When God Calls Your Name

“The LORD came and stood there, calling as at the other times, ‘Samuel! Samuel!’ Then Samuel said, ‘Speak, for your servant is listening” (1 Samuel 3:10)

Welcome back dear student, we thank God for the sunshine. The Word of God says that all of creation sings God’s praises (Psalm 19; Psalm 148).

The prophet Samuel started to hear from God at a very young age. God speaks to all of us – in our hearts by an unction of His Spirit; through the Scriptures; perhaps by a dream or a song, and He speaks through creation (2 Timothy 3:16; Job 33:15-18; Romans 1:20). It is important to learn to recognise the voice of God for we are the sheep of His pasture (Psalm 100:3).

The Lord Jesus said … “My sheep hear My voice and they follow Me” (John 10:27).

Interestingly, Jesus noted His people follow His voice and not the voice of the stranger. So many voices are speaking nowadays that we can get confused and overstimulated. We must discern the motive and the spirit behind them. When Samuel heard God call his name he thought first it was the priest he served in the temple.

Here is a beautiful fact – God knows our names!

It’s personal to Him.

When we meet someone for the first time we must tell them our names, but the Lord already knows us. Just like a proud parent who keeps their baby’s milestones in scrapbooks or memory boxes, God has every one of yours and mine recorded (Revelation 20:12; Psalm 56:8; Luke 10:20). He even has our tears stored in a bottle! That indicates the level of attention God has for us doesn’t it. Our names are engraved on His hands; He has each of our hairs numbered (some numbers are bigger than others Haha!).

But seriously friend, you are a VIP to the Lord God. He gave the gift of His Son for me and you (John 3:16).

God speaks to us in dreams too.

"For God speaks again and again,

though people do not recognize it.

He speaks in dreams, in visions of the night,

when deep sleep falls on people

as they lie in their beds" (Job 33:14-15 NLT)

Maybe you’ve had dreams in the past that you didn’t understand. I love hearing the significant dreams people have. Often something that seems obscure or scary in a dream is actually God speaking in parables. He longs for us to seek Him for Revelation and Truth. "Ask Me and I will tell you remarkable secrets you do not know about things to come" (Jeremiah 33:3).

Very often the Lord will gently confront issues that we have been battling through our dreams, giving us opportunity to draw closer to Him and overcome these struggles in the place of rest in His Presence. It is the Holy Spirit who delivers God’s secrets and reveals His love to us (1 Corinthians 2:9-16). The Holy Spirit is the Person of God Who comes to reside in us when we receive God’s forgiveness through believing in Jesus. The sacrifice the Lord Jesus gave was His Body, His Blood, and His Righteousness in exchange for our sins, brokenness, and the curse of death.

So, when we invite Jesus into our lives as LORD – surrendering to Him by repenting and turning from sin; obeying His Word by living for God - we become filled with His Holy Spirit of Truth.

"When the Spirit of Truth comes, He will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on His own, but will tell you what He has heard. He will tell you about the future" (John 16:13).

Now that our sins are forgiven and washed by the Blood of the Lamb, we can approach God in the Name of Jesus and have sweet fellowship with Him.

It is the Holy Spirit – God’s Presence, who facilitates that communication. “Christ in you, the Hope of Glory” (Colossians 1:27). The Glory of God is His manifest Presence we experience as we get to know Him. We are spirit beings – made in the image and likeness of God – and we engage with Him through Holy Spirit. The enemy creates counterfeits of everything that Jesus does – divination, witchcraft, and the occult are works of darkness, not of God.

Seek The Spirit of Truth for yourself friend, and the Living God will meet you and reveal His beautiful love that He has for you.