I have a digital photo frame in my dining room. I haven't updated the photos on it for a few years because I thoroughly enjoy watching the photos from my trip to Hawaii in 2009. My best friend and I took some great pictures of our big adventure. What wonderful memories of a lifetime goal of a Hawaii trip!
Like the devotional mentions, I also have things that remind me of the many times that God delivered me. Many of which are the scars on my chubby body. A scar from a scary interaction with concertine wire. A scar for an emergency appendectomy. A scar for my first cancer surgery. A huge scar from my second cancer surgery. I look in the mirror and see the "stones of remembrance" that are carved into my body.
What are the "stones of remembrance" of God's deliverance in your life? Take a moment today to remember and be truly thankful. Let those "stones" motivate us to trust and love God even more.
Lord, thank you for delivering us from the challenges of this life. Please help us build our foundation on the stones of remembrance!
Simply Saturday
Catch and release
I have funny dreams sometimes. After hearing some friends at work talk about their fishing adventures the other day, I had a flashback dream of the fishing adventures I had with my dad as a child. Well, I wouldn't exactly call them adventures. More like "ordeals" for me. I have never really liked fishing! Once fishing concept I learned about is "catch and release". If a fish is too small or not the right kind of fish (since I grew up on Lake Erie), we would enjoy the sport of catching it and then release it back into its watery home.
Once, again, my silly mind made a very loose connection to my Christian life that got stronger and stronger as I thought about it. Obviously, it is strong enough to write about today! "Catch and release" is now my new motto. Here is why. How many of us "catch" all the worries of the day or week or month or year or lifetime, but never "release" them? Wow! I hadn't thought of it that way!
Is the fish (or worry) too small to keep? Release it. This means that we are not to keep any worry or care to ourselves regardless of how small it is. Release it over to God. Each small worry can grow heavier when we keep collecting them!
Is the fish (or worry) the wrong kind? Release it. In my mind, there are worries and there are burdens. A worry is something that we think is important and personal and maybe even a little selfish. I find myself worrying about lots of situations that I have no control over. Well, actually, I do have control over them -- I can release them to God and let him work in his way and timing!
A burden is something that the Holy Spirit lays on your heart. A special prayer request or a person in trouble or a person facing dire circumstances all all examples of burdens. Burdens come from God. We are to catch and release those too. They are basically unselfish concerns since they come from God.
My challenge for us today and every day is to "catch and release". Let go, my friends! God will be there to catch us and hold us in his loving arms!
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We too can know this God and be assured of His presence. He has revealed Himself in His creation and in His Word. As we ask Him to make Himself known to us, we’ll learn that He is even more than the owner and creator of everything! - Our Daily Bread web site
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