All From My Ebenezer

Ebenezer means “stone of help.” Do we believe that we are what we are with God’s help? Oommen explains more.

God’s Help

In the Book of Acts we read,

Acts 26:22 – But I have had God’s help to this very day, and so I stand here and testify to small and great alike.

We are all here today because of God’s help, even though some of us won’t acknowledge it. God knew us even before we were born and gave us life to be born in this world. He bestowed upon us a parentage and talents of various kind to meet certain spiritual needs of this world and its people.

But in order for us to be of use to God according to His divine plan for us, we had to be born again. He gave us the privilege to be born into His Heavenly Family. He imparted His Spirit to us and gave us spiritual gifts to serve His church and the people around us.

All Has Come From God

All that has happened to us has come from God and whatever we accomplished in this world has been because of Him. It is true that we tried to do a lot of things according to our human faculties, but God has ruled and overruled our situations to bring us this far so that He can accomplish His divine plan for us.

When we have this realization, we will give all glory for all that happens in our lives to God. We do not deserve any help from God, and so whatever He accomplishes in us is by His benevolence. Come to think of it, all that happens to a child of God is worked out by God. He makes all our circumstances work together for our good and for His glory.

God’s Account Book

Dear friend, is it possible for you to claim to stand on the sole merit and help of God in your life? Is there something that has happened without His permission and will? Are there any achievements, whether in your secular or spiritual realm, that has not happened because of God and through God? If so, such achievements are not counted in Heaven, and it is not in God’s account book.

Human capacity, tactics and strategies will make us do things for achievements which are purely earthly even though we try to give it a spiritual colour. Any colour that we give will be seen in its true colour before God and so it need not be worthy of appreciation by the Lord at His Judgement Seat (Bema).

The Inclination to Achieve

The inclination to achieve things through human capacity and faculties for oneself does not come from the Lord and His Spirit. This is why we are admonished by the Word of God to test the spirit of any activity to see if it comes from the Lord or not.

We see how Paul prays for the Philippians to have the spirit of discernment so that they will know what is spiritually right and according to the Word of God. Let us be careful that whatever we are and do will be with the sole help, support, leading, enabling and empowering of the Lord. So when He sends times of leanness, it is for our spiritual welfare and growth.

He Named it Ebenezer

When He sends times of enlargement and success, it is also solely of the Lord, for us to give Him complete glory. Thus we can lead a life which is totally indebted to the Lord for His glory. Can we say with Paul that whatever that has happened to us is of the Lord?

He named it ‘Ebenezer‘, saying, “Thus far has the Lord helped us”. 1 Samuel 7:12

Thought for Today

The Lord who has been faithful in helping us reach so far will also take us to the end.

What do you know about Ebenezer? How has God helped you? We would love to hear from you. Comment below or contact us at HopeStreamRadio.

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