Latest / Bible Chat Devotional / June 4 - Hearing God Without Presumption

Transcript

June 4 - Hearing God Without Presumption · Bible Chat Devotional

• 0:02
  Welcome to Bible Chat, where we have devotional conversations
• 0:06
  rooted in Scripture and relevant for today, June 4th, when God
• 0:11
  speaks. Imagine being in the middle of
• 0:15
  the night, deep in sleep, and you hear your name called
• 0:18
  clearly, unmistakably. What would you do?
• 0:22
  That's exactly what happened to a young boy named Samuel in
• 0:25
  First Samuel chapter 3. He heard his name called 3
• 0:28
  times. Three times he ran to the priest
• 0:31
  Eli thinking it was him, and three times Eli told him he
• 0:35
  hadn't called. Finally Eli realized what was
• 0:38
  happening and gave Samuel the most important instruction of
• 0:41
  his young life. If you hear it again, say speak
• 0:45
  Lord, for your servant hears. And that's exactly what
• 0:49
  happened. First Samuel chapter 3 verse 10
• 0:52
  says. And the Lord came and stood
• 0:54
  calling as at other times, Samuel.
• 0:57
  Samuel and Samuel said, Speak for your servant hears 4 words
• 1:01
  that changed everything your servant hears.
• 1:04
  Not leave me alone, not let me think about it, not I'm busy,
• 1:09
  just a heart open, ready, available, ready to receive
• 1:13
  whatever God had to say. Now here's the thing, one of the
• 1:17
  reasons Samuel almost missed the voice of God was because it was
• 1:21
  unfamiliar to him. The Bible says Samuel didn't yet
• 1:24
  know the Lord. He hadn't developed that
• 1:27
  intimacy yet. And honestly, that's a lot of
• 1:30
  us. We want to hear from God, but we
• 1:33
  haven't spent enough time with him to recognize his voice when
• 1:37
  he speaks. God speaks through his word.
• 1:40
  He speaks through prayer. He speaks through wise people he
• 1:44
  places in our lives. He speaks in the quiet moments
• 1:47
  when we're not distracted by the noise.
• 1:50
  But if our lives are constantly full of screen time, drama,
• 1:54
  music blaring, and notifications pinging, we're going to miss it.
• 1:58
  Samuel had to be in a quiet place for God to reach him.
• 2:02
  Proverbs chapter 17 verses 6:00 and 7:00 remind us that words
• 2:06
  matter. Deeply true and wise speech is
• 2:09
  precious, while foolish or deceitful words bring trouble.
• 2:13
  This connects to Samuel's story. When God finally spoke, it was
• 2:17
  truth. It was real, and that truth
• 2:20
  required someone willing to listen, not just talk.
• 2:24
  And Psalm 64 verses 7:00 and 8:00 remind us that God is not
• 2:28
  passive when injustice happens. He sees when words are used to
• 2:32
  harm, when lies are spread, when people are hurt by what others
• 2:36
  say, He responds. That should bring us comfort
• 2:40
  when people speak against us and conviction when we consider the
• 2:44
  impact of our own words. Here's the take away.
• 2:48
  Are you making space for God to speak into your life, or is the
• 2:51
  noise winning? God is always speaking through
• 2:54
  Scripture, through prayer, through the Holy Spirit.
• 2:57
  The question isn't whether he's saying something.
• 3:00
  The question is whether we're positioned to hear it.
• 3:04
  Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank you for
• 3:08
  speaking to us through your Word and through your Spirit.
• 3:11
  Like Samuel, help us to quiet the noise around us and say
• 3:15
  speak. Lord, your servant hears.
• 3:18
  Give us a heart that listens before it speaks and ears that
• 3:21
  recognize your voice above everything else, competing for
• 3:24
  our attention in Jesus name, Amen.
• 3:29
  When the battle feels personal, relentless, and too heavy to
• 3:32
  name, your prayers do not have to fall silent.
• 3:36
  Under Siege is a prayer script series for believers walking
• 3:39
  through fear, betrayal, spiritual pressure and unseen
• 3:43
  conflict. With a warm, faith centered
• 3:46
  focus. These books give voice to the
• 3:48
  cry for help, the fight for a steady mind, the weariness that
• 3:52
  longs to run, the chaos of hostile environments, the pain
• 3:57
  of broken trust, and the confidence to leave judgement in
• 4:00
  God's hands. This series helps you pray with
• 4:02
  discernment, endurance, and covenant trust.
• 4:05
  When the pressure is real and the path feels narrow, stand
• 4:09
  firm. Pray clearly.
