Discover Your True Self - You are Called, Part 1

Whether you know it or not, you have a calling.

You may have not thought about it exactly in those words, but God has a unique plan and purpose, and it's not a secret. In fact, you have the potential to make a difference in ways you've never imagined. That's today on Living on the Edge.

Stay with me. Welcome to this Edition of Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram. Chip's our Bible teacher on this international discipleship program, and I'm Dave Drury. We're in Chip's series Discover Your True Self, and in this program he begins by suggesting you pull out his notes. These are his message notes that show his outline and all the extra helps he wants you to have as you listen and study along. Now to get them, just click Listen Now at Living on the Edge dot org or tap Fill in Notes on the app.

While you're doing that, I'll let you know that we're coming down to the last couple of programs in this series, so if you've missed any of them along the way, the Chip Ingram app is a great way to catch up or listen again. Well, let's get going, shall we, and join Chip now for his message You Are Called from Ephesians Chapter 2. I'd really like to start a little bit differently if you would pull out your notes and go to the back page.

I'm going to start at the very end. And there's two misbeliefs there, and I want to share these because these perhaps are the deepest misbeliefs that both myself and my wife has had in a season in our life. Misbelief number one is that I am not wanted or needed by anyone.

My life has no purpose or meaning. I'm a victim of an unfair, uncaring world that brings me pain. Four and a half years before I met my wife, she believed that with all of her heart. Many of you know her story. She came from a very difficult home life, abandoned by an unbeliever who went someplace else with another woman that he'd been seeing for a year or so. Two little babies, no money, broke, and her heart broken. And she believed that. And dangerous emotions and thoughts went through her mind that apart from those two little babies, she probably would have not stayed around. She felt so hopeless. Some of you know what that feels like.

They're scary thoughts. The second misbelief is significance and meaning come from success in life. I will be happy someday when my relationships, career and finances reflect my success and accomplishments. Many people get very hopeless when after working for years and years and years and years, that doesn't happen. In my case, my upbringing actually helped in a few ways. My marine father and workaholic tendencies by 12, I had very clear written goals. I mean, I was going to get a basketball scholarship. I was going to have great grades and I would date a very pretty girl.

And I graduated and I did all three. And I sat at a party afterwards and a good friend turned to me and said, you must be very happy. And I had an experience that I'd never had in my life because I'd already set the new set of goals. And there was like a wave of emptiness in my soul that I thought, no, I'm not really happy at all.

I thought these things would bring it but it didn't. I had by that time drifted away from church, questioned God, and prayed a prayer on the way home. God, if you exist, you better reveal yourself because life makes no sense. Why live? Life's meaningless.

All the people I love will die before I die and if accomplishing things is not what life's about, then life's a crapshoot. I think I said something a little bit stronger which probably was not very reverent. If you open your notes to the front page now, I want to talk about those dangerous emotions and how do you deal with those dangerous emotions? It's hard to give one emotion. I chose a word that's kind of vague but I think you'll get it.

The actual dictionary definition comes close. It's angst. Angst is a feeling of deep anxiety but it's not worry, it's dread. But it's unfocused.

It's hard to identify. It's the sense of frustration and apprehension with the general state of the world and your own future. Look at all this political stuff, look at all this racism, look at all this suffering, look at all this evil, look at all the terrible things happening and what about me and you just often get very discouraged and then depressed. But angst has some emotional cousins. Thoughts start going through your mind, meaninglessness, feeling like my life doesn't have any value or significance.

That's where Theresa was. No value. There's no use in me being here. Thoughts like purposelessness, without an aim or goal or plan. Life is pointless. It's senseless. That was me.

Why do this? And then there's times where you just get hopeless. There's despair, despondency and here's the core belief. Somehow you start thinking it'll never get better.

A happier day, change is never going to happen. And when you lose hope, that's when horrendous things happen. And they're happening like never before.

I have an article in my notes here from the CDC. Suicide across the board has skyrocketed in the last decade and they did a study to say is it education, is it family, is it support? Why are people killing themselves?

And a secular study said it's the lack of religion and the lack of meaning that there is a God and there's something more than yourself. Angst is real. And by the way, lest you think this is about suicide, every person has moments and dips. I like to read the Psalms because David is a man after God's own heart and he's dancing in one Psalm here and praising God and God is awesome and then he's down here in the valley going why have you forsaken me and just take me out and I'm so mad and I'm so discouraged and he's clinically depressed. So all I want to say is this isn't about someone else out there.

