Are You Samson and Samuel?

It is my intention in this article to make you take a close look at what spirit is operating in you. Samson the operated in the spirit of rebellion, Samuel operated in the spirit of obedience. You would be surprised of how many Samson we have in the church. Samuel and Samson were both judges in Israel. Samson only began to do the work of God, never completely fulfilling his assignment. Samuel understood his assignment and fulfilled it all of the days of his life. One was a man who fulfilled the desires of his flesh; the other was a man that fulfills the desires of God.

Samson and Samuel both have the favor of God on their birth. Samson parents was visited by angel to tell of his birth, future and given the necessary instructions concerning his birth. Samuel birth happens because of a woman who desire for a child. Therefore God performing the words of the highest priest, and the women gave birth to this child as a fulfillment of God promise.

Each of them married, one within the will of God and the other outside the will of God. The person you choose to marry can determine if the will of God will be carried out in your life. Let me explain, Samuel was one who heard the voice of God even from his youth. Therefore he was willing not only to hear but to follow the direction of God. Samson starts off by being disobedient to the word of God concerning his marriage. The requirement was for him to marry someone of the tribe of Israel; Samson married someone who only satisfies the desires of his eyes. “…Get her for me, for she is all right in my eyes.” (Judges 14:3 AB) She may look great, had all the things in the right places, the person who will help you follow the grace of God that is placed upon your life. He may have six packs stomach, tall, dark and handsome (or whatever you prefer) but is he the one God has chosen for you or the one you chosen for yourself. Is the person you are marrying helping you carry out the assignment on your life?

Right from the very beginning we see Samson following the desires of his flesh. On his wedding day his bride manipulates him to tell her the secret of the riddle. He became angry left his wife. Your personality can determine your success or failure. Do you have control over your temper; or you become angry every time something does not go your way.

Samson, calm down enough to go back to get his wife, only to find she had been given to his companion. It was problem enough that he marries someone outside the covenant of God. Now he tore up his unlawful marriage with his bad temper, and selfish attitude. Finding that his wife had been given to another man he can become angry and revengeful and burned down the Philistines crops. Here's a man who can kill a lion with his bare hands but cannot control his desires, temper, or develop his temperament.

The grace that God has placed upon you has a lot to do with your assignment. You can be preaching and teaching powerful revelation from God to the wrong people. You cannot fulfill your assignment, or finish your destiny, with the full measure of God's grace in the wrong place. Remember when Jesus went to his hometown, and he could not do any great miracles there. He was able to heal a few sick people, but he was not able to do ministry here because they only seem Jesus as just as one of the hometown boys, instead of the man of God. This was not Jesus place of assignment. I remember a minister who I will not called by name, minister in the city of Minneapolis for some years, he understood it was a place of training and development. He moved to Chicago and is ministry exploded. You may have the right ministry, but are you in the right place? You notice Samson went down to Gaza and the spirit of the Lord came upon him and he carry away the doors of the city, the gates and posts. This place became his entrapment because once again he fulfilled the desire of his flesh. You cannot fulfill your assignment walking in the desires of your own will and being in a place where God have not assigned you.

Delilah is more than just a beautiful woman; it was the spirit of the enemy design to destroy your purpose, wreck your destiny, and to stop the flow of your anointing. Delilah comes in many different forms; it can be a male or female. Pride or selfishness, desire or weakness, vanity or fortune. Delilah can only show up when you are out of the place of your God given assignment. Delilah was interested in one thing and one thing only, where it is your strength. I'm going to equate Samson strength to his anointing. The enemy, Satan himself is after one and one thing only to destroy your God-given potential. So whatever it takes to kill your destiny, sour your assignment, and disconnect you from the grace that God had placed upon your life. He will do it if you are out of your place.

