Afterward, Samuel took a stone and set it upright between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer, explaining, “The LORD has helped us to this point.”
1 SAMUEL 7:12 (CSB)

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I have attended meetings and participated in events over the last couple of weeks that have extended my territory. I get to go places and do things I have never done before. This is one of my favorite experiences. Going new places and doing new things gives me joy.

In 1 Chronicles 4:9, 10, we find the well-known prayer of Jabez. He “called out to the God if Israel, ‘If only you would bless me, extend my border, let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm, so that I will not experience pain.’ And God granted his request.”

Why would God say Yes to such a prayer? It was aligned with God’s purpose. Israel was to take the Promised Land and settle it. He had commanded them to do so. Jabez, who had an inauspicious beginning, wanted to finish better than he started. He got to move his boundary stones outward.

Samuel raised his Ebenezer, just like the song says, “explaining, ‘The LORD has helped us to this point.’” God had led them that far. He extended their territory. He blessed them with new ground and new experiences. 

Where does your marker stand today? How does it compare to where it stood a week or a month or ago? When is the last time you moved it? How far did you progress? 

How are you experiencing God today? What is different-deeper, more joyful, more satisfying-than ever before in your walk with God? 

There are two good, solid applications of these texts. First, remember what God has done for you. Record those special times and places of advance. Mark them so that you do not forget what he has done for you. As he has been faithful in the past, so will he be faithful in the future.

Second, ask him to continue his deepening work in your life. Ask him to continue expanding your borders. Remember that he blesses us to bless others. His good gifts are for sharing. Become a deep well overflowing. Enlarge your circle of God’s loving expression. 

Today is a good day to set up a new stone, a new marker, of experiencing God. Where do you need God’s help today? How will that help honor him and serve others? Take those ideas to God in prayer. Write down what happens next. 

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I will mark God’s blessings in my life.

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Our Father, as the old hymn says, “hither by thy help I’ve come.” Where I stand today is testimony of your grace and mercy. Please continue doing in me what you have been doing. Bring to completion your perfecting work. Enlarge my territory so that I may honor you and serve others. Amen.