22 Signs You Are Marked By God And How To Know God Is Calling You Into Ministry

22 Signs You Are Marked By God And He’s Pushing You Into Something Bigger

1Peter 2:9 – ‘But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.’

When you are marked by God, visible signs will let us know it for certain. Being marked by God, however, comes in two different perspectives: positive and negative.

In the former, a person who is marked by God has a life characterized by living by God’s dictates and demands per time. On the other hand, a person who is living contrary to God’s will is also marked by God, not for good but evil if they fail to repent.

In this write-up, we have expatiated clearly what it means to be marked by God. Also, we have listed 22 signs you are marked by God which you can use to confirm if you or anyone is marked by God.

Furthermore, as God is interested in our lives and He orders our steps in life according to His plan to prosper us, the time will come when He wants us to step into something better. This moment, however, will not be without signs that will let you know that God is pushing you into something better. Thus, in this write-up, we have also listed 4 signs God is pushing you into something better.

To Be Marked By God Means

What does it mean to be marked by God? How can you know if you’re marked by God? These questions are what we try to answer in this write-up based on the scriptures.

#1. It means God has set you apart for His purpose

To be marked by God means that God has sanctified you to Himself for a particular purpose. What this means is that God has separated you unto Himself to achieve something for His kingdom.

The psalmist explains this in the fourth chapter and the third verse of the Psalms by saying ‘But know that the LORD has set apart (separated, sanctified) him that is godly for himself…’ This gives us a clear insight and perspective, not just on what it means to be marked by God, but also, on the qualifications to be marked by God which is that you must be godly.

#2. It means that you are chosen by Christ to be fruitful and multiply

When we come over into God’s kingdom by surrendering our lives to Christ, we are automatically part of His body. As we continue to follow after Him, He doesn’t want us to be idle, rather, He wants us to be fruitful.

He expounds this clearly in John 15:16 ‘Ye have not chosen me but I have chosen you and ordained you that ye should go forth and bear fruits and that your fruits should remain…’ Thus, to be marked by God means that Christ has chosen you precisely as part of His body to go and reproduce His life in others.

To be marked by God means that you are now chosen and ordained by Christ to bring fruit unto Him. This can be in the area of evangelism or soul-winning, intercession for the salvation of people, and so on.

#3. It means that God has a unique plan for your life.

To be marked by God means that God has a unique plan for your life. He has a plan for you and He wants you to walk after His blueprint for your life.

God, while speaking to the prophet, Jeremiah, has this to say to us living today: ‘Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee and before thou camest forth out of the womb, I sanctified thee and ordained thee a prophet unto the nations’ – Jeremiah 1:5KJV [emphasis added].

God has a unique plan for our lives as revealed here in Jeremiah. Before we were ever conceived in the womb, God had already written out his plan for us and He wants us to live after it.

The same can also be said of the life of John the Baptist who was filled with the Holy Ghost right from the womb!

He was truly marked by God as God had a unique plan He wanted him to accomplish in his generation; namely: to herald the coming of the Son of God to earth and to turn the children of Israel back to God. This was recorded in Luke 1: 15-16 – ‘…he shall be great in the sight of the Lord,…he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost,…and many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God.’

Therefore, to be marked by God means that he has chosen you according to His foreknowledge to fulfill a unique purpose on earth.

#4. It means you are divinely protected by God

Furthermore, to be marked by God means that you are divinely protected by the Almighty God.

His word gives the believer the confidence that s/he is preserved from evil no matter where they may go or be. When life on earth was just beginning several thousands of years ago, Cain, propelled by the nature of sin, murdered his brother, Abel. Although God was not pleased with his action and punished him, yet, he ‘…set a mark upon him lest any finding him should kill him.’

Even though Cain’s action warranted God’s judgment, upon hearing his plea, God protected him from being killed randomly by any man. If this could happen for Cain, how much more those that are serving God and doing His will?

The scriptures say in the second chapter and ninth verse of the second epistle of Saint Peter that ‘the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations…’ Therefore, to be marked by God means that you are protected and preserved divinely by God.

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Negative Meaning Of To Be Marked By God

Thus far, we have looked at what it means to be marked by God only from a positive angle. However, you need to also know that to be marked by God can also be negative when a person is not living rightly in God’s sight. A few examples in the scriptures reflect and shed more light on this. So, to be marked by God means, in a negative tone, the following:

#1. It means that person is to be destroyed.

When a person is marked by God, it means that person has been set forth by God to be destroyed or killed because of their wickedness and sinful lifestyle. 2Peter 2:9 has this to say: ‘the Lord knows how to… reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished.’

