Holly is also a Five Minute Friday gal. She spreads lots of love and support for other bloggers and hosts Testimony Tuesday over on her blog. I know she’d love to have you link-up and join her in testifying to God’s goodness.
Holly Barrett is a Christ-follower, minister,
speaker, writer, mother and YaYa from NC. She is also an extreme
extrovert who loves to laugh and enjoys being called Princess Holly.
She is after all a daughter of the King! Varied life experiences as a
preacher’s kid, survivor of domestic violence, and single mother have
given Holly an insight and compassion into many
of life’s challenges. Her passion is connecting people with Jesus and
sharing her life’s message of God’s redemption. Holly
loves ministering to people and works with young adults as Program
Director for The Crossnore School in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains
of NC. Next to Jesus, Holly’s greatest loves are
her precious grandbabies and her children who have proudly served our
country in the US Air Force and US Army. You can connect with Holly here: Blog | Facebook | Twitter
Take a few minutes to pray and ask God to direct you as you read Psalm 111.
At my last job, our ministerial staff had outgrown our main office space. Two trailers were set up, facing one another with a deck in between, that housed four offices each. These were located just outside a back entrance into the building and a few short steps from the main office where our admins were located. Oftentimes, when I needed to speak with my assistant about something, I would walk over to her office, just to stretch my legs a little.
I cannot tell you how many times I walked into her office and stared at her blankly, having totally forgotten the reason I came over in the 10 seconds it took me to arrive. She reminded me that even if she could read my mind, she would probably have forgotten it by the time I got there too! Invariably I’d head back towards my office and in the retracing of my steps, the memory would kick in and I’d know what it was I wanted.
Ah, the intricacies of the human mind. Especially as it gets older!
We often find in scripture that memories are short too. When the going got tough in the desert, the Israelites’ selective memories had them wanting to return to a life of slavery.
When Elijah forgot what God had accomplished against the prophets of Baal, he ended up running for his life in fear of the queen’s threats (you can read his story in I Kings 18 and 19).
When Peter forgot all that Jesus had done, he ended up denying Christ three times.
But God, who knows our nature and our tendency to forget, is gracious enough to remind us of His loving care and provision for us. Over and over again if He has to.
Psalm 111 reads this way in The Message:
Hallelujah!
I give thanks to God with everything I’ve got—
wherever good people gather, and in the congregation.
God’s works are so great, worth
a lifetime of study—endless enjoyment!
Splendor and beauty mark his craft;
His generosity never gives out.
His miracles are his memorial—
This God of Grace, this God of Love.
He gave food to those who fear him,
He remembered to keep his ancient promise.
He proved to his people that he could do what he said:
hand them the nations on a platter—a gift!
He manufactures truth and justice;
all his products are guaranteed to last—
never out-of-date, never obsolete, rust-proof.
All that he makes and does is honest and true:
He paid the ransom for his people,
He ordered his Covenant kept forever.
He’s so personal and holy, worthy of our respect.
The good life begins in the fear of God—
do that and you’ll know the blessing of God.
His Hallelujah lasts forever!
As He prods our memories, we remember who He is:
His works are great.
He keeps His promises.
He does what He says.
He is truth and justice.
He never grows old.
He paid our ransom.
He is worthy of our respect.
His Hallelujah lasts forever!
His miracles are His memorials so that we will not forget.
Today let’s look back at the miracles He has worked in our lives. The times of rescue. The days of provision. The moments of comfort. The never-ending patience and forgiveness. The works of redemption.
These are our very own…very personal…memorials to who He is. Memorials that should help us never to forget.
Remembering what He has done,
Holly
Deep Breaths:
1. Reread Psalm 111 in the version of your choice.
2. Ask the Holy Spirit to remind you of a time when God worked miraculously on your behalf. Record the specifics of this event, if you haven’t done so already.
3. Tell someone today of what God has done in your life. Remember what He has done and then go testify to His goodness. #sayso
Loved this post! Memorials served such a purpose in Scripture. I have loved that they often set up memorial stones as a reminder. Once they even went back into the river, selecting stones from the middle of the parted waters, in order to set up their memorial. How precious to be reminded today that often in the middle of our circumstances, we can walk away with memories of God's faithfulness & goodness to us which we will remember all of our days. I read Psalm 111 in the NLT this morning. I think my Bible will remain open to this Psalm for a few days 🙂
I've actually been part of a group where we wrote on stones and prayed over them. So cool! I think I may need to leave my Bible open here too. Thanks for reading, sweet friend!
Oh, yes, this is a great reminder today, Holly! I needed it. Even in my failings, I’m reminded He still loves me. He’s loved me through them before and He’s loving me through them today. His miracles are His memorials…and the miracle of my salvation is huge. So big I should never forget where I came from even when it seems like it hasn’t been far, because it has. In so many ways. Thank you…mb
Yes! The miracle of salvation. How good and gracious of Him to mark that occasion for us so that we can remember. He has redeemed so much in my life too Meredith, and it's a joy to look back and see how far He has brought me. Thank you for being here today!
I got chill bumps, Holly!
Yes His works are great and He is so worthy of our respect! So much in life lines up when we remember what He has done in our lives!
Thank you for sharing!
Love your statement that so much in life lines up when we remember. May we always remember. Thanks for reading and commenting, Elise!
I love this Holly! So powerful and true! His Hallelujah lasts forever! Amen!
Amen and amen! Thanks for your encouragement, Karrilee! It always makes me smile to see you face.
How wonderful that I actually spent my lunch hour working on a guest post which involves looking back and talking about the miracles He has worked in my life. At times I can look back with sadness for the years without Him, but more often I look back and see how He was always there and I'm left with complete gratitude for who He is and how He transformed my life. Love you, sweet friend.
And dear Katie, I picked up my Bible thie morning and decided I'm making my way through the Psalms and I've been inspired to do so because of this lovely series. THANK YOU!
I've looked back and seen His presence where I didn't know that He was too, Beth. It's such a blessing and an encouragement, even all these years later. Love you too!
So glad to hear that Beth- Psalms and Isaiah are my two favorite books!:)
I love this! It's SO important for us to remember his past faithfulness so we can continue to grow in faith. Our hearts were in the same place today! 🙂
Yes, they were! That remembrance is so encouraging when things seem difficult or uncertain. Grateful that God lets us keep those memories!
Such an encouraging post, Holly! That scripture in 1 Kings is one that continually inspires me! In fact, I just directed another sweet blogger friend to read it earlier this week, lol! Love how God works!
I love how He works too, June. Always such a confirmation when something pops up in more than one place or context. I always know then that He really wants me to pay attention. Appreciate your encouragement today!
Holly – You are hard to keep up with these days but I loved finding you over here digging into Psalm 111. I adored reading that God's personal – He craves relationship and that feels so good. I'm also holding on tight to the truth that His Hallelujah lasts forever! Great reflection today!
Ha ha, Mary!! So glad you found me! I loved so much about this Psalm…that's why the picture above shows it all marked up in my Bible! 🙂 And yes, we can all hold tight to that forever Hallelujah!
I loved your summary of all He is and does and will do! I very much needed to be pointed back to this reminder to give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart, along with others who believe, and to delight in His works!
Always good to be pointed back to the memorials He has left us in scripture!