1 Samuel 3:19
“And Samuel grew, and the LORD was with him, and did let none of his words fall to the ground.”
Throughout the Scriptures you will find that God began to work in
the heart of His chosen when they were children. You must never
underestimate God working in a child’s heart. Samuel was a child when
God first spake to him, and from the first time to the end of his life
he grew in the LORD.
Luke 9:57
“And it came to pass, that, as they went in the way, a certain
man said unto him, Lord, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest.”
The man in the verse above had great intentions, but when it came
down to following up with his decision he failed. Jesus talked about
three different people who said, “I will follow thee…” What
these men were truly saying was, “I will follow if…” They had conditions
to following Jesus. They would follow Jesus if all the right conditions
were met.
Mark 14:34
“And saith unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful unto death: tarry ye here, and watch.”
One of the great things about Jesus’ life on Earth is that He gave
us an example of how to deal with every emotion. That is why Hebrews 4:15 says, “For
we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of
our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet
without sin.” He completely understands everything you face because He was touched by every emotion that you will ever experience.
1 Samuel 1:6
“And her adversary also provoked her sore, for to make her fret, because the LORD had shut up her womb.”
Hannah nearly allowed her adversary to destroy her. You see some
tragic steps she took that very nearly caused her to become a bitter
woman in the end, but through the guiding hand of God she took some good
steps that allowed her to come through her time of opposition with the
blessings of God.
Hebrews 11:1
“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”
A fingerprint means that someone has been there. Whenever you see a
fingerprint on a window, it reveals someone has been there. Hebrews 11
is the fingerprint of faith. Throughout this chapter, you can see when
faith has left its fingerprint on someone’s life. Of course, you could
study this fingerprint and come up with several results of the
fingerprint of faith on someone’s life, but there are four glaring
results that faith’s fingerprint leaves on one’s life.
Judges 9:9
“But the olive tree said unto them, Should I leave my fatness,
wherewith by me they honour God and man, and go to be promoted over the
trees?”
Israel was at an unstable time in their history. Abimelech
violently took the throne of Israel by killing all of his brethren but
one. The one brother, Jotham, after hearing of his brethren who were
slain, went to the top of a hill and in an allegorical speech show
Israel their foolishness in following Abimelech. Inside of this allegory
is a hidden truth that can be applied to many areas of your life.
2 Timothy 1:3
“I
thank God, whom I serve from my forefathers with pure conscience, that
without ceasing I have remembrance of thee in my prayers night and day;”
Paul makes a bold statement about his prayer life when he says, “…without ceasing I have remembrance of thee in my prayers night and day;”
Paul wanted to be an encouragement to Timothy, and he chose to be an
encouragement to him by reminding him that he was remembered in his
prayers. I’m sure this was a great encouragement for Timothy because
Paul was his mentor in the ministry.
1 Timothy 3:1
“This is a true saying, If a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work.”
There used to be a day when homes and churches made an emphasis for
young men to grow up and desire serving the LORD in the ministry. The
programs of youth departments were geared towards sending young people
off to become full-time servants of the LORD. Parents would often make
it clear to their children that they wanted them to become full-time
servants. Pastors would make calls for full-time service in their
services. The result was that many young people surrendered to serve the
LORD full-time, went off to get training and eventually became
full-time servants of God.
Joshua 24:15
“And
if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye
will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the
other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye
dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”
The best family is the family that serves the LORD together. The
strongest family is the family the serves the LORD. The closest family
is the family that serves the LORD. The common denominator for an
enjoyable and close family life is making the LORD the centerpiece of
all that you do.
Colossians 3:13
“Forbearing
one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel
against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.”
You will sometimes hear people say, “Life would be good if it were
not for people.” This may be true, but the problem is that interacting
with people is part of our daily routine. These people make up all types
of personalities and lifestyles, and some of those personalities and
lifestyles will seem to clash with yours. If you are going to enjoy
life, then you are going to have to learn to get along with others who
don't do things like you, or with others with whom it is hard to get
along.