God is so faithful to meet with us when we enter into His presence. He filled my cup to overflowing this morning as I met with Him over a cup of my morning coffee…

There were some treacherous things going on at the place of worship where Samuel was now living and growing. Eli’s sons had no respect for the Lord or for the sacrifices God’s people were coming to Shiloh to offer. Eli went to his sons saying, “I have been hearing reports from all the people about the wicked things you are doing. Why do you keep sinning? You must stop, my sons!” (1 Sam. 2:23-24).

But Eli did not remove his sons from their place of honor when they continued sinning so the Lord sent a message to Eli through a man of God: I have revealed myself to your ancestors, I chose your family for this ministry, I assigned you to something very holy. Why do you scorn all of this by giving your sons more honor than you give me? You and your sons have become fat from the best offerings of my people Israel! (2:27-29). In essence God was saying – they are sacrificing while you are indulging.

Eli’s sons were sinning against God by what they did. Eli was sinning against God by what he did NOT do. All were disobedient and all were punished by God. God had placed Eli in leadership within the people of Israel and his failure to be the spiritual leader God had called him to be caused his death, the death of his two sons, the death of 30,000 Israelite soldiers and the capturing of the Ark of the Covenant by the Philistines (1 Sam. 4).

Our sin and disobedience to God can destroy our lives and destroy those around us. God has a plan to use us in the lives of others but what happens when we choose our own ways instead of His? What happens when we disobey or delay our obedience rather than respond as Samuel did?

Samuel’s response to the voice of God was, “Speak, Lord, your servant is listening.” Samuel’s obedience resulted in the Lord continuing to speak to him, giving messages for Samuel to repeat to the people of Israel. They would in turn repeat the message and God’s message would go out to all the people of Israel because of Samuel’s obedience (3:10, 21).

Samuel knew the purpose to which God had called him. He knew he had been given to God – he knew where he came from and Samuel knew to whom he now belonged. Because Samuel was obedient and willing to be used by God in the lives of others, the Israelites got rid of their images of Baal and Ashtoreth and worshiped only the Lord (7:3-4).

Samuel prayed for God’s people and led them in confession and fasting. His humble servant attitude led the people of Israel to know that it was not Samuel who could save them, but the God to whom Samuel prayed. “Don’t stop pleading with the Lord our God to save us from the Philistines!” they begged Samuel…He pleaded with the Lord to help Israel and the Lord answered him (7:8-9).

Dear Jesus, I desire to have a servant heart as Samuel did. God show me any disobedience in my life – disobedience by what I am doing or by what I am NOT doing. May I not get fat on your blessings but know that I am saved to serve, that I have been chosen by you for a role in the lives of others. Lord, use me and hear my prayers on the behalf of others as I plead for their salvation and healing. Forgive me and empty me out of anything that is me so that I may be filled with You and You only today. May I always know to whom I belong. Amen.

“I asked the Lord to give me this boy, and he has granted my request. Now I am giving him to the Lord, and he will belong to the Lord his whole life.” And they worshipped the Lord there. Then Hannah prayed:
“My heart rejoices in the Lord!
The Lord has made me strong,
Now I have an answer for my enemies,
I rejoice because you rescued me.
No one is holy like the Lord!
There is no one besides you;
There is no Rock like our God.” – 1 Samuel 1:27-2:2

As we talked about yesterday, Hannah prayed for a larger sacrifice and God answered her prayer. After giving her son to the Lord, Hannah was filled with joy as she worshipped God – a much different emotion for Hannah then the bitter anguish she was experiencing before God answered her prayer. After making what had to be a difficult sacrifice for a mother, God faithfully gave Hannah joy in place of her sacrifice. Her faith was strengthened and she knew the Lord, the Rock, was the source of her strength.

But Samuel, though he was only a boy, served the Lord. He wore a linen garment like that of a priest. Each year his mother made a small coat for him and brought it to him when she came with her husband for the sacrifice (1 Sam. 2:18-19).

Last year my dear friend, Dave Brown, gave me this passage of Scripture as I was grieving the loss of one ministry and preparing for the next. He pointed out that the coat Hannah brought Samuel each year must have been too big for him in order for him to be able to grow into it by the end of the year. As soon as the coat fit, she’d give him a new one.

Sometimes God gives us a new coat, a bigger coat. The price of our faithfulness in what God has given us is that sometimes He takes that away and gives us something new that requires that same faithfulness. He moves us out of our comfortable, broken-in coat into a new “bigger coat.”

This was a great reminder for me this morning as our family experiences the mixed emotions of having last year’s comfortable coat removed and God placing on our shoulders a new coat that doesn’t seem to quite fit yet. Perhaps God is trying to place a new coat on you as well, one you are resistant or uncomfortable in. Like Hannah, we can rejoice with confidence that we serve a holy God who is strong like a Rock and gives us strength for whatever sacrifice He is asking us to make.

