OT DAY 423 - Secret to Experience Ebenezer (Please click here for English podcast)

Silence

1.   Put on your “brakes” and stop for a moment of silence

2.   Wait for God. Breathe deep for God's peace and feel His presence. Exhale your worries.

Praise and Thanksgiving

1.   Think through your day, all the times that made you smile

2.   Thank God for all those moments, and for all those people

3.   Open your heart to praise the Lord

       Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving;
          make melody to our God on the lyre!

                    Psalm 147:7

Confession and Repentance (Subjective Shifting Devotion Method http://bishopsilas.blogspot.ca/2009/08/count-down-5-subject-shifting-devotion.html)

1.  Pray for the Holy Spirit to work in you:

     “Dear Holy Spirit, shine your light into the places of darkness in my life. Show me my sins, everything that blocks me from encountering God. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.”

2.  Through the Holy Spirit, examine yourself for a short silence and then pray:

     "Dear Lord Jesus, thank you for dying on the cross for our sins and being victorious over death and sin. I confess my sin to you(pause, to tell Jesus what the Holy Spirit has shown you). Forgive my sins by your blood and help me follow you. Holy Spirit, fill me that I may be able to receive your gift to love God and His people. In Jesus Name I pray, Amen."

The Word (1 Samuel 7:2-14)

English(ESV): https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1 Samuel 7&version=ESV

2 From the day that the ark was lodged at Kiriath-jearim, a long time passed, some twenty years, and all the house of Israel lamented after the Lord. 

3 And Samuel said to all the house of Israel, “If you are returning to the Lord with all your heart, then put away the foreign gods and the Ashtaroth from among you and direct your heart to the Lord and serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.” 4 So the people of Israel put away the Baals and the Ashtaroth, and they served the Lord only.

5 Then Samuel said, “Gather all Israel at Mizpah, and I will pray to the Lord for you.” 6 So they gathered at Mizpah and drew water and poured it out before the Lord and fasted on that day and said there, “We have sinned against the Lord.” And Samuel judged the people of Israel at Mizpah. 7 Now when the Philistines heard that the people of Israel had gathered at Mizpah, the lords of the Philistines went up against Israel. And when the people of Israel heard of it, they were afraid of the Philistines. 8 And the people 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 So Samuel took a nursing lamb and offered it as a whole burnt offering to the Lord. And Samuel cried out to the Lord for Israel, and the Lord answered him. 10 As Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to attack Israel. But the Lord thundered with a mighty sound that day against the Philistines and threw them into confusion, and they were defeated before Israel. 11 And the men of Israel went out from Mizpah and pursued the Philistines and struck them, 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; for he said, “Till now the Lord has helped us.” 13 So the Philistines were subdued and did not again enter the territory of Israel. And the hand of the Lord was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel. 14 The cities that the Philistines had taken from Israel were restored to Israel, from Ekron to Gath, and Israel delivered their territory from the hand of the Philistines. There was peace also between Israel and the Amorites.

                                 1   Samuel 7: 2-14

Let's have a time to be still and give the Holy Spirit space to speak through the passage we have just read. Offer this time up to Jesus as you listen to him, while listening to "Gabriel's Oboe"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmax47l2hLU

My Listening

    Yesterday I received an important message from Jesus to you:

Do you know how to experience "Ebenezer"?

    The passage tells us the meaning of Ebenezer - till now the Lord has helped us. And I challenged you yesterday to find out the five things that you need to do in order for you to experience "Ebenezer". 

    These are the five conditions I've received from the Lord:

1. Get rid of all idols, serve God only (v. 3-4)

    You need to get rid of all those things that you have been serving so that you can serve God only. Things like: physical idols, money, power, fame, computer …all those forbid you to worship God only.

2. Gather to pray (v. 5)
    Do you know what kind of church activity got the less people to attend. The answer is weekly prayer meeting. Lots of churches have been doing lots of things, having lots of groups and ministries but no weekly prayer meeting or only less than 5% to at most 10% of their people attend weekly prayer meeting.
     Please take a look at the photos of our daily Prayer Meeting this morning. We are called by God to gather to pray and started our whole year 2016 366 days Prayer Meeting in Jan.1, 2016, Monday through Friday from 6:30a.m to 7:30a.m. Saturday 8a.m. to 10a.m. and Sunday 8a.m. We had 55 this morning gathered to pray!

3. Willing to fast (v. 6)
    Fasting is a lost discipline! If you have not exercised fasting regularly, you do not know what I am talking about!

4. Know what to repent (v. 6)

5. Make significant offering (v. 9)
    Making a significant offering like what Samuel did is very important. God always gives us examination papers to test our willingness to offer our time, our money and our everything to Him. It is a test of trust, trust God or fear that you have no time and no money.

     If you constantly live out these five conditions, you will surely experience Ebenezer! 

Dear Lord Jesus, 

    Help us to be able to experience Ebenezer. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.

Reflect on these questions:

1. Do you think what I have received really can help you to experience Ebenezer?

2. How many of that five have you been exercising? 

3. What have you got from Jesus today?

Photos of my copying the Bible today using Time with Abba passages :

Today's Time with Abba daily reading:

Today's photo of our Saturday 8:00a.m. Copying Bible session

Today's photos of our Saturday 9a.m.  Prayer Meeting

Praise and Thanksgiving

Let's give thanks for God with us. Let us praise Him:
10,000 Reasons
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXDGE_lRI0E

Please click the link below to my new 40 days Break.Build site any time you like to having a 40 days "Break.Build" daily devotion with one to two people as a discipler to help those Jesus prepares for you to disciple. You need to know that the call and purpose of my Break.Build and this Discipler123 blog/podcast is for you to become a discipler to help more people to have a daily intimate relationship with Jesus and then they can become disciplers too:

http://www.breakbuild.blogspot.ca/

Please click these links to the app. Andy Ng wrote if you have an Android cel.:

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