1. SOMETHING FOR YOUR HEART
*Listening *
1 Samuel 7:5-13
Then Samuel said, “Assemble all Israel at Mizpah and I will intercede with the Lord for you.” When they had assembled at Mizpah, they drew water and poured it out before the Lord. On that day they fasted and there they confessed, “We have sinned against the Lord.” And Samuel was leader of Israel at Mizpah. When the Philistines heard that Israel had assembled at Mizpah, the rulers of the Philistines came up to attack them. And when the Israelites heard of it, they were afraid because of the Philistines. They said to Samuel, “Do not stop crying out to the Lord our God for us, that he may rescue us from the hand of the Philistines.”
Then Samuel took a suckling lamb and offered it up as a whole burnt offering to the Lord. He cried out to the Lord on Israel’s behalf, and the Lord answered him. While Samuel was sacrificing the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to engage Israel in battle. But that day the Lord thundered with loud thunder against the Philistines and threw them into such a panic that they were routed before the Israelites. The men of Israel rushed out of Mizpah and pursued the Philistines, slaughtering them along the way to a point below Beth Car.
Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer, saying, “Thus far has the Lord helped us.” So the Philistines were subdued and did not invade Israelite territory again. Throughout Samuel’s lifetime, the hand of the Lord was against the Philistines.
*Meditation *
In the Old Testament, the Israelites sometimes placed a large stone or built a monument to mark where God had done a great work. Those monuments helped them remember God is faithful. The monuments were often given names, as in this story, where Samuel names the spot Ebenezer, which means literally “stone of help.”
Think of the moments when God has done great works in your life. In what ways do these experiences serve as monuments to remind you of God’s ongoing work
in your life?
Think about one of these moments. Did it occur on a retreat or at a camp? Perhaps at a worship service? Did it happen at a really good place in your life? Or did it happen during a really hard time? Name that moment and ponder
it for a while.
As you look back at your “Ebenezer” moment, consider what you learned about God in that place. In what ways did God help you in that time? If there were a plaque with an inscription on that monument, what would it say?
In your time of reflection, take that moment and set it up before God as a stone that marks his presence in your life saying, “Thus far has the Lord helped me.”
**
Taken from "Enjoy the Silence” by Maggie & Duffy Robbins, copyright 2006, Zondervan/Youth Specialties. Used by permission. Order the book here:
http://www.YouthSpecialties.com/linker/index.php?id=6441
2. SURF REPORT
~ Light a Candle
http://www.YouthSpecialties.com/linker/index.php?id=6443
~ Sacred Space
Daily prayer online
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3. FORGETTABLE FACT
The can opener was invented 48 years after cans were introduced.
4. POTENT QUOTABLES
“One act of thanksgiving made when things go wrong is worth a thousand when things go well."
- St. John of Avila
“If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, 'thank you,' that would suffice.”
- Meister Eckhart
5. PARTING SHOT
If rabbits' feet are so lucky, then what happened to the rabbit?
