

it was going to be

24:07

later. And so many times

24:09

we can look back and

24:11

wish, wish I would have

24:13

maximized that time. But here's

24:15

the good news. Hey, when

24:17

you're called that calling, it

24:19

remains. It isn't like

24:21

God says, well, she's wasting her

24:23

time or he's wasting his

24:25

time. He says that calling is

24:27

it is assigned to you

24:29

from your mother's womb. Yeah. And

24:31

I believe people are listening

24:33

right now, John, to this podcast

24:35

that God is reminding them

24:37

that his hand has been on

24:39

them. and that they're called,

24:41

and they're called to something more.

24:43

And it's so funny, I

24:45

was listening, and this

24:48

is gonna sound really ridiculous, but

24:50

I was listening to some ridiculous

24:52

speech that didn't make any sense,

24:54

but this person was like, you

24:56

are more, you

24:58

are they them. I'm like, oh

25:00

my gosh, the only person who

25:02

is more than one is God.

25:05

He's the only one that is

25:07

they, not us, but the more

25:09

that we look for, every person

25:11

longs for the more, but it's

25:13

not the more of us. It's

25:15

not a triplicate of me. It

25:17

is a divine connection with the

25:19

one who calls us by name

25:21

and calls us according to his

25:24

purpose. And so that's why I'm

25:26

so excited about you are called

25:28

because John, when people come

25:30

to our app, they look for

25:32

Purpose we found that they look for

25:34

freedom from pornography Yeah, and they

25:36

look for purpose and I think in

25:38

so many ways both of those

25:40

go hand -in -hand when you find purpose

25:42

you find a reason to walk

25:44

in freedom if you don't have a

25:46

purpose if you don't have a

25:49

God breathe calling on your life or

25:51

Of course everybody has it, but

25:53

you don't have the revelation that God

25:55

has that on your life It

25:57

says without a vision people cast off

25:59

restraint They have no restraint. Go

26:01

ahead, party at the college. Go ahead,

26:03

major in suntanning, because you have

26:05

no vision. God has not imparted his

26:07

vision. And I know there's people

26:09

out there, John, that

26:11

they want that. They want

26:14

that. Can you pray with

26:16

them for that thing? Because

26:18

I know that sometimes life

26:20

clouds. Sometimes, pandemics confuse people.

26:22

Sometimes, people go into one

26:24

season one way, and they come

26:26

out of this season a

26:28

different way, and they think the

26:31

calling of God shifted. Sometimes,

26:33

people do horrible, regrettable things, and

26:35

they think they have canceled

26:37

the calling of God on their

26:39

life, and yet, maybe it's

26:41

shifted, changed, and God

26:43

wants to redeem them into a...

26:45

Back into that right place, you

26:47

know, I just want to look

26:49

at every single one of you

26:51

and say you were born on

26:53

purpose and you were born for

26:55

a purpose and You're calling that

26:57

God has placed on your life

26:59

according to Timothy 1 9

27:02

is a holy calling God is

27:04

the one Who created you to

27:06

do what he has created you

27:08

to do and I want to

27:10

I want to put a I

27:12

want to wrap this bow up

27:14

The only way you can fulfill

27:16

it is abiding is when you

27:18

live in fellowship with him. The

27:20

enemy is going to try to pull you out

27:23

of fellowship with God. He's going to

27:25

try to do it through distractions. He's

27:27

going to try to do it through temptations. But

27:29

Joseph never lost sight.

27:33

The Bible says he remembered 12 years

27:35

later in that dungeon, he remembered or

27:37

12 years later when his actually 19

27:39

years later when his brothers actually came

27:41

to him, he remembered. It didn't he

27:43

it doesn't mean he go Oh my

27:45

gosh, that's right. I remember that dream

27:47

19 years ago. He kept that dream

27:49

before him the whole time. And

27:51

see, in the New Testament, we have the

27:54

wonderful privilege that they didn't have in the

27:56

Old Testament, and that is we have the

27:58

Spirit of God abiding in us. And when

28:00

we live in fellowship with Him, He takes

28:02

us step by step by step. And

28:04

there is a call on your life, and

28:06

it's really important that you fulfill it, because if

28:09

you don't fulfill it, God will have to

28:11

find somebody else to fulfill it, because this house

28:13

will be filled. But God, as the Overseer

28:15

the one that put this whole

28:18

thing together says I know all the

28:20

different workers They're gonna be building

28:22

my house called Zion that's made out

28:24

of living stones human beings. You're

28:26

called to affect people What you do?

28:28

Yes, it it it it may

28:31

not directly involve people But it does

28:33

connect with people you'll end up

28:35

meeting people If you're an accountant, you'll

28:37

meet people that God wants you

28:39

to meet. You'll do things for people

28:41

that God wants you to do

28:44

for those people because it all involves

28:46

the only thing that we can

28:48

bring to heaven and that is our

28:50

relationships. That is how we impact

28:52

people's lives. You have a calling

28:54

and Lisa and I are going to

28:56

pray for you right now. Father, in

28:58

the name of Jesus, I pray for

29:00

whoever it is that is watching or

29:02

listening to this podcast right now. Father,

29:05

they know deep inside. that

29:07

they were born on purpose for a purpose.

29:10

And so I'm asking in the name of

29:12

Jesus, Holy Spirit, that you

29:14

would literally, your presence would come

29:16

upon them right now. And that you

29:18

would open the eyes of their

29:20

heart, open the ears of their heart,

29:22

and that they would be able

29:24

to see and hear what it is

29:26

you've created them to do. And

29:28

then Lord, whatever is that's blocking this,

29:31

whatever idol that's there, whatever distractions

29:33

that's there, whatever habitual sin that's keeping

29:35

them from hearing your voice, that

29:37

Lord, supernaturally open their ears and their

29:39

eyes right now. And I pray

29:41

that you'd give them the strength to

29:43

walk away from whatever it is

29:45

that is distracting them, Father, and that

29:47

they would walk in this divine

29:49

calling that you've placed upon their life.

29:51

And so in the name of

29:53

Jesus, I break the shackles, I break

29:55

the chains that are holding you

29:58

back. because you are called in Jesus'

30:00

name, fulfill it. And I thank

30:02

you for doing this, Father in their

30:04

lives. Amen. Amen.

30:06

That was incredibly powerful. We

30:08

hope you enjoyed this episode of

30:10

Conversations with and Lisa Bavir. If you

30:12

haven't already, make sure you subscribe

30:14

and rate this podcast wherever you love

30:16

to listen. Also, if you haven't

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already, go ahead and download MessengerX to

30:21

hear more content from John and

30:23

Lisa Bevere and other great messengers. Again,

30:25

thank you so much for joining

30:27

us and we'll see you next time

30:29

on Conversations John and Lisa.