If you've never had one of these windows, you will. So what's God's antidote? Before you turn the page, let me ask you the question that I always ask in these series is what apart from Christ do you use to medicate or sedate your sense of angst? What do you do when you feel like life is senseless? What do you do when you get discouraged and depressed?

What do you do when you just feel like hopeless? Do you eat? Do you work more? Do you drink? Prescription drugs? Sex? What addictive behavior?

I mean everyone deals with it. It was neat. I had a guy first time here in between services and he had a book and he's joining a group and I said wow this is your first time here and you're joining a group? He said yeah. I said why? He said because I've never been to your church before but my wife and I came and as I listened I realized and then he looked at me and he goes I'm an alcoholic but everything you talked about I get and if there's help about that then I want it. So I'm going to get involved. I said good move. What's yours?

Because here's the deal. We all have stuff but if you identify yours, if you'd be willing to be honest just privately with God then the antidote is really going to make sense. Turn the page. What is God's antidote to angst? Meaningless. Purposelessness. What do you do with those feelings when you feel absolutely insignificant and there's no hope? Number one, remember the hope of your calling.

Circle the word hope. Remember the hope of your calling. In chapter 1 verse 18 Paul prayed this. He says I pray that God would give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation into who he really is.

A true knowledge and experiential intimate knowledge of him. And then the very next verse he says I also pray, and this was a different word for no, this fact. I pray that your eyes would be enlightened of your heart that you would know as a fact the hope of his calling.

And what he was really praying was what we've just been learning. What's the hope of your calling? You're chosen. You're accepted by God no matter what anyone says. You're adopted.

You have a father. You're redeemed. You're infinitely valuable. You've been purchased by the blood of Christ. You're sealed. You're amazingly secured by the Holy Spirit and you're empowered.

The same power that raised Christ from that it actually dwells in you. That's what it means to be called. That's who you are. When God sees you he calls you son. He calls you daughter. And all that is on your notes in that page that I just said.

It's true of you. He wants you to see yourself as a dearly loved chosen valuable secure son of God, daughter of the Most High God. And when you ponder that, when you remember that, it makes a big difference. This idea of being called is a little foreign I think 21st century Christians and so I gave you a definition here out of the theological dictionary. Call is one of the biblical words associated with our salvation. In other words God's called you to himself and you responded in faith.

In both Hebrew and Greek call can be used in a sense of naming. And in biblical thought to give a name to someone bestows an identity. Would you put a box around identity? Your identity is not your work. Your identity is not your looks. Your identity is not your family. Your identity is not your money. It's not your zip code.

It's not what other people think. God has called you. You have an identity.

Son, daughter, beloved, secure. And notice it goes on. When God is the one who bestows names, the action is almost equivalent to creation. And I gave you a passage there from Isaiah 40. It says where he calls the stars out one by one. In other words God spoke and billions of stars and galaxies came out.

Guess what? God spoke. He spoke to you and you turned in response. And you said yes I do fall short. I'm not perfect.

I need help. I need forgiven. And in the empty hands of faith you said Lord Jesus come into my life.

And he did. And just like he spoke creation he spoke recreation so that you're a new person. The old things have passed away. Now how do you experience that? That's what the Christian life is all about. So one, you remember the hope of his calling. Second is to really ponder, to reflect on the magnitude of your calling.

Would you put a box around magnitude? I mean this is just for me. I don't think we get it. I don't think we grasp what's really true of us.

But as you do all those issues that we face that we're challenged with, all those ways that we respond that we know aren't healthy but we keep doing, they dissipate. In our time together here's what I want to do. I'm going to start a little brief review and then from chapter 2 to the end of chapter 3 I'm going to show you five specific ways that God has called you. Here's my goal. I want you to see the magnitude of what's true of you that you are called.

And I want you to get it to soak into your head and drip right down into your heart that you will go oh my. Number one, you are called into a new relationship. He chose you before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight. You are called not to religion. You didn't get called to morality. You didn't get called to duty.

You didn't get called to I'm supposed to do this, I'm supposed to do that. You were called to a relationship. You were called into a relationship with Jesus. A person, a real person who walked on the earth.