I am reminded of a song today as I drink my morning coffee – “Strong Enough” by Matthew West. There are times when we may feel like we are not strong enough, but perhaps it is in these weakest moments that we begin “looking up and reaching out.” God’s hands of mercy will cover us and be strong enough for both of us. We don’t have to be “strong enough.” We need to give up and let God be “strong enough.” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8JsRxVczmQ&feature=related

I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength (Phil. 4:13).

Since drinking my morning coffee last Thursday, I have not been able to get out of my mind Epaphras and how he prayed hard and earnestly for others. My prayer is that God will show me how to pray like Epaphras (Col. 4:12-13). Having finished the study of James and then Colossians, I went back this morning to where we left off in the Old Testament in February, bringing me to 1 Samuel. And just like God has a tendency to do, he brought my mind back to how I pray and the heart behind my prayers.

In the first chapter we read the wonderful story of Hannah, a woman who prayed to God and her prayers were answered. Hannah was barren and wanted to have a baby so she prayed to God hard and with earnest. Well, the exact description of her prayer is “out of great anguish and sorrow.” I’ve read this story so many times and have always been able to relate to Hannah’s heart because of my own struggle with infertility before I was healed. Today God showed me something different in Hannah’s story that I have never noticed.

Each year Elkanah would travel to Shiloh to worship and sacrifice to the Lord of Heaven’s Armies at the Tabernacle…On the days Elkanah presented his sacrifice, he would give portions of the meat to Peninnah and each of her children. And though he loved Hannah, he would give her only one choice portion because the Lord had given her no children…Each time, Hannah would be reduced to tears and would not even eat. “Why are you crying?” Elkanah would ask. “Why aren’t you eating? Why be down so downhearted just because you have no children? You have me – isn’t that better than having ten sons?”

Once after a sacrificial meal at Shiloh, Hannah got up and went to pray…Hannah was in deep anguish, crying bitterly as she prayed to the Lord. And she made this vow: “O Lord of Heaven’s Armies, if you will look upon my sorrow and answer my prayer and give me a son, then I will give him back to you. He will be yours for his entire lifetime, and as a sign that he has been dedicated to the Lord, his hair will never be cut.” – 1 Samuel 1:3-11

I always thought Hannah wanted a child so that she could have a child. Makes sense to me. But then she gives him back to the Lord and is again without a child – a part of the story that always confused me. Her intent was always to give the child back to God, not just in the way we do when we dedicate our children to the Lord but to literally give her child to the Church and again be without him. I believe today I understand Hannah for the first time.

Because Hannah had no children, she had less to give to God. She prayed for a child so that she could give the most incredible sacrifice a mother could ever give, her son. God saw Hannah’s heart, saw it was out of love for God that she asked for something God would see as priceless and beyond the value of any other sacrifice. God, who knew He would one day offer His own son as a sacrifice, understood the cost – God understood Hannah’s heart and answered her prayer.

As I finish up the book of Colossians today, I feel God has given me a message for someone else. Just as God gave Paul the words He wanted him to speak to the Church at Colosse, I believe someone reading needs to hear what God has added to my morning coffee.

“Be sure to carry out the ministry God gave you.” This is Paul’s advice to Archippus in Colossians 4:17. Today as I reread through the book of Colossians, I get the strong impression that someone is running from what God has called them to do, not out of willful disobedience but because they are convinced they missed their chance – that they have to settle for plan B because they did not accept God’s will when they were first called by Him.

Paul understood what it means to be called by God for a specific purpose. Paul said he was chosen by God to be an apostle of Christ (1:1), that he was appointed as God’s servant to proclaim the good news (1:23) and given the responsibility of serving His church by proclaiming the entire message of Christ (1:25). But Paul did not start his adulthood following God’s plan for his life. He was actively involved in the Jewish religion but had not surrendered to the Lordship of Christ and His plan for Paul’s life. God took great measures to get Paul’s attention on the road to Damascus, bringing him back to the true purpose of his life.

Paul had much to be ashamed of as he accepted God’s call on his life. He could have walked away saying, “I’m not worthy of this call” but instead he accepted what Jesus did on the cross for him and walked into the forgiven life, willing to be and do whatever God created him for. Paul reminds me a lot of my father, who was called as a teenager to preach God’s word yet resisted God’s plan for his life, completely walking away from both God and the Church. At the age of 34, he stopped running and accepted God’s call into full-time ministry. After 32 years as a pastor, he is now retired but continues to serve God in the Church knowing that his life is not his own, but that he has been chosen by God.

Paul reminds us that we, too, have been rescued from darkness (1:13). We were once far away from God but Christ died so we could be reconciled to Him and brought into the presence of God “holy and blameless,” without a single fault (1:21-22). The enemy tries to convince us we are not worthy of what God is calling us to do. But hear this today: You were dead because of your sins but God made you alive with Christ when he forgave ALL your sins. He canceled the record of the charges against you and took it away by nailing it to the cross (2:13-14).

