April 02, 2014 – Wednesday

Start Time: 6:14 A.M.

End Time: 6:40 A.M.

Title: The Lord Calls Samuel

Scripture: 1 Samuel 3:1 – 21

God’s Message / God’s Promise / God’s Commands:

→ The boy Samuel ministered before the Lord under Eli. In those days the word of the Lord was rare; there were not many visions. One night Eli, whose eyes were becoming so weak that he could barely see, was lying down in his usual place. The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the house of theLord, where the ark of God was. Then the Lord called Samuel. Samuel answered, “Here I am.”  And he ran to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.” But Eli said, “I did not call; go back and lie down.” So he went and lay down.  Again the Lord called, “Samuel!” And Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.” “My son,” Eli said, “I did not call; go back and lie down.” Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord: The word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him. A third time the Lord called, “Samuel!” And Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.” Then Eli realized that the Lord was calling the boy. So Eli told Samuel, “Go and lie down, and if he calls you, say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place. The Lord came and stood there, calling as at the other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” Then Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.”

NOTES:

Ø God faithfully calls us until we hear Him!  Many times God called us for a purpose yet we are deaf to His calling.  We ignore Him or thought that it was someone else who’s calling us.  And despite of our ignorance or lack of understanding/knowledge, God continues to call us until we realize and identify His voice.  It is important that we know His voice because the sheep knows the voice of their Shepherd and we ought to know the voice of our God.  To do so, we need to increase our knowledge of Him so we may never neglect or ignore His calling ever again.

Ø We need the Word of the Lord revealed to us to know Him! Samuel was unaware of God’s voice because according to the passage above, the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to Him.  This is why it is very important to spend time reading and meditating on God’s words because we know His voice and Him personally through His words.  We are to never allow for His words to depart from us day and night but instead we are to meditate, soak and immerse ourselves to it.  Let it be revealed in us and become alive in our lives!

→  And the Lord said to Samuel: “See, I am about to do something in Israel that will make the ears of everyone who hears about it tingle. At that time I will carry out against Eli everything I spoke against his family—from beginning to end. For I told him that I would judge his family forever because of the sin he knew about; his sons blasphemed God,^[a] and he failed to restrain them.Therefore I swore to the house of Eli, ‘The guilt of Eli’s house will never be atoned for by sacrifice or offering.’” Samuel lay down until morning and then opened the doors of the house of the Lord. He was afraid to tell Eli the vision,  but Eli called him and said, “Samuel, my son.” Samuel answered, “Here I am.”  “What was it he said to you?” Eli asked. “Do not hide it from me. May God deal with you, be it ever so severely, if you hide from me anything he told you.”  So Samuel told him everything, hiding nothing from him. Then Eli said, “He is the Lord; let him do what is good in his eyes.”  The Lord was with Samuel as he grew up, and he let none of Samuel’s words fall to the ground. And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba recognized that Samuel was attested as a prophet of the Lord. The Lord continued to appear at Shiloh, and there he revealed himself to Samuel through his word.

NOTES:

Ø God deals with us accordingly and He does what is good in His eyes!  God is a just and fair God!  He honors those who honors Him and desciplines those who despises Him.  God carries out His judgment and He ensures Eli was informed prior to it.  Here you can see God’s love and grace still abounding for Eli for He revealed His plans ahead of time to Eli so I believe Eli had time to accept and embrace the truth of his and his family’s end.  God’s plans and will for us is good in His eyes and when it is good in His eyes, it is good for us.  We are to accept and embrace the plan of God and not go against it for He is God Almighty!

Ø God is with us and will continue to reveal Himself through His words!  God is magnificent and amazing.  No words can truly describe and illustrate His Majestic Being!  Our lifetime will not be enough to fully understand the awesomeness of the Lord but in due time, God reveals Himself to us as He walks with us in this life through His words.  So let us seek His words at all times!

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, Almighty One, Precious Father and Marvelous King!  No one can grasp Your ultimate Being!  You are beyond human comprehension and we can never fathom Your greatness on our own!  Lord thank You because You are faithful in calling us no matter how long it takes.  Many times we choose to ignore Your voice, or neglect it because we are too busy with other things.  At times, we are just ignorant of who You are, yet You never get tired of waiting for the day that we recognize who You really are!  Thank You because You deal with us accordingly and You do what is good in Your eyes and not ours!  Thank You because Your actions is based on Your standards and not ours…then we can be assured that what You do is truly for the sake of us and not for our own selfish reasons.  Thank You Jesus for giving us Your word so we can meditate and soak into it daily.  Thank You for using Your word to reveal Yourself to us.  Lord allow me to immerse myself into Your word that I may know and recognize Your voice every time You call me.  Show me who You are Lord and let it be that everyday I will get to see Your love, grace and favor right before my eyes.  Thank You Jesus!  I love You!  In Jesus’ Name, Amen!