Ebenezer….

Yes, the title of my first post is ‘Ebenezer’. Let me explain.

Those of you who know me well know that my favourite hymn is ‘Come Thou Fount’. It is an incredible song that stirs me every time I hear it. The second verse of that song goes: ‘Here I raise mine Ebenezer, hither by Thy help I’m come; and I hope by Thy good pleasure, safely to arrive at home…’ Well of course the obvious question is, “What is ‘mine Ebenezer’?

The answer is found in 1 Samuel 7:12: Then Samuel took a stone, and set it between Mizpeh and Shen, and called the name of it Ebenezer, saying, Hitherto hath the LORD helped us. (Thank you Pastor Heyer for reminding us of this when we sang it!)

Ebenezer was, more or less, the name of a stone which stood as a memorial of what God had done for them (I refer you you to the Bible to get the full story). Where am I going with this? Well, we have just finished Genesis class here at ZMI and certain passages of Scripture stuck out to me, such as the following: Genesis 35:9-15  “And God appeared unto Jacob again, when he came out of Padanaram, and blessed him.  (10)  And God said unto him, Thy name is Jacob: thy name shall not be called any more Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name: and he called his name Israel.  (11)  And God said unto him, I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall be of thee, and kings shall come out of thy loins;  (12)  And the land which I gave Abraham and Isaac, to thee I will give it, and to thy seed after thee will I give the land.  (13)  And God went up from him in the place where he talked with him.  (14)  And Jacob set up a pillar in the place where he talked with him, even a pillar of stone: and he poured a drink offering thereon, and he poured oil thereon.  (15)  And Jacob called the name of the place where God spake with him, Bethel.”

This is only one of many similar instances. My point is that when God spoke to them, they remembered it by building a memorial and giving it a name. They could say, “I remember in Bethel when God reiterated His promise to us that He first gave to Abraham.”

Has God given us specific promises? Have we had specific times of being in His presence when He has shared His heart with us? The last time He spoke, do we remember what He said? While we may not build altars these days, there are other ways to remember. A journal can be a good idea, or if you have a prophecy on cd- listen to it. Over and over and over again. Get it into your mind so that when hard times come you can say, “I know that God has such and such for me” and it can be a great strength, a rock, to you in times if trials.

That is what has been on my mind for the last week or two; I just thought I would share it with you.

In other news, we got over a foot of snow here yesterday and even us girls were outside shoveling the cars out. It was such a beautiful day! We had our first official snow day at ZMI- no class or prayer this morning- it was strange! Praise the Lord that the outstation team coming in from Concord was able to get shelter at a hotel last night and they are going to be arriving up here shortly from Sis. Maryanne’s house. Ps. Paul Webb is also due to arrive this afternoon, so we are hoping he will arrive without any problems.

Time to get busy on some homework,

Lyss