Servias Ministries Blog

Let us not misinterpret GOD’S Will for us!

Even though Paul wrote roughly two-thirds of the New Testament, he misinterpreted GOD’S Will for him.  If it can happen to him, it can also happen to us.  It is vital that we stay in our lane when FATHER reveals our calling to us.

Paul’s priority was to minister to the Gentiles, yet he continually went to the Synagogues as his first priority early in his ministry.

Luke recorded by The Holy Spirit in Acts chapter 14:

1  When Paul and Barnabas arrived at Iconium, the same thing happened there. They went, as they always did, to the synagogue and preached to the people with such power that a large crowd of both Jews and non-Jews believed.

2 Some of the Jews refused to believe, and they began to poison the minds of the non-Jews to discredit the believers.

3 Yet Paul and Barnabas stayed there for a long time, preaching boldly and fearlessly about the Lord. Many trusted in the Lord, for he backed up his message of grace with miracles, signs, and wonders performed by the apostles.

4 The people of the city were split over the issue. Some sided with the apostles, and others with the Jews who refused to believe.

5 Eventually, all the opposition factions came together, with their leaders devising a plot to harm Paul and Barnabas and stone them to death.

Paul did preach under the anointing and produced good fruit.  However, he got ahead of himself in the priorities Jesus had given him.  First, the Gentiles, then kings, and finally the Jews.

What were the repercussions of Paul teaching the Jews?  We see in Acts chapter 19:

8  In Lystra, Paul and Barnabas encountered a man who from birth had never walked, for he was crippled in his feet.

9 He listened carefully to Paul as he preached. All of a sudden, Paul discerned that this man had faith in his heart to be healed.

10 So he shouted, “You! In the name of our Lord Jesus, stand up on your feet!” The man instantly jumped to his feet, stood for the first time in his life, and walked!

11 When the crowds saw the miracle Paul had done, they shouted in their own language, “The gods have come down to us as men!”

12 They addressed Barnabas as “Zeus” and Paul as “Hermes,” because he was the spokesman.

19 Some of the Jews who had opposed Paul and Barnabas in Antioch and Iconium arrived and stirred up the crowd against them. They stoned Paul and dragged his body outside the city and left him for dead (Gr 2348).

20 When the believers encircled Paul’s body, he miraculously stood up! Paul stood and immediately went back into the city. The next day he left with Barnabas for Derbe.

The Greek word thnēskō means: to die, to be dead.  Paul died but was raised from the dead supernaturally.  His body was restored, and he IMMEDIATELY went back into the city.

Paul recounts this stoning in 2^nd Corinthians chapter 11:

22  Are these “super-apostles” of yours Hebrews? I am too. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they descendants of Abraham? Me too!

23 Are they servants of the Anointed One? I’m beside myself when I speak this way, but I am much more of a servant than they. I have worked much harder for God, taken more beatings, and been dragged to more prisons than they. I’ve been flogged excessively, multiple times, even to the point of death.

24 Five times I’ve received thirty-nine lashes from the Jewish leaders.

25 Three times I experienced being beaten with rods. Once they stoned me. Three times I’ve been shipwrecked; for an entire night and a day I was adrift in the open sea.

Let us not be impatient when we receive the details of our calling.  We should not attempt to insert an expansion of our calling beyond the scope given to us by Our Lord Jesus Christ.  I have been guilty of this in the past and suffered the consequences of it.  Let us learn by Paul’s own experience.

Jesus’ own Blood was taken from Golgotha to The Throne of GOD!

For many, taking Communion has become a tradition versus a revelation.  Taking Communion is an acknowledgement of Christ’s supreme Sacrifice for all of mankind.  We should not take this lightly!  We should be reverent when we take Communion.

Paul wrote by The Holy Spirit in Hebrews 9:

11  But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation.

12 Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His Own Blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained Eternal redemption.

13 For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh,

14 how much more shall the Blood of Christ, Who through the Eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

15 And for this reason He is the Mediator of the New Covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the Eternal inheritance.

Jesus carried His own Blood from Golgotha to the Mercy Seat before FATHER on our behalf.  This is the most important act in history on behalf of mankind.  Paul continues:

23  Therefore it was necessary that the copies of the things in the Heavens should be purified with these, but the Heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.

24 For Christ has not entered the Holy places made with hands, which are copies of the True, but into Heaven itself, now to appear in the Presence of God for us;

25 not that He should offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood of another-

26 He then would have had to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.

27 And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment,

28 so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.

FATHER prepared mankind by giving Israel the pattern pointing to Eternal redemption.  They could see an earthly model of what would be required in the Throne Room of GOD.  They had limited understanding of redemption.

Once we understand what Jesus did in the Throne Room, Paul instructs us:

19  Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus,

20 by a new and living Way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His Flesh,

21 and having a High Priest over the House of God,

22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with Pure Water.