• 4:11
  Remember that God hears his people in the middle of the
• 4:13
  battle. Order now on Amazon or visit
• 4:16
  prayerscripts.org. Now I invite you to spend time
• 4:24
  with God in today's three-year Bible reading plan.
• 4:28
  Proverbs chapter 17 verses six to seven World English Bible
• 4:33
  Children's children are the crown of old men.
• 4:36
  The glory of children are their parents.
• 4:39
  Arrogant speech isn't fitting for a fool, much less do lying
• 4:42
  lips fit a Prince. Psalm Chapter 64 World English
• 4:46
  Bible Hear my voice God in my complaint preserve my life from
• 4:51
  fear of the enemy, hide me from the conspiracy of the wicked,
• 4:55
  from the noisy crowd of the ones doing evil, who sharpen their
• 4:58
  tongue like a sword and aim their arrows.
• 5:01
  Deadly words to shoot innocent men from ambushes.
• 5:06
  They shoot at him suddenly and fearlessly.
• 5:08
  They encourage themselves in evil plans.
• 5:11
  They talk about laying snares secretly.
• 5:14
  They say who will see them? They plot injustice, saying We
• 5:17
  have made a perfect plan. Surely man's mind and heart are
• 5:21
  cunning, but God will shoot at them.
• 5:24
  They will be suddenly struck down with an arrow.
• 5:26
  Their own tongues shall ruin them.
• 5:28
  All who see them will shake their heads.
• 5:30
  All mankind shall be afraid. They shall declare the work of
• 5:34
  God, and shall wisely ponder what He has done.
• 5:38
  The righteous shall be glad in Yahweh, and shall take refuge in
• 5:41
  Him. All the upright and heart shall
• 5:43
  praise Him. First Samuel, chapters 3 to 4.
• 5:47
  World English Bible. The child Samuel ministered to
• 5:50
  Yahweh before Eli. Yahweh's word was rare in those
• 5:54
  days. There were not many visions then
• 5:57
  at that time when Eli was laid down in his place now, his eyes
• 6:01
  had begun to grow dim so that he could not see, and God's lamp
• 6:05
  hadn't yet gone out, and Samuel had laid down in Yahweh's temple
• 6:10
  where God's ark was. Yahweh called Samuel.
• 6:13
  He said Here I am. He ran to Eli and said here I am
• 6:17
  for you called me. He said I didn't call, lie down
• 6:20
  again. He went and lay down.
• 6:23
  Yahweh called yet again Samuel. Samuel arose and went to Eli and
• 6:27
  said, here I am, for you called me.
• 6:29
  He answered I didn't call my son, lie down again.
• 6:34
  Now Samuel didn't yet know Yahweh, neither was Yahweh's
• 6:37
  word yet revealed to him. Yahweh called Samuel again.
• 6:40
  The third time he arose and went to Eli, and said, Here I am, for
• 6:45
  you called me. Eli perceived that Yahweh had
• 6:48
  called the child. Therefore Eli said to Samuel, Go
• 6:51
  lie down. It shall be if he calls you that
• 6:54
  you shall say, speak Yahweh, for your servant hears.
• 6:58
  So Samuel went and lay down in his place.
• 7:01
  Yahweh came and stood and called as at other times, Samuel,
• 7:05
  Samuel. Then Samuel said, Speak, for
• 7:08
  your servant hears. Yahweh said to Samuel, Behold, I
• 7:12
  will do a thing in Israel at which both the ears of everyone
• 7:15
  who hears it will tingle. In that day I will perform
• 7:19
  against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house from
• 7:23
  the beginning even to the end. For I have told him that I will
• 7:27
  judge his house forever for the iniquity which he knew, because
• 7:30
  his sons brought a curse on themselves, and he didn't
• 7:33
  restrain them. Therefore I have sworn to the
• 7:36
  House of Eli that the iniquity of Eli's house shall not be
• 7:39
  removed with sacrifice or offering forever.
• 7:43
  Samuel lay until the morning and open the doors of Yahweh's
• 7:47
  house. Samuel was afraid to show Eli
• 7:50
  the vision. Then Eli called Samuel and said,
• 7:53
  Samuel, my son, he said, Here I am.
• 7:57
  He said, What is the thing that he has spoken to you?
• 7:59
  Please don't hide it from me, God do so to you and more also
• 8:04
  if you hide anything from me. Of all the things that he spoke
• 8:07
  to you, Samuel told him every bit and hid nothing from him.
• 8:11
  He said it is Yahweh, let him do what seems good to him.
• 8:16
  Samuel grew and Yahweh was with him and let none of his words
• 8:19
  fall to the ground. All Israel from Dan even to
• 8:23
  Beersheba knew that Samuel was established to be a prophet of
• 8:26
  Yahweh. Yahweh appeared again in Shiloh,
• 8:30
  for Yahweh revealed himself to Samuel in Shiloh.
