Verse of the Day 12/30

 

1 Samuel 3:4  When the Lord called, Samuel! And he answered, Here I am.  Amplified Bible (AMP)

 

In verse 1 of this passage the author writes "the Word of the Lord was rare in those days;there was not frequent vision".  Continuing on "the lamp of God had not yet gone out.  As we approach the end of the year, many people will be taking a look back over the past year and what has gone on in their lives.  It may be a year where they have fallen away from God and His word.  They may not have felt God's presence, His purpose or His "vision".  Perhaps it is a passage like this, at this time of year, that can draw them, perhaps some of us, back to Him.

 

If that is the case and it is felt in your heart, what will your response be?  Samuel responded, "here I am, you called me", God had gotten his attention and Samuel's response to God was "speak, for your servant hears".

 

It may be an event in our lives, a birth, death, illness or any number of things through which our attention is brought back to the Lord and we call out to Him in prayer.  Or, He just may speak to our conscience and draw us back to Him for reasons we can't identify.  But what will our hearts response be?  Will you regain your hunger, your appetite for God's Word?  If that is the case for the coming year it will mean that some of the other things, self indulgence that has captured our time and attention must go. 

 

Author and pastor John Piper writes, "Do you have a hunger for God? If we don't feel strong desires for the manifestation of the glory of God, it is not because we have drunk deeply and are satisfied. It is because we have nibbled so long at the table of the world. Our soul is stuffed with small things, and there is no room for the great. If we are full of what the world offers, then perhaps a fast might express, or even increase, our soul's appetite for God. Between the dangers of self-denial and self-indulgence is the path of pleasant pain called fasting."

 

Heading into the New Year it is time to stop nibbling at the table of the world and time to feed on, be fed, upheld and sustained by the Word of God.  What a difference it will make in the coming year.

 

Matthew 4:4 But He replied, It has been written, Man shall not live and be upheld and sustained by bread alone, but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.  Amplified Bible (AMP)

 

In Christ,
Mike

 

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Eph 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace  NIV

1 Samuel 3:3-5

The Message (MSG)

"Speak, God. I'm Ready to Listen"

3 ^1-3 The boy Samuel was serving God under Eli's direction. This was at a time when the revelation of God was rarely heard or seen. One night Eli was sound asleep (his eyesight was very bad—he could hardly see). It was well before dawn; the sanctuary lamp was still burning. Samuel was still in bed in the Temple of God, where the Chest of God rested.

^4-5 Then God called out, "Samuel, Samuel!"

Samuel answered, "Yes? I'm here."