{"id":34381,"date":"2012-08-12T21:20:00","date_gmt":"2012-08-13T02:20:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=34381"},"modified":"2021-04-20T21:22:25","modified_gmt":"2021-04-21T02:22:25","slug":"how-can-i-know-that-im-serving-god","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-can-i-know-that-im-serving-god\/","title":{"rendered":"How can I know that I&#8217;m serving God?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t<h2>Question:<\/h2>\n<p>OK, simple question: I want to know what I can do to just serve God and know it&#8217;s Him I&#8217;m serving.<\/p>\n\t<h2>Answer:<\/h2>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;<em>Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is man&#8217;s all. For God will bring every work into judgment, Including every secret thing, whether good or evil<\/em>&#8221; (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Many people try to determine God&#8217;s will based on their own desires or feelings. Of course, what we want and what we feel changes. What you want and feel is different from what I want and feel. This isn&#8217;t the way of God but of chaos. The book of Judges in the Bible talks about a period of Israel&#8217;s history where everyone went from bad to worse. They constantly left God and when they got into trouble begged God to rescue them, only to turn away from God once they were safe again. The last verse tells us why: &#8220;<em>In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes<\/em>&#8221; (Judges 21:25). I suspect that this is what you&#8217;ve been trying to do and it isn&#8217;t working out for you.<\/p>\n<p>The matter isn&#8217;t difficult. God didn&#8217;t leave us to wonder how to serve Him. &#8220;<em>Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He who says, &#8220;I know Him,&#8221; and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him. He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked<\/em>&#8221; (I John 2:3-6). You know you are serving God when you look at God&#8217;s teachings and see that you are obeying Him.<\/p>\n<p>It is much the same with faith. Faith isn&#8217;t just a declaration of &#8220;I believe in God!&#8221; Faith is based on knowing what you believe in. &#8220;<em>So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God<\/em>&#8221; (Romans 10:17). If you don&#8217;t know what God has said, then you can&#8217;t truly claim to believe in God.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Question: OK, simple question: I want to know what I can do to just serve God and know it&#8217;s Him I&#8217;m serving. Answer: &#8220;Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is man&#8217;s all. For God will bring every work into judgment, Including every secret thing,&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[49,54],"class_list":["post-34381","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-faith","tag-obedience"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":46827,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-keep-having-sex-with-my-boyfriend-will-god-keep-forgiving-me\/","url_meta":{"origin":34381,"position":0},"title":"I keep having sex with my boyfriend. Will God keep forgiving me?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 27, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, I don't even know where to start. (Deep breath) Well, I have been going to church for five years. I met this guy who isn't Christian, and we have been together two years. We have been having sex all this time. Every time I feel worse. I ask\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":34949,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-feel-that-god-promised-me-this-house-but-i-know-it-is-more-than-i-need-why-cant-i-stop-thinking-about-it\/","url_meta":{"origin":34381,"position":1},"title":"I feel that God promised me this house, but I know it is more than I need. Why can&#8217;t I stop thinking about it?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 26, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Please give me some insight: There is this house that I have been praying for. Now in my spirit, I sometimes believe that this is my house and that God has blessed me with it. I have received some signs that it could be God's promise, but they not\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":50468,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-do-i-come-to-the-point-where-i-dont-feel-like-wasted-space\/","url_meta":{"origin":34381,"position":2},"title":"How do I come to the point where I don&#8217;t feel like wasted space?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 25, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, I truly enjoy the insight given on your website. I am normally a very positive person, and when I'm around people I am the one encouraging them to keep going, to keep pushing forward. However, when I am alone and I allow myself to think for enough time,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":44145,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/when-i-learn-about-the-bible-i-get-anxious-that-im-not-doing-well-enough\/","url_meta":{"origin":34381,"position":3},"title":"When I learn about the Bible, I get anxious that I&#8217;m not doing well enough","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 6, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi, I've been reading through a lot of these questions and answers looking for some guidance, but I continue to feel a little lost. I've always struggled with anxiety, and when I pray to God asking Him to forgive me, guide me, and tell Him that I have faith\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2440,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-want-to-be-baptized-but-how-can-i-find-a-true-believer-to-do-it\/","url_meta":{"origin":34381,"position":4},"title":"I want to be baptized, but how can I find a true believer to do it?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 9, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I recently came across the fact that baptism is a necessary step for the forgiveness of sins. If this interpretation is true, it means that I've never met a Christian in my whole life. Most people I know who are or claim to be a Christian were baptized because\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":12116,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/all-we-have-in-common-is-our-love-for-god-is-that-enough-to-get-married\/","url_meta":{"origin":34381,"position":5},"title":"All we have in common is our love for God. Is that enough to get married?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 5, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello there, I\u2019m in a serious relationship. It took me a while to come to terms with it because we were friends initially. My boyfriend is an awesome guy, he loves and serves God and is caring to people around. He\u2019s passionate about work, his students, family, church, etc..\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34381","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34381"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34381\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34381"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34381"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34381"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}