Therefore, when you see anyone living a licentious life without any consciousness of God, it is very likely that s/he has been marked by God for destruction and unless they repent from their evil(s), they will be destroyed. A good example is in the case of the Ninevites, whom God marked to be destroyed. He sent a prophet, Jonah, in this case, to go and warn them that in 40 days, if they fail to turn away from their evil doings, the whole of Nineveh would be destroyed.

They obeyed God by repenting of their evildoings and God had to repent of what He wanted to do to them initially. Similarly, the city of Sodom and Gomorrah was marked by God for total annihilation because of their egregious sinfulness.

#2. It means that they are going to fulfill a negative prophecy.

When a person is said to be marked by God, it can be that that person will fulfill a negative purpose in the grand plan of God.

Now, you have to understand that in the plan of God generally, there are negative roles and positive roles to be played by individuals from time to time and from generation to generation depending on when that purpose of God is to come to fruition.

Therefore, there will be people acting out positive and/or negative roles in the execution of God’s will on earth. However, God doesn’t force it on anyone. By the way, we deliberately choose to live our lives, we place ourselves in either of these roles.

For example, a long time before the coming of Jesus to the world, the prophets of God in the Old covenant prophesied His birth, life, ministry, betrayal, manner of death, etc. Considering that in God’s plan for redemption, Christ was to be betrayed by one of His disciples, which will then lead to His vicarious and substitutionary death for all mankind.

The psalmist prophesied this in the forty-first chapter by saying that ‘Yea, mine own familiar, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me.’ This was a negative prophecy to be fulfilled by a human that was going to exist someday and was eventually fulfilled by Judas Iscariot.

Thus, to be marked by God means that person is going to fulfill a negative prophecy according to the foreknowledge of God.

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22 Signs You Are Marked By God

Are there signs to tell if one is marked by God? Well, I think there are recognizable signs that can tell if you are marked by God. However, it will be better to understand what it entails or means to be marked by God initially.

In this write-up, we have compiled a list of22 signs you are marked by God based on examples in the scriptures of people we can say were marked by God.

The signs are not limited to these 22 listed here and can be much more than these. However, in this write-up, we will only consider these22 signs you are marked by God.

1. God speaks to you.

2. You have a burning hunger and passion for God.

3. You always want to please God in all that you do.

4. You have yielded your life completely to God.

5. You obey God’s leading.

6. You are bearing fruit for Christ.

7. You are passionate about soul-winning.

8. You have a burden to pray for others.

9. You experience the supernatural frequently.

10. There is something about you that draws people to you.

11. God uses you in blessing others.

12. You experience divine intervention even when you know you are least worthy of it.

13. You are constantly living a life of holiness.

14. You have intimacy with the Holy Spirit.

15. You are being persecuted for living righteously.

16. God’s honor is upon you.

17. God ministers to you in dreams and visions.

18. You walk with God daily.

19. You influence others to live righteously.

20. You delight in helping others.

21. You find it easy to do some things that many find quite difficult to do.

22. Your life is full of miraculous interventions.

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Obvious Signs God Is Calling You Into Ministry

When we hear these words about being called into ministry, sometimes we don’t always get it right. Most of the time, we think the call to ministry is only for some selected believers. While this may be true in some regards, kindly note that every believer is called to ministry by God.

In as much as you are a true believer and disciple of Christ, God has called you into the ministry of soul-winning. The Great Commission in Mark 16:15 – ‘Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature’, is for every believer to obey and so, no believer should say they are waiting for God to ‘call them into ministry’ before they can preach the gospel that saves the unsaved around them.

Also, every believer is called to the ministry of prayer and intercession.

Notwithstanding, God also specifically calls some believers to be consecrated unto Him by serving Him fully. This is the kind we are mainly familiar with. This call is not to every believer but to only those whom God has chosen to use in that manner.

A call into ministry by God, of this kind, usually comes with a heavy responsibility and total consecration of one’s life to the service of God.

If you say you are being called in this manner by God, you must be very sure lest you quit along the way due to its demands.

So you want to check it when you say God is calling you into ministry. There are signs God may give that show He is calling you into ministry.

Here and now, we are going to consider obvious signs God is calling you into ministry.

#1. When you have a burning desire and passion for God’s work

One of the obvious signs God is calling you into ministry that you will see and is a major prerequisite is a burning desire and passion for God’s work. This is an indispensable quality for anyone who feels God is calling them into ministry.

You can’t succeed or excel in ministry or anything in life, generally speaking, when you do not have an overwhelming passion or desire for it.

When the Apostle, Paul, was writing to Timothy in his first epistle, he specifically told him that ‘…if a man desires the office of a bishop…’ The word desire is the main emphasis. If God is indeed calling you into the ministry, one of the undisputable signs will be desire or passion for the work.

