Speak Lord Part 1 : Your servant hears

1 Samuel 3:9 -  Therefore Eli said to Samuel, “Go, lie down; and it shall be, if He calls you, that you must say, ‘Speak, Lord, for Your servant hears.’ ” So Samuel went and lay down in his place. (NKJV)

Blessings everyone. It's your boy JP back with another post. Before I jump in, I want to share something that is very ironic. 

I have been procrastinating this post for a very long time. The Spirit has been telling me to write this post for ages... delayed obedience is disobedience. Now here is the irony.. look at the title of this post.

 I heard but did I listen and obey??

ANYWAYS

I have my usual co-writer the Holy Spirit taking over from me in about 3...2...1

Today's post is part of a four part series that I'm going to call 'Speak Lord'. 

The first person I'm going to talk about is Samuel. You can read his story from 1 Samuel 3. I'm going to be focusing on verses 1-21. Samuel was a servant boy of the priest Eli. Samuel was dedicated to God by his mother Hannah (read my post about Hannah here first) so he was sent to serve the Lord by helping out Eli. 

Now, you guys remember that Hannah was barren - she couldn't have children. If we quickly turn to 1 Samuel 2:20, you'll see that Eli blessed Elkanah and Hannah and they had 3 MORE sons and 2 daughters. Pshhhh, GOD IS GREAT. Hannah went from barren to a baby manufacturing woman of God quick. 

This post is going to stress the importance of serving God and LISTENING to Him.

Samuel grew in stature and in favour with both the Lord and men (1 Samuel 2:26) and the Lord also spoke to Him. If we turn to 1 Samuel 3:1, we are told that it wasn't that common during this time for God to speak to people or for them to receive revelations.

1 Samuel 3:1 - Now the boy Samuel ministered to the Lord before Eli. And the word of the Lord was rare in those days; there was no widespread revelation.

One night when Samuel was lying down in the same room as the ark of the Covenant, the Lord called out to Samuel but Samuel didn't know it was the Lord. He assumed it was Eli and ran to Eli's room.

1 Samuel 3:4 -  that the Lord called Samuel. And he answered, “Here I am!” 5 So he ran to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.”

This happened THREE times and on the third time, Eli realised that it was God calling Samuel and he told him to answer with "speak Lord, Your servant hears"

 1 Samuel 3:10 - Now the Lord came and stood and called as at other times, “Samuel! Samuel!”

And Samuel answered, “Speak, for Your servant hears.”

1. Service is key.

God did not speak to many people back then but yet a young man had the privilege to hear the voice of God and sleep in the same room as the ark of the Covenant. Samuel's surroundings were SATURATED with God's presence. If we turn back to 1 Samuel 2:18, it talks about how Samuel served God as a child. Flip forward to Ecclesiastes 12:1 and it talks about how serving God in your YOUTH is best. No wonder Samuel heard from God. God was pleased with him and favoured him as mentioned before.

 So many people want to hear from God which is good. They love Him. But my question is, are they showing it? John 3:16-  For God so loved the world that He GAVE. What are you giving to God to express your love for Him? Yes you go to church and you give tithe and offering (when it suits you) but those things are relatively easy in my opinion. Now giving your TIME. That is hard. If you had a boyfriend or girlfriend who claimed to love you but didn't give you any of their time, attention, or even gifts, would you still be convinced that they loved you? Yes, God is not like man who is quick to withdraw from people but God called us to work for Him. Pastor David told us that "something will always take up your time. Give that time to God and He will take care of everything else" and whew he was right. No time given to God is wasted.

1 Corinthians 3:8 - Now he who plants and he who waters are one, and each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor. (NKJV)

We are called to work and we shall be rewarded according to our labour. 

Back to Samuel. After Eli told Samuel what to do, Samuel went back to bed and heard God call him again. He responded as instructed and God gave Samuel his first prophecy concerning Eli's household. Like we were told before, not that many people heard from God, so Samuel hearing from God was a big thing and it wasn't something to be taken lightly. God was with him and speaking through him. 

Many people want to jump to the Pastor calling and start preaching and teaching. It's not wrong to want to be Pastor, Music Minister and etc but like Pastor David says, with God, the way to the top is the bottom. You need to serve others first before are called by God to rise up! You need to be molded and sculptured in ministry. On the other hand some of you can sing, yet you don't want to join Choir...but you want to preach. You can azonto at Afronation but don't want to zanku for the Lord....

IssaERROR

Both roles are key in Church, but lets be real. Pastoring and teaching God's people is not the same as being the Choir.
It's not a role to be taken lightly. Remember the parable of the talents? Don't bury your talent and expect to be given more. It will be taken away from you!

 
Again, back to Samuel. He served before he was singled out. 

Now in 1 Samuel 3:19, we see that God was with Samuel and that established him as a Prophet throughout Israel. All this happened because Samuel was willing to serve. Yes his Mother dedicated him before his birth, but Samuel most certainly could have run away. In addition, God favoured him - he was a good servant!

