God then sent plagues upon the Philistines and caused the idol of their god Dagon to fall over on its face. Fearing God, the Philistines sent the ark back to the Israelites, but continued to fight. As they fought more battles, the prophet Samuel led the Israelites as their last judge. As prophet and judge, Samuel offered sacrifices to God, so that when the Philistines approached, God thundered with a great thunder 1 Samuel In the confusion that followed, the Israelites soundly defeated the Philistines.
As a reminder of the great victory God gave to Israel, Samuel took a great stone and raised it as a memorial between Mizpeh and Shen. Whenever the Israelites looked at the stone, they would remember how God had helped them.
Unfortunately, the exact site of the stone is unknown today. The words fit well with the sentiment expressed in the hymn: O Thou Fount of every blessing, Tune my heart to sing Thy grace; Streams of mercy never ceasing, Call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me ever to adore Thee, May I still Thy goodness prove, While the hope of endless glory Fills my heart with joy and love. Search for:. Full disclosure. I really dig old hymns. The gospel. I really love that song! God Bless you and Melissa today! Thanks Brad! Leave a Reply Cancel reply Enter your comment here Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:.
It became very clear to me that the unwavering faith of James Sawyer Holman and other ancestors had provided me with the blessings of the restored gospel.
I pondered how different my life would be if one of those ancestors had made different choices. Suddenly it occurred to me that my responsibility was to remain strong in my faith not only for my sake but also for the sake of my children and my posterity. Several days later, while sitting in my apartment, I continued to ponder this personal revelation. Suddenly the name of this former student—Julie—came to my mind. It had been years since I had seen Julie and her husband or had even thought about them.
The thought came to my mind that I should share these thoughts with them, that I should tell them they are links in their own chain for their own posterity. At first I pushed aside these feelings, but as they persisted I followed through and began to write a thoughtful letter. I admit I questioned if what I felt was truly a spiritual prompting or just my own thoughts. I finished the letter and reluctantly sent it, not knowing if I had overstepped my bounds.
I received no response. Several years have passed since I sent the letter, and the original circumstances are now far from my memory. A few months ago my wife came home from the grocery store and said that she had bumped into Julie while shopping. He should know that my husband and I are now married in the temple. My husband is the elders quorum president in our ward, and I am serving in the Young Women organization. We now have an eternal family. For me this experience is a stone added to my personal monument—one that helps me remember the importance of following the promptings of the Holy Ghost.
When it comes to our own gospel progression, we cannot rely alone on our long-term memory. That is why in all our remembering we must remember to renew. Our testimonies must be continually fed with new spiritual experiences.
If my testimony is based upon one spiritual experience I had thirty years ago on my mission, then my testimony is at risk and my monument is in danger of eroding. We must actively seek opportunities and place ourselves in environments where we can feel of the Spirit.
The following example illustrates the importance of choosing to participate in activities and be in environments where the Spirit can be present. Not too long ago my teenage daughter had an opportunity to attend a routine Church fireside on a Sunday evening.
However, with constant prodding from her mother and me, she decided to attend. She enjoyed the blessings of the Spirit because she placed herself in an environment where the Spirit could be present. Had she not attended the fireside she would have missed an opportunity to build her faith. Choosing to attend your church meetings, attend the temple regularly, read the scriptures, and even attend university devotionals makes it more likely for you to have spiritual experiences.
Over the years we have enjoyed some very exciting and fun family vacations. In an effort to add value and excitement to the vacation, we have often made the actual announcement of the vacation an event itself. For example, when we traveled to Florida to visit Disney World, we cut out magazine pictures of things like palm trees, the Everglades, and alligators.
Each week during family home evening we would present one of these pictures, and the children would try to guess where we were going.
Then, on the count of three we turned on the lights to reveal the summer vacation plans. It was a thrill to see the excitement in the faces of our children when they discovered where we were headed. This summer we decided our vacation would be different. Rather than just take a vacation, we wanted to have an experience. As parents, we knew that this would be a wonderful experience for our family and an opportunity for them to feel of the Spirit as they portrayed the sacred stories of the Book of Mormon on the very hill where the gold plates had been buried.
We also knew that it might not sound as exciting as Disney World or New York City, so we intentionally decided to just let these vacation plans slip out in casual conversation. We will be spending seventeen days in Palmyra, New York. I curiously awaited his response. As expected, the plans did not elicit the normal outburst of excitement. All I got was a blank stare. After a long pause he gave me a thoughtful and respectful response.
I assured him that was not our intent. The children of Israel pled for Samuel to continue to pray to the Lord for them that they may be spared from the Philistines. Samuel offered a lamb as a burnt offering and then cried out unto the Lord for Israel. The Lord heard his prayers.
This state of dismay allowed Israel to prevail. Samuel memorialized the victory and set a stone between Mizpeh and Shen.
We often find ourselves guilty of the reliance on superstition, formality, or the worship of external symbols in times of spiritual stagnancy, turmoil, or discontent. But the stone of Ebenezer should signify to us that trusting in anything or anyone short of Christ is a precursor to failure. In defeat or failure, we must repent from misplaced trust and from leaving Christ out of the equation.
If we recognize our misplaced trust and reverse course, He is there faithful to forgive, grant us mercy, and provide his guidance and protection.
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