| Good Morning Everyone, Our theme for this month: “Celebrating is good for us” Our Bible verse: “I am sure of this, that he who started a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” Philippians 1:6 (CSB) Our thought for today: “Remember and celebrate your mountaintop experiences” Ten years ago I wrote a book with the title, “Bringing it Home: A post-trip devotional guide for international and short-term mission teams”. It is a fourteen-day devotional guide which is intended to help those who have gone on short-term missions to process the experience and then hold onto the lessons, incorporating them into life back home. The premise of the book is that short-term mission trips are often compared to mountaintop experiences because they’re so special. On a short-term mission we’re far removed from the hustle and bustle, the distractions and complications of everyday life. God has our full attention as we focus on doing His work in a different and often remote location. As a result, this is a time when people often experience lifechanging moments. They receive spiritual insights, or an answer to a problem they were struggling with, or perhaps a calling from God in terms of career or ministry. The object of the book was to help the short-term missionary to bring that experience back home, hold onto it, and incorporate it into their lives. A primary way of doing that is to record the experience in a spiritual journal and then go back periodically to review and celebrate it. You can also acquire a memento or souvenir associated with the occasion and keep it in a spot where you will see it often and remember your special time. That’s true not just for experiences on short-term mission trips, but anytime we have a special encounter with God. That event, whether it be big or small, needs to be recorded, re-visited, and periodically celebrated. We need to remember those important God-given times in our lives if they’re going to make a long-term difference. One application of the truth Paul expressed in Philippians 1:6 is that at the time of your mountaintop experience God initiated a change in you, a moment of growth, which He intends to carry forward in your life. But for that to happen, you will need to hang onto it and remember it. From time-to-time we all have those personal mountaintop experiences with God. I encourage you to not let them slip away. Celebrate them at the time, but remember and celebrate them in the future as well. God Bless, Pastor Jim |
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