Write this memorial & rehearse it

[cp_dropcaps]S[/cp_dropcaps]o much on my mind lately that I’m overwhelmed if I indulge in thinking too long without something to specifically direct my thoughts.  Were it not for prayer, singing and morning Bible study, I don’t know where I’d be.  I know that’s an over used phrase — I don’t know where I’d be — but it’s over used bcz it’s true.  More true than we might realize, I’m sure.

If you’re a believer — redeemed by grace through faith in Jesus — think where you’d be without Christ.  Think of where you’d be without that precious hope.  Think of where you’d be if you hadn’t yielded your life to Him.  It’s a staggering thought to me when I consider who I am in Him, because of Him and my infinitesimal grasp of His mercies in my life and that of my family.  Small as my grasp may be, it’s sure.  It’s very sure. It’s very sure bcz it’s not my grasp that keeps me — It’s His grasp¹, it’s His faith², it’s His finished work³, it’s His gift of hope⁴.

So, why would I fret? Why would I worry? Why would I be overwhelmed? Why would I wonder for a moment about the days ahead of me? When I ask myself these questions, I’m prompted to recount His mercies… I’m prompted to recall the ways He has worked and the blessings and provisions are more than I can count–more than I can recall.  I’m sure of this: His blessing and provisions are, and surely have been, more than I know.

Earlier as we were reading along in the book of Exodus, chapter 17.  I was struck again how the Lord commanded things to be remembered and methods for such remembrance — piles of stones, books, memorials, feasts and more — and His direction to Moses to write for a memorial in a book and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua (verse 14).  [cp_quote style=”quote_left_dark”]Never wasting a thread, never wasting opportunities, isn’t God merciful to provide exactly what’s needed?[/cp_quote]  Joshua was going to need that memorial — not only to bolster his faith, but bcz he was going to need strength and great courage — God was going to use him in ways he could not have imagined.

So I take this; I receive instruction to keep accounts of God’s dealings with me and our family — and I tell them what the Lord has done for us.   The timing of this reading is perfect — as His work (and Word) always is.  I so need to pay attention to what God’s doing in these days as we’re calling on Him for so many specific things. I know I’m going to need all these things — I want to add to the great things He’s done what He’s doing now and I want to rehearse it my children.  They need to hear.  And to remember.  Not only bcz it’s part of their heritage, it’s also God’s work in their lives and what they’re going to need as they face the battles ahead, as they follow the Lord — maybe they’ll face some Joshua moments, maybe they’ll face some trials and testings of faith unlike any we’ve ever faced.  I don’t know… but I do know this: God is faithful, and as they walk with Him, He will be with them–He promises this for His children.

For my birthday, Wes bought me a new journal Bible — a Bible so unlike any I’ve ever had.   Because there are no cross references, footnotes, commentary or maps ~smile~ I feel like I’m reading the Word with new eyes or, maybe, like I’m riding a bike without training wheels for the first time.  All this and bcz I’ve had many Bibles that were exactly the same, I’m familiar with where verses and passages are on a given page.  This new one, while still KJV, is very different.  Fresh start… and it’s a blessing.  I’m not an artist by any stretch of imagination—but here I have my new Bible and new watercolour pencils and I’ve begun this journey.  It’s my plan to add something every day. Down the road, I pray I’ll be able to look back and trace the Hand of the Lord on this journey.  And someday my children will see some of what I saw and what the Lord was doing in, for, and through me — and more: for them.

1. John 10.28-29 “And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.  My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.”
2. Galatians 2.16  “Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.”
3. John 17.3-4   “And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.”
4. 2Thessalonians 2.16  “Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace,”