This desire can be divinely imputed into your heart such that you feel uncomfortable when you are doing something outside of it. Also, when you have a consuming desire like that, you will find it difficult to keep quiet about it. You would want to tell others and want them to know.

More so, this desire will make you sacrifice your time and resources so that the work of God can prosper. When you see this in your life, you can be sure it is an obvious sign God is calling you into the ministry.

#2. Visions and dreams from God regarding what He wants you to do

Another sign God can give you to let you know He is calling you into ministry is through visions and dreams. God speaks through visions and dreams to His own and He also uses this as a means to communicate His mind to us at times.

A good example in the scriptures is Samuel. The nation of Israel needed a spiritual leader at the time Eli’s sons were walking contrary to God’s ways. When God was to call Samuel, He spoke to him through a vision in the night which served as an initiation of the call of God to him in ministry.

Thus, God can speak through visions or dreams to you telling you about what he wants you to do for him.

The same also happened to Paul when on his way to Damascus; he received a vision from Jesus himself calling him into the ministry:‘…for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of the things which thou hast seen, and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee [Acts 26:16 KJV; emphasis added]’.

Moreso, the scriptures have prophesied about these last days that ‘…your sons and daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions and your old men shall dream dreams.’ Therefore, an obvious sign God is calling you into ministry, is through visions and dreams.

#3. A rhema from the scriptures

God calls people in several ways. While others might be called through a spectacular or supernatural means, as in a trance, dream, or vision, yours might be through the inspired word of God.

This does not make your calling less authentic nor does it give more authenticity to the calling of those with supernatural means. Either way, God called you also, but through His inspired word – Rhema.

Consider how the twelve disciples were called to follow Christ – through a spoken word: “Follow me”. It can be the same for you maybe during your devotion while listening to a sermon, or a deep impression of that scripture in your heart by the Holy Spirit that leaves you ‘uncomfortable’ till you obey it.

God’s word says ‘Is my word not like as a fire? saith the LORD…But his word was in my heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing and I could not stay’ [Jer.23:29; 20:9]. Thus when the Spirit of God keeps impressing a scripture in your heart regarding the ministry that you find it difficult to push aside until you yield, it is an obvious sign God is calling you into ministry.

#4. When God blesses you with spiritual gift(s)

Another obvious sign God is calling you into the ministry is when He blesses you with a spiritual gift. God doesn’t do things without a plan or purpose in mind.

Apostle Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, wrote in his epistle to the Ephesians that ‘…he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers…for the work of the ministry…’. God gives gifts to men according to the purpose He wants them to achieve.

When He is calling you to do anything, He won’t let you go without giving you the tools you need to get the job done! Therefore, if God is calling you into ministry, one of the obvious signs will be that you possess the gift to be effective in that ministry.

Considering the life of Moses when God called him, his life before the call was as ordinary as any human being. However, before he left Midian for the ministry God called him to do in Egypt, he had the rod of God in his hand. He was equipped to carry out the ministry effectively.

Therefore, if you are called, you will not be wanting in spiritual gifts to execute your ministry.

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Signs You Are Chosen By God

I believe that everyone is made to be chosen in a way by God but it all boils down to what you are being chosen to do. We are told in 2 Timothy 2:19 that ‘In a great house there are many vessels, some to honor and some to dishonor.’ Thus, everyone being a vessel in some way can be chosen to accomplish a task.

However, this session will dwell on the premise of those who are meeting God’s requirements to be chosen as vessels unto honor. Can you identify the signs you are chosen by God? If not, we hope this write-up will help dispel your doubts and make you recognize the signs you are chosen by God.

#1. You have accepted the call of Christ by repentance and faith in Him.

To be chosen by God, you must have answered the call of Christ to forsake the old life of sin and to begin to walk in the newness of life. The apostle, Peter, in his first epistle has this to say:‘…ye are a chosen generation…that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.’

Furthermore, Christ Himself mentioned that many are called but few are chosen. While the call is to everyone, being chosen is the exclusive privilege of only those who respond positively to the call by repenting of sin and placing their faith in Christ.

It is only after this has been done that such a person can then be considered as chosen by God.

#2. You understand the gospel message clearly

Also, when you are chosen by God, one thing you will discover is that you understand the message of the gospel clearly and you can come unto God to be saved.

The Disciples of Christ during His earthly ministry were chosen by God and, as such, were able to understand the mysteries of the kingdom that other people outside did not understand.

Jesus had to let them know that ‘…unto you [them], it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God.’ While others might have dull ears when they hear God’s word of truth, if you are chosen by God, you will be able to understand it.