Living memories

A life-giving understanding has awakened for me.

Think of a time when something really special happened between you and the Lord. He spoke to you, or he revealed his presence in a lovely way. Think about it, remember it, and you will begin to feel what you felt at that time. It will 'come alive' for you again.

This is because it IS alive. You touched the eternal, and so that event still remains alive, and has the power to connect you again to that love or joy or awe or tenderness that the Lord evoked in you.

John urges us to 'return to your first love.' We CAN do that by recalling what happened, what it was like, what we felt about him... Then that love will come alive again to us. It is a precious and deeply meaningful place in our memory, in our very being, and it cannot die!

Some feel they 'lose their faith'. It may well be they develop cynicism and doubt and feel that no hope or faith is left. But that memory is still there, if deeply buried. And that gives us hope as we pray for them, that the Lord will rekindle the love and joy they once had. It is still there and the Lord can whisper to them 'return, return to that place and recapture that sense of being home.'

The Lord treasures all these times and holds them to his heart. So should we. When we are anxious and fretful late into the night - return to those places of safety and warmth and rest by remembering and savouring those times again. They are alive in us. Bring them to the forefront of your memory and live in them again.

Remember a Scripture that spoke life to you. Say it again a number of times and let your heart reconnect to the sense of peace it brought. Living in the 'now' is not all it's cracked up to be!! We have eternal treasures tucked away in us. Let them shine, let them glow, let them sing to us again.