Matthew 25:21 His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’

Pastor David always reminds us that it says "Well done my good and faithful servant" not faithful church-goer. It is the servant that will enter the joy of the Lord. We will be known by our works and our fruits. Matthew 7:19-20 talks about how trees that do not bear good fruit will be CUT DOWN AND THROWN INTO FIRE. Jesus cursed the fig tree in Mark 11:12-25 because it didn't bear fruit. The key thing here is that from the outside it LOOKED like it should have been fruitful. Your friends and colleagues see you going to church and hear you talking about church so much that from the outside you look like you're the head of set-up team, but in reality you get to church late and think you don't need to serve...

Don't be a cursed fig tree!! Jesus doesn't like useless trees!

2. Serve with joy and gladness!!

Deuteronomy 28:47-48 - 47 “Because you did not serve the LORD your God with joy and gladness of heart, for the abundance of everything, 48 therefore you shall serve your enemies, whom the LORD will send against you, in hunger, in thirst, in nakedness, and in need of everything; and He will put a yoke of iron on your neck until He has destroyed you (NKJV)

We need God way more than He 'needs' us. God is God by Himself remember. Your replacement has already been born. God is just giving you a chance to carry out the role. But like any employer, if you don't fit the standards, you're out. Pastor David said in the sermon titled 'Faith for Service' (which I will link below because it ties is perfectly with this post) God is like a manager that puts his best players on reserve. The people on the sides have more energy than those on the field right? I'm sure many of us have had a leader in church that just dipped randomly or was maybe sacked and then when the replacement came (here's the funny part) they were 10x, 20x or even 50x better than the old leader. Deep it. Why would God remove you and then replace you with someone worse or even at the same level???

Some people don't want to serve. With all the midnight excursions with your mcm/wcw God has saved you from you think you're exempt from service. If you're stuck and don't know where to go, that's fine (I'm gonna come back to that) but for those who think they're ABOVE giving their time to God, you are just playing yourself. God is the best employer. 

Imagine, the Spirit works through you, you then get some earthly praise (YOU BETTER REDIRECT IT TO GOD) and then God will reward you on earth AND IN HEAVEN. It may not be instantaneously but maybe that job will suddenly become easier for you to apply for in the future or that loan you requested for to start a business will suddenly be approved. (obviously don't just work for materialistic gain because gain doesn't equal godliness. (1 Timothy 6:5)

As some of us may know, ministry is NOT EASY. Ministry is where God will really work on you. Some of you that scream "GoD bReak mE aNd maKe mE" are the same people running away from ministry even though the Lord your God is telling you to join the Drama department so that the department leader can remove that spirit of laziness out of you. Church is a place to be taught the Word of God and to be taught lessons!

Some of you can't take correction which is why you tied up your shoes wrong for 5 years straight, even though your Mum was correcting you every day without fail. You ignored her correction and now look, it's 2020 and you're wearing velcro shoes to work. It's not about you! Stop putting your feelings first. At Kharis, we call feelings the f word. I feel tired so I'm going to miss evangelism today. Okay so what about that soul attached to your name?

I feel angry so I'm not going to talk to this sister at service today. Who are YOU to cause division?

As individuals we are so small in the grand scheme of things. Some of our callings transcend generations. God wants to make you, your children AND your grandchildren a family of Gospel artists (shout out to the Walls Group) but because you feel like you don't need to serve in church the blessing goes over your head. You think God will stop? Does the 17:05 train stop and wait for you because you haven't left your house on time? 

Yeah I didn't think so either. Yes, God gives chances but there is clear difference between working towards serving and completely neglecting it. 

Romans 8:8 - "So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God." (NKJV)

You cannot serve God in the flesh. Don't enter ministry and operate in the flesh. Serve in His house in the Spirit. What do I mean by that? 

Galatians 5:19-26-  19 When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, 21 envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.

22 But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!

24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. 25 Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives. 26 Let us not become conceited, or provoke one another, or be jealous of one another. (NLT)

Everything that is in bold can relate to ministry. If you don't know what some of those words mean, please use Google :) it's free:)))

We need the Spirit to manifest in us so we can put on all these qualities and serve well!

3. What to do if you don't know your ministry.

Finding your place in ministry may be harder for some people than others. For people like me who have been singing and playing instruments for some time, it's quite easy to decide that you want to serve in the choir or as an instrumentalist. However, if you genuinely have no idea what you've been called to do, make sure you pray on it. God has given us all talents so pray for wisdom and guidance to know what direction to step in.

Exodus 31:3 - "I have filled him with the Spirit of God in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all kinds of craftsmanship, (NKJV)

God has filled you with so many things. He has made you gifted. It may not be a traditional talent like singing or playing drums but you may be very good at organizing and could serve on the church committee. You may be good with tech and could join the sound team or media team. 

Don't look at others at compare yourself. Comparison is a thief of joy!
Now, when God calls you to that place, please be like Samuel and say "HERE I AM LORD, YOUR SERVANT IS LISTENING". 

I hope you guys enjoyed this post and stayed tuned in for the entirety of it. The posts in this series are going to be a bit longer but I'm sure you guys don't mind :))

Here are the links for the Faith for Service sermon (spotify and soundcloud). Click the red words!

Pastor David talks about faith for service and WHY serving in church is so important!

Remember, this is part of 3 part series so make sure to keep an eye out for parts 2 and 3

Deucesss