10: 50 Days of 3:16

What do we do when God gives a message? Paul was adamant that all believers should be praying for prophecy or divine revelations from God. He set them as the most valuable resource that we can access in our faith journey. Many believers are not seeking wisdom to be able to share with others, they work in their own strength. If I was a paperboy delivering 50 papers but I refused or was oblivious to use the bag they provided to help me carry them my job would not be as effective as it could be if I would only use the bag to carry my papers. When we use what God provides sharing our faith with others becomes a lot more easier

 

But Eli called him and said, “Samuel, my son.”

Samuel answered, “Here I am.”

1 Samuel 3:16

 

Here in today’s 3:16 we see the morning after Samuel had his first conversation with God. If you read the whole story we come to find that God called Samuel in his sleep and three times Samuel went to his boss thinking it was his voice calling out.  I interpret that as God was using the voice of Eli to speak to Samuel. After the third time being awoke,n, Eli realizes that this must be God calling Samuel telling him to respond and listen. Samuel being an obedient person responds to God receiving a message. The message Samuel received was not one he would have expected and was a promise that God would punish Eli and his family for what his boys had been doing. This would be an example to the people of what would happen if they played games with God. The boys who were priest were doing wicked things which were contradictory to everything the priests were called to do.

 

Eli, being a follower of God and trusting him, wanted to know what Samuel had heard from God the next morning. Samuel was scared that if he told Eli that he would be looked at unfavourably and maybe even called a liar. Eli made it quite clear to Samuel that if he was not to share what God had told him it would be worse off for him to keep it to himself then to share it. Samuel revealed his conversation with God to Eli who understood all that was going on and responded, ‘let Him do what is good in His eye’s’. Eli showed a divine respect for God and understood that God is good, and evil was not permitted to go unpunished.

 

God will reveal many things to us to share with others. They will not always be words of judgement, but more words of compassion, love and revelation of things that you should ought not to have known. He reveals the secrets of their hearts to you so that you can connect with them and show them God’s love for them. We are called to give that word and message to them, keeping it to ourselves does not do us any good other than giving into our fears of rejection. There is freedom in obeying God and sharing his words of love to others. If we want to grow in our faith we need to start telling God ‘Speak Lord, for your servant is listening”.

Father. Speak for your servant is listening. Give us wisdom today to share your message of hope with others. Give us words to share that can only be revealed by you. Help us to push past our fears and open our lips giving the messages you have for us to share. Use us as a might force to change this world and showcase your love. Let me be the light in the darkness the salt in this decaying world. Amen

Day 31: 50 Days of Change

“If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth.”‭‭1 John‬ ‭1:8‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Only one man can ever claim the title of having no sin. We have been infected with this sin since the beginning of humanity in the garden. The moment Adam and Eve made the choice to eat what was forbidden they changed the way we live forever. Adam and Eve were patient zero. We no because of this are born into sin, in which there is no earthly cure. Most sin effects the heart, but we sometimes focus on the sin that affects others as more dangerous.

Some would say that sin is just a buzz word we created somewhere along the way to explain immorality. If we can put a name on it then it can be contained, fixed, studied. Others will ignore it completely say that there is no God, so sin is just some imaginary thing with no value to us. 

But for those who live with the truth that Jesus born sinless, lived a sinless life, then died and took in all past present and future sins this becomes life to us. We trust what Jesus did is enough to free us from the infection and bondage of sin. We are not immune to the effects and allure of sin, it still attracts us, calls to us. To live a life after accepting Jesus without sinning is not impossible but more improbable. We can go days, weeks or months, yet our earthly flesh will fail. It is in those moments where we decide to ignore the sin or deal with it head on and move on. 

For those who don’t know Jesus, and are living in a life of sin, they just don’t understand. Living in the darkness for so long they don’t know any better. They have a skewed interpretation of wrong and right, they could act just like you, they could be a member of your church. Sin envelops them and doesn’t want to let go, it has a home there and doesn’t want to give it up.

So how then can we reach those who don’t know Jesus? How then do we reveal to them that the life they are living is a cheap imitation and that there is light in the darkness? We need to be the light to them. We need to love them, pray for them, be Jesus to them. But how do we do that? Prayer, getting out of the church and being good neighbors, opening your lips and speaking to them. Genuinely love them. Ask the Holy Spirit for wisdom. You who are free from the grasp of sin need to show others life with out sin.

Got a story about this? Would love to hear how your life was changed, or you were able to show someone else the light of Jesus.

Father, I pray for wisdom and strength to be the light you call me to be. I don’t want to make anymore excuses as to why I am not sharing your love with others. Guide my heart, let me push past all that is holding me back. Let my life be an example. I want to see those around me as you see them, alone and in need of a realtionship with the creator God.  They matter and are loved by you Jesus, so they matter and needed to be loved by me. Amen