The Lamp of God
The Lamp of GodRead: 1 Samuel 3:1-4
And ere the lamp of God went out in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was, and Samuel was laid down to sleep…1 Samuel 3:3
Sometimes it seems like the lamp of God is flickering to an end in our world. When it looks like everything is going downhill and that God has lost control, behind the scenes He is working! He has always had a people who hunger and thirst after righteousness.
The lamp in this passage refers to the oil lamp in the Tabernacle which represented the Light of God. The lamp was never to be extinguished, because the flame was evidence of the Lord’s presence. Although not visible to the natural eye, the lamp was flickering in the spiritual realm. In the previous chapter, Eli had disregarded a prophet of God by refusing to restrain and discipline his two sons. These two foolish boys were becoming very wicked. They filled the roles of priests, but their hearts were far from God. Consequently, they led hundreds of thousands of young men to their deaths in an ungodly war. But the Lord was still working! He was raising up Samuel who would bring them back to the God who led them out of Egypt.
Just like the sons of Eli, we are now plainly seeing the results of unrestrained generations. Along with much evil, we also see a lot of playing church for 50 minutes on Sunday morning. We have a lot of church, but not a whole lot of Jesus! Churches are changing their precepts to get with the times, but God never changes! Instead, He begins to withdraw His presence and it doesn’t take long to see the destruction which results. But just as God was raising up Samuel, He is behind the scenes with those who will boldly tell of His Gospel to the world!
In Psalm 51, David cries out to God and begs Him not to take His presence away, even after the sins he had committed. We should all have this fervency in our prayers. There’s nothing more terrifying than God taking His presence from us! As you pray, confess with sincerity and the God who is just to forgive will fan the flame. As with the next generation of leaders, let us all keep the oil lamp burning within ourselves so that God’s light will shine brightly in our lives for those around who need it!
Uprising leaders, be sure to check out TBM Fellowship which serves as a spiritual covering and personal development venue for leaders in the work place and churches.
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God bless y’all! We love you and we’re saving you a seat at Community Family Church!
Pastor Tom
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