23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.

24 And let us consider one another in order to stir up Love and good works, 25 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.

As we comprehend the importance of Communion individually, this will stir up Love and good works to benefit others.  My wife and I take Communion daily so that we keep this greatest sacrifice at the forefront of our lives.

Knowing the Will of GOD and being in The Will of GOD are two different things!

Luke wrote by The Holy Spirit in Acts chapter 9:

15 But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My Name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel.

16 For I will show him how many things he must suffer for My Name’s sake.”

17 And Ananias went his way and entered the house; and laying his hands on him he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, Who appeared to you on the road as you came, has sent me that you may receive your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.“

18 Immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he received his sight at once; and he arose and was baptized.

Jesus gave Paul three priorities IN ORDER!

Priority #1: The Gentiles

Priority #2:  Represent Jesus to the Kings

Priority #3   The children of Israel

Paul wrote by The Holy Spirit in Romans chapter 1:

13  So, my dear brothers and sisters, please don’t interpret my failure to visit you as indifference, because many times I’ve intended to come but have not been released to do so up to now. For I long to enjoy a harvest of Spiritual fruit among you, like I have experienced among the nations.

14 Love obligates me to preach to everyone, to those who are among the elite and those who are among the outcasts, to those who are wise and educated as well as to those who are foolish and unlearned.

15 This is why I am so excited about coming to preach the wonderful message of Jesus to you in Rome!

16 I refuse to be ashamed of the wonderful message of God’s liberating power unleashed in us through Christ! For I am thrilled to preach that everyone who believes is saved—the Jew first, and then people everywhere!

Paul reversed the priorities in his first five years and suffered much persecution by the Jews.  He recounted his conversion in Acts chapter 26:

12  “While thus occupied, as I journeyed to Damascus with authority and commission from the chief priests,

13 at midday, O king, along the road I saw a light from Heaven, brighter than the sun, shining around me and those who journeyed with me.

14 And when we all had fallen to the ground, I heard a Voice speaking to me and saying in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’

In other Words, Jesus told Paul, “You are only hurting yourself when you resist your calling.”

15 So I said, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And He said, ‘I am Jesus, Whom you are persecuting.

16 But rise and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to make you a minister and a witness both of the things which you have seen and of the things which I will yet reveal to you.

17 I will deliver you from the Jewish people, as well as from the Gentiles, to whom I now send you,

18 to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.’

Where did Paul go first?  He went to the Jewish synagogues.  Some Jews accepted The Word, but others rejected It as Luke recorded in Acts chapter 13:

45  But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy; and contradicting and blaspheming, they opposed the things spoken by Paul.

46 Then Paul and Barnabas grew bold and said, “It was necessary that the Word of God should be spoken to you first; but since you reject it, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting Life, behold, we turn to the Gentiles.

47 For so the Lord has commanded us: ‘I have set you as a light to the Gentiles, That you should be for salvation to the ends of the earth.'”

48 Now when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and glorified the Word of the Lord. And as many as had been appointed to Eternal Life believed.

The Gentiles were Paul’s first priority, but he went where he was comfortable: the synagogues.  We are not called to the “comfortable”.  We must fully submit to the Will of GOD so that we bypass much turmoil.  Paul suffered needlessly during the first five years of his calling.  Let us not delay in submitting to our calling for FATHER establishes HIS priorities for your life in HIS Wisdom and understanding.

We are to fully align ourselves with Jesus and His instructions!

Luke wrote by The Holy Spirit in Acts chapter 9:

10  Now there was a certain disciple at Damascus named Ananias; and to him the Lord said in a vision, “Ananias.” And he said, “Here I am, Lord.”

11 So the Lord said to him, “Arise and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for one called Saul of Tarsus, for behold, he is praying.

12 And in a vision he has seen a man named Ananias coming in and putting his hand on him, so that he might receive his sight.”

Jesus already knew that Ananias was reliable and would respond positively to the directive.  How did Ananias respond?  “Here I am, Lord.”

[13] Then Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much harm he has done to Your saints in Jerusalem.

14 And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on Your Name.”

15 But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My Name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel.

16 For I will show him how many things he must suffer for My Name’s sake.”

17 And Ananias went his way and entered the house; and laying his hands on him he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, Who appeared to you on the road as you came, has sent me that you may receive your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.“

18 Immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he received his sight at once; and he arose and was baptized.

19 So when he had received food, he was strengthened. Then Saul spent some days with the disciples at Damascus.

Paul responded in the same manner when he responded to Jesus in the earlier verse:

6 So he, trembling and astonished, said, “Lord, what do You want me to do?” Then Jesus said to him, “Arise and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”

Each of us has a unique calling and that calling might place us in the presence of influential people.  Paul was called to minister to his prior enemies, the Gentiles.  Can you imagine how he had to process such a calling?  He was to go before kings as well.  What were the three priorities?

