The Goodness of God: Memories & Testimonies

14 Jul The Goodness of God: Memories & Testimonies

July 14, 2024

The Goodness of God: Memories & Testimonies

I long, yes, I faint with longing to enter the courts of the LORD. With my whole being, body and soul, I will shout joyfully to the living God. Psalm 84:2

I would have lost heart, unless I had believed That I would see the goodness of the LORD In the land of the living. Wait on the LORD; Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the LORD! Psalm 27:13

The statement “ When I think of the goodness of Jesus and all that he’s done for me my soul cries out hallelujah praise God for saving me.” This came to my mind this morning when I woke up, and I smiled.  The Summer of 2024 will be a memory in a few months, so enjoy it. I’m learning more and more the older I get that there’s no better time than the present.  

Memories & Testimonies

A memory is something remembered from the past; it could be happy or sad, the words to a song, or even a conversation about who lived on your grandmother’s block growing up. They can help now in the form of a warning when we recall the memory of a not-so-favorable outcome from a decision we made in the past or a situation we found ourselves in.  It is the recalling of things. 

I remember the scene in one of my favorite movies where an older lady spent most of her time in a garden, and she said she sat there just thinking about and remembering things in her life. A younger person stood there and said oh, I could stay here with you and do that, too. The older woman told her you are too young, you need to live your life and make new memories. 

A Testimony is an open acknowledgment in a personal, public, or official setting. It’s a firsthand account of someone.  Like the Gospel of Matthew is the writer’s Holy Spirit-inspired account of Jesus’s life on earth. Mathew 24:14 NAS “This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.”

Yesterday, I spent an unplanned day at my cousin’s house. There were people there from the age of 1 to 89, with my mother and two of her first cousins holding court, testifying of the goodness of God and the good and difficult times they had experienced. Were they the center of attention? No, they were all there to encourage a younger cousin that Christ is the Healer, and they were living testimonies of that fact. James 5:14-15 says, “Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.”

The goodness of God is full of both memories and testimonies.  As you read through the Bible in either the Old Testament or the New Testament, especially from the eyes of King David in the book of Psalm, they create a blueprint to live by, or better yet, grab one of your old journals or photo albums and see how in all our lives God has been faithful, loving, kind, merciful, a present help when we need Him, mighty and so much more. An unknown person said, “The most beautiful things are not associated with money; they are memories and moments. …”

So, remember the goodness of God today in your life, that you are a living testimony, that we are creating memories every day of things that we will cherish and share things that remind us of who we are and where we have been.

Theresa Woodard