"Precious Memories"

I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago. I will consider all your works and meditate on all your mighty deeds.” Your ways, God, are holy. What god is as great as our God? You are the God who performs miracles; you display your power among the peoples. With your mighty arm you redeemed your people, the descendants of Jacob and Joseph.

INTRODUCTION

PSYCHOLOGIST AND BRAIN RESEARCHER DR. ANGELINA SUTIN, WAS QUOTED IN A 2021 ARTICLE ON BRAIN HEALTH

REMINDING READERS OF THIS IMPORTANT PROPOSITION:

Personal memories serve really important functions in everyday life. They help us to set goals, control

emotions and build intimacy with others.

A COLLEAGUE OF HERS, DR. Antonio Terracciano ALSO WENT ON TO PROPOSE:

Memories help people to sustain their well-being, social connections and cognitive health.

AS WE CONTINUE IN THIS SERIES, YOUR NEXT MIRACLE: PERSONAL CHOICES THAT MAKE FOR MIRACLES PAUSE

THIS MORNING TO THINK OF GOD’S GOODNESS TO YOU........PAUSE AND CONSIDER WHAT GOD’S ALREADY DONE

BEFORE YOU ASK FOR ONE MORE THING, ONE MORE BLESSING, ONE MORE ABSOLUTION OR CHANCE TO BE

FORGIVEN, ONE MORE HEALING, ONE MORE MIRACLE, BELOVED......CONSIDER THE STORY OF THIS PREACHER AND

A FAMILY TRIP HE AND HIS FAMILY TOOK:

RAY STEADMAN (CHRISTIAN AUTHOR AND PASTOR) RECALLED THE TIME WHEN HE WAS TRAVELING WITH HIS

WIFE AND YOUNG DAUGHTER. THEIR DAUGHTER SUSAN HAD A SLIGHT FEVER THE NIGHT BEFORE THEY LEFT

BUT SEEMED O.K. ENOUGH TO TRAVEL THE NEXT DAY. AS THEY WERE PASSING THROUGH A VERY RURAL

AREA SUSAN SUDDENLY STARTED TO CONVULSE AND PASS OUT, HER EYES ROLLING AROUND IN THEIR

SOCKETS, SHE WAS BURNING UP WITH A VERY HIGH FEVER SUDDENLY. STEADMAN CLUTCHED HIS HEART IN

FEAR AND SLAMMED ON THE BRAKES. SEEING A SMALL FARMHOUSE ACROSS THE WAY HE TOOK HIS

DAUGHTER AND RAN FOR THE HOUSE. IT WAS 6 A.M. AND HE POUNDED ON THE DOOR. A FRIGHTENED

WIFE APPEARED IN THE DOOR AND STEADMAN QUICKLY ASKED, “MAY I USE YOUR BATHTUB TO PUT MY

DAUGHTER IN TEPID WATER WHILE I CALL AN AMBULANCE” THE WOMAN SENSING THE SITUATION WAS REAL

QUICK TO HELP, SHE POINTED DOWN THE HALL WAY TO THEIR BATHROOM. EVERYTHING TURNED OUT FINE,

AND THEY DISCOVERED LATER THAT THIS WAS THE ONLY FARMHOUSE FOR MILES AROUND THAT HAD A

BATHTUB. GOD HAD LED THEM TO THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME, A MIRACLE TO SAVE SUSAN. AT

THE TIME THEY ONLY KNEW FEAR, NOW THEY KNEW HOW GOD HELPS HIS CHILDREN, EVEN WHEN WE DON’T

SEE IT AT THE TIME. THEIR FAITH IS NOW STRONGER THAN IT WAS BEFORE, AS THEY REMEMBER GOD’S

DEEDS! -- SOURCE UNKNOWN

PRECIOUS MEMORIES PLAY ANOTHER ROLE IN OUR LIVES....BESIDES PREPARING US FOR OUR NEXT MIRACLE,

BELOVEDS.......AT SOME POINT IN ALL OUR LIVES, WE WILL BEGIN, IF WE HAVE NOT ALREADY BEGUN CREATING A

SPIRITUAL LEGACY.....IN HIS OUTSTANDING BOOK ON THE SAME SUBJECT DANIEL TAYLOR WANTS US TO SHIFT

FROM THE PRECIOUS MEMORIES OF OUR THAT ARE BIG AND BEAR SUCH MIRACULOUS OUTCOMES AS THE STORY

OR RAY STEADMAN AND HIS FAMILY DOES......TAYLOR GIVES US SOMETHING WE CAN BEGIN ASSESSING IN OUR OWN

LIVES IN THE DAYS AND WEEKS TO COME.......ONE STEP THAT IS IMPORTANT IN BUILDING UP THAT SPIRITUAL

LEGACY OF OURS HAS TO DO WITH HOW WE ARRANGE OUR PRECIOUS MEMORIES AND SACRED STORIES OF THE

WAYS GOD HAS TOUCHED OUR LIVES, GUIDED US THROUGH THE ROUGHEST PATCHES, RENEWED US WHEN

WEARINESS WAS WEARING US DOWN.....TAYLOR WANTS US TO REMEMBER:

MOST OF WHAT WE HAVE LEARNED ABOUT LIFE COMES FROM SMALL, NOT GREAT, EVENTS. MEANING AND

SIGNIFICANCE IN LIFE BUILD UP SLOWLY, LIKE LAYERS AROUND A PEARL, FROM THE ACCUMULATION OF

SMALL EXPERIENCES.

THE PSALMIST ASAPH’S LESSONS FOR US & FOR ALL

OUR PSALM FOR THE MORNING, PSALM 77 IS IN AND OF ITSELF IS A LAMENT.......ANY LAMENT, EVERY LAMENT

SOMEHOW TOUCHED BY OR LADEN WITH MEMORIES, BELOVEDS....LARGE, SMALL AND ANY SIZES YOU CAN

NAME....OUR PSALM THIS MORNING IS PART OF A BIGGER SET OF PSALMS OF LAMENT AND HERE ARE AT LEAST 2

REASONS WE AS BELIEVERS NEED THEM, ESPECIALLY IN TIMES LIKE THESE.....

Dictionary of Biblical Imagery (Lament Psalms)

Lament psalms, comprising approximately one-third of the book of Psalms, are the most numerous category of psalms. They are also called “complaints” by the psalmists themselves. #1 These poems contain the poet’s strategy for mastering a crisis, and #2 they can be either private or communal in focus.

WE NEED TO REMEMBER THAT LAMENTS HAVE A POINT, A PLACE, A PERSPECTIVE, A POWER AND EVEN A PATHWAY....

IN OUR TIMES OF LAMENT, WE NEED TO REMEMBER THE PROMISE OF JESUS IN JOHN 16:20

John 16:20 NRSV

Very truly, I tell you, you will weep and mourn, but the world will rejoice; you will have pain, but your pain will turn into joy.

THROUGH THE PSALMS ASAPH CONTRIBUTED TO HOLY SCRIPTURE, IT IS NOTED THAT “Asaph cycled through a

wide and uncontrollable range of emotions, but he didn't try to hide that from God. He asked God the hard

questions that depression raises. And we find no indication that God is put off by that kind of unvarnished

truthfulness.

AND ULTIMATELY, HE TURNS TO MEMORIES, PRECIOUS MEMORIES OF THE MIRACLES AND FAITHFULNESS OF OUR

GOD.....PSALM 77:11-12

Psalm 77:11–12 NRSV

I will call to mind the deeds of the Lord; I will remember your wonders of old. I will meditate on all your work, and muse on your mighty deeds.

AND PERHAPS, TO SPUR YOUR MEMORY ON, THERE’S A PLACE FOR THE BEAUTIFUL PRAYER OF DR. KIRK BRYON

JONES AS YOU PREPARE FOR YOUR NEXT MIRACLE…A PRAYER FOR YOU TO WAIT AND SEE:

SOMETIMES, JONES WRITES, THE BEST PRAYER OF ALL IS TO JUST SIT IN THE SUNLIGHT, AND

REMEMBER,

SHOULD IT BE TEMPORARILY BLOCKED FROM YOUR VIEW THAT LIGHT HIDDEN FOR A MOMENT IS NO LESS

LIGHT, JUST WAIT AND SEE.......