God chose you and God is calling you. It’s time to stop running and “complete the work you have received in the Lord” (4:17). The fact that you ran from God’s call no longer matters. The past regrets are just that – past. It no longer matters how you have sinned, but Christ is all that matters and He lives in you (3:11). You died to this life and your real life is now hidden with Christ in God (3:3). And not only are you with Christ, Christ lives in you (1:27). His power is at work within you, giving you the strength to work hard for Him (1:27).

And so my prayer for you today echoes Paul’s desires for the Colossians. I pray that God will give you complete knowledge of his will, that you will have spiritual wisdom and understanding as you continue to follow Him. I pray you will represent Christ today clothed in love and accessorized with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, and forgiveness as an outflow of Christ living in you. I pray you will work willingly, making the most of every opportunity. I pray you will fully accept what God is asking you to do today with no resistance.

Paul sure could have used email or facebook. He had so many people he was keeping in touch with, concerned about and preaching to. Of course, he had no idea centuries later he would still be teaching us. Without the postal service or social media, Paul had to rely on friends to deliver his letters and tell others about his ministry. The benefit of these letters was multiplied by the servants of Christ who hand delivered the letters.

Oh how God’s letters to us are multiplied by those He sends into our lives to carry His word into our presence as we enter His. There are many preachers, teachers, evangelists and authors who have helped me understand God’s word over the course of my life. As I read through the last section of Colossians this morning while thoroughly enjoying a hot cup of my morning coffee, I began thinking of all the people God has sent into my life for the very same reason Paul was sending friends into the lives of the Christians in Colosse.

Tychicus will send you a full report about how I am getting along. He is a beloved brother and faithful helper who serves with me in the Lord’s work. I have sent him to you for this very purpose – to let you know how we are doing and to encourage you (4:7-8). My mind immediately goes to those God has called to the same ministry He has called me – those I learn from and am daily encouraged by as we partner together in the Lord’s work. They are faithful and helpful. They are “beloved brothers” whom I love like family! Let’s stop and thank God for the “Tychicus” in our lives.

I am also sending Onesimus, a faithful and beloved brother, one of your own people. He and Tychicus will tell you everything that’s happening here (4:9). Have you ever had a friend who just “got you” – someone who understands you consistently, laughs with you when no one else gets it, and someone you could tell anything and they would still accept you? I cannot imagine my life without “Onesimus” and so I take time this morning to thank God for the friends who play this role in my life.

As you were instructed before, make Mark welcome if he comes your way (4:10b). There are some people God sends into our lives not only for our benefit but so we can reach out to them. God wants to use us in the lives of others today. Maybe the “Mark” in your life is unpredictable like this one who might show up in Colosse. Maybe the reason God sends someone into your life is not about you but about how God wants to work through you – which amazingly God uses to strengthen us and make us who He created us to be. So I guess we benefit after all! Let’s have our eyes wide open so we can see “Mark” for who he is, should he show up today.

This next one is my favorite and I wholeheartedly thank God for these people in my life! Epaphras, a member of your own fellowship and a servant of Christ Jesus, sends you his greetings. He always prays EARNESTLY for you, asking God to make you strong and perfect, fully confident that you are following the whole will of God. I can assure you that he prays HARD for you and also for the believers in Laodicea and Hierapolis (4:12-13).

Let’s turn this around and look at who God is calling us to be in the lives of other people. Are you Tychicus, Onesimus or Epaphras? Who is God asking you to teach and encourage today? Who is God calling you to be a faithful and beloved friend to? Here’s the big one for me: Who am I praying for and how should I pray today? Can my prayers be defined as earnest? Do I pray hard for the requests others bring before me. What a great challenge for me today!

As I studied Colossians 4:2-6 this morning, I was convicted by Paul’s prayer. There were several elements to how he was instructing the Church of Colosse to pray, one of which I don’t add to my prayer daily but would like to start.

Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart (4:2). Paul is instructing the believers to not only take time to pray but to DEVOTE themselves to prayer. That’s a much stronger word and I have to ask myself if I am truly devoted to prayer. Will it take top priority in my day? Then Paul adds to pray with a thankful heart. Oh how I love to thank God, to stop and consider all I have to be thankful for and praise Him for the many blessings He gives me every day. This is an element to my prayers that I not only NEED to add, I WANT to add. When I come to God with a thankful heart, it affects my attitude toward everything else.

The NLT Study Bible explains that “with an alert mind” is referring to the Greek verb used in the New Testament exhorting Christians to be watchful in light of Christ’s return. I have to admit that I rarely think of Christ’s return. I stay focused on today and prepared for tomorrow without considering the possibility of His second coming. But Paul is asking them to keep their mind alert to the possibility that Christ could return at any moment. The next verses explain why this is important.

Pray for us, too, that God will give us many opportunities to speak about his mysterious plan concerning Christ. That is why I am here in chains. Pray that I will proclaim this message as clearly as I should. Live wisely among those who are not believers, and make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be gracious and attractive so that you will have the right response for everyone (4:3-6).