A real person who really cares about you and knows you and loves you. On the very last night Jesus was at a vineyard and He was preparing His disciples. He says no longer do I call you slaves because a slave doesn't know what his master is doing but I've called you friends because all the things the Father has revealed to me I've made known unto you. You did not choose me but I chose you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should remain so that you could ask whatever you want and the Father will give it to you.

You know what He's saying, write this down. God is my friend. He called you into friendship, not weight, duty, guilt, stuff.

Second, God calls us to a new purpose. You are His workmanship, right? You're His tapestry. You're His masterpiece. You're His unique. All the people in all the world there is no one like you. There's no DNA like yours.

But it's not just the physical DNA. You are His masterpiece. He's created you exactly the way He wants you and He's created you to fulfill something that no one else can do it quite like you because no one else is you. But notice it's not just who you are. He created you to, what's it say, do good works which He has prepared for you.

This isn't a last minute thing. He prepared for you from the foundations of the world that you should literally walk in them or live in them. Now here's what I want you to do. In your notes I want you to write the word general and then under that I want you to write the word specific because you're called to a general purpose, a new purpose of good works, right? You're called to love God and to love people. Jesus in that same moment with His disciples said, by this is my Father glorified that you bear much fruit and that your fruit should remain. Well what's the fruit?

The fruit is your character. As you allow Christ to live His life in you and through you, you become kinder, more loving, more patient, less envious, less arrogant, more generous. You begin to think and to act and to speak more and more and more like Jesus.

His goal is to make you like Him. That's the fruit to love God and to love people. And that's for everyone so that your light so shines before men that they what? They glorify their God in heaven. They see your good works. They see how you live.

And that's general. That's for all of us but He also has a specific good work for you to walk in. Imagine if you will this colossal huge puzzle of the body of Christ all over the world and there's this piece of the puzzle that is you. And it's your gifts and your passions and your background and your history and your hurts and your struggles and even your failures and all those things are put in to make you a unique you and you fit and you do something in a way that helps people in a way that no one else can quite like you. I call it your holy ambition. It's very specific.

You pursue it and God makes it clearer and clearer and clearer. Connie Segreto has been in the tech world for a lot of years. In 2008, she started a camp called SAM Camp, S-A-M, Science, Art and Math. She goes into the neediest neighborhoods in places where people in this area have never heard about God and she recruits these volunteers and friends and for a week they teach art and science and math and their parents are like, yeah, but they also teach God's word and they make it really, really fun and they do it for a full week and they do it at a cost where they never turn anyone away. In her first year, there's like a hundred kids in the back of a parking lot. Well, now hundreds of kids and then her holy ambition to help these kids and she just gets so excited. It's completely volunteer run and she said, you know, when I discovered that's what God wants me to do.

My heart leaps when I see kids. We taught them they'd never heard of Jesus. They'd never heard of the Holy Spirit. They'd never ever opened a Bible and then I watched God work in their life and then they wanted to tell their parents and my holy ambition is about teaching God's word in a way where life change really happens and so at Living on the Edge, we had created these family devotionals that they're like a three or four minute, it's an actual little movie and it's for kids like five through about 15 and you show this movie and it will highlight either God's holiness or justice or an attribute so she shows a video and all they say is, can we watch another one? Can we watch another one?

Can we watch that one again? And what happened was God moved in ways like never before. I don't know what you think will make you happy.

I will tell you this, when you discover your unique purpose and you begin to give your life away and He uses you and the Spirit of God takes the grace of God through the PVC pipe of your just ordinary life and does something that changes people, I will tell you there's no drug like it. I had a young gal in between services come up, she goes, I'm from San Diego. I said, oh, good to have you. I said, no, I came up here just, I wanted, I've got some business but I just came, I came to go to church. I said, why? And this is not true but I understood what you meant. You saved my life, you saved my marriage and you saved my family and I had to look at you in the face. I said, how did that happen?

I've got that app. I've been listening for five years and you know what? I don't know what else is going to happen today. Here's what I can tell you.

I'm a fulfilled man. I can't, are you kidding me? I mean, are you kidding me?

She's like this, she's like this, you know, like 28 year old and struggling with relationships. I got to be a part, I don't even know how it works but I got to be a part of it. You know what?

