Devotional Song: Go to this link – Please take your time to see a video of the poignant calling in song, performed by Daniel O’Donnell singing Here Am I, Lord, a proclamation of obedience to God’s calling, … hearing Him and following His call; … And then to this link ... to hear Kristyn Getty singing, Speak O Lord, exhorting all Christians to obedience to God’s word and His call to purpose in our lives.
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Highlight Passage #1 - NLT: 1st Samuel 3: 7-10
7 Samuel did not yet know the LORD because he had never had a message from the LORD before. 8 So the LORD called a third time, and once more Samuel got up and went to Eli. “Here I am. Did you call me?” Then Eli realized it was the LORD who was calling the boy. 9 So he said to Samuel, “Go and lie down again, and if someone calls again, say, ‘Speak, LORD, your servant is listening.’” So Samuel went back to bed. 10 And the LORD came and called as before, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel replied, “Speak, your servant is listening.”
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Highlight Context - NLT: 1st Samuel, Chapter 3 … GO TO THIS LINK …
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Reference Passage #1: Isaiah 6: 8-9 … … [NLG]
8 Then I heard the Lord asking, “Whom should I send as a messenger to this people? Who will go for us?” I said, “Here I am. Send me.” 9 And He said, “Yes, go, and say to this people, … ‘Listen carefully, but do not understand. Watch closely, but learn nothing. …'
Reference Passage #3: John 10: 14-16 … [NKJV]
14 “I am the good shepherd; I know My own sheep, and they know Me, 15 just as my Father knows Me and I know the Father. So I sacrifice my life for the sheep. 16 I have other sheep, too, that are not in this sheepfold. I must bring them also. They will listen to My voice, and there will be one flock with one shepherd. …”
My Journal for Today: May I assume that any reading here with me today have taken in and meditated on the attached photo illustration, the two songs to which I link any readers here, and ALL of the Scriptural highlights given from Os Hillman in his devotional as well as from my own recollection and memory? Because if you have done this; and as I do every morning, you’ve prayed for God’s Spirit to exercise His ministry of enlightenment in your heart this day, I really don’t need to write much here.
And why is that? Well, it’s because you’re LISTENING FOR GOD; and when we Christians do that, God will speak in some way to give us His grace of enlightenment, enrichment, or enablement, … helping us to find His way through this morass we call life. Today in the OT passages from 1st Samuel and Isaiah, copied above you read of God’s Spirit coming upon two of God’s Prophets of old; and they heard and heeded God’s word. Samuel and Isaiah were two great examples of believers who were willing to listen for God and then to follow Him when they heard Him.
That’s what Jesus wanted for His disciples as well when He spoke to them in parables and preached to them about the Kingdom of God [e.g., in that sermon we know of as “The Sermon on the Mount”]. And some listened to Him and some, looking for Jesus to swoop in and defeat Rome, were not able “to hear” (i.e., to fully grasp) what the Lord had to say. It’s like it was when He spoke to them as their Good Shepherd (see John 10: 14-16 copied above). Some within The Messiah’s earshot were able to really “hear” Him; and some could not. Therefore, some followed the Good Shepherd; and some did not. And we know what happened to those who did and those who would not.
My prayer today is that we’re ALL doing ALL we can to listen for God through His word and in life’s loud messages; and then having heard from our God, … to follow Him (and if you don’t know it, go and re-find Luke 9: 23, and be obedient to Jesus’ calling to us).
My Prayer for Today … Lord, I’m here to hear You this morning. Speak clearly; and I will follow. … Amen
Blogger Note: Everyday during this year, my daily devotional blogs are influenced by the reading and study of the online blog entitled Today God Is First [TGIF], authored by Os Hillman. If you GO TO THIS LINK on the date of my blog, you’ll find a link to read Hillman’s TGIF blogs; or you can subscribe to the blog via email at that site.
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