There was no telling what one man might accomplish. It was as if doubt and fear had never tortured him.”
–Zane Grey (Stranger From the Tonto)
“So the Philistines were subdued, and they did not come anymore into the territory of Israel. And the hand of the LORD was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel.”
–1 Samuel 7:13 (NKJV)
——————————-
Veterans Day is now past; are you thankful that we have had men and women sacrifice time, effort, and blood for our freedom? My, what a blessing! In fact, what a blessing we have that we live in this country despite all the nonsense we see happening. We could have been born in Somalia or Bangladesh. Or, shades of George Bailey, wish we had never been born at all. Do you remember the story of Philip Nolan, the Man Without a Country? He hated his homeland and was forced never to set foot in it again. Oh, my friend, count your blessings! And where do all these and all other blessings come from? They come from that Fount that is continually flowing.
Robert Robinson composed this wonderful hymn in 1758. I remember singing this song in church as a child and it was usually around Thanksgiving time. A few years before he heard a sermon by George Whitefield that caused him to deeply reflect, and a few years later he wrote this wonderful hymn. Fix the words in your heart and mind for the Holy Spirit still flows.
Come, thou Fount of every blessing; tune my heart to sing thy grace;
Streams of mercy, never ceasing, call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet, sung by flaming tongues above;
Praise the mount! I’m fixed upon it, mount of God’s unchanging love!
Every blessing, every good thing comes from the Father above. Streams of mercy, and oh, how we need it. Yet so often we don’t think we do, we ignore it, or take it for granted. No, it should cause us to sing to heaven because of His wonderful fount that flows with mercy that never ceases. Think of that–never ceasing mercy…that is, unless we reject Him in this life. Right now, fix your life, your mind, your heart upon God’s unchanging love!
Here I raise my Ebenezer; hither by thy help I’m come;
And I hope, by thy good pleasure, safely to arrive at home.
Jesus sought me when a stranger, wandering from the fold of God;
He, to rescue me from danger, interposed His precious blood.
“Ebenezer” is a word seldom used. My Grandpa Jones had a cat named Ebenezer, and I know of Ebenezer Scrooge, but what does it mean? “Stone of help”–it was a place we find in 1 Samuel 4:1, “Israel went out…and camped at Ebenezer…” This area was a place of springs and fertile land. Later we see in Samuel that he set up a stone of remembrance that “The Lord has helped us to this point.”(7:12) Then the battle raged the next day, and “the Lord thundered loudly against the Philistines that day and threw them into such confusion that they were defeated by the Israelites.” Are you getting the picture? Raise your Ebenezer as a testimony! In the time of trouble, help will surely come. It is “an enduring monument to perpetuate the memory” of victory.” (Expositor’s Bible)
Look back at your conversion; it is an Ebenezer, a stone of remembrance. Look back at some special experience the Lord gave you; it is an Ebenezer, a stone of remembrance. From where does the victory come? From where does the fount of blessings flow? God met with us, He takes us through life’s situations and will in His good pleasure take us home.
O to grace how great a debtor daily I’m constrained to be!
Let that grace now, like a fetter, bind my wandering heart to thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart; O take and seal it; seal it for thy courts above.
Without a doubt God is with us every minute of every day. Without a doubt we know that He has intervened in our lives numerous times along the journey. Think of the debts we owe Him, any of those times He could have said, “Sorry, not today, you’re not on my “to help” list. But know, His blessings flow down to us. I like this last verse, grace chains us to Him. We are prone to wander, prone to sin, but He has, with His grace, chained us to Him so that we cannot be swept away by the cares and evils of this world. Let those blessings flow over and through you this holiday season.
“So the Philistines were subdued, and they did not come anymore into the territory of Israel. And the hand of the LORD was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel.”
–1 Samuel 7:13 (NKJV)
——————————-
Veterans Day is now past; are you thankful that we have had men and women sacrifice time, effort, and blood for our freedom? My, what a blessing! In fact, what a blessing we have that we live in this country despite all the nonsense we see happening. We could have been born in Somalia or Bangladesh. Or, shades of George Bailey, wish we had never been born at all. Do you remember the story of Philip Nolan, the Man Without a Country? He hated his homeland and was forced never to set foot in it again. Oh, my friend, count your blessings! And where do all these and all other blessings come from? They come from that Fount that is continually flowing.
Robert Robinson composed this wonderful hymn in 1758. I remember singing this song in church as a child and it was usually around Thanksgiving time. A few years before he heard a sermon by George Whitefield that caused him to deeply reflect, and a few years later he wrote this wonderful hymn. Fix the words in your heart and mind for the Holy Spirit still flows.
Come, thou Fount of every blessing; tune my heart to sing thy grace;
Streams of mercy, never ceasing, call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet, sung by flaming tongues above;
Praise the mount! I’m fixed upon it, mount of God’s unchanging love!
Every blessing, every good thing comes from the Father above. Streams of mercy, and oh, how we need it. Yet so often we don’t think we do, we ignore it, or take it for granted. No, it should cause us to sing to heaven because of His wonderful fount that flows with mercy that never ceases. Think of that–never ceasing mercy…that is, unless we reject Him in this life. Right now, fix your life, your mind, your heart upon God’s unchanging love!
Here I raise my Ebenezer; hither by thy help I’m come;
And I hope, by thy good pleasure, safely to arrive at home.
Jesus sought me when a stranger, wandering from the fold of God;
He, to rescue me from danger, interposed His precious blood.
“Ebenezer” is a word seldom used. My Grandpa Jones had a cat named Ebenezer, and I know of Ebenezer Scrooge, but what does it mean? “Stone of help”–it was a place we find in 1 Samuel 4:1, “Israel went out…and camped at Ebenezer…” This area was a place of springs and fertile land. Later we see in Samuel that he set up a stone of remembrance that “The Lord has helped us to this point.”(7:12) Then the battle raged the next day, and “the Lord thundered loudly against the Philistines that day and threw them into such confusion that they were defeated by the Israelites.” Are you getting the picture? Raise your Ebenezer as a testimony! In the time of trouble, help will surely come. It is “an enduring monument to perpetuate the memory” of victory.” (Expositor’s Bible)
Look back at your conversion; it is an Ebenezer, a stone of remembrance. Look back at some special experience the Lord gave you; it is an Ebenezer, a stone of remembrance. From where does the victory come? From where does the fount of blessings flow? God met with us, He takes us through life’s situations and will in His good pleasure take us home.
O to grace how great a debtor daily I’m constrained to be!
Let that grace now, like a fetter, bind my wandering heart to thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart; O take and seal it; seal it for thy courts above.
Without a doubt God is with us every minute of every day. Without a doubt we know that He has intervened in our lives numerous times along the journey. Think of the debts we owe Him, any of those times He could have said, “Sorry, not today, you’re not on my “to help” list. But know, His blessings flow down to us. I like this last verse, grace chains us to Him. We are prone to wander, prone to sin, but He has, with His grace, chained us to Him so that we cannot be swept away by the cares and evils of this world. Let those blessings flow over and through you this holiday season.