- When this happened, like I mentioned before, the word of God and visions were rare. When we get into places in our life, like school or a job, where we aren't surrounded by a Christ-like enviroment, know that God is always there and still at work around you, and in you. He can pierce through the darkest places and get thr attention of anyone like He did with Samuel, and in His timing.
- Second, I love Samuel's responce when the LORD first called him. He said "Here I am." To me, it's a statement that says "I'm ready, I'm listening." This reminds me of the call of Isaiah in Isaiah chapter 6. Isaiah says in verse 8, " Here am I. Send me!"
- I also love how Samuel got up right away and went to Eli to see what he wanted. It doesn't say he waited, he got up and went. I also love this because it shows us that Samuel really did audibly here God's voice. It was so real that Samuel thought it was Eli.
- The next thing I notice is that the LORD calls him 4 times! He calls him until he properly gets Samuel's attention and speaks to him. This shows that God will bring to pass His will and He won't be stopped. Take great comfort, rather then fear, in that.
- This next point is something I too need work on in my own life. I can't help but see how God uses Eli to communicate to Samuel. In verse 8 it says "Eli realized that the LORD was calling the boy." God can use the people around us, our family and friends, to speak His message to us, we just have to be humble enough to accept the guidence and His voice.
- Eli then says in verse 10 what to tell the LORD once He calls Samuel again, and I love this, he says to say "Speak, Lord, your servant is listening." How great is that? Just let that sink in for a moment. What if we responded that when in prayer to Him? Or when we read His Word? That could bring something powerful
- Lastly, when Eli wants to know what the LORD said to Samuel, despite fear, Samuel told him everything, hiding nothing. How many times have you, have I, not told everything to someone because we were afraid? God expects us to be completely honest. He will reward us for that. It is possible to face that challenge with the Lord's help, and by His help alone, because it can be a very scary thing.
On a closing note, despite all the lessons learned from merely this chapter alone, I can't help but notice the main theme to be applied. I see over and over again Samuel's immediate, complete obidence. Either to God or to Eli, Samuel was always obident, and that's what the Lord wants from us. And remember, though the Christian life may be hard, in the tight time, for doing God's work and law, we will reap a harvest and be crowned by the King Himself!
As always, thanks for reading. Please let me know any feedback, and as always, you can find me on my website, or my twitter (@stephaniejtay). God bless! ♡Stephanie
Hello everyone! Wow, it's been a hard couple days to be honest, but I'm thankful that God is faithful. I've started reading through the book of 1 Samuel this past week, and when I came across the third chapter, I found so much application, and that's what I want to share you you in this post. Let's begin by looking at some background this far in the book. In the first chapter, we read that Hannah is unable to have kids. In this part of history, not having kids was frowned upon. So Hannah prayed and in verse 15 Hannah says "I was pouring out my soul to the LORD." And verse 16 continues in that "I have been praying here out of my great anguish and grief." So the Lord gave her a son, Samuel. Because of this, Hannah gave Samuel back to the Lord around the age of three (vs 11, 27-28. Samuel was raised the Eli, the priest at the Lord's house at Shiloh. So now, let's look at chapter 3. This chapter is the call of Samuel by God. To quickly sum it up, this calling happened at a time in history when the "word of the LORD was rare; (and) there were not many visions." So one night Samuel was lying down and verse 4 tells us the LORD called him and Samuel responds, "Here I am." After he said this, he ran to Eli and again said, "Here I am, you called me." Then Eli said "I did not call; go back and lie down." (vs 5) And so Samuel did. The LORD called Samuel again, went back to Eli, and it happened a third time. This time Eli realized it was the LORD, so he gives him the instruction that if "he calls you again, say, 'Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening.'" (vs 9) So when this happened, Samuel said those exact words. And when he did, the LORD spoke to him about the punishment the house of Eli was about to receive. (You can read more about that in ch 2 vs 12-36 & ch 3 vs 12-14). After this happens though, Eli wanted to know everything the LORD said to Samuel, and although he was afraid (vs 15), Samuel told Eli everything, "hiding from him nothing" (vs 18). So there is a quick, (or not so quick) overview of what's going on here. Now to some things I thought could be revelent in our day.
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I love Sunday's. I mean, I wake up, go to church, watch football (during football season), and just hang out. But why I really love Sunday's is that of the first thing I mentioned, I get to go to church. I always feel a longing during the week wishing for church. But you know, church comes, I get refreshed in God's Word and through worship, and I come home and go about my week. Most of the time, all I do is worship and get refreshed at church, at least for me anyways. I don't come out with a "life-changing" attitude, although I probably should, but this morning was different. This morning I prayed that God would make Himself real to me. Sometimes I struggle with being complacent in my faith or taking the "idea" of God and Jesus and the cross to lightly, and sometimes for granted. I hate this, I never want to end up in this state. So I prayed that God wouls make Himself real to me, and I'm thankful to say He did. God is faithful.So what happened? We sang "Stronger" by Hillsong today, and during the bridge it goes, "so let Your Name be lifted higher" and it repeats itself to a climax and heads into the chorus. Well during this bridge, this man behind me, who was of special needs, was worshipping and singing this part out with his whole being, and in that moment I realized how awesome God was. So awesome that, not any "god" can move a person to worship as such so passionately. I found myself worshipping, but something about this case brought me to tears. I was moved, and God made Himself real to me.So I was thinking earlier and wanted to use this lesson in a blog, and I prayed that God would let me know what to write or what Scriptures I needed to back it up. Well, as I was just reading my nighttime devotionals, I came across this verse from Ephesians 3:18-19: "how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge-that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God." Most of you have heard at least the beginning part of this verse many times in your life, and I know for me, I kind of just skim over it knowing the "idea" that God's love is big enough and more then any human being's, but again, this backed up my experience this morning. I prayed that God would make Himself real to me, and He did, because He loves me beyod measure. How wide and long and high and deep.I know today, God has been good to me. If you can take anything out of this, let it be from Jeremiah 29:13-14: "You will seek Me and find Me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found my you." I sought God desperatly, and what happen left me broken, but when you ask God to make Himself known, He will do so. And the brokeness that is felt will leave you feeling so complete.
Until next time, Stephanie♡If you have a comment, a story, or a prayer request, you can always leave a comment, contact me with the "contact form" on this site, or find me on twitter: @stephaniejtay Also, below is the link to "Stronger" by Hillsong, I highly encourage you to check it out. As always thanks for reading, God bless! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9PeWwnhmZ3A&feature=youtube_gdata_player Hello all! Hope everything is going well with you guys! Before I start, I want to just say THANK YOU so much for taking the time to read is blog, it seriously means so much to me. If one of my blogs have impacted you in the slightest of ways, please let me know! There are a ton of ways to connect with me. You can leave a comment, fill out the contact me form (on this website), or find me on twitter (@stephaniejtay). I'd love to hear from you and hear how God is working in you!Ok, so today's blog is a bit more for the ladies, but not entirely. (So guys...don't leave just yet!) I want to talk about singleness. Some of you know what it's like being the only one single in your friend group, or the one who has never had a boyfriend/girlfriend. But I have good news!! I know what that's like, and better yet, so does the God we serve.So you know what's cool about being a single Christian? A lot! Here's some food for thought:
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AuthorI'm just a girl who tries to give everything she has to the One who gave everything for her. Archives
January 2016
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