Priority #1: The Gentiles

Priority #2:  Represent Jesus to the Kings

Priority #3   The children of Israel

What an important calling!  Paul would need a confirmation as you or I would as well.  This is why Jesus sent Ananias as the second witness.  Paul had no idea who Ananias was, which assured him that this was a genuine confirmation.

Paul wrote by The Holy Spirit in Romans chapter 1:

13  So, my dear brothers and sisters, please don’t interpret my failure to visit you as indifference, because many times I’ve intended to come but have not been released to do so up to now. For I long to enjoy a harvest of Spiritual fruit among you, like I have experienced among the nations.

14 Love obligates me to preach to everyone, to those who are among the elite and those who are among the outcasts, to those who are wise and educated as well as to those who are foolish and unlearned.

15 This is why I am so excited about coming to preach the wonderful message of Jesus to you in Rome!

16 I refuse to be ashamed of the wonderful message of God’s liberating power unleashed in us through Christ! For I am thrilled to preach that everyone who believes is saved—the Jew first, and then people everywhere!

17 This Gospel unveils a continual revelation of God’s righteousness—a perfect righteousness given to us when we believe. And it moves us from receiving Life through faith, to the power of living by faith. This is what the Scripture means when it says: “We are right with God through life-giving faith!”

Do not be surprised if Jesus calls you to a greater ministry than you currently have.  Will you respond, “Lord, what do You want me to do?”

Let us fully accept and embrace The Will of GOD, and go forth in HIS Will!

Paul wrote by The Holy Spirit in Philippians chapter 3:

12  I admit that I haven’t yet acquired the absolute fullness that I’m pursuing, but I run with passion into his abundance so that I may reach the purpose for which Christ Jesus laid hold of me to make me His own.

13 I don’t depend on my own strength to accomplish this; however I do have one compelling focus: I forget all of the past as I fasten my heart to the future instead.

Paul had to let go of his past and we must do the same!

14 I run straight for the Divine invitation of reaching the Heavenly goal and gaining the victory-prize through the anointing of Jesus.

Our Heavenly goal given to us before we were formed in the womb is accomplished through the anointing of Jesus.  “Not by might, not by power, but by My Spirit says The Lord of Hosts.”  Zec 4:6

15 So let all who are fully mature have this same passion, and if anyone is not yet gripped by these desires, God will reveal it to them.

16 And let us all advance together to reach this victory-prize, following one path with one passion.

If you ask, GOD will reveal your Divine appointment and you will then be “apprehended of Christ Jesus”.

The word apprehended (Gr. katalambano) means: to seize; to grab hold of; to pull down; to tackle; to conquer; to master; to hold under one’s power.

Paul’s past of rage, anger, and hatred had consumed him.  When he met Jesus, he had a Divine transaction.  He gave up his past for the future, submitting to FATHER’S Divine plan for him.  His past was erased, and his future was assured.  The Spirit of GOD moved into him, and the evil moved out.

 Jesus emphasized the complete forgiveness of sins in Luke chapter 7:

36  Then one of the Pharisees asked Jesus to eat with him. And He went to the Pharisee’s house, and sat down to eat.

37 And behold, a woman in the city who was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at the table in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster flask of fragrant oil,

38 and stood at His feet behind Him weeping; and she began to wash His feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head; and she kissed His feet and anointed them with the fragrant oil.

39 Now when the Pharisee who had invited Him saw this, he spoke to himself, saying, “This Man, if He were a prophet, would know who and what manner of woman this is who is touching Him, for she is a sinner.”

40 And Jesus answered and said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” So he said, “Teacher, say it.”

41 “There was a certain creditor who had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty.

42 And when they had nothing with which to repay, he freely forgave them both. Tell Me, therefore, which of them will Love him more?”

43 Simon answered and said, “I suppose the one whom he forgave more.” And He said to him, “You have rightly judged.”

44 Then He turned to the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has washed My feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head.

45 You gave Me no kiss, but this woman has not ceased to kiss My feet since the time I came in.

46 You did not anoint My head with oil, but this woman has anointed My feet with fragrant oil.

47 Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she Loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same Loves little.”

48 Then He said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”

This woman as well as Paul’s conversion is the essence of Agape Love.  Jesus no longer looks at our past but instead provides us full and complete salvation.  He restores us to FATHER and sends us The Holy Spirit to lead and guide us into all Truth.

Once you have been saved, The Will of GOD is in you, waiting for you to ask and submit to it!

Paul asked Jesus the question: “Lord, what do You want me to do?”

Luke recorded by The Holy Spirit in Acts 17:

26 And HE (GOD) has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings,

27  so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us;

28 for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring.’

29 Therefore, since we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, something shaped by art and man’s devising.

30 Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent,

31 because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man Jesus Whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.”

