Remember and celebrate your mountaintop experience

Good morning everyone,

Our theme for this month: “A season of celebration”

Our Bible verse for today: “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”

Some 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’s 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 thought of as a mountaintop experience because they’re so special. On a short-term mission we’re far removed from 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 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

(If you like what you are reading in these daily devotionals and if you would like more content from Oak Hill Baptist Church, join us on Sundays at 10:00 – in-person if you are nearby or, if you are geographically distant or if you just can’t make it, online at www.YouTube.com/@oakhillbaptistcrossville

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