Sunday Mornings

Nathanael said, "Where did you get that idea? You don't know me." Jesus answered, "One day, long before Philip called you here, I saw you under the fig tree." John 1:48 (MSG) It is very absurd to think that the time to build up your faith is when the call of the LORD for a specific task comes. Even though God qualifies those whom he calls, scriptures also point out the necessity of deliberate personal preparation as a prerequisite for being a vessel he will use. 2 Timothy 2:21 KJV If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master's use, and prepared unto every good work. God still keeps his standards as a Holy God. So only holy man can be His vessels of honour. When God chose David to be king over Israel, it was because while he was in the bush taming his father’s flock and chasing away beasts that came to attack, God was watching and marking out someone that would be a vital tool to His ...

The boy Samuel was serving God under Eli’s direction. This was at a time when the revelation of God was rarely heard or seen. (I Sam 3:1, MSG) Two things that the LORD wants to point our attention to this week through this devotional; these are the intrinsic characteristics of a generation or community or individuals that are living under a closed heaven: …serving God under Eli’s direction: a generation that does not have direct contact with heaven will always need some other scheme to link up. From the days of creation, the LORD has always wanted a personal relationship with man. At some point, we could be relaxed and conclude that Eli was playing a discipler’s role to the young lad-Samuel, but I see God coming into the scene to save Samuel’s hunger to serve the LORD and serve Him rightly because Eli could be nearly blind physically, but spiritually, he was blind and deaf and insensitive to the move of God, and this was whom the whole nation of Israel w...