You are not here by mistake; you are not an accident.  FATHER placed you here at this time and at this place according to HIS Divine Intent.  It is up to each of us to ask the question and respond accordingly.

Paul provides details of his conversion to King Agrippa as Luke recorded by The Holy Spirit in Acts 26:

12  “While thus occupied, as I journeyed to Damascus with authority and commission from the chief priests,

13 at midday, O king, along the road I saw a light from Heaven, brighter than the sun, shining around me and those who journeyed with me.

14 And when we all had fallen to the ground, I heard a Voice speaking to me and saying in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’

15 So I said, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And He said, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.

16 But rise and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to make you a minister and a witness both of the things which you have seen and of the things which I will yet reveal to you.

17 I will deliver you from the Jewish people, as well as from the Gentiles, to whom I now send you,

18 to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.’

How many languages does Jesus speak?  All of them!  He spoke both Hebrew and Aramaic while He walked the earth.  He speaks English to me… thankfully.

Jesus appeared to Paul to give him his unique purpose and to equip him for such a purpose.  He also opened the doors to speak to the king.  As we fully embrace our purpose, we should expect no less.

Are you willing to accept FATHER’S full and complete will for your life?

When I was young, I was afraid that FATHER would assign me to be a missionary in Africa and I didn’t have a heart for such an assignment.  Little did I realize that HIS Divine Intent for me was established before I was formed in the womb.  My responsibility was to ask, seek, knock, and find what my calling was.

Jesus spoke in Luke chapter 11:

9  “So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.

10 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.

11 If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish?

12 Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?

13 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will Your Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”

Step one to finding out the details of FATHER’S Will for your life is to submit to draw of The Holy Spirit to FATHER.  As you read and hear The Word resulting in the acceptance of Jesus Christ as your one and only Savior, you will come to realize that HE sent The Holy Spirit for our benefit so that we can successfully walk in FATHER’S Divine Intent for our lives. 

As you receive the Baptism of The Holy Spirit, you effective have a Holy GPS inside you to direct your path.  The key is to respond in a positive manner.  Otherwise, you will be given the opportunity to correct your path.  Sometimes, the correction can seem severe but necessary.  As you trust in FATHER’S plan, fear will depart, and you will begin to see the blessings of fully submitting to HIS Will for your life.  Consider Paul’s life before his encounter with Jesus Christ.

Paul wrote by The Holy Spirit in 1^st Timothy chapter 1:

12  I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, Who has strengthened me, because He considered me faithful, putting me into service,

13 even though I was formerly a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent aggressor. Yet I was shown mercy because I acted ignorantly in unbelief;

14 and the grace of our Lord was more than abundant, with the faith and Love which are found in Christ Jesus.

15 It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all.

16 Yet for this reason I found mercy, so that in me as the foremost, Jesus Christ might demonstrate His perfect patience as an example for those who would believe in Him for Eternal life.

17 Now to the King Eternal, Immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.

What is a blasphemer?  This word mean: to slander or accuse; to speak derogatory words for the purpose of injuring or harming one’s reputation: signifies profane, foul, unclean language: any derogatory speech intended to defame, injure, or harm another’s reputation; any type of debasing, derogatory, nasty, shameful, or ugly speech or behavior intended to humiliate someone.  It is a mean-spirited person!

Further, the meaning of a persecutor is: to hunt, chase, or pursue; to persecute; denoted the actions of a hunter who followed after an animal in order to apprehend, capture, and kill it.

 That’s not all.  A violent aggressor is one who in pride and insolence deliberately mistreats, wrongs, and hurts another; treatment calculated to public insult and openly humiliate the person who suffers it; one who derives pleasure from inflicting pain on someone else.

Who would have thought that Saul could change?  Jesus did.  He knew FATHER’S plan for Paul, and it required an encounter with Jesus Himself.

Now let’s look at Paul’s conversion.

Luke recorded by The Holy Spirit in Acts chapter 9:

1  Then Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest

2 and asked letters from him to the synagogues of Damascus, so that if he found any who were of the Way, whether men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.

3 As he journeyed he came near Damascus, and suddenly a Light shone around him from Heaven.

4 Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?”

5 And he said, “Who are You, Lord?” Then the Lord said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goads.”

6 So he, trembling and astonished, said, “Lord, what do You want me to do?” Then the Lord said to him, “Arise and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”

7 And the men who journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice but seeing no one.

8 Then Saul arose from the ground, and when his eyes were opened he saw no one. But they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus.

9 And he was three days without sight, and neither ate nor drank.

No matter how messed up a person is, FATHER can change him or her.  We can’t force a person to change, only FATHER can.  It requires a change of heart.  It requires a personal encounter with Jesus Christ Who will then give that person The Holy Spirit to guide such a person who has become a new creation, old things passed away.  However, it takes full acceptance and saying, “Lord, what do You want me to do?”