Tuesday January 30th, 2024
« Bless the LORD, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless His holy name! »
7 Now when the Philistines heard that the children of Israel had gathered together at Mizpah, the lords of the Philistines went up against Israel. And when the children of Israel heard of it, they were afraid of the Philistines.
8 So the children of Israel said to Samuel, “Do not cease to cry out to the Lord our God for us, that He may save us from the hand of the Philistines.”
9 And Samuel took a suckling lamb and offered it as a whole burnt offering to the Lord. Then Samuel cried out to the Lord for Israel, and the Lord answered him.
10 Now as Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to battle against Israel. But the Lord thundered with a loud thunder upon the Philistines that day, and so confused them that they were overcome before Israel.
11 And the men of Israel went out of Mizpah and pursued the Philistines, and drove them back as far as below Beth Car.
12 Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen, and called its name Ebenezer, saying, “Thus far the Lord has helped us.”
13 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.
14 Then the cities which the Philistines had taken from Israel were restored to Israel, from Ekron to Gath; and Israel recovered its territory from the hands of the Philistines. Also there was peace between Israel and the Amorites.
15 And Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life.
16 He went from year to year on a circuit to Bethel, Gilgal, and Mizpah, and judged Israel in all those places.
17 But he always returned to Ramah, for his home was there. There he judged Israel, and there he built an altar to the Lord.
After the great victory over the Philistines in 1 Samuel 7:12, ebenezer- the stone of help was set up to celebrate and mark how far the Lord had helped the children of Israel.
This was done to show appreciation and gratitude to God for His present help and continued support in the future.
The Bible records that Israel was engaged in a prolonged war that stretched over many generations, yet they made a point to appreciate God for the success at the end of every battle.
So also, children of God must learn to express heartfelt gratitude to God in all circumstances.
One of the numerous benefits of expressing gratitude to God is the fact that it usually propels Him to do much more than we can imagine.
Gratitude motivates God to exceed the limits of His initial action.
The story of the ten lepers in Luke 17:12-19 is a good example of this. Luke 17:17-19 CW says
17 Jesus asked, “Didn’t I heal ten men? Where are the other nine?
18 Has no one returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?”
19 And Jesus said to the man, “Stand up and go. Your faith has made you whole”
In the story above, ten lepers cried to Jesus for mercy to heal and cleanse them of their leprosy.
Jesus did something strange; He did not pray for them as expected, but rather, told them to go and show themselves to the priests as required by the law according to Leviticus 14:2-7.
While the lepers were on their way to the priests, they suddenly discovered their leprosy had vanished.
Immediately, one them turned back to appreciate and glorify God.
It was at this point that the one who returned to give thanks got something beyond his healing- he was made whole, such that there would be no scar or mark left to indicate that he had ever been leprous.
Sincere, heartfelt appreciation must be prompt and timely.
Any show of gratitude that comes later than necessary is usually not acceptable.
We need to have value for genuine thanksgiving and develop a grateful heart, so that expressions of gratitude will begin to flow out of our heart, mouth and actions to God forever.
Prayer focus – Father, please give me a heart of gratitude in all circumstances, in Jesus’ name.
Author – Bishop Enoch. A. Adeboye.
Edited by Naomie
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