Ebenezer

"Here I raise my Ebenezer
Hither by thine help I'm come
And I hope by thy good measure
Safely to a 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"

Come Thou Fount is a beautiful song.
Within the last two months I have been able to sing it twice.
Once in a small group of three and second with a large group of 1,200+.
The last time I sang it was for a youth conference.
We walked in holding flags and lifted them when we started this verse.
The feeling in that moment was so powerful.
We were lifting a flag for an auditorium full of people but
symbolically we were lifting our faith to our God.
Saying "Here here is my offering. Although small it is all I have."
God in return responded with a powerful feeling of acceptance and love.
The Spirit was so strong and through the tears of the missionaries
surrounding me I know they felt it as well.
The offerings and sacrifices we give to the Lord have value.
It may be standing for your faith in a crowd of people or it can
simply be closing your computer screen.
I can promise you when you lift your faith from whatever level it may
be you will experience that same feeling of acceptance and love.

"He to rescue me from danger
interposed his precious blood."

Car Accidents and Seat Belts

This week I learned that crazy things happen and if we look with
spiritual eyes we can see why.

Car accidents are no fun.
They are especially no fun when driving 65 mph down the Interstate.
It was April 2011 and I was driving to work in my little Honda Civic.
For reasons unknown to me 

(no other car involved, no blown tire, no
blasting music, and no ice) 

I lost control.
After hitting the dividing wall my car turned, hitting the wall a few
more times...
This little car was now a ball of metal.
When the ambulance came they said it was a miracle I wasn't more
seriously injured.

I know my life was saved because I was wearing my seat belt.

In the months and year that passed I was vividly aware of my lack of car.
Walking and taking the bus in the heat and snow was hard and I often
wondered, "why?"

Fast forward to this week.
I am sitting in a room and I volunteer for some missionaries to teach me.
The subject was fasting.
In this meeting I was honest with them and I told them what I knew
about fasting.
I let them know that I didn't understand what fasting was to me.
The reason I would fast was because I believed and hoped it was
something good to do, but that was as far as my
knowledge/understanding went.

Then the missionary took what I said and bore his own testimony of fasting.
He compared fasting to "fastening" a seat belt to keep us secure and safe.
Tears started to form in my eyes, and I remembered that ugly mangled
mess of a car.

It was only because I had my seat belt on that I survived.

Prayer, with the added protection of fasting, is the seat belt needed
for our soul.
It is there to protect us from the spiritual car accidents we may face.
Fasting is humbly turning to God and asking Him for help,
understanding, direction, protection, etc.
Fasting can be giving up two meals to 24 hours of your food and water
and turning to God in prayer.
When we fast we always start and end with a prayer so we have a purpose.
We ask for what we need and we don't let the world know.
Fasting is just between you and God.
And I now know it saves lives if not physically then definitely spiritually.

"Is not this the fast that I have chosen? To loose the bands of
wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go
free, and that ye break every yoke?

Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health
shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before
thee; the glory of the Lord shall be thy rearward.

Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall answer; thou shalt cry, and
he shall say, Here I am."
Isaiah 58:6,8-9