How Do I Know What To Do With My Life?

Steve Harness

The Kingmaker • Sermon • Submitted 3 years ago

1 Samuel 3

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God has a calling for Each Christian!

Notes

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Every teenager and young adult will ask questions about their future.

Where should I go?

What should I be?

Who should I marry?

The old WILDS Song: captures these questions then answers: “I’ll wait on Thee”

A wordly mindset only asks “What do I want to do?” or “Where do I want to live?”

I laugh out loud sometimes when I see “pastor’s” post they are looking for a ministry and then they say it must be a certain city or location. That is like saying “Who should I marry?; her name has to be___.”

Married folks, How did you know this was the person God wanted you to marry?

How did you know the job you should take?

What drew you to the training you received?

How did you end up in the house you are living in?

How did you know God called you to WBC?

Divine dreams are the taproot of enthusiasm. So, we are called to join God’s kingdom. You and I are called to be modern disciples of Jesus. We are called to think of the possibilities God has for us. We are called to deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Him.

G. Curtis Jones, 1000 Illustrations for Preaching and Teaching (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1986), 73.

God has a specific calling for every Christian.

God had not had a prophet offering visions since the time of Moses. The Judges were servants of the Lord who primarily won military battles, and recieved messages from God, but they were not “prophets.”

Samuel is called to be a judge and a prophet.

Samuel is another OT picture of the Person of Jesus Christ.

Jesus is a prophet in giving us God’s Word and His Spirit.

Jesus is Priest in offering the Final sacrifice for our sins.

Jesus is King and King and Lord of Lord’s.

Samuel, the Kingmaker will anoint two men as king.

Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 & 2 Samuel: Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary (Old Testament), Volume 2 (Samuel’s Vision and Initiation as a Prophet (3:1–21))

In 3:20, Samuel is called a “prophet” (nābîʾ). While the Bible also applies this term to prophets of Baal, this sharing of terminology must not obscure the distinction between true and false prophecy, any more than the worship of false gods should be confused with worship of the true God.

Years earlier, before the Hebrews came into the Promise Land, God spoke to Moses from the Ark of the Covenant. Now God is calling another Deliverer - when He calls Samuel.

Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 & 2 Samuel: Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary (Old Testament), Volume 2 (Samuel’s Vision and Initiation as a Prophet (3:1–21))

Ark of God (3:3). Built during the time of Moses (see Ex. 25:10–22), the ark of God (also called the ark of the testimony and the ark of the covenant) was a relatively small box (about 45 inches long, 27 inches wide, and 27 inches high) made of acacia wood, overlaid with gold, and fitted with rings so it could be carried with poles. ...The biblical ark was a visible symbol of God’s presence with his people; when not mobile (e.g., accompanying Israel into battle or leading them through the Jordan), it was kept in the Most Holy Place of the tabernacle, later the temple. The ark was not a magical object and was not to be trifled with, as is made apparent especially in 1 Samuel 4–6 and 2 Samuel 6.

God has a specific calling for every Christian.

God will show each one of us how to live and what to do - if we would listen to Him!

I can see potential in about every Christian young person I know. I want to be the one who pours encouragement on, not just pointing out possible deficiencies in skill or ability. If a young person is FAITHFUL and has initiative to follow God- God will do great things in his/her life.

Samuel is about 12 years old.

HOW CAN I KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH MY LIFE?

Serve Where you Are. 1

Do what you know God wants you to do.

The “General Will of God.”

If we do now do what we already know - why would God show us the next thing?

Luke 16:10 KJV 1900

He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much.

Matthew 25:21 KJV 1900

His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.

Listen for the Voice of God. 2-15

Our Response to Leaders / Elders tell much about our Response to God.

Sam responds to Eli, not knowing it was God. 7-8

Sam has not “Experienced” God yet - but he is about to know God personally!

He jumped up 3 times to serve who he thought was Eli.

It was not: “The old, blind, fat man wants me again?What do you want Eli?

There is respect, even reverence in how he goes about responding to “authority.”

Where can we hear God’s voice?

The Word of God. “Open Vision” in verse 1 are fresh words from the Lord. We don’t have new vision like this, but we have the eternal vision of God’s Word.

We have the Holy Spirit who teaches us what we need to know, who illuminates our path and guides our conscience.

We have mentors and spiritual leaders who encourage us to know the Lord.

We have the testimony of God’s unwritten Word - the Creation, the order and design of this earth that speaks to the character of God.

We have prophetic events and global changes that the Bible foretold that should speak volumes to us.

Prayer is Open Communication with the Lord. Knock, Ask, Seek, find!

1 Kings 19:9–12 KJV 1900

And he came thither unto a cave, and lodged there; and, behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and he said unto him, What doest thou here, Elijah? And he said, I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts: for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away. And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the Lord. And, behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake: And after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.

10,000 Sermon Illustrations Called By Name

A friend, who was traveling in the East, heard that there was a shepherd who still kept up the custom of calling his sheep by name. He went to the man, and said: “Let me put on your clothes, and take your crook, and I will call them, and see if they will come to me.”

And so he did, and he called one sheep, “Mina, Mina,” but the whole flock ran away from him. Then he said to the shepherd: “Will none of them follow me when I call them?”

The shepherd replied: “Yes, sir, some of them will; the sick sheep will follow anybody.”

Ensuring Spiritual Health will help you hear God’s Voice!

Be Ready to Obey Completely. 16-20

God does not call us to be successful - He calls us to be faithful.

This first assignment was tough.

Are you Ever afraid?

Don’t let fear stop you from doing what is right.

The first test for young Samuel when God called him was would he be faithful to obey the Lord completely? He is to deliver to Eli a difficult message. This message would demonstrate to all the people, once it occurred, that God was with Samuel.

Everyone can see if what Samuel says comes to pass. This is one of the qualifications of a true prophet. His Words must come true.

Deuteronomy 18:21–22 KJV 1900

And if thou say in thine heart, How shall we know the word which the Lord hath not spoken? When a prophet speaketh in the name of the Lord, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him.

Verse 19 is key to Sam’s answering God’s Call:

He Grew. BODY.

God was with him. SOUL.

God Fulfilled His Words Through Samuel. SPIRIT

God is the key Person of verse 19. God was with Him and God did not let any of His Word not come to pass.

God used Samuel to fulfill His Word.

God can use you to fulfill the General and Specific Will He has for your Life.

People knew the Lord was at work in the world again. Your life can be a testimony to the power and wonder of God too!

Samuel goes on to become one of the major characters of the Bible.

You and I may not have a BIG Part in history - but we are making some history with and for the Lord today. Do your part. Find God’s Will. Follow the Lord. Make a difference.