• 8:32
  By Yahweh's word, the word of Samuel came to all Israel.
• 8:37
  Now Israel went out against the Philistines to battle and
• 8:40
  encamped beside Ebenezer, and the Philistines encamped.
• 8:44
  In effect, the Philistines put themselves in array against
• 8:48
  Israel when they joined battle. Israel was defeated by the
• 8:52
  Philistines who killed about 4000 men of the army in the
• 8:55
  field when the people had come into the camp.
• 8:59
  The elders of Israel said, why has Yahweh defeated us today
• 9:03
  before the Philistines? Let's get the Ark of Yahweh's
• 9:06
  covenant out of Shiloh and bring it to us, that it may come among
• 9:10
  us and save us out of the hand of our enemies.
• 9:13
  So the people sent to Shiloh and they brought from there the Ark
• 9:17
  of the Covenant of Yahweh of armies, who sits above the
• 9:20
  Cherubim. And the two sons of Eli, Hofni
• 9:23
  and Feynhus were there with the Ark of the Covenant of God.
• 9:27
  When the ark of Yahweh's covenant came into the camp, all
• 9:30
  Israel shouted with a great shout, so that the earth
• 9:33
  resounded. When the Philistines heard the
• 9:36
  noise of the shout, they said, What does the noise of this
• 9:39
  great shout in the camp of the Hebrews mean?
• 9:42
  They understood that Yahweh's ark had come into the camp.
• 9:46
  The Philistines were afraid, for they said, God has come into the
• 9:49
  camp. They said, woe to us, for there
• 9:52
  has not been such a thing before.
• 9:54
  Woe to us who shall deliver us out of the hand of these mighty
• 9:58
  gods. These are the gods that struck
• 10:00
  the Egyptians with all kinds of plagues in the wilderness.
• 10:04
  Be strong and behave like men, O you Philistines, that you not be
• 10:08
  servants to the Hebrews as they have been to you.
• 10:12
  Strengthen yourselves like men and fight.
• 10:14
  The Philistines fought and Israel was defeated, and each
• 10:18
  man fled to his tent. There was a very great
• 10:21
  slaughter, for 30,000 footmen of Israel fell.
• 10:24
  God's ark was taken, and the two sons of Eli, Hofni and Feinhaus
• 10:29
  were slain. A man of Benjamin ran out of the
• 10:32
  army and came to Shiloh the same day with his clothes torn and
• 10:36
  with dirt on his head. When he came, behold, Eli was
• 10:40
  sitting on his seat by the road watching, for his heart trembled
• 10:44
  for God's ark. When the man came into the city
• 10:46
  and told about it all the city cried out.
• 10:50
  When Eli heard the noise of the crying, he said, What does the
• 10:53
  noise of this tumult mean? The man hurried and came and
• 10:56
  told Eli. Now Eli was 98 years old.
• 11:01
  His eyes were set so that he could not see.
• 11:04
  The man said to Eli, I am he who came out of the army, and I fled
• 11:08
  today out of the army. He said, How did the matter go,
• 11:11
  My son? He who brought the news
• 11:13
  answered, Israel has fled before the Philistines, and there has
• 11:18
  been also a great slaughter among the people.
• 11:21
  Your two sons also Hofni and Finehus are dead, and God's ark
• 11:25
  has been captured. When he made mention of God's
• 11:28
  ark, Eli fell from off his seat backward by the side of the
• 11:31
  gate, and his neck broke and he died, for he was an old man and
• 11:36
  heavy. He had judged Israel 40 years.
• 11:40
  His daughter-in-law fine. His wife was with child near to
• 11:43
  giving birth when she heard the news that God's ark was taken
• 11:47
  and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead.
• 11:50
  She bowed herself and gave birth for her.
• 11:52
  Pains came on her about the time of her death.
• 11:56
  The women who stood by her said to her, Don't be afraid, for you
• 11:59
  have given birth to a son. But she didn't answer, neither
• 12:03
  did she regard it. She named the child Ichabod,
• 12:06
  saying the glory has departed from Israel because God's ark
• 12:11
  was taken. And because of her father-in-law
• 12:13
  and her husband, she said, the glory has departed from Israel,
• 12:18
  for God's ark has been taken. Thanks for joining us on Bible
• 12:23
  Chat, where Scripture meets everyday life.
• 12:26
  If today's devotional encouraged you, share it with a friend and
• 12:30
  be sure to follow the podcast so you won't miss the next
• 12:33
  conversation. Until next time, stay rooted in
• 12:36
  truth, anchored in hope, and walking daily with Jesus.