Abraham said it.
Jacob said it.
Moses said it.
Samuel said it.
Isaiah said it.
Ananias said it.
When the Lord calls out to you, do you respond with, it?
In our Connect Group at Trinity Baptist Church today, we wrapped up our study of Thom Rainer’s book “I Will.”
We reviewed how your attitude about life impacts everyone and everything around you, including your ability to walk in Christ’s footsteps.
We reviewed how you have to be devoted to worship, not just on Sundays, but every single day.
We reviewed how “iron sharpens iron” and the importance of being involved in small groups at church. We discussed how people are sinners by nature and at times will hurt others in the group, but we reminded ourselves to offer and extend forgiveness the way Christ forgives us.
We reviewed the importance of not allowing money to control you but to instead use your monetary blessings to grow the kingdom. We reminded each other not to let money control our actions, our time, and our purpose, but to instead allow God to control those.
We reviewed making church about Christ and serving instead of about our own entertainment, our own needs, and our own wants.
But my favorite thing we talked about today wasn’t something we had discussed in the book throughout our study. As we wrapped up discussing the last chapter, “I Will Make a Difference,” Nick Brocato asked if we could answer God when he calls us with the words, “Here I am.”
Several men in the Bible use those words when God calls out to them.
**** Genesis 22:1 ****
Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!”
“Here I am,” he replied.
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**** Genesis 31:11 ****
The angel of God said to me in the dream, “Jacob.”
I answered, “Here I am.”
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**** Exodus 3:4 ****
When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!”
And Moses said, “Here I am.”
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**** Samuel 3:4 ****
Then the Lord called Samuel.
Samuel answered, “Here I am.”
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**** Isaiah 6:8 ****
Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”
And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”
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**** Acts 9:10 ****
Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.”
And he said, “Here I am, Lord.”
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They were able to answer God when he called out to them with, “Here I am” because they knew who God was. They walked with God daily. They didn’t have doubt when he called out to them.
If we do the same thing, we will always recognize God’s presence in our lives. When He calls out, we can respond with, “Here I am” instead of “Who is this?”
How do you respond when He calls out to you?