Beyond thrilled to have The Sweetheart, my beloved, Douglas Elkins, in the guest writer spot! I love this message, it is his passion: to see others walk in Relationship with God. Feel free to comment and share!

2 Peter 1:10  “Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall…”

THE STORY OF SAMUEL – 1 SAMUEL 3:1-10

The young lad ministered to the Lord before (under the direction of) the preacher.

In those days the Word of the Lord was precious because revelations, prophecies, and contact with God seemed to be a rare thing, possibly because there were so few Israelites that were willing to hearken to the voice and Word of God.

It would appear that when we compare this scripture setting with Exodus 27:20, 21 that the timeframe would be somewhere in the early morning, prior to dawn. Both the preacher and the lad were asleep.

Samuel’s sleep is interrupted quite abruptly by someone calling his name. He got up and went into the preacher’s bedroom to see what he wanted, only to find out that the preacher had not called him.

It was after three disruptions of sleep that the pastor, Bro. Eli-the-priest, realized what was going on.

“Samuel,” he said, “Go and lie down:  and if you hear that voice calling you again you say, ‘Speak, Lord; for your servant hears you.’”

So Samuel went and did just as the prophet asked, and God spoke to Samuel that night in a special way.

I have purposely sidestepped what would be a vital, if not the most important, part of this story.

1 Samuel 3:7 7 “Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD, neither was the word of the LORD yet revealed unto him.”

Understand that Samuel had godly parents. At the time of this account, he was living in the House of God – the Temple. He had daily contact with the prophet of God.

BUT HE DID NOT HAVE A PERSONAL ENCOUNTER OR A PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD!

He could not discern the voice of God until he had developed a relationship with Him!  Samuel had to have A PERSONAL ENCOUNTER WITH GOD!

He couldn’t go on his parent’s relationship with God. He wasn’t saved just because he went to church every time the doors were opened! His relationship with his pastor could not substitute with his relationship with God!

He had to have a personal encounter and develop a personal relationship with God on his own!

SAMUEL’S ENCOUNTER WITH GOD GAVE HIM HIS LIFE’S CALLING!

Paul had an encounter with God that radically changed his life. Paul’s encounter with Jesus Christ completely changed his life’s direction. (Read the story in Acts 9)

JACOB AT BETHEL. Jacob is the GRANDSON of GOD’S FRIEND – ABRAHAM. Even though he was Abraham’s grandson, he did not have a direct line to the throne by virtue of this relation. He had to have a personal encounter with God himself – for himself!

Jacob’s encounter changed his walk…literally!

Anyone who comes in contact with God has to change!  And if you are ever going to do anything in life, you must have a personal encounter with God!

This is why Paul admonished the Philippians to “…work out their own salvation with fear and trembling.”

Judges 2:7-11.  “And the people served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works of the LORD, that he did for Israel.  And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died, being an hundred and ten years old.  And they buried him in the border of his inheritance in Timnath-heres, in the mount of Ephraim, on the north side of the hill Gaash. And also all that generation were gathered unto their fathers: and there arose another generation after them, which knew not the LORD, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel. And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and served Baalim…”

This passage in Judges shows us how a spiritual heritage is lost.

• Joshua and the elders who survived him knew the Lord and knew His works.
• Then the next generation knew the Lord and knew about His works. This generation obviously had a personal experience of God but did not know what He could do for them.
• Finally, a generation arose who knew NOT the Lord and knew not His works! This last generation, the Scripture notes, “Did evil in the sight of the Lord.”

From this passage we can see the importance of knowing and experiencing the great things of God PERSONALLY!

By searching the Scriptures, we discover this pattern repeated many times:

Abraham LIVED right, built an altar, and dug a well.

Isaac LOOKED right, dug a well, and built an altar.

Jacob did not know WHAT was right; but built an altar when he was in trouble.

Spiritual preparation cannot be bought or borrowed at the last minute. Young people cannot live off their parent’s relationship with God.  Everyone must have his own personal relationship with God.

David lived for God.

Solomon, his son, lived for himself.

Rehoboam, the son of Solomon and grandson of David, did not know what to live for!

We need to see the works of God for ourselves. Past stories are not good enough for us today because we need a fresh and personal encounter with God for now!

Generation # 1 is a generation of COMMITMENT.

Generation # 2 is a generation of COMPROMISE.

Generation # 3 is a generation of CONFUSION.

There is a vast difference between EXPERIENCING the great things of God and EXPLAINING the great works of God!

If you EXPERIENCE it you can say, “I know….”

If you EXPLAIN it without experiencing it you can only say, “I think I know….”

I’m talking about having a personal encounter with God! (One like Samuel, Paul, Jacob…).

2 Peter 1:10 10 “Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall…”

YOU WON’T FAIL IF YOU WILL DO THIS!

Those with a personal encounter with God rarely fail Him…walk in relationship!

Douglas started his ministry in youth work.  He has over 20 years of pulpit ministry experience, serving in the capacities of Assistant Pastor, Senior Pastor, Evangelist and also Missionary. His secular work experience includes such titles as small business owner, seven years in retail management as well 15 years with the Federal Aviation Administration where he served as an Air Traffic Controller, eight of those years being in a management level.

He now serves as the North America Director for Revival By Design, a God-given pattern for revival.  Douglas also serves on the Executive Committee and as the Director of Education for RBD Global.

He will soon celebrate 35 years of marriage to the love of his life….ME!

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