There's not enough letters or zeros or portfolios or likes or schools that my kids could get in or nice cars or second homes or remodeled this that could ever compare with that. Can I tell you something? God called you to a relationship and then he called you to a new purpose. Discover it, pursue it. You've been listening to Chip's message, You Are Called, from his series, Discover Your True Self. How to silence the lies of your past and actually experience who God says you are.

Chip will be right back with his application but before he is, I hope you'll take a second to go online or tap share and encourage others to join us for this series too. You know, we all struggle with doubts about self-worth and value but the facts about who we are change when we put our faith in Jesus. Chip's teaching from the book of Ephesians to help us understand who we are as believers in Christ. He explains the nature of the new creation we become and how to leave old things and doubts in the past. For limited time resources for Discover Your True Self are discounted and the MP3s are always free. Now to order your copy or to send it to a friend, visit us online at livingontheedge.org.

For additional information, just give us a call at 1-888-333-6003. Well now, here's Chip. I want to take just a moment to talk about something today that's very important. You know, you might engage with Living on the Edge and obviously you are. You know, you may be listening to me on an app or radio, oneplace.com or maybe you were in a small group study or you took a course online or maybe even read a book that I had the privilege of writing. God, to my amazement and it humbles me, is using Living on the Edge in incredible ways.

And I just have to tell you, we get testimonies from people about restoration and healing and God using them to help other people. And then I want to tell you very, very candidly that we are very serious about using the money and the resources that God gives very carefully and very wisely. But I also want to bring to your attention that it actually takes money for airtime and these teams that create these resources and all the things that happen behind Living on the Edge. There's a group of people with costs involved that allow you to hear me or be in a small group or get teaching.

And here's who I'm talking to. If you have been helped, encouraged, I mean literally blessed by Living on the Edge and you happen to be one of those people that has never given financially to the ministry, I just want to just pause and say, would you consider partnering with us to help us help other people? And maybe it's a one-time gift, maybe it's a small amount that you want to do monthly. I don't know. Here's the deal. Would you just be willing to say, Lord, do you want me to do this? And for some of you, you can't. That's fine.

But just ask that honest question. And if God leads you to give, I will tell you, we'll use it wisely, we'll invest it in ministry, and we're going to help a lot of people. So thanks for prayerfully considering to do whatever God chose you to do. If Living on the Edge is ministering to you and you've not yet become a financial partner, would you consider doing that today?

It takes a team to do what God's called us to do, and we're inviting you to help us help Christians live like Christians. Now, you can give a gift or set up a monthly donation online at livingontheedge.org, or give us a call at 1-888-333-6003. App listeners, just tap the donate button. Thanks in advance for your financial support. Well, now here's Chip with his application.

As we wrap up today, I am super excited about what we talked about and where we're headed in our next broadcast. Remember the hope of your calling? I mean, that is an amazing thought. The fact that the God of the universe has accepted you once you, loves you, have made you valuable, secure, and competent. Can you imagine what would happen if people begin to see themselves that way and then realize that you are His masterpiece and that He has something for you to do, a purpose, a calling that no one else can do quite like you? It's part of your personality and your family background and your spiritual gifts and your passions and all those things wrapped up in this special package that God calls you that motivates you to want to do or help or take on some project that makes a difference.

I actually remember teaching this concept at the church, and I wrote a book called Holy Ambition that helps people kind of go from an idea to discover their calling and put it into practice. So we went through that book together. I remember a guy who had this passion because of his background to get coats for homeless people. He started with three or four people in his family and then a small group, and he shared it with a couple people. Before long, it was crazy.

We had these big bins everywhere and thousands and thousands of coats to homeless people here in the Bay Area. I remember a young gal who really had had some struggles with mental health and realized that other teenagers did and suicidal thoughts and all kinds of stuff that people don't want to talk about. So she created this project and helped other people learn, hey, it's not a stigma. Here's what I want you to know. When you discover your purpose, when you discover what you're designed to do, the greatest joy you'll ever experience is not what you get and it's not what other people think.

It's when God uses you to love other people. In our next program, we're going to talk about practical ways to learn exactly how He made you and how you can be a difference maker. Hope you'll be with me. You know, a great way to stay engaged and connected to CHIP and Living on the Edge is with the CHIP Ingram app. You'll get free access to all of CHIP's recent messages, His message notes and much more. And not only that, but it couldn't be easier to call or email directly from the app. We'll plan to be with us again next time and until then, this is Dave Drewy saying thanks for listening to this Edition of Living on the Edge.