Rememberance

Good morning! In this first Monday Morning Encouragement of the New Year I want to talk about the importance of reflection. As I write this to you today my wife and I are preparing to go out of town for the week to celebrate our 17^th wedding anniversary.

Why are things like holidays, birthdays and anniversaries so important? They help us to remember the things that shape our lives. We use them to celebrate milestones and to keep our memories of past events fresh. They also provide opportunities to share our heritage with our children and others.

Look at the following passages from the Old Testament:

Joshua 4:6-8 (NLT)

We will use these stones to build a memorial. In the future, your children will ask, 'What do these stones mean to you?' [7] Then you can tell them, 'They remind us that the Jordan River stopped flowing when the Ark of the Lord's covenant went across.' These stones will stand as a permanent memorial among the people of Israel."

[8] So the men did as Joshua told them. They took twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan River, one for each tribe, just as the Lord had commanded Joshua. They carried them to the place where they camped for the night and constructed the memorial there.

What are you doing memorialize God’s work in your life? Most of us struggle just to be thankful for the current blessings and yesterday’s blessings are too easily forgotten. This year I want to encourage you to record God’s activity in your life. Write down the answered prayers, divine revelations and God inspired interactions of your year. When you or someone else is struggling with doubt, fear or lack of faith you can quickly show you can immediately be encouraged by God’s previous faithfulness in you life. Your testimony may be just the encouragement that is needed to carry someone else through difficult times.

I hope your New Year is filled with fullness of Christ. Until next Monday, may God’s richest blessings be yours.

Carl