We now see Samson strip of his God given strength (anointing). They literally bored out his eyes. Can you imagine someone with a prophetic anointing that cannot see? All of this happened in my opinion because he was only interested in satisfying the desires of his flesh, having a spirit of anger; the only interested in what he could have (selfishness). How many blind prophetic ministries are in operation today? This can apply to any of the fivefold ministry. I have to give Samson credit for one thing; he did eventually find his way back. Just look at what he lost unnecessarily because of the many issues he did not deal with in his life. Are you grinding at the wheel of the enemy? This is your time to turn it around, and ask God to restore all that you have lost. You must deal with every ungodly and uncontrolled habit in your life. God I pray you give them one more chance.

Let us look at total different path that Samuel took. He first became skillful in learning to hear the voice of God. This required relationship, finding that secret place where God share his wisdom and knowledge with you. Let's look at what the Scripture says about Samuel. "Samuel grew; the Lord was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground. And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba knew that Samuel was established to be a prophet of the Lord." 1 Samuel 3: 19 -20

First he grew or in other words he matured physically, spiritually, and emotionally. I will not spending a lot of time here. This needs to be taught more often. In order to be fully equipping for ministry you need to mature in all three of these areas. What good is it if you have spiritual understanding but emotionally you are immature? You may be physically fit but your body is not controlled by your spirit or the Spirit of God within you. You will easily fall prey to the enemy. So you need to grow and develop in all three areas.

I think it is pretty well understood that whatever type of ministry you have it is important to develop your relationship with the Lord. How many times have I seen people that are gifted, but have no relationship? Your gifting can only take you so far, relationship will keep you in the proper place you need to be. There are a lot of things that can be discussed about the development of ministry, as well personal development. Advancement or the loss of progress can be just in the way a person conduct themselves. Do you have good manners; are you courteous to other people? I know that's old-fashioned but because I understood some of these principles it has given me favor with other people, which otherwise I would not have.

“And the Lord continued to appear in Shiloh, for the Lord revealed Himself to Samuel in Shiloh through the word of the Lord.” (1 Samuel 3: 21) You see how different in his life, this is because he was in the right place he had to continue visitation of God’s presence. Notice “ for the Lord revealed Himself.” When you’re in the right place, doing the right things, at the right time, you can expect God to reveal himself to you.

The establishing of the ministry is how you walk it out before the people you serve. Some want to be overnight wonder, end up being a lifetime blunder. Don't worry about people addressing you by your title. They will be able to see your calling by the way you minister and conduct your life. I have people who honor me because of my lifestyle; they may not necessarily understand my calling and ministry. They understand that I am honorable man. The establishing of ministry doesn't happen overnight, but someone needs to see the quality of God in your everyday lifestyle. The quality (integrity) of ministry is who you are outside the church as well as in the church. Ministry is established first of all in your lifestyle, within your family, your community, and in your church.

It's very important to understand your assignment and the place that God has called you. Because Samuel understood this place he was always able to operate on the proper level of authority. That may explain, how he could go from being a judge of Israel, to being an intercessor. He was able to go from one wave to the next and never missed the will of God. When Israel desired to be ruled by a king, he understood that his assignment and ministry to the people of Israel would be different. He was able to catch the next wave of God concerning his life and ministry. He was able to anoint the king, move out of his place as a judge of Israel and became the intercessor and advisor to the king. Sometime when the Father God change the order of things people sometime get lost in the change. Maybe the Lord has called you to a particular city to minister and you have fulfilled your assignment there. Now the Lord is directing you to a different ministry altogether. Sometime we get stuck in one place, doing one thing, the same way. We become unable to catch the next wave of God. This generally happens when we are not walking in close relationship with the Lord. I do not wish to keep repeating myself but it is important to know when God changes your assignment and to go on and do the next thing.

Are you seeing the difference between the spirit of Samuel and the spirit of Samson? Which one of these men is being seen in your life? Can people say or can you say of yourself that I see the spirit of Samuel, or maybe the spirit of Samson. It’s time for the spirit of excellence to be manifested in your life and through the talents the God giving you. Be honest with yourself and know what spirit is being manifested in your life. Shall call we you Samson or Samuel you make the choice.