Papua New Guinea, Menya River

Papua New Guinea, Menya River

Papua New Guinea, Menya River

The photo is from Brian Chapaitis. He and his wife are enjoying and serving the people of Papua New Guinea. Their web site is at: bchapaitis.org

Brian Chapaitis writes: On a business trip traveling from Port Moresby the capitol city, to the Aiyura Valley where we live, our small Kodiak aircraft winging to the north. One never ceases to marvel at the beautiful terrain of the countryside. Here we see the classical shapes produced by endless water erosion, creating the rounded ridge-lines, so common in Papua New Guinea. We receive much rainfall throughout the year. North of Menya, Morobe Province, May 2012.

You will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of your presence and the pleasures of living with you forever.
— Psalm 16:11

Samuel Grows and Serves the Lord

red tree near lake

red tree near lake

Samuel Grows and Serves the Lord

At this point Hannah went home and left the boy at the temple with Eli. Verse 11, “And Elkanah went to Ramah to his house. And the child (Samuel) did minister unto the LORD before Eli the priest.”  The boy, Samuel, is learning how to serve the Lord in that environment.  In verse 18 we read that Samuel ministered to the Lord, “But Samuel ministered before the LORD, being a child…” Samuel was learning how to minister to the Lord in the temple. Verse 21 says, “And the child Samuel grew before the LORD.”

This reminds me of a verse in the book of Luke concerning the Lord Jesus. God sent His Son into the world and yet for the first thirty years He had a private time with His family and was not involved in any public ministry.  In Luke 2:40 we read of Jesus, “And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon him.” He was growing and waxing strong in spirit.  I don’t believe this means that Jesus was just growing physically or psychologically. I believe this means that He was growing in favor with God and man, and growing into what God wanted Him to do in His later years.

Its All By Listening

Spokane River near Downtown

Spokane River near Downtown Spokane

Did you know, faith comes by hearing, and hearing the Word of God.  That’s from Romans 10.

Do we really trust God at His word. Do we really believe His speaking.  In the end all is gone, but God and us, our stuff will be gone. So live for eternity. One day this world as we know it is over. We don’t take our toys and electronic gadgets to heaven (or hell).   By grace the promises comes to us. So listen to God’s speaking via His Word, the Bible.

The encouraging verse is Romans 10:17  So faith comes from hearing, and what is heard comes through the word about Christ.

Words to Listen To!

Hearing God’s Word:  Psalm 119

Flower Near Vineyard in Washington

Flower Near Vineyard in Washington

I look this photo with the standard lens, no special setup, standard sunlight.

I would like to take some time, now, to go through Psalm 119, the longest Psalm in the Old Testament. There is one thing that really stands out in this Psalm and that is the phrase, “The Word of the Lord”, referring to what God has written in the Bible, and also what God speaks to us. I want to go through Psalm 119.  I will bring a few things out and give you some brief commentary. The first place in that psalm where the word, “word” appears is in verse 9. It says, “How shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word.”  How do we cleanse our way or how do we know the right way to go? We know the right way to go by the Word of the Lord.

Then we can go on to verse 11 which says, “Thy word I have hid in my heart that I might not sin against Thee.” In other words, how do we keep from sin? We do that by putting or hiding God’s Word in our heart. It’s much better for our minds and hearts to be filled with God’s Word than with other kinds of things, and this will keep us from sin.

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.

His Loving Kindness is Eternal

Sunset Over Water

Sunset Over Water

The best Bible verse on this subject is: 1 Chronicles 16:34 Give thanks unto Jehovah, for he is good; For his lovingkindness endures for ever.   Our kindness and love seems to have limits, but God does not have limits. He is God, the creator of the heavens and earth and is full of energy.

Prayer, Vine and Branches

Prayer, Vine and Branches – Jesus’ Instructions on Prayer in John 15

Grape Vines in Washington State

Grape Vines in Washington State

Look at vines, branches and prayer in in John 15, chapters 14, 15, 16, and 17.  In those four chapters, Jesus was trying to comfort His disciples.  Right in the middle of that, in chapter 15, Jesus was talking about abiding. He was talking about how we need to be like branches on a vine. He was the true vine. Some people say this describes kind of an organic, living and real relationship between Jesus and us, or between us and the Father.  Without getting into the rest of the context, there, John 15:7 says, “If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.” That seems kind of like a blank check where you can expect God to do anything you ask of Him. Some people look at that verse and they wonder why God doesn’t answer when they pray for something. There is a condition in this verse, though. It says, “If you abide in Me and My words aide in you”.  The “asking”is prayer.

Grape Vines in Eastern Washington

Grape Vines in Eastern Washington

The first condition, there, is, “If you abide in Me… “ Without getting into the context,there, one way to abide is to stay in the Lord, to rest in the Lord, or to remain in the Lord.  I would even say it means to do the things God wants you to do, to obey the Lord.  He says, “If you abide in Me”.  Then He says, “And if My words abide in you”.  This passage in the book of John says, “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you”, you can ask whatever you will and I will do it. What words is He talking about when Jesus says, “And My words abide in you”? I believe He is specifically talking about the word He is speaking. I believe it also has to include the words of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation.

Grape Vines in Eastern Washington

Grape Vines in Eastern Washington

The video this text is taken from is on  Drew’s YouTube channel.  This portion is at YouTube.