Tag Archives: man

God Speaks to Samuel

God Speaks to Samuel

Haystack Rock, Cannon Beach, Oregon

Haystack Rock, Cannon Beach, Oregon

Let’s read from the third chapter of I Samuel 3:1, “Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the LORD under Eli, and the word of the LORD was rare in those days; there was no frequent vision.” It is interesting that the writer would say that the Word of the LORD was rare. God was not speaking much in that day because the hearts of the people were far from Him.  I have heard people comment, “It doesn’t seem like the Lord is speaking, and when I read the Word it’s not living and real to me.” Number one, when our hearts are not open to God and the things of God, and we really don’t want to listen, then God doesn’t speak that much.  Secondly, when God knows we aren’t going to obey what He says, He is not obligated to speak to us.

God’s Word was rare in those days because the priesthood was polluted and the people were being led astray.  God began to speak to Samuel, but Samuel didn’t yet know the Lord in a real way. God called to Samuel, “Samuel, Samuel”.  Samuel said, “Here am I”, but he thought it was Eli who was speaking to him.  The Lord was speaking to Samuel, yet Samuel didn’t recognize it was the Lord speaking to him. The Lord continued to call out to Samuel, and Samuel kept going to Eli asking, “Didn’t you call me?”  Finally Eli got the picture that it was probably the Lord who was calling Samuel. He instructed Samuel, “Samuel,  if you hear that again, it must be the Lord speaking to you, so just say, ‘Speak Lord, Thy servant hears’.”  God called Samuel again and Samuel responded as Eli had instructed him, “Speak Lord, Thy servant hears.”

Samuel was telling the Lord that he was ready to listen to what He had to say.  He was saying, “Speak, Lord. I am Your servant. I am here to do whatever You want me to do.” I believe those are the two conditions for hearing God speak. Number one, you need an ear to hear, and number two, a heart to obey and to do what God wants done. Samuel did not know the Lord, but he was in the process of learning to recognize the voice of God. When Samuel said, “Speak, Lord, for Thy Servant hears”, this indicated he had an ear to hear, and a heart to obey what God was speaking to Him.

Why God Created Man with spirit, soul and body

Purpose for Our Body, Soul, and Spirit  

Now what are these three parts of man for? Our body, of course, is designed for us to experience and contact the physical realm.

Our soul enables us to contact the psychological realm.  The Greek word for soul is the word from which we get our English word, “psychology”. So man’s soul is man’s psychology. The Bible helps us to see what man’s soul is. The Bible indicates that our soul is comprised of our mind for thinking, our will for making decisions, and our emotions for feeling things, like love, joy and peace and so on.  So, we have these three things in our soul or psychology: our mind, our will, and our emotions. That describes our soul.

We’ve talked about man’s body and man’s soul. Why did God give man a human spirit? God gave man a human spirit so that we could contact, experience and enjoy God. You see the Bible says that God is Spirit.  It’s like saying God’s substance is Spirit or what God is made of is Spirit.  So if we want to contact God, if we want to experience God, and if we want to enjoy God, we need to use our human spirit.

In fact that same verse that says God is Spirit, also says that they who worship Him, or (or would contact or enjoy Him) must do so in Spirit and in reality. This is why God gave us a spirit. Here is a table. This table is made of wood. In order to see the table and to feel the table I have to use my proper organs to sense the table. I have to use my eyes and my hands. The Bible says God is Spirit, God’s substance is Spirit. So if you want to see or experience God you have to use the proper organ and that proper organ is the human spirit. Now some people are looking for God in their mind. They think, “If I could only figure things out, then I could find God.”  The Bible says God is Spirit. Some people are looking for God in good feelings, beautiful feelings.  Now sometimes God comes in that way, but God is Spirit and in order for us to find God we have to use our human spirit.

God created us to express Him and God created us to represent Him on this earth.  How does man do this? Can man do it on his own? Do you think you and I can express God on our own? For instance God is love. The Bible tells us that God is love.

In The Beginning – God and Man

God’s Purpose for Man

Let’s talk a little about what happened in the beginning, and more importantly, to show how what happened in the beginning has something to do with you. In the beginning there was the earth, the plants, the animals and man. What is all this for? Why are we here? These are some universal questions. In the beginning God had a purpose in mind for all things. What is this purpose, and what does it have to do with you?  We need to look at the very beginning of the Bible, where God’s purpose for man is revealed. God’s purpose for us can be summarized in two words; image and dominion. In the beginning of the Bible, the beginning of the record, right in the first chapter, God said, “Let Us make man in Our image after Our likeness, and let him have dominion over the fish in the sea, the cattle, the birds and the whole earth.” So we have those two key words that describe why God made man.  Let’s write this on the board. First of all we have the word, “image”. Secondly, we have the word, “dominion”. This verse in the beginning of the Bible reveals to us why God created man.  We were made in the image of God and we were created to have dominion. What do these two words mean? First of all we have the word, “image”. What does image mean? Image is like a photograph. If you look at a photograph of a tree you see the color, the form and the shape of the tree. You could say the photograph expresses or represents the tree. So, image means to express. We were created in the image of God so we could express God.  Let’s write this down—to express God.  Then “dominion” means to represent God. So there you have it.  We are to express God and represent God. These two words at the beginning of the Bible reveal to us why God created man.  He created us in His Image to express Him, and He created us to have dominion or to represent Him.

This is taken from a Bible study, some of these study video’s are on  Drew’s YouTube channel.