GET TOGETHER- Remember What God Has Done for You
Jos 4:3 -7″and command them, saying, ‘Take for yourselves twelve stones from here, out of the midst of the Jordan, from the place where the priests’ feet stood firm. You shall carry them over with you and leave them in the lodging place where you lodge tonight.'” Then Joshua called the twelve men whom he had appointed from the children of Israel, one man from every tribe; and Joshua said to them: “Cross over before the ark of the LORD your God into the midst of the Jordan, and each one of you take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel, “that this may be a sign among you when your children ask in time to come, saying, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’ “Then you shall answer them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD; when it crossed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. And these stones shall be for a memorial to the children of Israel forever.”
I plan to start back doing something that I did at the last house that we lived in. There was a place in our back yard that I had made an altar out of rocks. When I would remember something good that God had done in my life I would take a rock put it down and say a short prayer thanking God for what He had done. Sometimes it would be something recently and sometimes it would be something that the Holy Spirit would bring to my attention that God had done in the past. There were some occasions that my grandson Judah would go with me and he always enjoyed pouring the anointing oil on the rocks when we offered up a prayer.
I am big on celebrating what I call twelve stone occasions. This past weekend was one of mine. I got saved on the first Saturday in February 1990. I celebrate that every year. It reminds me of the faithfulness of God and just how far God reached down into the pit and brought me out of the pit and put me on good ground. Also, I don’t want to be like nine of the lepers that Jesus healed in this account from the Gospel of Luke Lu 17:14-19 So when He saw them, He said to them, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And so it was that as they went, they were cleansed. And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice glorified God, and fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks. And he was a Samaritan. So Jesus answered and said, “Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine? “Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner? “And He said to him, “Arise, go your way. Your faith has made you well.”
Celebrating twelve stone occasions helps us to live a life of thanksgiving. Sometimes we go through challenging times and when we have put down twelve stones we just like Israel could do we can remember when God did supernatural things on our behalf. To be honest He is always working supernaturally on our behalf even when we don’t see it or feel it.
I would like to share when God first made me aware of twelve stone moments. I am doing this because I believe that it will help someone else. While I was still working in our family business the Lord had called me to go back to college. I attended Birmingham Southern College.
The day of our graduation was on a beautiful Saturday afternoon in May of 1996. We would be leaving the business in about two weeks to begin our first Pastoral assignment. My daddy was in bed at his house. He was still trying to recover from a heart attack that he had in February of that year. He could not attend my graduation, so I went out to see him. Our son Jake was going with me to the graduation ceremony. Our daughter Jessye was in a dance recital on that same day so she and J.J. couldn’t go with us.
I had flunked out of college at Jacksonville State University in 1968. My daddy had worked in the coal mines crawling around in the mud to send me to college. That day I asked him to forgive me for flunking out of school and partying while he was working hard, risking his life to make us a living. I also got to tell him that twelve hours from Jacksonville State had been salvaged and helped me to graduate when I did.
The graduation ceremony was at Boutwell Auditorium on Eighth Avenue in Birmingham. While we were marching in I was thinking about the times that I had been in that Auditorium at rock concerts stoned out of my mind. I thought about how the Lord had protected me and delivered me from that rebellious lifestyle There were nights that I really don’t know how that I made it home. That is redemption! God will take what we have messed up and dress it up. When we stood up to go receive our degrees I heard the Holy Spirit say “you are crossing the Jordan, put down twelve stones.”
How about you? Are there twelve stone moments in your life? Are you celebrating them and giving God the glory for them? Your testimony and remembering them will benefit you as you continue your journey with Jesus Christ. They will also help someone else to either start the journey, or to continue to move forward in their journey. Put down twelve stones and celebrate the goodness of God in your life!
Let Us Pray
Lord let this testimony only be for the Glory of God and to help others on their journey. May we all celebrate those twelve stone occasions when we know that You have done something big time for us.
In Jesus Name
Amen
Any testimony I ever give I want to be sure that Jesus gets the glory. Before Him and without Him I could do nothing.
Your Friend/Kinfolk
Preston
