Memorials
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I keep a bottle of epilim (Sodium valproate) — without its contents — as a memorial of God’s goodness.
Within the span of a year — between 2011 and 2012 — my second boy had four seizures. They were caused by fever, and called febrille seizures. That was like once every three months!
We went through at least eight doctors — one general practitioner, four pediatricians, one ENT specialist, one neurologist and one psychiatrist — and spoke with many more on phone!
Three pediatricians prescribed epilim, the psychiatrist prescribed topiramate and the neurologist prescribed tegretol; the ENT specialist saw nothing, and prescribed nothing. From what we read, one thing was common to all these medications — they were all supposed to slow down the brain! We ultimately took the advice of the first pediatrician we met — one young man called Dr. Obeng — although his boss thought otherwise.
Dr. Obeng was sitting in briefly for his boss and had advised us initially to manage the fevers; and even gave us some suppository medications to help. But then, he decided to contact his boss on phone, who changed the medication to epilim.
We bought the epilim, but never used it. We went through all the other doctors, and finally resolved to monitor our son, and manage his fevers. To the glory of God, it has been more than eight years since he had the any seizure episode.
Most doctors cannot trust parents to monitor and manage fevers, so they take the safe route of prescriptions, with its adverse effects; but God placed Dr. Obeng there for that brief period to guide us.
I later poured out the contents, and kept the bottle; as reminder of what God did for us.
It is always good to remind ourselves of what God did for us; because we overcome with the Blood of the Lamb and the Word of our Testimony.
The Israelites had memorials to remember God’s goodness too.
Read Joshua 4:4-8
And it came to pass, when all the people had completely crossed over the Jordan, that the Lord spoke to Joshua, saying: “Take for yourselves twelve men from the people, one man from every tribe, 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.”
And the children of Israel did so, just as Joshua commanded, and took up twelve stones from the midst of the Jordan, as the Lord had spoken to Joshua, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel, and carried them over with them to the place where they lodged, and laid them down there. Then Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of the Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests who bore the Ark of the Covenant stood; and they are there to this day.
(Joshua 4:4-9 NKJV)
Earlier on (Joshua 3:14-17), the priests bearing the Ark of the Lord stepped in the Jordan, and the Jordan receded upstream and downstream; for all the Israelites to cross on dry ground into the Promised Land.
In the text above, the people of Israel had completely crossed over the Jordan into the Promised Land. Then God spoke to Joshua to get twelve men from the people, one man from every tribe; and command them to take twelve stones from the Jordan, from the place where the priests’ feet stood, and carry them over and leave them in the lodging place where they would lodge that night; so that when their children asked them, they would tell them about what happened at the Jordan. The Israelites did that, and Joshua also set twelve stones in the Jordan, where the feet of the priests who bore the ark stood (vv. 8). And bible says,
“…and they are there to this day.” Joshua 4:4-9
It is always good to remind yourself of what God has done for you. You could write a note, take a picture, framed a scripture quote, or keep a reminder like I have done. There are numerous ways to remind ourselves of God’s goodness; and we can use our creativity here. Note that these are simply reminders and nothing else; and do not play any role in our worship. But by all means remind yourselves, because when tough times come, we can look at these reminders, and say,
“Ebenezer, this is how far God has helped us!”
The testimony of God’s faithfulness in the past, builds our faith in God today, and gives us hope for the future.
MEMORY VERSE
“And these stones shall be for a memorial to the children of Israel forever.” (Joshua 4:7)
QUESTIONS
1. What has God done for you?
2. How do you keep a memorial of it, for yourself and your children?
PRAYER TIP
Father, please help us to find creative ways of remembering Your goodness, and telling it to our children.
Written by:
BENNY MALM
For:
TESTIMONY DEVOTIONAL
URGENT CALL
By nature, we are all sinful, and alienated from God. We ultimately face the wrath of God!
But God in His mercy and love gives us a chance to reverse this trend, join His family, be part of His household, and become His children.
The first step to becoming a member of God’s household is for us to be saved.
Salvation comes through accepting Jesus Christ as our Lord and Personal Savior.
It is a very personal decision. No one can make for you.
If you make that decision today, there will be great singing and rejoicing in heaven; because one new member has joined the family and household of God!
Do you want to make that decision today?
Please visit “The Believer’s Prayer” for guidance if you want to make that decision.
We will be happy to hear from you through the contact information on that page.
God richly bless you
SPECIAL GRATITUDE
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We thank God for counting us worthy to share in His Great Commission; and we thank you for sticking with us through this journey.
God richly bless you.
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