How does one become a man of God?
In this book I want to focus on how one becomes a man of God.
Becoming a man of God is a process – it does not happen in a day.
Some people study and study and study to earn a Ph.D. They have to take advanced math courses and learn the lessons there so that they can apply that math to solve real problems. Becoming a man of God is like getting a Ph.D. from God’s university. When you graduate from God’s university you earn the title of ‘man of God’. You can’t get this degree from a seminary.
How do you enroll in God’s university?
Firstly, you can’t enroll until you respond to the call.
Mt 22:14 "For many are called, but few are chosen."
In responding to the call you have to ensure that you meet the requirements. If you do then you get chosen.
God explicitly called Samuel for ministry, and until Samuel responded, God kept calling.
1 Sam 3:8-10 8 So the LORD called Samuel again for the third time. And he arose and went to Eli and said, "Here I am, for you called me." Then Eli discerned that the LORD was calling the boy. 9 And Eli said to Samuel, "Go lie down, and it shall be if He calls you, that you shall say, 'Speak, LORD, for Your servant is listening.'" So Samuel went and lay down in his place. 10 Then the LORD came and stood and called as at other times, "Samuel! Samuel!" And Samuel said, "Speak, for Your servant is listening."
So enrolling requires being called and then meeting the requirements so that you get chosen. After that, you have to do the assignments and projects and get a passing grade.
The projects and assignments that God gives come via the situations in daily life – the troublesome coworker, the inconsiderate spouse, the difficult children, the unfaithful friend, the famines, the recessions, the government – all these are assignments from God that you need to pass in order to become a man of God. God causes all these things to work for your good (Rom 8:28-30) so that the end result is that you become a man of God.
Rom 8:28-30 28 And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. 29 For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; 30 and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.
The first requirement is to love God. If you love God, then He will order things around you to make you a man of God, and when you handle these assignments the proper way you become a man of God. If you don’t love God then you obviously won’t want to become like Him (i.e. you won’t want to become a man of God) so there is no point in God trying to make you a man of God.
God’s word – your textbook – tells you how to deal with these assignments. Therefore, a man of God must take time to study God’s word. That is the second requirement. If you don’t know God’s word then there is not much point in God giving you the assignments because you won’t know how to handle them.
When these assignments come you need to tackle them without grumbling or complaining. That is the third requirement. If you grumble or complain then God is going to conclude that you are not really interested in becoming a man of God and He’ll leave you alone.
Php 2:12-16 12 So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling ; 13 for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure. 14 Do all things without grumbling or disputing; 15 so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world, 16 holding fast the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I will have reason to glory because I did not run in vain nor toil in vain.
The assignments humble you. In Php 2, Paul talks about how Jesus humbled himself by being obedient in the things God sent His way, and how God exalted Him because of that. He then goes on to say that we need to do the same thing.
To become a man of God one needs to learn through experience several things. Let us examine them next.
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