"Called According" for Wednesday, 23 May 2018 - goTandem
And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. (Romans 8:28)
What does this verse say about God's planning?
Is it hard or easy to take comfort in this? Why/Why not?
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"Memorial Day: Day 2"
"Just as Samuel was sacrificing the burnt offering, the Philistines arrived to attack Israel. But the LORD spoke with a mighty voice of thunder from heaven that day, and the Philistines were thrown into such confusion that the Israelites defeated them. The men of Israel chased them from Mizpah to a place below Beth-car, slaughtering them all along the way.
Samuel then took a large stone and placed it between the towns of Mizpah and Jeshanah. He named it Ebenezer (which means "the stone of help"), for he said, "Up to this point the LORD has helped us!" (1 Samuel 7:10-12)
"Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing" is one of my favorite hymns of all time. It's poetic and beautiful and it packs so much truth. But there's this little line in there that I always struggled to understand. "Here I raise my Ebenezer; Here by Thy great help I've come." I'd sing it in church with these visions of Ebenezer Scrooge being raised from the dead and I'd just end up confused.
Then I started studying the Old Testament. And everywhere you look you see these moments of God intervening on the behalf of his people, and when he does, they honor it by setting up and naming an altar or a stone. Which seems weird, right? But think about it. Anytime they passed by that place, they'd remember, this is what God did for us.
It's a really cool idea, and one which I think a lot of us could really start to use in our own lives. Which brings me to this question…what are some of your Ebenezers?
The Holy Holidays - goTandem
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