Memorial Stones

Now the people came up from the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and they camped in Gilgal on the east border of Jericho. And those twelve stones which they took out of the Jordan, Joshua set up in Gilgal. Then he spoke to the children of Israel, saying: “When your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, ‘What are these stones?’ then you shall let your children know, saying, ‘Israel crossed over this Jordan on dry land’; for the LORD your God dried up the waters of the Jordan before you until you crossed over, that all the peoples of the earth may know the hand of the LORD, that it is mighty, that you may fear the LORD your God forever.” Joshua 4:19-24

 

Father in heaven, we take this time to think back over our lives and recall our memorial stones -all the times you have faithfully protected us and provided for us. Thank You for the homes and jobs You have provided; the doors You have opened and the doors You have closed. We have lacked no good thing.

Thank You for the people You have brought into our lives over the years at just the right time to guide, support and encourage us and to share the journey with us.

Thank You for the times when You have corrected us as a loving father and comforted us as a mother does her nursing child. You have brought us through devastation -dramatic and traumatic experiences. You made a way when there was no way through. You brought us through grief and pain to transformation and renewal.

So often like Israel (Psalm 106) we have forgotten what You have done for us. We have not waited for Your counsel or believed Your word. We have complained, wandered away from You to serve other gods and idols. Nevertheless, we see that You have never given up on us. You have believed in us when we couldn’t believe in ourselves. You have showered Your lovingkindness and tender mercies upon us and drawn us back to Yourself.

We remember the specific promises you gave us and the various ways You fulfilled them.  As we look to the past, we are confident that You will faithfully look after us in the future. We especially thank You that we are inscribed on the nail pierced hands of Your Son Jesus. In His name we pray. Amen

 

Supporting Verses

And you shall remember that the LORD your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD. Your garments did not wear out on you, nor did your feet swell these forty years. You should know in your hearts that as a man chasten his son, so the LORD your God chastens you….And you shall remember  the LORD your God, for it is He who gives you the power to get wealth. Deuteronomy 8:2-5, 18

 

But Zion said, “The LORD has forsaken me,

And my Lord has forgotten me.”

Can a woman forget her nursing child,

And not have compassion on the son of her womb?

Surely they may forget,

Yet I will not forget you.

See I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands;

Your walls are continually before Me.

Isaiah 49:14-16

 

Remember the former things of old,

For I am God, and there is no other;

I am God , and there is none like Me.

Isaiah 46:9

 

Remember His marvellous works which He has done,

His wonders, and the judgements of His mouth.

Psalm 16:12

 

And I said, “This is my anguish:

But I will remember the years of the right hand of the Most High.”

I will remember the works of the LORD;

Surely I will remember Your wonders of old.

I will meditate on all Your work,

And talk of Your deeds.

Psalm 77:10-12