REMEMBER HOW PRECIOUS YOU ARE TO GOD

BELOVEDS WHEN WE OPEN OUR BIBLES TO DEUTERONOMY 14:2

Deuteronomy 14:2 (NRSV)

For you are a people holy to the Lord your God; it is you the Lord has chosen out of all the peoples on earth to be his people, his treasured possession.

OR WE TURN TO THE APOSTLE PAUL’S LETTER TO THE EPHESIANS 2:10

Ephesians 2:10 NIV

For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

AND THE AMAZING AFFIRMATION OF THE APOSTLE PAUL TO THE ROMANS IN ROMANS 5:8

Romans 5:8 NRSV

But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us.

THERE STANDS IN THE PRECIOUS MEMORIES OF A WHOLE CONGREGATION THE STORY, AND LEGACY OF A BELIEVER

WHO TOOK SERIOUSLY HER OWN PRECIOUSNESS TO GOD.....IT IS THE STORY OF A BELIEVER NAMED MARY

QUACKENBUSH WHO DIDN’T STAND STILL AS SHE PREPARED FOR HER NEXT MIRACLE.....HER STORY GOES THIS

WAY:

MARY QUACKENBUSH RENEWED HER FAITH COMMITMENT TO JESUS CHRIST AT AGE 75, AND LIVED 12 MORE

YEARS WITH HER WEEKS OF SERVICE TO GOD AND HER CONGREGATION LIVED OUT THIS WAY: SHE HELPED

COUNT CHURCH OFFERINGS ON MONDAY, LED A BIBLE STUDY FOR WOMEN OF HER CHURCH IN HER HOME

ON TUESDAYS, CALLED ON HOSPITALIZED MEMBERS ON WEDNESDAYS, LED A VISITATION TEAM IN THEIR

EFFORTS ON THURSDAY EVENINGS AND TAUGHT A BIBLE CLASS FOR PRETEEN GIRLS ON SUNDAYS

CONCLUSION: NO NEED TO STAY STILL AS YOU PREPARE FOR YOUR NEXT MIRACLE

WHAT A WAY FOR A BELIEVER TO BE A BLESSING AS SHE SERVED THE GOOD LORD, AND PREPARED FOR HER NEXT

MIRACLE AMEN? THE STORY OF SISTER MARY QUACKENBUSH CAN INSPIRE BELIEVERS OF EVERY AGE AND STAGE

OF LIFE.........

AS SPIRITUAL WRITER CAROLINE MYSS CLOSES OUT HER BOOK CALLED, INVISIBLE ACTS OF POWER SHE NAMES 15

PERSONAL ACTS OF POWER THAT SHE SAYS EVERYONE CAN LIVE OUT, 15 THAT CAN BLESS OTHERS, 2 OF WHICH

ENGAGE PRECIOUS MEMORIES.......

AS YOU PREPARE FOR YOUR NEXT MIRACLE TRY 5 OF THESE SO CALLED INVISIBLE ACTS OF POWER, INCLUDING THE

FINAL 2....THAT ENGAGE OUR ABILITY TO REMEMBER....JUST AS ASAPH DID IN PSALM 77......

#1 - USE KIND WORDS, KIND THOUGHTS & SMILE

#2 - USE KIND WORDS, KIND THOUGHTS & GIVE A COMPLIMENT

#3 - USE KIND THOUGHTS, & LISTEN WITHOUT INTERRUPTION

#4 - REMEMBER THAT LIFE IS FULL OF MIRACLES AND HAVE FAITH THAT EVERY DIFFICULT SITUATION AND

TURN

AROUND AT THE BLINK OF AN EYE

#5 - REMEMBER THE TRUTH THAT THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A SMALL OR INSIGNIFICANT ACT OF SERVICE

ENGAGING JUST THESE 5 WILL CREATE PRECIOUS MEMORIES FOR YOU AND THOSE YOU INTERACT WITH…

PRECIOUS MEMORIES THAT WILL HAVE THEIR OWN LIFE AND LEGACY....PRECIOUS MEMORIES THAT WILL BE BOTH

AND BLESSING TO YOU AND TO THOSE YOU BLESS.....PRECIOUS MEMORIES THAT WILL LIVE ON INTO ETERNITY